After driving Xu Rui away, Lin Bai and Qi Shaolong threw out all the slop buckets in the room and cleaned the place spotless.
Around noon.
Lin Bai took out some beast meat from his storage space and barbecued it in the courtyard with Qi Shaolong and Tiedan.
"Big Brother Lin Bai, you're so powerful. Could you give me some pointers on martial arts from now on?" Tiedan gazed at Lin Bai with a look of worship.
"Yeah, Lin Bai, you're too fierce! You defeated Xu Rui with one punch. Do you specialize in fist techniques?" Qi Shaolong was also greatly astonished by Lin Bai's strength.
"Hehe, my fist technique isn't anything special. What I'm best at is swordsmanship."
Lin Bai pointed at the Spirit Severing Sword beside him and said with a smile.
Qi Shaolong was shocked again.
Lin Bai had defeated Xu Rui with one punch without even drawing his sword. If he had drawn it, Xu Rui probably wouldn't even have had the chance to blink before dying on the spot beneath Lin Bai's blade.
"It's ready to eat."
Lin Bai handed the roasted food to Tiedan and Qi Shaolong.
Tiedan hugged the meat and began wolfing it down.
"Lin Bai, you're so powerful. Even if you went to join the Divine Alliance, they probably wouldn't refuse you."
Qi Shaolong said.
"The Divine Alliance?" Lin Bai looked at Qi Shaolong in confusion.
Qi Shaolong smiled faintly. "Looks like you still don't know. The Divine Alliance is the number-one alliance within the Spirit Sword Sect. At present, all nine Core Disciples of the Spirit Sword Sect are members of the Divine Alliance."
"And the alliance master of the Divine Alliance is the Young Sect Master!"
Lin Bai had only just entered the Spirit Sword Sect, but he knew the hierarchy within it: three thousand outer disciples, nine hundred inner disciples, nine Core Disciples, and one Young Sect Master.
The Young Sect Master was the candidate who would inherit the position of Sect Master of the Spirit Sword Sect in the future.
As for the nine Core Disciples, they would all become the Sect Master's right-hand men in the future.
Therefore, every person who became Young Sect Master would choose a group of loyal martial artists to follow him and raise them to the position of Core Disciple.
Of course, there were also martial artists who relied on their own strength to secure a position among the Core Disciples.
But there were very few such people.
Because one step above the Core Disciples was the position of Young Sect Master.
If a disobedient martial artist rose to the position of Core Disciple, the Young Sect Master would definitely kill him, because he had threatened the Young Sect Master's position!
The Divine Alliance Qi Shaolong had just mentioned was an organization personally founded by the current Young Sect Master.
It was the most powerful alliance within the Spirit Sword Sect. Nearly eighty percent of the disciples belonged to the Divine Alliance.
"So that's how it is." After hearing Qi Shaolong's explanation of the Divine Alliance, Lin Bai was greatly surprised.
"Shaolong, how do you know so much about the Spirit Sword Sect?"
Lin Bai asked curiously.
Qi Shaolong smiled. "Since I was coming to the Spirit Sword Sect to become a disciple and study martial arts, naturally I had to learn about the local customs and conditions here beforehand."
"Lin Bai, if you become a disciple of the Divine Alliance in the future, you have to look after us too. Let us swagger around outside and show off a little." Qi Shaolong laughed heartily.
"Haha."
Lin Bai smiled without committing himself.
Lin Bai knew nothing about the Divine Alliance, nor was he interested in it.
He had come to the Spirit Sword Sect only to borrow its cultivation resources.
"Shaolong, since you know so much about the Spirit Sword Sect, have you ever heard of Ling Tianzi?" Lin Bai asked Qi Shaolong again.
"Ling Tianzi!" Qi Shaolong was startled.
"Why are you asking about him?"
"I'm curious. Do you know where he is?"
Lin Bai asked with a smile.
Qi Shaolong said, "Ling Tianzi rarely appears in the Spirit Sword Sect, so there's very little information about him."
"According to what I've learned, Ling Tianzi was a mysterious person who suddenly joined the Spirit Sword Sect a hundred years ago. No one knows what his strength is."
"It's said that when he joined the Spirit Sword Sect, he even fought our Sect Master. But no one knows the result of that battle."
"Afterward, the Spirit Sword Sect assigned Ling Tianzi a mountain peak. He then secluded himself there to cultivate and rarely came out."
Qi Shaolong told Lin Bai everything he knew in detail.
"Where is that mountain peak?" Lin Bai asked curiously.
Qi Shaolong turned and looked around. He pointed at a tall mountain not far from the disciples' courtyard. "That's the one. It's called White Cloud Peak."
Lin Bai raised his head and took a deep look at the mountain peak, engraving it in his heart.
Since Lin Yue had told Lin Bai to become Ling Tianzi's disciple, Lin Bai naturally had to go to White Cloud Peak and take a look.
However, right at that moment.
The courtyard gate was suddenly kicked open with tremendous force.
"Lin Bai, Qi Shaolong, get out here and face your deaths!"
Xu Rui kicked open the gate and roared at the three people barbecuing in the courtyard.
"It's that bastard Xu Rui. He actually dares to come back!" Qi Shaolong flew into a rage, grabbed his sharp sword, and walked out of the room.
Lin Bai and Tiedan followed after him.
When they reached the entrance, Lin Bai took a look.
Outside the courtyard stood a group of martial artists with unfriendly expressions, staring into the courtyard.
"Xu Rui, you dare to come back!" Qi Shaolong said coldly.
"You beat Young Master Xu, so naturally you'll have to pay the price in blood!" Xu Rui sneered.
"Were you the ones who beat Xu Rui?"
At that moment, a long-faced young man walked out from among the martial artists behind Xu Rui and looked coldly at Lin Bai and Qi Shaolong.
"Who are you? This is a matter between us and Xu Rui. Please don't interfere."
Qi Shaolong said coldly.
"Hehe, then remember my name, because in the days to come, you'll live in fear of it."
"Remember it."
"My name is Xu Shangjie!"
"Who's Xu Shangjie? Never heard of him." Qi Shaolong bluntly refused to give him any face.
Since even Qi Shaolong did not know him, Lin Bai naturally could not know him either.
"You really are blind! Our Young Master Xu is one of the three New Talent Kings among this batch of recruits to the Spirit Sword Sect!"
"The young master of the Imperial Xu Family! An unparalleled expert who is about to break through to the True Martial Realm!"
The martial artists behind Xu Shangjie immediately began shouting and baring their fangs.
The New Talent King referred to the strongest few among the prodigies who had come from the various cities this time.
Since Xu Shangjie was publicly recognized as a New Talent King, there was naturally no need to say more about his strength.
"I'm curious. Since we're all newcomers who have just arrived at the Spirit Sword Sect, why are you bullying us? Aren't we all on the same side?"
Lin Bai asked curiously at this moment.
One of the martial artists said, "What the hell do you know? Only battle can reveal one's strength in the fastest and simplest way and earn the sect's attention."
"More importantly, it can earn the Divine Alliance's attention!"
"There are seven hundred newcomers who have come to the Spirit Sword Sect this time."
"If you want to stand out from those seven hundred people, you first have to dominate your courtyard. Only then can you reveal your brilliance more quickly!"
"And after the trial ends seven days from now, if you're truly outstanding, the Divine Alliance will naturally invite you to join."
"You understand now, right?"
That martial artist held his head high and spoke arrogantly.
"No wonder I heard that every year, half of the newcomers who arrive at the Spirit Sword Sect are already dead before the trial even begins. So they're trying to become famous." Lin Bai smiled faintly.
Xu Rui shouted angrily, "Brother Shangjie, stop wasting your breath on them."
"Destroy their dantians, then hand them over to me to deal with!"
Xu Rui said to Xu Shangjie.
Xu Shangjie nodded silently. "The two of them aren't worth my taking action."
"You go."
Xu Shangjie said to the group of martial artists behind him.