Chapter 35: 35. Chapter Thirty-Five

35. Chapter Thirty-Five

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Zhao Kuo and the Severing Moon Sword are in the most chaotic period of adjustment, causing trouble all day long. That the Beihai Sword Sect would send him to welcome Atian shows one of the important characteristics of this Xiuxianmen's way of doing things—they are incredibly laid-back.

"Do your best, just doing your best is enough," the Deacon Elder who assigned him the task said with a chuckle. "Besides, the worst outcome is just Xin Li coming out of seclusion to beat you up. You couldn't possibly lose the young lady, could you?"

Elder, I didn't lose her, but I almost got her killed; I likely won't survive that beating.

Zhao Kuo felt a lingering fear.

But if one were to think that Immortal Elder Zhao Kuo was useless because of this, they would be greatly mistaken. As a miserable child raised by laid-back masters, his daily spells had long since reached a state of perfection. With one set of Cleaning Spells, he tidied the two drowned rats until they looked bright and clean.

"Immortal Elder Zhao," Atian said with a look of admiration, speaking sincerely, "You must be a cultivator specializing in housekeeping, right?"

A stifled Zhao Kuo indicated that he wanted to be left alone.

However, having already reached the entrance of the Beihai Sword Sect, the escort mission was more than half complete, and the mouth-watering reward was dangling right before his eyes. He could only force himself to keep his spirits up, praying that this final step would not go wrong.

As one of the Four Great Immortal Sects, the Beihai Sword Sect is naturally not a place one can just enter at will. Not to mention the island-protecting grand array that is active year-round, the only entrance and exit are also set with layers of Dao techniques. Although these spells have no effect on Zhao Kuo, Bai Tian is here to participate in the Ascension Ceremony, so he cannot just bring her in like that. Therefore, the transit station by the North Sea became a mandatory path.

On the Yuanguang Continent, cultivators are high and mighty, far removed from the mortal world, but there are always times when they must come into contact with the secular. Thus, transition zones between the cultivation world and the secular world have emerged, and Shengxian Town by the North Sea is one of them.

Shengxian Town, as the name suggests, originated from the Beihai Sword Sect's Ascension Ceremony held every fifteen years. Through years of evolution, it has completely become a part of the Beihai Sword Sect and is also the mandatory path for outsiders visiting the Floating Island.

"People with the aptitude of a Sword Cultivator are one in ten thousand. Many who are weeded out, either unwilling to leave or having missed the ceremony for various reasons, stay here to wait for the next opportunity. Over time, it formed a town."

Zhao Kuo led Atian through the bustling crowd. This small port town adjacent to the sea is currently vibrant with life due to the new Ascension Ceremony. Countless people with dreams of becoming immortals have poured in here from the Qixia Kingdom and even neighboring countries, creating its peak prosperity that occurs once every fifteen years.

Compared to Atian's already hazy memories, the small town has not changed much. From the post station at the entrance to the port at the far east, various merchants haven't even changed their plaques. It seems that as long as something is related to immortal cultivation, it is very difficult for it to change again. The town is like this, the rules are like this, and people are like this.

More than a month ago, every inn in the town, including the stables, was full. Most ordinary households also had guests staying with them, and it was not uncommon for seven or eight people to be squeezed into one room. Zhao Kuo naturally would not let Atian, a young woman of marriageable age, squeeze into a room with strangers. He took her directly to the Beihai Sword Sect's stronghold in Shengxian Town. Once he handed this little ancestor over to the person in charge stationed at the stronghold, he would be rid of this hot potato and could happily go collect his reward.

"What exactly is the aptitude to become a Sword Cultivator?" Atian asked.

"Aptitude..." The youth scratched the back of his head and gave a hollow laugh, "It's just aptitude."

Atian smiled upon hearing this and nodded in agreement, "That's true. After all, Immortal Elder Zhao is a housekeeping specialist. Atian was being presumptuous."

"... Can you forget the four words 'housekeeping specialist'?" Zhao Kuo, stifled to the point of internal injury, looked desperate, "I'll tell you, just don't hurt me anymore. I'm still just a child."

Atian assumed a posture of listening intently.

"Ahem," Zhao Kuo, knowing he had been played, put his right fist to his mouth and cleared his throat, "First, you must know that a Sword Cultivator and a cultivator who uses a sword are different. The latter just happens to choose a sword as their weapon, or perhaps they know a few famous Sword Techniques, but they are merely 'people who use swords.' The sword can be replaced by a saber, spear, halberd, or even weapons like a meteor hammer or a treasure gourd; they are far from being called 'Sword Cultivators.' Most sword-wielding cultivators in the cultivation world belong to this category. Only a very small number of people can earn the title of 'Sword Cultivator'."

Zhao Kuo considered this speech to be stirring and was about to enjoy the admiring gaze from the beauty, only to see that the highly anticipated beauty was looking at him with a complex expression, which could be translated as: "Then how did a weakling like you manage to mix into the ranks of Sword Cultivators?"

The youth's face turned red in an instant, and he even began to stutter, "Y-you, what do you know! M-my aptitude is top-tier! I am someone who has a S-Sword Bone!"

"Sword Bone?" Atian grasped the key point.

"Yes, Sword Bone," Zhao Kuo said, feeling defeated, "The only requirement to become a Sword Cultivator is to possess a Sword Bone. It is not a specific bone, but rather that you have a 'sword' gestating within your body."

"Gestating a sword... inside the body?" Atian blinked in confusion.

"Everyone possesses Essence, Qi, and Spirit. When they converge, sometimes a qualitative change occurs," he held up a finger and shook it, "For ordinary mortals, just living a lifetime is rare enough. Those born with this qualitative change have the qualification to pursue even loftier truths of heaven and earth; they are cultivators."

"Sword Cultivators have Sword Bones, Dharma Cultivators have Talisman Souls, the Demon Sect has Demonic Thought. The aptitude for immortal cultivation is ever-changing and not limited to one kind. But before verification, no one knows if they possess aptitude, or what kind it is. That is why the Ascension Ceremony exists..."

"Ah, we're here."

The two stopped in front of a fortune-telling stall. The stall owner was a middle-aged Daoist with a thin mustache. He sat on a rattan chair, with copper coins, an Eight Trigrams diagram, and other items laid out on the table in front of him. On the left stood a flag that read "Where is the Immortal Bone," and on the right was a flag that read "One Touch and You'll Know."

The fortune-telling stall's business was good, and a long line of customers waiting for bone-reading had formed. Even though most people knew this wasn't necessarily accurate, they didn't mind buying a good omen before the start of the Ascension Ceremony.

Zhao Kuo straightened his expression, bypassed the people in line in two or three steps, walked up to the Daoist who was muttering while reading someone's bones, and bowed deeply, "Living Immortal!"

The Daoist called "Living Immortal" lifted his eyelids, withdrew his hand from the wrist of the burly man in front of him, closed the coin box full of copper coins on the table, and waved his hand at the others waiting.

"Stall closed for today. Everyone, please come early tomorrow."

The burly man whose turn it was refused to accept this, "Living Immortal! You haven't told me my result yet!"

"What is there to say?" The Daoist stroked his beard, "Strong on the outside but weak on the inside, poor performance in the bedroom. Go to the pharmacy across the street and get a prescription!"

The crowd burst into laughter. The burly man, having had his secret exposed, had no choice but to walk away, and he actually entered the pharmacy across from the stall.

"Scatter! Scatter! Everyone scatter!" The Daoist shouted in a singing tone, chasing away the rest of the onlookers.

This was the first time Atian had seen such a strange scene. She moved in small steps to the side of Zhao Kuo, who was maintaining his bowing posture, squatted down, and asked in a low voice, "Who is this Daoist?"

Zhao Kuo's thread-thin voice reached her ears, "This is Elder Tan of our sect, nicknamed the Living Immortal."

A dignified Elder of the Beihai Sword Sect, setting up a stall here to read bones and tell fortunes?

Atian was stunned, completely unaware that this question and answer had fallen into the Daoist's ears without missing a word.

Elder Tan stroked his beard and introduced himself, "I've let the young lady see a joke. This old man is Tan Tianming, the master of this brat. I learned a few country tricks when I was young, which I suppose counts as a hobby."

"Elder Tan was initiated into the Taixuan Sect when he was young, and only switched to being a Sword Cultivator after his Sword Bone awakened, so he is also proficient in talisman arts." Zhao Kuo explained from the side, and even quietly pointed at his head to Atian, likely implying that the Elder Tan before them had something wrong with his brain.

Atian tensed up; she did not laugh.

"Since the brat Zhao Kuo has appeared here, this must be Miss Bai Tian," Elder Tan, standing to the side, rolled his eyes, pulled a thick ledger from somewhere, flipped to a page, picked up a brush dipped in ink, and put a checkmark in one of the columns, "Let me see, Bai Xinli entrusted Zhao Kuo to go to Guangkai Town in the Qixia Kingdom to escort his fiancée to the sect. As for the reward... one session of study guidance."

"What?!" Upon hearing this, Zhao Kuo could no longer care about etiquette and jumped three feet high.

"Yo, many people beg for study guidance from Bai Xinli and can't get it. You brat have hit the jackpot this time, you must grasp it well," Elder Tan said, shaking his head, "This old man just calculated it with my fingers; you have experienced many dangers along this journey. Wait for me to write down the process in detail so your Senior Brother Bai knows how difficult it was for you."

Zhao Kuo's face turned ashen instantly, and he slumped to the ground, deeply feeling the malice of his own Elder.

Senior Brother Bai's entrustment was to escort Bai Tian safely to the Beihai Sword Sect, but what did he do?

He threw someone's fiancée into the sea!

"... I'm afraid I won't survive this guidance."

However, this doesn't make sense.

The mountain gate of the Tianxing Sect is a hundred thousand miles away from Guangkai Town; it is hard to imagine someone traveling such a long distance just to assassinate a Qi Refining disciple of the Beihai Sword Sect. And heaven is my witness, this is his first time leaving the island; what kind of enemies could he have!