Yuan Lian didn’t think much of it. She was Dao Ji’s only child, and there was no one to compete with for attention. Whether she did well or not, her father would always side with her. Would he really be disappointed just because the sect closely related to her lost to others?
But clearly, Yan Hang didn’t think the same way.
“For this competition, we will select five people from each stage below the Spirit Light stage. As for the candidates, it’s just right that the Xiao Canglou Secret Realm left by Ancestor Yu Qi hasn’t been fully utilized. We might as well use it for some early trials.”
As the founding ancestor of the Wanyi Sect, Yu Qi Xianzun was someone skilled at teaching according to one’s abilities. The secret realms he left behind always had a characteristic: they weren’t very dangerous and would automatically adjust the difficulty based on the entrant’s level. Earth Immortals and above were grouped in one place, while Integration and below were in another.
The greatest advantage of the Xiao Canglou Secret Realm was its more detailed division. Integration and Void Return were on the same level, and the lowest level could accommodate Qi Condensation and Nascent Soul.
And the Hundred Sect Competition started from the Qi Condensation stage, so using it now was just perfect.
“I originally thought of having Zhe Ying oversee it to prevent any mishaps. If Master is interested, you might as well grace us with your presence. It would be good to see the skills of these disciples.” Yan Hang said with a meaningful smile, “Although it’s among fellow sect members, watching these kids bring their usual scheming to the forefront is quite interesting.”
Yuan Lian glanced at this disciple who prided himself on being steady and upright. She didn’t say whether she would go or not, just replied, “You decide.”
Yan Hang wasn’t disappointed and continued:
“There’s another matter—Canghai Realm truly deserves to be a place that can produce a God King. Those kids I brought to show you last time, to be honest, I just picked four slightly outstanding ones based on recommendations from below. Unexpectedly, two of them turned out to be extraordinary. They’ve only been in the Divine Realm for a few days and have progressed rapidly. They’re almost surpassing our sect’s disciples.”
Yan Hang was actually a meticulous person. Although he appeared indifferent and was quite lax with sect affairs, he paid special attention to new disciples, especially those brought up from the lower realms. Since they weren’t originally from the sect, Yan Hang was worried something might go wrong and harm those kids.
Yuan Lian immediately knew who he was talking about. She blinked, “What about the disciples we recently accepted?”
Hearing the word “we” from her mouth made Yan Hang pause, then he was suddenly overjoyed—it was the first time he heard Yuan Lian include herself with the Wanyi Sect.
Hit by this unexpected joy, Yan Hang spoke his mind without thinking:
“This time, we selected young people with a certain foundation in cultivation. Those who directly entered the inner sect are doing well, but as for those with lower cultivation left in the outer sect… Wanyi Sect’s luck hasn’t been great lately. The new disciples this time are all of average aptitude, self-taught rogue cultivators with no benefits and a bunch of bad habits. Their sword practice is all over the place, far inferior to those few from the lower realm…”
He said bluntly, “In my opinion, if it weren’t for Ancestor Yu Qi’s rules, it would be better not to bother with these rogue cultivators and instead recruit more talented children or descendants from major families.”
Yuan Lian wasn’t particularly concerned at first, but as she listened, her eyebrows slowly raised.
“Master?”
Yuan Lian said, “Perhaps. Talent and resources are indeed important, but sometimes, the resilient will forged by hardships might compensate for these…”
Yan Hang was slightly surprised—although he had long noticed Yuan Lian’s differences from before, he didn’t expect such a significant change.
Yan Hang could be certain that in terms of talent and innate resources, no one in the Three Thousand Worlds and the Divine Realm could compare to Yuan Lian. As for hardships…
As far as Yan Hang knew, the only difficulty Yuan Lian faced growing up was not advancing to God King for less than seven hundred years.
For someone like her to say such words was unimaginable before.
Yuan Lian stopped speaking after that, and Yan Hang didn’t expect her to reveal the journey of her significant transformation. He continued, “But it’s undeniable that they also need great fortune and opportunities to succeed.”
*
Yan Hang earnestly invited Yuan Lian to stay at Wanyi Sect for a few days and even offered to vacate Banchi Peak for her.
But for Yuan Lian, traveling from Wanyi Sect to Buzhou Mountain was less than a hundred miles, a matter of moments. Moreover, with her level of cultivation, she didn’t need the usual necessities of life, so she refused outright.
The Divine Realm was vast and boundless, with major sects occupying extensive territories, and Wanyi Sect was no exception. Yuan Lian had already scanned the place inside and out, but seeing it with her own eyes and experiencing it personally was a different matter.
On this day, near noon, Yuan Lian finally got bored of wandering. She turned her gaze to the base of Wangchen Peak, precisely focusing on Chang Songzhu.
By this time, the scheduled lessons had ended, but the martial arts field was still bustling. Everyone was gathered in a circle, watching two people sparring inside.
Both were familiar to Yuan Lian. One was, of course, Chang Songzhu, and the other was Kuang Yuming, whom Yan Hang had chosen to bring to the Divine Realm.
It was clear that their sword moves were evenly matched, and their habits of drawing spiritual energy when striking were inexplicably similar.
Chang Songzhu’s cultivation was a small stage higher than Kuang Yuming’s, but she was a beginner in swordsmanship, far less skilled than someone who had practiced since childhood. In terms of pure swordplay, she might lose.
But as Yuan Lian had said, Chang Songzhu always had some unexpected quick wit at critical moments.
Kuang Yuming raised his sword horizontally, forcing Chang Songzhu to spend time adjusting her stance. But Chang Songzhu had a flash of inspiration, voluntarily letting go of the sword hilt. As Kuang Yuming retracted his sword to prepare for a thrust, she slipped under his arm, grabbed the hilt again, pushed the sword aside with her elbow, and swiftly turned her wrist to place the sword horizontally in front of Kuang Yuming’s neck.
The match ended very cleanly, and the onlookers applauded. Lu Qi even said, “Junior Sister Chang is progressing rapidly. It seems we’ve snatched a good seedling from Sword Mountain.”
He was now brimming with spiritual energy, clearly on the verge of advancing to Integration. Once he passed this hurdle, he could directly enter the inner sect, which was the best way for these outer sect disciples with less aptitude to get in.
Chang Songzhu, feeling a bit embarrassed, scratched her head and was about to say something modest when she noticed Kuang Yuming standing opposite her, staring blankly at his own sword.
No way…
Chang Songzhu thought, for the past half month, this guy had been suppressing her. It was just an unexpected loss, and he was this affected? How could people from the lower realm be so fragile?
Lu Qi noticed the unusual sword in Chang Songzhu’s hand and asked, “Junior Sister, where did you find your sword? It doesn’t seem ordinary.”
He could tell the sword was extraordinary. Chang Songzhu was new to swordsmanship and couldn’t fully utilize its power, so he was even more curious about where she got it.
Chang Songzhu gripped the Evergreen sword tightly. Although it wasn’t obvious, she was convinced there was a sword spirit within it. Since it was a gift from Yuan Lian, she cherished it greatly and was reluctant to let others handle it.
Fortunately, Lu Qi was tactful and didn’t make such a request. He only said, “This is no ordinary item. Do you know what grade of artifact it is?”
Artifacts were traditionally graded into four levels: Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow. Generally, during the Qi Refining stage, mundane artifacts sufficed. From Qi Condensation onwards, Yellow-grade artifacts were used. Further up, Void Return and Integration stages typically encountered Mysterious-grade artifacts, Earth Immortals mostly used Earth-grade, and if Spirit Light stage or Jade Immortal stage cultivators couldn’t use Heaven-grade artifacts, they’d be ridiculed.
But these were just the commonly known artifact grades. Beyond that, there were Immortal artifacts and Divine artifacts, which were beyond the reach of people like them.
Artifacts were generally more expensive than techniques in any realm. Chang Songzhu was indeed quite poor. She had once accidentally obtained a Yellow-grade defensive artifact, but it was soon shattered to save her life. She estimated the Evergreen sword to be at least Mysterious-grade because it was clearly more spiritual than the one she had before. Besides having a sword spirit, Chang Songzhu also felt the sword aided her cultivation.
She actually had dual spiritual roots, but unfortunately, they were water and fire, and they were evenly matched. As a result, her cultivation speed was always slow.
When Yuan Lian created the Evergreen sword, it seemed casual, but it was actually well-considered.
The sword was made of green bamboo, inherently wood-attribute. Yuan Lian specifically infused it with the “Essence of Green Wood,” a treasure from the Supreme Heavenly Palace, making the sword’s wood attribute pure but not overbearing. It could accommodate the dominance of water and fire. Water nourishes wood, and wood nourishes fire. With the Evergreen sword as a mediator, the incompatible water and fire spiritual energies had a place to harmonize, allowing Chang Songzhu to feel the spiritual energy flow more smoothly when she carried it.
Of course, the sword was crafted by an Immortal Venerable, so its wonders were naturally not limited to these. It’s just that Chang Songzhu’s cultivation was still low, and she hadn’t discovered them yet.
Among the crowd, Lu Qi had the highest cultivation and some insight. He looked at the sword and thought it might not just be Mysterious-grade. But then he considered that Junior Sister Chang might be deliberately hiding her abilities, not wanting to flaunt her wealth, so why should he expose it?
Chang Songzhu was cheerful and soon had many fellow disciples gathered around discussing sword techniques. Kuang Yuming, however, remained absent-minded, ignoring the whispers of others.
He glanced at Chang Songzhu, then turned and left the martial arts field, heading straight for Feng Yunqing’s residence.
Coincidentally, his other two fellow disciples were also there.
Shen Ying said, “Junior Brother, we were just about to call you over to discuss the Hundred Sect…”
Kuang Yuming didn’t hear what she said, rushing like the wind to Feng Yunqing’s side.
He hadn’t spoken to this senior brother for a long time, but now he couldn’t care less: “Senior Brother Feng… Feng, I need to ask you, do you remember what Senior Sister said when she was teaching me the basic sword techniques?”