"Xian, this is incredible! All these swords are fighting to recognize you as their master!"
"Don't make such a fuss."
"It's utterly monstrous."
"Alright, I'm going to keep climbing. Once you're finished, head out."
"Okay."
Xu Xian left the stunned Zhang Yang behind and ascended to the Fourth Sword Domain. Instantly, the pressure of gravity bore down on him, making every step a struggle once more. Xu Xian’s dark brows furrowed, and he let out a cold laugh.
"The Fourth Sword Domain... is nothing more than this."
He climbed the long steps, treading toward the heavens alone. Zhang Yang looked up, his eyes overflowing with admiration.
"Too powerful."
After a long time, the pool of swords returned to tranquility. Only then did Zhang Yang finally look away and begin searching among the thousands of blades for his own life-bound sword.
The night passed in silence and without sleep. The next morning, ripples appeared before the Sword Gate of the Wendao Sword Sect. The three people waiting there were startled and looked up in unison as a figure emerged from behind the gate.
"Hmm?"
Zhang Yang stepped out of the Sword Gate with a heavy broadsword on his back. He was momentarily stunned to see the three figures around the square, but then he recognized Li Qingshan among them and immediately understood the situation.
Presumably, they were here to wait for Xu Xian. He hurriedly bowed in greeting.
"Zhang Yang, a disciple of Zhujian Peak, greets the three seniors."
Ye Xianyu nodded slightly and asked, "You are Zhang Yang?"
The honest-looking man quickly responded.
"Yes, Senior."
Ye Xianyu pointed at the heavy sword on his back. "Is this your sword?"
"It is."
"What is its name?"
"Wufeng."
Ye Xianyu narrowed her eyes slightly. "A heavy sword with a blunt edge... Hmm... Not bad. To obtain a sword from the Tianjian Pool, you are a child of great fortune."
Zhang Yang scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly.
Li Qingshan, sitting lightly on a tree branch, asked from a distance, "Zhang Yang, did you run into Xu Xian?"
"I did."
"How far has he climbed?"
Zhang Yang spoke honestly. "Xian... Little Grand-Uncle is climbing the long steps to the Fourth Sword Heaven. He started last night. When I woke up, I couldn't even see his back anymore."
Li Qingshan nodded, looking quite satisfied.
"Alright, you may head back."
Zhang Yang gave an 'oh' and prepared to head down the mountain with the heavy sword on his back. As he reached the stone steps, he kept glancing back every few steps, looking as if he had something to say but was hesitating...
Li Qingshan took it all in and said nonchalantly, "If you have something to say, say it. Why are you hesitating like a coward?"
Zhang Yang said somewhat awkwardly, "Um... Peak Master Li, actually, I didn't climb up to the Tianjian Pool by myself."
Hearing this, the expressions of the three changed, and their gazes involuntarily fell upon him again.
"What do you mean?"
Zhang Yang said truthfully, "I couldn't go any further after two thousand steps. It was Little Grand-Uncle who carried me up on his back. But it had nothing to do with him; I was the one who asked him to..."
The three were shocked, their eyes filled with disbelief. They looked at each other first, then stared intently at Zhang Yang.
Carried up?
Ye Xianyu's figure blurred, and in the next second, she was standing directly in front of Zhang Yang, her feet hovering off the ground. She pressed, "What? You're saying he carried you up on his back?"
Zhang Yang was startled and instinctively retreated, nearly stumbling. He swallowed hard and said woodenly, "Uh, yes."
Ye Xianyu knit her brows and fell silent.
Zhang Yang realized he might have said the wrong thing and looked toward Li Qingshan on the tree branch with a pleading gaze. "Peak Master Li, this isn't against the rules, is it?"
Li Qingshan didn't speak, simply looking at him as if he were an idiot.
Zhang Yang grew anxious and quickly tried to fix it. "This has nothing to do with Little Grand-Uncle. I forced him to carry me up!"
Ye Xianyu looked up, staring straight at the youth as she questioned him, "Who are you trying to fool? You forced him? How exactly did you force him?"
Zhang Yang's eyes darted around as he racked his brain...
"Moral blackmail!"
"Moral blackmail?"
Zhang Yang pretended to look fierce. "Yes, moral blackmail! I told him if he didn't carry me up, I'd end our friendship..."
Ye Xianyu was speechless. She rolled her eyes at him and clicked her tongue. "That's not funny at all."
Then she turned and walked away.
Zhang Yang remained standing there, not daring to move.
Li Qingshan spoke up to remind him.
"What are you standing there for? Go back."
With another 'oh', Zhang Yang snapped out of it and confirmed once more, "It's not against the rules, right?"
Li Qingshan glanced at him out of the corner of his eye but said nothing.
Zhang Yang took the hint and hurriedly descended the mountain with his heavy sword...
After Zhang Yang left.
Ye Xianyu sat on the ground, stroking her chin, sometimes raising an eyebrow, sometimes wrinkling her nose, her emotions unreadable.
In contrast, Li Qingshan was in a great mood. He deliberately strolled over to Ye Xianyu, posturing as he said mysteriously, "I just performed a divination. Within ten days, an immortal sword will surely emerge."
Ye Xianyu didn't even look up, remaining motionless as if she hadn't heard a thing...
One day passed.
Two days.
The three continued to guard the Sword Gate.
Waiting.
Li Qingshan lay on the tree branch, sleeping out of boredom.
Wen Qingxue sat cross-legged on the ground, eyes closed in cultivation.
As for Ye Xianyu, she was restless, eating snacks one moment and boiling spring water for tea the next to pass the time.
Suddenly.
A golden light flared up on the long-silent Sword Gate before vanishing in an instant.
Though it lasted only a fleeting moment before dissipating.
This scene was still keenly caught by many.
Ye Xianyu, Li Qingshan, and Wen Qingxue were among them.
Besides them.
Several Pavilion Elders in the mountains who happened to be looking this way also caught a glimpse.
And of course.
On another peak facing this one, an old man who had kept watch there for years saw it as well.
He stood up immediately, his aura of senescence vanishing instantly as he spoke with near-madness, "Hahaha! Gold! It's gold! Someone has reached the Immortal Sword Pool! Someone has reached the Immortal Sword Pool!"
As he spoke, he went to an ancient bell in the pavilion and struck it hard.
Dong!
Dong!
Dong!
The sound of the ancient bell echoed far and wide through the green mountains. It caused many disciples to stop and look toward the source, followed by a wave of complaints and discussions.
"It's broad daylight. What's gotten into Zhujian Peak? Why are they ringing the ancient bell?"
"I don't know, but you rarely hear the bell tolls from Zhujian Peak."
An older, more senior disciple spoke with an air of mystery. "When the Sword Pavilion bell on Sword Inquiry Peak rings three times, it's a meeting of the Pavilion Elders. When the bell on Zhijian Peak rings nine times, it signals the start of a war. When the bell on Tianjian Peak rings twelve times, it means a lamp has been extinguished—the sect has lost a Great Ascension sword cultivator. When it rings six times, it means someone has attained Great Ascension and their sword is being enshrined in the Immortal Pavilion..."
"Are you finished?"
"I'm finished!"
"But you haven't mentioned what three tolls on Zhujian Peak mean!"
The senior disciple said righteously, "I don't know!"
"Damn it!"
"I don't even know what I was expecting..."
Complaints were everywhere...
However.
The hidden powerhouses, elders, and Peak Masters within the sect knew very well.
The tolling of the ancient bell on Zhujian Peak had two special meanings, both related to immortal swords. Unfortunately, few in the sect knew of them.
First.
Three tolls.
An immortal sword appears.
Second.
Six tolls.
An immortal sword returns to the peak.
Today, there were three tolls...
An old fisherman in the mountains looked up, his gaze deep as he muttered to himself, "Two thousand years... My Wendao Sword Sect finally has another youth who has reached the Immortal Sword Pool!"
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