Bright Sword Hall, Sword-Worshiping Stone

On this very day, the Wind Image Society where Fang Jiming resided, the Flying Smoke Society where Zhao Zheng and Qin Shu resided, and the Zhiyan Society where Du Xin resided arrived one after another.

They came for no other reason than to offer apologies to Yu Xiu and to verbally distance themselves from the likes of Fang Jiming, Zhao Zheng, and Du Xin.

"Fang Jiming is a man of extreme selfishness, favoring his own kin over the greater good. Our Wind Image Society has long since stripped him of his position as Inner Court president."

"We never expected that after a year, he would still dare to act so recklessly and harm his fellow disciples. Although this was his personal conduct, our Wind Image Society feels deep remorse!"

Having nothing else to offer, they presented Yu Xiu with one thousand contribution points.

"Zhao Zheng, Qin Shu, and the others are of crooked character. They colluded with Fang Jiming to harm their fellow disciples and were long ago expelled from our Flying Smoke Society. This is the fault of our society for failing to judge character correctly!"

They presented one thousand contribution points.

"Du Xin is a black sheep, a scourge to our community. He colluded with Fang Jiming in secret; our Zhiyan Society was completely unaware of this. It was purely his own personal behavior, and our Zhiyan Society will never shield such a devious person!"

The members of the Zhiyan Society were filled with righteous indignation and likewise presented one thousand contribution points.

After they left, a member of the Zhiyan Society asked in confusion, "President, why must we be so humble and offer apologies to this Senior Brother Yu, who is about to be promoted to the Main Sect?"

"It is true he is a genius, but one cannot be unreasonable. Besides, that was merely Du Xin's fault alone; what does it have to do with our Zhiyan Society?"

The president of the Zhiyan Society looked as if he had swallowed a dead fly. "If he were just an ordinary genius, it wouldn't matter to us whether he became one of the Ten Heroes or one of the Ten True Seeds after his promotion to the Main Sect."

"Experts of the Main Sect wouldn't bother making things difficult for us Inner Court disciples, nor could they reach us; the sect would never allow it."

"But as it happens, the place he is most likely going to is Dragon-Slaying Peak, the enforcer of the sect's laws. Perhaps he cannot control the people of the Main Sect yet, but can he control the Inner Court?"

"Can you guarantee you won't make a small mistake in the Inner Court in the future?"

"If he doesn't care, will the Law Enforcement Hall of the Inner Court care?"

"Do you think there is a record in the Inner Court's Law Enforcement Hall of the stupid things that dog Du Xin did?"

"If this Senior Brother Yu just says one word, any future business involving the Zhiyan Society will be handled strictly by the book. He wouldn't even need to show his face; the Law Enforcement Hall of the Inner Court alone would be enough to make our Zhiyan Society suffer!"

"You might send this gift and he might not remember it, but if you don't send it, he will certainly remember!"

The Zhiyan Society disciple grew more terrified as he listened, his back soaked in cold sweat before he even realized it. Who among the two Inner Courts did not know the reputation of the Law Enforcement Hall?

Who didn't make small mistakes?

He didn't know about others, but speaking for himself, he had gained quite a few benefits from newly arrived Inner Court disciples!

It wasn't that he forced them; it was that they insisted on giving, and the point was, he had taken them!

Usually, the Law Enforcement Hall wouldn't bother with such things, but that didn't mean they couldn't!

No wonder the presidents of the Wind Image Society and the Flying Smoke Society ran faster than our own president to offer their apologies!

They were afraid!

"Flying Smoke Society, Zhiyan Society, Wind Image Society." Yu Xiu shook his head to himself. "Am I really the type of person to hold a grudge for such petty things?"

He put away the identity token that now held an extra three thousand contribution points.

Hmm, he should also go tell the Law Enforcement Hall of the Inner Court, just to save the brothers there from having to go out of their way to trouble those people later!

Then again, entering Dragon-Slaying Peak was actually quite nice!

Having collected three thousand contribution points here, and with a few spiritual items still in his possession that could likely be traded for another two or three thousand, it would be enough to keep him cultivating for a while after he entered the Main Sect.

He sat down on the spot and began to refine the medicinal pills to improve his cultivation.

At present, his realm had reached the Great Perfection of the Five Viscera Realm, the first of the Four Great Passes, but his true qi cultivation was still stuck at the second stage of the Five Viscera Realm.

This was unavoidable. His comprehension was too high; he had mastered the cultivation techniques of the Five Viscera Realm in half a day, but the accumulation of cultivation required time and could not be rushed.

He estimated that by refining pills every day to accumulate true qi, it would take about a month for his cultivation to catch up to his realm.

"How to resolve the pill toxins?" Yu Xiu fell into deep thought.

Others could sustain five days of cultivation with one Five Viscera Treasure Light Pill, while he consumed nearly one per day. If he kept eating them like this, Yu Xiu would not believe there was no accumulation of pill toxins.

There were generally three ways to purge pill toxins.

The most common method was to rely on true qi to refine them and forcibly expel them from the body. This method was the slowest and the most time-consuming.

Because sword cultivation techniques excelled in slaughter but were poor at detoxifying and healing, the efficiency was extremely low.

The second method was to practice certain detoxification or purging secret techniques. This method was excellent but quite troublesome, as it required an understanding of pharmacology and the properties of various medicines to create targeted solutions, thus making it highly efficient and fast.

The third method was to use the life force within the Life Spring to counter-consume the pill toxins. To put it bluntly, it was using one's life to forcefully confront the toxins. It was the fastest method and always effective, but its drawback was the most obvious: it cost life.

Yu Xiu did not think for long before making his choice.

What was there to worry about? Let my two thousand eight hundred years of lifespan worry about that!

He moved his Sword Heart to illuminate his own body, detecting where the pill toxins resided. Whenever he saw even a trace of pill toxin, the surging life force within his Life Spring would rush out and devour it.

As for the minor consumption of life force, Yu Xiu didn't even take it into account.

After a careful final check, Yu Xiu realized that consuming all the pill toxins had cost him about two months of his lifespan.

This little bit of consumption was not even as much as the lifespan required to practice a basic technique; he could do this every day without any concern.

The next day.

When Yu Xiu stepped out of the Bamboo Cottage, preparing to head to the Bright Sword Hall, he discovered that the Inner Court was unusually boisterous today.

He heard someone say, "Zhu Wenjiu, Feng Zhiyuan, and Zhang Yundu are heading to the Bright Sword Hall to choose their peaks; let's go take a look."

"Those three are top-tier geniuses. They cleared the Four Great Passes in just three years, crossing from the Outer to the Inner Court; their performance will surely be extraordinary."

"Heh, everyone is just going to look for patterns and gain experience from them, don't give me that flowery talk!"

So the three of them are choosing their peaks today too? Yu Xiu thought it was quite a coincidence.

However, he did not need to choose a peak; having already cultivated the Dragon-Slaying Evil-Purging Sword, he already belonged to Dragon-Slaying Peak.

By the time he reached the Bright Sword Hall halfway up the mountain, he saw that the place was nearly packed with Inner Court disciples.

Fortunately, he was here to be promoted to the Main Sect, so he did not use the same entrance as those Inner Court disciples who were just there to gawk.

There were only five or six disciples ahead of him, and the three most eye-catching among them were precisely Zhu Wenjiu, Feng Zhiyuan, and Zhang Yundu.

Feng Zhiyuan had a round face and looked a bit chubby, appearing the most amiable.

Zhang Yundu was tall and thin, while Zhu Wenjiu, despite his young age, was unkempt, with stubble already sprouting on his chin, making him look the most mature.

The other three, two women and one man, were unknown to him.

After waiting for a while, five deacons strolled out of the Bright Sword Hall, each representing one of the sect's five main peaks: the two main peaks of the Sword-in-Hand lineage, Powang Peak and Jinding Peak, as well as Dragon-Slaying Peak, the Sect Master's own Tianque Peak, and Wen Dao Peak, which specialized in the techniques and sword arts of the Sword-in-Hand lineage.

The deacon from Tianque Peak took out a roster and looked at the young female disciple at the front of the line: "Meng Ruizhu, step forward."

He pointed to a bronze mirror as tall as a person, signaling for Meng Ruizhu to approach.

Meng Ruizhu bowed and stood before the bronze mirror as instructed, and as the mirror began to glow, a trace of spiritual essence seemed to drift from her body and merge into the glass.

Before long, mountains, rivers, and water veins appeared on the bronze mirror, along with countless demons, and another version of Meng Ruizhu appeared, battling the demons within the scene.

The image did not vanish until the Meng Ruizhu inside the mirror dissipated, yet the countless demons remained endless. The scene faded, and characters appeared on the surface of the bronze mirror.

'Five Viscera Realm demons slain: 16'

'True Qi (Grade C-Middle)'

'Sword Art (Grade C-Low)'

The image on the bronze mirror shifted again, revealing the Sword-Worshiping Stone, and another Meng Ruizhu appeared alongside it.

She stood before the Sword-Worshiping Stone for a long time before finally swinging her sword, at which point the image vanished.

The bronze mirror displayed new text.

'Under the Sword-Worshiping Stone, comprehended one sword strike, comparable to the power of ordinary Life Spring sword arts'

'Comprehension (Grade C-Low)'