Sage of Humanity
Chapter 927 - 925: Passing the First Test

During this time, Lu Ye felt a little reluctant to accept the situation and went out to explore the surroundings. However, he found that, just as Nian Yuexian and Ying Wuji had said, everything in sight was all there was to the secret realm.

The entrance to the valley was connected not to the outside world, but to a region of chaos. There was no way forward, and Lu Ye dared not venture in recklessly. He tried throwing a Spirit Stone inside, but there was not even a sound, leaving him unsure of the consequences of entering.

This small secret realm had neither sun, moon, nor stars, yet there was day and night, which was truly bizarre.

After a night's rest, come morning, Lu Ye and Ying Wuji dutifully headed towards the grass hut.

In front of the grass hut, Khong Khong was already seated with two futons before him.

Lu Ye and Ying Wuji saluted and sat up straight, listening to Khong Khong's teachings.

He didn't ask if the two had any prior knowledge of artifact refining, and started teaching from the very basics. But to be fair, though he looked old and frail, he certainly had a knack for teaching. His explanations were straightforward and easy to understand, greatly benefiting Lu Ye and Ying Wuji.

This continued for several days.

It wasn't until the third day that he began to teach the two of them practical skills.

In the Nine Provinces, regardless of what external path one cultivated, one would need to rely on spirit runes. The Array Path had its own specific spirit runes, alchemy had alchemy's spirit runes, and artifact refining, naturally, had artifact-refining spirit runes. For these many external paths, spirit runes were fundamental.

So, a distinguished spirit runes master, no matter which external path they cultivated, could yield twice the result with half the effort.

After instructing the two on the foundational knowledge of artifact refining, Khong Khong began imparting the construction of spirit runes to them.

This was precisely Lu Ye's strong point. However, he kept his abilities discreet, not fully showcasing his talent in the Path of Spirit Runes, using only half his strength. Even so, his performance was remarkable.

Ying Wuji's attainments in the Path of Spirit Runes were not as refined as Lu Ye's, but having studied the Array Path, he naturally had exposure to spirit runes.

It was just that he had not learned the spirit runes specifically for artifact refining, so his construction was not as smooth and fluid as Lu Ye's, appearing somewhat clumsy, yet he could barely meet the requirements.

The days passed uneventfully.

Until half a month later, after Lu Ye finished constructing a spirit rune, he finally could not hold back: "Sect Master, I have something to ask."

"Speak," Khong Khong replied with a gentle gaze. Recently, Lu Ye's expression had undoubtedly pleased him. Everything fears comparison; not to mention Lu Ye's inherent talent in the Path of Spirit Runes. Even when holding back, his performance was commendable. Now, with Ying Wuji alongside for comparison, his extraordinary talent shone even brighter.

This led Khong Khong to feel as if he had stumbled upon a treasure, sensing a future for the Sword Weapon Sect.

Naturally, he held great expectations for Lu Ye.

"How long does the Sect Master think, given our current progress, will it take for us disciples to refine a flying sword that meets the standards?"

Khong Khong chuckled, "What? Can't wait any longer?" He paused and then said, "I can be considered one of the most outstanding in the Sword Weapon Sect for centuries, yet it took me a full five years to craft a flying sword suitable for myself when I was learning the Path of Artifact Refining."

Five years...

Hearing this, both Lu Ye and Ying Wuji felt their hearts sink.

Five years might not be too long for those strong cultivators in the Divine Sea Realm, but for young men like them, full of youthful vigor and blood boiling with ambition, it felt unbearably long.

Bear in mind, Lu Ye had only been on the path of cultivation for less than three years.

If he were to stay here for five years...

And that was using Khong Khong himself as a benchmark. The time they would need could easily be longer.

Furthermore, crafting a qualified flying sword was just the beginning. Khong Khong had previously mentioned that after creating a capable flying sword, they would be taught the Path of the Sword Cultivator!

While this sounded like a good opportunity, it required tremendous time to digest.

Who could bear such a golden chance?

No wonder this legacy secret realm had remained until now. Even if someone had entered years ago, they might not have been able to endure such a prolonged ordeal.

Lu Ye felt overwhelmed; he couldn't stay here indefinitely. Yet, leaving without passing the test was impossible, and as for confronting Khong Khong directly... even Nian Yuexian was not his match, so confronting him would surely end poorly.

As many thoughts swirled in his mind, Lu Ye brazenly stated, "Sect Master, learning these spirit runes all day without applying them in refining feels too dull." Regardless, speeding up the artifact refining learning process couldn't be wrong.

Khong Khong smiled and said, "The Path of Artifact Refining is vast and profound; we've only just begun. Don't be hasty or impatient. Remember, haste makes waste."

Lu Ye stubbornly said, "But Sect Master, I feel I've already mastered these spirit runes and don't need to study further. Now, I just want to practice refining, inherit the Sword Weapon Sect's legacy as soon as possible, and strengthen our sect, bringing glory to its name."

Ying Wuji understood and quickly nodded, "Disciple feels the same."

Khong Khong looked sternly at Lu Ye, silent.

However, he was genuinely pleased with Lu Ye's recent performance, feeling more accommodating, so after pondering for a moment, he said, "If that's the case, then I shall give you two a test. If you can complete it, I will grant your request."

"Please instruct us, Sect Master!"

Khong Khong opened his hands, and in the next moment, spirit force surged forth, materializing into visible lines. These lines shifted continuously, forming various spirit runes used in artifact refining.

Lu Ye and Ying Wuji watched intently.

They noticed that some of these spirit runes were what Khong Khong had already taught them, while others were unfamiliar.

Moments later, Khong Khong withdrew his hand, stroked his beard, and said: "Earlier, the Sect Master displayed a total of ten spirit patterns to you. If you two can successfully construct seven of them within four hours, you will have passed this test."

Ying Wuji's face turned bitter…

There's no need to try, he knows he definitely won't succeed because among the ten displayed spirit patterns, five are ones Khong Khong has never taught, so it's impossible to learn them after just seeing them once.

He turned to look at Lu Ye, only to see that Lu Ye had already spread his palm and started constructing.

At this moment, Lu Ye was immensely grateful for having held back when learning these spirit patterns earlier, not revealing his full talent. Otherwise, he might not have this test now.

Khong Khong thought that neither he nor Ying Wuji would be able to pass the test, hence the difficult challenge. But Lu Ye was eighty percent confident that he could succeed.

One after another, spirit patterns manifested in Lu Ye's hands, and Khong Khong's expression gradually became surprised.

Because he realized he had underestimated this disciple's talent.

The four hours passed in a flash, and at the end, Lu Ye was attempting to construct the last spirit pattern, which was relatively complicated. He had tried more than ten times but failed each time.

Another hour passed, and Lu Ye finally successfully constructed the tenth spirit pattern.

He looked up at Khong Khong, feeling somewhat mentally exhausted. The Sect Master of the Sword Weapon Sect nodded and said: "With this, you've passed the test. Go back and rest for a day, then come to me tomorrow. I'll teach you the Path of Artifact Refining."

"Yes!" Lu Ye exhaled deeply.

Spending half a month passing the first test was nothing to be happy about; he had no idea how to proceed with the later challenges.

He could only think of speeding up his cultivation in the Path of Artifact Refining and simultaneously seeking a way to escape.

"Sect Master, what about me?" Ying Wuji asked.

"You continue cultivating the spirit patterns," Khong Khong replied casually.

Among two recruited disciples, having one with exceptional talent is enough; the other is incidental, with no particular expectations.

Ying Wuji's face was covered in tears…

Upon returning to the wooden house, Lu Ye suddenly saw Nian Yuexian's figure. She was sitting on a chair in front of the wooden house, with Amber crouching on her legs.

The longer they interacted, the less afraid Amber was of her. Instead, under her caresses, Amber purred loudly.

Lu Ye hurried forward: "Master."

During this half-month, he and Ying Wuji were learning spirit patterns from Khong Khong, while Nian Yuexian had been in closed-door practice, refining the Willow Catkins Cutlass.

Only today did she emerge from seclusion.

"How is it?" Nian Yuexian asked.

Lu Ye truthfully recounted his experiences of the past half month, which consisted mostly of continuously learning and constructing spirit patterns used for artifact refining.

He also talked about the recent events.

Nian Yuexian nodded: "From what we can see now, you indeed need to speed up your progress to leave here as soon as possible."

"But no matter how much we accelerate, the time spent won't be short. If only we could summon the Heaven's Augury Pillar," Lu Ye sighed.

If they could summon the Heaven's Augury Pillar, they could use it to teleport away from here.

But summoning the Heaven's Augury Pillar can only be done on the Cloud River battlefield, not on the Nine Provinces mainland, and such secret realms are also unsuitable.

At least he and Ying Wuji had tasks to do recently, but Nian Yuexian was pitifully stuck there with nothing to do.

"Master, do you have any other instructions?"

Nian Yuexian shook her head. Lu Ye was about to take his leave when he heard her say: "Do you think if I take all the flying swords from Sword Mountain, that old fellow will kick us out?"

"Not likely," Lu Ye shook his head.

He silently added in his heart that the most likely scenario is that you get severely reprimanded.

"It wouldn't hurt to try!" Nian Yuexian spoke, and with that, she soared into the sky.

Amber was flung off her lap, waking from its slumber with a startled meow, frantically landing on the ground.

Lu Ye looked up, only to see Nian Yuexian rapidly approaching Sword Mountain. However, as soon as she reached the area, her graceful figure tilted uncontrolled and fell downward...

Lu Ye's eyelid twitched as he immediately realized that Sword Mountain probably had a Sky Prohibition restriction, making flying impossible.

After falling awkwardly, Nian Yuexian was undeterred and climbed upward on foot, quickly reaching the location of the first flying sword.

But before she could reach out to draw the sword, a sudden change occurred.

A spectral figure appeared, and slowly drew the flying sword from the ground, saluting Nian Yuexian gracefully: "The thirty-sixth disciple of the Sword Weapon Sect, Wang Yang, at your service!"