Chapter 375: Martial Competition
Translator: KurazyTolanzuraytor Editor: Jay
As the cultivation location of the Seven Star Sword Sect’s Sect Leader, Dubhe Hall was slightly larger when compared to Mizar Hall and Megrez Hall.
When Duan Ling Tian had just arrived outside Dubhe Hall, he saw a grey clothed young man walking towards him.
The young man was around the age of 25 or 26; he had an ordinary appearance and an emotionless expression, and he held a sheathed sword in his hand as he slowly walked over…
Looking at the symbol on the young man’s clothes, he was obviously an inner court disciple.
"You’re Duan Ling Tian?" The young man stood before Duan Ling Tian, and his eyes emitted a bright light as he asked in a calm tone.
"Yes." Duan Ling Tian nodded, and he was shocked in his heart.
Relying on his acute Spiritual Force and the lifetime worth of experience of the Rebirth Martial Emperor, he was able to discern that although the age of this young man was younger than the Mizar Peak’s Master’s son, Zheng Song, his cultivation was much more advanced than Zheng Song.
If his judgment wasn’t wrong, then the cultivation of this person had already stepped into the fourth level of the Nascent Soul Stage.
"His age feels to be even younger than Zither Young Master…" Duan Ling Tian thought in his heart.
"Master has been waiting for you." The young man called out to Duan Ling Tian before turning around and leading Duan Ling Tian to walk into Dubhe Hall.
"Master." After the young man brought Duan Ling Tian into the Audience Hall, he respectfully and reverently bowed to the middle aged man within, then he turned around to leave and stand guard outside the Audience Hall like a door guardian deity.
"Sect Leader." Duan Ling Tian looked at the middle aged man and lightly smiled.
The middle aged man was precisely the Sect Leader of the Seven Star Sword Sect, Linghu Jin Hong!
"That person from before was actually the Sect Leader’s disciple." Duan Ling Tian came to a sudden understanding.
Linghu Jin Hong stared fixedly at Duan Ling Tian, towards this Seven Star Sword Sect disciple that abruptly rose swiftly in the sect, and his heart was filled with extreme shock…
Duan Ling Tian’s rise was virtually a legend of the Seven Star Sword Sect!
"Duan Ling Tian." Linghu Jin Hong’s stiff face revealed a wisp of a light smile. "I heard that the Zither Young Master came to our Seven Star Sword Sect three days ago… You fixed a two year agreement with him?"
"Yes." Duan Ling Tian nodded, and he wasn’t surprised that Linghu Jin Hong knew of this matter.
What a joke!
Linghu Jin Hong was the Sect Leader of the Seven Star Sword Sect, and his informants were everywhere throughout the entire Seven Star Sword Sect.
"As expected of the number one genius since the establishment of my Seven Star Sword Sect… Duan Ling Tian, I’m truly awaiting the scene of you battling the Zither Young Master two years from now." Linghu Jin Hong glanced deeply at Duan Ling Tian, then changed the topic. "Do you know why I asked you here this time?"
Duan Ling Tian shook his head to show he didn’t know.
"Do you know that within the Azure Forest Imperial Kingdom, there are still another four top sects besides our Seven Star Sword Sect?" Linghu Jin Hong asked.
"I’ve heard of it." Duan Ling Tian nodded as he’d heard Xiong Quan mention it before. "Sect Leader, could the reason you called me here be related to the other four sects?"
Linghu Jin Hong was slightly surprised by Duan Ling Tian’s penetrating remark, and he nodded. "One year from now, it’s the day of the Martial Competition between the five great top sects of the Azure Forest imperial Kingdom… I asked you over here today mainly to talk to you about this."
"Martial Competition?" Duan Ling Tian’s brows raised and he was slightly curious.
"The Martial Competition is a tradition that the five great top sects of the Azure Forest Imperial Kingdom have passed down for many years, and it is held every three years. On the day of the Martial Competition, the younger generation below the age of 30 of the five great top sects carry out a martial exchange."
When Linghu Jin Hong spoke up to this point, he sighed. "In the recent years, there hasn’t been any outstanding disciples within the younger generation of our Seven Star Sword Sect. During the Martial Competition that was held two years ago and the other that was held five years ago, amongst the disciples of our Seven Star Sword Sect that participated in the Martial Competition, there wasn’t even a single person who entered the top three."
Duan Ling Tian’s eyes lit up.
Martial Competition?
Seems to be slightly interesting.
At this moment, Duan Ling Tian could feel Linghu Jin Hong’s helplessness.
The Seven Star Sword Sect was the publically acknowledged number one sect of the Azure Forest Imperial Kingdom after all, but no one Seven Star Sword Sect disciple was actually able to enter the top three in the Martial Competition for two consecutive competitions, and this undoubtedly showed that the younger generation of the Seven Star Sword Sect was of no use.
Presently, the domineering status of the Seven Star Sword Sect relied on the experts of the older generation.
It could be imagined that in the Seven Star Sword Sect of the future, when the older generation experts gradually retired, then if there were no promising people in the younger generation, the Seven Star Sword Sect would surely walk towards decline.
"Are the young disciples of the other sects extremely strong?" Duan Ling Tian asked curiously.
Linghu Jin Hong nodded. "I presume you’ve heard of the five great young masters of the Azure Forest Imperial Kingdom… Two of them are from the other two sects. Besides that, within the other four sects, there are still a few figures that have natural talents only inferior to the five great young masters."
"What Sect Leader means is, you want me to participate in the Martial Competition amongst the younger generation of the five great sects next year?" Duan Ling Tian asked.
"Yes." Linghu Jin Hon nodded, and he looked at Duan Ling Tian with a burning gaze. "Presently, amongst the young disciples under the age of 30 of our Seven Star Sword Sect and possess a comparatively outstanding natural talent, then besides my disciple, Huang Ji, the Phecda Peak’s Master’s disciple, Meng Qiu, and the Mizar Peak’s Master’s son, Zheng Song, there is only you…
"Although the three of them possess strengths that are stronger than you, their ages are far older than you… You’re different than them, you possess boundless potential! One year later, I don’t have extravagant hopes that you’ll be able to obtain the top three ranks within the Martial Competition, I mainly want you to go gain experience."
"Once another four years pass, I believe that it’s undoubtedly an extremely easy thing for you to obtain the honor of number one in the Martial Competition!" Linghu Jin Hong spoke of his plans.
Gain experience?
The corners of Duan Ling Tian’s mouth twitched.
Looks like this Sect Leader of the Seven Star Sword Sect really has no confidence in me.
But with a quick thought, Duan Ling Tian came to an understanding.
Even though the natural talent he revealed was formidable, he was only a ninth level Origin Core Stage martial artist right now after all. Not to mention the outstanding disciples of the other four great sects, even if it was the three comparatively outstanding disciples of the Seven Star Sword Sect, he was still far inferior to them.
The Sect Leader’s plans were extremely obvious.
One year later, he would bring Duan Ling Tian to go experience the Martial Competition of the five great sects.
Then when the Martial Competition of four years later arrives, only then would the Sect Leader would be eager for Duan Ling Tian to able to bring honor to the Seven Star Sword Sect and obtain the honor of being ranked number one in the Martial Competition!
"Duan Ling Tian, in the following year, the sect will spare no cost to foster you… From today onwards, you can stay and cultivate in my Dubhe Hall. This Dubhe Hall of mine is the location of the Main Spirit Point amongst the nine great Spirit Points of the Seven Star Sword Sect, and the cultivation environment here is the best within the entire Seven Star Sword Sect." Linghu Jin Hong looked at Duan Ling Tian and said slowly.
He’d obviously completely entrusted the hope of the Seven Star Sword Sect onto Duan Ling Tian.
Duan Ling Tian wasn’t surprised by what Linghu Jin Hong said.
After all, Linghu Jin Hong was currently determined to make him obtain the honor of number one in the Martial Competition four years from now…
This honor had an extraordinary significance to the Seven Star Sword Sect, as it represented that the younger generation of the Seven Star Sword Sect had risen up once again!
"The best cultivation environment?" Although when Duan Ling Tian had just arrived at Dubhe Peak, he’d noticed that the cultivation environment here surpassed Megrez Hall and Mizar Hall, but compared to his stalactite cave, it was instead an extremely great distance away.
"Sect Leader, I’m already accustomed to my current cultivation location." Duan Ling Tian politely refused Linghu Jin Hong’s good intentions.
As far as he was concerned, the stalactite cave he’d discovered was the place that truly deserved the title of best cultivation location in the Seven Star Sword Sect.
Of course, he didn’t say it out loud, as the stalactite cave was his secret.
At least, before he left the Seven Star Sword Sect, it was his secret.
"Duan Ling Tian, you…" Linghu Jin Hong never expected that Duan Ling Tian would refuse his good intentions, and he was stunned for a moment before continuing to persuade. "Duan Ling Tian, a good cultivation location is able to increase your speed of cultivation… The Dubhe Peak is your best choice."
"You can be at ease, I’m only asking you to cultivate in Dubhe Peak and have no intention of taking you as my disciple… With your natural talent, I don’t feel I have the qualifications to be your Master." As he finished speaking, Linghu Jing Hong laughed in self ridicule.
"Sect Leader, you’ve misunderstood." Duan Ling Tian shook his head. "I’m the type of person that would at least need a year or two to adapt to a new place after I’ve become accustomed to a place… Honestly speaking, I’ve only barely adapted to my cultivation location on Megrez Peak. If you ask me to suddenly cultivate at Dubhe Hall, I’m worried the advancement of my cultivation would be even slower."
Linghu Jin Hong’s magnanimity caused Duan Ling Tian to feel heartfelt reverence.
He was able to discern that Linghu Jin Hong was a true noble person, and was absolutely not someone the deceased Peak Master of the Megrez Peak, Wu Dao, could compare to.
"So that’s how it is." Linghu Jin Hong came to a sudden understanding and he didn’t doubt the truth of what Duan Ling Tian said.
As far as he was concerned, if it wasn’t for this, it would be impossible that Duan Ling Tian was unwilling to cultivate in Dubhe Hall.
After all, the cultivation environment in Dubhe Hall far surpassed any other place in the Seven Star Sword Sect.
Of course, the only reason Linghu Jin Hong would think like this was because he completely had no knowledge of the existence of the stalactite cave.
Otherwise, he would think like this.
"Since it’s like this, then I won’t force you… During these four years, if you have any needs for cultivating, like medicinal pills, you can look for me and I’ll try my best to help you." Linghu Jin Hong promised Duan Ling Tian.
For the sake of Duan Ling Tian being able to bring honor to the Seven Star Sword Sect in the Martial Competition four years from now, he’d decided to spare no cost in fostering Duan Ling Tian.
All for the sake of allowing Duan Ling Tian to obtain the honor of number one in the Martial Competition!
"Then I won’t be courteous." Duan Ling Tian nodded with a smile and didn’t refuse, and his eyes emitted a bright light…
Looks like I can save a great amount of money when I cultivate in the future.
After bidding his farewell to Linghu Jin Hong and leaving, Duan Ling Tian once again saw the young man that stood guard outside the Audience Hall.
This young man ought to be that personal disciple the Sect Leader, Linghu Jin Hong, had mentioned earlier, Huang Ji.
Huang Ji was younger than Zheng Song, yet far stronger than Zheng Song.
Presumable, during the Martial Competition one year from now, the Sect Leader, Linghu Jin Hong, would entrust most of his hope on Huang Ji.
"This Huang Ji is at the fourth level of the Nascent Soul Stage… In one year, if nothing unexpected happens, then he ought to be able to break through to the fifth level of the Nascent Soul Stage." Duan Ling Tian’s eyes flickered with a flowing light, and it was filled with an inexplicable feeling. "I wonder, when that Martial Competition begins one year from now, until what extent would my cultivation be able to break through to!?"