The past few days seemed to have been very exhausting for Yan Liqiang. As soon as he lost consciousness, he felt as though he had fallen into a deep slumber. Uncertain of how much time had pa.s.sed, when Yan Liqiang woke up, he found himself lying in a mountain cave. The first thing that came into his view when he opened his eyes were stalact.i.tes which were hanging from above the cave ceiling like gigantic bamboo shoots. Water droplets dripped to the ground from the stalact.i.tes, forming a small pool about ten meters away from him.

A ray of light s.h.i.+ned through the crack in the ceiling of the cave. The entire cave appeared to be extremely silent. Only the dripping sound of water droplets reverberated in Yan Liqiang's ears.

Yan Liqiang's thoughts froze for two seconds before everything came flooding back to his mind again. He recalled the battle at the foot of Longhu Mountain, the old herb gatherer, and the scene before he lost his consciousness...

He then jumped up all of a sudden.

Yan Liqiang tried moving his body first and discovered that he was perfectly uninjured, save for the little sore and bruise on his right shoulder, at the spot right above his armpit. That was probably an external wound Zhu An had left on his body, but it was nothing serious.

Yan Liqiang let out a long sigh and walked out of the mountain cave.

The cave was located halfway up on a tall mountain, with a forest right outside of it. The clouds below the mountain stretched on as far as the eyes could see and he was shrouded by the clouds and mist. The faint fragrance of orchid in the fresh air was soothing to one's senses.

Watching such scenery made one feel as though they had left the secular world.

The old man sat cross-legged below a pine tree. He looked at Yan Liqiang who had just exited the cave with a smile.

Yan Liqiang went over to him and bowed to the old man. "Greetings, Master!"

"Come, have a seat. I'm sure you must have a lot of questions. We can have a good chat now. There are some things I ought to let you know too!"

Seeing the kind face in front of him, Yan Liqiang totally couldn't imagine how this old man looked when unblinkingly used a golden light to kill more than ten corpses without any traces left behind during that time.

"Although I've already addressed you as Master, I still don't know your name or your hometown!"

"I'm from the Liu Clan and my full name is Liu Guiyuan. I'm one of the Elders in the Divine Sword Sect, one of the four major sects!"

Divine Sword Sect? He was actually from the Divine Sword Sect?! The three words shook Yan Liqiang's mind to its core.

Although Yan Liqiang could pretty much guess that his master had an unusual background, he didn't expect he would actually be an Elder from the Divine Sword Sect, the leader of the four major sects.

The so-called four major sects in the world were the Divine Sword Sect, Wise Ruler Sect, Jade Luo Palace, and the Soul Mountain Sect.

The four major sects were all unique in their own ways. The Soul Mountain Sect was well-rounded with countless individuals of special talents. Apart from martial arts, the medical group within Soul Mountain Sect was similarly world-renowned. The Wise Ruler Sect was known as the advocate of manslaughter. Their disciples loved battles the most as they were often seen enlisting themselves in the army and partic.i.p.ating in deadly battles on the battlegrounds. Within the army of the Great Han Empire, the influence of Wise Ruler Sect far exceeded the three other major sects.

Jade Luo Palace on the other hand, was the most mysterious amongst them all. To date, no one knew the exact location of Jade Luo Palace. The members of Jade Luo Palace usually kept a low profile however, they would make an appearance every ten years or so and do something earth-shattering.

The Divine Sword Sect was known as the leader of the four major sects. Every sword technique in this world originated from this sect. Within the sect, a legion of ten thousand swordsmen could be easily gathered with just an order, crus.h.i.+ng anyone who stood in their way. Apart from sword techniques, the riding techniques from the sect had always been world-renowned.

Pingxi Prefectural Governor, Ye Tiancheng's son was in the Divine Sword Sect. He had already advanced as Supreme Martial Warrior, and thus he gained the rights to cultivate in the inner Divine Sword Sect.

If he joined the Divine Sword Sect, he'd end up in the same sect as Ye Tiancheng's son. The road was indeed narrow for enemies[1].

At this moment, Yan Liqiang could only sigh at the wonders of fate, which he revered. Little did he expect that after his reincarnation and wandering about, he actually managed to get into the Divine Sword Sect, become a disciple to one of the Elders there, and end up in the same sect as the son of his nemesis.

Liu Guiyuan thought his ident.i.ty had stunned Yan Liqiang. After allowing some time for Yan Liqiang to process the information in silence, he continued speaking. "In the Divine Sword Sect, my public ident.i.ty is an Elder and my duty is managing the medicinal pill valley of the sect. However, I have another secret ident.i.ty and job there. I am the Sect Guardian of the Divine Sword Sect..."

"Sect Guardian?" Yan Liqiang gave Liu Guiyuan a bewildered look upon hearing the two words for the first time. He had never heard of that before. "What are the duties of a Sect Guardian?"

"Every major sect has a Sect Guardian. The Sect Guardian is the most hidden guardian within the sect. At peaceful times, they conceal themselves well and blend in with the rest. However, when a great catastrophe befalls any sect, the duty of a Sect Guardian is to guard the most important secret techniques of the sect and ensure that they don't fall into the hands of any outsiders. At the same time, he will also have to find separate location and ensure that the sect's lineage continues on…"

"I understand now. So this 'Sect Guardian' that Master speaks of is protecting something akin to the seed of a sect. During a critical situation, Master can bring this seed you have been protecting elsewhere to let it grow so that it can once again become a big tree which will touch the sky."

"That's exactly right!" Liu Guiyuan nodded with an extremely solemn expression on his face. "My ident.i.ty as the Sect Guardian is top secret even within the Divine Sword Sect. Before today, apart from myself and the Sect Master of Divine Sword Sect, no third person in this world knows of this. Not even the group of Elders in Divine Sword Sect, my family, and my other few disciples know about this ident.i.ty of mine. You are prohibited from exposing my ident.i.ty to anyone else. Otherwise, you will face the wrath of the sect laws. By then, not even the G.o.ds can save you!"

"If Master's ident.i.ty as a Sect Guardian is a cla.s.sified information in the Divine Sword Sect, then why did you tell me?"

Liu Guiyuan looked at Yan Liqiang serenely. "You are a smart one. Why don't you guess why I let you in on this secret?"

Yan Liqiang swallowed hard and racked his brain before he gave an uncertain answer. "Master… you aren't thinking about cultivating me into the next Sect Guardian of the Divine Sword Sect, are you?"

"Hahaha, that's my plan!" Liu Guiyuan laughed heartily.

"Why me though? Didn't you just mention that you already have other disciples in the Divine Sword Sect, Master?"

"Although my few other disciples in the Divine Sword Sect can inherit my other areas of studies, none of them are able to succeed my position and duty as a Sect Guardian. The secret technique that the Sect Guardian is required to grasp in the end isn't something any ordinary disciple can inherit. In order to become the Sect Guardian of the Divine Sword Sect, the candidate's physical apt.i.tude doesn't only have to be the best of the best. There are also unusually high demands for their morality and character. One cannot become the Sect Guardian of the Divine Sword Sect without a good balance between toughness and kindness, one-of-kind physical apt.i.tude, great perseverance, courage, and intelligence. In this world, sects leave their main doors open and ma.s.s recruit disciples. There are disciples all over the world searching for a master. However, in the case of a Sect Guardian, only the master can search for their own disciple. It actually took me a few decades to find someone like you!"

"I only met you once on Mount Longhu. Even if I was kind enough to carry you down the mountain, how can you be sure that I am a suitable candidate?"

Liu Guiyuan looked at Yan Liqiang with a smile. "I was the one who paid for your meal when you dashed after dining in Cloud Crane Restaurant. You may think that we've only met once, but I've been following you around for a long time. That night, when you killed Wu Tao along with the other two in the forest and mutilated their corpses to get rid of the evidence, I was right beside you, but you didn't notice me. Over the past few days, I've been watching your every move. I already predicted that the people from Rising Moon Tower were going to mess with you. The incident on Mount Longhu was merely the final test I put you through to a.s.sess your character. It wasn't difficult for you to carry me down to the mountain's foot; the difficult part is how you went through the trouble of carrying me up the mountain again just to find a key. No one out of a million would do what you did. If you were willing to turn around with me on your back to find the key I'd lost, then you are my fated disciple; the next Sect Guardian of my Divine Sword Sect. If you had abandoned me and left, then that merely meant you were not the one I was searching for. That also meant that whatever happened to you next would not concern me…"

Upon hearing such revelation, Yan Liqiang rejoiced, but at the same time, he couldn't help but break into cold sweat too. His first joy was that his kindness that day on the mountain path had allowed him to stand against the final test that Liu Guiyuan had set for him. His second joy was the fact that his secret wasn't exposed because he had always been on the move these few days, and thus he had no time to cultivate Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing.

"So are you going to bring me back to the Divine Sword Sect now, Master?"

"Hahaha. If I were to bring you back directly now, our ident.i.ties would be too obvious to skeptical people!" Liu Guiyuan shook his head. "We are already in Lai Province. The main branch of the Divine Sword Sect is just two hundred li away from here, on Mount Sword. All you have to do is just go to Mount Sword and request for admission to the Divine Sword Sect..."

Yan Liqiang hesitated for a moment. "I have been wandering around all these years without ever settling down. Will the Divine Sword Sect still accept me despite my inability to clarify my background?"

"Under normal circ.u.mstances, they definitely won't. But with this, the Divine Sword Sect will definitely accept you!" Liu Guiyuan took out the very same key he was looking for on Mount Longhu with Yan Liqiang carrying him on his back that day and put it in Yan Liqiang's hands. "When you arrive at the Divine Sword Sect, show them this key and tell them you would like to join the sect!"

Yan Liqiang astonis.h.i.+ngly looked at the key in his hand. He simply couldn't wrap his head around the fact that this tiny key held such a great ability. It was just a metal key which looked very normal; it was not that different from any other ordinary key. At most, it only had some patterns imprinted on it. How was it possible that he could join the Divine Sword Sect just by relying on it?

"Master, is this key a keepsake of the Divine Sword Sect?"

"Indeed it is. If anyone ever helped an Elder from the Divine Sword Sect in times of need when they were out on a job, they would leave this key with that person. This is so that if anyone ever brings this key back to the sect and requests any sort of a.s.sistance from the Divine Sword Sect, the sect will try to help that person to the best of its ability as a way of repaying the favor that the person has done for the Divine Sword Sect in the past! This key was something that was left behind by one of the Elders in the sect a few years ago in Hu Province. At that time, the Elder was heavily injured and fell into the water during an intense battle with someone else in Hu Province. In the end, he was rescued by a wandering physician. Hence, the Elder left this key with that wandering physician and told him to come search for him at the Divine Sword Sect if he ever faced a difficult situation in the future…"

"Will I get into trouble for holding this key?"

"That will be up to the will of the Heavens!" Liu Guiyuan sighed. "That elder had pa.s.sed away a few years ago. Before his pa.s.sing, he asked me to look for that wandering physician in Hu Province and pay him a visit to see how he was doing. Two years ago, I arrived at Hu Province and found the wandering physician, but he also had similarly aged. When he realized I was there to visit him on the behalf of someone, he returned this key to me and then pa.s.sed away not long after. Take this key to the Divine Sword Sect and identify yourself as the grandson of that wandering physician. Just tell them that the wandering physician had pa.s.sed this key onto you before he pa.s.sed away and told you to come to the Divine Sword Sect…"

"What happens after I go to the Divine Sword Sect?"

"You shall cultivate like any other disciple in the sect. I won't give you any preferential treatment. You will have to rely on yourself for everything. Do not reveal our relations.h.i.+p to anyone. I will wait until you advance as a Supreme Martial Warrior before I officially accept you as my disciple when the time is right, and then I will secretly pa.s.s on the lineage of Sect Guardian to you!"

"Master, have you never doubted my background?"

"To me, just knowing what kind of person you are is more than enough. Your background is not a concern." Liu Guiyan looked at Yan Liqiang. His gaze was filled with wisdom and benevolence. "A youth your age should still be at home, filial to your father and mother while enjoying the warmth of family. Yet you are wandering alone outside, experiencing all kinds of hards.h.i.+ps. For you to so painstakingly try to join a major sect despite being unable to clarify your own background, you are most likely from a broken family and wish to become competent enough to take revenge against your enemies. Am I right?"

Yan Liqiang's eyes slightly reddened. He bit his lips and nodded.

"Cultivate well when you are in the Divine Sword Sect then. The only factor that can stop one from exacting revenge is their own incompetence. By the time you are competent enough, killing your enemy will be no different than killing a chicken. Nothing can stop you from taking any sort of revenge."

Yan Liqiang nodded at his words…