Immortal Soaring Blade

“I’m sure all of you know why you’re here today. That’s right, today is the exchange between the old and new that that happens once every 200 years. There is also the Battle Competition between the sects in two years. It won’t be long before you all will fight for the glory of the sect.”

Jian Wuxian’s voice was not loud, but with his spirit force, everyone could hear him. While he spoke, his gaze swept past every disciple. Hearing his voice, all the disciples were filled with excitement.

“According to the old rules, during the exchange between the old and the new, the Sword Pavilion Ranking will change and a new Chief Head Disciple will be selected. If anyone is unconvinced, they can challenge those on the ranking. Strength is key, and the winner will take the spot.”

After Jian Wuxian finished speaking, he glanced at Elder Xue Qingfeng. Normally, Elder Xue Qingfeng was never serious, but with his powerful aura and serious expression, he finally looked like an elder.

This exchange only happened once every 200 years, so only the latest five generations of disciples could be selected. The rest would be considered old disciples and would become the past along with Fu Hongling’s batch after today.

After hearing Jian Wuxian’s words, everyone’s expressions were different. The older disciples sighed. After today, their time would be over. They couldn’t help but recall the past.

Different from these older disciples, the new disciples were all very excited. Those with strength all wondered if they could enter the top 10 of the Sword Pavilion Ranking.

Fang Qiwen and Zhou Hongyong’s eyes shined. They seemed to be secretly planning something. The two of them would occasionally look at each other and then turn away. Compared to their normal behavior, they were like two different people.

There were large furnaces scattered across the square, and incense was lit inside them today. The smoke from the burning incense rose into the air.

At this moment, Elder Xue Qingfeng, who was wearing the black robe of an elder, slowly walked forward. He stopped before the red fences and looked down at the disciples below.

He looked directly at the direct disciple standing in front on the right side. Normally, the names on the ranking would be chosen from the direct disciples because they were the best among their generation of disciples. The only exception was Zhao Jiuge as he was a late arrival.

At this moment, Xue Qingfeng was very calm. While everyone was waiting for him to announce the new ranking, he could still have the time to watch the new disciples.

Not only him, even the higher-ups behind the fence were looking over. After all, this group represented the next 200 years of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect.

However, although a lot of strong disciples were here, everyone felt like it was a bit lacking. All the top spots were occupied by disciples at the Spirit Core Realm, without a single one at the Nascent Soul Realm. In general, there were also a few with demonic talent among the new disciples. During the last exchange between the old and the new, there was Fu Hongling, Yan Wenfei, and a few others, for a total of five Nascent Soul Realm disciples.

Zhao Jiuge was secretly puzzled about where that girl Sha Sha had gone. He knew how strong she was. After becoming Jian Wuxian’s disciple, he knew how strong Sha Sha was, but he hadn’t seen much of her. Among this group of disciples, she could be considered the most talented. He felt a bit helpless, and with all the higher-ups watching, he couldn’t ask.

On the other side, Fu Hongling calmly stood there in her red dress. Even though her red dress fluttered in the wind, she remained still. Her beautiful gaze would occasionally sweep over to Zhao Jiuge with a hint of playfulness and worry.

To her left was Wu Tianshan, and to her right was Yan Wenfei. Although all three were at the top of the ranking, Wu Tianshan was a step below these two goddesses.

Yan Wenfei had her hair coiled up high and was wearing simple, black clothes. She looked very noble and at the same time very approachable. At this moment, she was just quietly standing beside Fu Hongling, not making a sound. Being ranks two and three, the two of them were old rivals, but there was a strange atmosphere between the two of them. Today’s main event would take place later on.

Only Wu Tianshan would occasionally look at Zhao Jiuge with a complicated expression. He didn’t really dislike Zhao Jiuge, but he also didn’t really like him. It was obvious from the two times they had interacted after Zhao Jiuge became his junior brother.

Before, Zhao Jiuge felt like Wu Tianshan was a bit strange, and his thoughts were correct, because Wu Tianshan had his own worries. Wu Tianshan knew of the situation behind today’s event, and his worry intensified because he was thinking of the position of Head Teacher. Even he didn’t have all the advantages that Zhao Jiuge had, and this made his feelings toward Zhao Jiuge complicated. On the one hand, he felt jealous and on guard, but on the other, Zhao Jiuge was his little junior brother.

When the crowd could not endure it anymore, Elder Xue Qingfeng revealed his true nature. The pressure he gave off disappeared and he revealed a playful smile. He finally began to announce the new ranking. Only Luo Xie looked at his teacher in admiration.

“Hehe, I believe you have been waiting for a while.”

The moment Xue Qingfeng spoke, everyone felt their mouths twitch. However, they were helpless. They all wanted to know who was on the ranking, but he wouldn’t get to the main point.

Fortunately, Xue Qingfeng quickly became serious instead of teasing everyone.

“Because the ranking is decided by the elders, it might be outside your expectations. However, it doesn’t matter. After I finish reading the list, you can challenge them if you’re unconvinced.”

After he finished speaking, Xue Qingfeng saw that no one else had any conflicting opinions and began announcing the new Sword Pavilion Ranking.

“Rank 10, Guo Liangliang.

“Rank 9, Wang Yong.

“Rank 8, Chen Hailong.

“Rank 7, Yang Jing.

“Rank 6, Zhu Chaoyang.”

At this point, Xue Qingfeng deliberately paused here. The disciples that knew these disciples all began to cheer. It was not easy to enter the top 10, and their futures were limitless. Anyone that could enter the top 10 was a genius.

After Xue Qingfeng spoke, Zhang Xu smiled. Two of them were his disciples. Although there was no chance for someone from his Mysterious Strange Peak to reach the top 5, taking two spots in the top 10 was very good. Also, this was not the final ranking, and a lot could still change.

Some of the elders behind Jian Wuxian smiled. It seemed like the ranking contained some of their disciples.

Only Du Jun smiled in disdain. He was very confident in his disciples. Also, he had his own plans for today’s matter.

After pausing for a moment, Xue Qingfeng continued, and after each name, he would pause. Each name brought cheers from many of the disciples. What was a little strange was that all the older disciples remained silent and just quietly watched with cold gazes.

“Rank 5, Zhou Hongyong.”

At this moment, all the names were very familiar. They were all those with outstanding strength and fame.

“Rank 4, Jiulian.”

When Zhao Jiuge heard this, he was somewhat shocked. He didn’t expect Jiulian to be so strong. It seemed like there was still a lot about the inner sect that he didn’t know about. Zhao Jiuge felt it was a bit strange. With this strength, he should rank in the top 10, so why hadn’t his name been announced yet? If he didn’t make it into the top 10, he would have to challenge someone. It would be a good chance to start with that sissy Zhou Hongyong.

“Rank 3, Fang Qiwen.”

Even more violent cheers erupted. It seemed like Fang Qiwen had his own prestige among many people. With his late stage Spirit Core Realm cultivation, he was among the top.

Hearing the cheers from the crowd, Fang Qiwen tried his best to suppress his inner excitement and remain calm. However, the joy in his eyes gave him away and he looked at Zhao Jiuge with a proud expression. Before he could be proud for long, Xue Qingfeng’s following words made his expression stiffen.

“Rank 2, Zhao Jiuge.”

After those words echoed, the entire crowd became silent—a clear difference from the cheers from before. Many disciples were confused, and it took them a moment to remember this person. That person was the dark horse that had appeared a while ago.

Most of the disciples that had just returned from the outside world had no idea who Zhao Jiuge was. After all, Zhao Jiuge had only been in the inner sect for less than a year.

When they suddenly heard his name, they were confused as to who Zhao Jiuge was. Those that knew him were confused as to how a new disciple could rank so highly, even with him being the Head Teacher’s disciple. The Sword Pavilion Ranking couldn’t be faked.

After a brief moment of silence, what followed was an eruption of debate.

“Who is this Zhao Jiuge? I haven’t even heard of him. Where did he come from?”

“While you were away, this brat entered the inner sect, but he is the disciple of the Head Teacher.”

“So what if he is the disciple of the Head Teacher? If he entered the ranking without strength, then he would just be a disgrace.”

Some of the wiser people chose to remain silent. If Zhao Jiuge could be selected to be rank two on the ranking, then he had to have some strength. And if he really didn’t have the strength, he would be defeated by the challengers later on and just lose face.

Fang Qiwen’s face was stiff for a moment and he became very gloomy. Then he let out a cold snort and a vicious light appeared in his eyes.

Even Zhao Jiuge was surprised that he could be rank two. Now he finally understood the meaning of Fu Hongling’s words.

Most people were talking about him or felt disdain toward him. Leng Rufeng, Luo Xie, Zhang Sai, and Cai Mengxuan were cheering for him. However, they were drowned out by the voices of the crowd and weren't able to cause any change in the situation.

Jiulian had a happy smile and her face was unnaturally red. She shyly looked at Zhao Jiuge and then lowered her head due to her embarrassment. She said in a playful tone, “Very good, Jiuge. How about I challenge you and we can have a small spar.”

Although Zhao Jiuge knew Jiulian was joking, he still felt a headache come on. He waved his hand and said, “We can spar in private.”

Seeing Zhao Jiuge whisper in embarrassment, Jiulian smiled like a blooming flower.

Today, Zhao Jiuge was a dark horse that had rushed into the pool that everyone was familiar with and set off a huge wave.

Even the higher-ups that weren’t familiar with Zhao Jiuge were stunned. They didn’t know how a nameless junior had suddenly jumped above everyone.