Sword Seed

Li Gan followed his master, Zhou Buping, to the plaza outside the Divine Sword Hall.

So many people.

This was the first time he had seen so many people from the inner sect.

Anyone who could appear here was at least an official disciple.

Just from this massive crowd of thousands, one could see the strength of the Divine Sword Sect.

After all, it was a martial arts sect that shook three provinces and twelve counties.

The number of menial disciples recruited every year was enormous. He remembered that in the batch he entered with, there were nearly two or three thousand menial disciples.

Given the sheer scale of the Divine Sword Sect, these thousands of inner disciples, elders, true disciples, and peak masters were all full-time martial practitioners. Their daily needs—food, clothing, housing, and transportation—all required menial disciples to attend to them.

Li Gan estimated that there were no fewer than ten thousand menial disciples in the entire Divine Sword Sect.

"Follow me."

Zhou Buping led Li Gan toward the front of the Divine Sword Hall.

"Old Ghost Zhou, is this your disciple? He's quite young."

A fat old man looked Li Gan up and down.

The other elders and peak masters of the Divine Sword Sect were equally curious; after all, Zhou Buping's standards for taking on a disciple were absurd.

Practicing Sword Piercing Fist to perfection.

Which inner disciple would ever do that?

Once an official disciple entered the inner sect, they would immediately begin practicing an internal cultivation technique; no one would waste time on the basic Sword Piercing Fist.

Let alone practicing it to perfection.

Martial cultivation was, in itself, a race against time.

Once a golden window of opportunity was missed, it became incredibly difficult to overcome the resulting bottlenecks.

Zhou Buping had been guarding Yanmen Valley, hoping to pick a piece of unpolished jade from a pile of gravel—the menial disciples.

Had he actually succeeded?

However, no one questioned whether Li Gan was qualified to participate in the true disciple selection.

Zhou Buping was a senior elder of the Divine Sword Sect; he certainly wouldn't fake anything.

Moreover, it was impossible to fake.

Without reaching a certain level of cultivation and sword mastery, one does not even have the qualifications to enter the Sword Grinding Cave. Forcing one's way in would only result in a backlash from the aura permeating within.

When Li Gan stood alongside the dozen or so inner disciples participating in the true disciple selection, he immediately drew the attention of many.

First, those dozen inner disciples were already prominent figures among the inner sect—outstanding individuals with great renown.

Yet, Li Gan had no reputation whatsoever.

In fact, no one even recognized him.

"This junior brother, why do you look so unfamiliar?"

A young man in black first rubbed his smooth, bald head, looking at Li Gan with great curiosity.

"Senior brother, your aura is far too dazzling; naturally, you wouldn't notice my existence."

Li Gan replied.

"Junior brother, you speak quite interestingly. My name is Pang Bai, from Wuqu Peak."

"Li Gan."

Li Gan said.

The other disciples merely glanced at Li Gan and said nothing.

However, the bald, black-clad youth Pang Bai was quite the chatterbox.

Down in the crowd, several inner disciples who had previously gone on an escort mission with Li Gan all recognized him.

"Look, isn't that Junior Brother Li?"

"It really seems to be Junior Brother Li. Why is he up there?"

Wang Xiangyu widened his eyes.

"It seems we all underestimated this Junior Brother Li."

Liu Hui sighed.

"How is it that I've never heard of Junior Brother Li within the inner sect?"

Ji Su of Yuping Peak wore a look of confusion on her pretty face.

To be qualified to participate in the true disciple selection, one must be a prominent figure in the inner sect; how could he have remained unknown all this time?

"Since everyone has arrived, let us begin."

The Divine Sword Sect Master spoke.

With a slight tremor, the doors of a building next to the Divine Sword Hall slowly creaked open.

That was the True Disciple Hall.

The entire True Disciple Hall was built against the face of a steep cliff.

"True disciples are inside to guide you. All of you, go in."

The Peak Master of the Divine Sword Sect looked at the nineteen inner disciples participating in the true disciple selection.

Soon, the nineteen inner disciples, including Li Gan, arrived before the True Disciple Hall and walked inside.

Inside the True Disciple Hall, the space was quite large, and ten figures stood there.

Each person's aura was formidable.

They wore various masks.

These were the true disciples of the Divine Sword Sect.

There were ten true disciples in total.

Originally, there had been twelve.

However, two true disciples had reached the age limit and had transitioned into elders.

The status of a true disciple was not permanent; once a certain age was reached, the status was automatically forfeited.

This was to make room for those who came after.

If a peak master or even the sect master were to step down during a true disciple's tenure, the most senior true disciple would take over the position.

Therefore, the power transition among the upper echelons of the Divine Sword Sect was often quite smooth and stable.

"Junior brothers, before you enter the Sword Grinding Cave, I have a few special reminders. If you cannot withstand the pressure, you must retreat in time; do not force yourselves. When competing for a sword seed, it is strictly forbidden to kill your fellow disciples. Otherwise, you will be disqualified from the true disciple selection and face punishment according to sect rules. Additionally, there are murals within the Sword Grinding Cave that contain profound mysteries. Even if you cannot compete for a sword seed, you may seek out a suitable mural to contemplate; you might find unexpected gains. Of course, there is a time limit: you must leave the Sword Grinding Cave before nightfall. Finally, damaging the murals is prohibited. Otherwise, we true disciples have the right to execute you inside the Sword Grinding Cave."

The leading true disciple, who wore a mask, spoke up.

The inner disciples present were naturally aware of the situation inside the Sword Grinding Cave.

Some inner disciples who believed they had no chance of competing for a true disciple spot actually had the intention of contemplating the murals in the cave.

Led by the ten true disciples, they brought the many inner disciples through a door into a deep, dim corridor, where night-luminescent pearls embedded in the ceiling provided faint light.

At the end of the corridor stood a wide stone gate.

The three mottled characters "Sword Grinding Cave" were carved into the stone gate, looking as though they had been there for many years.

"This is the Sword Grinding Cave. Go in."

The lead true disciple spoke.

Following that, the nineteen of them filed in one by one.

The moment they stepped into the sword grinding cave, everyone felt an invisible pressure permeating the entire cavern.

"Is this sword intent?"

Li Gan felt as if a heavy stone were pressing against his chest.

Immediately after, his own heartless sword intent began to stir, as if triggered by something.

He couldn't help but look toward the depths of the sword grinding cave.

That peculiar attraction seemed to originate from within.

The sensation was quite strange.

Could it be the sword seed that Master spoke of?

Li Gan thought to himself.

According to Zhou Buping, the sword seeds were extremely unique. They were a total of twelve pieces obtained by the founding patriarch of the divine sword sect from the sword grinding cave. It was said that once a sword practitioner carried one, they could use the sword seed to cultivate within the sword grinding cave, which would greatly accelerate their comprehension of sword intent—reportedly allowing one to advance by leaps and bounds.

In particular, for those who had not yet comprehended sword intent, using a sword seed would allow them to easily grasp it by using their own secret technique as a core.

This seemed to have a similar effect to the tolling of the chen bell.

For Li Gan, the effects provided by the sword seeds and the sword grinding cave held little attraction.

Furthermore, now that he had become a true disciple, he would have to live in the true disciple hall and cultivate in the sword grinding cave year after year.

He would no longer be able to ring the bell to refine his artifacts.

The other eighteen inner disciples felt that invisible attraction almost simultaneously and immediately pushed against the omnipresent pressure within the sword grinding cave, rushing toward the depths.

Li Gan did not follow them. Instead, he looked at the cave walls on both sides.

He was searching for the mural that his master, Zhou Buping, had described.