Several disciples stood in the center, all smiling.

Leading them was a man in tattered clothes, sitting cross-legged on the ground.

"You, you, you, all of you, come up here! I'll give you some guidance. I can only come out for three days this time, hurry up!"

The man casually pointed at a few disciples in the crowd.

The disciples he pointed at walked out tremblingly, like students called upon by their teacher.

"Brother Zhong Feng, are you well?" Wang Mu greeted him.

"Why have you come to our Upper Cloud Peak?" Zhong Feng, a giant black sword strapped to his back, said to the two gatekeeping Senior Brothers, "This is a disciple from my intake. I'll take care of him. There's no need to trouble you, Senior Brothers."

"Then make sure you take good care of him!" one of the gatekeeping Senior Brothers instructed. "Make sure our Junior Brother has a good time!"

With that, the two men left.

"Your timing isn't great," Zhong Feng said. He wore a black training outfit and looked much more robust than he had four months ago, emanating a sharp aura. The change in him was immense.

He said to Wang Mu, "The rules of Upper Cloud Peak require that fellow disciples who enter the peak must spar at least once before leaving. If it's your first visit, you must spar three times. Otherwise, you'll have to endure ascetic cultivation here for half a month. If it were any other time, I could find three Senior Brothers for you who would go easy on you. But today, that Eldest Senior Brother who was in confinement has just been released. He will personally 'guide' you, and you're likely in for some physical suffering."

Wang Mu had heard a bit about the rules of Upper Cloud Peak before.

That Eldest Senior Brother who was in confinement was very famous throughout the Sword Sect.

Jiang Taixuan was the Sword Sect's highly anticipated chief disciple. He possessed a Heavenly Spiritual Root, a rarity seen once a century, and had exceptional talent in the Sword Dao. He once stirred the Seven Absolute Divine Sword of the Holy Land. However, he inexplicably failed to draw it out later. Despite this, he had topped the Sect's entrance examination that year and went on to dominate subsequent Seven Extremes Sword Tests with overwhelming prowess, earning him the title 'Three-Time Champion of the Seven Extremes.'

He and Yuan Linlin, the Eldest Senior Sister from Hidden Sword Peak, were a pair of celestial sweethearts. A peerless prodigy among the young generation of the Righteous Path in the Huangtian Continent, a pillar of strength, a leading figure, and believed to be the reincarnation of a Sword Immortal—he had a long list of titles.

Then he was seduced by that grand witch of the Fengyue Sect and ended up in confinement for several years. A single misstep had led to everlasting regret.

The Sword Sect did not conceal this Eldest Senior Brother's deeds. Instead, they used them as a cautionary tale to urge the disciples within the Sect to be extremely wary of the demonesses from the Fengyue Sect. At that time, the entire Righteous Path on the Huangtian Continent was in turmoil, fearing that any disciple could be seduced and led astray by a demoness from the Fengyue Sect. Fortunately, the Fengyue Sect only targeted the Sword Sect; they mostly didn't even glance at the other Righteous Sects. Now that this Eldest Senior Brother was released, who knew how much frustration he had pent up?

"This..." Wang Mu pondered for a moment. "Just a bit of sparring should be fine, right?"

The 'Travel' event at Upper Cloud Peak must refer to sparring among fellow disciples. It seemed like the most direct event out of the few.

Zhong Feng pointed to himself. "It's fine? Do I look okay to you?"

His face was swollen, and his body seemed contorted. Although these injuries weren't severe for Cultivators, they still caused temporary, intense pain.

"Does this Eldest Senior Brother always hit so hard?" Wang Mu asked.

Zhong Feng said gravely, "Senior Brother Jiang was confined to Contemplation Cliff for five years. He lived on wind and dew, unable to communicate with anyone, not even having a single spirit beast for company. Do you know how he spent those five years?

"At times, lost in illusions of the witch from the Fengyue Sect, he would become mentally distraught and crazedly crash against the cliff walls.

"Sometimes, to prevent himself from succumbing to the illusions, he chose to fight himself, often performing sword techniques with his left hand against his right on Contemplation Cliff, leaving himself covered in wounds.

"And at other times, overcome with guilt towards Senior Sister Yuan Linlin from Hidden Sword Peak, he would weep with sorrow as loud as thunder, living in remorse and indignation..."

Zhong Feng sighed softly. "Anyway, according to others in the peak, Eldest Senior Brother lived a hellish life for those five years."

That was just too tragic. Wang Mu thought. Is that demoness from the Fengyue Sect truly so inhumane? But then again, this Eldest Senior Brother was indeed formidable.

"Although his blows are extremely heavy, he doesn't harm our lives," Zhong Feng shook his head. "He just pushes us to the very limit of our endurance, inflicting pain to temper our minds and combat experience."

"However, I am a disciple of Upper Cloud Peak. Starting from the second month, I fought against those mechanical dummies every day. In the third month, I began to be tempered through combat by some Senior Brothers. I'm used to this intensity now; I'm completely different from when I first joined the Sect."

"Over these past few months, I've heard from other disciples who joined at the same time that you haven't even begun your cultivation. How could you endure this?"

Actually, I have cultivated as well, though it was only for one night...

"But honestly, being tempered by Eldest Senior Brother..." Zhong Feng pondered, then continued, "I feel my Sword Dao Talent has improved, and I've gained many insights into the Sword Dao. My cultivation will surely be smoother now. If my body could take it, I'd actually want another round."

"..." Wang Mu.

It seemed that in four months, Zhong Feng had been thoroughly assimilated into Upper Cloud Peak.

"You're skilled with the bow and arrow; I still remember you shooting down that Xuan Gu with a single arrow. When we first joined, you were physically stronger than us in every aspect," Zhong Feng continued. "But now, my Energy Introduction Skill has reached the Fifth Layers Realm, and my Sword Mastery Breaking Army Technique is at the introductory stage. After three months of arduous cultivation, I'm not who I was before. Wait for me to recover a bit. I'll spar with you. You just need to take two of my sword strikes, and I'll injure you. When Eldest Senior Brother sees you're injured, and considering you're one of the only two disciples from Heavenly Sword Peak, he probably won't make things difficult for you."

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