Fusang Sword Heart Diagram

Chapter 98 First Place on the Mirror Ranking
When Ning Fusang returned to the sect, the results of several courses had already been released. They were prominently displayed on the ranking list of Kaiyang Peak, the main peak of the inner sect.

The area was crowded with disciples who had come to see the results.

"Three hundred and eighty-seven points, how come it's so much worse than I expected? But it's okay, it's a grade of 'C'."

"I haven't seen my score yet, can you help me find it? I can't be at the very bottom of the list, can I...?" He remembered that he had filled out his test paper completely.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, let me check my grades for another subject first, then I'll check yours."

"500 points in the Spirit Plant Encyclopedia... Hiss, who is this? In recent years, apart from Senior Sister Jinzhen, Shen Yuanxi, Liang Heng, and Senior Brother Chi Leng, no one has ever gotten a perfect score. I didn't expect another one to come out!"

"The highest score last time was He Jiaxiu, I remember she got 476 points."

"He Jiaxiu has a senior who got a perfect score and tutored her, so it's not surprising that she got first place. Min Qianyun is quite impressive, though, she was only one point short."

Looking at the three large characters at the top of the ranking list, and the blatant 500 points behind them, someone asked, "Who is Ning Fusang?"

"Senior brother has been in seclusion for a long time and may not know that Ning Fusang is the first place winner in this year's outer sect competition."

"Oh, that."

"It's alright that they haven't taken any spell classes yet since they've just entered the inner sect. But this year's 'Golden Touch,' 'Void Step,' 'Cloud Soaring,' and 'Earth Shrinking' spells are really too difficult. Out of the thirty-six spells, I haven't mastered the essentials of twenty-six."

“Sigh, I heard from a senior sister who is my direct disciple that next year we will learn ‘Spring Encounter’ and ‘Entering Dreams’. These two techniques are much more difficult than the thirty-six techniques we learned this year. Many people have studied hard for three to five years and still haven’t been able to master them.”

"..."

Hua Yue and Dong Fangfei came together to check the results. Dong Fangfei was a diligent and hardworking person when she was in the outer sect. After entering the inner sect, she found that there were countless people with outstanding talents who were also very hardworking. Fearing that her cultivation progress would fall behind, she spent ten hours a day cultivating.

Swordsmanship and kendo classes require effort without aptitude, but for classes like the Monster Encyclopedia and Spirit Plant Encyclopedia, as long as you memorize them diligently, you won't do too badly on the test.

She saw her scores: 401 and 392, which she was fairly satisfied with. Her final grade was at least between A and B.

Hua Yue's gaze shifted from the Mirror Ranking List to the side, and she sighed slightly, "Senior Sister Ning... she got first place in every subject. She is indeed very capable."

She almost forgot that Ning Fusang was already a direct disciple, and she should call her senior sister instead of junior sister. Fortunately, she realized her mistake in the end and corrected herself.

When Dong Fangfei thought about going to Qingbo Cave Lake to do a sect mission, Lin Yu only taught her once how to use the Four-Sided Bracelet to retrieve the shark silk. Ning Fusang was able to master it quickly. She has always been very smart and hardworking.

Therefore, it's only natural that she gets first place in every subject.

Shen Tu Lei, standing in the crowd, looked at the name at the top of the rankings and felt a pang of sadness. Ning Fusang's swordsmanship was already exceptional, and he even got a perfect score in the general knowledge test—was he trying to leave any room for the others to compete?

When it comes to general knowledge, this is Shen Tu Lei's Achilles' heel. He excels at kendo and swordsmanship, not these academic subjects.

He barely passed all his subjects.

Ning Fusang's results were easy to find; just look at the first line of the Mirror Ranking. Therefore, she quickly left Chaoyang Peak and went to Lingtai Cave to hand over the white ginseng.

Although it was an assessment task, the elder gave her two choices: keep the white ginseng for herself or exchange it for contribution points.

She chose the latter.

After the assessments for Master Dai's Kendo class and Master Yu's swordsmanship class were completed, everyone had a period of leisure.

Aside from studying swordsmanship at the foot of the Enlightenment Cliff in Yunling Valley, Ning Fusang spent his time at Tianxin Peak reading the classics left behind by Master Qixuan.

It was almost the coldest season in Yuling Prefecture, and the thousand-year-old pear trees on Tianxin Peak were still covered in snow-white blossoms. Ning Fusang only discovered later that there was a small magic array under the tree that could keep the pear blossoms blooming year-round. She didn't know if it was a magic array left behind by Master Qixuan or set up by his disciple.

She was reading Master Qixuan's autobiography when suddenly, a flash of sword light flew up to Tianxin Peak and transformed into a line of text shimmering with spiritual light.

This is also a technique called "Flying Sword Message," a unique communication method used by sword cultivators. New disciples entering the inner sect will only learn this technique the following year, but Ning Fusang had Yang Ruo teach it to her in advance.

Therefore, she can also send messages using a flying sword.

The sword light unfolded, revealing characters. Ning Fusang raised an eyebrow slightly, a faint smile appearing in her eyes.

The gate of spiritual light has opened, revealing a secret realm.

However, this secret realm is somewhat special. Due to the laws governing it, it is divided into two heavens. The first heaven can only accommodate cultivators below the fifth level, and the number of places in the second heaven is extremely limited. The Southern Star Sword Sect only has eight places in total.

There are more spots available in the first level, but there are specific rules for how they are allocated. Each elder will be given one spot, which is the allowance for their direct disciples.

Then there are the inner disciples: twenty spots for the fourth level, fifteen spots for the third level, and ten spots for the second level cultivators, selected based on merit.

There are five spots for outer disciples, and the allocation of these spots will be determined by a sword contest.

As for the menial disciples, they were also given one spot. However, there are many menial disciples, so the competition for this one spot will be particularly fierce.

Ning Fusang was the only one on Tianxin Peak, so she didn't need to compete with anyone and could directly obtain the qualification to enter the secret realm.

However, the timing of the opening of the secret realm was unfortunate, coinciding with the Lingzhou Sword Challenge. After discussion, the major sects decided to postpone the Sword Challenge to the second half of the following year.

*
On Yuzhi Peak.

Master Ziwan summoned Jiang Xin into the hall.

Nourished by spiritual energy, the girl's body developed rapidly, and she already showed signs of becoming quite graceful.

Master Ziwan asked her, "Do you know why I summoned you to the palace alone?"

Jiang Xin was actually quite clever and had already guessed why Master Ziwan had summoned her. She said gently, "Master must have summoned me here because of the secret realm."

Master Ziwan smiled, quite pleased with her intelligence.

She got straight to the point: "I'm planning to give this spot to Senior Sister Huiran. Do you have any thoughts?"

"Senior Sister Huiran is virtuous and talented, kind and gentle, and treats me very well. I am happy for Senior Sister Huiran."

A genuine smile appeared on Jiang Xin's face.

Regardless of the order in which they joined the sect or their closeness to their master, the spot in the secret realm should be given to Senior Sister Huiran.

Although Jiang Xin felt regretful and somewhat disappointed, she could understand Master Ziwan's actions.

Seeing that she showed no anger or resentment, Master Ziwan smiled gently and changed the subject, saying, "Jiang Xin, although I have no more spots in the secret realm, there are still spots available in the inner sect."

Jiang Xin raised her eyes slightly, and before she could react, she heard Master Ziwan say, "There are ten spots among the disciples of the second level. I hope that you can become one of these ten."

She stood up, flicked her sleeves, and told Jiang Xin her plan directly: "If you can break through to the third level before you turn fifteen, you will be my third personal disciple."

(End of this chapter)