Ye Tian Yun replied as a matter of fact, "He would kill them before they even have the power to be his enemy."
"Huh? Then what about all the brotherhood talk?" Zheng Xiang was puzzled.
Ye Tian Yun stopped, closed his eyes, took a deep breath as he replied, "Your case is different. You won't get a second chance, no one does. You don't know who your enemies will be or who will betray you or be your sword brother. To me, just the thought that someone could get a second chance sounds absurd and impossible. Even ancient legends and myths are not so ridiculous. Rebirth is impossible. Life is a cycle, and it always moves forward. Never will it turn it's wheels and go backwards. No one knows what plans has fate made for them."
"Yeah, can't deny this." Zheng Xiang gave a nod as both of them had now entered the Martial Book Pavilion.
…
The Martial Book Pavilion of the Gracious Sword Sect was very unique. In this old but carefully kept building were all the sect secrets, top cultivation manuals, and answers to all doubts a cultivator can have.
Legend has it that on the day the legendary Sect Leader of the Gracious Sword Sect, Yuan Xuming, stepped in this Pavilion after Ranking First in his Inner Court Entrance Hunt, he found an incomplete manual. He began to cultivate this incomplete manual and with sheer will and comprehension talent, within few years, he had conjured the fabled Sword Intent. His name resounded throughout the Lower Heavens on the day he revealed his talent and the world witnessed the rise of a peerless cultivator.
He named this incomplete sword technique, the Gracious Sword Technique.
Over the years, hundreds of thousands of cultivators tried comprehending this technique but all of them had only one outcome, they met with failures. However, all of their hardwork was not wasted, and many of the talented ones among those cultivators indirectly created sword moves and techniques based on the Gracious Sword Technique.
The Martial Book Pavilion was the only place in the whole Lower Heavens which housed all these techniques and the legendary techniques, the Gracious Sword Technique, is itself said to be in this building, most probably on the forbidden fifth floor.
Though this is just a rumour, but, it is enough to incite the attention of the powerful organisations from all over the Lower Heavens. If not they were not afraid of the dormant Sword Spirit's power, they would have already levelled up the whole Gracious Sword Sect to a flat field.
With the help of an incomplete cultivation manual, Yuan Xuming became a saint. This alone itself made some stupid cultivators try out any incomplete manual they could find. And the result was as expected, they suffered Qi Deviation.
Even though many suffered such fate, an incomplete manual was always treated like a hidden treasure, even today. And if found by someone, he would most likely practice it. Even though he knows that he is most probably going to suffer Qi Deviation. This was how much tempting a chance of comprehending Sword Intent is.
The Martial Book Pavilion was a five storey building with each floor for different rankings and hierarchies of the Gracious Sword Sect. It's shape was pyramidal, with the top floor being the smallest while the first floor had the largest area and most of the cultivation manuals.
The lowest floor, which was called the Fabulous First floor, was for the Inner Court Disciples. This floor had beginner level cultivation manuals which taught the disciples a little more powerful than basic attacks, but it was more famous for its interior and well kept decore.
Being the floor with most area, this floor had most number of cultivation manuals from all over the Lower Heavens, and among them, the sword techniques were abundant. Most of these cultivation manuals were Rank 1 or 2 with some Rank 3 cultivation manuals hidden in between. But if someone wanted to find a Rank 3 cultivation manual, it would be like finding a needle from a haystack, almost impossible to find.
The second floor was for the Core Disciples. This was also the floor which all inner court disciples wished to enter. This floor was a bit smaller than the first floor and the manual racks here were not very congested. It was like a huge hall with cultivation manuals kept on racks which were then put near the wall. Thus creating a lot of empty space in between. Hence giving it the name, The Serene Second Floor.
This floor housed cultivation manuals of Rank 3 and 4 only.
More than a thousand Rank 3 cultivation manuals were eating dust here, which was in huge contrast to the first where even finding a Rank 3 cultivation manual felt like ascending to the heavens.
As for the Rank 4 cultivation manuals, which were also the rewards for the top disciples of the Inner Court Entrance Hunt, were about ten or so.
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A/n: Refer to the auxiliary chapter to understand more about Qi Deviation.
Bonus Chapter sponsored by Makeshift01.
Thank you for always being there to point out my mistakes.