Inside a tavern in Great Zhou’s Royal City.
A storyteller was speaking while fanning himself with a fan, and there were nearly 100 diners listening around him.
“That day, the sky above Skyfall was completely clear when suddenly thunderclouds gathered and a devilish wind blew—the sovereign of the demon race had arrived. He said that he wanted to take the Tianxia Map and for the Sword Emperor to get out and obediently accept his death. However, what kind of person is the Sword Emperor? He is the number one expert in the history of Great Zhou and the most powerful genius in the entire Northern Wilderness. How could he permit Jihuang Demon Lord to clamor like this?”
This storyteller looked like he was in his early forties and wore a hat. His face was slightly dark, and during key moments, his narrow eyes would widen, causing the diners to feel anticipation.
He would tell Zhou Xuanji’s story every day.
Some stories had already been repeated hundreds of times, but he would still tell them; after all, there were so many people who loved to hear them.
After Zhou Xuanji had become second in the world, very few people called him Sword God Zhou anymore and instead directly called him the Sword Emperor.
Since ancient times, the word ‘Emperor’ represented the supreme, while ‘Sword God Zhou’ sounded a bit like a conman’s name.
Of course, directly calling him Sword God sounded just as good.
“I heard that the Sword Emperor has already broken through to the Great Realization stage; is this true? He could kill the demon race’s sovereign before he broke through, so does that mean he has the strength to fight for first in the world now?” a curious diner asked, causing the others to also ask.
The storyteller slapped the fan closed against his palm and smiled as he said, “The Sword Emperor has indeed broken through to the Great Realization stage, breaking the record for the human race’s youngest cultivator to reach the Great Realization stage. However, it’s still not enough for him to defeat Yang Di.
“Yang Di has consecutively taken first place three times in a row, dominating the Northern Wilderness for 3,000 years. Wanting to defeat him is too difficult. He is the person who is most likely to become a Great Emperor, and his accomplishments in the future will not be inferior to the Hegemon Sword Emperor’s.”
The storyteller began to talk about how powerful Yang Di was, causing the diners to gasp in amazement.
In the corner of the tavern, there were two women dressed as men—they were Princess Xuanya and Princess Lingling.
Princess Xuanya had the rare Dao Embodiment Constitution that was seen once every thousand years, and with a great amount of resources from Zhou Chengxin, she had reached Spirit Fountain stage cultivation.
Princess Lingling’s cultivation was inferior to hers, but because of her posthumous marriage to Zhou Xuanji, her treatment was not any worse.
The two of them felt bored staying in the palace, so they often came out to play.
“Big sister, why do people often compare Xuanji and Yang Di? There’s no enmity between them,” Princess Lingling asked curiously. Yang Di’s public reputation was extremely good, and Zhou Xuanji was also a straightforward and upright individual. Both of them killed demons for the human race, and there was no reason for them to fight.
Princess Xuanya rolled her eyes and said grumpily, “Scholars never admit to being first, but no fighter is willing to be second. With Zhou Xuanji’s prowess, he will fight for first in the world sooner or later. Oh you, you’ve stayed in the palace for too long and don’t know enough about the world.”
Princess Lingling somewhat understood but could not fully understand. What was so important about being first in the world?
“That’s right, in my generation of cultivators, who doesn’t want to become first in the world?” A light laughter sounded out from the side as a black-clothed young man walked over and sat beside them.
He looked quite elegant and his long hair was bound by a red string. His figure was tall and straight, and he had an outstanding aura about him.
Princess Xuanya glanced at him and said, “Who asked you to sit with us?”
The black-clothed young man chuckled as he said, “My name is Baihao Yixin and think much of myself, and I am aiming for first in the world. After seeing these two ladies, your looks and smiles have caused my heart to be moved. Are you married yet?”
Princess Xuanya and Princess Lingling looked at each other, feeling speechless.
Where did this idiot come from?
Baihao Yixin could tell what they were thinking, shook his head, and laughed as he said, “You might think that I’m boasting shamelessly, but I indeed have the qualifications to compete for first in the world. Within 100 years, I will defeat Yang Di and the Sword Emperor. When that time comes, you two can be the wives of a Great Emperor. How great would that be?”
Hearing this, the two women could not help but roll their eyes, and they directly got up and left.
Looking at them leaving, Baihao Yixin did not chase after them.
He smirked and poured himself a cup of wine as he muttered, “Interesting, after tens of thousands of years have passed, no one remembers This Emperor’s name. Looks like only by turning the world upside down will everyone know This Emperor’s might.”
Halfway up Skyfall.
“Training the sword requires heart; you can’t solely focus on every strike and style. Sword styles are dead, but the sword is alive; only by controlling it with your heart will you be able to build a connection with the sword.” Zhou Xuanji sat cross-legged on a large rock as 80 second generation disciples were training in front of him. Their formation was orderly, and the aura they gave off was decent too.
Xiao Jinghong, Zhao Congjian, and Beixiao Wangjian stood behind him, silently watching.
At that moment, Zhou Xiaoqi ran over with the Three-eyed Drought Rodent in his mouth.
“Master, he found another treasure but it has a restrictive barrier protecting it; we need your help,” Zhou Xiaoqi said as he blinked. This little fellow was no longer as pure as before; after spending a lot of time with the little black snake and Chongming Demon Monarch, he also had many evil tricks.
Zhou Xuanji did not look at him and directly said, “Have Liuwu Demon Wolf go with you.”
“Okay!” Zhou Xiaoqi ran off eagerly with the Three-eyed Drought Rodent in his mouth.
A while later, Zhou Xuanji said, “What do you think about having the disciples form teams?”
Xiao Jinghong and the others felt quite surprised and asked what the purpose of teams would be.
“In the future as Skyfall develops, we need to be like other sects and accept bounties and quests from others and go out and perform righteous deeds. However, going out alone is too dangerous, so I want them to form teams to take care of each other,” Zhou Xuanji said. After all, this whole time he had had a team with him.
When he was injured, there were people to heal him.
When there were things he did not understand, there were people to explain things to him.
It was very difficult to survive in this world alone.
“This is possible; after all, we have 80 people, so we can split them into teams of two. However, if one person dies, what will the remaining person do?” Zhao Congjian said as he nodded, but he also had his own questions.
Zhou Xuanji replied, “This is why we need to discuss this. Next year, we can pick some of the disciples with the highest cultivation to go out and experience the world, while we recruit third generation disciples. When the sect is officially established, we’ll need people to receive guests.”
With fewer than 100 people, how could they properly receive guests?
Just Great Zhou alone would send more than 100 people.
Xiao Jinghong immediately asked for permission to escort the teams, but Zhou Xuanji did not agree.
The first group of disciples naturally needed a powerful expert to protect them. Even though Xiao Jinghong was close to the Astral Projection stage, it was not enough.
Hearing them talk, Xu Yang started to think to himself.
He understood that his chance had come.
The more disciples he had, the more stable his position as the Eldest Apprentice Brother would be.
An hour later, Haotian Boar King hurriedly came up the mountain and half-knelt in front of Zhou Xuanji as he said, “Master, there is a person at the bottom of the mountain called Meng Tianlang. He said he came to fulfil his promise to become your slave. However, he brought someone with him. His cultivation is unfathomable, and he should be as powerful as Lu Tiange.”
Hearing this, Zhou Xuanji frowned.
He still remembered Meng Tianlang—he was Xiao Jinghong’s greatest rival as well as his good friend.
However, the other person’s cultivation was comparable to Lu Tiange’s?
Since when were there Great Tribulation Scattered Immortals running about everywhere?