69: Jiange Stele

"Come in, you two are qualified to enter the pavilion and participate in the Sword Pavilion assessment."

The tightly closed doors opened, and a cold, aloof voice drifted out.

At the same time, a girl dressed in a white dress with waist-length hair walked out.

She had a slender figure, black hair as smooth as silk, a heart-shaped face, and large eyes; she was stunningly beautiful.

However, her complexion did not seem very good.

Her face was as pale as paper, her gaze lacked focus, and she was devoid of spirit.

Seeing this, Mo Fan was stunned for a moment.

When he was being tormented most miserably by the Red-Clothed Female Ghost, he was in a similar state, looking extremely weak.

While thinking, Mo Fan habitually cast an Appraisal Technique over her.

The virtual panel flashed.

The appraisal information emerged.

【Chu Qian, Disciple of the Yuxu Academy Sword Pavilion, Foundation Establishment Third Layer cultivation. Entered the Sword Pavilion nine years ago. Wounded by Sword Qi, her life force is nearly severed; she has at most half a year left to live.】

Seeing this appraisal information, Mo Fan couldn't help but be startled, and he instantly understood something.

The low number of people in the Sword Pavilion might not be as simple as high recruitment standards.

One could tell just from the Sword Intent on the stone tablet.

The Sword Pavilion was not a safe place.

With seven floors and countless stored swords, under the crisscrossing Sword Qi, it would be difficult for an average person to live long in such a place.

Of course, it wasn't ruled out that the Sword Pavilion had some special means to weaken or eliminate the impact of Sword Qi on the human body.

But judging from Chu Qian's condition...

The Sword Pavilion at most had ways to weaken the impact of Sword Qi on the human body, but could not eliminate it.

If it weren't for this...

The Sword Pavilion wouldn't have had so few people throughout the generations.

Mo Fan guessed...

That fellow Wen Buyan hadn't told them the full story.

The reason why there were so few people in the Sword Pavilion...

Was most likely because its ominous reputation had already spread.

Consequently, the number of Disciples who dared to come to the Sword Pavilion naturally dwindled.

After all, it was easy to die here.

Even if it was a Sword Dao Holy Land, few people were willing to come.

"Follow me inside," Chu Qian's voice sounded again, and then she turned to enter the pavilion.

"Go on, you two! You've passed the cornerstone tablet test. If you can pass the tests inside the Sword Pavilion, you can stay. Your future will be limitless!"

Wen Buyan looked excited; seeing the two of them pass the test, he seemed even happier than if he had passed it himself.

Mo Fan ignored him, even feeling a bit like punching Wen Buyan.

Now, he began to hesitate.

He was wondering if there would be a problem with Xu Jing taking this path.

Perhaps one really could become strong quickly.

But if it came at the cost of one's life...

Then it would be better to be mediocre and have a slower cultivation speed.

At least there is hope as long as one is alive.

Once dead, everything is gone.

The one who lives the longest laughs the longest.

Of course, the final decision on this matter lay with Xu Jing.

He thought about it and briefly explained the situation to her.

To Mo Fan's surprise, after hearing his explanation, Xu Jing remained firm.

"It's... it's okay... I can do it."

"Have you decided?" Mo Fan frowned as he looked at her.

"I've... I've decided. I... I can feel it..."

"Hmm? Feel what?" Mo Fan was puzzled.

"This place... this place suits me well. I can also feel that the Sword Qi inside the Sword Pavilion is very... very gentle," Xu Jing explained.

Hearing this, Mo Fan's expression became strange.

He turned his head, focused his spirit, and looked toward the Sword Pavilion, instantly sensing the Sword Qi Xu Jing had mentioned.

However—

Boom!

A roar erupted in his mind, his head buzzed, and he nearly spat blood. It took him a long while to recover.

He turned back to look at Xu Jing, his forehead covered in black lines.

This is what you call gentle?

"Are... are you okay?" Seeing that Mo Fan's complexion looked off, Xu Jing asked with concern.

Mo Fan shook his head and said no more.

At this moment, he also understood something.

People cannot be compared in general terms.

He would be wounded by the Sword Pavilion's Sword Qi.

But Xu Jing might not be.

Mo Fan estimated...

That this situation was related to one's Sword Dao talent.

In that case, this ghostly place might actually be very suitable for Xu Jing.

After all, although the Sword Pavilion had few people...

Every generation or two, a combat power ceiling would appear—an existence capable of using a sword to deter the entire Blue Star.

It was precisely because of the Sword Pavilion's existence that Yuxu Academy could maintain its stable status and the Human Race could continue to deter the Demon and Fiend Races.

"Alright, then let's go in and take a look." Mo Fan nodded, turned, and stepped into the Sword Pavilion.

Seeing this, Xu Jing hurriedly followed.

Rumble!

As soon as he entered the Sword Pavilion, Mo Fan's expression darkened. He felt the oncoming Sword Qi, which pressed down on him so hard he could barely breathe.

Fortunately, after a short while, the pressure lessened significantly.

Although it still existed and was very uncomfortable, he could at least move normally.

On the other hand, Xu Jing acted as if nothing was wrong, merely looking around the Sword Pavilion curiously, her gaze lingering on the simple and ancient Sword Cases housing the stored swords.

"It seems the Sword Qi here won't harm her..."

Mo Fan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Follow me to the backyard."

Chu Qian's figure reappeared; she left these words and continued walking forward.

They walked through two corridors.

Before long, Chu Qian led Mo Fan and Xu Jing to the so-called backyard.

It was very spacious and also very empty.

There were no rockeries or spiritual plants.

There were only five massive stone tablets, each over a meter wide and nearly three meters tall.

The stone tablets looked quite old, with some damage on the sides and moss growing on them.

But their surfaces remained smooth and spotless.

Looking closely, one could see that the five stone tablets were covered in densely packed characters.

Those characters looked a bit like ancient script, with occasional glimmers of flowing light darting between them.

Clearly, Array Patterns were engraved on the stone tablets.

Of course, while one could call it ancient script, to be accurate, it could only be considered gibberish.

ancient script was one of the compulsory courses in high school.

The Martial Dao in the early stages of the Spiritual Qi Recovery relied on documents excavated from some Ancient Tombs.

Those Ancient Tombs were quite peculiar.

They were from unverifiable eras and had never been discovered before the Spiritual Qi Recovery.

These Ancient Tombs seemed to have suddenly popped up after the Spiritual Qi Recovery, suspected to be ruins left behind by the previous Martial Dao era.

From those excavated ancient documents, people discovered many secret cultivation methods.

Some were suitable, while others were not.

After all, times had changed and the world had transformed; who knew how many years had passed.

The environment had been constantly changing.

Secret methods suitable for cultivation back then might not be suitable for now.

But regardless, these secret methods were of great reference value.

Most of the mainstream Cultivation Techniques today were evolved from them.

Therefore, the Cultural Department listed ancient script as a compulsory subject.

As a top student, Mo Fan knew a bit about ancient script; as long as it wasn't too complex, he could recognize it.

However, looking at the characters on the stone tablets, he was completely bewildered, unable to decipher their meaning at all.

So, what was engraved on them?

A new type of ancient script that hadn't been publicized?

Was it the Sword Pavilion's Legacy?

A peerless Sword Canon?

Was the assessment content to decipher these characters and comprehend this Sword Canon?

This is way too ridiculous... right?

Just as Mo Fan was puzzled...

Chu Qian's voice rang out.

"These five stone tablets are the content of the Sword Pavilion assessment.

"Release your spirit and try to blend and resonate with the stone tablets.

"If you can make any one of the stone tablets glow, you will have passed the Sword Pavilion assessment and can stay to Cultivate in the Sword Pavilion."

After a pause, Chu Qian explained, "Of course, the more stone tablets that glow, the stronger your Sword Dao talent is.

"Alright, you two can begin the assessment.

"This Junior Sister will go first."

After saying that, Chu Qian stood to the side holding her sword, signaling that Xu Jing could begin the test.