When Cao Yun spoke of Jian Wuji, his face was full of admiration, but when he looked at Ling Xiao and the others, it was with clear disdain.
In his view, within the twelve sects, only the other five young masters were qualified to challenge Jian Wuji. No one else had that right.
Not to mention the clowns from Yuehua Sect; even Ying Wuya from Beast King Palace wasn’t qualified.
“I never would’ve thought Jian Wuji actually mastered the *Sword King Canon*. This is trouble,” Chang Yueying said, her face showing surprise.
The *Sword King Canon*, like Yuehua Sect’s *Yuehua Canon*, was among the sect’s most powerful techniques.
Both were divided into three volumes: upper, middle, and lower.
The most basic upper volume was considered a jade-grade rare martial art.
Within Yuehua Sect, no one had successfully mastered the upper volume of the *Yuehua Canon* at the Half-Step Heavenly Venerate realm, not even Chang Yueying, Demon Flame Heavenly Venerate, or Ren Xing Tian.
They only began cultivating it after reaching the Heavenly Human realm.
This Jian Wuji was simply too extraordinary. For Sword King Sect to produce such a talent was remarkable.
Both the *Sword King Canon* and the *Yuehua Canon* went beyond mere martial arts.
They encompassed martial soul, internal energy techniques, combat skills, movement techniques, and more, forming a complete system of inheritance.
Once mastered, one would become exceptionally powerful.
Yet, in Yuehua Sect, no one had fully mastered the *Yuehua Canon*. Even Chang Yueying had given up halfway.
It was simply too difficult.
As they spoke, they unknowingly arrived at the Sword Pavilion.
At this moment, the high-ranking members and participating disciples of Sword King Sect and Beast King Palace were already present.
Since it was just a friendly sparring session, the atmosphere wasn’t overly formal. The Sword Pavilion was arranged like a banquet.
Small tea tables lined the surroundings, adorned with tea and fruit platters, while the central area was reserved for the sparring.
The high-ranking members of Beast King Palace and Sword King Sect were chatting and laughing. When they saw the Yuehua Sect members arrive, they gave slight sneers.
“You’re late!” Wu Xiang said, cupping his hands in greeting. He glanced at Yuehua Sect’s seats and couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.
Sword King Sect truly lacked the dignity of a major sect. The fruit platters arranged for Yuehua Sect were full of rotten fruit, some even crawling with insects.
Others had tea, but they were given plain boiled water.
Such hospitality was hardly presentable.
But Wu Xiang didn’t care. Yuehua Sect and Sword King Sect were already at odds, and it was likely that after the Four Sects’ Martial Assembly, a war might break out.
Who would care about such trivial matters?
The three sects, in unspoken agreement, avoided mentioning Divine Sword Sect.
It was as if that sect didn’t exist at all.
Sword King Sect knew the truth.
Beast King Palace simply didn’t care.
Yuehua Sect knew the specific situation.
“Everyone, you’ve travelled far. Please, take a seat!” Only one person from Sword King Sect stood up.
Ling Xiao’s eyes lit up upon seeing him.
“It’s you!”
“You know me, junior brother?” the man asked, slightly stunned.
Ling Xiao said excitedly, “You may not remember, senior brother, but I recall clearly. That day outside Yun Kong City, if you hadn’t intervened and driven off the Beast King Palace members, Yun Kong City would’ve been destroyed.”
“Oh, I think I remember that. Just a small gesture, not worth mentioning!” The man smiled. “I’m Jian Feng. May I know your name, junior brother?”
“Enough, Jian Feng. Don’t forget your current status. You’re just a servant disciple, meant to serve tea and water. What right do you have to speak in front of so many people?” Before Ling Xiao could respond, a cold, stern black-clad youth spoke icily.
“My apologies, senior brother. I spoke out of turn,” Jian Feng said, his face darkening, though he still replied respectfully.
“Senior Brother Jian Feng, I’m Ling Xiao. Some people are the ones lacking manners. What business is it of yours when others are talking?” Ling Xiao, unfazed, responded as he pleased.
The black-clad youth’s eyes widened, a terrifying aura of killing intent surging towards Ling Xiao.
“Hmph, daring to offend Senior Brother Jian Wuji. You’re tired of living,” Cao Yun, now seated, snorted coldly.
“So you’re Jian Wuji, one of the so-called Six Young Masters? I think you’re nothing special!” Ling Xiao was completely unaffected by Jian Wuji’s killing intent. Using such an unformed sword will against him was utterly laughable.
“How dare you! Since when did Yuehua Sect disciples become so ill-mannered?” A woman seated beside Jian Wuji stood up and shouted.
“And who are you? What manners do I need?” Ling Xiao asked coldly.
“I’m Chen Meng, the second-ranked core disciple of Sword King Sect! The rule is that Yuehua Sect must keep quiet at the Three Sects’ Martial Assembly. You’re not allowed to speak!” Chen Meng said coldly.
“Who made that rule?”
“No one did. It’s just that Yuehua Sect is too weak to sit as equals with our two sects, let alone chat. Allowing you to sit here is already giving you face. You’d better shut your foul mouths!” Chen Meng snapped.
“Heh, strength, is it? Fine. I’ll make you shut your foul mouth soon enough!” Ling Xiao sneered. Indeed, in any place, strength spoke. If you lacked strength, no one would give you face or take you seriously.
“You?” Chen Meng didn’t take Ling Xiao seriously at all.
Ling Xiao ignored her and turned to Jian Feng. “Senior brother, your strength seems much greater than this woman’s. How did you end up in such a state?”
“No need to ask, Junior Brother Ling,” Jian Feng said, shaking his head with a hint of sadness in his eyes before quietly stepping aside.
At that moment, Ying Wuya stood up and smiled. “Since everyone’s here, shall we begin the Three Sects’ Martial Assembly? How about we start with introductions?”
He then briefly introduced the five disciples from Beast King Palace.
The top-ranked was Ba Tianhu, a towering, muscular man who looked like a giant statue, standing roughly three metres tall.
The second was Ying Wuya.
The third and fourth were unfamiliar to Ling Xiao: one named Wang Lang, the other Li Hu.
The fifth was She Jiao.
For Sword King Sect, Jian Wuji was first, followed by Chen Meng.
Since Wu Zonglian and Chen Tian had been killed, Cao Yun was now third. With most of their inner disciples wiped out, they couldn’t even muster five people, so Jian Feng was added as the fourth.
They only had four in total.
For Yuehua Sect, Lan Yuer led the group. Her cultivation was roughly equal to Ba Tianhu’s, both at fifty percent strength in the Half-Step Heavenly Venerate realm.
Only Jian Wuji stood out as the strongest.
As one of the Six Young Masters of the Holy Dynasty, it wasn’t surprising he had such strength.
If Jian Wuji didn’t act, Ling Xiao was confident he could sweep everyone else today.
Of course, he had a way to deal with Jian Wuji too, but unless absolutely necessary, he didn’t want to use his trump card.
