“When my Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect became famous because of our ancestors, the major families across the 13 providences all sent their disciples over. Although these disciples from influential families had good strength and progressed rapidly thanks to the support of their families, their progression slowed down after a while. Most importantly, not many of these disciples from influential families were willing to commit to the sect long term. Look at our inner disciples now—they are mostly disciples from poor families. After all, only those people would feel a sense of belonging from the sect.”

Jian Wuxian’s eyes flickered. He paused for a moment and then slowly continued, “Those disciples from influential families did not have the same thoughts and values as the sect. That’s why later, the method for selecting inner sect disciples changed. We no longer look at their strength, but instead at their character. This caused those major families to get along with the other holy lands instead. Most that entered the inner sect were disciples from poor families. Their early cultivation was slow and then erupted once they had a solid foundation. This is why people have the perception that my Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect doesn’t have any outstanding disciples. The Dawn Wind Elder saw this phenomenon just now and felt a little disappointed. You can see from this training exercise that the disciples that reached the top were mostly disciples from influential families, and very few disciples from poor families made it. However, it is fortunate there are still a few good seedlings.”

Jian Wuxian’s words were a bit vague. On the surface, it was correct, and it was the situation the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect was facing, but it was not the whole situation. He wouldn’t get into the specifics because it would be inconvenient for some of the people here to know.

The sect looked like it lacked some mid and lower ranged disciples to connect the generational gaps, and this caused the sect’s fame to fall to its lowest point. In truth, the true foundation of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect was not something the other holy lands could speculate about. Their top combat power still couldn’t be underestimated, but the sect always had disdain toward disputes outside. They just preferred to be lowkey.

However, as time passed, some of the drawbacks began to show. Even with powerful combat power at the top, they lacked fresh blood to keep the sect running. If a lot of the disciples they trained returned to their families, how many could be used by the sect?

The worries of the higher-ups were not unreasonable. That’s why in recent years, they had changed their method of recruitment and training. They no longer accepted a large number of disciples and allocated more resources into disciples from poor families. This caused these influential families to send their descendents to other holy lands. This made the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect seem even more deserted.

However, since when has the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect cared about any of this? As long as the sect had power, who would care about what the others were saying?

The Void Suspension Sect had a foundation no weaker than the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect. During its heyday, the number of people in the sect could be counted with two hands, and each generation basically only had one disciple. Yet it was still one of the seven holy lands. Strength was the real reason why a sect could last!

Jian Wuxian deliberately looked at Du Jun and Zhang Xu’s expressions. When he saw them harboring ill intent, he sneered. However, he said, “Let’s go, there is nothing left to see. What remains is just an internal fight. I believe everyone has an idea about this new generation of disciples.”

After he finished speaking, the air around Jian Wuxian became somewhat distorted. Ripples appeared, but none of his aura could be felt.

Jian Wuxian suddenly and thought-provokingly said, “What’s left is to wait for the inner sect selection and pick your disciples, but… I wonder how many disciples from influential families will make it to the inner sect.”

Then he disappeared into thin air, leaving the appalled Du Jun and Zhang Xu, who were staring at where Jian Wuxian disappeared. It looked like the Head Teacher’s cultivation had another breakthrough!

……..

Wu Hua Peak.

Zhao Jiuge looked at the movement and saw a dozen or so figures running toward the top. Behind them were bright flashes of silver sword energy.

Zhao Jiuge was shocked. He wondered if it was another dozen or so Foundation Realm disciples from the other two peaks. Then he noticed that these dozen or so figures were all familiar faces—they were the group that followed Luo Xie. However, they were in a sorry state; some of them had blood stains on their clothes. The person in front was Luo Xie himself.

When Luo Xie saw Zhao Jiuge and Bai Qingqing, he finally revealed a look of relief. He gasped for air and his eyes were filled with excitement. “It’s good that you guys are here; otherwise, we would be doomed.”

Zhao Jiuge was confused. He rolled his eyes and said, “What are you even talking about? Speak clearly.”

Luo Xie looked at Bai Qingqing and quickly swallowed before he slowly said, “After you left, I followed your instructions and moved around the mountainside. We fought those we could beat and ran from those we couldn’t. We managed to harvest over 100 flags, but then we stopped encountering people. It turned out Mu Zijun’s group was doing the same thing, so we went into hiding. Then we estimated that the battle up here should be over, so we came up to see if you were defeated. If you guys had lost, then no matter how many flags we gathered, it would be pointless. Unfortunately, Mu Zijun’s group of five was still guarding the only path up here, so we came into conflict with them. Fortunately, we saw you guys here, so we rushed over, but they still took down a dozen or so people.”

After Luo Xie finished speaking, he took a deep breath and looked behind him. At this moment, more than a dozen youths were gathered behind him. Those that hadn’t come must have been taken out.

Zhao Jiuge squinted and quietly said, “Oh? That turtle bastard Mu Zijun is finally willing to come out of his shell. The treasure I promised you guys is done. Now it’s time to settle the old and new grudges with them. I’ll pay them back for always bullying you guys.” 

Then he thought about what Luo had said. He had more than 100 flags and Luo Xie had about 100 more as well, meaning they only had about 200 flags. There were nearly 500 disciples in total from the three peaks. That meant that even if there were some scattered disciples still hiding, the remaining flags had to be with Mu Zijun.

While Zhao Jiuge was secretly pondering, the remaining dozen people, including Luo Xie, began to laugh. At the same time, they couldn’t help but feel excited. It was the same mood that Zhao Jiuge felt when he first held a flying sword. They were all about to have their own flying swords!

“Hahahaha, Zhao Jiuge, I really admire you. You’re so strong that you dealt with the disciples of the other two sects, while we have dealt with most of the remaining people. Our Mysterious Heaven Peak has won.” Mu Zijun walked in laughing and pretending to clap. The youth with the scar and Bai Zimo and the others followed him.

Seeing that hypocritical and strange smile, Zhao Jiuge felt a wave of disgust. He didn’t give them any face and sarcastically said, “Oh, the turtle is finally willing to stretch his head out to be slaughtered?” 

Mu Zijun smiled without a care, but just because he could endure, that didn’t mean the people beside him could.

“Zhao Jiuge, why don’t you look at your pathetic state? Yet you still bark like a dog,” the youth with the scar roared in anger. When he saw the bloody Zhao Jiuge wrap his arm around Bai Qingqing, his jealousy had overtaken him.

Zhao Jiuge smiled. “You’re going to bite me?”

“Not only is this old man going to bite you, I’m going to beat you.” The youth with the scar was blinded by rage and jealousy, so he didn’t pay attention to the deeper meaning of the words.

“I can deal with all the people from the Mysterious Strange Peak and Mysterious Fallen Peak. I naturally don’t care about the five of you.” Zhao Jiuge’s face was filled with disdain.

At this moment, Mu Zijun suddenly said, “Then let’s see you try today. I already can’t stand you.”

“Hahaha…” Zhao Jiuge first burst out laughing, then his expression became serious. “There are more than just one or two people who stand with me. It’s a good chance to show off the skill I prepared to deal with the other two peaks that I didn’t get to use. The turtle finally came out from his shell for me to use it.”

The more Zhao Jiuge spoke, the more he made people angry. Even Wang Baiwan, who had remained silent and wore a complicated gaze, felt rage igniting in his heart. His expression became a little ugly.

Liu Yinger, who hadn’t spoken to Zhao Jiuge since they parted, stood out and softly said, “Zhao Jiuge, I think it's best to forget it. We are all from the same peak, and if we fought amongst each other, we would just be making fools out of ourselves. Right now, the disciples of all three peaks are watching us.” However, her voice was a little cold and there was none of the enthusiasm from the past. She held to a sliver of hope that the two sides wouldn’t fight. Zhao Jiuge would inevitably suffer and she couldn’t bear to do anything personally, but she had to take Mu Zijun’s side. She was already part of their group and her family had a lot of connections with their families.

Zhao Jiuge noticed both Liu Yinger and Wang Baiwan’s expressions, but they were no longer on the same path. Zhao Jiuge did feel some regret about the past, but he could not just let go of the grievances with Bai Zimo, Mu Zijun, and the youth with the scar.

After he pondered a bit, he exclaimed, “I should give up just because you say so? Then what about all the brothers around me that have been beaten before? How can I face them? Today, no one will be able to stop this. This training exercise is the perfect chance to fight. The old and new grudges will be settled together!”

After Liu Yinger heard Zhao Jiuge’s declaration, she stubbornly forced herself not to reveal her feelings. Her expression became cold and she quietly said, “Since you ask for it, then wait to be dealt with.”

After she finished speaking, she turned to leave. She gave up on her idea of being the mediator, because Zhao Jiuge was hugging a girl that was better than her.