Incense smoke curled through the Council Hall.
Lei Qingyang stood on the platform, droning on at length about the finer details of the Grand Sect Tournament.
Chen Xian sat in the front row, fighting to stay awake.
Sure enough, whether in his past life or this one, leaders' speeches all sounded pretty much the same.
"Make steady progress, ensure strong and orderly implementation, coordinate and cooperate, work together to carry it out..."
Unable to listen any longer, he simply lowered his eyes and quieted his mind, summoning the System Panel in his thoughts.
[Realm: Dao Disciple, Sixth Level (Dogged Sword)]
[Lifespan: Two years and nine months]
[Technique: None (Original mortal skills folded > View)]
"Hm?"
Chen Xian's mind, worn out by half a month of intense cultivation, instantly snapped alert.
He remembered clearly: half a month ago, he had two years and seven months left to live. Now, not only had his lifespan failed to decrease, it had actually increased by two months?
"I've been drinking that Hundred Spirit Flower Fruit Tea every day, and lately I've also taken the blood-nourishing, meridian-protecting pills the Sect Master gave me. They really do seem to be working?"
Chen Xian mused to himself. The increase wasn't much, but it still made him happy. Who would complain about living longer?
His gaze shifted down. At some point, the skill field on the system panel had changed to [Technique: None].
Probably because those mortal skills were no longer worth mentioning, the system had folded them away.
"How could the Mystic Cloud Dao-Guiding Art not count as a cultivation technique?"
Chen Xian paused in surprise, then quickly understood.
Though the Dao-Guiding Art looked like a cultivation technique, it offered no means of improvement.
To cultivators, the Dao-Guiding Art was more like an instruction manual. It guided beginners onto the path best suited to them, then taught them how to turn Dao Qi into Dao Power.
It was the most basic theoretical knowledge of cultivation.
No matter how proficient you were in it, your speed at drawing Qi into your body would remain the same. Only your Root Bone could change your initial cultivation speed.
A true cultivation technique, on the other hand, involved transforming spells and using methods to control a sword and slay enemies.
For example, according to the rules of cultivation, one had to truly break through the third realm of a Dao Disciple—at least the seventh level—begin refining Dao Consciousness, and make contact with weapon control before becoming qualified to cultivate a true technique.
Take the Sword Control Technique he had been longing for. That was a real cultivation technique.
Projecting Dao Power and flicking a finger to knock down a bird didn't count!
"I need to break through to the third realm faster. This old man doesn't want to spend every day flicking his fingers to tease bugs and knock down birds."
Chen Xian took a sip of tea and grumbled inwardly.
Just then, Lei Qingyang abruptly changed the subject, as if tossing a bomb into the crowd.
"For this year's Grand Sect Tournament, the number of places for the Aristocratic Clans of Ask-Dao City will be increased to one hundred."
The moment he said this, the previously silent Council Hall erupted.
"One hundred? Wasn't it always fifty in previous years?"
"Doubled the places? The Sect Master's really opening the floodgates!"
The clan elders from the Yuan and Xie Families, seated below, beamed with joy, their breathing growing noticeably quicker.
Doubling the places meant that even clan disciples who hadn't previously met the threshold might now have a chance to enter the Xuanyun Sword Sect and cultivate.
Every additional cultivator in a clan gave it more influence in Ask-Dao City.
It was no small matter.
However, Lei Qingyang's next words left everyone in the hall stunned once more.
"Additionally, the sect will establish a Martial Dao Hall in the Outer Sect and recruit a batch of Outer Sect disciples who cultivate Martial Dao. If any of you have suggestions, you may bring them to me."
The Council Hall fell abruptly silent.
The Sword Peak Elder spoke first, his tone full of confusion. "Sect Master, mortal Martial Dao... is ultimately a lesser path."
"Skin and muscle tempering, inner and outer force—those people could train themselves to the death and reach Grandmaster, yet still only barely contend with a ninth-level Dao Master."
"The ceiling for Martial Dao is too low. If we take these martial artists into the sect, won't it lower the standing of our Sword Sect?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
In their eyes, mortal Martial Dao simply wasn't worth taking seriously.
Lei Qingyang remained calm, unmoved in the slightest. "This is the Saint Hall's order. The sect need only carry it out. If you have objections, you may bring them to me, and I will submit them to the Saint Hall."
At the words "Saint Hall," the entire hall fell silent. Every voice of doubt vanished like the receding tide.
Seated near the head of the hall, Chen Xian stirred slightly.
He had spent plenty of his spare time lately reading historical records, and had gained a basic understanding of the myriad races of the Boundless Continent.
The Saint Hall, made up of human Saints, was the supreme institution of the human race. It guided the vast ship of trillions of humans, driving it forward through the Boundless Continent's surging waves.
The Saint Hall oversaw two branches. One handled mortals: the Mortal Elder Pavilion. The other handled cultivators: the Dao-Guiding Hall.
He hadn't looked deeply into the Mortal Elder Pavilion, but he did know about the Dao-Guiding Hall.
That was because every sect's promotion and advancement was assessed by the Dao-Guiding Hall.
Thirty years ago, it was the Dao-Guiding Hall that assessed and approved the Mystic Cloud Sword Sect's promotion from the Mystic Cloud Sword Sect's predecessor, the Mystic Cloud Sword Sect's lower-ranked "Gate" status.
Today, the Xuanyun Sword Sect was still only ranked as a "Sect" by the Saint Hall's Dao-Guiding Hall.
If it performed great deeds in the future or improved its overall strength, the sect could apply for promotion to a Great Sect, a Heavenly Sect, or even a Holy Sect.
To Chen Xian, this system was much like the university rankings in his past life.
A vocational college advanced to a junior college, a junior college to a second-tier university, and a second-tier university to a first-tier one...
The Xuanyun Sword Sect was currently like a key junior college. Its Sword Path program was outstanding, but its programs in alchemy, artifact crafting, and the like were mediocre, not yet good enough to qualify as a comprehensive university.
Now the Ministry of Education—the Saint Hall—had ordered all the universities to accept students with athletic talents—disciples of Martial Dao. Naturally, the schools below wouldn't dare breathe a word of protest.
At least, the Xuanyun Sword Sect had no grounds to refuse.
So this was an announcement, not a request for opinions.
Establishing a new path of cultivation wasn't easy. The elders and stewards of the various peaks pondered how to implement it, while the clan elders considered whether there was any profit to be made. The meeting ended amid a complicated atmosphere.
The crowd filed out, but Chen Xian and Liu Yunshu were the only ones kept behind by a glance from Lei Qingyang.
The doors slammed shut. Only the three of them remained in the Council Hall.
Lei Qingyang's expression was grave, but he didn't speak at first.
He swept his sleeve, sending a surge of Dao Power straight toward the ceiling of the hall.
A rumble sounded overhead. Chen Xian looked up and only then noticed that the Council Hall's ceiling was actually a massive mirror Dao Artifact.
"Rise!"
Above them, an enormous bronze mirror carved with ancient thunder patterns slowly turned. Its surface rippled like water.
"Martial Uncle, Elder Liu, please look at the Heart-Reflecting Mirror."
With a point of Lei Qingyang's finger at empty air, the faces of those who had attended the meeting began appearing in the mirror.
The reflected light shifted. Most faces showed nothing unusual and swept past in an instant.
Suddenly, the mirror gave a faint hum, and the image froze.
The previously placid scene twisted in an instant. Several faces were fixed in the mirror, and a dense red glow flickered over them!
Framed by that dense red light, their once-kind and harmless faces looked twisted and sinister.
"Hmph. These poisonous vermin have been hiding deep."
Lei Qingyang looked at those faces and snorted.
"Elder Liu, memorize these people and investigate them in secret."
Chen Xian's eyes narrowed. One of the faces glowing red was not only someone he knew, but someone he knew very well!