"The sect leader accepted you as her disciple?" Chao Xiaojian asked Fang Lang as they landed on the ground.

Fang Lang nodded and said, "She even told me to retrieve the three swordsWithering Lotus, Circling Lotus and Reincarnating Lotus. They seem to be involved in something important. Master was able to rip through the barriers because she was summoned by the Blooming Lotus Sword. Perhaps she could return to the Tang Dynasty once I gathered all three swords."

Chao Xiaojian's eyes brightened upon hearing Fang Lang's explanation.

"You're right!"

However, Chao Xiaojian furrowed his eyebrows shortly after.

"The Withering Lotus Sword is guarding a secret place in the Meridian Guild... The Circling Lotus Sword is in the All-Seeing Buddha Sect as the guardian of the sea of Buddhas... The Reincarnating Lotus Sword was stuck in the Main Path Mausoleum ever since our sect leader defeated Zhao Longshi from the Main Path Guild. Anyways, these three swords are situated in the three greatest sects of Tang Dynasty. It would not be an easy task to retrieve all three swords! The more pressing issue is whether the three sects would allow you to draw the swords even if you could." Chao Xiaojian felt a growing headache.

However, Fang Lang's words made sense. If one Blooming Lotus Sword was able to summon the sect leader, maybe she could return to the world if she was summoned along with the other three swords.

Chao Xiaojian's eyes lit up. If his prediction was true, they would not need to fear the other sects, not even the Main Path Guild, All Seeing Buddha Sect or the Meridian Guild!

The worst case scenario was that they would end up in a battle!

Chao Xiaojian's eyes seemed a little lost as he stared at the pouring rain.

He vaguely remembered the scene.

There was a blizzard that year.

The entire nation was covered in snow, hundreds of people lost their homes and frozen bodies were found along the streets and out in the wild.

A frail young boy and his sister were begging on the streets, cold and famished.

He begged, stole, got into fights... The young boy had done all sorts of things in order to keep his sister and himself alive.

However, he still lost her to hunger. She died in an old temple, he cried silently beside her stiff body.

He carried her lifeless body and left the city. He planned to bring her home and bury her beside their parents grave.

The young boy was so hungry that he almost lost consciousness.

Suddenly, he saw a breath-taking female blade lord in a white dress.

She touched his head gently. Then, she snapped her fingers and blade energy started to rise. They flew across thousands of miles back to his homeland and he finally buried his sister beside his house.

The young boy begged the female blade lord to take him as a disciple but she rejected his request.

He followed her stubbornly in the snowstorm.

The female blade lord still refused to take him in, but she did not leave him behind. Both of them continued walking. She had helped many others along the way, fought off robbers, bandits and saved refugees from dangers.

Back then, the young man swore in his heart that one day he would become a great sword master like the female blade lord.

A noble sword master like her.

After that, the female blade lord brought him back to Mount Shu. Although she did not agree to accept him as her disciple, the young boy's talents and core shocked the entire Mount Shu. The sect leader of the Sword Guild back then took him in as his disciple and the female blade lord became his senior.

Until... now.

Chao Xiaojian regained his senses and watched Fang Lang with mixed feelings.

This kid... How could he be better than himself?

He was neither better looking nor as confident as him. Why did she agree to take him as her disciple?

Was it because of his shamelessness?

"That's great. From now onwards, I, Chao Xiaojian, will be your fellow master! Your status in the Sword Guild is also upgraded to a young fellow master!" Chao Xiaojian said.

Fang Lang rubbed the back of his head and smiled warmly.

This was all an accident. He just wanted to be on the good side of Taihua Blade Lord.

Around them, Huang Ying, Jiang Linglong, and the others stared at them with an odd expression.

A shade of jealousy flashed across Pei Liao's face.

He also wanted to be the disciple of Taihua Blade Lord but he was rejected harshly. In the end, she chose Fang Lang as her disciple.

The rain was still pouring relentlessly.

They did not linger any further.

Pei Liao left with the Imperial Court of Judicial Review officials, bringing the body of the Minister of Rites, Zhou Yiyuan along with them.

This matter involved too many stakeholders. The first prince, Li Tianlin's supporters would most likely receive serious punishments.

Fang Lang and the others chose to take a rest at the Resource Station. Chao Xiaojian also stayed behind to safeguard them instead of returning to Changan.

The Qianlong Resource Battle halted because of this matter. Most of the disciples from the other sects chose to wait at the Resource Station for the upcoming arrangements.

In Changan City.

The entire palace was shocked when Pei Liao and the Imperial Court of Judicial Review officials brought back Zhou Yiyuan's body.

Pei Liao revealed everything that happened in the Youzhou Demon Portal, leaving no details behind.

Pei Liao kneeled before the Taiji Palace.

The first prince's group had framed the third prince and plotted a huge scheme together with traitor Nan Yehuo. It was quite certain that they were planning to overthrow the Emperor.

Pei Liao also mentioned that the death of the first prince, Li Tianlin was caused by Taihua Blade Lord.

Of course, Pei Liao did not reveal that Wen Ting had been feeding his sword for a decade just so he could impale the first prince, and that Fang Lang was the one who chopped off his head. To him, those were acts of self-defense.

Furthermore, since the first prince's evil plan was exposed, he would not be free from the crimes he had committed. There was no need to drag Fang Lang and Wen Ting into this mess.

The great figure in the Taiji Palace seemed furious today.

The Taiji Palace kept issuing edicts, each one deadlier than before!

The officials who were supporters of the first prince were crouching on the ground as they received their judgment.

All of those who participated in this scheme were sent to jail. Some of them who were in the position of power were immediately beheaded outside the Vermilion Bird Gate.

Crimson blood dyed the snow red.

The Emperor was so infuriated that it shook the entire Tang Dynasty.

Donglu's Sword League was eradicated as a sect and all of their members were sentenced to death.

The Main Path Guild's sect leader, Zhao Longshi personally rode to Changan on his crane with a severed head of an elder from his sect to report his crimes in front of Changan City.

This elder was the one who gave Nan Yehuo the Great Elixir Pill.

However, the Emperor was not satisfied. He ordered Zhao Longshi to enter the demon realm to kill three ninth-class great demons as a punishment.

The Emperor's decision shook everyone. Even though it was a known fact that the Main Path Guild was the biggest supporter of the first prince, the Emperor had shown his uncompromising attitude in this matter as the decision was made without direct evidence.

Zhao Longshi received his punishment respectfully and left on his crane.

The third prince, Li Liancheng, also received punishment. Although he was framed by the first prince, he was once very close to the Donglu's Sword League, so he received his fair share of punishment.

He was grounded in the Cold Palace for three years!

Li Liancheng's eyes turned red when he heard his punishment. He was outraged as he was a victim too. However, he remembered the scene where the Emperor killed Nan Yehuo with one palm attack and accepted his fate.

The snow in Changan deepened.

Folks were shook when they heard the news.

No one expected that this year's royal celebration would be commemorated with severed heads!

The Qianlong Resource Battle resumed with the Emperor sending the fifth princess to oversee the battle.

The Sword Guild disciples were immediately qualified for the finals as they were unfairly treated throughout the resource battle. In addition to that, the resources gained by the Donglu's Sword Guild would be transferred to the Sword Guild.

Half the total amount of resources earned by the Main Guild Path's disciples would be given to the Sword Guild as well.

Even though the disciples were not satisfied with the decision, they dared not make a move after seeing the gorgeous female blade lord mounted in between the barriers of the two worlds in the Thousand-Mile Mirror.

From this day onwards, the Sword Guild was no longer the old sect that had been dwindling over the past ten years.

With Xuanyuan Taihua alive, the Sword Guild would not be bullied by others anymore!

At the fourth Resource Station in the Youzhou Demon Portal, Fang Lang and the others let out a sigh of relief after hearing the judgment from Changan.

Wen Ting and Fang Lang had mentally prepared themselves to receive some sort of punishment, but they did not expect themselves to be exempted from the punishments as the first prince was sentenced with the crime of rebellion and that Xuanyuan Taihua was the one who killed him.

Both of them were exempted from being executed by the Tang Code's red arrow.

Regarding the compensation they received for the resource battle, Fang Lang was stunned when he heard that they would be entering the finals and also obtaining half of the Main Path Guild's resources.

This was such a satisfying win!

The Main Path Guild's disciples had to risk their lives in the resource battle for their benefit.

Fang Lang thought that Li Yuanzhen would be furious if he heard the news.

Fang Lang glanced at Liu Bubai who was holding the broadsword.

Even though Liu Bubai had not done much in this battle, he never thought that his willpower could influence the resource battle.

After a short commotion, silence was restored in the fourth Resource Station.

Everyone took out their spirit crystals and resumed the battle.

Fang Lang started to finalize the rewards that he earned from this battle. He could not deny that battling was the best way to improve one's strength.

Fang Lang endured the Tang Code's red arrow and significantly improved his spiritual sense, which made him level up to a fifth-grade spell advisor!

For sword mastery, he managed to attain a third-grade sword wave realm. This was the result of two Power Loan Cards and a half-completed Sword Nurturing Spell.

Even though his advancements were limited, Fang Lang's martial arts mastery was stabilized as a third-class martial arts master at the blood-bending realm with the help of the Code.

Overall, Fang Lang's strength was greatly enhanced!

These were just on the surface.

'Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the mission. It was accomplished perfectly. Awarded with a random sword spell from Xuanyuan Taihua, the sword spell would allow the host to evolve to sword wave specialty.'

This was Fang Lang's reward from leaving a crack in the Code when he was on the mission!

'Ding! Host and binding partner, Wen Ting casted the Sword Nurturing Spell together and fought the enemies side-by-side. Deep cultivation was achieved, triggering passive cultivation and rewarded with Meta Sword Nurturing Spell.'

The System's notification popped up in Fang Lang's mind. The rewards awarded to Fang Lang were beyond his expectations.

Meta Sword Nurturing Spell?

Fang Lang's eyes sparkled in excitement. Was this the half-completed spell he casted when he activated the Power Loan Card?

The power was immense!

If Fang Lang had the opportunity, he would be able to kill fourth-class beings!

Rain was still pouring heavily, the droplets hit the ground and rippled through the surface of puddles.

A few light blue-robed figures were walking in the rain.

The atmosphere around them was tense. They were the disciples of the Main Path Guild. They were outraged when they received the news back at the Resource Station, even their senior, An Fan's expression darkened.

They did not complain about the unjust ruling as the Main Path Guild was involved with Nan Yehuo's assasination of the Emperor after taking the Great Elixir Pill.

However, they were still unconvinced.

"If that's the case... We will meet the Sword Guild disciples in the final battle! We will destroy them in the finals and let them realize that they are not worthy of these resources!"

In Changan City, the flight swords filled the sky like a swarm of bees, soaring across the Tang Dynasty's sky in all directions.

In the heavily guarded Western Region Demon Portal, the atmosphere was tense as dust swept up from the sandy earth.

Inside the barracks, a small guard delivered the news from Changan to Asi Laoshan.

"The third prince is grounded in the Cold Palace for three years? The first prince is dead and the third prince is imprisoned in the Cold Palace. This battle of the throne is a joke." Asi Laoshan put down the letter and closed his eyes slowly.

Even though he was not physically present in the Imperial City, it was as though he had experienced the entire bloodbath.

As if he could see the gorgeous Taihua Blade Lord, witnessed Nan Yehuo explode with monstrous strength after taking the Great Elixir Pill which almost made him transcend.

He also saw the palm of the great Emperor.

Asi Laoshan opened his brooding eyes.

He walked out of the tent and stared at the endless sand dunes and the towering demon portal in the air.

"Something's... not right. There was something off about the crisis in Changan."

At the same time, in one of the barracks thousands of miles away from the Western Region Demon Portal, Song Xianzhi had finished reading the letter sent by the flight sword.

He tapped gently on the table with his fingers and a frown formed on his handsome face, "This is not right, everybody seemed to have forgotten about someone. What was Jiang Wushen doing in such a major crisis? Why did he stay quiet?"