Chapter 13 – When a Fanfic Protagonist Transmigrated into the Original Novel

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Chapter 13 – The History of the Sword Assembly

This chapter is by Windyday of BC Novels.

Everything regarding the Sword Assembly, from the selection of candidates to the rules during the tournament, was set in place thousands of years ago by Ancestor Feng Lian.
　　
The Heavenly Sword Sect is undoubtedly a sword cultivating sect, but as a top martial art sect in the cultivation world, it has to be competent in everything. The Sword Refining Hall focuses on how to attack fiercely, the Sword Guarding Hall focuses on defense, the Sword Cultivating Hall’s aptitude is in the formation of seals, and the Medicine Hall is weak in swordsmanship but improves the skills needed for refining medicinal pills. In the early years, there were often battles between many of the martial sects. Along with the invasions from the demons and ghosts, if they wanted to defend the sect it is not advisable to rely only on strong attacks. They must divide and conquer so there has to be a division of labor. That was the reason the four Major Halls were in equal standing in the past.

However, nowadays, the spiritual energy of the cultivation world has become more abundant and the demons and ghosts aren’t as active. The various sects have also started communicating so infighting has decreased. Hence, the Heavenly Sword Sect is paying more and more attention to the level of personal cultivation, causing the Sword Cultivating Hall and the Medicine Hall to gradually decline.
　　
This was especially true after Yuying Zhenren took over as the head of the sect. As a sword fanatic, he believed that the strength of the sword was the core of cultivation, so he neglected the Sword Cultivating Hall and the Medicine Hall even more which resulted in the growing gap between the strength and relation of the four major halls. News of conflict between disciples of the same sect was endless.

Xiao Kui had only just suffered a blow from Yi Xichen recently, so he immediately took a step forward to go against him, “Yi Xichen, don’t you pull out some ancestors as a reason!”

He hadn’t even finished his sentence when a sharp glance shot over, causing him to shiver.——The one that was glaring at him was no one but the elder of the Sword Refining Hall, Qiu Jian. He had just heard his disciple daring to disrespect the Ancestor, so he was naturally angered.
　　
Xiao Kui tucked his neck in and quickly tried to remedy the situation, “The Ancestor was naturally wise. It’s just that the world now isn’t what it was like in the past. The world is endlessly changing and the Medicine Hall and the Sword Cultivating Hall have long since lost their former glory. Complying with the current affairs is the root of our Sect.”

Yi Xichen wasn’t flustered, “What Xiao Shixiong means is that the disciples of the Sword Cultivating Hall and the Medicine Hall can’t be compared to that of the past?”

“Of course not! The Sword Cultivating Hall of the past was able to create the Seven Star Formation was able to trap demons, gods and the nine yin energy. The Medicine Hall of the past was able to refine the cores of demons and gods. How about now?”

Xiao Kui’s statements weren’t without basis. Presently, the Sword Cultivating Hall and the Medicine Hall are indeed weak, but this wasn’t the fault of the two halls. Because the Head of the Sect doesn’t attach importance to the two halls, the disciples with a high level of talent were taken away by the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall. The remaining disciples’ talents couldn’t be compared to those of others. In the past, the best swords of the Heavenly Sword Sect were reserved to the Sword Refining Hall while the most spiritually abundant mountain was given to the Medicine Hall. However, now, there are fewer and fewer resources distributed to the Sword Cultivating Hall and the Medicine Hall. Hence, the difference in ability between the different halls was inevitable.

Yi Xichen retorted immediately, “Then what about the Sword Refining Hall? In the past, the Sword Refining Hall’s Senior Huaya was able to go against the Heavenly Demon, Hesha, alone. Does Xiao Shixiong have this ability? So is the Sword Refining Hall also incomparable to that of the past?”

“You!” Xiao Kui glared angrily.

Huaya Zhenren is now renowned for his strength. Originally, he, like Zhangsun Zijun, had the Heavenly Spiritual Root so the strength of Huaya Zhenren is probably only second to that of Ancestor Feng Lian. Without mentioning Xiao Kui, even the strength of Lu Ziyao or the Sect Leader Yuying Zhenren can’t be compared to that of Huaya Zhenren. So actually daring to be compared to him, simply ridiculous. But the example that Xiao Kui brought up was also extreme, hence Yi Xichen’s statements were actually reasonable.

Zhangsun Zijun, “He-he.”

This kind of ability in ridiculing others made Xiao Kui’s blood rush to his head and he was temporarily tongue-tied. He was not eloquent whenever he gets agitated so Wang Qingqiao and the others hurried to pull him back.

The eldest disciple of the Sword Guarding Hall, Gong Sundi, said, “In the past millennia the cultivation world has changed significantly and our Heavenly Sword Sect has also experienced many changes. I do believe Yi Shidi won’t deny this. The rules of the Sword Assembly were indeed set by Ancestor Feng Lian but at that time the Sword Assembly was just a practice for the disciples. There weren’t many spiritual items to be received. However, the victors of the Sword Assembly would represent the strength and capabilities of the Heavenly Sword Sect. And only the disciples that got the top 5 placements in the Sword Assembly got to attend the World Conference and the Battle Against Demons. Since the circumstances have already changed, shouldn’t change be reasonable?”

Yuying Zhenren nodded to indicate his acknowledgment of Gong Sundi’s statements.

In actuality, there is no written rule in the Heavenly Sword Sect that stated that you have to get a certain placement on the Sword Assembly to obtain certain privileges. It’s just that, after thousands of years, many proceedings have become unwritten rules. In the Heavenly Sword Sect, the Sword Assembly is the largest internal selection and ranking for the disciples. That means that the people picked to attend the Sword Assembly are the strongest and for the strongest to obtain more opportunities, it is only logical.

A disciple of the Swordsman Pavilion, Zhao Xiang, said: “Sect Leader, looking at the past Sword Assemblies, there have been 10 consecutive Sword Assemblies where the top five placements were dominated by the disciples of the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall. In the past several hundred years, the Medicine Hall disciples have never got a placement in the top ten. This is enough to show that there is something wrong in the early selection for the disciples participating in the Sword Assembly.”

Honestly, Zhao Xiang was the person that was in more of a hurry than Xiao Kui and Gong Sundi. In the Sword Refining Hall, he is in the 7th place so there is no trace of him on the attendance list of twenty. If the rules don’t change, then he wouldn’t even have the qualifications to enter the Sword Assembly. But he has pride in his own ability; he didn’t think it would be a problem for him to get a placement in the top 20 out of the disciples in the whole mountain.

Sun Xiaowei from the Medicine Hall was so anxious he was about to cry.

If they really choose the participants for the Sword Assembly based on their actual ability, there would probably only be Zhangsun Zijun who has the Heavenly Spirit Root that can hold down a placement for the Medicine Hall. The other placements would definitely be taken away by the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall. When the disciples of their Medicine Hall participated in the conference, they don’t desire to become outstanding in the cultivation world. It’s just that if they missed the chance to get the spirit stones and spiritual ingredients that they get as rewards, then, in the future, it would be a lot harder to obtain them.

Yi Xichen said, “Then what Zhao Shixiong means is that the ability of my Medicine Hall and the Sword Cultivating Hall is less than that of the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall?”

Zhao Xiang scoffed, “Isn’t that obvious?”

Xiao Kui, who has finally calmed down, started to make himself known once more, “Could it be that Yi Shixiong doesn’t think this is the case? There is someone with the False Spiritual Root that managed to get the top five placement in the Medicine Hall. Having a disciple with the False Spiritual Root being one of the top twenty of the Heavenly Sword Sect: we would become a laughing stock if this news was spread!”

This really was poking at one’s tender spot in the public. Having inferior talent has always been a pain in Yi Xichen’s heart, so he couldn’t help knitting his brows together after hearing that.

Yao Budu saw that his disciple was being bullied and immediately thundered, “Xiao Kui! Who are you to throw your weight around?! You don’t have the authority to question the disciples that I, Yao Budu, chose! Could it be that you want me to give you my position as the Elder of the Medicine Hall?!”

In the end, Xiao Kui didn’t dare to go up against an elder. He could only nervously replied, “This disciple doesn’t dare.”

Yi Xichen said, “Can I ask this shixiong, which one is weaker? The Sword Cultivating Hall or the Medicine Hall?”

If it was in their daily lives, the disciples of the Sword Cultivating Hall would be disdained by the other two Halls while, altogether, they would look down on the Medicine Hall. But right now, they were forced to be on the same battle line as the Medicine Hall because, if they really were to use the ability to choose disciples, it wouldn’t just be the Medicine Hall that is largely damaged, the Sword Cultivating Hall would also have a lot fewer spots for their disciples.

“Of course it’s the Medicine Hall!”

“Then the which one is stronger, Sword Refining Hall or the Sword Guarding Hall?”

Right now the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall are working together. They were afraid of accidentally causing problems with their partnership so they chose not to speak.

Therefore Yi Xichen said himself, “The Sword Refining Hall should be the one that is a little better. What does Shixiongs think?”

The disciples of the Sword Refining Hall strongly believed that statement and the disciples of the Sword Guarding Hall didn’t dare oppose.

“Alright then.” Yi Xichen said, “At the moment, Shixiongs have disagreements on the rules of the Sword Assembly because you believe that if you are weak you should remain unseen. Then let’s pick someone from the Medicine Hall to compete with someone from the Sword Refining Hall to see exactly who is strong and who is weak. Is this method recognized by these Shixiongs?”

Xiao Kui hurriedly said, “Isn’t it still unfair if you send Zhangsun Zijun!?”

Zhangsun Zijun gave a cold laugh, “Am I not a disciple of the Medicine Hall?”

Although Gong Sundi isn’t clear on the strength of Zhangsun Zijun, Zhangsun Zijun having the Heavenly Spirit Root is a fact so he also opposed the idea, “Zhangsun Shidi doesn’t represent the strength of the Medicine Hall.”

“We won’t send Zhangsun Zijun.” Yi Xichen said, “Right now we are not fighting about who is the strongest. We are arguing about whether or not the weakest is weak. So you should send the fifth strongest disciple of the Sword Refining Hall to battle with the fifth strongest disciple of the Medicine Hall. If we win, it would indicate that these Shixiongs claims that the Medicine Hall is inferior to that of the Sword Refining Hall are baseless. If we lose, then the rules that were set up might be flawed and change can be considered.”

The elder of the Sword Refining Hall, Qiu Jian, spoke up, “Sure.”

Lin Zhenyi, the Elder of the Sword Guarding Hall hurriedly responded, “Xichen’s idea certainly can work. If we continue to go against each other, it would be inevitable to delay the proceeding of the Sword Assembly. Why don’t we just do as he says?”

Not even mentioning the fifth place fighting with the fifth place, even if it was the fifth place (of the Medicine Hall) fighting the tenth place (of the Sword Cultivating Hall), they would be at an advantage. By giving out this suggestion, Yi Xichen was paving the way for the Sword Refining Hall and the Sword Guarding Hall.

The Elder of the Sword Cultivating Hall, Wan Jin, was full of concern. He shot an agitated glare towards Yi Xichen. Even Yao Budu was tugging on his goatee, not sure what medicine his beloved disciple is trying to sell.

“Xiao Shixiong has said it before, as a person with the False Spiritual Root, it is obvious that I have a low amount of talent. The fifth in the Medicine Hall is me so which one of the Shixiongs from the Sword Refining Hall is willing to battle with me?”

The truth is that although Yi Xichen didn’t have a high level of talent, he is very hardworking when it comes to cultivation. In the Medicine Hall, he is second only to Zhangsun Zijun. But only the disciples of the Medicine Hall is clear on this fact because he has never crossed swords with the disciples of the other Hall so it wouldn’t cause suspicion.

Although Xiao Kui was warming up his palms and his fists, hating that he couldn’t personally go teach Yi Xichen a lesson, they had already set up the stage for the competition. The Sword Refining Hall has at least this little amount of pride to not bully the weak with the strong. Qiu Jian said, “The disciple of the fifth ranking in my Sword Refining Hall is Wang Qingqiao.”

Wang Qingqiao stepped out immediately and very naturally placed his hand on his sword, “Let me be the one to receive Yi Shidi’s attacks.”

Yi Xichen calmly said, “No need to hurry. We have to first lay down the rules. If I lose, the rules of the Sword Assembly can be reevaluated, but what if I win?”

Wang Qingqiao didn’t have the authority to make the decisions so he turned his gaze to the Elders.

Yuying Zhenren said, “If you win, then the Sword Assembly will naturally proceed as usual.”

“That’s not fair,” Yi Xichen said. “The Assembly should have proceeded naturally. It was because these Shixiongs raised a disturbance that the affairs were delayed. If I win, then it means that we disciples of the Medicine Hall aren’t inferior to the disciples of the other Hall, so I hope that the Sect Leader can also think about amending the daily distribution of resources to us.”

Once the statement came out, everyone was stunned.

Reika’s Notes:

• This chapter is by Windyday of BCNovels.
• Sweet, I hope Yi Xichen will win and get more resources for his fellow Medicine Hall disciples.
• Thanks for reading.

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