The Birth of the Sword Master
Ten thousand years ago, Hidden Nether Realm.
In the awkward silence, Liu Duanyue retrieved the Image-Retaining Stone. He looked at the ashen-faced Moonless Household Head and felt a sense of relief for the first time.
"Now the Moonless Household Head should understand why we have so many points, right? It's all thanks to your Third Miss. The extra points our Yin Mountain Sect has are also compensation from the Third Miss Wuyue!" He then revealed the Storage Bag that Sang Ying had given him earlier, which was embroidered with the unique mark of the Moonless Clan.
With these two pieces of evidence laid bare, even if the Moonless Household Head and others wanted to argue, they couldn't, because his daughter had already confessed to the crime.
Upon hearing this, the two judges, who had previously only had minor disagreements with Wuyue Qing, immediately turned grim. One of them even stepped forward and said, "The competition between the two sides has long had a rule that no one can be killed within the secret realm. If what the Yin Mountain Sect disciple said is true, then the Moonless Clan has violated the rules. This competition must not only declare the Yin Mountain Sect the winner, but also order the Moonless Clan to apologize in public and transfer ten of their spots to the Yin Mountain Sect in the next entry competition!"
To prevent the other side from using underhanded tactics in the competition, both sides set extremely severe penalties for cheating and other violations. The punishment the referee just mentioned was set by the Moonless Clan back then, but unexpectedly, only their own people are being punished now.
The Moonless Household Head felt a sudden jolt when the referee stepped forward, and after he finished speaking, he closed his eyes, looking as if he didn't want to watch anymore.
He suddenly understood how his eldest son had felt back then. If they hadn't provoked that female cultivator surnamed Sang, how could their Moonless Household have fallen to such a state?
"Moonless Household Head, do you have anything to say about this matter?" After noticing Moonless Household Head's expression, the referee took the initiative to ask for his thoughts.
The Moonless Household Head glanced at the younger members of his family who had been sent into the secret realm. Seeing the obvious humility on their faces, he knew that even if he wanted to make excuses, no one would believe him.
"I have no objection," he said in a muffled voice.
Upon hearing this, Wuyue Qing and the others immediately looked over in surprise. They had thought that the family head would at least try to secure ten entry slots, after all, ten slots were no small matter!
But when the patriarch's sharp gaze swept over them, they immediately fell silent.
"Alright, since the Moonless Household Head has already accepted it, then we two old men don't need to say anything more. We heard that the Moonless Clan used this final competition to gamble with the Yin Mountain Sect on control of Moonless City for the next ten years... Now that the result is decided, you two families should hurry up and complete the handover. Our Moonless City cannot be without a person in charge." The other referee also spoke up.
They originally intended to remain neutral on the conflict between the two families, believing that it didn't matter how they fought, as long as it made Moonless City more and more prosperous, benefiting the cultivators and mortals in the city.
But now it seems that the city lord should be chosen to be upright and tolerant. People like the Moonless Household, who casually try to take the lives of cultivators from other worlds, will they have a good ending once they sit in a high position?
The Moonless City's current existence is only possible thanks to the large number of cultivators from other worlds. Making enemies with them because of this would be something no one wants to see.
As a result, the two referees had no choice but to select one of the two.
The matter was thus successfully concluded, the only imperfection being the departure of Sang Ying and Jiang Zhuoxue.
Sang Ying's situation was rather strange. Liu Duanyue didn't want her story to get out and be fabricated into strange identities by uninformed people, so she told her people that Sang Ying's sudden disappearance was all because of the thunder pills that Wuyue Qing threw out.
Wuyue Qing was naturally unwilling to accept this slander, but many people heard the commotion caused by the thunderbolt she threw out. Moreover, thunderbolts had never appeared in the entire Hidden Nether Realm before; only the Moonless Household possessed them, and no one except them knew their effects.
This is the part that Wuyue Qing finds most inexplicable. After all, they were the perpetrators, and they also possessed such a terrifying thing as the Thunder Pill. Naturally, others would be more willing to believe the victim, Yin Mountain Sect's, side.
Therefore, the already tarnished reputation of the Moonless Clan was plunged into another dramatic change, like falling off a cliff.
Originally, even if the members of the Moonless Household were only from a collateral branch, they would receive respectful looks from everyone when they went out. Whether they went to restaurants or teahouses, no one who knew their identity would dare to disrespect them.
However, nowadays, let alone giving them face, it's already a stroke of luck if you bump into someone and they don't point fingers at you.
Some of the proud and arrogant disciples of the Moonless Household were naturally unwilling and even started arguing with them on the spot. But the cultivators in the city were not to be trifled with, and they taught them a lesson on the spot.
In the past, Moonless Household was in power, the people of the city naturally tolerated them and dared not cause trouble. But now that the city lord is about to be replaced by Sect Master Liu of the Yin Mountain Sect, what are they afraid of?
The disciples of the Moonless Household failed to gain favor several times, and over time they became reluctant to go out.
All of this was observed by the Moonless Household Head. Although he was also angry, he knew that now was not the time to fight with the other party. His city lord seal had been forced to be handed over to Sect Master Liu yesterday, and for the next ten years, the Moonless Clan would probably have to keep their heads down.
He sat listlessly in the study until he was alone, then let out a muffled sigh.
Wuyue Qing did come to see him specifically for this reason. After all, she was young and not yet shrewd enough. Seeing her family's current predicament, she felt both guilty and anxious, and could only seek help from her father.
But Moonless Household Head could tell her was, "Just endure it. If you can get through these ten years, things might turn around."
Just like the Yin Mountain Sect, they were suppressed by me for so many years, but haven't they turned the tables now?
He only hoped that his Moonless Clan could also encounter a person with great fortune like Sang Ying and the others, so that his family could take this opportunity to reclaim their rightful rights!
Gu Wangchuan took the things Liu Duanyue handed him. He opened them and found that they were either medicinal herbs for healing or some exquisite sword manuals.
Holding the gift, Gu Wangchuan suddenly felt his heart sink.
"Did she leave me any message when she left?" Gu Wangchuan asked Liu Duanyue.
Liu Duanyue and the others naturally didn't hide Sang Ying's situation from Gu Wangchuan. After all, the three of them were partners, and not telling the truth would be disrespectful to Sang Ying.
Fortunately, Gu Wangchuan was someone who had experienced many partings. Unlike others, he didn't overthink things. He simply asked this question in a low mood.
Recalling the scene, Liu Duanyue said in a low voice, "She told you to cultivate diligently, saying she believed you would definitely ascend to immortality."
"Ascension?" Gu Wangchuan paused for a moment, then laughed, "I didn't originally have such a grand goal, but since she said so, I'll make ascension my goal and work hard for it!"
From then on, the Moonless Household began a long period of being severely suppressed by the Yin Mountain Sect, while the Cultivation World gained a meddlesome young sword cultivator.