"Senior Brother Lu Yang, a few of my senior brothers and sisters have been wanting to meet you. Would that be convenient for you?"
"Sure, let's go meet them," Lu Yang said with a smile. Sheathing the Green Blade Sword, he casually hung it at his waist.
Previously, Lu Yang had avoided bringing out the Green Blade Sword whenever possible. The Green Blade Sword was an immortal sword forged by Wu Yao, and he had worried that Great Yu cultivators might recognize it and bring trouble down upon him.
For instance, when Daoist Lord Wanfa had attacked the Dao Seeking Sect, the whole incident had begun because he recognized the Green Blade Sword and deduced that the Dao Seeking Sect harbored an immortal treasure left behind by Wu Yao.
Now, Lu Yang no longer had that concern. Everyone who knew the origins of the Green Blade Sword was locked up on Prison Peak; out in the wider world, nobody was knowledgeable enough to recognize it.
Yun Mengmeng looked at the Green Blade Sword with a thoughtful expression.
"Miss Yun, did something come to mind?" Lu Yang noticed her unusual reaction.
"Do you remember that sister of mine I mentioned to you before?"
"The one who's exceptionally good at fighting?"
"Yes. She actually quite likes swords, and she even practiced secretly for a while, studying heaps of theory. It's just that she never managed to achieve anything—she couldn't even master the basics—so in the end, she gave up."
Lu Yang chuckled. "The Sword Dao is like that. Hard work alone won't bring success; natural talent and comprehension are both indispensable. That just shows your sister's Sword Dao talent is really quite mediocre.
"Still, since your sister is interested in the Sword Dao, I wouldn't mind giving her some pointers.
"Not to toot my own horn, but I do possess a bit of talent in the Sword Dao. Among the younger generation in the cultivation world, there probably aren't many above me."
Mingtai smiled upon hearing this. "Senior Brother Lu Yang is being too modest. Among the younger generation, I doubt anyone surpasses you in Sword Dao talent.
"Only that Young Cult Master Lu might be comparable to you, but he's from the Ancient Era, so strictly speaking, he doesn't count as part of our younger generation."
"That's wonderful, then!" Yun Mengmeng felt delighted for her dear sister. By her own logic, her sister also belonged to the younger generation, so her talent was definitely inferior to Lu Yang's—letting Lu Yang teach her was simply perfect.
Xiao Zhi brought plenty of gifts every time she returned home, so finding Xiao Zhi a master this time could be considered returning the favor.
The Sword Tower had eighteen floors in total. The first eight floors were open to the public; sword cultivators taking part in the Grand Sword Inquiry Ceremony could choose a room here to stay for a few days, with cultivation resources provided by the Sword Tower.
The ninth through twelfth floors were cultivation grounds for the Sword Tower's inner sect disciples and true legacy disciples, forming the core of the Sword Tower where outsiders were not casually permitted. The place Mingtai brought Lu Yang and Yun Mengmeng to was the twelfth floor.
"Who are those two? How can they go up?"
The sword cultivators exchanging Sword Dao insights on the eighth floor were astonished. Mingtai was dressed in Sword Tower attire, clearly an inner sect disciple, but Lu Yang and Yun Mengmeng were obviously outsiders.
"Doesn't one of them look like Lu Yang?"
"Him? Lu Yang? Yes, I've seen his portrait—he really is Lu Yang!"
"I heard that back at the East Sea, his comprehension of the Sword Dao had reached the level where all things can serve as a sword. He could even use people as swords to unleash One Sword Into Ten Thousand Swords!"
"Back then, he was only at the Nascent Soul stage, wasn't he? To execute One Sword Into Ten Thousand Swords at the Nascent Soul stage—truly terrifying!"
Those able to participate in the Grand Sword Inquiry Ceremony were all supreme talents of their respective regions, unmatched in their local sword cultivation circles. Naturally, they harbored a measure of pride. Yet compared to Lu Yang, their Sword Dao talent was like trying to teach a master how to swing an axe—they couldn't even muster the will to compete.
Sitting in a corner, a nameless sword cultivator curled his lips into an intriguing smirk. "Lu Yang, is it? I wonder if he's worthy enough to test my sword."
In another corner, a different nameless sword cultivator kept his eyes fixed on Lu Yang until he vanished into the stairwell. "Doesn't seem like much."
The first nameless sword cultivator took offense. "Hey, watch your mouth. Lu Yang is an opponent I've picked out. Are you saying my choice of sword-testing partner is mediocre?"
The second nameless sword cultivator sneered. "And what if I am?!"
The two nameless sword cultivators glared fiercely at each other, their right hands silently gripping their sword hilts, looking ready to draw their blades at the slightest provocation.
Just then, an outer sect disciple of the Sword Tower led a Sword Tower elder up to the eighth floor and pointed at the two nameless sword cultivators sitting in the corners. "Elder, it's those two! When checking in at the entrance, they wouldn't even give their names, and they snuck into our Sword Tower!"
The elder looked down at them coldly. "So you're the two who slipped in without registering? Shall I escort you out, or will you leave on your own?"
One of the nameless sword cultivators gave a slight smirk, looking at the elder with disdain. "Kicking me out? Is this how the Sword Tower treats its guests? Do you know who I—"
Without a word, the elder flung open the window and hurled both of them outside.
"Lunatics. You didn't say your names when registering, and now you want to say them? Too late."
...
"Senior Sister Mili, Senior Brother Yue... look who I brought!"
Mingtai led Lu Yang and Yun Mengmeng into a stone chamber on the twelfth floor. Six people were gathered there—the six most talented disciples of the Sword Tower, aside from Mingtai herself.
"Greetings, fellow Daoists. I am Lu Yang." Lu Yang inverted the Green Blade Sword and clasped his fists in greeting.
"Fellow Daoist Lu Yang, your great name precedes you!" The Six Gentlemen of the Sword Tower rose one after another to return the greeting, their faces beaming with delight at meeting Lu Yang. Saying his great name preceded him was no mere polite formality.
"This is Miss Yun, who is currently traveling with me."
"Greetings, Miss Yun."
"Hello, everyone." Yun Mengmeng obediently stood to the side without saying much. She knew very little about the outside world, and speaking too much might easily lead to blunders.
"Come, come, let me introduce them to you, Senior Brother Lu Yang. This is Senior Sister Mili; everyone likes to call her Senior Sister Xiaomi."
Lu Yang noticed that Senior Sister Xiaomi's aura rose and fell erratically, floating without settling, which indicated that she was currently in the Void Refining stage.
"This is Senior Brother Yue Chuan, the Tower Master's close-the-left-door disciple."
Yue Chuan looked like a dissolute libertine, casually embracing a woman in broad daylight without seeing anything wrong with it.
"This is Senior Brother Li Tang, the Tower Master's close-the-right-door disciple."
Li Tang was a man of few words, hugging a sword to his chest with a high ponytail tied back. He merely gave Lu Yang a brief nod without uttering a single word, exuding the distinct air of a sword cultivator.
Unable to keep quiet, Yun Mengmeng chimed in from the side, "What do you mean by close-the-left-door disciple and close-the-right-door disciple?"
"Well, back then, the Tower Master intended to accept only one person as his final, door-closing disciple. But both senior brothers were extraordinarily gifted, and he couldn't bear to let either go, so he accepted them both at the same time.
"The Tower Master said that closing a door requires shutting two door leaves anyway, so taking two disciples was only natural.
"Senior Brother Li Tang is quite shy and doesn't like to speak, so please don't take offense, Senior Brother Lu Yang."
After Mingtai finished introducing everyone around the room, she still hadn't introduced the woman in Yue Chuan's arms, which Lu Yang couldn't help finding a little strange.
"And this is...?"
"Oh, I forgot to introduce her! This is the sword spirit nurtured by Senior Brother Yue Chuan. Quite remarkable, isn't she? Senior Brother Yue Chuan is deepening his connection with his sword spirit right now. Among our sect's current generation of disciples, he is the only one who possesses a sword spirit."
Chapter 981