Wedge

  Shu Mountain is located in the west of the Huaxia continent, adjacent to the Western Friends Upload. On a small hill twenty zhang west of Shu Mountain, a young man in his early twenties sat cross-legged in a cave, with sword-shaped eyebrows and starry eyes, a high nose bridge, and an extraordinary appearance. However, his face was pale, his brow furrowed, and there were faint bloodstains at the corners of his mouth. His clothes were tattered, and a broken sword lay beside him, inserted into the ground, clearly having gone through a fierce battle.

  "Zzt!" A flying insect tried to get close to a young man but was reduced to ashes three feet away from the young man.

  Half a time later, the man's face had regained its rosiness. He slowly opened his eyes, wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth with his hand, and his gaze fell on the broken sword beside him. He gently pulled out the broken sword that was stuck in the ground, lightly stroked the sword body, and sighed melancholically: "Sword, oh sword, I, Yang Mou, am not skilled enough, a mere beast has caused you to break, it seems our fate is at an end, rest here then." After saying this, he used the broken sword to dig a hole and buried it.

  Yang had just sheathed his sword and flashed out of the cave. In less than half an hour, he arrived in front of a towering mountain that pierced the clouds, which was the famous Shu Mountain on the Huaxia continent, where the gate of the Shu Mountain Sect, the sixth sect of the Central Plains, was located.

  The majestic Shu Mountain, eight hundred zhang high, is merely the time it takes to burn a stick of incense for a cultivator to reach the top. Yang only paused briefly at the foot of the mountain before using his movement technique to ascend.

  As he climbed to the waist of the mountain, a silvery voice came from afar: "Big Brother Master, I've finally found you." Before the words had even fallen, a purple-clad girl floated down in front of Yang Guo's eyes. She was petite and delicate, with a beautiful face and a pair of lively big eyes that sparkled when she smiled, revealing two small dimples on her cheeks that made her look extremely lovely and charming.

  The purple-clothed girl turned her big, sparkling eyes on Yang Guo's body, looking him up and down. She saw that his clothes were tattered and his sword was gone. Her eyes rolled around, and she pointed at Yang Guo's waist, pretending to scold him: "Oh... Big Brother Master, you're in trouble! You got into a fight with someone else, and your sword is even gone! I'll tell Father!"

  "I didn't break it in a fight, I was patrolling at the foot of the mountain and had a battle with a demonic beast that broke my sword." Yang explained.

  "Monster? What monster? Master brother, quickly take me to fight the monster!" The purple-clothed girl heard about fighting a monster and her eyes lit up, pulling on Yang's arm to take her to fight the monster.

  "Stop messing around, Yiliang." Yang shook off Yiliang's hands: "Your current cultivation is not enough, you can't go to the seal patrol, I still need to go back and report to Master."

  "Hmph! I don't care, if you won't take me, I'll go myself!" Yiling flung her hand out to the side, pouting and turning around as if to rush down the mountain.

  Yang looked at Yilin, who was not in a hurry, and saw her slowly walking down the mountain, looking like she wanted to go down. Yang knew what she had in mind, so he cleared his throat twice and said: "Yilin Shimei, do you want to learn the art of flying with a sword?"

  Ying Ling listened and was indeed deeply moved. She immediately stopped in her tracks, turned around, grabbed Yang Guo's arm, and asked with a hopeful face: "Really?"

  Yang nodded slightly and said seriously: "When has Shixiong ever deceived you?"

  With a joyful whoop, Ling pulled Yang Guo along as they walked up the mountain.

  Yang was the earliest to join among the third generation disciples of Mount Shu Sect, and was the senior brother of the third generation disciples. Yilin, on the other hand, was the only daughter of the sect leader Pang Zhongtian, and was the youngest in age.

  In a moment, Yang and Yiling arrived at the top of the mountain. On the mountaintop, there was a huge flat ground that seemed to have been cut out by someone with a sword. In front of the mountaintop, there was a large gate tower, on which three big characters were written in ancient seal script: Shu Shan Sect.

  Two people walked side by side into the gatehouse, and as they passed through it, the air beneath the gatehouse seemed to ripple for a moment. After they entered, everything returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.

  Yang returned to his room to change into a white robe after his clothes were torn apart from fighting the demon beast, then headed towards the main hall.

  The disciples' quarters and the main hall are separated by three places: the training room, the scripture storage pavilion, and the sword pool. The training room is mainly provided for disciples to practice their fists and feet and physical fitness, and general Xuan repair and Xuan skills exercises will not be held here.

  The Scripture Pavilion is the concentrated wisdom of the Shu Mountain Sect for thousands of years. The Scripture Pavilion is divided into three layers, the first layer is open to all disciples within the Shu Mountain Gate, the second layer can only be entered by second-generation cultivators and third-generation disciples who have been specially appointed, and the third layer can only be entered by the four great protector elders and the sect leader. The four great protector elders are currently the only three first-generation disciples of the Shu Mountain Sect, with high prestige within the sect, even the sect leader must show respect to them.

  After passing through the Scripture Pavilion, it is the Sword Pool. The Sword Pool is where the Shu Mountain Sect refines its weapons. The founder of the Shu Mountain Sect was a single sword that broke into the Xuanxiu realm and established the Shu Mountain Sect, with the Shu Mountain Sect taking the sword as its foundation. At the bottom of the Sword Pool, there is the Taicheng Treasure Sword of the Shu Mountain Patriarch Yiyuan as the sect's guardian sword, which is also the core of the Shu Mountain Sect's mountain protection array.

  Yang arrived at the front of the main hall. He saw that the main hall was about seven zhang wide, with seven sandalwood pillars in the middle of the hall, each as thick as a person could not wrap their arms around, arranged in the pattern of the Big Dipper. A man in purple robes sat upright in the center of the hall, behind him was the position of the Heavenly King star, the most critical part of the Big Dipper formation.

  The Big Dipper Seven Stars Sword Formation is the sect-protecting sword formation of Mount Shu, which is not easily used unless it encounters an opponent who is much stronger or several times more numerous and has equivalent strength. Once used, it often unleashes power ten times that of the seven people in the formation. The disciples of Mount Shu rely on this formation to turn the tide in countless life-and-death situations, maintaining the sect's prosperity for thousands of years.

  A middle-aged man in purple clothes smiled and looked at Yang Guo, who was walking in. He was the leader of the Shu Shan Sect - Pang Zhongtian, a famous master in the Central Plains, whose cultivation was profound and unpredictable, ranking fifth on the list of masters in the Central Plains. His mastery of the Shu Shan San Jie Swordsmanship was earth-shattering, making him one of the top masters of his time.

  After Yang's courtesy, Pang Zhongtian stroked his long beard and smiled slightly: "Guo'er, how did you handle the things I told you to do?"

  "Reporting to Master, the disciple found a wounded demonic beast near the seal and has killed it. Apart from this, there is no other unusual movement at the seal." Yang replied respectfully.

  Pang Zhongtian nodded slightly after listening, and put away the smile on his face, saying thoughtfully: "It's okay if nothing happens, but you don't have to worry about the sealing now, I'll send someone else."

  He then looked Yang Guo up and down, and said slowly: "Your current cultivation has reached the upper level of the fourth layer of spiritual power. If you can break through to a mid-level cultivator before the Silver List tournament, you will be able to enter the Silver List."

  "Master, are you referring to the Silver List Competition that takes place once every ten years?" Yang asked.

  "Yes, in the Zhongyuan Xuanxiu world, there are two ranking lists. One is a ranking competition among top-notch masters, with the top thirty names on the list, known as the Golden List; the other is a competition among new stars under the age of twenty-three in the Xuanxiu world, with the top ten names on the list, known as the Silver List."

  The Golden List and the Silver List are both held once every ten years, with the Silver List being contested five years after the publication of the Golden List. Each session of the Silver List competition is extremely fierce, and new stars that make it onto the list will inevitably become renowned masters in the future."

  "Disciples must go all out and add glory to Shu Mountain in the Silver List Competition!" Yang said firmly, with a hint of confidence on his handsome face.

  Pang Zhongtian nodded slightly, "However, this competition has brought out many talented newcomers from various sects, such as Ling Chuo of the Ling Absolute Temple, Yun Song of the Taiji Palace, Song Wan of the Wuling Pavilion, and Qing Ying of the Yaochi Sacred Ground. It's said that they are all rare talents that appear only once in decades within their respective sects."

  Yang however, after listening, had a hint of confidence on his face, and also a hint of indifference, as if others' strength or weakness had nothing to do with him.

  Pang Zhongtian saw it in his eyes, and a look of relief appeared in his eyes. For a Xuanxiu practitioner, the key is to cultivate one's mind. If you can maintain an ordinary heart that is still while all things are moving, your practice will be twice as effective, and you will also go further on the path of Xuanxiu.

  "They, as the focus of cultivation for each sect, naturally obtained the top-level skills of various major sects. As one of the two most talented disciples among the three generations of Shu Mountain, I, as your master, will not let you fall behind them. This time, I called you here to forge a suitable Xuanbing sword for you."

  Yang was taken aback, having just lost a Xuanbing sword, could he really get an even better one as compensation? Although his heart was racing with excitement, Yang still didn't show it on his face.

  Pang Zhongtian cleared his throat and continued:

  "Our Shu Mountain Sect's founding ancestor, Yi Yuan, wielded the Taiqing Sword to roam the Jianghu for many years, rarely encountering a worthy opponent. The Taiqing Sword is one of the nine divine-grade Xuanbing swords in the history of the Huaxia continent, and under its protection, our Shu Mountain has prospered for over 3,000 years."

  "After the Ancestor built his sect in Shu Mountain, he coincidentally encountered the Central Plains' orthodox sects besieging the Western Demon Realm. He and the leaders of the other eleven sects waged a great war against the Western Demon King in the southern borderlands. In the end, the twelve leaders paid the price of their souls to seal the Demon King on South Mountain. With the Ancestor's innate talent and his cultivation at that time, it would not have been impossible for him to ascend to the Immortal Realm after another decade or so of cultivation, a testament to the Ancestor's greatness."

  "Except for the Taiqing Sword, the Tianquan Elder's Lianluo Sword is also a top-grade Xuanbing, and one of the rare treasures in the Huaxia Continent. Even as a master, he can only wield three first-rate Xuanbings. And today, I will forge for you an extreme Xuanbing that is not inferior to the Lianluo Sword."

  Yang was shocked when he heard this, but he quickly reacted: "Thank you, Master, for your kindness. I will definitely not disappoint your expectations."

  "Alright, get up." Pang Zhongtian smiled and stretched out his hand, a gentle breeze lifted Yang Guo up.

  He immediately walked out of the study.

  The two walked for about half a stick of incense before arriving in front of a stone carving of a treasured sword standing beside the Sword Pool. Pang Zhongtian lightly pressed it, and the stone sword, which was over one zhang tall, slowly moved, rubbing against the ground and making a "rumbling" sound. Before long, an entrance to an underground passageway appeared next to the stone sword, about two feet square, just large enough for one person to enter or exit.

  Seven Swords Roaming the World

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  The preface is finished.