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n“The sect leader accepted you as her disciple?” Chao Xiaojian asked Fang Lang as they landed on the ground.

nFang Lang nodded and said, “She even told me to retrieve the three swords—Withering Lotus, Circling Lotus and Reincarnating Lotus. They seem to be involved in something important. Master was able to rip through the barriers because she was summoned by the Blooming Lotus Sword. Perhaps she could return to the Tang Dynasty once I gathered all three swords.”

nChao Xiaojian’s eyes brightened upon hearing Fang Lang’s explanation.

n“You’re right!”

nHowever, Chao Xiaojian furrowed his eyebrows shortly after.

n“The Withering Lotus Sword is guarding a secret place in the Meridian Guild… The Circling Lotus Sword is in the All-Seeing Buddha Sect as the guardian of the sea of Buddhas… The Reincarnating Lotus Sword was stuck in the Main Path Mausoleum ever since our sect leader defeated Zhao Longshi from the Main Path Guild. Anyways, these three swords are situated in the three greatest sects of Tang Dynasty. It would not be an easy task to retrieve all three swords! The more pressing issue is whether the three sects would allow you to draw the swords even if you could.” Chao Xiaojian felt a growing headache.

nHowever, Fang Lang’s words made sense. If one Blooming Lotus Sword was able to summon the sect leader, maybe she could return to the world if she was summoned along with the other three swords.

nChao Xiaojian’s eyes lit up. If his prediction was true, they would not need to fear the other sects, not even the Main Path Guild, All Seeing Buddha Sect or the Meridian Guild!

nThe worst case scenario was that they would end up in a battle!

nChao Xiaojian’s eyes seemed a little lost as he stared at the pouring rain.

nHe vaguely remembered the scene.

n…

nThere was a blizzard that year.

nThe entire nation was covered in snow, hundreds of people lost their homes and frozen bodies were found along the streets and out in the wild.

nA frail young boy and his sister were begging on the streets, cold and famished.

nHe begged, stole, got into fights… The young boy had done all sorts of things in order to keep his sister and himself alive.

nHowever, he still lost her to hunger. She died in an old temple, he cried silently beside her stiff body.

nHe carried her lifeless body and left the city. He planned to bring her home and bury her beside their parents grave.

nThe young boy was so hungry that he almost lost consciousness.

nSuddenly, he saw a breath-taking female blade lord in a white dress.

nShe touched his head gently. Then, she snapped her fingers and blade energy started to rise. They flew across thousands of miles back to his homeland and he finally buried his sister beside his house.

nThe young boy begged the female blade lord to take him as a disciple but she rejected his request.

nHe followed her stubbornly in the snowstorm.

nThe female blade lord still refused to take him in, but she did not leave him behind. Both of them continued walking. She had helped many others along the way, fought off robbers, bandits and saved refugees from dangers.

nBack then, the young man swore in his heart that one day he would become a great sword master like the female blade lord.

nA noble sword master like her.

nAfter that, the female blade lord brought him back to Mount Shu. Although she did not agree to accept him as her disciple, the young boy’s talents and core shocked the entire Mount Shu. The sect leader of the Sword Guild back then took him in as his disciple and the female blade lord became his senior.

nUntil… now.

n…

nChao Xiaojian regained his senses and watched Fang Lang with mixed feelings.

nThis kid… How could he be better than himself?

nHe was neither better looking nor as confident as him. Why did she agree to take him as her disciple?

nWas it because of his shamelessness?

n“That’s great. From now onwards, I, Chao Xiaojian, will be your fellow master! Your status in the Sword Guild is also upgraded to a young fellow master!” Chao Xiaojian said.

nFang Lang rubbed the back of his head and smiled warmly.

nThis was all an accident. He just wanted to be on the good side of Taihua Blade Lord.

nAround them, Huang Ying, Jiang Linglong, and the others stared at them with an odd expression.

nA shade of jealousy flashed across Pei Liao’s face.

nHe also wanted to be the disciple of Taihua Blade Lord but he was rejected harshly. In the end, she chose Fang Lang as her disciple.

nThe rain was still pouring relentlessly.

nThey did not linger any further.

nPei Liao left with the Imperial Court of Judicial Review officials, bringing the body of the Minister of Rites, Zhou Yiyuan along with them.

nThis matter involved too many stakeholders. The first prince, Li Tianlin’s supporters would most likely receive serious punishments.

nFang Lang and the others chose to take a rest at the Resource Station. Chao Xiaojian also stayed behind to safeguard them instead of returning to Changan.

nThe Qianlong Resource Battle halted because of this matter. Most of the disciples from the other sects chose to wait at the Resource Station for the upcoming arrangements.

n…

nIn Changan City.

nThe entire palace was shocked when Pei Liao and the Imperial Court of Judicial Review officials brought back Zhou Yiyuan’s body.

nPei Liao revealed everything that happened in the Youzhou Demon Portal, leaving no details behind.

nPei Liao kneeled before the Taiji Palace.

nThe first prince’s group had framed the third prince and plotted a huge scheme together with traitor Nan Yehuo. It was quite certain that they were planning to overthrow the Emperor.

nPei Liao also mentioned that the death of the first prince, Li Tianlin was caused by Taihua Blade Lord.

nOf course, Pei Liao did not reveal that Wen Ting had been feeding his sword for a decade just so he could impale the first prince, and that Fang Lang was the one who chopped off his head. To him, those were acts of self-defense.

nFurthermore, since the first prince’s evil plan was exposed, he would not be free from the crimes he had committed. There was no need to drag Fang Lang and Wen Ting into this mess.

nThe great figure in the Taiji Palace seemed furious today.

nThe Taiji Palace kept issuing edicts, each one deadlier than before!

nThe officials who were supporters of the first prince were crouching on the ground as they received their judgment.

nAll of those who participated in this scheme were sent to jail. Some of them who were in the position of power were immediately beheaded outside the Vermilion Bird Gate.

nCrimson blood dyed the snow red.

nThe Emperor was so infuriated that it shook the entire Tang Dynasty.

nDonglu’s Sword League was eradicated as a sect and all of their members were sentenced to death.

nThe Main Path Guild’s sect leader, Zhao Longshi personally rode to Changan on his crane with a severed head of an elder from his sect to report his crimes in front of Changan City.

nThis elder was the one who gave Nan Yehuo the Great Elixir Pill.

nHowever, the Emperor was not satisfied. He ordered Zhao Longshi to enter the demon realm to kill three ninth-class great demons as a punishment.

nThe Emperor’s decision shook everyone. Even though it was a known fact that the Main Path Guild was the biggest supporter of the first prince, the Emperor had shown his uncompromising attitude in this matter as the decision was made without direct evidence.

nZhao Longshi received his punishment respectfully and left on his crane.

nThe third prince, Li Liancheng, also received punishment. Although he was framed by the first prince, he was once very close to the Donglu’s Sword League, so he received his fair share of punishment.

nHe was grounded in the Cold Palace for three years!

nLi Liancheng’s eyes turned red when he heard his punishment. He was outraged as he was a victim too. However, he remembered the scene where the Emperor killed Nan Yehuo with one palm attack and accepted his fate.

nThe snow in Changan deepened.

nFolks were shook when they heard the news.

nNo one expected that this year’s royal celebration would be commemorated with severed heads!

nThe Qianlong Resource Battle resumed with the Emperor sending the fifth princess to oversee the battle.

nThe Sword Guild disciples were immediately qualified for the finals as they were unfairly treated throughout the resource battle. In addition to that, the resources gained by the Donglu’s Sword Guild would be transferred to the Sword Guild.

nHalf the total amount of resources earned by the Main Guild Path’s disciples would be given to the Sword Guild as well.

nEven though the disciples were not satisfied with the decision, they dared not make a move after seeing the gorgeous female blade lord mounted in between the barriers of the two worlds in the Thousand-Mile Mirror.

nFrom this day onwards, the Sword Guild was no longer the old sect that had been dwindling over the past ten years.

nWith Xuanyuan Taihua alive, the Sword Guild would not be bullied by others anymore!

n…

nAt the fourth Resource Station in the Youzhou Demon Portal, Fang Lang and the others let out a sigh of relief after hearing the judgment from Changan.

nWen Ting and Fang Lang had mentally prepared themselves to receive some sort of punishment, but they did not expect themselves to be exempted from the punishments as the first prince was sentenced with the crime of rebellion and that Xuanyuan Taihua was the one who killed him.

nBoth of them were exempted from being executed by the Tang Code’s red arrow.

nRegarding the compensation they received for the resource battle, Fang Lang was stunned when he heard that they would be entering the finals and also obtaining half of the Main Path Guild’s resources.

nThis was such a satisfying win!

nThe Main Path Guild’s disciples had to risk their lives in the resource battle for their benefit.

nFang Lang thought that Li Yuanzhen would be furious if he heard the news.

nFang Lang glanced at Liu Bubai who was holding the broadsword.

nEven though Liu Bubai had not done much in this battle, he never thought that his willpower could influence the resource battle.

nAfter a short commotion, silence was restored in the fourth Resource Station.

nEveryone took out their spirit crystals and resumed the battle.

nFang Lang started to finalize the rewards that he earned from this battle. He could not deny that battling was the best way to improve one’s strength.

nFang Lang endured the Tang Code’s red arrow and significantly improved his spiritual sense, which made him level up to a fifth-grade spell advisor!

nFor sword mastery, he managed to attain a third-grade sword wave realm. This was the result of two Power Loan Cards and a half-completed Sword Nurturing Spell.

nEven though his advancements were limited, Fang Lang’s martial arts mastery was stabilized as a third-class martial arts master at the blood-bending realm with the help of the Code.

nOverall, Fang Lang’s strength was greatly enhanced!

nThese were just on the surface.

n‘Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the mission. It was accomplished perfectly. Awarded with a random sword spell from Xuanyuan Taihua, the sword spell would allow the host to evolve to sword wave specialty.’

nThis was Fang Lang’s reward from leaving a crack in the Code when he was on the mission!

n‘Ding! Host and binding partner, Wen Ting casted the Sword Nurturing Spell together and fought the enemies side-by-side. Deep cultivation was achieved, triggering passive cultivation and rewarded with Meta Sword Nurturing Spell.’

nThe System’s notification popped up in Fang Lang’s mind. The rewards awarded to Fang Lang were beyond his expectations.

nMeta Sword Nurturing Spell?

nFang Lang’s eyes sparkled in excitement. Was this the half-completed spell he casted when he activated the Power Loan Card?

nThe power was immense!

nIf Fang Lang had the opportunity, he would be able to kill fourth-class beings!

n…

nRain was still pouring heavily, the droplets hit the ground and rippled through the surface of puddles.

nA few light blue-robed figures were walking in the rain.

nThe atmosphere around them was tense. They were the disciples of the Main Path Guild. They were outraged when they received the news back at the Resource Station, even their senior, An Fan’s expression darkened.

nThey did not complain about the unjust ruling as the Main Path Guild was involved with Nan Yehuo’s assasination of the Emperor after taking the Great Elixir Pill.

nHowever, they were still unconvinced.

n“If that’s the case… We will meet the Sword Guild disciples in the final battle! We will destroy them in the finals and let them realize that they are not worthy of these resources!”

n…

nIn Changan City, the flight swords filled the sky like a swarm of bees, soaring across the Tang Dynasty’s sky in all directions.

nIn the heavily guarded Western Region Demon Portal, the atmosphere was tense as dust swept up from the sandy earth.

nInside the barracks, a small guard delivered the news from Changan to Asi Laoshan.

n“The third prince is grounded in the Cold Palace for three years? The first prince is dead and the third prince is imprisoned in the Cold Palace. This battle of the throne is a joke.” Asi Laoshan put down the letter and closed his eyes slowly.

nEven though he was not physically present in the Imperial City, it was as though he had experienced the entire bloodbath.

nAs if he could see the gorgeous Taihua Blade Lord, witnessed Nan Yehuo explode with monstrous strength after taking the Great Elixir Pill which almost made him transcend.

nHe also saw the palm of the great Emperor.

nAsi Laoshan opened his brooding eyes.

nHe walked out of the tent and stared at the endless sand dunes and the towering demon portal in the air.

n“Something’s… not right. There was something off about the crisis in Changan.”

nAt the same time, in one of the barracks thousands of miles away from the Western Region Demon Portal, Song Xianzhi had finished reading the letter sent by the flight sword.

nHe tapped gently on the table with his fingers and a frown formed on his handsome face, “This is not right, everybody seemed to have forgotten about someone. What was Jiang Wushen doing in such a major crisis? Why did he stay quiet?”

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