Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 77 More Apprenticeship Applications

"clang--"

With a crisp, metallic clang, the branch in Chang Ping'an's hand struck Yan Wuqi's soft sword from the side.

With a few more "cracks," the once unstoppable silver-white soft sword broke and fell to the ground, even bouncing up once more due to its excellent elasticity.

"Silver Dragon Sword!"

Yan Wuqi instinctively shouted out—this Silver Dragon Soft Sword was a treasure that her master had specially found for her, and it was her natal sword that she had nurtured for more than ten years!

At the same time, the true energy attached to the Silver Dragon Soft Sword lost its backbone and dissipated instantly. Yan Wuqi frowned in pain and stood there stunned, exchanging bewildered glances with Chang Ping'an, who looked completely innocent.

Yan Wuqi was stunned, not only because his natal sword was destroyed, but also because that ordinary tree branch not only cut Yan Wuqi's soft sword in half, but also stopped right next to Yan Wuqi's neck, just inches away from cutting into his flesh.

Even so, though others were too far away to see clearly, Yan Wuqi himself felt a cool, slightly painful sensation on his neck, as if he had been scratched by the wind blades whipped up by the tree branches.

Besides the two people on the dueling platform, everyone below the platform was stunned, as if they had been strangled, and no one could utter a word.

Another move!
Yesterday, Ye Chengyu was knocked off the dueling platform in one move, which could be explained by Ye Chengyu's lack of skill or that he was too tired from the match in the morning. But today, I didn't expect that even Yan Wuqi of Peach Blossom Sword would be defeated in one move!
This unknown kid is actually terrifying!
"Yes, I'm sorry..."

Chang Ping'an felt extremely guilty.

Having had his natal sword destroyed, he naturally knew its importance.

Destroying the opponent's natal sword is equivalent to destroying their cultivation of several years, or even more than ten years, for nothing!
"I... I've already restrained my spiritual power a lot..."

Chang Ping'an was so ashamed that he was incoherent: "I can pay you back, I'm really, really sorry..."

Yan Wuqi took a deep breath to calm her anger—she wasn't angry that she lost the match, as she already knew that with her sixth-rank cultivation, she wouldn't win many matches... What angered her was that her opponent not only broke her Silver Dragon Soft Sword, but also acted this way!
Pooh! shameless!
Yan Wuqi pursed his lips, glared hatefully at Chang Ping'an, then rolled his eyes, turned around and jumped off the dueling platform.

Chang Ping'an scratched his head awkwardly, somewhat at a loss.

When Wanqi Zhongqiu stepped onto the dueling platform, he gave Chang Ping'an a reassuring smile before announcing the results of the match.

In the competition of the champion, Wanqi Boyan did not comment on every match. Firstly, there were always some older and more experienced people in the champion's competition, and out of respect for the monks, Wanqi Boyan could not give them any pointers.

Secondly, he couldn't comment on Chang Ping'an's matches—he defeated his opponent in one move, so there was really no way to comment on that!

So Wanqi Zhongqiu then began singing the ninth round of the competition.

This time, both sides in the competition are fifth-rank martial artists.

One was Master Mingchen of the Great Temple in Longquan, Bohai Kingdom. The other was from the royal family of Southern Chu Kingdom, namely the Crown Prince of Annam.

The two fought for less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before the Crown Prince of Annam ran out of energy and was defeated, leaving dejectedly.

After that, Zhang Chengdao lost interest in the competition. He couldn't understand the internal energy and moves at all. All he could see was two people poking and punching each other on the stage, flying around randomly. Although there were some "light effects," they were very weak and not as entertaining as the flag-planting duels between players on the arena outside the main city in a certain game.

Instead of wasting time sitting in the tower in a daze, I'd rather go back to White Stone Mountain, go to Peach Garden and work hard to cultivate, and strive to transcend the tribulation and advance to the Core Formation stage as soon as possible!

So, he bowed to Wanqi Boyan, Wanqi Zhang, Bai Henshui, and the others who were accompanying him, bid them farewell, and once again mounted his flying sword and flew away from the sky. The two who were sparring were startled by a gust of wind overhead. After looking up and seeing what it was, they exchanged a blank look and continued fighting.

Instead, the martial artists and onlookers under the tarpaulin sheds in the garden forgot about the dueling platform and started discussing the "immortal" who had just flown away from the sky.

"This is the third time! Are there really immortals in this world?"

"Hard to say. I've heard that the kid who always won in one move is that immortal's disciple!"

"Huh? What sect? That's amazing!"

Amid the discussion, several people who knew the inside story boasted about their information: "It seems to be called the White Stone Immortal Sect. They say they don't cultivate martial arts, only the path of immortality. My cousin went to inquire yesterday, and the White Stone Immortal Sect does accept disciples, but if you want to cultivate the path of immortality, you have to give up martial arts!"

Some people were puzzled: "Abandon martial arts? How can you abandon it?"

The man replied, "I asked that too. They said that one must refine one's true qi meridians and dissipate all true qi before one can cultivate immortality!"

"Terrifying! To refine true qi, one must also dissipate all true qi... Does that mean our cultivation of the past ten years or so is gone?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking!"

Upon hearing that pursuing immortality required abandoning martial arts and thus wasting one's cultivation, everyone was filled with apprehension. Only one young martial artist retorted, "That's not entirely true. The path to immortality is arduous. If one doesn't let go of worldly affairs, how can one grasp the destiny of immortality? If there truly is an opportunity, I would certainly be willing to give up these ten years of cultivation!"

The person who was boasting about the news snorted and asked, "You make it sound so easy. I've heard that the White Stone Immortal Sect is on White Stone Mountain, not far from here. Why don't you go there and instead sit here?"

Unexpectedly, the young martial artist nodded seriously: "What you say makes sense. I'll go right away!"

After saying that, he actually got up and left like a gust of wind.

Zhang Chengdao knew nothing about the Sword Casting Manor. When he returned to the "mountain gate" of the White Stone Immortal Sect, he ran into Xu Ying, who was registering information with a book.

The so-called "mountain gate" is the entrance to the only mountain road leading into Baishi Mountain, which is made up of six arrow towers. From here, it is still a distance to the thatched cottage.

Xu Ying had hired someone to level the road. Although it was still a dirt road, it was much more compacted, and the weeds along the road were burned, making it much cleaner.

The open space next to the arrow tower was crowded with people, more than the scattered people who had come over in the previous days.

As soon as Zhang Chengdao landed, Xu Ying eagerly ran up to him, carrying the books, and said, "Sect Leader, these are all here to become disciples!"

The "registration information" method was also proposed by Zhang Chengdao. In order to make it easier for Zhang Chengdao to remotely view the apprenticeship applications in the character column, he specifically asked Xu Ying to ask a question similar to "whether you are willing to become Baishi Immortal's apprentice" when "interviewing" each person who requested to join the Baishi Immortal Sect, in addition to recording the other party's name, age and other information.

In this way, "Apprenticeship Application" will appear in Zhang Chengdao's character panel in real time, and the color quality of all characters can be seen.

For example, right now, he was standing next to Xu Ying, frowning as he flipped through all the newly appeared character cards, feeling very disappointed.

There's only one blue-quality character; the rest are all gray and green!

I shamelessly asked for a chapter recommendation from the amazing Wanwu Jun, hehehe, I'm super grateful _(:з」∠)_
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(End of this chapter)