Who Is That?
A clear, melodious cry of a crane echoed across the sky, and the ten mountain peaks shrouded in clouds and mist were tinged with a golden-red hue under the sunlight.
On the main peak's training ground, a group of young disciples brandished their swords in unison, constantly changing positions in response to the commands of a dark-faced elder.
The swords in their hands seemed to come to life, arranging themselves into a sword formation according to their masters' wishes.
The sharp sword blades were hidden within the sword formation. If one did not look closely, one might mistake it for a blanket woven from thin iron, but the intense murderous intent concealed in the shadows would remain unseen!
The spirit sword was thrown out and retrieved again and again, a routine that had been performed for years, to the point that the disciples could perform it flawlessly even with their eyes closed.
A young man with a baby face couldn't help but yawn. "When will this life of having to get up before dawn to practice sword formations ever end? My mind is filled with sword formations right now, I can't even properly make talismans."
The baby-faced boy is a talisman cultivator. A few days ago, his master gave him a complete guide to talismans, and he's currently busy memorizing the new ones. However, he can't miss his daily sword formation practice, which is causing him to waste a lot of time.
His companion chuckled upon hearing this, "If you spend less time going to the market outside the mountain gate, you'll save time."
Baby face is great in every way, except that it always loves to sneak out of the mountain gate to join in the fun.
The other person's master had long ago said that if he could use the time he would spend playing around on cultivation, how could he not become the most outstanding talisman cultivator?
Having heard this kind of talk so many times, the baby-faced man just smiled and said, "Oh, that's all I have, please forgive me! Not everyone in this world has the perseverance of Chief Sang!"
Babyface had already made up his reasons, but his companion's expression changed upon hearing the nickname.
"Yes!" his companion couldn't help but sigh, "Someone like Chief Sang is indeed beyond our reach."
This wasn't him being self-deprecating. Before becoming Ten Thousand Daos Born, he was considered a talented individual, but unexpectedly, during the entrance test, the female cultivator named Sang Ying overwhelmed them with her absolute strength.
During these five years, Sang Ying seemed tireless, not only getting up early every day to practice swordsmanship, but also attending classes on formations in her spare time!
According to the elder who taught formations, her skill in formations was no less than that of her favorite disciple, and she had repeatedly tried to persuade the disciple to become his disciple as well.
If Elder Jiulian of Carefree Peak hadn't been so ill-tempered and sharp-tongued, Elder of the Formation Sect might have actually managed to poach someone from the other side.
Geniuses aren't scary; what's scary is someone who is not only a genius but also incredibly hardworking!
In the numerous inner sect competitions over the past five years, whenever Sang Ying participated, no one could take her first place.
It was as if this ranking was predetermined for her. Only when she was away on sect missions and unable to return a few times did Senior Brother Bai Kejin of Broken Sword Peak win by a single move against Lan Fusheng, the sound cultivator of Dream River Peak, and take first place.
This hard-won first place was even jokingly referred to as "the darling of fate" by the new disciples.
Fortunately, Bai Kejin was not dissatisfied with this. After all, he had gotten used to losing to Sang Ying and had felt the gap between himself and her widening year by year.
If someone is only slightly better than you, Bai Kejin might still think about striving to defeat them. But if that person is as far away as an insurmountable chasm, then when facing that person, Bai Kejin will only feel admiration.
Because of Chief Sang's diligence and hard work, the other top ten disciples couldn't help but take her as an example, and they became even more focused on their cultivation than before.
As a result, when the elders of the other peaks learned of this, they subconsciously compared these people with their own disciples. Before long, this led the more than three hundred new disciples to fall into a state of diligent and arduous cultivation.
But Sang Ying's influence on them went beyond that!
It's unclear where that person got the inspiration from Chief Sang, but they actually came up with a sword formation on their own and even discussed it with Elder Gu, a sword cultivator in the sect.
Soon enough, the elder brought out this large sword formation, which had been modified to be even more powerful than before, and taught it to his new disciples.
This is also the root cause of the baby-faced male cultivator's suffering.
"Sigh, why doesn't our sect create more troublesome missions, so that Chief Sang is always on the go all year round? That would be so much better!" The baby-faced man sighed again. That way, the sword formation would never have appeared!
His companion first scolded him, then said, "This sword formation is incredibly powerful. We've practiced for so long that even if we're not sword cultivators, we can still use a few powerful sword moves. This is a great thing! Have you forgotten about the sect competition?"
The moment those four words reached the baby-faced man's ears, his expression instantly turned serious. "I can forget other things, but how could I possibly forget this?"
After all, his senior brothers had their Golden Core destroyed by the combined forces of the Mara Gate and the Azure Feather Sect during the sect competition!
Although he joined the school late, he had a very good relationship with his senior brothers.
The baby-faced boy, who would visit his senior brother from time to time, would never forget the pain his senior brothers, who were left behind on Medicine Peak to recuperate, endured every day, and how they, while suffering the pain of their damaged Dantian, would remind him, "Be careful in the competition, don't be competitive. Just come back safely."
Not fight? How could that be?!
They not only want to compete, but also want to crush the people from the other two sects under their feet!
The melancholy in the baby-faced boy's eyes hadn't faded when his arm was gently touched by his companion.
The other person was looking up at the sky with anticipation. "Look, who's that!"
Babyface subconsciously looked up, only to see a pale blue streak of light flash overhead, heading straight towards the main hall.
Having been a disciple for five years, he naturally knew who it was. Even though he had expressed some dissatisfaction with the person in his previous words, just seeing the other person's back view was enough to make the baby-faced man feel pleasantly surprised.
"It's Chief Sang!" the baby-faced man exclaimed happily.
Chief Sang —they could have called each other Senior Sister Sang, but for some reason, they felt that "Chief Sang" was a more fitting title for the woman they had always looked up to.
"Chief Sang must have gone to the main hall this time to discuss the sect's grand competition with the elders," his companion guessed. "With Chief Sang here, no matter what happens on the Demon Beast battlefield, Ten Thousand Daos Born is sure to be among the top in the individual competition!"
The two were so confident, as if as long as that slender figure remained, they would have endless hope.
After all, this wasn't just anyone, but Sang Ying from Carefree Peak, who repeatedly broke the rules and brought them surprises!
The two were right; Sang Ying had indeed specially returned to Ten Thousand Daos Born from the sea for the upcoming sect competition.
As soon as she landed on her flying sword, the young Daoist guarding the main hall of the peak lit up and quickly opened the door for Sang Ying.
Sang Ying nodded slightly to the young Daoist, not even bothering to look at his surprised expression, and stepped into the magnificent and majestic hall.
The chairs inside the hall were full of people, except for the one in the middle, which remained empty as always.
Her gaze shifted downwards, and several familiar figures stood in the empty hall, seemingly having been waiting for her for a long time.
Without delay, Sang Ying stepped forward and bowed respectfully. "Disciple Sang Ying greets all elders!"
At this moment, the leaders of the teams dispatched by Ten Thousand Daos Born in this sect competition were finally all present.