Baishui Town Branch.
Chen Xuan sat in the study, holding the secret letter Zhao Yuanshan had sent over.
There was not a single word on the envelope, but its seal bore Guiyuan Sect's distinctive wax stamp: a crane spreading its wings in flight, lifelike enough that no one could forge it.
Chen Xuan tore open the seal and drew out the letter.
There was only one sheet, densely covered in tiny writing. He read it from beginning to end, and his brows gradually furrowed.
This Inner Disciple assessment mission had not been issued by the Guiyuan Sect Main Headquarters, but had come from Tiannan Prefecture City.
After an external disciple applied to the main headquarters for promotion to Inner Disciple, the specific mission could be issued either by the main headquarters or by the prefectural branch where the external disciple was stationed.
Chen Xuan's Inner Disciple assessment mission was the latter.
"Joining the siege against the Seven Kill Sect?"
Chen Xuan quietly read the contents of the letter aloud, a trace of gravity flashing through his eyes.
His inner sect assessment mission was actually to take part in the siege against the Seven Kill Sect.
The Seven Kill Sect.
When Chen Xuan had attended the auction in the prefectural city, he had encountered the Seven Kill Sect's attempt to seize the Seven Kill Sword. They had then massacred the Treasure Pavilion, causing no small commotion.
Yet the disturbance the Seven Kill Sect had caused, as described in the secret letter, was even greater.
Not long ago, the Seven Kill Sect had breached a small city called Fenglin City and set up a Blood Sacrifice Array within it.
Fenglin City lay in the southwest of Tiannan Prefecture. Though it was no great city, it still had a population of fifty or sixty thousand.
If it were blood-sacrificed, it would be a catastrophe beyond all human misery.
Fifty or sixty thousand innocent civilians would all become nourishment for the Blood Sacrifice Array, and the entire city would turn into a land of death.
At present, Fenglin City had been sealed off by the Blood Sacrifice Array. Combined with its remote location, the news had not yet spread.
However, after the Seven Kill Sect had appeared in the prefectural city, the spies of the Three Great Sects there had continuously tracked their movements. They had thus quickly uncovered this information.
The Three Great Sects were enraged.
What the Seven Kill Sect had done was not merely a provocation against the authority of the Three Great Sects—it was also trampling upon the bottom line of the martial world.
A blood sacrifice to slaughter an entire city.
How many years had it been since such a thing last happened?
Even during the years when the former dynasty had only just fallen and the realm lay in chaos, no power had dared to blood-sacrifice every last commoner in a city.
Fifty or sixty thousand lives were not numbers. They were living, breathing people.
According to the secret letter, the Seven Kill Sect's Blood Sacrifice Array had only recently been completed. Many of the sect's members were still inside the city, while the vice sect leader sat at the Formation Eye with the Seven Kill Sword in hand.
The elders of the Three Great Sects stationed in Tiannan Prefecture City decided to join forces and besiege the Seven Kill Sect before its many members could leave.
Time was pressing. There was certainly no time to summon reinforcements from the main headquarters, so the elders stationed in the prefectural city would lead the operation, drawing a number of disciples from the surrounding cities to enter Fenglin City, kill the remaining Seven Kill Sect scum, and reclaim the Seven Kill Sword.
Chen Xuan's assessment mission was to participate in this siege. As long as he killed one Zhuqi Realm member of the Seven Kill Sect, he would pass the assessment.
If he accepted this mission, he had to reach Fenglin City within three days. Failing to arrive within the allotted time would count as abandoning it.
"Reach it within three days!"
Chen Xuan immediately put away the secret letter and ordered someone to prepare a fast horse.
With his strength, killing a Zhuqi Realm member of the Seven Kill Sect for this assessment mission would pose no difficulty.
Therefore, abandoning the assessment mission was out of the question.
As long as he became an Inner Disciple, he would be able to cultivate Divine Arts.
Besides that, there were other privileges.
For instance, he could exchange silver for Guiyuan Sect merit and use it to trade for various cultivation resources.
Chen Xuan possessed Dawn-Dusk Points. He could gain a year's worth of cultivation every day, so he had no need for resources that increased cultivation. However, he could use Merit Points to exchange for resources that improved bone aptitude.
His current bone aptitude was merely Above-Average Bone Aptitude.
Above that lay Superior Bone Aptitude, and then Transcendent Bone Aptitude. The heavenly treasures that could raise Above-Average Bone Aptitude to Superior Bone Aptitude could only be exchanged for after becoming an Inner Disciple.
Before long.
The people below had prepared a fast horse.
Chen Xuan changed into a clean set of clothes and walked out of the study.
In the courtyard, Wan Guiyun was practicing his swordsmanship.
He held a new treasured sword in his hand. Its gleam flowed like a bolt of silk, at times like a falling meteor striking the earth, at times like a spirit serpent leaving its burrow. His sword force was fierce, and his moves exquisite.
Chen Xuan watched for a while.
Wan Guiyun's swordsmanship was indeed exquisite. Every stance and every move had reached the perfected realm, without the slightest hitch when he attacked.
Yet Chen Xuan always felt that Wan Guiyuan's swordsmanship lacked something.
That something was killing intent.
Not the vicious, savage kind of killing intent, but the kind that pressed forward without turning back, the kind that declared, "Who else but me?" Wan Guiyun's swordsmanship was more like a performance than a fight to the death.
"True Qi!"
Chen Xuan's thoughts stirred.
The swordsmanship Wan Guiyun displayed contained fluctuations of True Qi, making his sword moves even sharper.
The other man had broken through to the Zhuqi Realm.
Although Wan Guiyun's swordsmanship lacked killing intent, his True Qi was incomparably sharp, carrying a terrifying edge that could pierce through anything.
Sword Qi, sharp enough to pierce through anything.
This was the True Qi characteristic of the cultivation method Wan Guiyun practiced.
With the trait of piercing through anything, regardless of what swordsmanship he used—ordinary swordsmanship or Superior Sword Technique alike—its power would be greatly enhanced.
If Chen Xuan mastered True Qi with the trait of piercing through anything, then when he used the Nine Shadow Killing Sword, even at the same proficient level, the power it unleashed would certainly surpass what it could achieve when driven by Vajra True Qi.
Vajra True Qi was more suited for defense.
"Branch Leader Chen."
Seeing Chen Xuan emerge, Wan Guiyun sheathed his sword, stood upright, and cupped his hands in salute.
"Your swordsmanship is not bad." Chen Xuan nodded. "But it lacks killing intent."
Wan Guiyun froze for a moment, then gave a bitter smile. "Branch Leader Chen is right. I cultivated at Ten Thousand Sword Villa for ten years. Among my peers, no one could rival me, but those were all contests that stopped at the proper point. I have never truly fought a battle of life and death."
"Then go out and see more of the world." Chen Xuan said blandly, "Tiannan Prefecture may not have much else, but it has plenty of opportunities for life-and-death battles."
Wan Guiyun nodded thoughtfully.
"Interested in sparring?"
Chen Xuan suddenly asked.
"Sparring?"
Wan Guiyun was startled, then a glint of light flashed in his eyes.
His coming to Baishui Town had ostensibly been arranged by the villa master, but deep down, he had not lacked the thought of challenging Chen Xuan again.
During their previous spar, Chen Xuan had caught his Ultimate Sword Art sword move with two fingers, leaving him utterly convinced by his defeat. But that had been back in the Body Tempering Realm, and he had always wanted to win back his face.
However, after seeing Chen Xuan kill Liu Feng, a Blood Fiend Devil Sect disciple at the Qi Casting Realm Third Layer, with a single sword strike, the thought of challenging him had once more died away.
Now that Chen Xuan had taken the initiative to suggest a spar, the fighting spirit in his heart flared up again. He had broken through to the Zhuqi Realm, and the Ultimate Art cultivation method he practiced, the Taibai Sword Scripture, could now begin to display its power. He also possessed the Ultimate Art martial skill, the One Origin Sword Art.
He truly wanted to see just how great the gap between himself and Chen Xuan still was.
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