Chapter 75

Please vote and recommend, don't skip this part, it's very important...

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"Xiu Ying, I have time tonight, let's go sell the elixirs." After eating, Bu Zheng invited Xiu Ying to go sell the elixirs with him.

"No, I still need to practice!" Xiu Ying's eyes flashed with a hint of longing, but she shook her head firmly.

"Not going? You always say you want to go with me to see if there are any fools who would trade for my elixirs. Why are you backing out now?" Bu Zheng looked at Xiu Ying with some confusion.

"The outer disciples' competition is coming up in a month, I need to practice hard!" Xiu Ying shook her head and said.

"Outer disciples' competition? What's that?" Bu Zheng was very puzzled; he wasn't very clear about these things.

"It's an annual competition within the sect. Not just for outer disciples, but also for ordinary disciples. It's essentially an annual exam. The top hundred outer disciples can become ordinary disciples, and the top hundred ordinary disciples can receive a large amount of cultivation resources." Xiu Ying explained in simpler terms, afraid that Bu Zheng wouldn't understand otherwise.

Becoming an ordinary disciple is usually done this way—by ranking in the top hundred in the outer disciples' competition. This is to foster a competitive spirit; otherwise, if one just cultivates to a certain level, it would lack the spirit of a martial artist.

Of course, there are other ways. One can become an ordinary disciple with a certain amount of seniority and contributions to the sect, and by reaching the Two Meridians realm. This method is non-competitive, but such disciples generally have little hope of reaching the peak of martial arts.

"Is that so? What about the miscellaneous disciples?" Bu Zheng asked.

"Miscellaneous disciples need to pass an exam to become outer disciples, then it's the same." Xiu Ying said.

"That's none of my business. You should work hard when the time comes." Bu Zheng had a detached attitude, which made Xiu Ying a bit annoyed.

"You have to come and cheer me on." Xiu Ying gave Bu Zheng a task, but she believed he would refuse it outright.

"Not going!"

As expected, Bu Zheng refused straightforwardly, not even bothering to give a reason.

"The sect competition is very lively, with many young girls..." Xiu Ying tried to entice Bu Zheng.

"More girls, more boys, it's the same everywhere. The market tonight is the same." Bu Zheng replied disdainfully, "You really haven't seen much of the world!"

"..." Xiu Ying was about to lose it; she was being told she hadn't seen much of the world by a country bumpkin.

"Still, you should practice your sword techniques more. By the way, I know a book called the 'Heavenly Sword Canon.' Do you want to hear about it? It might help you rank in the top hundred." Bu Zheng suddenly remembered a sword technique manual he had memorized. Although he didn't understand what it said, he knew it was beneficial for sword cultivation.

"Heavenly Sword Canon?" Xiu Ying asked, puzzled. What was this? She had never heard of it.

Xiu Ying didn't know that the Heavenly Sword Canon was no ordinary thing. Not only had she never heard of it, but even in the entire Seven Stars Kingdom, no one had. Although it wasn't a secret within Ling Aoxue's and the others' forces, only those at the top of the pyramid knew about it.

"Yes, I'll recite it for you. Heavenly Sword Canon, first chapter, what is a sword..." Bu Zheng didn't care if Xiu Ying wanted to listen and started reciting it.

Although the Heavenly Sword Canon was written in ancient, difficult-to-understand characters, it contained various sword knowledge and principles. It started with the basics of swords, detailing all kinds of swords, their strengths and weaknesses, and then moved on to sword techniques and the Way of the Sword.

If one could fully understand the Heavenly Sword Canon, they would be a sword expert, at least in terms of theoretical knowledge.

At first, Xiu Ying thought the Heavenly Sword Canon wasn't particularly remarkable, just that the text was a bit hard to understand. But later, she realized that the content was profound and insightful. If she could understand the principles within, her sword skills would undoubtedly improve dramatically.

Compared to this, the sword manuals of the Green Cloud Sword Sect were like children's toys!

"Finished reciting, you're leaving? Come on, who can remember it just by hearing it once?" Soon, Bu Zheng finished reciting and wanted to leave, but Xiu Ying held him back.

The Heavenly Sword Canon wasn't very long in text. Compared to the manuals of the Green Cloud Sword Sect, it was even shorter, sometimes only half as long.

"I can remember it." Bu Zheng replied.

"..." Xiu Ying was silent. She knew about Bu Zheng's memory; he could indeed remember it. But being contradicted like this made her unhappy, so she retorted.

"Do you understand it?" Xiu Ying looked down on Bu Zheng.

"..., no..." Bu Zheng was helpless and could only accept the condescension.

"Rote memorization is useless; you need to understand it. I'll recite it once, and you can copy it down to study later." Xiu Ying took out paper and a pen from Bu Zheng and started writing down every word he recited.

The Heavenly Sword Canon was written in ancient text, and some characters Xiu Ying didn't know how to write or understand. But she believed Bu Zheng didn't know either. She could verify these later. For now, even understanding the characters she knew would be a good start.

From this, it was clear that martial artists needed to be more proficient in language and ancient texts than scholars. Otherwise, they wouldn't know what was written in secret manuals.

The poor study literature, the rich study martial arts. To study martial arts, one needs to be both literate and martial, which naturally requires more money. The ancients were indeed right!

"Bu Zheng, where did you get the Heavenly Sword Canon?" After copying it down, Xiu Ying asked seriously. This book was no ordinary thing, seemingly more important than the Return to Origin Heart Method.

How could Bu Zheng have such a thing? It was really hard to understand.

"My wife made me memorize it." Bu Zheng replied directly.

"Don't make things up, tell the truth." Xiu Ying naturally didn't believe him.

"Fine, if you don't believe me, I'm leaving. I'm going to the market. You can eat the leftovers from the kitchen; it should be enough for you." Bu Zheng said and left.

"Heavenly Sword Canon..." Xiu Ying muttered the four words, looking at Bu Zheng's back. She felt that Bu Zheng was hiding something from her, but if he wanted to hide it, why would he tell her about the Heavenly Sword Canon?

Forget it, no point in worrying. Everyone has secrets. If Bu Zheng didn't want to say, why should she press him? Besides, Bu Zheng had been very good to her. These things were like several fortuitous encounters for her.

I need to work hard, aim for the top hundred, and become an ordinary disciple to take care of him...

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The following content is just casual chat, you can ignore it...

In the last chapter, I asked about the world background of the book. Most of you thought it was wuxia, which is natural. Some said it had xianxia elements, but it doesn't. I didn't intend to write xianxia; otherwise, the book would be categorized as such.

Alchemical techniques are a wuxia setting and are also part of traditional Chinese culture. The Heavenly Thunder Elixir in the book is actually gunpowder, a byproduct of ancient alchemists...

Secondly, the advanced martial arts not yet encountered are represented by formations. I hinted at this combat method earlier. It's essentially a sword formation, with a bit of Western magic mixed in, but represented by formations.

Formations and alchemy are essentially magic arrays and magical devices. Of course, some wuxia novels also have formations and tools, which is a combination. However, the elements are more from the alchemy and magical items in my previous Western background novels, which I am familiar with and used here.

Formations are basically combinations of the most basic formations. There are no special high-level formations, just like how computer systems are ultimately made up of 0s and 1s.

One reader was correct in saying that the book is a high-wuxia world with Western magic and alchemy elements, and it has little to do with xianxia. It's just that alchemy is placed in an Eastern setting, so it's called divine techniques and divine tools...

The above content is just casual chat, unrelated to the book. Thank you for your comments, please keep them coming...

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