“Senior Uncle, I fear that it isn’t as simple as it seems!” Bai Ruanqing frowned.
“There’s a total of seventeen missions from Wuhai City, and most of them are only priced at around twenty Sword Pavilion Coins or so. Even this one, saving the City Lord’s daughter, is only worth twenty-five Sword Pavilion Coins. Don’t you find it weird that an appraisal mission is actually worth so much?”
Even she, who was rarely meticulous, had noticed that something was wrong with the request. She found it hard to believe that her Senior Uncle had not noticed that something was wrong.
“It’s fine,” Zhang Xuan replied with a wave of his hand.
Naturally, he could tell that something was amiss. However, as long as it was something in the fields of appraisal, it should not pose a problem to him since he had the Library of Heaven’s Path.
“Since you’re confident, I’ll be leaving the mission to you. I’ll first say in advance that I know nothing at all about appraisal!” Bai Ruanqing got straight to the point.
She had close to blind admiration for this Senior Uncle of hers. Since the latter had no qualms about it, there should not be too much trouble.
After confirming the mission that they wanted to take on, Bai Ruanqing quickly applied for it with the receptionist.
Soon, she obtained the Mission Token. Once the mission was accomplished, it would automatically be reflected on the Mission Token, and the reward would be transferred over to the applicant’s Ethereal Card.
One thing to note was that there was a time restriction as well. As Wuhai City was relatively close and the mission did not involve adventuring and the like, if the mission was not completed within three days, one would have to pay a late compensation fee of three Sword Pavilion Coins.
Carrying the Mission Token, the two of them got back onto the aerial beast and headed straight for Wuhai City, leaving the premises of the sect.
…
Hearing the report from the elder in front of him, Han Jianqiu pinched his glabella tightly.
This future sect leader of theirs sure was one to make them worry. It was just a moment ago that he indirectly told the other party not to cause trouble within the sect, but in the blink of an eye, that fellow had already flown over to Wuhai City.
Why could he not just obediently stay within the sect and cultivate patiently?
The fact that he had comprehended the Gods’ Sword Intent meant that his understanding of swordsmanship had already reached the peak. What he had to do right now was raise his cultivation. As long he could reach the High Immortal realm, even Han Jianqiu himself might not necessarily be a match for him. By then, he could be considered unrivaled in the Forsaken Continent then.
But this fellow would not rest at all. After bullying the inner disciples, he carried on and bullied the core disciples, the elders, and eventually even the sect leader himself. Once he was done, he freaking went on to Wuhai City!
Would he die if he simply gave his tendency to humblebrag a rest just for a day?
Besides, even if he did not want to cultivate, he had just been given a Heavenly High Immortal-tier sword. Surely he should cultivate some feelings with the sword so as to lay the groundwork to tame it in the future?
“Should we capture him and force him to cultivate?” Elder He’s face was also frighteningly livid.
“It would be best if we could bring him back…” Han Jianqiu nodded before he abruptly halted. He pondered deeply for a moment before asking, “How is his speed of cultivation? If he’s able to reach Lesser Pseudo Immortal in his twenties, that means that he has his ways to advance his cultivation, right? If that’s the case, we should not interfere in his plans. It might be slower, but it will at least temper his will.”
Comprehending the Gods’ Sword Intent was dependent on one’s intelligence and luck, but cultivating was centered around relentless diligence. One had to take a step at a time and travel forward steadily.
The fact that the other party was able to reach the Lesser Pseudo Immortal realm at such a young age likely meant that he was quite a disciplined individual. Why would he become so unruly all of a sudden?
“Ruanqing is with him at the moment. I’ll ask her,” Elder Bai Ye said.
Han Jianqiu nodded in response.
Elder Bai Ye sent a message over, and it did not take long for him to receive a response. When he saw the response, he suddenly rubbed his eyes intensely, as if fearing that he was seeing things.
Noticing Elder Bai Ye’s bizarre response, Han Jianqiu asked with a frown, “What’s wrong?”
“Bai Ruanqing told me that Elder Lu Yun and the others told her that Zhang Xuan’s cultivation was only at Ancient Sage 4-dan primary stage when he entered the sect yesterday!” Elder Bai Ye replied in bewilderment.
“Ancient Sage 4-dan primary stage? Wait a minute, are you telling me that in the span of a day, he raised his cultivation from the Dimension Shatterer realm to the Pseudo Immortal realm? That’s an entire cultivation realm!” Han Jianqiu narrowed his eyes.
It was true that Ancient Sage 4-dan was not too high a cultivation realm, but to advance a single realm in the span of a day was still a nigh impossible feat.
“It’s not only that… According to what I have heard from Ruanqing, it seems like he has already reached the Heavenly Pseudo Immortal realm!” Elder Bai Ye said.
“Heavenly Pseudo Immortal realm?”
Everyone was stunned.
It was just an hour ago that they had fought with him, and he should only have been at the Lesser Pseudo Immortal realm. Just when in the world did he find the time to advance his cultivation so much?
Han Jianqiu pondered for a moment before instructing, “Call Elder Lu Yun over!”
Under the direct order of the sect leader, it did not take long for Elder Lu Yun to arrive before the Elder Council.
“I want you to go through what happened back in Xuanjiang City in detail,” Han Jianqiu said with a wave of his hand.
“Yes, Sect Leader Han!” Elder Lu Yun swiftly explained everything that he had seen and heard in detail.
“You mentioned that… Zhang Xuan allowed Dan Xiaotian to achieve a breakthrough from Great Sage 3-dan to Ancient Sage within just an hour?”
Everyone was trembling so much that their wrinkled cheeks were tingling.
As High Immortals, they had seen far more things in the world than they would have liked, but it was completely unheard of for a cultivator to achieve a breakthrough of two cultivation realms within an hour!
“Yes, I understand how ludicrous it might sound, but I witnessed the scene personally!” Elder Lu Yun said. “I am certain that Zhang Xuan’s cultivation realm was only at Dimension Shatterer realm primary stage then!”
“Alright, I understand. You can rest for the day. Make sure not to speak of what has happened today to anyone else,” Han Jianqiu said as he dismissed Elder Lu Yun.
With his departure, the Elder Council was suddenly plunged into silence.
They had thought that fellow was capable of nothing but bragging all day long, opting to neglect his cultivation… But who could have known that while causing all those incidents within the sect, he had also managed to advance his cultivation from Ancient Sage 4-dan primary stage to the Heavenly Pseudo Immortal realm!
Such a rate of advancement… Even the founder of the sect would be pouring down buckets of cold sweat when compared with him!
“This…” An elder suddenly broke the silence. “Should we capture him then?”
It was just a moment ago that Han Jianqiu and Elder He had been discussing plans to drag Zhang Xuan back so as to stop him from messing around and force him to cultivate properly. Yet, in the end, it turned out that Zhang Xuan’s rate of cultivation was far more frightening than they had thought. In comparison, it felt like they were mere snails…
If so, should they go ahead and capture him?
“The reason he can cultivate so quickly must be because he has his own way of cultivating. Let’s put that matter aside for the time being.” Han Jianqiu pondered for a moment before instructing, “Elder Chou, I want you to follow him discreetly. Make sure that he doesn’t notice you, and you must guarantee his safety by any means. Understood?”
“Yes, Sect Leader Han!” Elder Chou clasped his fist before quickly leaving the Elder Council.
Once again, silence descended upon the Elder Council as they tried to reassess the current situation.
To be honest, the shock that their future sect leader had brought them was truly tremendous.
An invincible swordsmanship paired with an invincible rate of cultivation…
Just how many more surprises were in wait for them?
“It seems like he has a really strong understanding of saber arts as well. He was able to even suppress my Sword Intent easily,” Elder Bai Ye remarked as he recalled what had happened earlier today.
“He suppressed your Sword Intent with his Saber Intent? Tell me more about it!” Han Jianqiu said.
The others quickly turned their gazes over as well.
It did not take long for Elder Bai Ye to go through what had happened earlier in detail.
“…”
Everyone was rendered speechless once more.
Sword arts, formations, saber arts… How was that fellow capable in everything?
“Bring Dan Xiaotian here!” Han Jianqiu ordered.
Very soon, Dan Xiaotian was brought before the Elder Council.
“Tell me honestly, the sword toss that you specialize in, did you learn that from Zhang Xuan?” Han Jianqiu asked.
Knowing that it was impossible for him to hide the matter anymore, Dan Xiaotian decided to come clean. “That’s right. Even though I claim that he’s my friend to others, in truth, he’s my teacher.”
“Just as I thought!” Han Jianqiu nodded. “Since that’s the case… I want you to use that sword toss against us so that we can test its prowess!”
“Ah? To be honest with you, I have only studied under my teacher for several hours, and the knowledge that I was able to absorb from him is quite limited as well. However, if you wish, Sect Leader Han, I’m still willing to give it a try,” Dan Xiaotian said hesitantly.
“Several hours? I see… Don’t worry, we’ll go easy on you!” Han Jianqiu said with a smile.
…
Three minutes later, the doors to the Elder Council opened and out came Dan Xiaotian.
Within the room, Han Jianqiu, Elder He, and the others had a sword each on their head. While their vitals were not hurt, the swords still managed to scrape their skin, causing blood to ooze from the tops of their heads.
The crowd reached out to pluck the swords from their heads as the room fell silent once more.
A very long time later, Han Jianqiu’s hoarse voice sounded. “He has only learned from Zhang Xuan for several hours, but we already aren’t a match for him…”
It almost sounded as if he was going to burst into tears.
Based on what they had heard from Dan Xiaotian, it seemed like he had known next to nothing about swordsmanship prior to meeting Zhang Xuan, but after several hours of teaching, they were no match for him.
As for Bai Ruanqing, she had only learned from him for an hour now, but she was practically unrivaled among the core disciples.
Was this not a little too exaggerated?
Why did it feel like all their cultivation over the years had been nothing but mindless meandering?
The atmosphere within the Elder Council grew so heavy that it was getting rather tough to breathe.
“Shall we… ask him to teach us after he gets back from that mission?” Elder He asked hesitantly.
They knew that Zhang Xuan had comprehended the Gods’ Sword Intent, but they had thought that he was only adept in a single type of swordsmanship. In terms of overall comprehension of swordsmanship, that fellow should not have been able to compete with them. After all, they had immersed themselves in the profound world of swordsmanship for countless years.
But from the looks of it, they could not have been any more wrong than that!
As depressing as it was to them, they knew that it signified an opportunity as well.
If they could put their pride aside and humbly request for his teaching, they might be able to make significant advancements in the Way of the Sword!
“Very well, we shall request for his lessons after he returns from his mission!” Han Jianqiu nodded deeply.
…
Oblivious to the fact that his fake cultivation had already been exposed by Bai Ruanqing, at that very moment, Zhang Xuan was staring at the immense city before him in agitation.
As expected of the largest city in the vicinity of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion. In terms of its scale, it would not pale in comparison to even the capital of Conferred Empires!
Stretching over a span of two thousand li, the massive city was protected by layers of ingenious formations. Experts could easily be spotted here and there, hinting at the terrifying military power of the city.
“The City Lord of Wuhai City is a High Immortal, and he’s said to be no weaker than my grandfather!” Bai Ruanqing explained.
Even though she had never been there before, she had already built a mental image of what it would be like based on the stories that she had heard from her grandfather, so she was not particularly surprised by what she was seeing.
“High Immortal?” Zhang Xuan nodded slowly.
It was no wonder that it was able to become a first-tier city on the Forsaken Continent. Just the strength of the City Lord was enough draw talents and powerful cultivators in, laying the groundwork required for a prosperous city.
Most likely, there should be plenty of True Immortals in the city as well.
“That’s right!” Bai Ruanqing nodded before turning to look at Zhang Xuan grimly. “As such, even though we are disciples of the Ascendant Cloud Sword Pavilion, we have to make sure to tread carefully…”
“Un!”
Where many experts gathered, there were bound to be politics and factional rivalries. Things could turn out horribly if one accidentally crossed one of the powerhouses in the city.
“Then… Senior Uncle, will we be heading to Wuhai Market right now to complete the appraisal mission?” Bai Ruanqing asked curiously.
“There’s no hurry for that. Where can we acquire an Ethereal Token here? Let’s pay a visit to the local Ethereal Hall first!” Zhang Xuan said with a smile.
