Chapter 1

Tianyuan Great World. Northern Region. Shushan Sword Sect. "Meng Fan, you ranked dead last in this handyman disciple assessment. According to custom, the lowest-ranked disciple is eliminated and will be expelled from the Shushan Sword Sect."

Meng Fan stared at the Shushan Sword Sect deacon standing before him, a trace of surprise crossing his face. He had not even been in this world for two full days, and he was already going to be expelled from the sect? This script for a beginning was completely wrong! Having fused with the host's memories, he recalled the details and asked doubtfully, "Deacon Wang, if I remember correctly, I placed second to last in this assessment." Although second to last was shameful enough, custom dictated that only the very last place would be eliminated. Deacon Wang replied with a cold expression, "Yang Qian, who placed last, violated sect rules and has already been expelled, so you are now in last place." Hearing this, Meng Fan was left completely dumbfounded. They could do that? He had just transmigrated into this world and was planning to use the Shushan Sword Sect as a springboard to soar. If he were expelled from the sect and became an outcast of the Shushan Sword Sect, joining another sect would be practically impossible. Besides, this world was extremely dangerous! He absolutely could not leave the Shushan Sword Sect; otherwise, he might die without even knowing how it happened. Meng Fan hurriedly said, "Deacon Wang, can you bend the rules a little? Even though Yang Qian violated sect rules, he was still the one who came in last in this assessment. Shouldn't the elimination slot fall to him?" As he spoke, he fished a low-grade Spirit Stone from his tunic and handed it to Deacon Wang. The spiritual energy inside this low-grade Spirit Stone had already been depleted by thirty percent, making it far from a fine treasure. Yet this was all the wealth Meng Fan possessed. As a handyman disciple—and the absolute worst-performing handyman disciple at that—living in constant danger of elimination, it was terribly difficult for Meng Fan to make any money! "Meng Fan, it's not that I want to lecture you, but you know your own level well enough. Even if you stay this time, the elimination slot next time will still surely fall to you. Why struggle so bitterly?" Deacon Wang accepted Meng Fan's Spirit Stone without batting an eye. A mosquito's leg was meat no matter how small, and a low-grade Spirit Stone with only seventy percent spiritual energy was still a Spirit Stone. It would be foolish not to take it! Beside Deacon Wang, another handyman disciple piped up, "Junior Brother Meng, you should be well aware that with your inferior spirit root aptitude, you simply won't make it in the Shushan Sword Sect. You'd be better off leaving the sect early to find a livelihood." This handyman disciple was named Yang Fei. Although they were all handyman disciples, Yang Fei's assessment scores were always in the top three, putting him in a completely different league from Meng Fan. Not long ago, Yang Fei had been taken in by Deacon Wang as a registered disciple, meaning his future prospects were boundless. [Inferior Spirit Root] Hearing these four words, a sense of helplessness washed over Meng Fan. An inferior spirit root was the absolute worst kind of spirit root, far inferior even to low-grade spirit roots! Inferior spirit roots, low-grade spirit roots, middle-grade spirit roots, high-grade spirit roots, top-grade spirit roots, heavenly spirit roots, and divine spirit roots. With so many levels of spirit roots, one could easily tell just how unexceptional an inferior spirit root was! Although an inferior spirit root was still a spirit root—making one stronger than a mortal and capable of cultivation—it was undoubtedly cannon fodder in the world of cultivation. It could be said that the previous owner of Meng Fan's current body was a textbook example of a "trash opening" start. Yet the Meng Fan who had transmigrated here was no trash! Even though his body still possessed only an inferior spirit root, his transmigration had brought him a special perk. Talent—[Dao Sword Mastery]. Just how terrifying was this talent? Born with a Sword Heart! Born with a Sword Soul! Born with a Sword God! Any sword technique could be mastered upon a single learning. Any Sword Intent could be comprehended upon a single thought. Any sword momentum could be understood upon a single glance. Any Sword Dao... could be completely mastered! As long as he was given time, Meng Fan was destined to become a generation's Sword Immortal. Unfortunately, having just transmigrated without having had the chance to flex his muscles, he was already facing the crisis of being expelled from the sect. While it was true that with his talent for [Dao Sword Mastery], Meng Fan still stood a chance of rising to prominence even if expelled from the Shushan Sword Sect... With the Shushan Sword Sect offering such a high starting point, why would anyone deliberately choose to experience a hellish start? "Deacon Wang, could you give this disciple another chance? This disciple will definitely practice diligently, and in the next assessment, I certainly won't be in last place!" Meng Fan said to Deacon Wang with an earnest expression. "Every disciple facing elimination begs me like this, but they still end up getting eliminated next time," Deacon Wang said with a sigh. "However, what you said isn't entirely unreasonable. The person who came in last in this assessment truly was Yang Qian. Strictly speaking, since you were second to last, it is indeed somewhat improper for me to eliminate you right now." Meng Fan instantly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that single Spirit Stone had done the trick. Otherwise, since Deacon Wang had already come all this way, he definitely would have eliminated him! "Many thanks, Deacon Wang!" Meng Fan hastily expressed his gratitude. Deacon Wang nodded and turned to leave. Yet no sooner had he taken half a step away than he turned back, looking at Meng Fan. "Deacon Wang, do you have any other instructions?" Seeing him turn back, Meng Fan tactfully asked. Deacon Wang looked at Meng Fan, a faint smile appearing on his face, and then said, "Even if I spare you this time, you'll still be eliminated in the next assessment. How about I point a clear path for you?" Point a clear path for me? Meng Fan felt somewhat skeptical. Could offering that single Spirit Stone really have had such an effect? This Deacon Wang didn't look like someone who had never seen the world! "Please speak, Deacon Wang. What kind of clear path?" "The Sword Pavilion is in need of a sword-guarding disciple, and I don't currently have any suitable candidates here. You seem like a sharp lad—would you like to become a sword-guarding disciple?" "The Sword Pavilion? A sword-guarding disciple?" "That's right. A sword-guarding disciple of the Sword Pavilion enjoys treatment equivalent to an outer disciple. From now on, you won't need to participate in handyman disciple assessments anymore, let alone worry about being eliminated." The Sword Pavilion! In the Shushan Sword Sect, this was a high-tier place. Handyman disciples like Meng Fan had no qualifications to enter the Sword Pavilion whatsoever, let alone retrieve swords from it. Only the cream of the crop among outer disciples, as well as higher-ranking inner disciples and the like, were qualified to go to the Sword Pavilion to fetch swords.

A moment later, Meng Fan accepted the token of a Sword Pavilion sword-guarding disciple from Deacon Wang's hands and prepared to report to the Sword Pavilion. Though he had harbored suspicions, thinking Deacon Wang wouldn't be kind enough to let him take advantage of such a setup... Still, only a fool turns down free benefits. If any trouble arose, he would simply deal with it as it came! Besides, as a handyman disciple who was on the verge of being eliminated, he had nothing of value that Deacon Wang could possibly covet. The only Spirit Stone on his person had already been voluntarily handed over to Deacon Wang! Beside Deacon Wang, Yang Fei watched Meng Fan's departing figure, his brows furrowing slightly as he asked in puzzlement, "Master, didn't Senior Brother Qian ask you to chase Meng Fan away?" "Why did you not only let Meng Fan stay, but even send him into the Sword Pavilion?" "Won't this offend Senior Brother Qian?" "Senior Brother Qian is Elder Qian's son; there's no need for you to offend him!" Deacon Wang sneered, "What do you know?" "The Sword Pavilion houses tens of thousands of swords, countless of which are evil swords." "A handyman disciple with practically zero cultivation wouldn't survive a month in the Sword Pavilion." "He's dead for sure!"

"Master, that fellow Meng Fan is utterly lowly. He doesn't even have the qualifications to offend Senior Brother Qian; why would Senior Brother Qian pay attention to him?" Yang Fei asked with lingering curiosity. Deacon Wang smiled. "Because of that heaven-favored daughter, Li Xuerou!" Li Xuerou? A look of surprise crossed Yang Fei's face. This girl came in first place in every assessment. Not only had she long since been promoted from a handyman disciple to an outer disciple, but she had also advanced from an outer disciple to an inner disciple. There were even rumors that Li Xuerou might soon be promoted to a core disciple! Could such a heaven-favored daughter have a connection to Meng Fan? Deacon Wang said, "Qian Lechil has liked Li Xuerou for so long, yet Li Xuerou refuses to give him the time of day. Do you know why?" Why? Yang Fei frowned, asking skeptically, "Could it be related to this Meng Fan?" "Indeed. Li Xuerou and Meng Fan were childhood sweethearts from the same village. The entire village was slaughtered by the Tianying Demonic Cult, leaving only the two of them alive." "Before joining the Shushan Sword Sect, they always depended on each other for survival, so naturally their bond is extremely deep." "If Qian Lechi wants to win Li Xuerou's heart, he has to eliminate Meng Fan, this stumbling block in his way!"

Meanwhile, Meng Fan had already arrived at the Sword Pavilion carrying the token of a sword-guarding disciple. As soon as he stepped through the door, he saw a tattered-looking old man sitting on a small wooden stool. Meng Fan immediately felt a surge of profound respect. Usually, in novels and storybooks, figures dressed like this in such places were bound to be absolute experts among experts! The old man glanced at Meng Fan and said expressionlessly, "Kid, you've come to the wrong place. This isn't somewhere you should be." Meng Fan hurriedly and respectfully presented the sword-guarding disciple token with both hands. "Senior, this junior is the newly arrived sword-guarding disciple for the Sword Pavilion." The old man took the token, glanced at it, and then tossed it back to Meng Fan, sneering, "What kind of person did you offend to get sent here as a sword-guarding disciple?" "Ah?" Meng Fan felt a wave of helplessness. He had guessed that Deacon Wang wouldn't be kind enough to arrange some cushy post for him. "What does senior mean by this?" he quickly asked, playing along. The old man shook his head and sighed. "It doesn't matter what I mean. Since you've accepted the sword-guarding disciple token, you are now a sword-guarding disciple of the Sword Pavilion. Even if you regret it now, it's too late; going back on it will be treated as betrayal of the sect, and people will die! Since you're here, make the best of it and guard the swords well. Oh, and don't call me senior—it gives me the creeps. Just call me Senior Brother Luo from now on." Senior Brother? Looking at the old man's head of white hair and aged appearance, Meng Fan was somewhat bewildered. Still, he nodded and obediently called out, "Understood, Senior Brother Luo." Senior Brother Luo flashed Meng Fan a grim smile and stood up from his stool. "Follow me inside!" The old man beckoned to Meng Fan and led him through the main hall doors. Beyond the doors lay a vast, spacious hall. Rows upon rows of wooden racks stood within the hall, each rack holding neat rows of longswords. A sweeping glance revealed at least several thousand longswords. Some of the swords looked plain and unadorned, while others radiated intimidating auras. Merely glancing at them made Meng Fan's heart turn cold. It felt as though wisps of sword Qi were about to pierce right out of the blades and shoot toward Meng Fan. Most terrifying of all, a longsword in the corner, reeking of bloodlust, suddenly erupted with a pitch-black sword glare that surged toward Meng Fan. This sword glare moved at incredible speed, swift as lightning. In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of Meng Fan. Yet when it was less than a foot away from him, the sword glare abruptly vanished. "Not bad composure. For a little fellow with your scrawny limbs not to have been scared paralyzed on the spot—that's already quite impressive!" Senior Brother Luo looked at Meng Fan with a trace of satisfaction in his gaze. "Senior Brother Luo, what was that just now?" Meng Fan asked, still somewhat shaken. "That was Chiyue provoking you," Senior Brother Luo explained. "Chiyue is the most malevolent sword on the first floor of the Sword Pavilion. Anyone who steps into the Sword Pavilion will be provoked by it." "The sword glare just now was purely a provocation and a scare; it wasn't actually attacking you." "If it had truly attacked you, you'd already be a corpse right now!" Meng Fan's heart raced slightly as tension gripped him. Why did the swords in this Sword Pavilion seem even more terrifying than people? Listening to Senior Brother Luo's introduction, it felt as though these swords were actually alive! As expected of the cultivation world—all sorts of bizarre and wondrous things existed here. "From now on, the territory of the first floor of the Sword Pavilion belongs to you." "Your task is to wipe and clean all of these longswords every day." "Of course, I don't mean you have to finish them all in one day—just clean and wipe them once within a year." "By my calculation, wiping about twenty swords a day should be enough; it's not too many!" Hearing Senior Brother Luo's words, Meng Fan nodded. That wasn't many! Yet his intuition told him that things probably weren't that simple. After all, quite a few of these swords looked rather sinister. "What about the other floors?" Meng Fan asked Senior Brother Luo. There were five floors in total in the Sword Pavilion. Senior Brother Luo had only mentioned the first floor just now. "You don't need to worry about the other floors. If you don't want to die, don't go poking around with curiosity," Senior Brother Luo said with a cold face. It looked like the other floors were extremely dangerous! In his heart, Meng Fan resolved never to set foot on the second floor of the Sword Pavilion, let alone the third floor. To be honest, Meng Fan was already starting to regret his decision. Through his brief contact with Senior Brother Luo, he felt that the job of a Sword Pavilion sword-guarding disciple was more than just a little dangerous. That Deacon Wang was truly plotting against him! Senior Brother Luo chuckled. "Scared? Being scared is useless; as the saying goes, make the best of it where you are. Besides, a Sword Pavilion sword-guarding disciple receives a subsidy of one low-grade Spirit Stone every month." "This is the treatment reserved for outer disciples. Seeing as your cultivation is practically zero, you must be a handyman disciple, right?" "Work hard. Although being a sword-guarding disciple is dangerous, wealth and honor are sought amidst danger!" "As long as you can survive and complete one year of service as a sword-guarding disciple, you can become an inner disciple of the Shushan Sword Sect." "If you manage to serve for ten years, then you'll be a deacon of the Shushan Sword Sect." "If you serve for thirty years, you'll be an elder!" "As for serving for a full hundred years, well..." "Heh, then you're just dreaming!" Could it really be that mysterious? The benefits for a sword-guarding disciple of the Sword Pavilion were actually this high? However, greater opportunities usually also meant greater risks! Meng Fan instinctively asked, "Senior Brother Luo, how long have you been here?" "Two years!" Senior Brother Luo stated a timeframe that greatly surprised Meng Fan. He had assumed this Senior Brother Luo had been working in the Sword Pavilion for at least a dozen years. After all, his age was right there! Senior Brother Luo chuckled heartily at Meng Fan. "Kid, do you know why I wouldn't let you call me senior?" "Why?" Meng Fan asked in response. "Because I'm only a few years older than you!"