Chapter 6: 6. Chapter Six

6. Chapter Six

"Miss Bai is the last person."

Tan Tianming ignored the devastated Zhao Kuo and instead closed the ledger, nodding kindly at Atian.

"With this, the Ascension Ceremony can be held as scheduled."

"The last person?" Atian asked, puzzled.

"I cast a divination," the Daoist said, stroking his beard. "According to the hexagram, there are three thousand and one people participating in this Ascension Ceremony. Adding you, it makes an even number."

As he spoke, he took a brass Token from his robe and handed it to Atian. She took it and saw the two characters "Sword Cleansing" engraved on it.

"This Token is the only proof of participation in the Ascension Ceremony. You must keep it safe, young lady."

Proof? What does a distributed Token prove?

Atian's brows furrowed slightly.

For the Beihai Sword Sect, it didn't matter who participated in the Ascension Ceremony; those with aptitude would stay, and those without would be driven away. There was no need to put effort into identifying people, so the Token was certainly not for them to look at.

Then who was it for?

Three thousand and two, making an even number...

Combining this with what Tan Tianming had said earlier, Atian suddenly had a startling hypothesis about this Ascension Ceremony.

Making an even number, what for? Naturally, to facilitate pairing up for combat.

How to pair up? By using the Token to identify each other.

"Immortal Elder Tan, to join the Beihai Sword Sect, must one defeat everyone else?" Atian asked calmly.

"At the very least, you cannot lose." Tan Tianming answered with a smile, tacitly confirming her implication.

"Alright, I understand." She rolled up her sleeves and bent down to tuck up her wide skirt, revealing a pair of delicate embroidered shoes hidden beneath. This was not an outfit suitable for fighting, but compared to her usual maiden attire, the outdoor clothes she was wearing now were light enough.

By the time Atian finished tidying up, she realized that both the Daoist-dressed Tan Tianming and the dejected Zhao Kuo had disappeared. Only the fortune-telling stall remained alone in place. Not only that, but the bustling street had also turned into an empty city in an instant.

The endless stream of people vanished, replaced by a yellow wind sweeping through the alleys. With the force of a thunderbolt, it rolled toward Atian. The young girl closed her eyes as the rolling yellow sand surged from all directions, swallowing her slender figure. When she opened her eyes again, the surroundings were already a desolate wasteland.

"The sword is the lord of all weapons. Sword Bone, Sword Bone—the sword is the bone, and the bone is the sword. If you want the sword to be sharpened, there is only one path to take."

Tan Tianming's voice rang out above her head.

"You are all now within my Beihai Sword Sect's Sword Washing Pool. Whether you hone yourself to seek the sharpening of your blade, or hand over your Token to seek self-preservation, only those who follow their true heart can leap over the pool and transform into a dragon."

"Temperament, root bone, wisdom, luck... those are things only Dharma Cultivators test and weigh. For a Sword Cultivator, to observe their sword is to observe the person."

"If you possess even a shred of awareness as a sword-wielder within you, then, draw your sword!"

As the three words "draw your sword" echoed in the air, the entire space where Atian stood changed. The sky above became murky and dim, and ruins appeared on the desolate land. Beams of light descended from the sky, bringing with them participants who were either bewildered or excited.

Before long, quite a few people were transported into the area where Atian was.

... Twenty... fifty... one hundred...

She counted the light beams she could see in her heart. The participants before her had just barely reached over a hundred. Thinking of the three thousand and two the Daoist had mentioned earlier, this was merely a fraction of the total number.

Clearly, the scope of the Sword Washing Pool was shockingly large, but such are the methods of the Immortals; if it weren't shocking, it would be disappointing.

Atian thought for a moment and took out the Token Tan Tianming had given her, hanging it at her waist.

He said participants should follow their true heart. Her true heart was simple: to join the Beihai Sword Sect. Since that was the case, she had to work hard to do it.

"Little girl, if I were you, I wouldn't hang that thing out."

A rough male voice came from behind Atian. She turned her head slightly and saw a burly man with a tiger's back and a bear's waist circle around to her front, eyeing her with a dismissive look.

"Look at how frail you are. You'd better obediently hand over the Token, lest you scratch up that pretty face of yours."

With the appearance of the first troublemaker, many others moved toward Atian without a sound. Clearly, they all regarded her as the primary target. Among these people were many "old hands" who frequently participated in various Xiuxianmen recruitment trials. Although Tan Tianming had been vague just now, it didn't stop them from grasping the subtext: "Defeat others and seize their Tokens."

Whether it was because there were few women participating in the Ascension Ceremony to begin with, or because they hadn't been assigned to Atian's area, she was the only woman among these hundred-plus people. Compared to the brawny men, everyone's target naturally shifted to her.

"Atian appreciates this big brother's good intentions," the girl, watched by predatory eyes, covered her mouth and smiled. She raised her right hand into a fist and said softly and gently, "It's just that if I throw this punch, you might die."

Atian's tone was not high, and the volume was not loud, but this sentence, which shocked everyone present, not only reached the ears of the person involved but was also heard clearly by those outside the magic array.

"Good! That's the spirit!"

Someone slammed the table and jumped up, rushing to the Water Mirror to cheer for the girl who had made such a bold declaration.

"Yes, yes, yes! Give him a punch! Kick him in the crotch! Kick! Use more force!"

Seeing the exciting part, this person even stepped onto the grand armchair, wishing they were the one in the Sword Washing Pool, leaving the rest of the fellow sect members in the room with black lines on their faces.

"Ahem," the leader couldn't watch anymore and coughed a few times feignedly. "Junior Sister Luo... Junior Sister Luo!"

"What! Can't you see I'm in the middle of the excitement!" The person called "Junior Sister Luo" turned her head impatiently. Seeing the speaker, she was immediately frightened into sitting back on the chair properly, lowering her head to address him, "Grandmaster Senior Brother."

Seeing that the most difficult troublemaker was no longer acting up, the Grandmaster of the Beihai Sword Sect pretended not to see her stealing glances at the Water Mirror, cleared his throat, and said to the others in the room, "This is an unexpected joy."

"That is why I gave her the Token," Tan Tianming was still dressed as a Daoist, his two little mustaches twitching with his movements. "That little girl is also extraordinary. Her root bone is already formed. Even with the naked eye, this poor Daoist can also... oh!"

As soon as he said "this poor Daoist," he was elbowed by another Elder beside him. The Daoist, having suffered a painful blow, swallowed his exclamation and grinned, making amends, "Oh my, I've been fortune-telling for people these past few days and let it slip. I haven't cultivated the Dao for a long time; I only cultivate the Sword, only cultivate the Sword, hehehe."

Naturally, no one wanted to pay him any mind.

"Isn't this a good thing?" Junior Sister Luo said indifferently.

"She has a Sword Bone, so wouldn't the requirements for the Bai boy be fulfilled logically? Why not assign her to my sect?"

"What if it's a Talisman Soul or a Demonic Thought?" The Elder sitting on the other side of Junior Sister Luo poured cold water on the idea.

Once these words were spoken, everyone in the room frowned. According to the key agreements of the major Xiuxianmen, once a seed of another Dao Lineage was discovered, they had to inform each other. That was how Tan Tianming had been sent over by the Taixuan Sect.

"Didn't Senior Brother Tan see her in person?" A chubby Elder tried to smooth things over. "Why not let him share his thoughts?"

Tan Tianming, who had been named, stroked his beard. "In my opinion, it is indeed a Sword Bone, but the baleful energy is too strong. I cannot see it clearly; it does indeed have a bit of the feeling of a Demonic Thought."

"Then isn't that a Demonic Sword?" The Elder who had raised the objection earlier clicked his tongue in wonder. "Our Beihai Sword Sect has never produced a Demonic Sword! Can we also earn a Demon Sect title to show off in the future?"

"Demon Sect?" Everyone looked at each other in dismay.

"... Junior Brother Li, I fear your skin is itching." Junior Sister Luo, whose mood had been ruined, cast a sinister glance at him.

Junior Brother Li, having provoked public anger, immediately sat up straight, eyes fixed on his nose and nose on his heart.

In the end, it was Grandmaster Duan Xuan who gave everyone peace of mind, "The Three Thousand Great Daos all lead to the same destination; since she cultivates the Sword, she is one of our own."

Atian naturally did not know that her Fate had been decided in these few short words; she was currently trying to find a way to deal with the formidable enemy before her.

Yes, a formidable enemy.

Amidst a group of wounded people sprawled about, only one man with a thick beard stood panting, and at this moment, he was looking at the energetic Bai Tian with a gaze mixed with disbelief and apprehension.

"Again!" a crisp voice came from the young girl's mouth.

Again?! I feel like my body has been completely hollowed out!

The bearded man wailed in his heart.

He was originally a mountain bandit from the Qixia Kingdom, born with a body of steel and immense strength, and usually, swords and blades could not easily harm him; relying on this, he had owned a mountain stronghold of his own, but later, after being guided by an expert, he learned that his innate talent was actually a manifestation of possessing a Sword Bone, which was why he left the stronghold to try his luck at the Beihai Sword Sect.

Who knew that instead of finding luck, he had run into a bane.

A numbing pain traveled from the spot where he had just traded punches with Bai Tian; although he knew the wise choice was to hand over his Token like the others, a stubborn streak in his heart made him unable to show weakness.

"Again!" the young girl's voice rang out; she was no longer as tidy as she had been at the start, but her eyes were frighteningly bright, showing not a hint of fatigue.

"Is this person a monster?"

The bearded man gritted his teeth, ultimately unable to convince himself to give up, and summoning a burst of strength from within his body, he charged at Bai Tian.

"Boom!"

The two traded another punch.

The pain of bones fracturing traveled from the point of contact; he could not help but let out a roar, bracing his feet firmly against the ground, using all his strength to withstand the attack from the young girl.

"Snap!"

A sound of something shattering came from within his body, and a force as heavy as a mountain suddenly surged out from inside, instantly enveloping the bandit's body and injecting new vitality into him.

"This is..." he looked down in surprise at his palm, which had recovered as if nothing had happened, and discovered a layer of lustrous white radiance on his body.

"Song Zhicheng, awakened Sword Bone, qualified." Tan Tianming's voice came from high above.

I qualified? I can join the Beihai Sword Sect?

The bearded man was wild with joy.

But someone was even happier than him.

Bai Tian's state at this moment could be described as radiant, and she said to the man who had completely shed his old self, "Again!"

Is this person a lunatic? Didn't she hear that he has already awakened his Sword Bone?

Song Zhicheng's first reaction was disbelief, and seeing that Tan Tianming did not speak to stop them, he steeled his heart and threw a punch at Bai Tian with all his might.

"Boom!"

An even more terrifying force traveled through the contact of their fists, and at the same time, flames filled the sky out of thin air, and he saw the young girl's eyes ignited by the fire.