Chapter 12 – When a Fanfic Protagonist Transmigrated into the Original Novel

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Chapter 12 – Conflict Within a Group

This chapter is by Windyday of BC Novels.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for the Sword Assembly.

Following traditions, the four major halls in the Heavenly Sword Sect have to pick five of their strongest disciples to participate in the Sword Assembly. These twenty disciples are paired up by chance to engage in one-on-one battles to get their final placement in the sect. The higher their placement, the more spiritual materials they will receive. There was also the possibility for you to get personal advice from the head of the sect. In the past millennium, the Heavenly Sword Sect has seven cultivators with a cultivation above Spiritual Core, including the current Head of the Sect Yu Ying Zhenren. In their time, these seven talents all received the top rewards when participating in the Sword Assembly.

Therefore, in the eyes of the hundred or so Heavenly Sword Sect disciples, the Sword Assembly is probably ranked as the most important event that has occurred in the past couple of years. If they were able to get a good rank in the assembly, not mentioning the spiritual items as rewards, they will be able to stand out in the entire cultivation world.

Because the Heavenly Sword Sect has a rule that states that only those who are over sixteen have the right to participate in the Sword Assembly, the younger disciples (like Zhangsun Zijun and Yi Xichen) who were participating for the first time, placed special importance on this event.

The selection within each hall didn’t take long. Although they could only choose the five most outstanding disciples out of several hundreds, the disciples themselves spend their daily life cultivating and participating in different types of training exercises with one another. So, in their hearts, they know who is strong and who is weak. In actuality, there isn’t an event where all the disciples from the hall fight against one another. Instead, the elders would point out the ten strongest and have them challenge each other. The five remaining would be the ones participating in the Sword Assembly.

In two days time, the elders from each hall will choose the five disciples that will participate in the Sword Assembly and send the list of names to the Sect Leader for affirmation.

Of course, Zhangsun Zijun and Yi Xichen were on the list for the top five disciples from the Medicine Hall. While Yao Budu is presenting the list of names to Shennong Temple, they were waiting outside. According to the past rules, after Yuying Zhenren made sure of the participants he would draw lots to match the disciples with one another.

In the afternoon, Yi Xichen and Zhangsun Zijun left for Shennong Temple. They had been preparing for days, strengthening their swords and changing their clothes to newer ones. Zhangsun Zijun was very tranquil. In his memories, the Sword Assembly didn’t amount to anything since he has already experienced many, much grander arenas. But for Yi Xichen, this was the largest tournament that he has ever participated in so he was in a constant state of excitement.

“Zijun, who do you think the other three halls would pick? Lu Shixiong should be one of the slots.”

“Sword Refining Hall: Lu Ziyao, Xiao Kui, Wang Qingqiao, Jin Cheng, Yue Xiaorou. Sword Guarding Hall: Gong Sundi, Bian Liang, Xia Fangshu, Qiu Kui, Huang Tianbai. Sword Cultivating Hall: Shi Xi, Wu Mo, Zhao Tang, Zhao Qing, Yang Qianshou.”

Yi Xichen was only asking on a whim, wanting to hear Zhangsun Zijun’s opinion on which of the disciples in the other three halls he considers to be stronger. Unexpectedly, Zhangsun Zijun actually listed the name of the other 15 participants making Yi Xichen very astonished.

The Sword Assembly, for the younger disciples, would be the first time they had a chance to compete with the disciples from the other halls. Before this event, these disciples would have virtually no contact with the disciples from the other hall.

Yi Xichen said, “Did you see the attendance list already?”

Zhangsun Zijun shook his head. He had additional eight years of memories in which he had attended the Sword Assembly, and had some recollection of who had participated. But there was also the possibility that these memories were just his imagination.

Yi Xichen looked at his face, gained a general understanding of what was going on, and didn’t say much more.

Very soon after, they arrived at Shennong Temple.

The names of the twenty people participating were already posted under Shennong Temple’s watch that tracks the years. All the disciples that were picked were standing guard outside, waiting to be paired up to their opponent.

The two went to look at the attendance list first. Sword Refining Hall: Li Ziyao, Xiao Kui, Wang Qingqiao, Jin Cheng, Yue Xiaorou……

Yi Xichen was astonished. He turned around to look at Zhangsun Zijun, but Zhangsun Zijun was lost deep in his thoughts.

Yi Xichen immediately continued reading the list, Sword Guarding Hall……Sword Cultivating Hall……the 15 names from the other 3 Halls were exactly the same as what Zhangsun Zijun said!

Yi Xichen only felt that it was incredible, while Zhangsun Zijun’s feelings were rather complicated.

When what’s real and what’s fake become clear, it’s not hard to distinguish between them. However, when the real and the fake becomes intermingled with one another, even if you are the smartest person in the world, it will be extremely difficult to sort them out. Golden Eggs and Silver Goose wrote a fanfic that follows the general outline of the original novel. In Zhangsun Zijun’s memories, there are some things that are ridiculous and laughable while others are really reasonable. Therefore, it was really hard for him to believe that everything is fake, but reality also proved that not everything is real.

Before Zhangsun Zijun saw the attendance list, he had hoped that reality and his own memories would overlap with one another so he wouldn’t seem to be too absurd. But he had also hoped that reality would remain at conflict with each other. Because if he was wrong he might as well be wrong all the way. He could start over. Being half right and half wrong is too complicated. So after he discovered that the list of names matched, he felt both delighted and troubled.

“You have gone too far with your bullying!”

“You’re hilarious. Our request is nothing but justice. How are we bullying?”

Zhangsun Zijun and Yi Xichen were so immersed in their thoughts regarding the similarity between the name list and Zhangsun Zijun’s memories that they didn’t notice the situation with the other disciples. When they realized that there was a fight brewing, they turned around and discovered that there were more disciples gathered there than the 20 people on the name list.

The disciples from different halls have different clothes, so even if Yi Xichen didn’t recognize all of them, he could still tell which hall they belonged to. At the moment, there were 5 people each from the Medicine Hall and the Sword Cultivating Hall. However, there were 10 people from the Sword Refining Hall and another 8 from the Sword Guarding Hall.

Zhangsun Zijun and Yi Xichen exchanged looks, put away their worries regarding the list of names and walked over.

“Lu Shixiong, what happened? Why are there so many people from the Sword Refining Hall?” Yi Xichen asked.

Li Ziyao’s face was full of guilt. He sighed, “This……is really hard to speak of.”

They saw the disciples of the Medicine Hall and the Sword Cultivating Hall on one side of the plain while the disciples of the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall stood on the other side. The two sides had already unsheathed their swords and were glaring at each other. The disciples of the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall had higher cultivation, and there were more disciples that arrived than the other two halls. Under these circumstances, the disciples from the Sword Refining Hall and Sword Guarding Hall were clearly at an advantage. There were already some disciples from the Medicine Hall that were close to tears.

Zhangsun Zijun and Yi Xichen listened to their disputes for a moment, and combined with Lu Ziyao’s explanation, they understood what was happening. It turned out that after the four elders selected the five strongest disciples of their respective hall, the disciples of the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall thought that it was unfair for the four Halls to send out the same number of disciples, because the disciples from the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall were more outstanding. Therefore, they want the number of people sent out from the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall to be more than that of the disciples from the Medicine Hall and Sword Cultivating Hall or decrease the number of disciples sent out from the Medicine Hall or the Sword Cultivating Hall.

You have to know that as long as you have the eligibility to participate in the Swords Assembly, it is equivalent to being recognized as the twenty most powerful disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Thus, even if you lose every battle afterward and get the lowest placement of twentieth place, you can still receive plenty of cultivation ingredients as a reward. So these twenty spots are extremely precious. For the disciples from the Sword Refining Hall, who are self-proclaimed as the pride of the heavens, it is simply intolerable that they are treated on equal grounds as the Medicine Hall disciples.

The two sides were arguing fiercely when several elders came out of the Shennong Temple, and some onlooking disciples called out, “The Sect Leader is here!”

The group of disciples quickly backed away and bowed to the Sect Leader and the four elders. Zhangsun Zijun and Yi Xichen also went back to stand with the other Medicine Hall disciples.

The Sect Leader of the Heavenly Sword Sect, Yuying Zhenren, had a square face with two compact, thick eyebrows. He was someone equally serious and stubborn. Usually, he doesn’t accept disciples and because he is immersed in the art of the sword he only pays attention to his own cultivation. He comes out to preside over the situation whenever there is a major problem within the Sect. Today’s events were initiated by the disciples of the two major Halls. However, the elders of the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall were partial to their disciples so they choose not to suppress the matter. Instead, they allowed their disciples to stay outside the Shennong Temple and reported the situation to Yuying Zhenren.

Yuying Zhenren’s eyes were clear when he looked at the group of disciples on the training grounds, “I’ve already heard of the situation. Lu Ziyao, Gong Sundi, you are the ones who think that the Heavenly Sword Sect’s rules regarding the Sword Assembly are unreasonable?” He pointed to the two eldest disciples from the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall, wanting the two to express the opinion of the majority.

Lu Ziyao looked troubled and chose not to say anything. Although he also admits that the strength of the disciple from the Sword Refining Hall is undoubtedly stronger than the other three major cabinets, the rules are rules and have their own reasons. How can they be changed?

Gong Sundi stood firm by his opinion, “Right, Sect Leader, we thought that this wasn’t fair. We hope that the Sect Leader can help us change the rules.”

The Medicine Hall disciple that has already cried until their eyes are red, Sun Xiaoqian, pulled at Yi Xichen sleeves, asking for help, “Yi Shixiong, what should we do, ah?”

At the Medicine Hall, the one with the highest cultivation is no doubt Zhangsun Zijun, but he isn’t someone who likes to fight with others. On the other hand, Yi Xichen is the person that can argue with someone and make the most sense in the Medicine Hall. So the pitiful disciples of the Medicine Hall can only place all their hopes on Yi Xichen, praying that he can win the argument for them.

Yi Xichen gave a cold laugh. Yuying Zhenren’s tone sounded as if he was scolding the disciples who came to make trouble. However, his appearance already made his position on the matter obvious. If he really thought that the rules cannot be changed, then he would’ve dismissed the elders in Shennong Temple, and let them discipline the disciples themselves. But since he, himself, came out for the interrogation, it is very clearly saying that changes might not be unacceptable.

Yao Budu was very protective of his own. He took a step forward and yelled with a pale face, “Gong Sundi, you!”

Yuying Zhenren raised his hand to stop them from fighting, “Elders, don’t continue arguing. I’ve heard each of you in the Temple. Now I want to hear what the disciples have to say.”

After that was said, it made the disciples of the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall even more confident. Although Lu Ziyao didn’t say anything, Xiao Kui and the others rushed to express their thoughts.

Xiao Kui glared aggressively at Zhangsun Zijun and Yi Xichen. He stepped forward and said, “Elder Bing, the rules of the Sword Assembly has long been outdated. Having each of the four divisions selects five disciples to get the 20 representatives of our Heavenly Sword Sect isn’t logical. The twenty picked represent the strongest of our Heavenly Sword Sect disciples, but the average strength of the four major Halls are uneven so how can the number of disciples be equally divided across the 4 Halls?”

“Xiao Shidi is right.” Bian Liangdao of the Sword Guarding Hall said, “It is an honor to be qualified to participate in the Sword Assembly. It is not just representing the Four Great Halls, but our entire Heavenly Sword Sect. In the future, if we cross swords with other sects, wouldn’t it be an insult to the Heavenly Sword Sect to let other sects think that the top 20 disciples are only at this level!”

The disciples from the two Halls all agreed.

The disciples of the Sword Cultivating Hall and the Medicine Hall could only repeat over and over that the rules are what they are. Compared with Xiao Kui and what the others were saying about the glory of the Sect as a whole, they were obviously not as persuasive.

Zhangsun Zijun has no impression of this incident. The author of the fanfiction decided to pick and choose from the original plot making so that all the plot points that are useless when it comes to promoting intimate feelings between the main CP are deleted. At the moment, looking at the appearance of the dozens of disciples who were so arrogant, he laughed coldly in his heart, and went to draw his sword. Crazily-tyrannical cool-handsome-smug-Zhansun Zijun was all kinds of dissatisfied. If they want to speak about their abilities, then they should just use their abilities to speak. Regardless of whether its Lu Ziyao or Gong Sundi, he looked down on them all.

But at that moment, Yi Xichen held down his hand. Zhangsun Zijun looked at him, confused and Yi Xichen shook his head at him.

Zhangsun Zijun’s ability is well known by Yi Xichen. He believes that winning the Sword Assembly won’t be something hard to do for Zhangsun Zijun. But the situation at the moment affects the whole Medicine Hall so it’s a little inappropriate for Zhangsun Zijun to be the one to speak up.

Hence Yi Xichen took a step forward, cleared his throat and said with a smile, “Shixiongs, allow me to ask, if you believe that the rules are unreasonable and wish to change it then what was the reason we used the rules that ancestor Feng Lian has set for thousands of years?”

Reika’s Notes:

• This chapter is by Windyday of BCNovels.
• So Yi Xichen is going to talk his way out of this problem?
• Thanks for reading!

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