Book 2, Chapter 1 - Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect

After saying goodbye to everyone, Zhao Jiuge headed toward the capital city with a reluctant mood.

Shortly after, the large, grey walls could be vaguely seen in the distance. Zhao Jiuge looked up and found that the city walls were at least a few dozen meters tall. This was the largest city he had seen in his life, and even Dong Yang City was like a small house next to a mansion in comparison.

Finally, he could clearly see the city gates. The gates were black and there was a bronze tiger head carved in between the two doors. He saw a lot of people going in and out, but saw no one guarding the gate.

Although the Huaxia Dynasty had many cities, it had no ruler. The only ones that had a say were the seven more powerful sects. They were what the small sects called the holy lands.

After entering the capital city, Zhao Jiuge’s eyes were filled with curiosity. He wanted to see what the largest city was like. The noisy atmosphere rushed toward him and crowds of people pushed by each other on the grey brick road. Zhao Jiuge felt his stretch trying to look at it all.

He couldn’t help but sigh. People were willing to gather anywhere for their own interests.

Moreover, cultivators were willing to do anything simply for their own benefit. After experiencing Daoist Yi Qing, Zhao Jiuge truly felt how sinister the cultivation world was. Not only did he have to guard against dangerous beasts and locations, more importantly, he had to guard against the hearts of others.

Looking at the flow of people, Zhao Jiuge pursed his lips in excitement. Coming from the countryside, he had never seen so many people. The sorrow he felt from the parting gradually washed away.

Feeling the intense aura from the flow of people, Zhao Jiuge entered a trance as he immersed himself in the bustle of the city.

During the flight, Elder Yang had told Zhao Jiuge the layout of the capital city. Based on Zhao Jiuge’s memory, the northwest was where the nobles lived, the northeast was the downtown area. Not only was the largest auction house there, but there were mysterious spells and extremely powerful magical treasures. Even rare cultivation methods were there, and as long as you had spirit stones, you could buy it. You could even buy beautiful female cultivation partners!

The southwest was where the seven major sects accepted disciples. Although Zhao Jiuge was filled with passion and wanted to go see the best auction house, he knew that it was nothing compared to finding a sect. His eyes burned with passion as he quickly walked toward the southwest part of the capital.

Along the way, Zhao Jiuge found out why the city was filled with so many people that it was difficult to walk. It was because the seven big sects were in the middle of the recruitment that happened once every 10 years. Along the way, Zhao Jiuge managed to learn the names of the seven sects.

The Ten Thousand Dao Sect. Naturally, they cared a lot about the nature of dao, and their cultivation revolved around dao. All daoist temples in the world listened to them and their disciples were as numerous as cow hairs, only increasing with time. The power of the sect increased day by day and they had great influence in the Huaxia Dynasty. The sect also had many different kinds of spells.

Thousand Flower Valley. It was rumored that they only accepted female disciples, and every single one was as beautiful as a goddess. Many of the disciples in the Huaxia Dynasty would be proud to become a cultivation pair with a disciple of Thousand Flower Valley. Because their female disciples all formed couples with disciples of other sects, along with the power of the entire school, even though it was all female, they were not easy to deal with.

Yue Hua Academy. The sect’s cultivation method promoted righteousness and their disciples traveled the world with removing demons as their responsibility. About 1,000 years ago, the ancestor who created the sect gained enlightenment in dao and rapidly rose up. From then on, the entire sect rapidly rose in rank and made every disciple feel empowered.

The Nameless Temple. Low key and avoided the rest of the world. They rarely appeared before anyone and did not seek fame or entered disputes with others. They only protected their own land and never recruited a lot of disciples. Their main cultivation method was the Great Compassion Mantra, and they had a lot of power over all the buddhists in the Huaxia Dynasty. The true strength of this sect couldn’t be underestimated.

The Void Suspension Sect. It only passed from one generation to another. It was the most mysterious sect, and no one even knew where the sect was located. Their disciples almost never appeared, but if one did, there would be a bloodbath.

The Great Barbarian Sect, a sect that only focused on cultivation of the physical body. This sect was located beside the Barbarian Forest, and it was rumored that the sect had received this name because it was located next to the Barbarian Forest. Most of the disciples were barbarians from the southern part of the Barbarian Forest. Later, one of the sect elders found a medical herb that resulted in his cultivation to soar. This placed them among the seven holy lands.

The Barbarian Forest was one of the most dangerous lands in the Huaxia Dynasty, but it was also filled with all kinds of natural heavenly treasures. Risk and opportunities formed a ratio. Although the environment was bad and the place filled with spirit beasts, cultivators jumped into the forest like moths charging into a flame in order to increase their strength. Even powerful cultivators could fall if they weren’t careful, so every cultivator in the Huaxia Dynasty remembered that name.

Mysterious Heaven Sword, a sect that focused on cultivating the flying sword. No matter what kind of cultivation method or spell, they were all related to swords. The sect was once prosperous, and at its peak, it was said there were three sword immortals and many powerful cultivators. However, the latter generations could not keep up and it had gradually fallen. Now it was ranked last among the seven holy lands and was almost reduced to a second-rate school.

Along the way, Zhao Jiuge moved very fast and was secretly thinking about which sect to enter. Thousand Flower Valley only accepted female disciples, the Void Suspension Sect couldn’t even be found, and the Nameless Temple accepted very few disciples. So, in reality, only four sects were recruiting at the capital right now.

Zhao Jiuge headed toward the southwest of the city and left the market area, pondering on his way there. The number of people on the streets gradually lessened. In the end, he decided to choose the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect because he preferred the sword. Perhaps the most important fact was that figure in his head. Back at the cold pool that night, the beautiful figure that had touched him deeply. That sword that had sliced the flood dragon shook him. This was before he had really seen the cultivation world, and the impression it left in him was too deep.

The crowd had become smaller, but Zhao Jiuge thought that it was just people trying to join a sect. Zhao Jiuge secretly pondered as he didn’t know the conditions for joining a sect. If he didn’t get chosen, what should he do?

However, Zhao Jiuge didn’t know that these sects that openly recruited like this were divided into outer and inner sects. Generally, as long as one’s qualifications weren’t too poor, they would be allowed into the sect. Then they will take annual assessments, and if they failed, they would merely be unable to enter the inner sect to learn spells. They could only stay in the outer sect to run errands and learn some basic stuff.

Suddenly, his field of vision widened as the crowd of people began to move and it became more lively. He saw a square paved with blue stone bricks, and a tall building was before the square.

There were seven floors to the building. The roof was like layers of contrasting yet complementing helmets, and there were fences carved into the shape of birds. The floors got smaller as one went up, similar to a pagoda. There were four large, wood pillars at the base of the building, along with four large, stone pillars.

The windows on each floor of the building were decoratively carved golden windows. Not only did this increase one’s vision, it also gave the building a more spiritual aura without losing its elegance. Zhao Jiuge watched from a distance. The towering building was magnificent and brilliant. It looked like a Kun Peng that was about to fly into the sky.

On the plaque of the roof, there were four ancient yet simple words: “Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect”.

Zhao Jiuge was suddenly shocked as he stared at this building in amazement. He thought that the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect was one of the seven holy lands. Even though it had fallen, the sect shouldn’t be just this!

At the door on the bottom floor, there was a crowd of people and it was very noisy. Zhao Jiuge walked in to take a look and saw a young man wearing a cyan robe blocking the doorway. His face was red as he argued with two people from the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect. They wore blue and carried longswords on their backs.

Due to the youth’s excitement, even the tone in his voice changed as he shouted, “Why won’t you let me enter the building for an interview?! Even if your Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect looks down on me, at least give me a chance to interview. What makes your Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect so special?!” His saliva flew out and his chest was heaving up and down.

One of the two older disciples looked at the lively crowd gathering to watch the show and felt a bit embarrassed. However, he still patiently explained, “It’s not our Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect looking down on you. You are over 18 years old. Our sect only recruits those under the age of 18 and below the Foundation Realm.”

After he finished speaking, the surrounding people all began to talk.

Voices of disdain soon echoed. “This Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect is so arrogant to have so many requirements.”

“Ya, let's go check out the Ten Thousand Dao Sect and Yue Hua Academy.”

“That’s right, it’s not only the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect that is accepting disciples.”

Afterwards, a small part of the crowd left because they were over the age of 18. The two disciples of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect were a bit angry but also a bit helpless.

They were angry because the requirements had been set by the ancestor who had created the sect and that this had never been changed. They were helpless because if the sect had its former glory, who would dare act so disrespectfully toward them? It was said that back then, all disciples of the sect could walk outside with their heads held high, but it had been getting worse year after year.

The youth wearing the cyan robe was unwilling to give up and didn’t leave. He remained outside, constantly shouting, claiming that he had prepared for years, spending all of his family’s wealth practicing the sword to join the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect. If not for the fact that the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect specialized in swords, he would not be so excited.

Zhao Jiuge watched this from beginning to end and let out a sign of relief, feeling glad that he at least met the requirements to have an interview. Zhao Jiuge believed that as long as he could get an interview, with his ability, there should be no problem entering the sect.

But how could Zhao Jiuge know that the reason for picking people under 18 was because the heart of someone under 18 was not set and it hadn’t been long since they began cultivation. As a result, the disciple would feel more sense of belonging and loyalty toward the sect. As for being below the Foundation Realm, just because you have good talent, that doesn’t mean the sect wants you.

Due to the method of the sect’s cultivation, only those below the Foundation Realm could be molded. If one had already built their foundation, it couldn’t be changed, which would cause conflict with the sword dao taught by the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect.

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