Young Man, What Are You Trying to Do?

This disciple was named Lin Yingliang. He was Liu S sui's classmate in Class One, also studied the sword under Gu Han, and was another disciple favored by Twofold Forgetting Peak.

It was unclear whether he had stepped forward to challenge Liu S sui at Twofold Forgetting Peak's direction, or because he resented all the attention Liu S sui received.

"Please, Senior Brother Lin."

Liu S sui cupped his fists, his flying sword hovering motionlessly before his hands. This was the level-sword salute.

The unsolicited challenge from Lin Yingliang surprised him somewhat, but he quickly regained his composure. There was no trace of panic in his expression.

Just as Jing Jiu had once judged him, this youth was intelligent and kind, with a resolve and tenacity beyond his years.

Such a youth was rarely affected by changes around him. This was what it meant to hold fast to one's true heart.

Liu S sui and Lin Yingliang stood a little over ten zhang apart.

The stream flowed between the rocks with a soft rushing sound.

A distance of a little over ten zhang was precisely the most effective attack range for the Unity Guarding Realm.

The little girl from the Hanging Bell Sect stood at the cliff's edge, watching the scene below with wide eyes and wondering curiously who would win.

The answer came quickly. The Green Mountain Sect's sword contests always began so suddenly and ended so swiftly.

Two white lines appeared on the stream's surface.

Two flashes of sword light illuminated the cliff walls, then abruptly vanished.

Liu S sui's flying sword stopped before Lin Yingliang's eyes, three inches from the point between his brows.

Lin Yingliang's flying sword also stopped in front of Liu S sui, about a foot away.

The two flying swords seemed to stop simultaneously, but to the Sword Dao experts among the cliffs, the difference was quite apparent.

Liu S sui's sword was a fraction faster than his opponent's.

In everyday life, that fraction was less than the blink of an eye. Tea would not cool; an incense stick would not shorten.

But in a contest of the Sword Dao, that fraction was enough to decide victory and defeat, or even life and death.

Moreover, Liu S sui's sword was closer than Lin Yingliang's.

"That's it?"

The little girl from the Hanging Bell Sect stared wide-eyed at the scene in the stream as she spoke.

She often watched her senior brothers and sisters spar in their sect. If the two sides had similar cultivation levels, their fights usually lasted a long time. Sometimes, even fighting from dawn until dusk would hardly settle the outcome.

Who would have thought a contest between fellow disciples of the Green Mountain Sect would be so simple, so quick? Whatever else might be said... it really did look terribly dull.

The young woman said, "The Green Mountain Sect never concerns itself with other flourishes. It cares only about the speed and power of flying swords. The Sword Arts of the Nine Peaks merely use different Daoist methods to work on those two aspects. In battle, they often kill with a single strike, making them extraordinarily dangerous. That is why so few people ever dare provoke them."

The little girl said, "Wouldn't that make accidental injuries very easy? How do they usually practice their swordsmanship, then?"

The young woman said, "Exactly. That is why the Green Mountain Sect rarely holds sparring matches between fellow disciples. Even the occasional contest must take place under their elders' supervision. And except during the Sword Inheriting Grand Tournament and the Sword Trial Grand Tournament, they are strictly forbidden from aiming their flying swords at each other's bodies. They may only choose a target somewhere to the right of their opponent's body."

The little girl asked in bewilderment, "If they can't practice their swordsmanship through actual combat, how can they improve?"

The young woman's expression cooled slightly. "That is why the Green Mountain Sect has a place like Twofold Forgetting Peak."

The little girl said, "Oh, I know Twofold Forgetting Peak. Senior Sister said they're all a bunch of cold, heartless oddballs..."

Smiling, the young woman changed the subject. "Don't think the Sword Dao is dull. If you had been standing in the stream just now, could you have evaded Liu S sui's sword?"

Thinking of that silent flying sword, the little girl gave a couple of snorts. "Even if I couldn't dodge it, if I set up the Soul Bell Formation beforehand, how could his sword get through?"

The young woman said, "If you were chatting, or drinking a few tables apart, and he suddenly struck, would you still have time to set up your formation?"

Imagining the scene her martial aunt described, the little girl suddenly felt a chill for some reason. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Then I'll stay farther away from him. That fellow's flying sword can only attack ten zhang away at most... I'll set up my soul bells ten-no, twenty zhang away. By the time he sends his sword to attack, I'll already have borrowed enough Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy to suppress and kill him outright!"

The young woman smiled and said nothing more, but thought to herself: If the Green Mountain Sect disciple you faced had already entered the Mind Bearing Realm and could send a flying sword a hundred zhang to kill, how would you deal with that? Beyond that, their Sea-Breaking Realm experts can kill with flying swords from dozens of li away. How could you defend against them? And what if your opponent were in the Heaven-Connecting Realm?

Would you hide underground every day, or inside a spirit tortoise's shell, or live within a great formation that never sees the light of day?

Thinking of the bleak lives of the cultivation world's three most famous Sword Evaders, she unconsciously looked toward the thick fog where the Green Mountain Sect's Sect Master sat, a faint fear stirring within her.

Conversations like the one between this martial aunt and niece from the Hanging Bell Sect were taking place in many locations.

Although the disciples participating in the Sword Inheritance Assembly were still at low cultivation levels, seeing the Green Mountain Sect's Sword Dao firsthand was naturally of great benefit to their own disciples' cultivation. How could the guests from the various sects who had come to observe miss such an opportunity? They kept explaining in low voices the seemingly simple flying-sword battle that had just taken place.

Liu S sui stood on a rock in the stream without speaking.

Surrounded by countless gazes and cheers, he could not help feeling somewhat strange, and unconsciously looked toward a certain place.

Jing Jiu sat on the bluestone, watching him with a smile.

Whatever Liu S sui thought of, he turned his face away, a little flustered.

Although Lin Yingliang had lost this sword duel, his performance had also been excellent, his flying sword steady and fierce.

An elder from Shiyue Peak extended an invitation to him, and he chose to accept. Throughout this process, Twofold Forgetting Peak remained silent, though what that meant was unclear.

Next came the matter of determining where Liu S sui would go.

The cliffs suddenly fell quiet. For a long time, no one spoke.

The little girl from the Hanging Bell Sect found this very strange. "Isn't he an innate Dao Seed? Why does nobody want him? His face is a little dark and not handsome, but he clearly won!"

Her martial aunt smiled and said, "Silly child, it isn't that nobody wants him. Too many people want him."

Liu S sui would certainly end up at Twofold Forgetting Peak, but the capacity in which he went there was also important.

To secure this innate Dao Seed's sword inheritance, the Nine Peaks had exchanged who knew how many private communications beforehand, each employing its own means.

Qingrong Peak had proposed admitting Liu S sui into the Nine Peaks a year earlier. Even though the proposal had failed, it still counted as a gesture of goodwill.

Shangde Peak had taken an unconventional sword path, doing the opposite and preparing to investigate him outright... hoping to lay its plans in advance this way.

However, Liu S sui had already learned the Jade Gate Breath Method before entering the sect.

That was a mental cultivation method personally passed down by the Sect Master.

Sure enough, a clear, gentle voice came from the depths of the clouds and mist that had remained silent all this time.

"Liu S sui, are you willing to study the sword under Elder Bai?"

So this was the voice of the Green Mountain Sect's Sect Master?

Many ordinary disciples and observing guests had this thought.

The Sect Master had taken Zhuo Rusui as his final disciple and would accept no more.

Bai Rujing was an elder of Heavenly Light Peak's lineage and had already reached the upper Sea-Breaking Realm. To study the sword under such a powerful expert was, of course, an excellent opportunity.

The various peaks had guessed this a year earlier, but only upon hearing those words did they confirm that Liu S sui was indeed a piece the Sect Master had placed on the board in advance.

Whether from disappointment or some other reason, everyone remained silent.

Liu S sui looked toward the cliffs.

Gu Han nodded slightly.

Liu S sui said, "This disciple is willing."

With that, he rose on his sword and entered the clouds and mist, where a direct disciple of Heavenly Light Peak duly welcomed him inside.

"After studying the sword under Martial Uncle Bai for a year and laying a solid foundation, he can be sent out to gain some experience."

Guo Nanshan spoke.

Gu Han said, "S sui certainly won't disappoint your high expectations, Senior Brother."

As for whether Elder Bai would agree to let Liu S sui go to Twofold Forgetting Peak when the time came, that was not something they needed to consider.

What young disciple of the Green Mountain Sect did not wish to come to Twofold Forgetting Peak? Nor would any elder stop them, because that was the rule.

Fewer and fewer disciples remained by the stream awaiting selection.

Cloud-Traveling Peak, Shiyue Peak, Qingrong Peak, and Past Arrival Peak had all selected several disciples they had long favored. Even Shangde Peak had chosen two disciples with good potential. Only Jade Lake Peak, very popular in previous years, found its doors somewhat deserted. It had lost several contests with other peaks and had not been chosen. Everyone knew this had to do with that incident. Three disciples had performed so unremarkably that no peak selected them. They could only wait to attend the next Sword Inheritance Assembly, or give up outright and choose a peak where they could serve as Stewards.

Jing Jiu noticed that Liu S sui had glanced at Gu Han before agreeing to inherit the sword.

He found that scene... somewhat interesting.

"What exactly happened between you and him?"

Zhao Layue asked.

Jing Jiu said, "I didn't know you cared about such things."

Zhao Layue said, "People have curiosity, just like the guardians."

Jing Jiu said, "I'm also curious which peak you intend to go to. Qingrong or Shiyue?"

Zhao Layue said, "What about you? Aren't you going out yet?"

Jing Jiu smiled. "You knew I intended to inherit the sword?"

Zhao Layue said, "How could someone as lazy as you waste time?"

Generally, calling someone lazy often meant that they liked wasting time.

Yet when she called Jing Jiu lazy, she thought it was because he was unwilling to waste time.

That was a truly interesting interpretation.

"I don't like being stared at either," Zhao Layue said.

They had discussed this on the day of the first snow last year.

"But just as you said, clouds can't cover the sun every day. The sun is right there. Who wouldn't look at it?"

She looked at Jing Jiu's profile and continued, "So when it's time to step forward, you still have to step forward."

Jing Jiu said, "You're right. But if you don't want people staring at you all the time, there is actually another way."

Zhao Layue asked, "What way?"

"Become the true sun."

Jing Jiu said, "With light that dazzles the eyes, few people will dare look directly at us."

Having said this, he stood and walked toward the stream.

The disciples by the stream did not know what he intended to do, and a slight stir arose among them.

The Shiyue Peak elder presiding over the Sword Inheritance Assembly asked in puzzlement, "Young man, what are you trying to do?"

Jing Jiu said, bewildered, "Inherit the sword, of course."

The Shiyue Peak elder turned to the end of the register and, sure enough, found his name.

An uproar broke out beside the stream.

Xue Yongge abruptly stood and pointed at Jing Jiu. After holding it in for a long while, he finally managed not to utter those words.

Junior Sister Yushan covered her mouth.

The youth surnamed Yuan from Lelang Commandery looked utterly bewildered. Senior Brother Jing was going to do it again?