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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“What kind of mission?” The youth with the dimples was originally silent due to the scolding from Instructor Zhou, but after hearing about the mission, he immediately stood up with a surprised look on his face. When he smiled, his two dimples were especially red, making him look cute.

“Yeah, what kind of mission? It can’t be the same as the entrance exam, right?” The brave young girl still felt some lingering fear when she talked about the entrance exam.

“I like to do missions. I hate staying at the study hall and doing these boring courses.” Luo Xie had returned to his lecherous appearance before everyone. Sometimes, Zhao Jiuge wondered if Luo Xie pretended to be like this before others on purpose.

The originally calm atmosphere suddenly became noisy again.

Seeing the vigor of the children below, Instructor Zhou wasn’t angry. His eyes were in a daze, as if he was thinking about something. After a long time, he recovered his senses and felt that it was good to be young. These were the hopes for the future of the sect. A sect should be filled with energetic disciples, not a solemn, lifeless aura.

Instructor Zhou’s cold expression became a bit more gentle. When he felt that the discussion below was almost done, he softly said, “Okay, that’s enough chatter. I’ll tell you all the details when we gather at the square in the afternoon. Now, tell me about how your cultivation of the Sword Energy Elucidation is going. And if you have anything you don’t understand, please feel free to ask.”

Cultivation was like this—the teacher led you through the door and the rest depended on yourself. Even people with high cultivation levels couldn't help you in cultivation, only guide you. There were no two exact same people in the world, so everyone had a different cultivation path. As for how far you would go, it all depended on your own understanding and comprehension.

Even though Instructor Zhou had a powerful cultivation, he could only allow these disciples to practice on their own to gain their own understanding and comprehension. If there were things they didn’t understand, he could only explain it to them after they asked. He could help once, but he could not help forever. The path of cultivation was simply too long and difficult, and there were too many unknowns.

After hearing what Instructor Zhou said, everyone in the study hall just looked at each other and remained silent. Zhao Jiuge wanted to ask Instructor Zhou about some of the issues he had yesterday, but he hesitated to do so in front of so many people. After all, Zhao Jiuge was a bit introverted, so he was a bit too embarrassed about speaking up. Also, the youth with the dimples had created a ray of sword energy much larger than his, making him even more unwilling to draw attention to himself.

Finally, it was the youth with the dimples who broke the silence.

The youth with the dimples looked cautious and timidly asked, “Instructor Zhou, I have already condensed my sword energy, but my domain can’t reach that realm. I want to know how to condense sword energy on my finger and make it not dissipate like you.” He still remembered the scolding from earlier.

Among the instructors, Zhou was the most strict. Many people felt scared when they looked at his imposing figure. Even someone as fearless as the youth with the dimples felt some fear toward Instructor Zhou.

Instructor Zhou first stared at the youth with the dimples and then said, “The domain depends on your own comprehension. Once you understand the meaning of the sword art, you will naturally reach the realm of Elucidation. This will all depend on you. In addition, don't think you’re so great just because you have managed to cultivate sword energy. You must practice constantly to increase it gradually and not always make a fuss.”

At the end, Instructor Zhou stared at the youth with the dimples with a stern and meaningful gaze.

The expression of the youth with the dimples was a little unnatural as he sat back down. Back at the stairs, the youth with the dimples just wanted to show off due to his youthful temperament. After being assigned to the same study hall, Zhao Jiuge found that his perception of the youth with the dimples was wrong. He originally thought that this youth was the same type of person as Bai Zimo or Mu Zijun.

Afterward, Zhao Jiuge found that the youth with the dimples was simply too straightforward. He had no ill intent and was rather simple, he just wasn’t afraid to express his emotions.

Although Zhao Jiuge was introverted, that didn’t mean he was stupid. He didn’t speak much, but he paid attention to the actions of everyone around him. Aside from a few people he couldn’t figure out, he had a general understanding of everyone else.

After seeing that no one had spoken in a long time, Zhao Jiuge summoned his courage and slowly stood up. His face was a bit tense.

“Instructor Zhou, I want to ask why my sword energy is so small and weak. It's not even as good as using my own hands.”

Because he was speaking before so many people and he noticed that people were looking at him, he spoke fast, to the point of almost stuttering.

After seeing Zhao Jiuge stand up, Instructor Zhou’s eyes light up. He still had a deep impression of Zhao Jiuge, especially when Zhao Jiuge erupted on the stairs. It was a very memorable scene, so he looked forward to Zhao Jiuge’s performance in these three years.

“Show me your sword energy for me to see.” His voice was a lot softer.

A ray of silver sword energy the size of a thumb shot out toward the wall. He didn’t shoot it toward a person like the youth with the dimples. The sword energy hit the wall with a slight sound and only left a mark. Aside from some dust being kicked up, there was no other reaction.

“Hahahaha.”

Laughter filled with mockery, disdain, and sneers echoed inside the teaching hall.

Even Luo Xie wanted to laugh, but he withstood it, making his lecherous face completely red. It was simply too different from the sword energy created by the youth with dimples. The laughter actually caused Zhao Jiuge’s tension to disappear, and he calmly looked at Instructor Zhou waiting for an answer.

“What is there to laugh about? How many of you have formed your sword energy? Come and show me if you are qualified to laugh.” The angry Instructor Zhou let out another roar, causing the teaching hall to become silent. No one dared to make even the slightest noise in fear of making Instructor Zhou angry.

Then he looked at Zhao Jiuge and nodded. He felt that this child was very good. During the trial, he had noticed that Zhao Jiuge had perseverance and good strength, and now he saw that this child had a determined heart as well. He found that Zhao Jiuge had maturity beyond his age, as no matter how much others laughed at him, he maintained his heart.

Perhaps most people thought that the most important thing on the path of cultivation was talent, but the truth was the contrary. In fact, those with ordinary talent but great perseverance ended up achieving more. Perhaps Zhao Jiuge’s talent was not particularly good, but what happened today caught Instructor Zhou’s attention.

“The sword is born from the heart, and sword energy is condensed from your heart. Your sword energy is still very weak, but forming your sword energy overnight is already very good compared to most, it's just your domain that is lacking. Your problem is the same as the previous one, a lack of domain. When you use it more and you gain a better understanding of the sword energy, it will naturally increase in size. Then it will change from big to small, returning to its origin while becoming even stronger. Remember, domain is key. The Mysterious Heaven Sword Art has seven layers that represent seven domains, and the power of the sword art naturally increases with it. It has only been one day, you still have three years. Study well and reach the first layer of Elucidation, then enter the inner sect through the competition.”

Instructor Zhou’s words gave him enlightenment. His original understanding of sword energy was wrong. He always thought he would condense the sword energy with his own body and then the power would slowly grow like any other spell. However, after hearing these words, he realized that he was wrong. The power of the sword energy depended on one's understanding of the domain.

At the same time, Zhao Jiuge felt inexplicably self-confident. He would certainly reach the first layer of Elucidation, and in three years, he would shine during competition to enter the inner sect.

The explanation caused both Zhao Jiuge and the youth with dimples to frequently nod. Even those who hadn’t managed to create their sword energy vaguely understood something.

After explaining, Instructor Zhou’s gaze swept across the teaching hall. “Did only these two form their sword energy? No one else?” As Instructor Zhou’s gaze swept by, everyone else lowered their heads and didn’t dare to meet his gaze.

After a long time, Instructor Zhou let out a sigh and stroked his beard. He was not satisfied but also not disappointed with this result. After a while, he waved his hand, and with a flash of light, 30 wooden swords appeared. “When you go out to gather at the square, take one wooden sword each. Remember, if the sword remains, then you remain. If the sword is lost, then you don’t need to come back. After a year, you can use the sect contributions you earned to forge your own sword. For the first year, use these wooden swords.”

This was what was special about the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect. Flying swords had to be forged from materials the disciples earned through sect contribution. This was unlike the rest of the sects, where the magical treasures were rewarded by the sect.

Square on the mountain peak.

He had been at the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect for a few days, so Zhao Jiuge had some understanding. Generally, whenever there was something to announce to the new outer sect disciples, it would be at this square. At this moment, more than 80 people, boys and girls, all wearing blue sword robes, were standing in a neat formation with a wooden sword on each of their backs.

A gentle breeze blew by, causing their sleeves to flutter. At this moment, a ripple of blue could be seen from above.

On the square, Instructor Zhou stood in front, with the other two instructors scanning the new disciples. This group of new outer sect disciples were looking more and more like actual disciples and becoming more disciplined.

“Today, you will receive your first mission after entering the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect. Your mission is to enter the mountains and look for seven kinds of medical herbs. The time period is three days, and you will do this in groups of two. In three days, myself and the other two instructors will wait here for you. The top three teams will get 100 sect contributions, and the teams that find all the medical herbs will have two pills refined for them. This serves both as training and as a reward for you new disciples. Of course, those that don’t find them all will not receive the reward.”

Instructor Zhou finally announced the mission. It was to search for medical herbs. However, what everyone paid attention to was the 100 sect contributions and pills. It has to be known that under normal circumstances, they couldn’t earn sect contributions until after one year, and the easiest tasks only gave a few contributions, not 100. In order to refine their own swords and buy other treasures, they required sect contributions. Sect contributions were worth more than anything, so just this had already made everyone’s blood boil.

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