“Hop on.” Xin Yan leapt onto the Sword Condor and called out to the two boys. The boys collected themselves and exchanged a glance, everyone could see the shock in their eyes.
“Big Sister Xin Yan, you’re domineering!” shouted Li Wuyou.
“Cut the nonsense. Let’s get going,” responded Xin Yan.
When Liu Yue saw Lin Yun and Li Wuyou jumping on the Sword Condor, she immediately panicked and roared, “They’re not allowed to go! You four, why aren’t you stopping them?!”
The four guards exchanged a glance, none of them dared to step forward. They had already lost their identities, becoming mere guards of the Herbal Hall. There was no way they could offend someone like Xin Yan. Furthermore, they didn’t have the confidence to defeat Xin Yan even if they worked together. So despite Liu Yue shouting at them from the side, none of them dared to move. After all, they knew that they would definitely suffer if they did.
The majestic Sword Condor unfolded its wings and soared into the sky, rising above the clouds.
“Xin Yan, I won’t let this matter rest!” Liu Yue stomped her foot and roared hysterically. Women were strange creatures. Lin Yun gave her three lashes on her back, but the one she hated was Xin Yan.
The Sword Firmament Pavilion was situated within the mountain range. The scenery was pleasant, filled with rivers, pavilions, and countless other constructs. The one who held the most authority in the Sword Firmament Pavilion was naturally the Pavilion Master. The eighteen Sword-Bearing Elders of the Sword-Bearing Hall had the second most authority. Collectively, they represented the pavilion’s upper hierarchy.
After them, several hall masters held various authority positions. They were the hall masters from the Contribution Hall, Elders Hall, Pellet Hall, and Martial Hall.
The Contribution Hall is responsible for distributing missions and exchanging contributions to raise one’s ranking in the sect. The Elders Hall is responsible for educating disciples, keeping the sect in order, and guarding the important grounds; they are the sect’s cornerstone. The Pellet Hall, as the name implies, is where pellets are refined. Pellets are significant resources for cultivators and are necessary to develop a sect. Last but not least, the Martial Hall is where cultivation and martial techniques are kept.
“Those are the four halls. All the sects out there have similar setups, the only difference is how they are named. Now, let me explain the five great lands of the sect to you guys,” Xin Yan gave Lin Yun and Li Wuyou a rundown of the sect’s setup.
The halls she previously mentioned were common types and there wasn’t anything new about them. The two of them wanted to know if the Sword Firmament Pavilion had any treasured lands that belonged to them.
The first was the Myriad Sword Platform that contained the Myriad Sword Steps and Myriad Sword Painting. The Myriad Sword Painting was an important treasure of the sect. It was left by the sect’s founder. It was a painting with countless sword crossings. There wasn't anything else aside from swords. Lin Yun and Li Wuyou once saw the painting back in the branch. However, the real copy could be found on the Myriad Sword Platform, allowing disciples to temper their sword aura with it and comprehend sword intent.
The second land would be the Cloudy Sword Pavilion. It had a total of twelve levels and completion of each level would grant a secret technique. Secret techniques weren’t like martial techniques, they didn’t have any grades and they were generally more powerful. Grasping a secret technique wouldn’t boost cultivation, but it could greatly boost fighting strength.
The third land was the Burial Sword Peak. Before seniors of the sect die, they would bury their swords deep in the mountain. If anyone could obtain those swords, they would obtain a powerful artifact. Additionally, they could also receive that senior’s inheritance if their comprehension was strong enough.
The fourth land was the Soul Sword Pavilion, a place for disciples to strengthen their Martial Souls.
Last but not least, the Sword Burial Woods was the fifth land..
“The Myriad Sword Platform, Cloudy Sword Pavilion, Burial Sword Peak, Soul Sword Pavilion, and Sword Burial Woods…” Lin Yun muttered. “Can the Sword Burial Woods also be considered a treasured land? I mean, anyone who goes there will certainly die.”
“Speaking of the Sword Burial Woods, the two of you should be more familiar with that place than I am. I still have no idea what it looks like. Why don’t you two tell me more about it?” Xin Yan turned to look at Lin Yun and Li Wuyou.
Li Wuyou gave her an awkward smile. He had a nightmarish experience when he was in the Sword Burial Woods. Before he left, he even took a few Snowdragon Carps from Lord Thirteen. As for Lin Yun, he received lots of help from Lord Thirteen, so there was no way he could reveal the secrets in there.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I don’t have any intention of visiting that place to begin with. Aside from the places I mentioned, the Sword Firmament Pavilion also has a somewhat similar place called the Alliance-Union.” Xin Yan smiled.
“Alliance-Union?” asked Lin Yun.
“That’s right. This is where disciples establish their own Alliance-Union. For example, Wang Yan is the Gentleman Union’s Vice-Union Master. He has gathered a large number of elite disciples under him through that alliance. That is also one of the stronger alliances in the Sword Firmament Pavilion.”
“Ptooh! That piece of shit dares to call himself a gentleman? His presence alone is a defilement for gentlemen. What a disgrace.” Li Wuyou cursed. He had a strong opinion about Wang Yan.
“Big Sister Xin Yan, you should also have an Alliance-Union of your own, right?” Lin Yun asked.
“That’s for sure. I’m the Locket Mountain’s Vice-Union Master. I’m basically in charge of it and I’m here to invite the two of you in. Are you two interested?” she asked.
Lin Yun and Li Wuyou naturally did not have any objections to joining her union. They could tell that the Locket Mountain had a high position in the Sword Firmament Pavilion, not to mention that Xin Yan had helped them out several times. Since the two of them had offended Wang Yan, they naturally needed a force to protect them. So regardless of personal feelings or logic, they should join the Locket Mountain.
“Hehe. Come here. I’ll imprint it for you two.” Xin Yan turned around and imprinted the Locket Mountain’s emblem on Lin Yun and Li Wuyou. The emblem was a small mountain with an ancient sword on top of it, it was the symbol of the Lock Mountain.
A brief moment later, the Sword Condor descended. Xin Yan had brought them to the rookies’ residence. They were all shabby shacks. Aside from the abundance of spiritual energy here, this place had no other advantage. But Lin Yun and Li Wuyou weren’t picky. They casually picked two houses to reside in.
“These are your Sword Firmament Tokens. The Nine Stars Contest restarted after you two left a month ago, so the two of you got zeros for it. For now, your Sword Firmament Tokens are at the lowest grade.” Xin Yan handed two metallic tokens to the two of them and continued, “Keep in mind that if you want to raise your authority in the sect, you will have to increase your Sword Firmament Token’s grade. Otherwise, you won’t be able to go anywhere, not to mention that you guys will also receive pitiful tributes. The three great lands aside from the Myriad Sword Platform require third grade Sword Firmament Tokens.”
Xin Yan paused briefly and continued, “Also, you guys can only stay in the first level at the Martial Hall and pick some insignificant cultivation techniques.”
“How do we increase the grades of our token?” Li Wuyou asked anxiously.
“You can only do so through contributions. You will receive contributions for each mission you do. You can also exchange spiritual jades for contributions. This is only your first step in the Sword Firmament Pavilion, so you two still have a long way to go,” Xin Yan smiled and gave them an encouraging look.
Spiritual jades were refined from spiritual rocks, cleansing the impurities and supplementing them with starlight energy. It was the common currency of not just the Great Qin Empire, but the entire Southern Ancient Domain.
Lin Yun and Li Wuyou had nothing, so it wouldn’t be easy for them to swap spiritual jades for contributions.
“However, it’s not like you two don’t have any options. The Sword Firmament Pavilion also has the Heaven, Earth, and Mortal Rankings. You can obtain contributions by rising through the rankings. I won’t go in more detail. You two can ask around for it.” Xin Yan immediately left on her Sword Condor.
Li Wuyou looked at Xin Yan with unwillingness for a long time before he withdrew his gaze. Turning to Lin Yun, he asked, “Big Brother, where are you going next?”
He was feeling excited. Now that they’d left the Herbal Peak and obtained their Sword Firmament Tokens, they could be considered official disciples of the Sword Firmament Pavilion. They were just one month later than the others.
Lin Yun pondered briefly before he answered, “I have no idea, but I definitely have to make a trip to the Pellet Hall and Myriad Sword Platform.”
“Then I’ll head to the Contribution Hall to find out how we increase the grades of our Sword Firmament Tokens. After all, it’s embarrassing that only we have to start with a zero grade among the rookies,” Li Wuyou replied.