Chapter 773: Granny Haitang
Faced with Lin Yue's persistence, both Ning Xuan Dao and Burial Moon Sword Saint were quite puzzled and also somewhat helpless.
At this moment, Ning Xuan Dao found it difficult to continue refusing Lin Yue. After all, from the very beginning, he had already spoken with great certainty. If he were to use other excuses to decline, he would lose the bearing of a sect leader.
"Since your will is so firm, that is indeed a good thing. I hope you can truly comprehend something from the Wordless Sword Manual."
Ning Xuan Dao's gaze shifted toward Burial Moon Sword Saint, and he gently nodded.
"Lin Yue, follow this Saint to the Sword Pavilion to view the Wordless Sword Manual."
Since the sect leader had already spoken, Burial Moon Sword Saint had no choice but to stop reprimanding Lin Yue.
Thus, he stood up without a word and led Zhang Ruochen out of the Taiqing Palace.
Meanwhile, in the Divine Throne City, a rather spacious mansion was hosting a banquet.
This was the temporary residence of the Four Symbols Sect.
Because Shao Lin had become one of the Nine Realm Sons, the entire Four Symbols Sect was filled with jubilation. Hence, they held a banquet, inviting cultivators from all over the world to celebrate this great occasion.
The banquet had lasted a full day and night before finally coming to an end.
Xuan Yi Saint saw off all the guests before speaking privately with Shao Lin about the Sword Discussion Assembly.
"Shao Lin, are you certain you want to fight Lin Yue of the Liangyi Sect at the Sword Discussion Assembly?" Xuan Yi Saint frowned slightly, not approving of Shao Lin's decision.
Lin Yue was not only the heir of Qiangu Nüdi but had also become a Spiritual Power Half-Saint. Although these two identities did not have much impact on the Sword Discussion Assembly, they could still be used to create some leverage.
Perhaps there was even a chance to prevent Lin Yue from representing the Liangyi Sect in the Sword Discussion Assembly.
That way, everything would be foolproof.
"Just a mere Lin Yue—surely Xuan Yi Saint isn't worried I can't handle him?"
After becoming a Realm Son, Shao Lin's eyes held even more arrogance.
Even when facing Xuan Yi Saint of the Four Symbols Sect, Shao Lin showed little regard.
He was merely a Saint, while Shao Lin was about to become a disciple of the Empress. How noble was his status and position?
With the identity of the Empress's disciple, even Saints would have to bow and flatter him when they saw him.
Moreover, with his talent and the resources of a Realm Son, it wouldn't be long before he achieved Sainthood. So why should he still have to act according to Xuan Yi Saint's wishes?
Xuan Yi Saint could naturally hear that Shao Lin's tone had changed from before.
He didn't take it to heart, after all, Shao Lin's current identity was indeed different from before, enough to stand on equal footing with a Saint.
"This Saint is merely worried about accidents. The Void Sword is the personal sword of Qiangu Nüdi, and its power is extraordinary—it must not be underestimated." Xuan Yi Saint said solemnly.
Shao Lin appeared extremely proud, clenching his five fingers into a fist and sneering, "The Void Sword may be powerful, but Lin Yue only has the cultivation of the eighth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm. Even if he breaks through to the ninth transformation before the Sword Discussion Assembly, how much of the Void Sword's power can he unleash?"
"With my current strength, even against a second-step Half-Saint, I won't lose. What is he compared to that?"
"Besides, this time, to ensure absolute certainty, the Four Symbols Sect has brought the 'Vermilion Bird Sword,' ranked third among the Four Symbols Sacred Swords. If I use the Vermilion Bird Sword, do I still need to fear the Void Sword?"
Xuan Yi Saint was well aware that Shao Lin was eyeing the Vermilion Bird Sword.
Once he used it in the Sword Discussion Assembly, it might be difficult to get it back later.
Shao Lin was quite confident in his own strength and continued, "Lin Yue stole the spotlight at the Realm Son Banquet. To outsiders, he seems even more impressive than us Nine Realm Sons."
"Only by defeating him openly with absolute strength can I prove to the cultivators of the world that the Nine Realm Sons are the greatest heroes of the Kunlun Realm. This is also the wish of Shengshu Cainü."
Not long ago, Shengshu Cainü had met with him alone and told Shao Lin that she hoped he would fight Lin Yue openly at the Sword Discussion Assembly and defeat him, thereby defending the glory of the Nine Realm Sons.
Shao Lin still remembered Shengshu Cainü's eager gaze. No matter what, he absolutely could not let her down.
In the future, if he achieved Sainthood, he would definitely win Shengshu Cainü. How could a woman who combined beauty, talent, cultivation, and wisdom become another man's woman?
Moreover, behind Shengshu Cainü stood the entire Confucian Path. By winning her, he would gain the support of the Confucian Path, which would bring endless benefits to his future ambitions.
Therefore, in this battle against Lin Yue, he absolutely could not disappoint Shengshu Cainü.
"Since it is the wish of the talented woman, then this Saint has nothing more to say."
Xuan Yi Saint frowned slightly, truly puzzled as to why Shengshu Cainü, who was Lin Yue's ally, would want Shao Lin to defeat Lin Yue in front of the world.
Was it really just to defend the glory of the Nine Realm Sons? Or had Lin Yue offended Shengshu Cainü by not competing for the position of Realm Son?
Xuan Yi Saint found Shengshu Cainü's actions utterly incomprehensible.
...
...
Burial Moon Sword Saint led Zhang Ruochen into the Sword Pavilion, walking forward as he spoke, "The Sword Pavilion is a time-space treasure that has existed since the founding of the Taiji Path. The Wordless Sword Manual is stored on the seventh floor of the Sword Pavilion."
With Zhang Ruochen's current understanding of the Sword Dao, he could only enter the second floor of the Sword Pavilion on his own.
To reach the seventh floor, he had to be personally guided by Burial Moon Sword Saint.
Each time they ascended a floor, the internal space of the Sword Pavilion expanded several times. The seventh floor was already vast beyond measure. Looking out, there were green mountains, clear waters, birdsong, and floral fragrance, with no end in sight, as if they had arrived in a Ruins Realm.
"The seventh floor of the Sword Pavilion is a small world with a round sky and square earth, spanning about three thousand seven hundred miles in diameter."
Burial Moon Sword Saint glanced at Lin Yue, only to see him looking very calm, his eyes restrained as he surveyed his surroundings.
If other cultivators knew that a tower contained such a vast world, they would surely be shocked. Those who remained as composed as Lin Yue were few and far between.
Burial Moon Sword Saint nodded, quite appreciative of Lin Yue's state of mind. Perhaps he really could create a miracle, comprehending some Sword Dao knowledge from the Wordless Sword Manual at the Fish-Dragon Realm.
The seventh floor of the Sword Pavilion was rich in spiritual energy, filled with many rare spiritual herbs, each worth a fortune. Some of these herbs were of considerable age, emitting a strong, exotic fragrance.
Not far away, a seven-colored spiritual flower released powerful Saint Qi, transforming into a human form—a decrepit old woman with white hair.
The old woman wore a red robe, her figure severely hunched, her back bent, and her skin wrinkled like dried tree bark, giving the impression that she might step into a coffin at any moment.
"Spiritual herb taking human form."
Zhang Ruochen stared at the red-robed old woman, slightly shocked in his heart.
When a savage beast cultivated to the Half-Saint realm, it could transform into a half-human, half-beast state. Only upon reaching the Saint realm could it fully take human form.
However, except for ancient relics and descendants of divine beasts, most savage beasts cultivated extremely slowly. It could take hundreds of years just to reach the Half-Saint realm. To take human form was incredibly difficult.
For a spiritual herb to take human form was even a thousand times harder than for an ordinary savage beast.
Generally speaking, a spiritual herb needed to grow for ten thousand years to first develop intelligence. Without careful guidance and the teaching of cultivation methods, even with high intelligence, it would remain just a spiritual herb, unable to take human form or possess any offensive power.
Even if someone taught a spiritual herb a cultivation technique, its cultivation speed was extremely slow. It would take countless tens of thousands of years to take human form.
However, spiritual herbs had extremely long lifespans, lasting tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years—something humans and savage beasts could not match. Thus, they did not need to worry about exhausting their life spans.
Therefore, in those ancient sects, the oldest members were not the elder Saints but the sacred beasts and sacred herbs guarding the sect.
Even many savage beasts had longer lifespans than humans.
The Heavenly Dao had always been fair. It gave humans strong reproductive abilities and cultivation speeds surpassing other races, but it did not grant them overly long lifespans.
The red-robed old woman before them was a sacred herb called the Seven-Colored Begonia.
She merely sat guard in the Sword Pavilion and was not responsible for protecting the Liangyi Sect. If the Sword Pavilion were taken by the Four Symbols Sect, she would go with it.
No one knew how many years the Seven-Colored Begonia had lived. According to the earliest ancient records, she had been in the Sword Pavilion since the distant Middle Ages and had never left.
Even across the entire Kunlun Realm, she was likely one of the longest-lived sacred herbs.
Burial Moon Sword Saint bowed respectfully to the red-robed old woman and said, "Greetings, Granny Haitang."
The red-robed old woman glanced coldly at Burial Moon Sword Saint, showing displeasure, and said hoarsely, "Burial Moon, why have you brought a Fish-Dragon Realm human to the seventh floor of the Sword Pavilion? Aren't you breaking the Sword Pavilion's rules?"
Burial Moon Sword Saint replied, "Bringing him to the seventh floor this time is by the sect leader's order, to allow him to view the Wordless Sword Manual and comprehend the Sword Dao. I will take him away within half a year. Please, Granny Haitang, make an exception."
"View the Wordless Sword Manual? A Fish-Dragon Realm cultivator has too low a realm—he probably can't even see the words on the manual. Does it really mean anything to him?"
The red-robed old woman's deep eyes fixed on Zhang Ruochen. Suddenly, she let out a soft exclamation, a strange look appearing in her eyes.
Even though Zhang Ruochen had recently cultivated the Formless Thirty-Six Transformations to a more exquisite level, under the old woman's gaze, his body seemed to become transparent, giving him the feeling that he could not hide anything. (To be continued.)