Immortal Soaring Blade Book 2, Chapter 237 – Probing

“The Ten Thousand Dao Sect is the absolute ruler of the Yin Province, just like how our Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect is the absolute ruler of the Xuan Province. The difference is that our Xuan Province is more remote, while the Yin Province is much more prosperous. As a result, the Ten Thousand Dao Sect has many disciples, but that means that there are all kinds of people there. Many of them lack character, talent, or heart. This creates a special characteristic of the sect where they have a large number of people that are not refined. However, because they recruit so many people, they naturally have a few geniuses every generation. Over the last few hundred years, their strength has improved and their self-confidence has grown. They want to become what our Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect was like thousands of years ago. However, the other holy lands are not easy to deal with. It's Yue Hua Academy and the Great Barbarin Sect that are very close to the Ten Thousand Dao Sect.” 

After Xu Jiahui spoke, he sneered. He was very clear about the Ten Thousand Dao Sect's ambitions. They had teamed up with other holy lands and second-rate sects to suppress the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect. Jian Wuxian was participating in this exchange as an opportunity to warn the others. Just because the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect was low-key, that didn't mean they were powerless!

“When training in the outside world, what happens if we encounter the disciples of the other holy lands? Do we go all-out fighting them?” Hearing about this, Zhao Jiuge felt very angry. He was going to head out to train once this exchange was over, so he was very concerned about this matter.

“Go all out? This may be true if you meet someone of equal strength. If you meet someone weaker, just directly kill them. During these years, many of our disciples died when they went out to train!”

Xu Jiahui raised his brows and then revealed a sly smile. Then his aura filled with killing intent leaked out.

Zhao Jiuge was very shocked. He didn't expect it to be like this. Normally, when they went out to train, aside from gaining experience and knowledge, it was to get rid of evil doers. He didn't expect the orthodox factions to be killing each other.

“Does no one regulate it?”

Jian Wuxian looked back at Zhao Jiuge and quietly said, “Regulate? Even if we knew, we would only pretend we didn't see, because we wouldn't get involved in such small matters. If a disciple dies during a battle with another disciple, it just means they lacked strength. We can only suffer in silence. That's why disciples who aren't strong enough are not sent out to train in the world. If you're unhappy with it, then improve your strength.”

Zhao Jiuge didn't make a sound, but he nodded in agreement. He looked calm, but a huge wave was set off in his heart. That's what this world was like—everything depended on strength. If the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect didn't have Mahayana Realm cultivators holding down the fort, even though they had a lot of powerful elders, the sect would one day be destroyed by the other holy lands. Zhao Jiuge realized how cruel the world was to the weak.

The disciples beside them also listened. They were all young and curious, and after hearing those words, they were restless.

It was Chen Hailong who first shouted, “After the exchange, I'll head out to train. If I meet any disciples from the Ten Thousand Dao Sect, Yue Hua Academy, or the Great Barbarian Mountain, I'll kill them on sight. I heard that during the last Battle Competition, our disciples suffered heavy losses. If it wasn't for Senior Sister Fu Hongling desperately going all out, we might have lost everyone.”

Although Fang Qiwen didn't like Zhao Jiuge, he was very angry and nodded in agreement. Some sects were considered mortal enemies. This was hatred that had accumulated over generations, like the hatred between the Ten Thousand Dao Sect and the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect. One accepted a large number of disciples and seeked alliances. The other remained low-key and steadily trained their disciples.

After raising this topic, the tense atmosphere became even more tense. However, no one talked. They moved very quickly because today was the agreed meeting time.

Every now and then, one could see the disciples of the Ten Thousand Dao Sect patrolling the area. The border to the Yin Province could be said to be filled with disciples of the Ten Thousand Dao Sect. None of the evil doers in the province would dare to make a move.

Those enforcement teams carefully looked at Zhao Jiuge's group but didn't stop them. Even though the people leading were hiding their auras, it was obvious they were extraordinary. Also, the patrol team saw the silver swords embroidered on their cuffs—they represented the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect!

Among the 10 of them, aside from Jian Wuxian and Elder Dawn Wind, Zhao Jiuge and Jiulian were the other two who weren't wearing the sword robes that represented the sect.

Xua Jiahui and the two old men were wearing the black robes that the elders wore. They had two golden swords embroidered on their cuffs, while Xu Jiahui had three!

Fang Qiwen, Chen Hailong, and Wang Yong were wearing black sword robes, but the swords embroidered on their cuffs were silver. Each of them had two swords.

Along the way, Zhao Jiuge was thinking about Cheng Hailong's words. Unfortunately, he lacked strength, or else he really would teach the disciples of those three sects a lesson!

As for Yue Hua Academy and the Great Barbarian Sect, Zhao Jiuge had some impression of them. The Great Barbarian Sect was located in the southern Barbarian Forest, and they generally accepted people from the area. The founder was someone from the Barbarian Forest who accidentally found a rare herb. This allowed him to make a breakthrough and ascend, leaving behind the sect as his legacy.

The Barbarian Forest had the Hundred Thousand Barbarian Mountain Rage. There were a lot of spirit beasts there, as well as evil spirits and demons. As long as one had strength, they could do what they wanted there. However, there was also danger, so even Nascent Soul Realm cultivators had the risk of dying in there.

Yue Hua Academy had slowly developed into a holy land. They started as a small sect, then the founding ancestor suddenly comprehended a spell called the Vast Vital Energy. This increased the prestige of the sect greatly, and they also accepted a large number of disciples, making them very close with the Ten Thousand Dao Sect!

While the people of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect were on their way, a group of people at the Ten Thousand Dao Sect were talking about them.

The Yin Province was a very prosperous area, so there weren't any deserted regions. The Ten Thousand Dao Sect was located at a place called the Ten Thousand Immortal Mountain. This place was not as vast as the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, but it had its own charm. The mountain in front was not as tall as the one in the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, but it had better scenery. 

As the main peak of the Ten Thousand Dao Sect, there was a large square on it. The exchange between the seven holy lands would naturally take place here.

At this moment, there were six Grandmaster Chairs made of thousand-year-old ebony trees. Not far away was another Grandmaster Chair that had different colors but was very similar in style.

As the host of the Seven Holy Land Exchange, the Ten Thousand Dao Sect had made a lot of preparations. Most of the disciples were restrained to their own peaks. Only those with certain positions and strength could move freely.

The Seven Holy Land Exchange didn't involve fighting like the Battle Competition. Instead, they were just here to discuss a few matters, so it was not as tense. However, within the Ten Thousand Dao Sect, one could feel that they were filled with greed.

It was still morning, so the air around the mountain was very fresh. Although it was not time for the exchange yet, there were already three figures sitting on the square!

One of them was sitting on the colorful Grandmaster Chair. This was the master of the Ten Thousand Dao Sect, Daoist Fu Qing.

His long hair was tied up with a purple jade hairpin, and he had red lips and white teeth. Just like Jian Wuxian, both of them had youthful appearances. However, his eyes were not as profound as Jian Wuxian's. Instead, they were more gloomy, but he still gave off an ethereal air.

Two of the other six wooden chairs were occupied. To the left was a middle-aged man wearing a light green shirt, and his hair was tied with a white cloth. He held a white jade fan, but the fan was closed in his hand.

This middle-aged man was filled with determination and his eyes were clear. He gave off a very positive aura that would make people unconsciously have good feelings toward him. Even though he was middle-aged, he was very handsome, and his beard made him look more manly. He was the president of Yue Hua Academy, Song Chucai.

Compared to the handsome Song Chucai, the middle-aged man on the right was much rougher. He had a strong body, dark skin, and wore clothes made from leopard skin. His clothes hung from his left shoulder down to the right of his waist.

Both his arms and chest were exposed, making him look like a wild man. But he shouldn't be looked down upon because he looked messy—his whole body gave off a very stable and powerful aura. He was the Mountain Lord of the Great Barbarian Sect, the Great Devil King.

Because the Great Barbarian Sect and Yue Hua Academy had a close relationship with the Ten Thousand Dao Sect, they had arrived a day early. All three of them were waiting together for the other holy lands to arrive.

Daoist Fu Qing had a smile like always and occasionally looked into the distance as if he had something on his mind.

Song Chucai and the Great Devil King occasionally looked at each other. When they arrived yesterday, they were both shocked. They hadn't expected Daoist Fu Qing, who had been in the Spirit Sea Realm like them, to have broken through. Even his appearance had changed drastically.

This shook their hearts greatly. They knew how difficult it was to reach the Dao Origin Realm. They had been stuck for 200 years, and it was Fu Qing who had made the breakthrough first.

Thinking about this, there was a hint of envy in their eyes, along with some dread.

After thinking for a while, the Great Devil King smiled and said, “I wonder how many of the holy lands will come this time.”

Song Chucai answered, “It shouldn't be all seven. The Nameless Temple hasn't appeared many times. I don't know if any of the other holy lands have any good disciples.”

The Great Devil King moved his neck while he let out a snort and dismissively said, “Hmph, will the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect dare to come? Their result at the last Battle Competition was so miserable.”

Daoist Fu Qing, who hadn't said anything, slowly shook his head. “It's impossible for the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect to not come. However, they are getting worse and worse each year. This time, I'm afraid they won't even have any Spirit Sea elders coming.” After he finished speaking, he laughed arrogantly.

“That's right, that's right.” The Great Devil King nodded in agreement. Song Chucai's eyes twitched. He didn't like how Daoist Fu Qing was acting all high and mighty. It seemed that people did indeed change. As their strength changed, the way they interacted also subtly changed.

Daoist Fu Qing's following words shocked both Song Chucai and the Great Devil King.

“As long as they come, I'll test the strength of the elder leading them and see their attitude. If they can't act tough, then that means their foundation is gone. In the future, the seven holy lands can become the six holy lands.”

Although Daoist Fu Qing had spoken in a calm tone, his words shocked the Great Devil King and Song Chucai. They seemed to understand that this Seven Holy Land Exchange would be different from previous ones!

Chapter end