Immortal Soaring Blade

Everyone, welcome to 2021!  2020 has been an absolutely horrid year for many people on many levels, and I think many (most? all?) of us are glad to leave it behind.  With that said, I wanted to give everyone a preview for some of the things that are coming up in the coming few months for Wuxiaworld.

Front-End Site Redesign - This one has been a long time coming!  Historically, we've focused more on incremental changes and feature build-out rather than overhauling the site itself, but for quite a few months now...

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Zhao Jiuge didn’t feel any grievance toward Instructor Zhou’s scolding. In fact, when he heard that he could go to the Duty Hall, he was so happy that he smiled until his eyes became lines.

“Instructor Zhou, I’ll go now, but where is the Duty Hall? I have never gone there before, I’ll have to trouble Elder to take me there.” Zhao Jiuge smiled while scratching the side of his head.

Instructor Zhou only took a faint look at Zhao Jiuge and then turned around. Then he simply said, “Let’s go.”

Instructor Zhou knew that if this gentle and honest youth went crazy, he was more terrifying than anyone.

Zhao Jiuge followed Instructor Zhou outside the courtyard. Instructor Zhou was going to wave his sleeve and bring Zhao Jiuge onto the flying sword. However, when he saw how absent-minded Zhao Jiuge was, he seemed to guess what Zhao Jiuge was thinking.

“Don’t bother, Bai Qingqing has entered a spirit vein to cultivate. She has reached the Foundation Realm and has comprehended Elucidation. I really don’t know what to do with you, being even worse than a little girl. After a year, it looks like you only touched the realm of Elucidation.” At first, Instructor Zhou was angry, but the more he spoke, the more happy he was.

Although he was scolding and criticizing Zhao Jiuge, he felt very satisfied. He felt that Zhao Jiuge’s progress was very good, considering his background and having no one to help him. He believed that Zhao Jiuge only needed to take some missions to hone himself in order to comprehend Elucidation. 

Zhao Jiuge was much better than those disciples with good backgrounds.

After hearing that Bai Qingqing had already gone into a spirit vein to refine her body, Zhao Jiuge was a bit shocked, but he soon calmed down. No wonder he hadn’t seen her even though he had been back for a few days.

Those poor disciples might not know what this meant, but he knew what it was from the jade tube left by his teacher, Ye Wuyou. There was detailed information about going from the Spirit Detecting Realm to the Blood Movement Realm, from the Blood Movement Realm to the Spirit Transformation Realm, and then from the Spirit Transformation Realm to forming the foundation formation to forming one’s spirit core and nascent soul. As for the realms beyond the Nascent Soul Realm, there was no information, as Ye Wuyou was afraid Zhao Jiuge would look too far ahead and delay his cultivation.

Looking at the Mysterious Heaven Temple looming in the clouds Zhao Jiuge let out a sigh. When would he be able to enter that position?

Thinking about his deceased teacher, Ye Wuyou, he remembered that he still had to take a trip to the place called Carefree Valley. 

Looking at Zhao Jiuge’s gaze of determination, Instructor Zhou didn’t say more. Some people only needed a few words to point them in the right direction, saying more would be pointless.

He rolled up his sleeves and the two of them stepped onto Instructor Zhou’s flying sword. Then the flying sword disappeared into the clouds.

The Duty Hall was located on Little Bell Peak.

As the flying sword closed in on Little Bell Peak, Zhao Jiuge saw more and more people entering or leaving this place.

Most of those people were disciples of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect. There were not only the blue, green, and orange robes of the three peaks, but also clothes of varying colors. It seemed that even inner sect disciples often came to the Duty Hall to get missions.

Instructor Zhou’s flying sword circled a few times and then slowly landed on Little Bell Peak. The mountain peak was filled with people.

“You go in yourself, the hall there is the Duty Hall. Remember to show the wooden token you got when you entered the sect. New disciples like you won’t be sent too far, and you won’t be able to take dangerous missions, but you still have to be careful. The outside world is not as safe as the sect, and even if the location is close to the sect, there might still be many accidents.” This time, the instructions were very serious. No matter how extraordinary the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect was, they couldn’t ensure the safety of all disciples heading out. After all, a baby eagle must fly on their own one day. They couldn’t always hide under the shelter of the adult eagle. Only after experiencing the vast sky themselves could they truly soar.

After seriously explaining a few matters, Instructor Zhou looked worriedly at Zhao Jiuge. However, he flew off and didn’t say more.

It has to be said that when new disciples began taking missions, they would often go in groups. However, Zhao Jiuge was different from ordinary people, so Instructor Zhou had high expectations of him.

Among the more than 30 people he was teaching, Zhao Jiuge was the only good seedling.

After Instructor Zhou left, Zhao Jiuge didn’t rush to enter the hall. Instead, he looked up at this unfamiliar peak. He looked enviously at the people flying through the sky on flying swords or riding various mounts.

After watching for a while, he felt his horizons broaden, but this was also a bit pointless. After all, it wasn’t him who was flying, and if he had time to watch others, he could use that time to earn sect contributions instead. This time, Zhao Jiuge didn’t think too much—he just walked toward the Duty Hall.

The Duty Hall was created to help train their disciples so they could hone their skills with real combat. There was nothing better to stimulate these disciples than treasures. The Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect was not like the other holy lands, where the elders would reward disciples with treasures and pills. Everything in the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect had to be earned on their own. This wasn’t that the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect had a weaker foundation. In fact, because of their founder, their foundation was stronger than everyone else’s.

The inside of the hall was very lively. Aside from the black-robed instructors, there were also young disciples helping with giving out missions.

Zhao Jiuge was stunned. This was his first time here, so he didn’t know what to do. He could only look around and see how others were accepting missions.

After watching for a while, Zhao Jiuge finally understood how it worked.

The black-robed instructors and black-robed youths were members of the Duty Hall. Disciples went directly to them. After hesitating a bit, Zhao Jiuge found a rather gentle-looking young man.

Zhao Jiuge lowered his head and respectfully said, “Hello, Senior Brother. I’m here to receive missions, but it's my first time here, so I’d like to ask how to receive missions.”

When the gentle young man heard Zhao Jiuge’s question, he smiled faintly. “When you first entered the sect, you were given a wooden token, right? Take it out. Also, you should be one of the new disciples who have only been in the sect for one year. You don’t get to choose missions, you basically just take what we give you. This is because you’re still relatively weak, and it's for your own safety.”

Zhao Jiuge quickly nodded and quickly took out the wooden token. He was surprised that this wooden token still had this use. There were still 200 sect contributions recorded inside.

The gentle young man took the wooden token and then picked up a white jade tube. Then he glanced at the wooden token. Zhao Jiuge’s name and all his information were clearly recorded there. He also saw there were already 200 sect contributions in there, which made the gentle young man look at Zhao Jiuge with a hint of shock.

The gentle young man had also been a new disciple and knew that there was one chance for new disciples to earn sect contributions. It seemed like this youth was undoubtedly one of the best among the new disciples.

After he finished, the gentle young man looked into the jade tube once more. Then he waved his hand and a ray of white light shot out from the jade tube and entered the wooden token.

The gentle young man smiled after the light disappeared and handed the wood token back to Zhao Jiuge.” Okay, the mission is to go to a place near the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, the town of Yu Hua. Head to the largest family there to get more information. This mission was added recently. It seems like there is some kind of haunting going on there. As for the other matter, you will have to deal with it yourself. The details of the situation and the geographical location have been recorded in your wooden token.”

Zhao Jiuge accepted the wooden token and almost smiled at the gentle young man. He said, “Thank you, Senior Brother,” before turning to leave.

Looking at the youth, the gentle young man thought that it was another newborn calf who was not afraid of tigers. When he picked up his first mission, he was like this too, and he later suffered a lot.

He looked at that figure like he was looking at his younger self. The gentle young man suddenly shouted, “Wait!”

When Zhao Jiuge heard the cry, he turned toward the gentle young man with a face filled with confusion.

“Are you just going to walk away like this? I saw on your wooden token that you still have 200 sect contributions. Why not use those to buy some common treasures? Don’t think that 200 sect contributions is very little, it's still enough for some common treasures. Of course, you can’t afford anything good, but it's better than going out empty-handed,” the gentle young man patiently explained to Zhao Jiuge.

Zhao Jiuge thought that this was reasonable and said, “But I don’t know where the Treasure Pavilion is.”

The gentle young man didn’t lose his patience as he explained to Zhao Jiuge, “Just go and head toward the hall up there.”

After Zhao Jiuge understood the direction, he quickly thanked this senior brother and left.

The gentle young man smiled softly while he watched Zhao Jiuge depart. He muttered, “What an interesting little fellow.”

After learning the way, Zhao Jiuge let out a breath of relief and the oppressive feeling disappeared. He looked back at the Duty Hall and thought about how many fierce individuals were inside.

One needed a certain amount of strength to become an instructor and elder; otherwise, don’t even think about it. It was said there were also old monsters in the sect that never came out.

He looked up at the tall building and huge, black plaque that had the words “Duty Hall” printed on it.

The entire pavilion was black and was supported by eight black pillars. The pavilion was divided into five floors.

This was the foundation of a sect. How much manpower and resources were needed to create this system? Most missions were brought back by the Enforcement Hall, and those that were urgent were usually completed by the disciples in the Enforcement Hall.  

As for the specific details and workflow, an outer disciple like Zhao Jiuge would not know.

Looking at the pavilion, Zhao Jiuge felt a bit tongue-tied. He had only been able to enter the first floor, yet there were already so many people. He wondered what the upper floors would be like. However, he believed that he would be able to reach there with his one strength one day.

Zhao Jiuge no longer hesitated and walked toward the Treasure Pavilion to buy some useful things before leaving. Then he suddenly remembered that the wine from Leng Rufeng was obtained from the Treasure Pavilion.

He had already witnessed the majesty of the Duty Hall today, and soon he would be able to see what the Treasure Pavilion was like.

He believed that in the near future, he would be able to leave his mark on the bloody Enforcement Hall, the mighty Sword Casting Hall, the profound Sword Pavilion, and the aloof Mysterious Heaven Temple.

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