The Heavenly Ultimate Hall stood on the main peak of the Divine Profound Sect.
Inside the hall, whose domed ceiling shimmered with gold, relief carvings of azure dragons coiled around twelve jade pillars. Enormous Spirit Stones were set into the dragons' eyes, filling the hall with brilliant light.
Xuanweizi, sect master of the Divine Profound Sect, sat upright on a raised platform patterned with clouds. His wide sleeves hung at his sides as his fingertips tapped lightly, and his gaze swept over the Peak Masters and elders of the various peaks.
"Sword Qi swept across a thousand miles, and three Spirit Transformation Devil Cultivators fell in an instant. Such a feat could only belong to a Sword Dao venerable."
Xuanweizi's voice rang as deep as an ancient bell:
"The Heavenly Devil Cult has repeatedly attacked our Divine Profound Sect, and this Sword Venerable has rendered us a great service. Yet how is it that I can't even catch a glimpse of him?"
The Heavenly Craft Peak Master took out a fragment of a flying sword and said thoughtfully:
"This flying sword did indeed come from Heavenly Craft Peak, but quite a few of the flying swords produced there have also made their way into the outside world. We can't determine his identity from that."
"Still, his sword techniques do resemble the Divine Profound Sect's inheritance."
Seeing numerous gazes turn toward him, Lü Tianxing, the Heaven-Reaching Peak Master, immediately protested his innocence:
"Does the sect master suspect I'm keeping someone to myself?
This person's attainments in the Sword Dao are by no means inferior to mine. His Swordsmanship has reached a divine, masterful level, and he's no longer even bound to any single move from a heaven-tier sword instruction.
If someone under me had reached that realm and possessed such ability, I should have stepped down and yielded my place to him long ago!"
Then he changed tack:
"Besides, the Flying Immortal Sword Instruction was never an inheritance exclusive to Heaven-Reaching Peak."
At once, the people from Spirit Elegance Peak and Rushing Thunder Peak took offense:
"You could count the people on our peaks who know the Flying Immortal Sword Instruction on your fingers. Who besides the sword cultivators of Heaven-Reaching Peak could have cultivated it to such a profound realm..."
"Damn it, why would I lie to you? If I had a disciple like that, would I really hide him away?"
"Enough."
Xuanweizi raised a hand to quiet the agitated crowd and said irritably:
"Every one of you has cultivated the Dao for so many years, yet you're still so impatient. I didn't summon you here to hold you accountable."
"If I had a disciple like that, I couldn't possibly hand him over to the Heavenly Devil Cult either."
In the dead silence of the hall, the Jade Pivot Peak Master, who was usually a woman of few words, suddenly sighed. "Has the sect master considered... that perhaps he really is an outsider?"
A glimmer of spiritual light drifted out of her sleeve, and a blurry figure appeared within it.
"Three hundred years ago, the True Disciple who betrayed the sect cultivated none other than the Flying Immortal Sword Instruction."
"Impossible..."
Xuanweizi said calmly:
"Because that person has already joined the Heavenly Devil Cult."
At this point, the Heavenly Mystery Peak Master muttered without lifting his eyelids, "The divination shows that this person is destined under the Ziwei star, with a status beyond words. He's clearly..."
Halfway through, he suddenly grunted, and a trace of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"It cannot be spoken, it cannot be spoken."
"What exactly did you find out?"
Lü Tianxing looked curious.
The Heavenly Mystery Peak Master ignored him, lowering his head and murmuring instead:
"That's not right. How is he so young? Did I make a mistake in my calculations?"
The Spirit Elegance Peak Master beside him stirred at this, seemingly lost in thought.
"Alas."
The ambergris incense burned out silently, and Xuanweizi rose to his feet.
"Pass the order to every branch: appoint this Sword Venerable as our sect's Sword-Wielding Elder. No matter what, he is not an enemy of the Divine Profound Sect. I will keep this elder's position open for him."
Soon afterward.
The Divine Profound Sect announced to the outside world that this sword cultivator was one of its elders, who had spent many years contemplating the Sword Dao and had now emerged from seclusion to uphold the righteous path with his sword.
With the Divine Profound Sect promoting the story far and wide, many disciples in the sect came to admire this mysterious sword cultivator greatly and gave him a title: the Devil-Slaying Sword Venerable.
Even the valley where the Devil Cultivators had been slain was named Devil-Slaying Valley, drawing many sword cultivators to pay their respects and try to gain some insight from the sword marks left behind.
When Han Xuanji heard about it, he was baffled.
He was clearly a menial disciple, so how had he become an elder?
And he was someone who kept a low profile, so how had he been made out to be a battle maniac?
Even so, seeing this put Han Xuanji at ease.
It was clear that the sect had no idea either, much less the Heavenly Devil Cult.
He guessed that the sect probably wanted him to come forward and confirm his identity.
There's no need to confirm my identity.
Han Xuanji thought to himself.
He wasn't short of resources, and besides, what could the sect give him other than a title?
They might even order him out to risk his life fighting Devil Cultivators, and the Heavenly Devil Cult would surely try every way it could to get at him.
He'd have to be a fool to expose himself.
Wasn't it better to keep a low profile and sign in?
That evening.
Han Xuanji returned to the menial disciples' courtyard.
Li Shanhai suddenly called Han Xuanji over.
Twenty years had passed, and he looked considerably older, with noticeably more wrinkles on his face.
Although cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm lived far longer than mortals, they couldn't stay young forever; their aging was merely slowed.
"Xuanji, how long have you been at Spirit Elegance Peak?"
Li Shanhai suddenly asked.
"How long?"
Han Xuanji pondered for a moment, then said, "Twenty years, I think."
"Has it been twenty years..."
Li Shanhai's face was full of emotion as he sighed.
"I never thought I'd been in charge of this menial disciples' courtyard for so long."
Listening to Li Shanhai, Han Xuanji wondered why he had suddenly become so melancholy.
"After all these years, have you ever felt dissatisfied or bored?"
Li Shanhai asked.
"Dissatisfied... bored?"
Han Xuanji was taken aback.
He really hadn't.
"No."
Han Xuanji answered honestly.
"Neither arrogant nor impatient. Good."
Li Shanhai looked intently at Han Xuanji, unable to keep a smile from appearing on his face.
"I never thought my State of Mind would be inferior to yours."
From the teenage years to the age of thirty was when a person was in the prime of youth. In someone else's place, how could a cultivator who performed menial tasks every day possibly avoid feeling dissatisfied and resentful?
All the more so in this great immortal Dao sect, where all manner of geniuses emerged. Others made names for themselves while he could only remain unknown.
Such a disparity could easily drive a person into a dead end.
"I don't understand anything about State of Mind, but I'm already content like this," Han Xuanji immediately said.
How could he not be content?
He had reached Spirit Transformation in twenty years.
"Content..."
Li Shanhai murmured to himself.
The two of them chatted about this and that, and Han Xuanji came to understand.
Li Shanhai was probably preparing to attempt a breakthrough to the Golden Core realm.
Although cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm had cleansed the mortal impurities from their bodies and lived fairly long lives, they were still a far cry from "living forever."
Without cultivating a life-extending cultivation method or taking pills, their normal lifespan was only a little over two hundred years, but most of the time, cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm didn't live that long.
Everyone had some hidden ailments, not only from battles; sometimes cultivation left them as well.
Devil Dao cultivators, for example, cultivated quick-results Devil Cultivation Methods and frequently used explosive Law Techniques, so their lives were even shorter.
That was why it was best to attempt a breakthrough to the Golden Core Realm when one's Qi and Blood were at their peak, at around one hundred and fifty years of age. Otherwise, attempting it in one's later years, when one's vitality and spirit were no longer at their peak, could easily end in failure.
Li Shanhai had clearly reached that critical point. If he didn't start thinking about breaking through now, it would be very difficult for him to succeed later.
Even so, Han Xuanji could tell that Li Shanhai had no confidence in succeeding.
Perhaps this was the tragedy of cultivators at the bottom.
Han Xuanji thought that if he didn't have the Sign-In System, he would probably be even worse off than Li Shanhai.