Fusang Sword Heart Diagram

Chapter 64 The Task of Drawing Lots

Ning Fusang drew a lot, looked at it, and then handed it to the other people in the group.

Apart from Shi Zhouyun and Ning Fusang's differing expectations, the other three—Li Yeshan, Zheng Xiaohui, and Zhi Xiaocao—were all on her anticipated list.

Their task was to bring back a spirit sword named "Still Water." The Still Water Sword was a flying sword obtained by an inner disciple from the Sword Pavilion. It was a second-tier sword and not considered particularly valuable by the Southern Star Sword Sect.

Six months ago, this inner disciple went on a mission, his life lamp went out, and his sword was lost outside. A month ago, the Still Water Sword appeared in Linzhou City. Ning Fusang and his group's mission was to bring this spiritual sword back, reseal it, and place it in the Sword Pavilion to await a new master.

After each outer sect competition, a group of disciples would enter the Sword Pavilion to select spirit swords. Since there was only outflow and no inflow, the Sword Pavilion would probably be empty by now. Therefore, whenever a disciple died and a spirit sword was lost outside, the sect would send disciples to bring the sword back to increase the inventory.

Generally speaking, this task is assigned to inner disciples, but the Jing Shui Sword is only of the second rank. Giving it to an inner disciple would be a waste of its talent, so it ended up in the hands of Ning Fusang and his group.

After exchanging words for a while, Gu Pingsheng tapped the table lightly to signal for quiet. Once the preaching hall was silent, he said, "The rating standard for this mission will be based on the condition of everyone when the team returns."

Everyone fell silent, not quite understanding what it meant.

Gu Pingsheng continued, "If two people in the team die, the assessment is considered a failure. If one person dies, no matter how well the mission is completed, the score will only be D. Serious injuries and minor injuries will result in point deductions depending on the circumstances. In short, the less casualties you suffer while completing the mission, the higher your score will be."

As soon as Gu Pingsheng finished speaking, various noisy sounds arose in the preaching hall.

"Will there be any danger to my life while doing missions?"

"I have never had a real fight. When I practice swordsmanship, I only do it lightly."

"This is so difficult on my first mission..."

"Judging from what Master Gu is saying, does that mean someone is bound to die on this trip?"

A group of flowers under a big tree have no courage to face the wind and rain on their own. Their average age is fourteen or fifteen, and the youngest, Jiang Xin, has just turned twelve this year. Before joining the sect, they were just ordinary mortal children.

Upon hearing that people might die, Jiang Xin's expression stiffened. Although she was already a second-level cultivator, she still had to shoulder the safety of the entire team, which would put her under pressure.

The group that was assigned to Ning Fusang looked at the other teams and suddenly felt that their own team was quite safe, since Ning Fusang had been on missions before.

But they didn't know that two disciples at the second level of the cultivation realm died during Ning Fusang's mission.

A disciple in the corner raised his hand and asked, "Master Gu, do people really die on missions?"

Gu Pingsheng said, "Of the fifty-three new disciples in the previous session, only forty-six of them ultimately participated in the outer sect competition."

Instantly, the mission house fell completely silent; you could hear a pin drop.

The disciple asked in a trembling voice, "Seven disciples died in one assessment?"

This mortality rate is rather high.

Gu Pingsheng smiled and shook his head, saying, "Not that many, only three disciples died."

He was a little confused about how this was calculated. Out of fifty-three new disciples, only forty-six participated in the outer sect competition. Wasn't that seven people short?
Xu Jianjia's eyebrows twitched. Chen Ming was killed by Ning Fusang, and she herself was punished to go to the Sword Washing Pool. There were two people missing here. Three people died during the assessment, so there were two people left. They were neither dead nor participated in the outer sect competition.

Xiao Qiu asked curiously, "Miss, where did the other two go?" She turned to Gu Pingsheng and asked loudly, "Master Gu, where are the other two?"

Gu Pingsheng glanced at her and said slowly, "He went down the mountain."

It took everyone a moment to realize what Gu Pingsheng meant by "going down the mountain." They had stopped cultivating immortality, or perhaps stopped learning swordsmanship, and instead joined other immortal sects to become magic cultivators.

Learning the law is at least physically easier than learning swordsmanship. As for the mental torment, those who learn swordsmanship cannot fully empathize with it.

Several times, while practicing swordsmanship, they considered giving up. In the end, they gritted their teeth and persevered, just like when they climbed Dudao Peak.

Gu Pingsheng concluded, “Once you embark on the path of cultivation, danger lurks everywhere. First-level cultivators will die, and ninth-level cultivators will also die. Whether you can turn danger into safety depends on yourselves. Only those who survive can participate in the outer sect competition next spring.”

"Of course, as your teacher, I naturally hope that all of you will return safely."

Outside the preaching hut, there was a clanging sound. Yang Ruo patted his storage bag, revealing dozens of black iron swords piled haphazardly on the ground.

He stood outside the door and bowed to Gu Pingsheng.

Gu Pingsheng nodded lightly and looked at everyone: "I have already applied to the sect for these Xuan Tie swords. Each person can take two."

"In addition, you may remove the iron rings on your wrists from today onwards."

Everyone wore the wrist rings for two years. At first, they felt uncomfortable, but later they gradually stopped feeling their presence. If Gu Pingsheng hadn't reminded them, no one would have remembered that they still had wrist rings.

At this moment, after removing the black iron ring, my wrist suddenly felt light, as if I had regained my freedom from shackles. It felt light and airy, and I could hardly feel the presence of my arm.

Gu Pingsheng gestured for Yang Ruo to come in and take away the iron rings.

He stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the group of students outside carrying black iron swords, his eyes filled with emotion. In the blink of an eye, two years had passed.

"Master," Yang Ruo reported after putting away the iron rings. He looked at the group and asked, "Are they going to do their performance evaluation task?"

Gu Pingsheng hummed in response, without saying anything more.

After everyone chose their swords and stood together in their respective teams, Yang Ruo muttered to herself, "Ning Shimei's group doesn't seem to have a very strong average strength."

Gu Pingsheng addressed the crowd, saying, "This assessment will begin the day after tomorrow, but I'm giving you all a day off today. So, once you've chosen your swords, you may leave."

Tomorrow is a day off, and today is a holiday, so they have two days to prepare.

Shi Zhouyun looked at Ning Fusang: "Senior Sister Ning, what do we need to prepare?"

It was obvious that Ning Fusang was the backbone of this mission. Everyone looked at her. The sixteen-year-old girl casually said, "If we have money, we can take a day off tomorrow and buy more defensive items."

After all, they were only at the first level of cultivation, lacking both offensive and spiritual power. They had one or two defensive magical artifacts on them, which saved her the trouble of rescuing people.

Zhi Xiaocao nodded seriously; this was necessary. Although he didn't have many spirit stones, with Senior Sister Ning's guidance, he had found his direction.

(End of this chapter)