novelraw Chapter 125 : Journey to the Sword Tomb
Chapter 125 : Journey to the Sword Tomb
"How could you use our Buddhist sect's techniques?"
Those Buddha's Word Sect elders held back their curiosity again and again, but ultimately couldn't resist asking.
"Didn't your sect's Buddhist disciple demonstrate it once on the arena just now? I just happened to remember it."
This gave Chu Sang an opportunity to show off. With just three sentences, she silenced those Buddha's Word Sect elders.
The arena was so dangerous, yet while dodging attacks, she still had time to observe Kumarajiva's techniques?
No, that's not the point.
The point is, even if she was fortunate enough to see it once, how could she learn it in one go??
Kumarajiva, as the most talented Buddhist disciple in a hundred years, took considerable time to learn these Buddhist formations and realms.
And Chu Sang, an outsider completely ignorant of Buddhist teachings, could fully remember it after just one look?
And even more absurdly, learned it??
This talent can't be described as heaven-defying; it's simply unreasonable.
But it seemed that apart from this reason, other explanations made even less sense. After all, Buddha's Word Sect has always been a monastery that doesn't accept female disciples. Even if she wanted to steal their techniques, she wouldn't have had the chance.
The several Buddhist elders choked repeatedly, forcing themselves to accept this absurd explanation. But there was still one thing they couldn't let go of, "Even if you're extraordinarily talented and learned our orthodox Buddhist techniques, you're still not a disciple of our Buddhist sect. How could you use our sect's supreme treasure?"
The probability of outsiders stealing a sect's core techniques is very low, but not impossible.
But that treasure could only be used by Buddhist disciples with extremely high talent. The girl before them was clearly a sword cultivator, with no connection to their Buddhist sect... Wait, the leading elder with a kind face looked closely and suddenly reached out his hand towards her.
Chu Sang thought the other party was about to take up the butcher's knife and leave Buddhism to avenge the earlier treasure snatching when—
That Buddhist elder merely touched her forehead with his hand.
An astonishing scene appeared.
A golden light appeared on the girl's forehead, and this golden light was clearly the light of Buddhist affinity!
"You... you actually carry Buddhist affinity?!"
Those elders suddenly changed their expressions, becoming extremely amiable, so amiable that it made Chu Sang's hair stand on end. She couldn't help but take two steps back, "...What are you trying to do?"
She would rather these elders angrily argue with her than see them wear that kind expression that suggested they wanted to convert her to Buddhism and make her a nun!
"Young friend jest. We elders are simply too surprised. In this vast world, those with Buddhist affinity are extremely rare, appearing only once every five hundred years," the tall, thin elder said slowly, unable to hide his excitement. "In today's cultivation world, only two people are protected by Buddhist affinity. One is our sect's current Buddhist disciple, and the second is you, young lady!"
The kind-looking elder continued, "Buddha's light only blesses those with kind hearts. Since the Buddha's light has chosen you, it further proves that you, young lady, are a great benevolent person who saves others from suffering and hardship, and have a connection with our Buddhist sect!"
"Although our Buddhist sect has always not accepted female disciples, if you, young lady, wish to join our Buddhist sect to cultivate..."
"Wait, wait, wait, stop right there!" Chu Sang touched her beautiful hair in horror, her face full of rejection. She didn't want to become a light bulb!
Kumarajiva, who had returned, happened to hear this sentence and was stunned for a moment.
If it weren't for his usual good upbringing that prevented him from cursing out loud, he really wanted to say—
Are you blind? She's a kind-hearted person?
Her earlier eagerness to snatch the magical treasure clearly showed she was a thorough female bandit.
Fortunately, someone said it for him, "Damn! You bunch of old bald donkeys must be blind! This female bandit is black-hearted through and through. If she's kind-hearted, I'll stand on my head and put on my underwear!"
"Wait, young master, with so many people watching, you can't make such rash vows!" the guard beside him hurriedly said in a low voice.
Chu Sang looked over at the sound, and that fire-red figure was particularly eye-catching. It was the young master who used the bow and arrow she had encountered earlier in the Volcano Secret Realm. What was his name again? Nangong Jin.
She smiled slightly, "Oh, isn't this the Nangong family's young master who I kicked down earlier? Is your bottom still sore?" Her tone was slightly surprised, "So you're also participating in this competition. Why didn't you say so earlier? How come I haven't seen you?"
Hearing her mention that shameful past, Nangong Jin's face turned red with anger and embarrassment. Her next words were even more devastating because he hadn't even made it to the second round of arena matches.
"You..."
He gritted his teeth, furious to the point of illness.
Chu Sang didn't forget to continue rubbing salt in the wound, her tone exaggerated, "Oh my, could it be that someone was eliminated in the first round? It can't be, right? Unlike me, I accidentally got into the top ten, you know."
Nangong Jin was successfully angered into running away, wiping tears as he ran.
Returning to the main topic, Chu Sang withdrew her gaze and righteously refused Buddha's Word Sect's invitation to become a nun.
After Kumarajiva and several elders left, another unexpected familiar figure entered her vision.
She raised an eyebrow. What was her former superior doing here stirring up trouble?
"Sang Sang, congratulations on winning this match. Seeing you so outstanding now, your master feels very gratified," Chang Yu said with a warm smile. "That you can achieve such success today is largely due to your ten years of diligent cultivation in Tianyan Sect. Your master has seen it all."
Was he here to congratulate her or to remind her of her debt?
The implication was—you've achieved today's success all thanks to the ten years of my teachings in Tianyan Sect?
Laughable. The truth was, she had stayed in Tianyan Sect for a full ten years, and forget about being called so gently by Chang Yu, she hadn't even received a proper glance from him, let alone any guidance for a backup blood bank.
Even when she first started cultivating, Chu Sang had to secretly observe other senior brothers and sisters and figure it out on her own.
Now that she was in the limelight, he wanted to come and suck up?
She laughed, "What, after I win the competition with great difficulty, I still need to express my gratitude to you?"
"You're Little Junior Sister's former master? The one who expelled her from the sect back then?" Tantai Ming butted in brazenly. "My Little Junior Sister just won the competition, and you've already sniffed your way here to claim credit. Even a dog's nose isn't as good as yours."
Chu Sang thought her attack power was strong enough, but she hadn't expected Seventh Senior Brother's mouth to be just as formidable.
The fake smile on Chang Yu's face could no longer be maintained. He coldly shouted, "A teacher for a day is a father for a lifetime. No matter what, I'm still the elder who raised you. To speak to an elder with such a tone, you're truly stubborn and difficult to teach!"
He was here to put her in her place.
"Knowing that I'm difficult to teach, why did you still come over shamelessly? Deliberately looking to be scolded?" Chu Sang asked, puzzled. "I didn't know there were such despicable people in this world, deliberately seeking unpleasantness for themselves?"
In terms of attack power, she had never lost.
Chang Yu was so angry he almost raised his hand against her in front of everyone. Immortal Chanyu stepped forward, putting an arm around each of her little disciples, sneering, "As an elder of a noble Immortal Sect, do you intend to lay hands on disciples of my small sect?"
Let him dare to try!
If he dared to harm her little disciples, she would twist his head off!
Many cultivators were attracted by the commotion here. No matter how angry Chang Yu was, he had to maintain his face as an elder of an Immortal Sect.
He angrily swept his sleeve and left, the scene ending unpleasantly.
Chu Sang stroked her chin. Chang Yu probably hated her even more now, probably wanting her dead.
But she wasn't afraid.
He'd better make his move quickly. Otherwise, once she fully developed, the first heads she would blow up would be this master and disciple pair.
Returning to the sect competition, after a full month, the second round of the sect competition finally came to an end.
Second Senior Sister and Fourth Senior Sister were extremely unlucky. Originally, they weren't purely offensive types and would be at a disadvantage in the martial arts track. As a result, these two were drawn to face each other, performing a scene of internecine strife.
Although they were usually affectionate, the competition arena was like a battlefield. The premise of respecting the opponent was not to go easy on them.
Although Second Senior Sister was a sound cultivator, she still had some attacking power.
Fourth Senior Sister was equivalent to half a support, and ultimately lost, only achieving a middle ranking.
"Young miss being able to successfully enter the arena matches is already very impressive. I believe if the master knows of this, he will also be very gratified," Chengying comforted. "Moreover, the top fifty rankings also have rewards. It's a Heaven-grade Nascent Soul Pill personally refined by an elder of the Pill Transformation Sect, which is exactly what you need right now, young miss."
Hearing that there was a Nascent Soul Pill as a reward, Si Ku Qiu's gloom was swept away.
Chu Sang also patted her shoulder, "Although support is at a disadvantage in individual matches, it's very useful in team matches."
Fourth Senior Sister was the type to directly give the whole team red and blue double buffs, extremely useful in team fights.
"Team match?" Si Ku Qiu was surprised. "The conditions to enter the third round team match are very strict. The sect's disciples must have a total score ranking in the top ten. Could it be that you, Little Junior Sister..."
Before coming, Si Ku Qiu really hadn't thought they would have a chance to enter the third round. But seeing the rankings of Little Junior Sister and the others, those beautiful almond-shaped eyes were filled with joy, "You're all too amazing!"
Big Senior Sister's ranking was second only to Mo Qingchen. Little Junior Sister, with her Golden Core stage strength, ranked fifth. Little Junior Brother just barely made it, ranking tenth!
Not to mention Fifth Senior Brother and Sixth Junior Brother.
With just three sword cultivators, they could directly send Lingqing Sect to the top of the third round.
All cultivators who entered the arena matches would receive rewards from the Eight Great Sects, with the top ten rankings receiving the most generous rewards.
Of the top ten, nine were sword cultivators,
They were: Mo Qingchen, Big Senior Sister Wu Wo, Shang Ziling, Chu Sang, Xuanyuan Cheng, Lou Qing, a disciple from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, Tantai Ming, and an unknown independent cultivator.
For the nine sword cultivators, apart from a precious Nascent Soul Pill, the reward was to cultivate in the Ten Thousand Swords Sect's sword cave for three days, and they could even take away a suitable sword artifact.
The Ten Thousand Swords Sect was founded on swords. It's said that it was built on the site of an ancient sword tomb. The sword tomb is the sect's body, as well as their faith and inheritance ground. Even disciples of their own sect are not allowed to enter lightly. It's only opened once during the sect competition, allowing the most outstanding young sword cultivators of the generation to seek their precious opportunities in the sword tomb.
Tomorrow, the nine would be led by an elder of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect to the ancient sword cave.
After the arena matches ended, the most intense activity was naturally on the cultivation world's forum.
All sorts of messy information scrolled up rapidly.
Basically, all were exciting discussions about this competition.
"The sword cultivators this time are too competitive. They took nine out of the top ten spots!"
"The most outrageous thing is, guess what? The Eight Great Immortal Sects combined only took four spots, while three spots came from a single small sect!"
"I know, I know, it's Lingqing Sect!"
"This sect appeared out of nowhere. I had never heard of it before. Unexpectedly, it produced three trump cards at once. This time, the long-renowned Eight Great Immortal Sects will probably have to change their name..."
"Lingqing Sect? Somehow it sounds familiar. I think my great-great-great-great-grandfather mentioned it. Wait, let me go ask my about-to-pass-away great-great-great-great-grandfather..."
Immortal Chanyu hadn't expected her disciples to be so impressive, directly sending the almost-extinct Lingqing Sect to the hot headlines.
She took a sip of cold tea to calm down, cleared her throat, and looked at the smug disciples before her, sitting up straight, "Do you have any insights from participating in this sect competition?"
"Yes!"
They answered in unison.
Immortal Chanyu nodded with satisfaction. She was afraid they would become arrogant and lose their original heart. It was worthwhile if they could gain insights from this.
"This time you faced the most talented disciples from various major Immortal Sects and families. What insights did you gain from battling them?"
Chu Sang: "Too weak."
Tantai Ming: "A bunch of trash."
The two looked at each other and high-fived happily.
The other senior brothers and sisters looked at the two youngest Junior Brother and Sister, also smiling helplessly.
Ah, they were truly vigorous and energetic.
So young, with empty heads, carefree, looking so stupidly happy.
Immortal Chanyu, who had intended to send them to temper their edge: "..."
She took a deep breath and gave each of them a flick on the forehead, "You're getting cocky after winning a few matches? Just wait for the team match in a month. That time, it won't be you disciples fighting each other, but facing dangerous secret realms specially set up by those elders. If you're careless, people could really die."
After being lectured by their master for several hours, the two wilted, repeatedly promising to remember. Only then were they allowed to go back and rest for a night. Tomorrow, they would set off for the Ten Thousand Swords Sect's sword cave.
It was called a reward, but it was actually a trial.
Chu Sang already had two natal weapons, so she didn't need to bring home another new wife. She simply wanted to go and temper her sword intent.
The next day, they arrived at the Ten Thousand Swords Sect by flying ship. Chu Sang was so amazed by the magnificent scene before her that she couldn't close her mouth, looking like an uncultured country bumpkin.
It must be said that the Ten Thousand Swords Sect truly lived up to its name as the most orthodox sword cultivation sect. From far away, one could hear the humming of ten thousand swords. Thousands upon thousands of disciples rode flying swords, crisscrossing above the sect's mountains, accompanying cranes and white clouds, looking quite free and unrestrained.
Entering the sect, the most eye-catching thing was the giant sword statue, a hundred zhang tall.
It's said that beneath this giant sword lies a true ancient divine sword, the natal divine sword left behind by the sect's founding ancestor, also the sect's guardian treasure.
Just looking at it gave an indescribable feeling, even causing the spirit sword at one's waist to hum and tremble faintly.
This was a true great Immortal Sect.
After reaching the back mountain, the elders jointly opened the sword tomb, and the nine of them entered.
However, as soon as they entered, Chu Sang noticed that Seventh Senior Brother's state seemed a bit off.