Sword Seed

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

So many people.

This was the first time he had seen so many people from the Inner Sect gathered in one place.

Anyone who could appear here was at least an Official Disciple.

The sheer size of the crowd, numbering in the thousands, showed just how powerful the Divine Sword Sect was.

After all, it was a mighty martial sect that shook the Three Provinces and Twelve Commanderies.

The number of Menial Disciples it recruited each year was enormous. He remembered that his own cohort had numbered two or three thousand.

The Divine Sword Sect was simply too vast. These thousands of Inner Disciples, elders, True Disciples, Peak Masters, and others were all full-time martial cultivators. Menial Disciples had to handle every aspect of their daily lives, from food and clothing to housing and travel.

Li Gan estimated that the Divine Sword Sect had no fewer than ten thousand Menial Disciples.

"Come with me."

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

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

The portly old man looked Li Gan up and down.

The other elders and Peak Masters of the Divine Sword Sect were just as curious. After all, Zhou Buping's standards for accepting disciples were absurd.

They had to master Sword Piercing Fist.

Which Inner Disciple would do that?

After Official Disciples entered the Inner Sect, they went straight to cultivating the Internal Cultivation Technique. No one would practice the basic fist technique, Sword Piercing Fist.

Much less master it.

Martial cultivation was a race against time.

Once you missed the best golden window, it became extremely difficult to break through that bottleneck.

Zhou Buping had stayed in Yanmen Valley, hoping to find an uncut jade among the rubble of the Menial Disciples.

Had he succeeded?

Still, no one questioned whether Li Gan was qualified to take part in the True Disciple Selection.

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

Besides, it wouldn't even be possible to fake it.

Without a certain level of Cultivation Base and swordsmanship, one wasn't even qualified to enter the Sword Grinding Cave. Forcing one's way inside would only invite backlash from the aura permeating it.

When Li Gan stood beside the dozen or so Inner Disciples participating in the True Disciple Selection, he immediately attracted a lot of attention.

First were the dozen or so Inner Disciples. They were already major figures among their peers, outstanding and renowned throughout the Inner Sect.

Yet Li Gan was completely unknown.

No one even recognized him.

"Junior Brother, why do you look so unfamiliar?"

A black-clad young man first rubbed his smooth, bald head, then looked at Li Gan with great curiosity.

"Senior Brother, the halo around you shines so brightly that of course you can't see me."

Li Gan replied.

"You've got a way with words, Junior Brother. I'm Pang Bai, from Wuqu Peak."

"Li Gan,"

Li Gan said.

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

But Pang Bai, the bald young man in black, was quite the chatterbox.

Among the crowd below, several Inner Disciples who had escorted a mission with Li Gan last time recognized him.

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

"It really does look like Junior Brother Li. What's he doing up there?"

Wang Xiangyu's eyes widened.

"Seems we all underestimated Junior Brother Li."

Liu Hui sighed.

"How come I've never heard of Junior Brother Li in the Inner Sect?"

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

Anyone qualified to participate in the True Disciple Selection had to be a prominent figure in the Inner Sect. How could he have remained unknown all this time?

"Since everyone's here, let's begin."

The Divine Sword Sect Master spoke.

With a faint rumble, the doors of a building beside Divine Sword Hall slowly swung open.

It was the True Disciple Hall.

The entire True Disciple Hall had been built against a sheer cliff face.

"True Disciples inside will guide you. Go in."

The Divine Sword Sect Master looked at the nineteen Inner Disciples taking part in the True Disciple Selection.

Before long, the nineteen Inner Disciples, Li Gan among them, reached the True Disciple Hall and walked inside.

The True Disciple Hall was spacious. Ten figures stood within.

Each radiated a powerful aura.

They wore all kinds of masks.

They were the Divine Sword Sect's True Disciples.

There were ten of them in all.

Originally, there had been twelve.

But two True Disciples had reached the age limit and become elders.

The status of True Disciple wasn't permanent. Once they reached a certain age, they automatically lost it.

This was to make way for those who came after them.

If a Peak Master or even the Sect Leader stepped down while a True Disciple was serving, the most senior True Disciple would take over.

Thus, the transfer of power among the Divine Sword Sect's upper ranks was usually smooth and orderly.

"Junior Brothers, before entering the Sword Grinding Cave, I have a few important reminders. If you can't endure it, withdraw at once. Do not force yourselves. When competing for the Sword Seeds, killing fellow disciples is strictly forbidden. Anyone who does so will be disqualified from the True Disciple Selection and punished under the sect rules. There are also murals inside the Sword Grinding Cave that contain profound mysteries. Even if you can't compete for a Sword Seed, you can still seek out a suitable mural to study. You may find an unexpected reward. Of course, there is a time limit: you must leave the Sword Grinding Cave before nightfall. Lastly, damaging the murals is forbidden. If you do, we True Disciples have the authority to execute you inside the cave."

The masked True Disciple at the head of the group spoke.

The Inner Disciples present already knew about the Sword Grinding Cave.

Some Inner Disciples who believed they had no chance of earning a True Disciple spot had also hoped to study the murals inside.

Led by the ten True Disciples, the Inner Disciples entered a doorway. Beyond it lay a long, shadowy corridor, its ceiling studded with night pearls that cast a dim light.

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

Three mottled characters, "Sword Grinding Cave," had been carved into it. They looked ancient.

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

the leading True Disciple said.

The nineteen filed inside.

The moment they stepped into the Sword Grinding Cave, they all felt an invisible pressure filling the cavern.

"Is this sword intent?"

Li Gan felt as if a stone were pressing down on his chest.

At the same time, his own Heartless Sword Intent stirred, as though something had roused it.

He couldn't help looking toward the depths of the Sword Grinding Cave.

That strange pull seemed to come from within.

It was a peculiar sensation.

Could this be the Sword Seed my master mentioned?

Li Gan wondered.

According to Zhou Buping, the Sword Seeds were extraordinarily strange. The Founding Patriarch of the Divine Sword Sect had obtained twelve of them from the Sword Grinding Cave. It was said that sword cultivators who carried a Sword Seed could use it to cultivate inside the cave, greatly accelerating their understanding of sword intent. Their progress could supposedly be as fast as a thousand miles in a day.

In particular, someone who hadn't grasped sword intent could use the Secret Technique they had comprehended as its core and easily develop sword intent with the help of a Sword Seed.

This seemed to have the same wondrous effect as the tolling of the Chen Bell.

The Sword Seed and the Sword Grinding Cave held little appeal for Li Gan.

Besides, after becoming a True Disciple, he would have to live in the True Disciple Hall and cultivate in the Sword Grinding Cave year after year.

He wouldn't be able to strike the bell and offer Sacrificial Tools anymore.

The other eighteen Inner Disciples all felt that invisible pull almost at the same time. They immediately braced against the omnipresent pressure in the Sword Grinding Cave and rushed toward its depths.

Li Gan didn't follow. Instead, he studied the cave walls on either side.

He searched for the mural his master, Zhou Buping, had mentioned.