A Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Starting as a Sword-Forging Servant and Ascending to Immorta

"Sword cultivation?"

Zhou Lingxuan raised an eyebrow but didn't reply immediately.

He sized up the old man in front of him who was smiling like Maitreya Buddha, his mind racing.

"Brother Qin, I've been forging ordinary iron for the past ninety years."

"Repairing a hoe or kitchen knife, or patching a hole in a weapon, is a piece of cake."

Zhou Lingxuan shrugged.

"But I've barely even touched this inner sect's spirit sword. You want me to repair it? Aren't you afraid I'll turn it into scrap metal?"

Old Qin's smile faded slightly, and he sighed.

"Brother, to be honest, this sword is no ordinary sword. We searched all the weapon refiners in the sect, but none of them dared to take on this job."

Zhou Lingxuan's heart skipped a beat.

Even the sect's weapon refiners wouldn't dare take on this job, yet they came to him, a mere handyman who had just entered the inner sect.

"Since it's not something ordinary, I'm even less likely to touch it carelessly."

Zhou Lingxuan shook his head.

"If you ruin it, I can't afford to pay for it with my old life. Unless you tell me first whose sword it is and why it needs repairing."

Old Qin fell silent.

He slightly opened his narrowed eyes and stared at Zhou Lingxuan for a long while.

"Fine."

Old Qin sighed and straightened up a bit from leaning against the door frame.

"Anyway, this isn't exactly a secret within the inner sect; you'll find out sooner or later."

He pointed in the direction of the administration office.

"What I need to repair is my young master's sword."

Zhou Lingxuan glanced at it in the direction of his finger.

The young man who was half-dead and exuded a chilling aura during the day?

"Your young master?"

Zhou Lingxuan was somewhat puzzled.

"Ninety-nine percent of the people in the Heavenly Sword Pavilion are sword cultivators, so using swords is nothing special. If a sword breaks, just replace it. From what you're saying, your young master has become so despondent because of a sword?"

Old Qin gave a wry smile.

"Change to another one? It's not that easy."

"Brother, you've just entered the inner sect and there are many things you don't know. My young master's real name is Qin Zhaoyun, and he's not just an ordinary manager."

As Old Qin spoke, he straightened his back a bit, his tone revealing a hint of arrogance.

"He was once ranked second on the century-old sword ranking list. His Cloud-Piercing Sword Technique was unpredictable and divine, making him the undisputed top genius of the entire Heavenly Sword Pavilion!"

Zhou Lingxuan was stunned for a moment.

"A century-old sword ranking?"

He scratched his head.

"What is that? I've only heard of the inner sect rankings. Isn't Zhang Qian from Earth Sword Peak supposed to be the fifth-ranked expert in the inner sect?"

Upon hearing Zhang Qian's name, Old Qin immediately burst out laughing.

"Zhang Qian? The fifth in the inner sect?"

Old Qin shook his head, his face full of disdain.

"Brother, that so-called inner sect ranking is just a joke for those fledgling disciples. What real sword cultivator cares about that?"

Zhou Lingxuan became interested and crossed his arms.

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"The Inner Sect Grand Competition is held every five years to determine the rankings."

Old Qin patiently explained.

"But you must know that once a disciple enters the Foundation Establishment stage, hiding in the mountains to train relentlessly will be useless."

"Most people will choose to go down the mountain to travel, to secret realms, and to hone their swordsmanship in life-or-death battles. This journey can take anywhere from three to five years to more than ten years."

Old Qin held up three fingers.

"Therefore, most true masters only happen to participate in one of the major competitions every three to five years."

"When those geniuses aren't around, this ranking becomes incredibly unreliable."

"When the cat's away, the mice will play," Zhou Lingxuan added.

That makes perfect sense!

Old Qin slapped his thigh.

"How valuable this ranking is depends on how many true geniuses actually emerge from that year's competition."

"For example, in the competition thirty years ago, seven top geniuses who had been traveling in seclusion returned to participate at the same time."

"And the result? Those disciples who were touted as absolute top ten didn't even crack the top twenty!"

Zhou Lingxuan suddenly realized.

It turns out that Zhang Qian is just a monkey who takes advantage of the big tiger's absence to show off his power.

"What about the Hundred-Year Sword Ranking?" Zhou Lingxuan pressed.

Old Qin's expression turned solemn.

"The Centennial Sword Ranking is a testing stone set up separately on the main peak. It is opened once every hundred years."

"You don't need to fight anyone in a ring. You just need to stand in front of the testing stone and use the swordsmanship you've learned in your life to unleash a single strike."

"Those who can leave a mark and sword intent on the Sword Testing Stone are considered to have entered the Hundred-Year Sword Ranking."

Old Qin looked at Zhou Lingxuan and held up two fingers.

"Since the founding of the Heavenly Sword Pavilion, in the sword trial held once every hundred years, no more than thirty people have ever been able to leave their mark on it."

"In a sense, this is much harder than winning the top prize ten times in the Grand Competition, because you are not facing your peers, but the combined sword intent suppression left behind by countless geniuses of the Heavenly Sword Pavilion!"

Zhou Lingxuan gasped.

Fewer than thirty people in a century.

This level of achievement is truly incomparable to that so-called fifth-ranked member of the inner sect.

"Since your young master is so talented, he got second place."

Zhou Lingxuan frowned.

"Then how did he end up being banished to this abandoned hall, and ended up in that half-dead state?"

The arrogance on Old Qin's face instantly crumbled.

He looked as if he had aged ten years, and he sighed deeply.

"Because... he challenged the first place."

Zhou Lingxuan remained silent.

Did you lose to the person in first place?

Losing is losing; in sword sparring, victory and defeat are common occurrences in warfare. How did it turn out like this?

"The sword is broken?" Zhou Lingxuan asked tentatively.

"The sword is broken, and so is the sword spirit."

Old Qin's voice trembled slightly.

"In that battle, you suffered a crushing defeat. Your opponent only needed to strike once to shatter your Izumo sword into three pieces."

"From then on, the young master could no longer hold the sword. His cultivation stagnated, and inner demons arose. In the end, he invited himself to this abandoned hall."

Zhou Lingxuan touched his chin.

Kenshin collapsed.

This thing sounds mysterious, but to put it simply, it's because the psychological trauma is too great, and it ruins you.

"Brother Qin."

Zhou Lingxuan looked at him.

"If your sword spirit is flawed, and you ask me to repair a broken sword, will that be of any use?"

Old Qin did not answer.

He just silently looked at Zhou Lingxuan, his cloudy eyes revealing a glimmer of hope, and a touch of desperate determination.

Zhou Lingxuan understood.

The old man was also desperate.

The weapon refiners in the sect couldn't repair that sword, or rather, even if they could, they couldn't cure Qin Zhaoyun's sword heart.

And he, this freak who managed to activate the Heavenly Sword by forging a million pieces of ordinary iron, became the old man's last straw.

Zhou Lingxuan was making plans in his mind.

Sword repair?

He possesses the Heaven-Forging Hammer.

Even discarded pills can be smashed into top-grade items. As long as the materials are still there, reforging a broken sword shouldn't be a problem.

But the question is, what gives him the right to help?

"Brother Qin."

Zhou Lingxuan broke the silence.

"I'm a straightforward person. I've never cultivated a spirit sword before, but I can give it a try."

Old Qin's eyes lit up, and he was about to express his gratitude when Zhou Lingxuan raised his hand to interrupt him.

"However, I can't let my efforts go to waste."

Zhou Lingxuan stared into Qin Lao's eyes and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"You have your desires, and I have my pursuits. I'm just an old man who has just entered the inner sect. I'm all alone in this abandoned hall, so I have to try to achieve something."

Old Qin nodded repeatedly, his expression becoming extremely serious.

He looked Zhou Lingxuan up and down, then suddenly laughed.

"Brother, when I approached you during the day, you didn't notice, but I could feel the uncontrollable surge of energy within you."

Old Qin lowered his voice.

"You don't look like someone who's about to die."

Zhou Lingxuan felt a chill run down his spine, but remained outwardly calm.

Sure enough, the old man figured it out.

"I know what you want."

Old Qin took out a jade slip from his sleeve and handed it to Zhou Lingxuan.

"I happen to have a good method for concealment here. As long as you don't reveal yourself, even a Golden Core stage elder won't be able to see through your secrets."

Zhou Lingxuan looked at the jade slip but did not take it.

"this one?"

Old Qin smiled and slipped the jade slip into Zhou Lingxuan's hand.

"This is just a deposit."

"Brother, if you can really repair that sword, you can cure my young master's heartache."

"I can assure you that within the inner sect of the Heavenly Sword Pavilion, many of the troublesome things you encounter will be easily resolved."