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He did not intentionally release the power of his cultivation base. However the pressure he naturally exuded seemed capable of crushing anything and everything. Even Xu Qing was shaken to the core, and his golden crow tattoo emanated intense heat.

Upon encountering Sir Mountain-River, Duskspirit, and Wang Chen, the golden crow had heated up. But that was nothing compared to this.

This young man also had an imperial-class technique, and as he neared, the air behind him split apart; a golden dragon emerged, roaring as it swirled around in circles. Every scale on the dragon shone with bright light, and even its draconic whiskers seemed divine. What was more, the dragon’s eyes were incredibly fierce, as if it were a monarch looking down on everything under heaven. Additionally, the golden dragon had a sword in its mouth.

It was… The Emperor’s Sword!

Astonishingly, this young man had successfully gained enlightenment of The Emperor’s Sword!

If that were all there was to it, it might not be so impressive. But to Xu Qing’s astonishment, he could sense life lamps on this young man. Not one life lamp, or two. No, he had three! The young man’s three dazzling life lamps might not be easily noticed by others. But considering that Xu Qing himself had life lamps, he could sense them clearly.

This young man was strong. Very strong! That was what Xu Qing sensed just looking at him. He had sensed danger from Sir Mountain-River, Duskspirit, and Wang Chen. But he still felt confident he could fight them. In contrast, this young man who had just arrived made Xu Qing feel like he was staring up at an immovable mountain. His aura was profoundly shocking and beyond comparison.

As he arrived, all the other swordsages in the area clasped hands respectfully. And yet, all of them were smiling.

“Big Bro Kong!”

“Well met, Big Bro Kong!”

“Long time no see, Big Bro Kong. Your cultivation base has advanced yet again!”

The young man laughed heartily as he saluted everyone in return. Duskspirit, who had previously been devouring blood, now seemed like a charming ‘girl next door.’ Apparently summoning her courage, she hurried over to the newly arrived young man and opened her mouth to speak.

Before she could, he reached out and gently pinched her cheek. “It’s been a year, little Duskspirit! You’ve grown taller!”

Sir Mountain-River and Wang Chen also hurried over and offered greetings with clasped hands.

‘Big Bro Kong’ chuckled. “You shouldn’t go around looking so gloomy all the time, little River. Come on, smile a bit! As for you, mister ‘sleeps in a coffin,’ why don’t you come out drinking with me more often?”

As the young man loudly reunited with his friends, the Captain sent Xu Qing an explanation via divine will.

“See that? That’s the very same monster I mentioned earlier. Kong Xianglong. He was the number one figure in his generation among all of the sects in Sea-Sealing County. He reached the ten-palace level by age twenty-four, which hasn’t been done in the past thousand years! [1]

“There are lots of details about this guy in the intelligence reports I got. He has three life lamps and two imperial-class techniques. One is the Emperor’s Sword, and the other is called the Golden-Dragon Heaven-Patrolling Scripture. What’s more, one of the intelligence reports said that he has a taboo treasure fragment with a fivefold ensorcelling. Last year, he used his nine-palace battle prowess to kill a Nascent Soul Holytide cultivator!”

Xu Qing could pick up on the faint hints of admiration in the Captain’s explanation, and he felt similarly.

“Kong Xianglong has a bold and heroic personality. He’s straightforward, upright, and makes friends easily. In fact, most of the human enemies he makes end up becoming his friends. But he’s brutal when dealing with nonhumans. Supposedly, it’s not uncommon for him to literally rip them to shreds! However, none of that is what I really wanted to emphasize.”

As the Captain watched Kong Xianglong chatting with the others, his eyes glittered with open admiration. “Little Ah Qing, some people seem nice, but are really stuck-up. Other people practice what they preach. Based on Kong Xianglong’s intelligence reports, I had a hard time believing that he’s really that straightforward and upright. Therefore, I tapped into my skills to dig deeper. And guess what? As it turns out, he really is one of those people who practices what they preach!

“His life lamps weren’t gifts from members of the Senior generation. He got them all on his own. And though he’s a brand new swordsage, I heard that he lived his whole life in the Swordsage Palace. Supposedly, he was born a servant. Later on, he risked his life and almost died to earn some military credits. After being allowed to use those military credits to practice cultivation, he slaughtered his way to the top. He crushed countless nonhumans along the way, winning every fight, and braving death to rise to prominence.

“He has one life lamp and one imperial-class technique that he purchased with military credits. As for The Emperor’s Sword, he succeeded after seeking enlightenment only twice! His second life lamp was given to him by his best friend, who had been dealt a mortal blow and couldn’t survive. In front of countless witnesses, his best friend handed over the life lamp and made Kong Xianglong promise to represent him on his journey to the top. He took his third life lamp from the Holytides!

“Even I, your Eldest Brother, have no choice but to greatly respect someone like that!”

The Captain rarely talked like this. Given that, Xu Qing felt deeply moved as he studied Kong Xianglong.

As he was looking in that direction, Kong Xianglong finished catching up with his friends. Looking in Xu Qing’s direction, he laughed heartily and walked over.

“Don’t tell me, little brother, you must be Xu Qing from Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, who got the 30,000-meter pillar of light!”

“Well met, Elder Brother Kong,” Xu Qing said, clasping hands respectfully.

“Xu Qing, I heard about what happened between you and the Justice Palace. I’ve never much liked that shrew from the Yao Clan. I just know she’s always lurking around scheming this and that, trying to use rules and regulations like a command sword to do all the low-down, scum-sucking shit she wouldn’t dare do out in the open. You handled everything beautifully! Let’s find some time to have a few drinks together. My treat!”

As Kong Xianglong laughed heartily again, someone else arrived.

It was none other than Zhang Siyun. His expression was grim. Having heard what Kong Xianglong just said, he glared at him coldly.

However, exactly at the same time, Duskspirit’s expression turned hostile. Sir Mountain-River narrowed his eyes, and Wang Chen, despite smiling, seemed to thrum with killing intent. And all of them were glaring at Zhang Siyun.

Stunned, Zhang Siyun quickly looked away and walked off to the side.

Kong Xianglong turned and looked at him briefly, his eyes flickering with displeasure. Obviously, he was fully aware that Zhang Siyun’s mother was Yao Yunhui from the Justice Palace. He also knew that Zhang Siyun’s mother had done what she did for her son’s sake. But Kong Xianglong couldn’t bear it, nonetheless. He had grown up in the Swordsage Palace, working as a servant, and had thus been deeply influenced by their stated mission to defend humanity. He didn’t mind a bit of stiff competition between swordsages. But he absolutely hated underhanded infighting. And what he abhorred more than anything were tactics the likes of which Zhang Siyun employed.

On the other hand, he already had a good opinion of Xu Qing. That said, he also knew that considering they weren’t friends, saying too much could create a misunderstanding. Therefore, after flashing another smile to Xu Qing, he walked away.

During the entire time, he didn’t spare a single glance for the Captain. As far as Kong Xianglong was concerned, a one-meter pillar of light was a good indication that the Captain wasn’t a good person.

As he walked away, his friends clustered around him. Qing Qiu wasn’t comfortable being with a lot of strangers, so she declined Duskspirit’s invitation to join them, and walked off to stand by herself.

After she was gone, Sir Mountain-River curiously asked, “Big Bro Kong, why are you being so friendly with that Xu Qing?”

Wang Chen and Duskspirit looked similarly curious. Although none of them had any reason to dislike Xu Qing, none of them necessarily got a good feeling from him. That was especially true considering that he had supposedly earned the veneration of the Grand Emperor. None of them were very happy about that.

Grinning, Kong Xianglong said, “You listen to me. If you want to be hostile to other people, that’s fine. But don’t dare be hostile toward Xu Qing. The thing about the veneration of the Grand Emperor is a sham. Forget about that. But what is important is that his answer to the Grand Emperor’s question got him a 30,000-meter pillar of light. And that means you couldn’t find a more trustworthy fighting partner than him.”

“But Big Bro Kong,” Duskspirit said softly, her eyes shining with clear admiration, “you got 26,100 meters! You’re equally trustworthy!”

“That’s exactly my point. I know more than anyone what a 30,000-meter pillar of light indicates regarding one’s inner qualities. Trust me, all of you, I’m a good judge of character. If you make friends with him, you’ll have a friend for life! That said, I do need to find an opportunity to tell Xu Qing to be careful about that Eldest Brother of his with the one-meter light. All it took was one glance at him to know that he’s an unsavory character.”

While Kong Xianglong was conferring with his friends, the Captain was giving advice to Xu Qing.

“Little Ah Qing, I take back what I said. I get the feeling that although Kong Xianglong looks nice, we probably shouldn’t get very close with him.”

Surprised, Xu Qing looked at the Captain.

The Captain cleared his throat. “Just remember who your Eldest Brother is. Me!”

The Captain had noticed how friendly Kong Xianglong was with Xu Qing. People as friendly as that were easy to start treating as an Eldest Brother, and therefore, the Captain was now on guard.

Xu Qing grinned, took an apple out of his bag of holding, and handed it to the Captain. “Have an apple, Eldest Brother.”

The Captain immediately brightened up. After taking a big bite and realizing how sweet the apple was, he waved his hand magnanimously. “Ah, whatever. You still owe me all those spirit stones, but... uh, I’ll give thirty percent off!”

Xu Qing’s smile faded and he turned to look in the direction of Kong Xianglong.

The Captain sighed.

“Fine. 70% off!”

Xu Qing was about to reply when his face suddenly turned somber. The Captain stood straighter. All the surrounding swordsages reacted similarly. Everyone looked in the direction of the Swordsage Palace.

The massive palace looked like one huge building, but the reality was that it contained a maze of smaller palaces. As for the new swordsages, they were outside, directly in front of the palace and in front of its External Hall. The hall had a gold-plated roof, green tiles, and red columns. It was grand and magnificent, with dramatically sloping eaves. It had another name, and that was Oath Hall.

As the crowd went silent, footsteps rang out from inside the palace. Then, five figures appeared, walking out into the brilliant sunlight.

One person led, four followed behind. The one in front was middle-aged. He stood tall and straight in his government uniform, looking threatening without being angry. There seemed to be numerous versions of himself superimposed over each other, as if he contained 10,000 daos. He even seemed to thrum with the sensation that he might soon reach the level of 100,000,000.

The four people behind him were all elderly. All of them also had countless superimposed versions of themselves. They were some distance away from 100,000,000 but they still emanated heaven-shaking, earth-shattering auras.

“I am Master Fullspirit,” said the middle-aged man, “a deputy palace lord of the Swordsage Palace here in Sea-Sealing County. Behind me are the four honor guards of the Swordsage Palace here. We will preside over the oaths and ceremonies today. We will bear witness to your vows and announce your posts. Now, read the decree.”

One of the honor guards stepped forward and spoke in a loud voice. “Title 1 of swordsage law is....”

The ceremony actually wasn’t very complex. As the honor guard explained the rules, all the swordsages present listened intently.

Xu Qing’s expression was somber. It was the same with everyone else, including Kong Xianglong and his friends. Before long, the rules had been read.

“Swordsage law is divided into three titles, seven subtitles, and sixty-nine chapters. You must commit all of that to memory. You swordsages are all from different prefectures. Each prefecture has its own laws based on the local character and customs.

“As new arrivals, it’s normal for you to come in with lofty ambitions and proud attitudes. That’s fine. But that’s only acceptable at first. And there’s something you need to keep in mind. Swordsages are fellow combatants who must be able to fully trust each other!

“In that respect, we’re different from the sects you come from. Sects prioritize profit above all else. But the Swordsage Palace prioritizes responsibility. We prioritize humankind. And we prioritize trust in each other. That is the first thing about yourself that you must change after becoming a swordsage!

“Starting today you’ll undergo seven days of special training. Afterward, you should be able to master some special secret magics available only to swordsages. You’ll also learn about various histories and traditions of humankind, as well as the customs and characteristics of other species.

“If you pass the test at the end of the training, you’ll be assigned a post. If any of you fail to pass the test, then you won’t be given a post.

“Xu Qing. Take nine steps forward!”

Xu Qing took a deep breath. As all of the surrounding swordsages looked on, he walked forward.

1. Kong Xianglong: Kong is listed #99 on the top 100 surnames list. Xiang means “auspicious, propitious” and Long means “dragon.” Kong has a long O sound, so it does NOT sound like ‘kong’ from King Kong. Xiang sort of rhymes with the English word “song”, except that the first sound is halfway between S and SH. Long also has a long O sound. It rhymes with the first syllable “kong” but does not sound like the English word “long.” To hear it pronounced by google, go here and click the “listen” button. Madam Deathblade says this name makes him sound like “an old school nerd.” Given the description of his character in this chapter, I think the name matches him perfectly. ☜