Zhang Ruochen frowned and said, “Disciple is still quite worried, this life and death duel is too risky!”
“Ruochen, you must remember that it was an adventure when you set foot on the path of cultivation. Every strong person has inevitably gone through countless trials and tribulations, and has endured the test of life and death. Those who fear death and cultivate the Sword Dao will only die faster.”
With that, the Xuan Gui Sword Saint laughed, “In this life of my master, except for one thing, it is actually already very complete.”
Zhang Ruochen asked, “What is it?”
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint sighed, “My master’s greatest regret is that he was unable to teach an heir who could inherit the mantle.”
“My master’s master was a Sword Saint, my master’s grandfather was also a Sword Saint, and my great master’s grandfather is still a Sword Saint……. This lineage, has already inherited sixteen Sword Saints, could it be that in my master’s generation, the inheritance of the Sword Saints is going to be broken?”
Through the Xuan Gui Sword Saint’s words, Zhang Ruochen was able to sense that Senior Master had indeed put his mind at peace, having long since looked down on life and death, and even, having been prepared to die in battle.
“Eldest Brother, is it not possible to inherit the mantle of Master Teacher?”Zhang Ruochen said.
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint shook his head and said, “Qing Xiao’s talent is very high, it’s just a pity that it’s not suitable for cultivating the Sword Dao. Able to become a Saint, but not a Sword Saint.”
“What about Second and Third Senior Brothers?”Zhang Ruochen said.
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint said, “The second one’s character is too barbaric, only knowing how to pursue absolute power but not knowing the subtleties and variations of sword techniques, destined to fail to reach the realm of a Sword Saint. As for the oldest three …… his talent is a bit worse and has used his mind elsewhere, it is also impossible for him to become a Sword Saint.”
“Fourth Senior Brother and Fifth Senior Sister are also both first class geniuses.”Zhang Ruochen said.
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint continued to shake his head, his gaze fixed firmly on Zhang Ruochen as he said, “In fact, in my master’s heart, only you are capable of inheriting the mantle.”
“Me?”
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint nodded and said, “Therefore, you must perform well during the Sword Discussion Conference. If, however, you are able to break into the top ten, when the life and death duel takes place, my master will have no more worries. In this way, in the battle with the Nine Spectres Sword Saint, the chances of my master winning will be much greater.”
Zhang Ruochen knew that his master had high expectations of him, and secretly resolved that he would not let his master down no matter what, and would do his best to break into the top ten, or even higher.
For the next month, Zhang Ruochen decided to stay by the side of the Xuan Gui Sword Saint and retreat for a period of time.
Here, Zhang Ruochen could safely and boldly enter the Qian Kun Divine Wood Diagram to cultivate without worrying that, the Sacred Book Talented Maiden was secretly spying on him.
Zhang Ruochen always felt that the behaviour of the Sacred Book Talented Lady was rather abnormal. Most likely, she was already suspecting Zhang Ruochen’s identity, which was why she did those things that Zhang Ruochen could not understand.
In the future, one must be extremely careful in her presence.
Sword Saint Xuan Gui asked, “Have you met your fiancée?”
Zhang Ruochen fell silent and nodded, “I’ve met her, but she hasn’t met me.”
Sword Saint Xuan Gui’s brows furrowed as he said, “You plan to never tell her the truth?”
“Senior, if she knows that I didn’t die, she will certainly be happy for a moment, but …… will be in pain for a lifetime. Do you think I should tell her?”
Zhang Ruochen smiled bitterly and raised his head, staring at the Xuan Gui Sword Saint.
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint let out a long sigh and said, “One is parting in life and death, and the other is loving each other but not being able to be together. The former, after all, hurts for a moment. The latter, however, hurts for a lifetime. Although, my master does not understand the feelings between men and women, he still favours your approach.”
As long as Empress Chi Yao was still alive, Zhang Ruochen could only ever live inside a dark corner, not daring to show his true colours.
One could not force Huang Yichen to betray her parents, betray her family, and flee around with Zhang Ruochen, living a life of upheaval. No one knew which day both she and Zhang Ruochen would die with no bones left.
Perhaps, Huang Yichen would be willing.
Zhang Ruochen, however, would not be willing, leaving her with a dilemma. In the end, it might involve even more innocent people in his feud with Chi Yao.
Zhang Ruochen certainly knew that Huang Yichen must be very saddened by his death.
But this kind of sadness, after all, would continue to become lighter and fainter with the passage of time, eventually turning into a bitter memory.
“If you wish to speak with her, Master can help you.”
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint’s lips moved, transmitting his voice to Huang Yichen through the air.
A few moments later, Huang Yichen rushed over at breakneck speed, arriving at the lotus pond, bowing and saluting the Xuan Gui Sword Saint as he said, “Master, what is it that you asked my disciple to come over here for?”
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint pointed over towards Zhang Ruochen and laughed, “Smoke Dust, my master would like to introduce you to a young prodigy, this is the sword dao wizard of the Two Yi Sect, Lin Yue.”
Huang Yanchen glanced towards Zhang Ruochen and appeared very cold, yet he still arched his hand towards Zhang Ruochen and said, “Greetings, Senior Brother Lin Yue.”
Zhang Ruochen observed Huang Yichen from a close distance and revealed a faint smile, saying, “Senior Sister Yichen, if you run into trouble in the Two Element Sect, feel free to come and find me.”
Huang Yichen smiled coldly, “My trouble, I’m afraid it’s not something you can help with.”
The trouble Huang Yichen was referring to was naturally Xue Wuyi.
Of course, she wouldn’t believe that this so-called sword dao wizard in front of her could be a match for Xue Wuyi. Probably, when he heard the name of Xue Wuyi, he would have already turned his head in fear and fled.
She had already seen too many such geniuses, so naturally, she was quite disdainful.
Zhang Ruochen was probably able to guess Huang Yichen’s thoughts and said, “If you don’t say it, how do you know that I can’t help?”
Huang Yichen directly skimmed her head, not bothering to pay attention to him.
In her opinion, Lin Yue’s words were frivolous, moreover, his pair of eyes, which were staring at her from the beginning to the end, made her feel uncomfortable all over.
If it wasn’t for her master’s father stepping in and letting her meet with Lin Yue, it was expected that she would have already left.
A stranger, taking the initiative to offer courtesy, of course she would be quite guarded and even resentful.
If she had known that the man standing opposite her was Zhang Ruochen, she would definitely have thought otherwise.
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint said, ”Smokey, Ruochen’s matter, it’s been so long since then, you should let it go. There are many places of interest in the Two Elemental Sect, and among them, there are also relics left behind by the Ancient Saints. Master has already taken it upon himself to make arrangements for you, letting Lin Yue take you out for a break, only by stepping out of the haze that was once there, perhaps you will see some different and beautiful scenery.”
Huang Yichen’s eyes, were very firm, “Master, disciple doesn’t want to go out for a break, I only want to cultivate the Sword Dao in seclusion.”
The Xuan Gui Sword Saint stared at Zhang Ruochen, revealing a hopeless look.
Zhang Ruochen, however, quite understood Huang Yichen’s character, and thus, coldly said, “A sword cultivator should have a sharpness that is unrelenting. With a single-minded closed-door cultivation, the sword, will become sluggish. A fixation on escaping reality, the sword path, will surely stop moving forward.”
He also said, “A person like you is only worthy of being a slave of the sword, and cannot be a sword cultivator. It turns out that a disciple of the Sword Saint is nothing more than that, what a great disappointment to me.”
With that, Zhang Ruochen turned around and left.
As he was leaving, he even deliberately glanced towards Huang Yichen, revealing a sneering expression.
“Wait a minute.”Huang Yichen raised his head, and in his eyes, a cold light was revealed.
The corner of Zhang Ruochen’s mouth ticked as he stopped in his tracks.
Huang Yichen gave a cold smile and said, “Since you’re so arrogant, I’ll take you to a place to see how much arrogance you have.”
After saying this, Huang Yichen took the first step and walked out.
Zhang Ruochen immediately followed and asked, “To what place?”
“Ten Thousand Empty Cliffs.”Yellow Smoke Dust said.
The Ten Thousand Empty Cliff was located in the north of Divine Terrace City, a thousand feet high cliff that stretched from the ground all the way to the bottom of the earth.
The Ten Thousand Empty Cliff was divided into the east and west cliffs, and at the bottom of the two cliffs was a crimson magma river that rolled. In the river, the firelight emanating from it caused the black stone walls to reflect a layer of red light patterns.
On the cliff wall, a stone staircase was carved out, connecting one grotto to another.
Each grotto was a shop, either selling battle weapons, pills, or savage beasts……. Cultivators from all the major forces in the Eastern Domain came and went, and were purchasing some rare and uncommon cultivation items.
At the bottom of the Eastern Cliff, there was a central grotto, held up by one hundred and seventy-two stone pillars, and within it, it appeared to be very empty, and could accommodate thousands of people.
At this moment, the heirs of all the great Sage Sects in the Eastern Region, the Heaven’s Proud Sons and Heaven’s Proud Daughters of all the great clans, all gathered here. When Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yichen arrived, there were already many young cultivators inside the central grotto.
Zhang Ruochen saw quite a few familiar figures, both the talented trainees from the Martial Market Chambers, for example, Nie Honglou, Si Xingkong, Chang Qiqi, Ao Xinyan, and Luo Shuihan. There were also some young geniuses from the Black Market, such as: the Purple Wind Star Envoy, the Red Desire Star Envoy, and the Orange Moon Star Envoy.
The geniuses of the Devil Cult, all of them wore black robes with a silver crescent moon seal embroidered at the vest position of the robes.
Mu Lingshi, who was also wearing a black silver moon robe and appeared beautiful, was also gathering with the geniuses of the Devil Sect and seemed to be talking about something.
The heirs of all the great Sage Sects were also gathered into small groups, in groups of three or five, and were interacting with each other, either discussing some of the major events that had happened recently, talking about the top geniuses of the various domains, or exchanging sword dao insights with each other.
When he walked into the grotto, Zhang Ruochen released his spiritual power to carefully observe the young cultivators present. Retracting his spiritual power, Zhang Ruochen’s heart was secretly surprised, just by the Saint Body alone, he found eight of them, each of them exuding a very strong aura. There were even a few others, and Zhang Ruochen was somewhat unable to see through them.
Sure enough, it was the young generation of the Eastern Region, the topmost genius event.
