Chapter 98: 98. Chapter 98

98. Chapter 98

Guan San is currently stroking the server; please complete your subscription to defeat him! "Sometimes I really want to snap it in two."

Zhao Kuo and the Broken Peak Sword are in the most chaotic phase of their breaking-in period, causing trouble all day long. That the Beihai Sword Sect would send him to welcome Atian shows an important characteristic of this sect's way of doing things—they are thick-skinned.

"Do your best, just doing your best is enough," the Deacon Elder who assigned him the task said with a chuckle. "Besides, the worst-case scenario is just Xin Li coming out of seclusion and beating you to a pulp. 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 were to think that Immortal Elder Zhao Kuo was useless because of this, they would be greatly mistaken. As a miserable child raised by thick-skinned mentors, his daily spells had long since been practiced to perfection. With one set of Cleaning Spells, he tidied the two drowned rats until they were bright and clean.

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

A 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 half complete, and the mouth-watering reward was dangling right before his eyes. He could only force himself to stay alert, 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 Daoist methods. 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 directly. Therefore, the transit station by the North Sea became a must-visit.

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 secular life. Thus, transition zones between the cultivation world and the secular world came into being, 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 necessary path for outsiders visiting the Floating Island.

"People with the aptitude for being a Sword Cultivator are one in ten thousand. Many who are weeded out, unwilling to leave or having missed the ceremony for various reasons, will 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 right by the sea is radiating vitality because of 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 blurry memories, the small town before her eyes 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 anything to change again. The town is like this, the rules are like this, and the people are too.

More than a month ago, every inn in the town, even the stables, was fully booked. 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 a young lady like Atian 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 rubbed the back of his head and gave a hollow laugh, "It's just aptitude."

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

"... Can you forget the words 'housekeeping specialist'?" Zhao Kuo, feeling 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," knowing he had been played, Zhao Kuo 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 knows a few famous Sword Techniques, but they are only 'people who use swords.' The sword can be swapped for a saber, spear, halberd, or even weapons like a meteor hammer or a treasure gourd; they are far from being called a 'Sword Cultivator.' 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 just about to enjoy the look of admiration from the beauty, only to see that the highly anticipated beauty was looking at him with a complex expression, which translated into a sentence would be: "Then how did a weakling like you manage to mix into the ranks of Sword Cultivators?"

The youth's face turned red in a flash, and he even started stuttering, "W-what do you know! M-my aptitude is top-tier! I have a Sword Bone!"

"Sword Bone?" Atian caught 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, confused.

"Everyone possesses Essence, Qi, and Spirit. When they gather together, 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 the potential for qualitative change have the qualifications to pursue the more lofty truths of heaven and earth; 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 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 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 "I'll know with one touch."

Business at the fortune-telling stall 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 Ascension Ceremony began.

Zhao Kuo straightened his expression, stepped past 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, took the opportunity to close the box full of copper coins on the table, and waved his hand at the others waiting.

"Closed for the day, everyone please come back early tomorrow."

The burly man whose turn it was wasn't having 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 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 sheepishly and actually entered the pharmacy across from the stall.

"Scatter! Scatter! Everyone scatter!" the Daoist shouted in a sing-song voice, shooing away the remaining 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 still 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 for people?

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, and I am indeed this brat's mentor. I learned a few country tricks when I was young, so I suppose it's a hobby."

"Elder Tan joined the Taixuan Sect when he was young, and only later 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 didn't laugh.

"Since the brat Zhao Kuo has appeared here, this must be Miss Bai Tian," Elder Tan's eyes rolled, and he pulled a thick ledger from somewhere. He opened it to a page, picked up a brush soaked 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've hit the jackpot, kid, you must seize this opportunity," Elder Tan said, shaking his head. "This old man just did some mental calculations, and you've been through quite a few dangers on this journey. Wait until I 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 commission was to escort Bai Tian safely to the Beihai Sword Sect, but what did he do?

He threw the man's fiancée into the sea!

"... I'm afraid I won't survive this study session."

People are iron, rice is steel; if you don't eat a meal, you'll be hungry.

Atian hadn't eaten for two meals and was now hungry enough to go crazy.

Su Ying was rushing to attend her morning class and gave her a ride when she left the dormitory. As one of the only two people on the entire Floating Island who could enjoy a leisurely morning, she was not surprised to see Song Zhicheng buried in his food in the empty cafeteria.

"Morning, Senior Brother Song." She adapted well to calling Song Zhicheng by his new title, sat directly in another seat, and pulled one from the small mountain of stacked steamer baskets to place in front of herself.

"Ah," the man whose name was called looked up, still biting into a half-eaten bun, "Junior Sister Bai, morning."