Death… and me

"This is what worries me." Wu Yun Liang said profoundly. "If Beyond the Heavens Sect can develop and become stronger quickly, we can then ensure that the female disciples are protected and even arrange them to be married. Currently, we can only do what we can to help."

"Second Senior Brother will definitely not let this issue concerning Li Jian Yin go. Senior Brother, do you have any insights on this case?" Kong Jing Feng said after taking a deep breath.

"Second Brother is rash by nature and does not like showing signs of weakness. He will surely go after Purple Bamboo Garden." Wu Yun Liang casually said. "However he is also clear of his brothers' personalities, thus he will not be angry for long. He himself will not take action but his disciples surely will."

"This will be an opportunity for both sides to improve their skills regardless of who wins or loses. This will be helpful for their advancement." Wu Yun Liang said. "As long as it doesn't get out of hand, there will be no need for us to manage it. It will also be good if we can find new talents from this."

Both of them grew silent. They raised their heads and stared at the paper with 39 names and a question mark. For a major sect, this was equivalent to finding gold in the sand. When a disciple is recognized by them, their names will be stored in this list.

These people were the hope for Beyond the Heavens Sect. Being able to build a strong foundation or becoming one of the Seven Great Sects or growing to enter the Middle Three Heavens to become a legend amongst the Lower Three Heavens all depended on them. These listed people were the best from the sect.

For a major sect, this was really depressing.

Kong Jing Feng looked at the list. However, inside his mind, he was thinking of something different. Senior Brother clearly knew that Li Jian Yin was narrow-minded and was chasing after Qian Qian. Yet he still let him go with Qian Qian to pass the message. Disciples of the sect would definitely admire Qian Qian with her level of beauty. A conflict would surely occur and yet Senior Brother still allowed it. Good grief!

He did not randomly tell a single disciple to pass on the message, but rather intentionally had two disciples to pass the message together. On the surface, this was probably to show respect and to give Second Brother face. However, his true intentions would be to create conflicts between disciples.

"Senior Brother should be doing this deliberately. Could this be a strategy meant to deal with Second Martial Brother's Locking Clouds Peak?"

Kong Jing Feng stared at the back of Wu Yun Liang. Clearly, this could not be asked bluntly.

"I hope that this will succeed!" Kong Jing Feng wished by himself.

All of a sudden, "Swish!" a shadow quickly flew into the room through the window. A small pale white bird stood at the edge of the table, tilting its head. Its pearl black eyes stared at the two in front of it.

The Colorless Falcon!

Both of their eyes lit up. Kong Jing Feng looked at the little bird and asked while laughing "Senior Brother, isn't this the bird from Tie Yun?"

Calmly, Wu Yun Liang nodded. He then retrieved a small bamboo container from The Colorless Falcon and took out a note from within.

Having looked at the note The Colorless Falcon sent, his expression darkened. Not too long after, his eyebrow rose, signalling that he made a major decision.

…

Meanwhile, Chu Yang was completely unaware of this incident. He did not know that danger had befallen on the sect. He just focused on his cultivation.

Chu Yang only knew that the sect would be destroyed in four years' time. He never knew the reason why it was destroyed. Before he reincarnated, he had no friends and was only a minor disciple. Additionally, with his weird personality, he did not travel much.

The 6 months long ranking competition within the sect would take place in three months time. 800 disciples would be tested and only 10 would remain. The chosen 10 would train vigorously away from the sect for 3 years and on the 4th year, the sect would select the best out of the 10 to be the Eldest Brother.

Yet Chu Yang could not afford to wait that long. He aimed to secure his place within the sect in half a year so that he could enter the seven shades congregation grounds to fight for the 1st fragment of the Nine Tribulations Sword.

In order to achieve this, he would have to put in double the effort. Although he had reincarnated, he still lacked support. He had to rely on his own hard work. His current cultivation was only in the 4th grade. Even with his abundant experience, he would still be crushed by the top disciples of the sect who were 10 levels above him.

Using force had its limits just like plotting a scheme. It might be possible for a group of kids to trap a rabbit but it was impossible for them to kill a tiger.

Currently, Chu Yang was training his hardest to improve.

Days and nights passed. Li Jian Yin had yet to make his move. According to Tan Tan, when Li Jian Yin returned, both Second Senior Uncle and Li Jinsong were furious at him. They scolded and screamed at him.

Chu Yang, however, did not feel the pressure.

Even if the sky fell, he had a mountain to hold it. Shi Qian Shan was the mountain that would protect him.

"I'll let him defend for me."

In the enchanting Purple Bamboo Forest, Chu Yang's stance was steady like a mountain, both his legs were steadily planted on a pile of sharp stones. He kept his balance with an unmoving body.

"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!" He repeatedly drew his sword then sheathed it, maintaining a constant motion.

Practising only that simple motion since dawn, his perspiration had already formed a puddle underneath him.

Taking half a step forward with his left foot, he tilted his toes outwards slightly. Focusing on the front, with his hands on the hilt, he lifted his elbow then his hand. Together with his waist twisting, he leaned forward, pushing his centre of gravity to the front. His sword slashed forward ruthlessly in a blink of an eye yet only making a soft sound. The sword was fully extended being parallel with his eye level. It stood there unmoving.

"Swoosh!", with a flash, the sword went back into the sheath

His gaze was expressionless. Nobody could tell if he was satisfied with the move. He only continued to practice the move.

This singular motion was simple yet boring. A normal person would be bored after practising it for a dozen times. Yet Chu Yang had already repeated it a thousand times since he started training today.

Waves after waves of sweat flooded his body. In just a morning, his arm went through a series of sore and numbness.

Regardless of how much pain his body went through or whether his body was pushed to its limits, Chu Yang always had full control over his body. He still practised the motion precisely.

His sword and sheath were both just ordinary and normal equipment.

Yet, the quietness of Purple Bamboo Forest was disturbed by that very sword. Its aura surged through the forest.

The sound coming from the motion gradually became softer. It was clanging at the start but now, it became a mellow and beautiful "swish" sound. So soft that a normal person could barely hear it.

Still, Chu Yang did not rest.

What he did not know was that a tall shadow was quietly watching him while he trained. It kept its distance and continued to watch over him every morning he trained. The morning mist drenched his body yet he did not make a sound, seemingly not wanting to disturb Chu Yang's training.

Only when the sun rose from the east, did Chu Yang slowly sheath his sword and stop his training. He took in a deep breath and collected himself. The killing aura in the air slowly dispersed as he stood in silence.

With his eyes closed, he collected his sword and killing intent.

To practice the Sword Arts, it was necessary to have killing intent! It was important to forge a sharp sword aura. This requirement was not a problem for Chu Yang. The moment he thought of Shi Qian Shan and Mo Tian Ji, his sword would instantly lose itself and be covered in killing aura. There was no need for him to work on that.

As he opened his eyes, a person was standing before him.

"Master?" asked Chu Yang with a soft exhalation.

The person in front of him was Meng Chao Ran. His master who was supposed to be training in isolation.