Legend of the Great Sage

Chapter 1035 - Honoured Guest Elder, Definitely No Ill Intentions

It flashed extremely quickly, so quickly that it only lasted for a split second. If Li Qingshan had not been focusing on searching for a sword, he probably would have missed it. He was surprised. What’s going on? Don’t tell me the master of the Sword Collection palace is intentionally trying to fool me into choosing a worse sword?

He was not at fault for being so paranoid. Ever since he set foot on the path of cultivation, the Sword Collection palace had never expressed any good will towards him. Even now, they seemed to radiate with a vague sense of hostility.

But upon further thought, petty tricks like this did not fit the palace master’s style. They only had a brief confrontation, but he had always possessed sharp judgement over his enemies.

If the palace master doesn’t want me to pull out a sword, why would he let me come here? Or perhaps he wants to kill me on the Sword Collection peak, but that doesn’t really seem necessary?

Whatever. It’s a treasured sword anyway. I’ll just take it!

Li Qingshan flew over and grabbed the sword by its hilt. Originally, he thought he had to use his strength of the ox demon to pull it out, but he never expected the sword to slide out with the slightest tug. It was as easy as pulling a sword out from its sheath.

With a gentle tremble, the specks of rust on the sword all fell off. The sword was as thin as a cicada’s wings, almost transparent. The bright and clear moonlight suddenly twisted and gathered on the sword’s blade, seeping in bit by bit. Only then did the blade gradually swell and fill up.

There was a half-moon on the hilt. Li Qingshan raised the sword into the air and brought it together with the yellow moon in the sky. It formed a perfect full moon.

“It’s Soul Cycling!” Ji Xuanri’s expression changed and subconsciously grabbed the Spirit Destroying on his waist. There was a scorching sun on his hilt.

Soul Cycling and Spirit Destroying were both part of the Ten Renowned Swords.

These two swords were not a yin and yang pair like Green Ruins and Violet Clouds, but they still involved the principles of creation that came from yin and yang. It was said that they were forged at the same time, making them a pair of twins. A mysterious connection existed between them.

Don’t tell me renowned swords actually have spirits in them?

Li Qingshan was astounded. Even without refining the sword or testing the sword’s might, just the aura it gave off was well beyond what any regular treasured sword could rival. It was definitely a renowned sword.

His feelings inside were quite mixed. Originally, he was even planning on cheating, only for the answer to directly leap out at him, which left him feeling both pity and delight, as well as some disbelief.

At the same time, he could sense that the renowned sword did not resist him at all. He could probably refine it in a short while.

It’s probably because my charms are far too overwhelming. When this sword saw me, it was like a young girl seeing a man chosen by heaven, immediately offering itself up.

Among the gasps, Li Qingshan leapt off the Sword Collection peak with the Soul Cycling sword in hand.

Boom! Li Qingshan bent over slightly and landed before the main hall, leaving a great pit in the ground.

Li Qingshan straightened himself out and said to the palace master, “You can help me remove the seal now, palace master!”

“That’s impossible! You’re not a sword cultivator, so how can you obtain the Soul Cycling sword’s recognition? You must have used some kind of trick!” One of the elders berated Li Qingshan furiously.

“Yeah, his cultivation was clearly sealed up, yet he could leap down from the Sword Collection peak unscathed. Something is amiss. Please capture him and investigate the matter closely, palace master!”

A swordmaster also expressed his doubts. Even disciples of the school of Military with their body forging techniques would probably end up injured when all of their cultivation was sealed away.

For a moment, everyone raised a ruckus. They wanted to take back the Soul Cycling sword and chase Li Qingshan off the mountain.

It was no wonder why they would behave so emotionally. The significance of the Ten Renowned Swords to the Sword Collection palace was far too great. Even the elders and swordmasters could not receive one, so now that an outsider had suddenly taken one away like this, they basically felt like their own children had been abducted. They struggled to accept this.

Not to mention that this outsider had not shown even a hint of respect towards the Sword Collection palace since the very beginning, even wanting to stand on equal footing with the palace master. How could they accept this?

“Be quiet!” the palace master said sternly.

The Heaven Leaning peak immediately fell silent. The palace master said, “Li Qingshan is not an outsider, but a guest elder of our Sword Collection palace. He’s taken a sword from the Sword Collection peak while following the rules of our Sword Collection palace, so there’s no issues at all. Since he has chosen the Soul Cycling sword, the Soul Cycling sword has also chosen him. Everything is fate!”

No matter how unconvinced the sword masters and elders felt, they could only accept this result now that the palace master had spoken.

Li Qingshan listened along silently. Something simply felt off, but he was unable to describe exactly what. As he thought about it, he managed to summarise it in a few words, which was that everything had progressed a little too smoothly today.

He had grown accustomed to danger around every corner a long time ago, so he was not used to obtaining a renowned sword so easily. On top of that, the palace master had been a little too nice to him.

If it were other people, then so be it, but he had personally witnessed Li Qingshan assume the form of a battle demon. Was he not afraid that his demon qi would contaminate or corrupt the renowned sword?

The palace master clasped his hands towards Li Qingshan. “Congratulations on obtaining the renowned Soul Cycling sword, fellow. You’ll definitely achieve great things in this age!”

“Thank you for your auspicious words, fellow,” said Li Qingshan.

The palace master then said, “The sword contains a supreme path of the sword, which you can comprehend slowly, but for the sake of wielding the Soul Cycling sword better, you’re free to study all of the sword cultivator techniques our Sword Collection palace has to offer, including the Sword Collection Manual of Heaven and Earth.”

“You must not, palace master. Li Qing- elder Li is only a guest elder. The Sword Collection Manual of Heaven and Earth is a secret that we never pass onto others. According to the rules, we can’t pass it onto guests.” The elders who had just berated Li Qingshan furiously immediately spoke up.

“Obviously not for guest elders, but elder Li’s cultivation has already reached the third heavenly tribulation. He can be promoted to ‘honoured guest elder’, which gives him the right to study the Sword Collection Manual of Heaven and Earth.”

King’s estates had honoured guests, and sects also had honoured guests. The full title to “honoured grand elder” was “honoured guest grand elder”. They possessed an aloof status in the sect, but the chances they appeared was much smaller. Often, they would go centuries without an honoured guest elder.

Great cultivators were far too rare, often requiring both exceptional talent and a tremendous amount of resources. Given their talent, they would obviously be absorbed into great sects, so there was no need for them to be a guest, and the resources that guests received could not compare to actual disciples.

As a result, the term “honoured guest elder” had basically been forgotten. Now, the palace master had mentioned it again.

The elder who was extremely dissatisfied with Li Qingshan immediately turned red. Once Li Qingshan became an honoured grand elder, it meant even he would have to bow to him when he saw him. He was about to protest loudly when the palace master glanced over, immediately silencing all of the objections. Many of them all sank into their thoughts regarding this.

“Elder Li, how do you feel about this?” the palace master then asked Li Qingshan. His attitude was extremely friendly.

“I’m obviously delighted by the palace master’s treatment. I’ll definitely use this sword properly.” No matter how he looked at it, the palace master was just trying to get on his good side, but something felt a little wrong to Li Qingshan, so he asked one more thing, “You’re not harbouring any ill intentions towards me, are you, palace master?”

“Definitely not.”

Before he could even finish speaking, the xiezhi’s horn in Li Qingshan’s clothes suddenly lit up. The light that poured out of his clothes seemed particularly dazzling in the night.

Li Qingshan and the palace master both had nothing to say. The atmosphere suddenly became rather awkward.

Why did this thing suddenly work again?