"These Peach Wood Swords, Ghost Slayer and Demon Suppressor, are originally priced at four hundred Spirit Stones each. The best discount I can normally give with my authority is twenty percent."

With a casual remark, Lang Zhongping dropped the price even further.

"However, they’ve been sitting in the shop for three months with no takers. I was actually planning to apply to the Elder tomorrow to lower the price. Since Junior Brother Bai happens to be here, of course, I should sell them to one of our own."

"I was planning to lower the price to three hundred Spirit Stones each, and then apply the twenty percent discount on top of that. So for the pair of Peach Wood Swords, the total would be four hundred and eighty Spirit Stones."

After all that, the price for two peach wood flying swords was less than that of a single Ink Bamboo Sword.

Bai Zichen knew perfectly well that this was a gesture of goodwill from Lang Zhongping.

Even though the attributes of this pair of century-old peach wood flying swords, Ghost Slayer and Demon Suppressor, were terrible, they would still be easy to sell with just a slight price reduction.

After all, they were still considered flying swords.

This price probably didn’t even cover the cost of the Artifact Refining.

This also showed how much authority Lang Zhongping wielded as a Market Steward. With the mountains of Spirit Stones that passed through his hands, even a small portion of the profits he could dispense was considerable.

"Thank you for your generosity, Brother Lang. I’ve gotten quite a bargain."

Bai Zichen counted out the Spirit Stones, adding two more flying swords to his storage pouch.

With four flying swords now in his possession, the twelve needed for the Star River Sword Array Formation no longer seemed so far away.

"Junior Brother Bai, are you planning to sign up for the True Inheritance Trial next year, or the year after? If you run into any trouble, feel free to ask me. I’m a few years older than you and once planned for it myself, but when the time came, I knew my own limits and gave up."

Seeing Bai Zichen buy the peach wood flying swords, Lang Zhongping’s attitude became even more amiable.

"With your strength, Junior Brother Bai, you’ll pass the first two stages easily. You just need to be careful about the final stage. The other Inner Sect Disciples can challenge you one after another. If you can’t settle things with them beforehand, it will turn into a war of attrition. Even with your formidable strength, you’ll be in danger of exhausting your Magical Power."

"Fortunately, that Xiong Baishan is challenging for a True Inheritance spot this year. Regardless of whether he succeeds, it’s his last year, so you’ll have one less major rival to worry about." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Relying on his Companion Spirit Beast, Xiong Baishan was already one of the strongest Inner Sect Disciples, and many favored him to be promoted to True Disciple.

Last year, when Chen Wei signed up for the True Inheritance Trial, he didn’t dare compete against a disciple favored by a Core Formation Ancestor, so he held back for a year.

But this was already his fifth year in the Inner Sect. No matter what, Xiong Baishan wouldn’t miss this final chance to fight for a True Disciple position.

"Brother Lang, there are still some details about the True Inheritance Trial that I’m unclear on. I was hoping to ask for your guidance."

Hearing that Xiong Baishan was going to contend for a True Inheritance spot this year, Bai Zichen’s heart stirred.

Lang Zhongping, who was deliberately trying to build a connection, naturally told him everything he knew.

It turned out there were actually four stages to the True Inheritance Trial. An Inner Sect Disciple who passed the first three stages would then have to challenge an existing True Disciple. Only by winning could they take the other’s place.

But in recent years, the Qingfeng Sect couldn’t even fill all ten True Disciple slots, so the fourth stage was effectively non-existent.

As for the first stage’s assessment, the assigned tasks also varied in difficulty. Even with the same Tier One Peak Demon Beast, factors like whether your Cultivation Technique or Magical Artifacts countered it, and the beast’s innate talent, created a lot of room for manipulation.

"The first stage of the True Inheritance Trial has always been handled by the Transmission Hall... If you have connections there, Junior Brother Bai, you could start making arrangements in advance."

"Thank you for the advice, Brother Lang. I know what to do."

Bai Zichen cupped his hands in salute. He hadn’t had the patience to investigate these intricacies, and the Bai Family couldn’t offer much help either. He truly owed Lang Zhongping a favor for this.

「White Jade Tower.」

Bai Zichen summoned Su Lie and Peng Jinhua to the main hall and gave them each their orders.

He personally wrote a letter and had Peng Jinhua deliver it to Elder Peng Chong, asking when would be a convenient time for him to pay a visit.

He then ordered Su Lie to focus all his attention on Xiong Baishan, closely monitoring his movements and gathering all information, such as who he met with and what new Magical Artifacts he purchased.

In any case, from the moment Xiong Baishan decided to sign up for the True Inheritance Trial, he became the focus of all the Inner Sect Disciples. Countless people were paying attention to any news about him.

Su Lie only needed to communicate more with the other escorts and servants to obtain a considerable amount of information.

He then tossed them two bottles of Qi Replenishing Pills, bestowing one to each of them.

’The True Inheritance Trial is usually held in late autumn, so there are still six months... I’ll have to fight for this position sooner or later, so why wait another year?’

On his way back, Bai Zichen had already made up his mind. He would sign up for the True Inheritance Trial this year.

’I still haven’t gotten revenge for being framed. You want to become a True Disciple? First, you’ll have to ask if the sword in my hand agrees!’

Since Xiong Baishan wanted to become a True Inheritance Disciple, the final stage would be combat. How could Bai Zichen stand by and watch him pass smoothly? He would definitely go on stage to test him with his sword.

Since that was the case, it was more straightforward to just participate in the True Inheritance Trial himself.

The indignant roar left behind in Meng Zhaode’s Jade Scroll before his death had shaken him to the core.

’The scenery after Core Formation, who wouldn’t want to see it... I want to ascend to see Nascent Soul, and even Divinity Transformation!’

It was precisely because of Meng Zhaode’s fate that Bai Zichen felt a sense of urgency.

A one-year gap might not seem like much, but when it came to opportunities of the Great Dao, sometimes even a single day could make all the difference.

Having made his decision, Bai Zichen’s mood lightened considerably. Xiong Baishan had his Companion Spirit Beast, but he had his flying swords; he wasn’t afraid of him.

He immediately took out the True Understanding of Sword Dao, its plates as thin as a cicada’s wings, and began to study it carefully.

According to what the Star River Sword Monarch had written, the Sword Dao Realm was divided into five levels.

The first was Sword Qi Transformation and Body and Sword Unity. Ninety percent of the world’s Sword Cultivators spent their entire lives stuck in this first Realm.

Their competitions were merely about who had more proficient Sword Control, or who could react faster in a sword fight. No matter how deeply they studied, it was merely an improvement of technique, not the Sword Dao.

’Ninety percent of Sword Cultivators study painstakingly for a lifetime, only to be considered stuck at the first level of Sword Dao in the eyes of the Taibai Sword Sect... With my current Swordsmanship, I’m still a long way from perfecting the technique.’

On each plate of the True Understanding, there was the figure of a person holding a sword. By infusing it with Magical Power, the figure would demonstrate a Sword Technique.

As Bai Zichen compared himself to it, he was immediately filled with a sense of inadequacy.

Though both were in the first Realm, the sword-wielding figure in the scroll moved like an antelope hanging by its horns, leaving no trace. Its movements were completely free of any worldly effort.

It was hard to believe that this was still considered the introductory Realm of the Sword Dao.

The next Realm was what the Taibai Sword Sect called Sword Qi Thunder Sound.

Every swing of the sword was accompanied by rumbling thunder, stirring up wind and lightning, each strike carrying its full might.

This Realm wasn’t simply about the flying sword being fast enough to create a thunderous sound; it involved borrowing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power.

In short, with just thirty percent of one’s strength, one could make the flying sword achieve the effect of being propelled with full power.

Bai Zichen infused his Magical Power, and a Sword Child with its hair in a topknot leaped out. A Scarlet Streak Sword Light shot back and forth from its hand, shaving dozens of feet off the tops of two opposing mountains.

’Huh? Why do I feel like the Sword Child from the second Realm is less shocking than the Swordsman from the first...’

The Sword Child’s Scarlet Streak Sword Light moved in straight lines, without the slightest variation. He couldn’t see any profundity in it.

’Could this be the difference between technique and Dao that the Star River Sword Monarch spoke of?’

Bai Zichen felt a flicker of understanding.

The heritage of this Taibai Sword Sect was truly extraordinary. He didn’t know what method they used, but this technique of recording images on thin plates of metal and stone was even better than a Jade Scroll.

It was as if a real Sword Cultivator was standing before him, demonstrating each Sword Dao Realm one by one in concert with the text.

Bai Zichen composed himself and looked toward the third Realm.