Chapter 82: 82. Chapter Eighty-Two

82. Chapter Eighty-Two

Guan San is currently stroking the server; please complete your subscription to defeat him! The two of them finally sat on the Duan Yue Sword and flew to the shore. The only difference was that, perhaps realizing he had caused trouble, the Duan Yue Sword was unusually obedient this time, never again showing signs of stopping or shaking, which left its master, Zhao Kuo, feeling both amazed and moved to tears.

If another incident occurred, he might as well stop being a Sword Cultivator and just buy a block of tofu to smash his head against and die.

In truth, young Zhao also had his own unspeakable bitterness. He had just stepped from the age of fifteen into the age of twenty, a few years younger than Atian, and his time spent cultivating was still short; his Sword Bone had only just begun to take shape. The Duan Yue Sword was his Life-bound Sword, originating from the Sword Bone he carried, which was the root of his Sword Heart. It was vastly different from ordinary dead objects, possessing the temper and disposition of a Spirit Sword itself.

Every disciple of the Beihai Sword Sect would have such a Spirit Sword forged from their own body, and their entire foundation of Sword Cultivation was entrusted to it. How to get along with these Life-bound Spirit Swords had become a difficult problem that plagued everyone.

The Sect Master of the Beihai Sword Sect, the current number one Sword Cultivator in the cultivation world, Duan Xuan, once voiced the inner thoughts of his fellow sect members:

"Sometimes I really want to snap it in two."

Zhao Kuo and the Duan Yue Sword were currently in the most chaotic stage of adjustment, causing trouble all day long. That the Beihai Sword Sect could send someone like him to welcome Atian showed one of the important characteristics of this Xiuxianmen—they were incredibly thick-skinned.

"Do your best, just do your best," the Deacon Elder who assigned him the task said with a chuckle. "In any case, the worst outcome is that Xin Li comes out of seclusion and gives you a sound beating. It's not like you could actually 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 thought that Immortal Elder Zhao Kuo was useless because of this, they would be greatly mistaken. As a miserable child raised by thick-skinned teachers, his daily spells had long been practiced to the point of perfection. With one set of Cleaning Spell, he tidied up 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?"

The stifled Zhao Kuo indicated that he wanted some peace and quiet.

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

As one of the Four Great Immortal Sects, the Beihai Sword Sect was naturally not a place one could just visit at will. Not to mention the island-protecting formation that was active year-round, the only entrance and exit were also set with layers of Daoist techniques. Although these spells had no effect on Zhao Kuo, Bai Tian was here to participate in the Ascension Ceremony, so he couldn't just bring her in directly. Therefore, the transit station by the North Sea became a mandatory stop.

On the Yuanguang Continent, cultivators were high and mighty, far removed from the mortal world, but there were always times when they had to come into contact with the secular world. Thus, transition zones between the cultivation world and the secular world came into being, and Shengxian Town by the North Sea was one of them.

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

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

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

Compared to Atian's already fading memories, the town before her eyes had not changed much. From the post station at the entrance to the port at the far east, various merchants hadn't even changed their signboards. It seemed that as long as something was related to immortal cultivation, it was difficult for anything to change again. The town was like this, the rules were like this, and people were like this too.

More than a month ago, all the inns in the town, including the stables, were full, and most ordinary households had guests staying with them; it was not uncommon for seven or eight people to squeeze into one room. Zhao Kuo naturally would not let Atian, a young lady, 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 have shaken off the hot potato and could happily go collect his reward.

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

"Aptitude..." The young man touched 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 attentively.

"Ahem," Zhao Kuo, knowing he had been played, clenched his right hand into a fist and placed it over his mouth to clear 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 sets of famous sword techniques, but they are only 'people who use swords.' The sword can be replaced by a saber, a spear, a halberd, or even weapons like a meteor hammer or a treasure gourd; they are far from being called 'Sword Cultivators.' Most cultivators in the cultivation world who carry swords 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 magnificent, and just as he was about to enjoy the admiring gaze from the beauty, he saw that the highly anticipated beauty was looking at him with a complex expression, which could be translated into a sentence roughly as: "Then how did a weakling like you mix into the ranks of Sword Cultivators?"

The young man's face turned red in a flash, and his speech 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 caught the key point.

"Yes, Sword Bone," Zhao Kuo said, frustrated. "The only requirement to become a Sword Cultivator is to possess a Sword Bone. It is not a specific bone, but rather that there is a 'sword' gestating inside your body."

"Inside the body... gestating a sword?" 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, while those born with the potential for qualitative change have the qualifications to pursue higher and more profound truths of the world. They are cultivators."

"Sword Cultivators have Sword Bones, Dharma Cultivators have Talisman Souls, the Demon Sect has Demonic Thoughts; 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 of aptitude 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 two thin mustaches. 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 the flag on the right read "One Touch and I'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 it wasn't necessarily accurate, they didn't mind buying a good omen before the start of the Ascension Ceremony.

Zhao Kuo straightened his expression, stepped over the people in line in two or three strides, and walked up to the Daoist who was muttering while reading someone's bones, bowing 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 box full of copper coins on the table, and waved his hand at the others waiting.

"Closing the stall for today. Everyone, please come early tomorrow."

The burly man whose turn it was wouldn't have it, "Living Immortal! You haven't told me my result yet!"

"What's there to say," the Daoist stroked his beard. "Strong on the outside but weak on the inside, poor in marital affairs. Go to the pharmacy across the street and get a prescription!"

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

"Scatter! Scatter! Everyone scatter!" the Daoist shouted in a singing tone, driving away the remaining onlookers.

It was Atian's first time seeing such a strange scene. She took 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 voice, thin as a thread, 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 hope the young lady will forgive the unseemly sight. This old man is Tan Tianming, the teacher of this brat. I learned a few country tricks when I was young, which I suppose is a hobby."

"Elder Tan once joined the Taixuan Sect when he was young, but later, due to the awakening of his Sword Bone, he switched to being a Sword Cultivator, 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 didn't laugh.

"Since the brat Zhao Kuo has appeared here, this must be Miss Bai Tian, Bai Tian," Elder Tan, standing to the side, rolled his eyes. He pulled a thick account book from somewhere, opened it 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 couldn't care about bowing anymore 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 did a quick calculation; you have experienced many dangers along this journey. Let me write down the process in detail so your Senior Brother Bai knows how difficult it was for you."