Chapter 78: 78. Chapter 78

78. Chapter 78

Guan San is currently petting the server, please complete your subscription to defeat him! As the sect with the strongest attack power in the world, the Beihai Sword Sect ranks last among the Four Great Immortal Sects, suffering solely from the disadvantage of having too few members. Ever since then, whenever there is any voting activity, they rack their brains to make up for their shortcomings, which has also resulted in most disciples having a few dark histories that everyone keeps secret together.

Life Dual Cultivation: temperament comes first, lifespan comes second. To push open the Immortal Gate, one must accept an imperfect self, full of dark history and flaws.

If the morning was just a trial run, the afternoon was a precision strike.

Li Ke knows the embarrassing stories of these disciples who grew up in the sect like the back of his hand. Every sentence can accurately and ruthlessly poke at the most painful point of the other party, and the Classroom is suddenly filled with wails.

Zhao Kuo's explanation for this is: "Elder Li cannot easily leave the sect because of his Sick Sword; it is truly bitter for him."

Atian nods in understanding: it's just because he's bored.

By the time the day's lessons are over, apart from the two melon-eating bystanders Bai Tian and Song Zhicheng, even Zhao Kuo did not escape Li Ke's poisonous hands, ending up battered and bruised.

When announcing that today's session was over, Li Ke smacked his lips as if still unsatisfied, even his pale complexion flushing with a hint of red. His gaze, full of deep meaning, swept over Song Zhicheng, making the latter's hair stand on end.

Following the lethargic Senior Brothers who looked like wandering souls to the cafeteria, and then drifting back to the Dizi Yuanshe together, it was clearly a boring day, yet in the eyes of Bai Tian, who had obediently been a wealthy young lady for fifteen years, it felt full of fun.

Taking off her outer garment and crawling into the quilt, Atian secretly made a wish; she also wanted a sword of her own.

Then, she saw that sword again.

In a trance, she remembered that she had just fallen asleep after listening to lessons all day, and felt muddled, thinking she was still at the bottom of the sea.

Flames filled her entire field of vision, a black long sword hovered in the center of the sea of fire, flowing light surged on the inscriptions carved on the sword body, and the black and red hilt tilted slightly toward her.

Atian has seen many swords so far, whether it is the moon-white Broken Sword containing surging Sword Intent from the Founder, the red-silk White Jade Sword worn at Bai Xinli's waist, or Su Ying's amber short sword "White Colt," and even the heavy sword "Mountain Breaker" that gives Zhao Kuo a headache, all can be called masterpieces of the time, dazzling and mesmerizing.

However, in Atian's eyes, none of them compare to the one before her.

No matter when or where this pitch-black long sword appears, it can easily take away her soul.

The surroundings are filled with crackling burning sounds. She walks into the sea of fire as if she doesn't feel it, tongues of flame licking her skin, scorching and stinging. Bai Tian stands in front of the black sword, she opens her arms to hug it, her face pressed against the cold blade, feeling the uneven inscriptions, and rubs against it gently.

"Are... you 'me'?"

She grips the sword body tightly, not caring if her palms will be cut by the sharp blade.

"If you're not... then I'll break you."

"Boom!"

The baring and clawing flames begin to rage.

Zhao Kuo was woken up by the noise. He rubbed his eyes roughly, kicked away the quilt wrapped around his waist, and muttered irritably while putting on his clothes, "Who is not sleeping in the middle of the night? If I catch you, I'll beat you to death..."

After finally managing to put on his wrinkled clothes with squinted eyes, he stumbled to the door and pulled open the door that was being pounded with a "clatter" in one breath, only to feel a heatwave hit him, forcing him to retreat a few steps.

"Junior Brother Zhao!! You're finally awake!!" The Senior Brother next door, who hadn't yet put down his hand from pounding the door, breathed a sigh of relief, "Run! It's on fire!"

On fire?

Zhao Kuo is completely awake now. He pushes past the Senior Brother next door and walks outside, only to see an unprecedented crimson color covering the sky—it is the raging fire entrenched on the Dizi Yuanshe.

Is there anyone in this world who can set a fire in the Beihai Sword Sect?

With his mind filled with "What the hell," Zhao Kuo doesn't care about his initial morning grumpiness. He hurriedly turns back to grab the collar of the Senior Brother next door and shakes him, "Senior Brother Mu! What is going on!"

Zhao Kuo is already in the middle stage of Qi Refining; naturally, someone he can call "Senior Brother" cannot have weak cultivation. This Senior Brother Mu pats him on the shoulder, stabilizes his panicked Junior Brother, picks him up by the back of his collar, and jumps down from the tenth-floor platform, landing in the crowd gathered on the lowest level.

"Senior Brother Zhao!"

Song Zhicheng, with sharp eyes, immediately sees Zhao Kuo descending from the sky. Not caring about avoiding his Senior Brother's current disheveled image, he immediately squeezes through the crowd and walks over.

"... Ah, Junior Brother Song," Zhao Kuo sees the newly joined Junior Brother who has appeared in front of him as soon as he stands firm, and cannot help but think of the other Junior Sister who has not yet appeared, "Speaking of which, have you seen Junior Sister Bai?"

Song Zhicheng shows a wry smile upon hearing this, "Senior Brother, look at these people present, which one can be called Junior Sister? I still don't know what happened."

Zhao Kuo slaps his forehead, feeling he is muddled from sleep. Bai Tian lives on the twentieth floor, Song Zhicheng lives on the first floor; it would be strange if they met.

"If the Junior Sister Bai you are talking about is the new Junior Sister, then you don't need to look for her," Senior Brother Mu on the side pats Zhao Kuo on the shoulder and points to the Dizi Yuanshe that has been swallowed by flames. At this time, people are still jumping down from the high floors, "She is probably still in the room, because the fire started from the twentieth floor."

As soon as these words come out, Zhao Kuo's first reaction is—what to do if the Senior Brother's child bride is about to be burned to death?!

"Then what are you standing there for?! Hurry up and save Junior Sister Bai..."

Halfway through his shouting, he finds himself unable to continue. Only four people live on the twentieth floor: Senior Sister Su Ying is on night duty tonight, Senior Sister Chen Zhi is not in the sect, and Senior Sister Liu Yan stays in the Sword Scripture Pavilion all year round. So, it is obvious who caused the fire.

"... Her time has come, is this too fast?" he mutters.

"Sometimes fate is just that wonderful. Our little Junior Sister has really made a big scene." Senior Brother Mu nods.

Having said that, figuring out the cause of the fire does not mean one can relax. For a Sword Cultivator, forging a sword is of the utmost importance, because when the Sword Bone is about to break through the body, it is also the most uncontrollable moment. If something goes wrong, it could lead to the destruction of one's foundation. Therefore, there is usually a teacher or elder supervising nearby. Besides, if this continues, the Beihai Sword Sect will probably really have to rebuild the Dizi Yuanshe.

Zhao Kuo is sweating on his forehead, "It just so happens that Master is not here! Hurry up and call Senior Brother! Oh no! Junior Sister Bai is a girl! Better call Senior Sister Su Ying..."

Senior Brother Mu nods in agreement. Just as the two are about to head to the Martial Arts Arena to find Bai Xinli, they find that the disciples who were chattering while looking at the fire fall into silence in an instant, and then start shouting excitedly the next second:

"Move aside! Senior Brother is here!"

Senior Brother is here!

A simple sentence injects a backbone into the Beihai Sword Sect disciples present. They immediately move to both sides consciously, clearing a path wide enough for one person to pass.

No one can fly on a sword under the Founder's sword, so Bai Xinli walks over step by step. He walks very steadily with every step, which in turn makes the hearts of everyone present steady.

"Senior Brother!"

Zhao Kuo is overjoyed and hurriedly steps forward, but unexpectedly, he is pushed aside by Senior Brother Mu next to him, who not only occupies his position but also finishes his words.

"Senior Brother! Junior Sister Bai is in trouble!" Senior Brother Mu leans close to Bai Xinli, ignoring his own Junior Brother's angry glare.

"Hmm."

Upon hearing this, Bai Xinli unties the moon-white hairband on his head and ties it over his eyes behind his head.

Then, he steps onto the stairs occupied by the flames. The flames, feeling provoked, instantly rise three feet high against the wind, but are blocked firmly by an invisible force just as they are about to touch him.

Every step he takes, the flames retreat one step. Just like this, he walks step by step along the stairs to outside Bai Tian's room. The flames are also suppressed by him around this room, leaving only scorch marks on other rooms to prove its past rampage.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Bai Xinli raises his hand and knocks on the door. The wooden board, which has been burned to its limit, turns into fly ash the moment it touches external force, revealing the scene inside the room.

Atian is kneeling in the center of the room wearing only a single layer of clothing, while a pitch-black long sword is suspended in front of her. The girl's right hand is placed on the blade, and blood flows from the wound, outlining the inscriptions on the sword body.

As if hearing the sound, Bai Tian turns her head back. Seeing Bai Xinli with his eyes covered, her eyes light up instantly. The corners of her lips curve into an arc similar to a smile, and she climbs up somewhat unsteadily, gripping the black and red hilt with one hand.

"Senior Brother, are you willing... to take a Sword from me?"

Bai Xinli paused upon hearing this and replied, "... Junior Sister Bai, please."

Atian, having already lowered her sleeves and let go of her skirt hem, noticed the bearded man's inquisitive gaze, smoothed out her loose long hair, and gave him a shy smile.

The bandit who had just been beaten up felt himself disheveled in the wind.

Fortunately, he did not have long to be disheveled; after being declared qualified, the losers who were originally lying on the ground howling were taken away one by one by newly appeared streams of light, and just as the two looked at each other in dismay, a new voice rang out, this time a female voice:

"The current Ascension Ceremony has concluded, with two qualified."

Two qualified?

Song Zhicheng looked at Bai Tian, and Bai Tian looked at Song Zhicheng; 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, 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 Xiuxian; this was the first time Atian had a real sense of what Zhao Kuo meant by "those with aptitude are one in ten thousand."