A Single Hammer Settles the Matter

The journey back was even more leisurely. When they had come, Ye Wan had still been in a sulk, but now her face was radiant with spring. Qin Ziyan, on the other hand, had begun to look gloomy. There was no need to guess—she was surely thinking about the scolding she would receive upon returning.

"Ziyan, you needn't worry. Once we return, I'll explain the reasons to the Sword-Imperial Pavilion and say that you accompanied the two of us down the mountain on the Vice Sect Master's orders to carry out a mission," Ye Wan said.

"Ah? Really?" Qin Ziyan was instantly overjoyed. But why was Ye Wan helping her? She had long noticed that there was something unclear between Ye Wan and Chen Fan. With a woman's intuition, Ye Wan should surely have sensed some of her feelings as well. Puzzled, she asked, "If Senior Sister says that, won't it arouse the suspicions of the sect elders? What if they really go ask the Vice Sect Master to confirm it?"

"Just rest easy. I know what I'm doing," Ye Wan said, too lazy to explain herself to the girl.

Qin Ziyan could only accept this helplessly. Still, she increasingly felt that something was off about their trip to Black Dragon Pool. Yet she understood that, because of her status, many matters were not things she ought to know.

The three continued sightseeing all the way, spending the night in a picturesque gorge. Though they had not deliberately hurried, with the speed of their feet, they still arrived at the foot of Swordcry Mountain before noon on the second day.

The guards at the lower mountain gate were now completely different from the sect's former tight defenses. There were only a scattered few. Chen Fan and the other two found it somewhat strange. Even if the affair with the black-clad men had passed, surely they would not withdraw the defenses so quickly? If someone with ill intent took advantage of the gap and slipped in, that would be troublesome.

Seeing Chen Fan's group approach, four disciples immediately gathered around them. All four were in their early twenties, and their cultivation did not seem high. They were likely merely junior disciples of the inner court.

"Senior Sister Ye!"

"Junior Sister Qin!"

Two of the disciples instantly recognized the two women.

Ye Wan hurriedly asked, "Why are the few of you guarding the gate? Where did everyone else go?" Clearly, she believed that with their cultivation, they were wholly unqualified to serve as gate guards.

The few disciples looked embarrassed as well and said helplessly, "Does Senior Sister Ye not know? Today is the inner court selection trial for outer court disciples. It's considered one of the sect's major events. Most Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters have gone to watch the excitement. There was no choice but to leave the few of us here..."

This was bad! Chen Fan was startled. The outer court had indeed announced the specific date of the inner court selection some time ago, but he had been sent by Liu Wushuang to Black Dragon Pool and had paid it no mind. He had never expected it to be today.

Ye Wan and Qin Ziyan both looked toward Chen Fan. Seeing his blank expression, they knew that this fellow had certainly forgotten.

Ye Wan quickly asked again, "Do you know the current state of the trials? Have they already ended?"

"The trials began early in the morning. By now, they should be nearly over. What is it? Does Senior Sister want to go watch too?" one disciple replied.

"Hurry!" Ye Wan cried, then entered the mountain gate directly. Qin Ziyan followed. Chen Fan tossed the outer court token issued when he had descended the mountain to one disciple and rushed into the gate as well. The three then used all their strength to ascend the mountain.

Before long, the three reached the mountain. Without caring whether their Internal Qi had recovered from the expenditure, they continued racing toward the outer court. The moment Chen Fan drew close, he saw the dense black mass of people surrounding the martial arts arena ahead.

It looked like it was not over yet, and Chen Fan felt slightly relieved. He had previously learned the rules of this selection from the outer court elders. They were actually very simple. Any disciple who believed they had the strength to enter the inner court could step into the martial arts arena and accept challenges from others. If victorious, they could remain in the arena until they were defeated. The winning challenger could replace the previous person in the arena and continue accepting challenges, until no one else stepped forward to challenge them. Put plainly, it was a simple arena tournament. The only difference was that every battle took place under the outer court elders' supervision. No one was allowed to seriously injure or kill an opponent without cause. Moreover, one did not necessarily need to hold out until the end or win many matches to pass. So long as one displayed their strength in battle and caught the inner court's eye, there would be a chance to enter it.

Even so, there were many outer court disciples, and most were only watching at the moment. Everyone knew how high the threshold for entering the inner court was, so they at least possessed that much self-awareness.

As Chen Fan and the other two entered the crowd, he saw that not only had several hundred outer court disciples gathered beside the martial arts arena, but there were also no fewer than a hundred disciples wearing inner court robes on the other side. Before them stood three chairs, occupied by three elderly men. Chen Fan gave them a brief look and discovered that the man in the center was Steward Liu of Swordheart Hall. The other two were stewards from the other two palaces responsible for outer court selection: Steward Xu of the Sword-Imperial Pavilion and Steward Zhang of Soaring Heavens Palace. Chen Fan did not recognize the latter two. In terms of reputation and cultivation, all three were figures second only to the elders of the three palaces. There was naturally no question about having them serve as judges.

After entering the crowd, the three split up. Ye Wan and Qin Ziyan went over to the inner court disciples, while Chen Fan headed into the crowd of outer court disciples. Before long, he spotted a familiar figure.

"Senior Brother Murong!"

A young man turned at the call and said anxiously, "Junior Brother Chen, you've finally come! If you had come any later, something truly important would have been delayed."

Chen Fan walked to Murong Zhu's side and saw those disciples with whom he usually sparred and had good relations. They all nodded to him in greeting, their faces revealing a measure of envy. Clearly, they had all witnessed Chen Fan's strength and believed his chances of being selected were great. When they had not seen him arrive earlier, they worried that he had forgotten the time. Now that he had appeared only at the final moment, they assumed he must be brimming with confidence and ready to settle the matter with a single hammer blow.

How could they know that Chen Fan had merely arrived at exactly the right time? At that moment, a young man stood in the martial arts arena. He was of average build, yet held an enormous heavy sword, its tip braced against the ground. It was clearly extraordinarily heavy, not something an ordinary person could wield with ease. This person's Internal Qi cultivation appeared far from weak. Yet no one was stepping forward to challenge him.

"Junior Brother Chen, you came at just the right time. Why not go up and test yourself against this fellow?" Murong Zhu said to Chen Fan.

Chen Fan shook his head. After rushing here all the way, his breathing had not even stabilized. Besides, he still wanted to observe the situation first.

Seeing that Chen Fan had no intention of making a move, Murong Zhu introduced him. "This man is called Wu De. He entered the outer court twelve years ago, and his brute strength is astonishing. The two disciples who fought him just now were both sent flying straight out of the arena by the flat of his sword."

While Murong Zhu spoke, a disciple below the arena leaped into the field and cupped his hands in salute. It seemed he intended to challenge Wu De. Yet just after the challenger finished announcing his name, a massive sword shadow came crashing toward him. Before he could react, the sword shadow struck him. Fortunately, it had been the flat of the giant sword rather than its edge. Otherwise, he might have been split in two. After being slapped out of the arena, the man cast a resentful glance at the young man in the field before leaving directly.

This Wu De truly had no martial virtue at all! Chen Fan secretly sighed. If he had gone up just now, would he have met the same end? If that happened, he would not even have had a chance to display his strength. How could he possibly enter the inner court?

Those who went up afterward would likely have to weigh their options carefully. With this fellow here, the threshold for stepping into the arena had invisibly risen once more.

"Could it be that Senior Brother Murong has no interest in the inner court selection?" Chen Fan asked curiously.

He believed that Murong Zhu's strength ranked above average among the outer court disciples. If his luck was good, he might have had a chance.

"You needn't tell me that. I stepped into the arena long before you arrived," Murong Zhu said with a faint smile. He was quite open about it. He had already competed, so even if he was not selected, he had no regrets.

"Oh? How did it go?" Chen Fan grew even more curious.

"Not bad, I suppose. Before Wu De, eight people had held the arena. They defended it for differing numbers of rounds, but all displayed their own strength. I was fortunate enough to challenge the sixth arena holder after he had fought three consecutive matches and lacked sufficient Internal Qi, knocking him from the arena. Afterward, I held through one round of challenges, but in the next round, I was defeated by the challenger," Murong Zhu said.

That was fairly good. After all, he had won two matches in the trial, leaving a better impression on the judges. Chen Fan thought that he, too, needed to find the right opportunity and preferably hold on for several more rounds.

At the same time, another person appeared in the arena. The instant this person stepped onto the martial arts field, a wave of uproar rose among the outer court disciples.

Chen Fan was puzzled when he heard Murong Zhu say, "It's actually Senior Sister Jiang Yueying. She's known as the number one beauty of the outer court. Not only is she exceptionally beautiful, her strength is impressive as well."

Hearing that she was the number one beauty, Chen Fan looked toward the woman. Although she appeared to be around Ye Wan's age, both her looks and temperament still fell somewhat short of Ye Wan's. Thinking of this, he could not help looking toward the inner court side. After searching through the crowd, he finally found Ye Wan. Her face carried a trace of anxiety, likely because she was worried about Chen Fan entering the inner court. Yet the two were separated by a considerable distance and blocked by the crowd, unable to communicate.

At that moment, a fierce battle had already erupted in the arena. Unlike the earlier scene where challengers had been slapped away, Wu De swung his sword repeatedly at Jiang Yueying, but she easily dodged every blow and counterattacked while evading the heavy sword. She drew a slender treasured sword, its entire body shimmering with flowing light and brilliant colors. It was clearly of fine quality. Then her figure began to flicker, leaving several afterimages that attacked Wu De from both sides. Her sword strikes were astonishingly fast. Wu De could not lock onto her position at all and could only keep waving his giant sword before him to block.

A series of clanging sounds rang out. Those afterimages actually unleashed real Sword Qi, striking the giant sword. What an eerie movement technique. Chen Fan had already recognized that the sword art she was using was the Clear Wind Art, but her movement technique was clearly far more profound than what he had comprehended.

So the outer court disciples had crouching tigers and hidden dragons as well! It seemed he had underestimated this inner court selection far too much. But upon further thought, it was perfectly reasonable. This inner court selection had essentially been arranged for disciples who had entered twelve years ago and two years ago. After all, those much older had either already left the sect or were no longer within the inner court's consideration. Judging by their ages, Wu De and Jiang Yueying should both belong to the batch that entered twelve years ago. These disciples might not usually remain in the sect, so it was normal that Chen Fan had never seen or known them.

Yet this made him begin to feel uneasy. It appeared that Jiang Yueying was about to win. If no one dared challenge her afterward, the selection would end. However, he had no confidence at all in defeating her strange techniques. What left Chen Fan even more speechless was that he suddenly realized he had not even brought a sword with him. If he went back to retrieve it now, the selection might well be over by the time he returned.

Chen Fan rubbed his forehead. He truly was too foolish. It was like a scholar in the mortal world attending the imperial examinations only to forget his brush and ink—simply the most basic of mistakes. But there was nothing to be done now. He could only take one step at a time. If he truly could not enter the inner court, then it was Heaven's will.