Ringing the Bell for a Hundred Years, I Became the Sect’s Ancestor – Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Sword Seed

Li Qian followed Master Zhou Buping to the square outside the Divine Sword Hall.

So many people.

This was the first time he had seen so many people from the inner sect.

Everyone who could appear here was at least a formal disciple.

Just from the sheer size of this crowd of thousands of people, one could see the strength of the Divine Sword Sect.

After all, it was a major martial arts sect that dominated the three provinces and twelve counties.

The number of odd-job disciples recruited each year was enormous. He remembered that in the year he entered, there were about two to three thousand odd-job disciples.

After all, the scale of the Divine Sword Sect was too large. These thousands of inner sect disciples, elders, true disciples, peak masters, etc., were all full-time martial arts practitioners. Their food, clothing, housing, transportation, and other aspects all needed to be taken care of by the odd-job disciples.

Li Qian estimated that the total number of odd-job disciples in the entire Divine Sword Sect was no less than ten thousand.

“Follow me.”

Zhou Buping led Li Qian towards the front of the Divine Sword Hall.

“Zhou Laogui, is this your disciple? He’s quite young.”

The fat elder sized up Li Qian.

The other elders and peak masters of the Divine Sword Sect were also very curious. After all, Zhou Buping’s standards for accepting disciples were outrageous.

To perfect the Sword-Piercing Fist.

Which inner sect disciple would do that? After becoming formal disciples and entering the inner sect, they would directly cultivate inner cultivation methods. No one would cultivate the basic Sword-Piercing Fist.

Let alone perfect it.

Martial arts cultivation was a race against time.

Once you missed a certain golden period, it would be very difficult to overcome that bottleneck.

This Zhou Buping guarded Wild Goose Gate Valley, wanting to pick out jade from the gravel among the odd-job disciples.

Had he succeeded?

However, no one questioned Li Qian’s qualification to participate in the true disciple selection.

Zhou Buping was a senior elder of the Divine Sword Sect and would certainly not falsify anything.

Moreover, it was impossible to falsify.

Without a certain level of cultivation and swordsmanship attainment, one would not even have the qualifications to enter the Sword Grinding Cave. Forcibly entering would only result in a backlash from the pervasive aura inside.

When Li Qian stood together with the dozen or so inner sect disciples participating in the true disciple selection, he immediately attracted a lot of attention.

First of all, those dozen inner sect disciples were themselves prominent figures among the inner sect disciples, outstanding and well-known within the inner sect.

But Li Qian was completely unknown.

No one even recognized him.

“This junior brother, why do you look so unfamiliar?”

A young man in black first touched his own shiny bald head and looked at Li Qian with great curiosity.

“Senior Brother, your halo is too bright, so naturally, you can’t see my existence.”

Li Qian said.

“Junior Brother, you’re quite interesting. My name is Pang Bai, from Martial Melody Peak.”

“Li Qian.”

Li Qian said.

The other disciples only glanced at Li Qian and didn’t say anything.

But the bald young man in black, Pang Bai, was a bit of a chatterbox.

In the crowd below, several inner sect disciples who had previously done an escort mission with Li Qian all recognized him.

“Look, isn’t that Junior Brother Li?”

“It seems to be Junior Brother Li. Why is he up there?”

Wang Xiangyu’s eyes widened.

“It seems we all underestimated this Junior Brother Li.”

Liu Hui sighed.

“How come I’ve never heard of Junior Brother Li in the inner sect?”

Ji Su from Jade Screen Peak was full of doubts.

Those who were qualified to participate in the true disciple selection were bound to be prominent figures in the inner sect. How could he have remained unknown?

“Since everyone is here, let’s begin.”

The Divine Sword Sect Master spoke.

With a slight tremor, the door of a building next to the Divine Sword Hall slowly opened.

◈◈◈

That was the True Transmission Hall.

The entire True Transmission Hall was built against the steep cliff.

“The true disciples will guide you in the True Transmission Hall. Go in.”

The Divine Sword Sect Master looked at the nineteen inner sect disciples participating in the true disciple selection.

Soon, the nineteen inner sect disciples, including Li Qian, arrived at the front of the True Transmission Hall and walked in.

Inside the True Transmission Hall, the space was quite large, and ten figures stood there.

Each of them had a powerful aura.

Wearing various masks.

These were the true disciples of the Divine Sword Sect.

There were ten true disciples in total.

There used to be twelve.

However, two of them had turned into elders because their time limit had expired.

The status of a true disciple was not permanent. Once they reached a certain age, they would automatically lose their status as a true disciple.

This was to make way for the newcomers.

If a peak master or even the sect master retired during their tenure as a true disciple, the most senior true disciple would take over.

Therefore, the power transition among the top echelons of the Divine Sword Sect was often relatively smooth and stable.

“Junior Brothers, before entering the Sword Grinding Cave, I have a few special reminders. If you can’t bear it, you must retreat in time. Do not force yourself. When competing for the sword seed, you are strictly forbidden to kill fellow disciples, otherwise, you will be disqualified from the true disciple selection and will be punished according to the sect rules. In addition, there are some murals in the Sword Grinding Cave that contain profound mysteries. Even if you can’t obtain the sword seed, you can find a suitable mural to comprehend. You may have unexpected gains. Of course, there is a time limit. You must leave the Sword Grinding Cave before dark. Finally, it is forbidden to damage the murals, otherwise, we true disciples have the right to execute you in the Sword Grinding Cave.”

The leading true disciple wearing a mask spoke.

The inner sect disciples present were naturally aware of the situation in the Sword Grinding Cave.

Some inner sect disciples who felt they had no chance of competing for the true disciple position actually had the idea of comprehending the murals in the cave.

The ten true disciples led the way, and they entered a door. Inside was a deep corridor with luminous pearls embedded in the ceiling, making the light in the corridor very dim.

At the end of the corridor was a wide stone door.

On the stone door were carved the three mottled characters Sword Grinding Cave. It was obvious that it had been there for many years.

“This is the Sword Grinding Cave. Go in.”

The leading true disciple said.

So the nineteen people filed in.

The moment they stepped into the Sword Grinding Cave, everyone felt an invisible pressure pervading the entire cave.

“Is this sword intent?”

Li Qian felt as if a stone was pressing on his chest.

Immediately afterward, his own Heartless Sword Intent became restless, as if it was being triggered by something.

He couldn’t help but look towards the depths of the Sword Grinding Cave.

That strange attraction seemed to come from within.

This feeling was very strange.

“Could it be the sword seed that Master mentioned?”

Li Qian thought to himself.

According to Zhou Buping, the sword seed was extremely peculiar. It was obtained by the founding ancestor of the Divine Sword Sect from the Sword Grinding Cave. There were twelve in total. It was said that swordsmanship practitioners could use the sword seed to cultivate in the Sword Grinding Cave, greatly enhancing their comprehension of sword intent. It was said that one could progress by leaps and bounds.

In particular, those who had not comprehended sword intent could use the sword seed to easily comprehend sword intent, using their own comprehended secret techniques as the core.

This seemed to have a similar effect to the sound of the Time Bell.

For Li Qian, the effects of the sword seed and the Sword Grinding Cave were not very attractive.

Moreover, if he became a true disciple, he would have to live in the True Transmission Hall and cultivate in the Sword Grinding Cave year-round.

He would not be able to ring the bell and refine the sacrificial instrument.

The other eighteen inner sect disciples almost simultaneously felt that invisible attraction. They immediately rushed towards the depths, braving the ubiquitous pressure in the Sword Grinding Cave.

Li Qian did not follow them but looked at the cave walls on both sides.

He was searching for the mural that Master Zhou Buping had mentioned.