Chapter 7

7. Chapter Seven

"Bai Tian, Sword Bone awakened, qualified."

Tan Tianming's voice rang out once more, yet Song Zhicheng dared not relax in the slightest, fearing that the person before him might blurt out "Again." Strangely, the young girl, whose eyes had been filled with fighting spirit just a second ago, immediately lowered her fists upon hearing the result, the raging flames that had been burning within her gradually dissipating, completely in the posture of calling off the troops.

One knows one's own affairs best; as someone who had also just awakened a Sword Bone, Song Zhicheng was well aware that one enters a restless, combative state after awakening. Otherwise, he wouldn't have impulsively traded another punch with her. But now, let alone restlessness, even the fighting spirit from their exchange of blows had vanished from Bai Tian entirely. The way she was carefully tidying her appearance now truly resembled a young lady who never stepped out of her boudoir.

This girl... is unfathomable.

Atian, who had already lowered her sleeves and released her skirt, noticed the bearded man's probing gaze, smoothed out her loose long hair, and gave him a shy smile.

The mountain bandit who had just been beaten up felt like he was being scattered by the wind.

Fortunately, he wasn't left in a daze for long. After being declared qualified, the losers who had been lying on the ground howling were taken away one by one by newly appearing streams of light. Just as the two were staring at each other in bewilderment, a new voice sounded, this time a female one:

"The current Ascension Ceremony has concluded; two are qualified."

Two qualified?

Song Zhicheng looked at Bai Tian, Bai Tian looked at Song Zhicheng, and for a moment, neither knew what to say.

A total of three thousand and two people participated in this Ascension Ceremony, and now only two had qualified. From now on, when they went out, they could boast that they had eliminated three thousand weaklings.

Over three thousand people participated in the selection, yet only a fraction could step onto the path of Xiuxian. This was the first time Atian had a real sense of what Zhao Kuo meant by "one in ten thousand have the aptitude."

Admittedly, perhaps many people, like the original Atian, intended to live an ordinary life and had never thought of struggling for the path of Xiuxian. Furthermore, who among those who came to participate in the Ascension Ceremony lacked confidence in themselves? Yet, even among this group of people with promising futures in Xiuxian, the elimination rate was incomparably cruel.

"My goodness," Song Zhicheng sat down on the ground with a thud, took off his straw sandals, and scratched his feet. "I didn't expect that I, your father, would actually hit the jackpot. It's just a pity for my brothers; they'll have to fight for their own futures."

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the world was unpredictable. He had originally thought he was just material to be a bandit boss, and now he was going to cultivate immortality. Regardless of how far he could go, it sounded as epic as a storybook.

"Sister Bai, it looks like you and I will be fellow disciples from now on," he looked rough and careless, but he was actually very observant; he had remembered Bai Tian's name after hearing it only once. "I'm a crude man; if there's anything that displeases you, just say so!"

Then could you stop scratching your feet?

Years of upbringing as a refined young lady stopped the words that were about to spill out. Atian covered the lower half of her face with her sleeve, leaving only a pair of sparkling eyes exposed, looking truly gentle and lovely.

Perhaps because all the losers had been sent away, the flickering light returned to the two of them, circled them a few times, and finally turned into a ribbon that lay between them.

Atian tentatively reached out to grab one end of the ribbon, and the flexible silk actively wrapped around her wrist. Song Zhicheng put on his shoes and followed suit by reaching out, only to be ruthlessly whipped by the ribbon.

"Hey! Hey! Why is this piece of junk looking down on me!" Song Zhicheng yelled in anger, then was tied around the waist by the ribbon and enjoyed a thrilling, exciting swing through the air.

One had to admit, this ribbon's flying technique was much better than Zhao Kuo's Sword Controlling Technique. At least Atian didn't feel any bumps during the steady ascent. It wasn't until she suddenly broke through the water's surface that she realized this wasn't flying, but surfacing.

The Sword Washing Pool was truly a pool. Streams of pool water flowed quietly around her, yet they were as light as mist, dissipating like clouds and haze upon contact. The massive Broken Sword that pierced through the entire Floating Island was submerged in the crystal-clear pool water. Only then did Atian notice that its blade was actually moon-white; this seemed to be the color of the Beihai Sword Sect. Unlike her first sight of it outside the Floating Island, despite being so close to it, she didn't feel that oppressive sword intent, as if it were just an unremarkable ornament.

The ribbon carried the two of them away from the water and threw them directly onto the lakeshore, where a boy was waiting. Seeing the two land in a heap, he then bowed in a leisurely manner.

"Senior Brother Song, Senior Sister Bai, this disciple is the Sword Attendant Boy under the Sect Master. By the Sect Master's order, I have come to welcome you both."

Bai Tian helped the groaning bearded man stand steady and found that although the boy looked as cute as jade and snow, his expression and demeanor were incomparably dull, and his eyes were like stagnant water, looking like an inanimate object.

In reality, the Sword Attendant Boy was merely a Sword Rack that Duan Xuan had casually enchanted; his true form was indeed an inanimate object without thoughts.

His appearance had to start with the Beihai Sword Sect's old rival, the Fahua Temple.

In myths and legends, wherever there are immortals, there must be auspicious clouds and white cranes. Regarding this, the Fahua Temple, which always prided itself on being the orthodox Daoist sect, put their minds to it. Not only did they decorate their mountain gate to be shrouded in clouds and mist, but they also didn't know where they got thousands of immortal cranes, enchanted them into human form, and let these white crane boys take care of all the daily trifles. In their spare time, they would even have them turn back into their original forms to dance among the clouds—what a scene of an immortal sect.

Once such a crooked trick was released, it immediately triggered a craze for imitation in the cultivation world. Even the Taixuan Sect, which had always been at odds with them, secretly started raising immortal cranes.

As a stubborn duck that never admitted it was unpopular, the Beihai Sword Sect naturally didn't want to be out of touch with the latest fashion in the cultivation world. However, the trick of raising immortal cranes didn't quite work for them.

Friend, have you ever seen a Sword Cultivator who doesn't control a sword but sits on an immortal crane?

Even if the immortal crane agreed, the sword wouldn't!

But other sects were using immortal cranes as gate boys; if they still had cultivators doing it themselves, it felt like they were inferior. Thus, after racking his brains, the wise and mighty Sect Master Duan came up with a crooked trick among crooked tricks:

Since there are no immortal cranes, let's just make do with a Sword Rack.

This led to the stiff Sword Attendant Boy before them. He would only be awakened by Duan Xuan when needed; on ordinary days, he would honestly stay in the Sect Master's room as furniture.

"Our Beihai Sword Sect was founded in the ancient times and has been passed down for nearly ten thousand years," the Sword Attendant Boy said with a straight face. "We currently have one thousand three hundred and six people, including Sect Master Duan Xuan and the various Elders, ranking last among the Four Great Immortal Sects."

Was the last half-sentence necessary?

Song Zhicheng's expression shifted, and he finally squeezed out, "This child is truly honest."

In fact, this ranking of the Beihai Sword Sect was purely because they had too few people. When the Four Great Immortal Sects were being selected in the cultivation world, they couldn't shamelessly let their disciples stuff the ballot box like the Fahua Temple, the Taixuan Sect, and the others, which was why they ended up in the last seat.

Ignoring the bearded man's grumbling, the Sword Attendant Boy continued, "From today on, you two are disciples of our Beihai Sword Sect. You must abide by the sect's rules and precepts. If you violate them, the Law Enforcement Elder will teach you how to behave."

The tone of this sentence was completely different from the seriousness of the previous one; it was more like he was reciting words taught by someone else.

"The Beihai Sword Sect is divided into three levels from top to bottom: Sect Master, Elders, and Disciples. Unlike those mediocre groups like the Fahua Temple that have a row of Supreme Elders—that position is just to announce to the world that you've reached a certain age and failed to achieve Ascension, which is too embarrassing—we don't have it."

This was yet another completely different tone.

"Our sect implements the Senior Brother system. The authority of the Senior Brother is equal to that of an Elder. All disciples must unite under the leadership of the Senior Brother and work together to shine and heat up for the Beihai Sword Sect. I know this sounds shameful, but as long as you let go of unnecessary shame, you can become deeply immersed and unable to extricate yourselves. Come, unleash your nature!"

Having said this, the boy paused, then opened his mouth expressionlessly and let out a strange laugh: "Hee hee hee."

Clearly, the Beihai Sword Sect had taken a strange turn in the big matter of following trends, running wildly in an unpredictable direction.

But it's fine, let it be different; they were broad-minded anyway.

Atian and Song Zhicheng looked at each other, both seeing the words "dumbfounded" in the other's eyes.

This sect... seems a bit wrong!