The Void Spirit Sword Sect was situated among several spirit peaks of moderate size. Yang Kai rifled through his memories and found that this Void Spirit Sword Sect had a history spanning no short time—a full thousand years. In a world like this, forces with a millennium of heritage were few and far between; typically only the most established powers boasted such a long lineage.
Moreover, an ancestor of the Void Spirit Sword Sect had once produced a Sword Master!
A Sword Master was the master of a Divine Weapon.
There were ten Divine Weapons in the Divine Weapon World, and the Qingxu Sword was one of them. An ancestor of the Void Spirit Sword Sect had once been fortunate enough to claim the Qingxu Sword, becoming the Qingxu Sword Master. That era was the pinnacle of the Void Spirit Sword Sect's prosperity.
However, every hundred years the Divine Weapon World hosted a contest for the Divine Weapons, and ownership changed hands. A hundred years later, a great battle saw the Void Spirit Sword Sect suffer devastating losses, and it gradually weakened from that point onward. By today, only a handful of stragglers remained to keep the sect's facade from crumbling—even the strongest among them, the Void Spirit Sword Sect Master, had cultivation only at the third level of the Earth Rank.
Clip-clop, clip-clop...
The sound of hooves striking gravel was unceasing. Yang Kai led his Junior Sister Wan Yingying up the mountain on horseback at an unhurried pace. A few more li and they would reach the Void Spirit Sword Sect's mountain gate. But on the ride back, Wan Yingying had been staring silently at Yang Kai's back the entire time. Today's display by her Senior Brother had terrified her—it was entirely different from the person she remembered, giving her an overwhelming sense of unfamiliarity.
Several experts at the eighth and ninth levels of the Human Rank hadn't been able to last even the time it takes to burn a stick of incense before Senior Brother cut them all down. Even that Zhan Yulin from Tianluo Manor had died beneath Senior Brother's sword.
"Why have you been staring at me? Don't recognize your Senior Brother anymore?" Yang Kai's voice drifted back.
Only then did Wan Yingying realize that Senior Brother had stopped at some point and was now looking back at her with a grin.
That familiar face and smile put her at ease somewhat. She urged her horse forward to ride alongside him and asked hesitantly, "Senior Brother, were you always this strong?"
Yang Kai shook his head. "It's not that I'm strong—it's that they were too weak, with too many openings. When the gap in cultivation between opponents isn't too large, a single fatal flaw is more than enough to decide life and death."
The fourth level versus the eighth and ninth levels of the Human Rank—was that really not a large gap? Yet Senior Brother's performance today left her without any way to argue.
"Senior Brother, were you using the Void Spirit Sword Art earlier? It felt a little different somehow," Wan Yingying asked again.
The Void Spirit Sword Sect's foundation was the Void Spirit Sword Art, and every disciple was required to cultivate it. Recalling today's battles, Wan Yingying had noticed that what Senior Brother had displayed bore the shadow of the Void Spirit Sword Art, yet was not quite the same.
"It is the Void Spirit Sword Art, just an improved version. I'll teach you later!" Yang Kai reached over and ruffled her hair.
Wan Yingying clicked her tongue in amazement. The Void Spirit Sword Art had been passed down within the sect for over a thousand years, refined and polished by countless ancestors along the way. While it might not be considered particularly high-end across the whole Divine Weapon World, it was a thoroughly solid introductory sword art. That Senior Brother had managed to improve upon it was simply inconceivable.
As they talked, they arrived at the Void Spirit Sword Sect's mountain gate—a massive stone stele exuding an aura of antiquity, inscribed with the characters "Void Spirit." Disciples in blue-and-white robes stood guard nearby, the standard uniform of the sect's disciples. Upon spotting Yang Kai and Wan Yingying, they came forward to greet them.
"Senior Brother has returned!"
Yang Kai gave a slight nod, dismounted, and handed the reins to one of the disciples. "Where is the Sect Master?"
"The Sect Master should be in the Council Hall discussing matters with the two Elders. Senior Brother can find him there."
Yang Kai nodded. "Thank you for your hard work."
Watching Yang Kai walk away, the two disciples stared blankly for a moment.
"Something feels different about Senior Brother today," one of them said.
"I've been feeling the same way. The Senior Brother before..." The other thought for a while, choosing his words carefully. "He felt lifeless before, but today it's like he's come back to life."
"Exactly, that's it. Looks like Senior Brother has finally moved on from what happened before."
"That's for the best. There are plenty of fish in the sea. That Zhou Cen didn't look like a good woman to me—just the type to cling to the powerful. It's a good thing Senior Brother can let her go."
Yang Kai of the Void Spirit Sword Sect was known for being generous and mild-tempered, well-loved and respected by his fellow disciples. When the Zhou Cen incident had happened, many of them had been deeply worried about him. Now that they saw him emerging from his shadow, they naturally felt happy for him.
In the Council Hall, Void Spirit Sword Sect Master Su Changfa, Grand Elder Gu Kangning, and Second Elder Hongxiu had gathered together.
The Void Spirit Sword Sect was on the decline, and in the older generation, only these three served as pillars. They were also the three strongest members of the entire sect, all with cultivation at the third level of the Earth Rank.
But the leap from the third level to the fourth was a watershed—just like the divide between the Third and Fourth Orders of the Open Heaven Realm. Without sufficient aptitude, one simply could not make the crossing.