Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 1711 – Change in Rankings

Swallow Mountain was in chaos.

Smaller sword sects could not sacrifice everything and light a soul lamp in their ancestral hall for every talented disciple. However, this was a simple measure for larger sword sects. Even if the communication to the Sword Prison had been cut off, soul lamps did not lie and every extinguishing of a lamp represented the death of a disciple.

Right now, most of the soul lamps that were lit for the swordsmen who entered the Sword Prison from the various sword sects were extinguished. It was such a severe situation and it was impossible to continue keeping it a secret. The news spread through Swallow Mountain like a wildfire and it ignited a lot of chaos.

The various great sword sects’ hearts were aching and they demanded an investigation by the Main Sword Masters into what happened in the Sword Prison. They wanted answers.

The smaller sword sects were thrown into a bigger upheaval. If swordsmen of great sword sects had suffered so many losses, what about them?

It was now public news that the Sword Prison had lost control. However, the consequences this time were much worse than previous times.

A scary thought was plaguing the minds of the elite swordsmen in Swallow Mountain – there were more swordsmen who were dead or heavily injured this time; would they be able to force their way out of the Sword Prison like in the past? If they could not, all the swordsmen would be as good as dead.

This would be the most cruel opening of the Sword Prison in the history of Swallow Mountain, and the Main Sword Masters who organized this event would have to take responsibility!

The South Sea Sword Sect was included!

Another secret meeting among the Main Sword Masters began. The Spring Wind Sword Sect brought up the worst case scenario – that the rescue would fail and all the swordsmen in the Sword Prison would die. The Main Sword Masters came up with plans to tackle this scenario.

The atmosphere was heavy and Sect Master Wei Heng of the South Sea Sword Sect wore a black face the entire time and did not say anything. The cold looks around him gave him immense pressure.

Although everyone knew that it was the Frost Cold Sword Sect who wanted to do the Sword Sect Contest, the South Sea Sword Sect was the first to raise it. Furthermore, as an outsider to Swallow Mountain, the South Sea Sword Sect’s relationship with the Main Sword Masters had always been a peculiar one.

If they did not handle this matter well, the South Sea Sword Sect would be forced out of the Main Sword Masters and it would become the scapegoat…Wei Heng would definitely not allow that to happen!

When the meeting was over, the various Sect Masters got up. They wore a heavy expression and there was a cold aura around them. Regardless of what the outcome was, the ten sword sects could not run away from the fact that the number of casualties in the Sword Prison was immense already.

“Sect Master Han, please hold on.” Wei Heng suddenly said, attracting everyone’s attention.

Han Zhengyang, the Sect Master of the Frost Cold Sword Sect who had been in power for over a thousand years, calmly replied, “Alright.”

He did not reveal any of his emotions then.

Very soon, Han Zhengyang and Wei Heng arrived in a quiet room.

Buzz –

Wei Heng stepped forward and used his sword aura to create an isolated space. He spoke in a cold tone, “Sect Master Han, you have to give me an answer regarding the loss of control of the Sword Prison.”

Han Zhengyang frowned, “Sect Master Wei, you are being disrespectful?”

“Disrespectful?” Wei Heng scoffed, “Han Zhengyang, do you think I can be bothered with that now?”

His gaze was cold and he glared at Wei Heng, “It was your decision to open the Sword Prison and target the Opening Heavens Sword Sect. I have not suspected your motives from the start, but now, the situation in the Sword Prison has worsened and the South Sea Sword Sect is who everyone's pointing their finger at. Sect Master Han, you must give me an answer. What is going on?”

Han Zhengyang’s frown turned deeper and there was a cold glare on his handsome face now, “Sect Master Wei, please watch your words. The situation in the Sword Prison has nothing to do with the Frost Cold Sword Sect. If you are going to use this attitude to talk to me, there is nothing much for us to discuss anymore.”

Wei Heng sucked in a deep breath of air, “Sect Master Han, are you saying that you are going to cut off the relationship between our two sects?”

Han Zhengyang calmly said, “There never existed anything between our sects.”

“Very well!” Wei Heng’s expression was icy cold. “Sect Master Han, whatever we owed you in the past is wiped off from this day onwards. If our two sects meet again, we are no longer friends.”

No longer friends also meant that they could not be passers-by to each other as well. If we meet in the future, we will each deliver blows. If you knock me down, that is a testament to your ability. Otherwise, be prepared to lie on the floor!

With these words, it meant that these two great sword sects had fallen out completely.

It was not that Wei Heng was being rash and did not know how to be tolerant. Instead, the situation was very obvious now – the Frost Cold Sword Sect was prepared to abandon the South Sea Sword Sect and sacrifice them to be the scapegoat. They would be placed at the frontlines and would take on the wrath from all the various sword sects in Swallow Mountain.

Wei Heng also did not believe Han Zhengyang when he said that he had nothing to do with the situation in the Sword Prison. Others may not know the power that the Frost Cold Sword Sect had, but Wei Heng knew it very well.

This definitely involved them…it also meant that the South Sea Sword Sect had been sold out by them from the start.

If that was the case, if he did not fall out with them now, was he going to wait for them to trample all over him again?

Han Zhengyang kept a straight face, “Sect Master Wei, you are not in a good mood today. I will not lower myself to your level.”

“Hmph!”

Wei Heng whipped around, allowing his robe to lash out behind him.

A few moments later, Han Zhengyang walked out of the silent room. The swordsmen from the Frost Cold Sword Sect had been waiting for him and they hurried over to greet him.

“Sect Master, what happened? I saw Wei Heng storming out just now and he ignored me.”

One elder frowned.

Han Zhengyang explained, “Sect Master Wei is not in a good mood because of what happened in the Sword Prison. We argued. We don’t have to bother about him for now.

“Go, let’s head to the entrance of the Sword Prison.”

Shoosh –

The Frost Cold Sword Sect members flew in the sky.

In fact, Han Zhengyang had not expected things in the Sword Prison to get out of hand. One elder and twelve outstanding disciples were dead.

But this also meant that the seal at the core level of the Sword Prison was completely opened and the sealed object was going to be revealed!

Han Zhengyang had waited many years for this day.

Swordsmen were the strongest type of cultivators in the world and they could battle above their cultivation ranks, making many jealous of them.

However, swordsmen were in a very tough position. Across the vast lands of the Central Desolate Divine Area, among the few hundred thousand swordsmen, there wasn’t a single King realm cultivator.

That high Celestial Threshold felt like a moat around the heavens and it blocked all swordsmen from advancing.

No King realm swordsmen…Han Zhengyang was going to overcome this curse and become the first in the world!

Now, his chance was finally here. The secret of Swallow Mountain was passed down among generations of Sect Masters in the Frost Cold Sword Sect and each Sect Master was preparing for this.

As long as the seal broke, obtaining and then refining the sealed object would allow one to finally break through the realm bottleneck.

At the entrance of the Sword Prison.

Numerous swordsmen were gathered around the area in all directions. Each of them wore a heavy expression as they stared at the black hole that headed to the underground.

Not far away, Wei Heng stood before a massive stone wall. He stared at the red and blue boards on the stone wall.

He was frowning slightly and there was a look of hesitation on his face. Raising his arm, he called for a disciple from his sect. After giving him a few instructions, the disciple scampered off hurriedly.

When the news about the Sword Prison losing control was confirmed, together with the tragic news that many disciples of various sword sects had died, people no longer looked at the boards on the stone wall.

After all, people were dead. What was the point of the ranking? It was obvious that the Sword Sect Contest no longer held. It was hard for them to survive and no one would bother about rankings.

However, the appearance of Sect Master Wei Heng, as one of the elites of the ten sword sects, attracted a lot of attention. As such, many swept a glance at the two boards and they quickly realized that something was wrong.

“Hm?” One of the swordsmen raised his hands and he pointed at the Sword Prison investigation depth blue board, “Opening Heavens Sword Sect!”

That’s right, the Opening Heavens Sword Sect’s name had appeared in the seventh position on the blue board.

Because of the loss of control of the Sword Prison, the Opening Heavens Sword Sect, the sect that many people were paying attention to, had gradually been forgotten.

Now, it suddenly appeared on the board and many people were startled.

When the Sword Prison opened, many people were waiting for the unlucky group from the sect to put on a play. Who knew that things would become like this.

It was hard to determine the state of the Opening Heavens Sword Sect because it was rumored that their ancestral hall had not been officially recovered. They did not have any means to light up soul lamps.

However, the other sword sects in Swallow Mountain were obviously in dire straits.

“This isn’t right! The investigation depth of the Sword Prison is based on the deepest level that a team progresses to; it will not be refreshed even if a team retreats.”

“That’s right. Those are the rules. the Opening Heavens Sword Sect did not even make it to the list of the top hundred before, but they are now in the seventh position.”

“This also means…they continued to go deeper into the Sword Prison during this period of time.”

Right at that moment, the rankings changed again and the Opening Heavens Sword Sect was pushed up one rank.

The crowd stared wide-eyed. It was in the sixth position now.

My god!

The Opening Heavens Sword Sect was actually continuing to venture deeper into the Sword Prison.

With this understanding, many swordsmen outside the Sword Prison felt giddy for a while. What was going on?

Under such circumstances, people would run as far as they can and retreat back to the shallow level of the Sword Prison. This was their best shot at survival.

But why was the Opening Heavens Sword Sect doing the opposite? Not only that, they were moving quite fast. They were already at the sixth position!

They must be mad!

Were they going to forsake their lives for the rankings?

Or did the Opening Heavens Sword Sect not know how scary it was when the Sword Prison lost control?

That wasn’t right. Even though the sect was newly reestablished, they had a guardian who was definitely not a stranger to the history of Swallow Mountain.

No one could understand such a logic!

Hu Zhiming was startled awake by the whispers around him. Then he began to sense that many were looking at him.

Pity, sorrow…

He frowned. After overhearing others’ words, he looked up at the blue board and saw the Opening Heavens Sword Sect in the sixth rank.

Hearing the soft whispers around him, Hu Zhiming’s expression hardened.

Because the swordsmen outside the Sword Prison finally found a ‘logical’ explanation for what was happening – Sect Master Qin Yu of the Opening Heavens Sword Sect had personally led the team into the Sword Prison.

The investigation depth of the Sword Prison by a sect was only valid if the recording jade pass determined that all surviving members of a team were present at the same location.

So if eleven members of the team died and only one person was left…with the Sect Master of the Opening Heavens Sword Sect’s overpowering abilities, he could protect the last member and accompany him to investigate the deeper levels of the Sword Prison.

As long as they avoided Sword Demons and conflicts, it was possible. This was also a loophole of the Sword Sect Contest.

Under normal circumstances, participating disciples of the Sword Sect Contest were outstanding talents of the sword sects. No one would use such a method to cheat – the death of one disciple was already painful, not to mention ten or so!

However, the Opening Heavens Sword Sect was different.

They took in rogue cultivators as disciples at the last minute and formed the team. Even if all of those swordsmen died, it would not affect them.

Coincidentally, aside from Zhang Xiashan, the rest of the eleven disciples were all random rogue cultivators they found.

These people came from poor backgrounds and had weak cultivation ranks. They were considered the weakest amongst the swordsmen in Swallow Mountain.

Even if they died in the Sword Prison, the Opening Heavens Sword Sect would not need to worry about angering anyone.

With this, things seemed to have an explanation.

It was no wonder that the Opening Heavens Sword Sect would gather such an underdog team. Regardless of the angle one took, it was harsh and vicious!

Hu Zhiming did not want to believe it, but when he saw the sixth ranked Opening Heavens Sword Sect on the blue board…no, they were fifth ranked now.

My goodness!

The Opening Heavens Sword Sect was truly exploring the Sword Prison actively. Aside from this, there was no other explanation.

He closed his eyes and his face grew pale. His expression contorted in pain.

All of a sudden, there was a scream, “Wait, look, the ranking of the South Sea Sword Sect on the blue board…”

Sixth ranked.

Following closely behind the Opening Heavens Sword Sect.

Before this, it was at the seventh position.

That’s right, the seventh position. Everyone exchanged glances, each of them wearing looks of shock and disbelief as they tried to confirm with each other that they weren’t seeing things wrongly.

Now, the South Sea Sword Sect was sixth ranked…it meant that like the Opening Heavens Sword Sect, they were continuing to explore deeper into the Sword Prison.

What was going on?

If it was just the Opening Heavens Sword Sect, there could still be an explanation. But what about the South Sea Sword Sect? The sudden change in events exceeded their expectations.

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