Chapter 28 – Lingxiao

“A hundred years ago…..” Administrator Zheng’s voice was somewhat hesitant. He didn’t know if he should tell the three people before him. Although it wasn’t a secret, everyone who knew about it had tacitly agreed not to talk about that incident or that person.

“Administrator Zheng, what happened a hundred years ago, ah?” Fang Yang asked. Hao Chen’s question had reminded him that their sect’s supremacy was a thing of the past.

Administrator Zheng saw that Fang Yang was looking at him expectantly – so expectantly that it was difficult for him to refuse.

Never mind. Even if he didn’t tell them, they would inevitably find out from somewhere else.

With this in mind, Administrator Zheng suddenly walked to the door of the armory, closed it, and fastened the bolt. After ensuring that there were no outsiders listening in, he went back to the group of three.

He stroked his goatee. His eyes went far away as he began to recall: “The start of it all can be traced back to a little earlier than a hundred years ago. About one hundred fifty years ago, Lingxiao Sword Sect recruited a batch of disciples as usual.”

“However, this batch of new disciples was destined to be extraordinary. Among them were two well-known figures. You should all be familiar with one of them.”

Administrator Zheng kept them in suspense for a moment before continuing: “It was none other than the leader of my Lingxiao Sword Sect – Ji Chengyue.”

“Sect Leader Ji was about your age when he joined the sect, around fifteen or sixteen.” Administrator Zheng gestured toward Fang Yang: “However, Sect Leader Ji has dual gold and earth spiritual roots, and their purity is considered rare among dual roots. Therefore, he was directly accepted as the disciple of the former sect leader, Xuanxu Zhenren.”

“As for the other one…..if Sect Leader Ji was considered a rare talent, his talent should be considered unique throughout the world. He was just like this generation’s Cao Zirui, a rare single root that only appears once per century.”

“But Cao Zirui only possesses a single water element spiritual root, one among the five spiritual roots of gold, wood, fire, water, and earth. He was a variant wind-type spiritual root. Compared to the five elemental roots, his was more powerful. Such talent is rare to come by in a hundred years, or even a thousand.”

“Such a person joined my Lingxiao Sword Sect. Naturally, like Sect Leader Ji, he was directly accepted as a disciple by Xuanxu Zhenren.”

“He was Sect Leader Ji’s shixiong, as well as the former sect leader of Lingxiao Sword Sect…..” The mystery was just about to be solved, but Administrator Zheng suddenly stopped.

He glanced at the door he had purposely shut, still feeling ill-at-ease. He appeared anxious, as if worried that someone would overhear him saying that name.

Who would hear it? Hao Chen watched Administrator Zheng grinding ink, and thought, He doesn’t seem ready to say it himself. He was going to show them the name in writing.

But there were only four people in the room right now. Who was powerful enough to hear their conversation from outside?

No, perhaps this wasn’t about someone with incredible hearing listening in. Hao Chen suddenly thought, Rather…..who is Administrator Zheng so afraid of that he doesn’t dare speak that name even in private?

There was no way a human could have such deterrent power, so it could only be…..Hao Chen couldn’t help but look upward, harboring a hypothesis.

“Ling.” While Hao Chen was distracted, Administrator Zheng had already written the first character. Fang Yang beside him quietly read it out.

However, just as the character was written, Administrator Zheng paused before writing the second one. He raised his head to give Fang Yang a severe look and made a silencing gesture.

Fang Yang immediately covered his mouth with both hands and gave an obedient nod.

And Feng Ye…..different from Fang Yang, who stuck close to Administrator Zheng in order to see the name as soon as possible, he stood not too far but not too close, almost a little indifferent.

Both Fang Yang and Hao Chen were very curious about the event from a hundred years ago, but he was entirely uninterested.

As expected, he knows, Hao Chen thought.

The rustle of a brush sliding across paper sounded once more, and Hao Chen no longer focused on Feng Ye. He turned his gaze to the continuously moving tip of the brush.

As the brush stroke moved horizontally and made a hook, the second character was slowly revealed.

Yun, Hao Chen whispered in his mind.

Administrator Zheng stopped writing after these two characters.

He gazed at the familiar yet unfamiliar name on the paper and let out an imperceptible sigh. The name felt familiar to him because it had once been a household name. Who in the country hadn’t known about this extraordinary genius? 

But the name was also unfamiliar, because after that incident a hundred years ago…..no one dared to mention it again…..

“Only those two characters?” Fang Yang belatedly realized that Administrator Zheng was finished writing.

Administrator Zheng nodded.

“Why didn’t you just say it? And why have I never heard anyone mention the previous sect leader?” Fang Yang was somewhat doubtful.

He had never heard of such a person in the history of Lingxiao Sword Sect, nor had he known that Sect Leader Ji had a shixiong.

“Because…..this is a name that cannot be spoken…..” Administrator Zheng couldn’t help but lower his voice when he said this.

Without waiting for Fang Yang to ask further questions, he continued: “My sect is named Lingxiao Sword Sect, but he insisted on…..”

He glanced over at the words “Ling Yun” and said: “The accident was so coincidental that it seemed like fate. When Xuanxu Zhenren discovered him, he called him a ‘man of destiny.’ He was the one who would lead our Lingxiao Sword Sect to the top.”

“Therefore, Xuanxu Zhenren spared almost no cost to cultivate him. All of the resources you can imagine, whether magic weapons or elixirs, were presented to him free of charge.”

“He was extremely gifted. In terms of cultivation and swordsmanship, not one of his peers in the world could compare to him.”

“With both of these blessings, he created one miracle after another. He began to cultivate at five years old, reached Foundation Establishment at sixteen, Golden Core at twenty-four, Nascent Soul at forty, and at fifty-six, he reached…..Hedao.”

“Hedao?” Fang Yang interrupted Administrator Zheng in shock. He had thought that Nascent Soul was the highest level of cultivation, never expecting that there was a realm called Hedao above it.

Administrator Zheng heard the surprise in his tone and explained with a smile: “You’re so surprised? At that time, the world of cultivation was just as surprised as you. It’s no exaggeration to say that jaws dropped.”

“He was the first and only cultivator in the world to reach the stage of Hedao.” Having said this, Administrator Zheng suddenly took a jade slip from the desk drawer.

Holding it in his hand, he injected it with a bit of spiritual power. A bright light rose from the jade slip and flew into the air, forming a translucent image.

Before Fang Yang could marvel over a jade slip being used this way, he was drawn to the person in the image.

It was a man. A tall, handsome man with heroic features.

The place where the man was standing seemed vaguely familiar, and Fang Yang suddenly recalled that this was the thousand-step staircase he had just climbed.

The man stood at the bottom, with a person standing every ten steps on either side of the stairs. Judging from the black and white daoist robes, they were undoubtedly disciples of Lingxiao Sword Sect.

The man was looking up at the endless stone steps. Unlike his fellow disciples on the staircase who wore solemn, battle-ready expressions, there was a faint smile at the corners of his mouth that revealed a sense of carefreeness. 

Suddenly, he took a step forward and began to ascend the thousand-step stone staircase.

On the first step, the disciple standing there promptly attacked. He unsheathed his sword and aimed straight for the man’s head.

The man didn’t even draw his sword. He blocked the attack with his scabbard and turned his wrist in an instant, taking advantage of his opponent’s attack to ram the scabbard into the other’s stomach.

After the clash, the fellow disciple on the first step crouched down and held his stomach, having lost the ability to fight.

The man continued to ascend, and after ten steps, he met the second fellow disciple. Similarly, the second disciple drew his sword the moment the man reached his step.

The man still didn’t draw his sword, and the second disciple didn’t fare much better than the first. He was defeated after just two moves.

“What’s going on?” Fang Yang couldn’t help but ask. Didn’t Lingxiao Sword Sect prohibit infighting among disciples?

Gazing at the man in the image, Administrator Zheng replied: “This is the sect leader inheritance ceremony. Anyone who becomes the sect leader of Lingxiao Sword Sect must pass the test of a thousand stone steps and a hundred checkpoints.”

Fang Yang immediately nodded. He stopped talking, watching in silence as the man in the image moved onward.

After walking several dozen more steps, the man had passed over a dozen checkpoints with ease, his sword still in its sheath. Those disciples guarding the steps could hardly delay him, much less stop him.

The man maintained his relaxed expression until he reached the 500th step. He had already walked most of the way before someone forced him to draw his sword.

But this still failed to stop the man’s forward momentum. When the man drew his sword, his presence became even more imposing than before, and rather than slowing down, his forward progress sped up even more.

He was unstoppable. Each and every disciple who stood in his way was defeated within ten moves. The defeated fellow disciples bowed to him, swords in hand, and the man simply nodded to them before continuing his ascent.

At last, he reached the final step. And the one hundredth checkpoint.

When the man standing at the top of the mountain saw him approaching, he didn’t draw his sword immediately like the other disciples had. Instead, he held his sword out and called: “Shixiong.”

“Shidi,” the man responded to the young Ji Chengyue. The careless smile on his face finally took on a hint of seriousness.

Before he reached the peak of the mountain and the thousandth step, Ling Yun saluted Ji Chengyue.

Ji Chengyue returned the same salute. This was extremely formal etiquette. 

Ling Yun took a step forward, and the instant his toes touched that final step, Ji Chengyue’s sword met his.

Their swords collided with a clang.

Ji Chengyue immediately changed tactics. He went to stab at the opponent’s throat, but at the moment their swords met, the tip of his sword slipped over Ling Yun’s.

Accompanied by the sharp sound of metal on metal and intermittent sparks, when the tip of Ji Chengyue’s sword slid to the tail of Ling Yun’s, Ji Chengyue suddenly turned his wrist and the sword stabbed outward along Ling Yun’s blade.

“Good!” Ling Yun shouted as the blade stabbed toward him at an extremely tricky angle. Most people wouldn’t have time to react when faced with this unexpected move.

But the person Ji Chengyue was fighting was Ling Yun. Thus….there was another clang. Ling Yun didn’t take any defensive measures, because he knew it was already too late. Ji Chengyue’s blade had slid to the tail of his sword before stabbing out, and Ling Yun had no time to retract his sword or defend himself.

But blocking a sword didn’t necessarily require defense. He used offense instead!

Ling Yun also turned his wrist, and when Ji Chengyue’s blade was a mere hair’s breadth away from his chest, his own sword approached Ji Chengyue’s sword-bearing wrist.

He turned the sword around in his hand to form a circle. Ji Chengyue’s sword-bearing wrist was just on the trajectory of this circle, and if he didn’t withdraw his sword, his hand would be cut off.

The blade stabbing forward would also fly off to the side along with the owner’s hand, and Ling Yun wouldn’t be injured at all.

Ji Chengyue realized this in an instant, and promptly withdrew his sword.

With this retraction, his first-strike advantage was also lost. Ling Yun took charge of the fight. Not giving him the chance to catch his breath, he pressed on step by step.

Ji Chengyue continuously retreated, struggling to hold on.

Finally, after a hundred moves, Ling Yun knocked the sword out of his hand.

Ji Chengyue glanced at his empty hand, then at the smiling shixiong in front of him, saying helplessly: “Shixiong, you didn’t even go easy on me.”

Ling Yun put his sword behind his back and raised an eyebrow: “Didn’t go easy on you? Shidi, if I wasn’t going easy on you, you would have been defeated by the twentieth move.”

Ji Chengyue could only sigh: “As always, I’m inferior to Shixiong.” 

Inferior in every way, whether in cultivation or swordsmanship.

Ling Yun was already the youngest Nascent Soul master in history, shocking the whole country. And Ji Chengyue was only at the Golden Core stage.

With Ling Yun’s strength, in the entire sect, only their sect leader and Elder Zhou were capable of fighting him.

Therefore, Ling Yun hadn’t used any spiritual power when walking up the thousand stone steps and passing one hundred checkpoints. Otherwise, if he utilized his Nascent Soul spiritual power, who among this group of disciples would be qualified to fight him?

He was entirely worthy of being…..the next sect leader.

“Haha, Ling Yun, you really lived up to this teacher’s expectations.” An old man with white hair and youthful vigor appeared in the image, and next to him was another person – Elder Zhou.

Then this person should be….the former sect leader, Xuanxu Zhenren, Fang Yang thought.

Sure enough, after hearing Ji Chengyue’s lament, Ling Yun immediately abandoned what he was going to say the instant he saw the old man.

The two martial brothers turned to salute the old man, calling out respectfully: “Shifu.”

Xuanxu Zhenren looked upon his two disciples with satisfaction, especially Ling Yun, who his gaze lingered on for a long time. His Lingxiao Sword Sect…..had a successor.

No, not only a successor. His disciple would definitely be able to carry Lingxiao Sword Sect forward as a sect that would truly “climb to the heavens.”

“Ling Yun!” Xuanxu Zhenren’s tone took on an abrupt seriousness.

“This disciple is here!” Ling Yun replied with the same gravity.

With both hands, Xuanxu Zhenren picked up the sword he had brought with him. The body of the sword was not ornate, and the hilt and scabbard were a plain black devoid of complicated and gorgeous patterns.

But Xuanxu Zhenren used both hands to stroke the sword with great care and attachment: “This sword is called Mountain Breaker. It has the power to break mountains and split the sea, and is the token of each successive leader of our Lingxiao Sword Sect.”

Having said this, he immediately handed Mountain Breaker to Ling Yun and solemnly instructed him: “From today on, you are the new leader of my Lingxiao Sword Sect!”

Ling Yun’s face revealed a bit of surprise. It wasn’t only Ling Yun – Elder Zhou and Ji Chengyue beside him, as well as the hundreds of disciples standing on the stone steps, had identical looks of surprise on their faces.

They all knew that today’s ceremony was for the purpose of selecting a new sect leader, but unexpectedly, Xuanxu Zhenren actually passed the sect leader position directly to Ling Yun. 

“Shifu…..” Ling Yun’s tone was uncharacteristically hesitant. He didn’t understand why his shifu wanted to pass the position of sect leader to him right away. His shifu was clearly still living, and Ling Yun was just the designated successor. Why was his appointment so sudden?

Due to his doubts, he didn’t reach out and take the sword.

“Ling Yun! Take the sword!” Xuanxu Zhenren didn’t explain his sudden decision, and just gave him a stern rebuke.

Ling Yun stopped hesitating. He raised his head and looked at Xuanxu Zhenren for a moment, only to find determination and expectation in his master’s eyes.

His master had made his decision.

Ling Yun recognized this, and as a disciple, he respected his master’s decision.

He solemnly stretched out his hands and accepted Mountain Breaker from Xuanxu Zhenren.

Xuanxu Zhenren’s stern face softened once more. He looked intently at Ling Yun, saying with an air of relief: “Lingxiao Sword Sect…..I leave it to you…..”

“Yes!” Raising the sword with both hands, Ling Yun gave a firm vow.

The image froze here. The recording on the jade slip had come to its end.

Not waiting for Fang Yang to ask, Administrator Zheng explained: “Xuanxu Zhenren suddenly passed on the position of sect leader…..because he knew that his time was coming. One month after he took over as sect leader, Xuanxu Zhenren passed away.”

Administrator Zheng looked at the frozen image and said with an expression of resolve: “He really lived up to Xuanxu Zhenren’s trust. At the age of fifty-six, he became a Hedao master, shocking the entire country.”

“Although Lingxiao Sword Sect was quite powerful when Xuanxu Zhenren was in charge, it was only in the top three. There were two other major sects tied with it, and it was difficult to tell which was superior.”

“But when he reached Hedao…..Lingxiao Sword Sect truly became the greatest sect in the world.”

“Even now, the glory of that time still makes my blood boil. The previous sect leader truly lived up to the words “soaring to the heavens.”

“Everyone was satisfied with our achievements back then. We were the greatest sect in the world, standing above the clouds, and other sects could only look up to us.”

“But there was still one person who wasn’t satisfied.” Administrator Zheng took out another jade slip, and an image appeared again.

Ling Yun stood at the peak of the mountain with his hands behind his back. Clouds drifted under his feet as he gazed at the scenery beneath him.

Someone came over – his shidi, Ji Chengyue.

Ji Chengyue called out: “Shixiong, what are you standing there thinking about?”

Ling Yun didn’t look back, his eyes still looking down the mountain. He asked with a hint of puzzlement: “Tell me, Shidi, what is the true Lingxiao?”

Ji Chengyue stared blankly upon hearing this, and replied after careful consideration: “The number one sect in the world – that is Lingxiao.”

Ling Yun smiled: “Shidi, I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, ‘there are men above men, and a sky beyond the sky.’”

Ling Yun abruptly raised his head to gaze up at the vast sky. He repeated: “A sky beyond the sky…..”

Before Ji Chengyue could figure out what he meant, Ling Yun suddenly took a step forward. He was standing at the edge of a cliff, with another soaring cliff in front of him, but he didn’t fall when he stepped into empty air.

Standing in midair, he took from his sleeve the sword that had been passed down by successive sect leaders – Mountain Breaker.

Drawing the sword from its sheath, he slashed at the mountain wall. With every strike of his sword, cracks several meters deep appeared in the mountain wall and combined together into the shape of words.

There were four huge characters.

“Lingxiao Sword Sect,” Ling Yun recited softly. Then, he turned with a haughty, arrogant smile on his lips and gave Ji Chengyue a solemn oath: “Shidi, I will show you what the real Lingxiao is.”

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Chapter 27 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 29