Sword Pavilion.
It housed all the various sword techniques and cultivation manuals collected by the Sword Sect over countless years.
One could truly say it was all-encompassing, lacking nothing.
Rumor had it that the legendary Heaven-grade sword techniques might still exist within its walls.
Indeed!
All cultivation manuals and sword techniques were categorized into Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow grades.
Among them, the Heaven grade was the strongest,
and the Yellow grade was the lowest! Each grade was further divided into three tiers: lower, middle, and upper.
Therefore, the Sword Pavilion of the Sword Sect enjoyed a renowned reputation throughout the entire cultivation world.
Every new Sword Sect disciple choosing a sword was granted only a single opportunity to enter the Sword Pavilion.
Only after reaching the Golden Core stage could one enter frequently.
Luo Mingyue quickly found a scabbard, slid the iron sword inside, slung it across her back, and headed toward the Sword Pavilion.
……
The Sword Pavilion was situated at the boundary where Spirit Sword Peak met Sword Peak.
Behind the pavilion lay a spiritual spring waterfall, its waters bone-chillingly clear and its roar like thunder.
As soon as one approached, a violent rumbling sound could be heard.
A wave of humid air rushed over them, wonderfully refreshing.
"Senior Sister Mingyue, are you coming to the Sword Pavilion today as well?"
Along the way, Sword Sect disciples greeted Luo Mingyue one after another.
Luo Mingyue responded to each of them.
She was quite well-liked.
Yet very soon, an unharmonious voice rang out.
"Senior Sister Mingyue, how come you didn't even put your sword away? Could it be that this iron sword has utterly no spiritual essence, and you can only carry it on your back because of that?"
It was Lu Yan.
Bai Nishang's bootlicking flunky.
"What business is it of yours!"
Luo Mingyue cast a cold glance at him, full of utter disdain!
In her past life, she hadn't even remembered such a petty character—she didn't know whether he had died early on or simply been too useless.
Thank goodness she had been reborn!
Otherwise, a nobody like this would never have dreamed of speaking to her in this lifetime!
"Of course it's my business."
Lu Yan blocked Luo Mingyue's path forward.
"When the sect grand competition comes around next month, the sect's proud talent with the Innate Sword Body is going to end up at the very bottom because of a piece of scrap iron. By then, Senior Sister Mingyue, you'll become the laughingstock of the entire sect."
"How about this: Senior Sister Mingyue accompanies me for a night, and I'll give you six thousand spirit stones so that you can buy a proper spiritual sword outside the sect. That way you won't lose too miserably."
Sword Sect sword cultivators were different from other cultivators.
Although talent was useful, once a sword had been chosen, many other factors would heavily influence one's rate of cultivation.
Things like the sword itself! And sword manuals!
All of these affected a sword cultivator's progression speed.
In her past life, Luo Mingyue not only possessed the Innate Sword Body, but had also chosen the most perfectly matching sword and acquired a suitable Earth-grade upper-tier manual.
That was how she had been able to outstrip everyone else and leave them in the dust.
But things were different now that she had been reborn!
Although she still possessed the Innate Sword Body, the sword that originally belonged to her had been snatched away by Bai Nishang first, and she had even ended up contracting a rusted sword that was nothing more than scrap iron.
In everyone's eyes, this was tantamount to crippling her own martial arts! If she couldn't find a high-grade sword manual today either, she would truly fall from grace and sink into mediocrity, exactly as she did in the original text.
That was why Lu Yan dared to be so presumptuous!
Yet he seemed to have forgotten that even if Luo Mingyue were to sink into mediocrity, she was still his Senior Sister!
Luo Mingyue's palm landed fiercely across his face!
In an instant, she knocked Lu Yan back several steps, his expression turning ghastly.
"You dare hit me!"
Lu Yan flew into a rage, spitting out the sword he had contracted just yesterday, attempting to retaliate.
Yet the next moment, he sensed the formidable aura emanating from Luo Mingyue.
His expression changed drastically.
"Foundation Establishment mid stage—how is that possible!"
Just yesterday, Luo Mingyue was only at the Foundation Establishment early stage; how had she broken through today?!
"What, you want to make a move against the Senior Sister?"
Luo Mingyue's voice was icy.
"Believe it or not, I can take care of you right here and now, even without the Law Enforcement Hall's permission!"
"Insubordination! You have some nerve!"
With those words!
The iron sword on her back sprang out with a crisp clang, spun through the air, and flew straight toward Lu Yan's neck.
The sword light was as sharp as lightning.
"No!"
Lu Yan's face drained of color in sheer terror.
"Senior Sister Nishang is the one who told me to keep watch here and block you, Senior Sister Mingyue!"
The iron sword halted abruptly in mid-air.
The razor-sharp, chilling gleam instantly raised goosebumps all over Lu Yan's neck, and a thin line of blood spurted outward.
"He's not going to survive!"
Jiang Chengan's voice came from inside the iron sword.
"The slash just now severed the main artery in his throat."
Luo Mingyue's expression shifted.
Sure enough, she saw that Lu Yan's face was already as white as a sheet, his hands clutching his neck as his body trembled violently in utter panic.
"Sword Spirit Senior, what should we do then?"
Luo Mingyue asked hurriedly.
It was true that she had been at the Nascent Soul stage in her past life, but the cultivation world of her era had been far too peaceful, and her path had been smooth sailing without much actual combat experience.
Otherwise, how could she have done something as foolish as shattering her own Nascent Soul just to prove her innocence when smeared by Bai Nishang?
"Naturally, we go all the way since we've already started!"
Before Jiang Chengan's words had even faded, the suspended iron sword slashed down with a resounding crash.
In an instant.
Lu Yan's head rolled to the ground!
With a dull plop, it plunged straight into the spiritual spring waterfall behind them.
"Throw his corpse down as well, and then no one will ever know we did this!"
Although this was also Jiang Chengan's first time killing someone, he remained extraordinarily calm at the moment.
"Ah, right, right, right, right."
Luo Mingyue was not someone prone to hesitation either.
Once she made up her mind, she hoisted Lu Yan's remaining corpse and threw it directly into the waterfall, where it was swallowed up completely in an instant.
After that, she casually guided some water from the waterfall
to wash away the bloodstains on the ground. Only then did she head toward the Sword Pavilion with her heart pounding heavily, once again carrying Jiang Chengan on her back.
"To think that Bai Nishang actually sent her to waylay me."
Luo Mingyue muttered to herself as she walked.
"Sword Spirit Senior, what kind of petty tricks do you suppose Bai Nishang is trying to play this time?"
"I can just hack her to death with a single sword stroke!"
Jiang Chengan replied directly.
"That way, no matter what schemes she tries to cook up, she won't be able to stir up any waves at all."
"Her mother is the peak master of our peak, and she has the cultivation of the Golden Core Great Perfection."
Luo Mingyue said.
As the grudges of her past life surged back into her mind, she had certainly thought about killing Bai Nishang first to exact revenge, but the consequences were simply more than she could bear right now.
Bai Nishang's mother was the master of Spirit Sword Peak.
"I'll hack her to death just the same!"
Jiang Chengan stated flatly.
Last night, the system had evaluated the hardness of his sword body.
In other words, he could completely withstand attacks from the Nascent Soul stage.
Although his own offensive power remained an unknown quantity,
what about the Sword Sect? Even their strongest member, Jian Wuming, was only at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.
Jiang Chengan really didn't have much to fear right now.
"Senior, we've reached the Sword Pavilion!"
At this moment, Luo Mingyue finally stepped into the Sword Pavilion.
The Sword Pavilion.
Though called a pavilion,
it was actually a massive scripture library. Within the towering structure, countless bamboo slips were sealed away by various restrictions.
A casual sweep of divine sense alone would likely reveal over a million of them.
At this very moment,
dozens of Sword Sect disciples in the Foundation Establishment stage were darting back and forth on flying swords within the inner space of the Sword Pavilion,
continuously perusing various sword manuals and techniques.
Suddenly,
a figure in white robes descended from the upper levels of the Sword Pavilion.
Her skirts fluttered in the air like a butterfly beating its wings, a truly stunning sight.
"Senior Sister Mingyue."
"Where is Junior Brother Lu Yan?"
The newcomer was none other than that white lotus...
No, Bai Nishang.
Luo Mingyue had originally intended to ignore her, but her gaze suddenly locked onto the two jade slips clutched in Bai Nishang's arms.
A bone-chilling intent instantly erupted!
"Bai Nishang, you shameless wretch!"