Chapter 362: Entering the Sword Cavern

Yan Liqiang saw the female disciple who had fainted too. Even so, he didn’t stop his footsteps and continued walking calmly toward the front. The unconscious female disciple was carried away in a flash. In this kind of situation, even if she managed to immediately wake up, she could only continue to pretend to be unconscious because she would be too embarrassed to stay in the hall.

The passage on both sides of the Ancestral Hall were crowded with people. The sect’s elite disciples were standing closest to the door, followed by the direct disciples and then the core disciples. The higher ranking and more important figures stood deeper inside the Ancestral Hall. For this occasion, those who had the rights to be seated at the far end of the Ancestral Hall were only the Sect Lord Luqiu Mingyue and the seventeen elders.

Among the group of elite disciples wearing purple long robes, a few people dressed in black and gray clothes were particularly eye-catching.

Those people happened to be Gu Zexuan, Zhao Huipeng, Huo Bin, Hu Tiande, Li Kaihe, and Ma Liang.

According to their positions, Gu Zexuan, Hu Tiande, and the rest actually didn’t have the rights to enter the Ancestral Hall. External disciples like Ma Liang didn’t even have the rights to ascend Tiankui Peak. They were allowed to attend this ceremony because they were ‘special guests’ invited by Yan Liqiang. As the main character of this apprentice ceremony, Yan Liqiang was allowed to invite ten friends. In the Divine Sword Sect, the most solid relationships he had formed up to this point were only with Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng. In addition, Huo Bin, Hu Tiande, and the rest were on pretty good terms with Yan Liqiang. At least they had established trust with each other, which in turn allowed for collaboration. Since they could be considered friends, Yan Liqiang extended invitations to them as well.

Apart from Gu Zexuan, Hu Tiande, and the rest, Yan Liqiang also invited two acquaintances from Tianqiao Peak. One of them was Steward Huang and the other was Sun Weizhen. Both of them were currently watching Yan Liqiang excitedly in the Tianqiao Hall group.

Although it had only been three days, Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng were already wearing the long black inner disciple robes which indicated that they were no longer external disciples. Judging from their facial expressions, they would probably be screaming in excitement if it wasn’t for the fact that they were currently inside the Ancestral Hall.

Gu Zexuan was looking at Yan Liqiang rather mischievously. His gaze shifted between him and the female disciples at the side.

When Huo Bin, Hu Tiande, Li Kaihe, and Ma Liang saw Yan Liqiang looking in their direction, Hu Tiande and Li Kaihe were acting slightly more reserved and only gave him a friendly smile. Huo Bin and Ma Liang beamed at Yan Liqiang instead, seemingly trying to gain his favor. When they saw Yan Liqiang nod at them, both of them immediately felt so honored and almost wanted to scream, ‘YAN LIQIANG IS MY FRIEND!’ out loud.

Walking a little further in, Yan Liqiang saw Hall Master Su and Manager Qiu in the crowd.

Hall Master Su nodded at Yan Liqiang when he saw him approaching. His gaze was filled with encouragement and pride. On the contrary, the complex expression on Manager Qiu’s face was almost indescribable. He seemed like he wanted to smile, but it looked no different from crying. There was even a hint of terror in his gaze. For the very first time, Manager Qiu started hating himself for being blind all this time and offending Yan Liqiang. Now that Yan Liqiang had become the Sect Lord’s disciple, he had boundless prospects ahead of him. If he wanted to get revenge, he would definitely meet an extremely horrifying end…

Aside from these familiar faces, Yan Liqiang didn’t recognize most of the others. However, there were still a few young people who captured Yan Liqiang’s attention with their unusual auras.

They stood near the seated group of elders. This indicated that they had very special identities in the Divine Sword Sect. One of them was the Flying Tiger Sword, Peng Tianjie, whom Yan Liqiang met when he was ascending Tiankui Peak for the very first time three days ago. This led Yan Liqiang to speculate that they were the legendary Three Braves, Seven Heroes and The Unrivaled of the Divine Sword Sect.

However, not all of them seemed to be present today and some might not even be in the sect. Although there were males and females in the group, Yan Liqiang only saw seven of them instead of eleven.

……

Yan Liqiang stood still two meters before Luqiu Mingyue. Elder Guo, the host of the ceremony, stood close by.

“The Divine Sword Sect’s disciple, Yan Liqiang, shall offer incense to the martial ancestors of the Divine Sword Sect!”

Following Elder Guo’s yell, a steward from the Ancestral Hall immediately came out from the side, holding a pure gold tray with three yellow incense sticks that were each as thick as a thumb.

Yan Liqiang picked up the three incense sticks from the tray, then solemnly walked to the ancestral tablets of the Divine Sword Sect’s past founders. He burned the three incense sticks on an oil lamp, then respectfully inserted them into the incense burner before the tablets. He took a few steps back, kneeled on the ground, and performed nine kowtows to the ancestral tablets. After that, he got up, lifted up his long robe, and returned to his original position.

“Divine Sword Sect disciple Yan Liqiang, kneel to pay respect to your Master!”

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As soon as Elder Guo finished speaking, Yan Liqiang kneeled before Luqiu Mingyu who was seated before him and performed three kowtows.

“Serve tea to your Master!”

A disciple came over, holding a pure gold tray with a cup of tea on it. Yan Liqiang took a few steps forward on his knees, reached for the teacup, and held it high up above his head. He offered the teacup to Luqiu Mingyue and announced with a loud and clear voice, “Disciple Yan Liqiang hereby offers Master his tea!”

Luqiu Mingyue nodded. He accepted the teacup, took a sip, and set it down on the small table beside him.

“The Master shall bestow a sword upon his disciple!”

A steward standing at the side walked to Luqiu Mingyue holding a long, pure gold tray while bowing down. Luqiu Mingyue lifted the silk cover of the tray, revealing an antique longsword. He picked it up and gently caressed the antique bronze sword hilt. His deep, emotional gaze traveled from the sword hilt to the tip of its scabbard.

“The name of this sword is Noble Path. It is the same sword I used to uphold justice by vanquishing countless evils in my younger days. Today, I shall bestow this sword upon you. I hope you will never forget your original intention and stay on the noble path always!”

After Luqiu Mingyue finished speaking, he handed the sword to Yan Liqiang.

Never forget your original intention, stay on the noble path always!

The eleven words stirred Yan Liqiang’s heart. He took a deep breath and accepted the longsword with both hands. “Thank you, Master! Your disciple shall never let you down!”

Yan Liqiang got up smoothly after accepting the longsword.

“Open the Sword Cavern…!”

Following Elder Guo’s yell, the two heavy metal doors at the very end of the Ancestral Hall behind the memorial tablets slowly opened. At this very moment, everyone’s gaze was filled with desire, envy, and even a trace of greed…

Behind the heavy metal doors was a very deep cavern!

Despite being a disciple of the Divine Sword Sect, not many people would have the opportunity to enter the Sword Cavern even once throughout their entire lifetime. The Sword Cavern was the most mysterious and important place in the sect. It was considered to be the foundation of the Divine Sword Sect.

People who entered the cavern had to rely on their opportunity and luck. Without both, they would find themselves wandering around aimlessly inside and come out empty-handed seven days later. Those who were fortunate enough would be able to obtain the Divine Sword Sect’s exceptional skills and sword techniques. The Sect Lord, elders, the sect’s idols like the Three Braves, Seven Heroes and the rest had entered the Sword Cavern before and returned with a fruitful journey.

People who had never contributed or had yet to contribute enough to the Divine Sword Sect wouldn’t be eligible to enter the Sword Cavern.

Yan Liqiang looked toward the cavern, then took a deep breath. Without even turning back, he directly walked toward the two metal doors and entered the deep cavern.

After Yan Liqiang entered, the two metal doors closed behind him with great rumbling noise and finally a loud bang, shutting out everyone’s view in the Ancestral Hall.

“The apprentice ceremony has come to an end. Disciples may leave the Ancestral Hall in an orderly manner…” Elder Guo’s calm voice rang out. All the disciples in the Ancestral Hall started leaving one after another. In just flash, only Luqiu Mingyue and a group of elders were left inside the grand hall. At this moment, everyone’s gazes were on the closed metal doors.

“I wonder what kind of sword technique or secret manual Yan Liqiang will receive in there…” one of the elders mumbled to himself.

“We will know in seven days…” Luqiu Mingyue turned his gaze away from the two metal doors as he spoke calmly.