I began to understand the myriad things by chopping wood

Chapter 184: The Eve of the Sword Fight
The errand disciples around him all turned their heads and stared at Xie Yuan in surprise.

This is the second time that Senior Brother Qin has come to the servants' compound. He rarely came here in the past few years, but he came twice in a row to look for Zhang Shan?

What was the purpose of the sect leader's direct descendant and chief disciple looking for Zhang Shan?
Many people had doubts in their minds. Knowing that he was "diligent", including the errand disciples in the firewood room and the back hall, they couldn't help but wonder, could it be that he really caught the attention of the higher-ups and that even Senior Brother Qin had a favorable eye for him?
For a moment, all the disciples were envious and jealous, and some even shouted in their hearts that this couldn't be true, and that he must have caused trouble...

The looks of the menial disciples revealed all kinds of people, but they didn't know that Xie Yuan felt nervous and would rather Qin Zhenyang didn't come to see him.

Coming here at this time, could it be that you have discovered something?
His mind was racing, and many thoughts crossed his mind in an instant, but he remained respectful and responded:

"Yes, Brother Qin!"

Xie Yuan followed Qin Zhenyang out of the servants' compound and came to a secluded tree outside the compound.

Qin Zhenyang looked at Xie Yuan, sized him up and down, and asked quietly:
"Junior Brother Zhang, you didn't go to the back hall or the Huagu Guest House today, did you?"

Xie Yuan was shocked. He had expected Qin Zhenyang to test him, but he didn't expect him to be so direct!

How to do?
Exposed?
Or find another excuse?

He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Qin Zhenyang sighed slightly and said in a deep voice:
"Junior Brother Zhang, the sect has been very busy these days, so it's not a good idea to take some time off at this time. The outer sect manager has a good reputation for you, but we are short of manpower these days. I came to you today to let you manage the four guesthouses in the east half of the mountain, namely, the Valley, Songfeng, Hongyan, and Yunhai. I wanted to organize them in the next few days, but you..."

He shook his head and said calmly:

"The manager said you've never made such a mistake before, and everyone has been too busy recently. Everyone has their moments of laziness, and I'm no exception. Forget it this time, and don't let it happen again.

"So I'll leave these four guest houses to you. Make sure they're properly arranged before the sword fight. Junior Brother Zhang, the stewards all praised you. I also believe that with your tactfulness, you can do it, right?"

Xie Yuan was stunned for a moment, showing a look of shame and excitement, without any problem at all:
"Yes, Brother Qin, I will never let you down again!"

Qin Zhenyang smiled, patted his shoulder, and walked away.

Xie Yuan respectfully watched Qin Zhenyang leave, his eyes not changing at all.

He didn't turn back until Qin Zhenyang had disappeared. He had a firm face, clenched fists, and looked full of energy.

"This senior brother... Although I've heard that he takes care of everything personally, no matter how big or small, and has always been a capable assistant to the commander - but it shouldn't be this serious? He came to ask me last time. Maybe the commotion during the breakthrough at the Huagu Guest House has made him suspicious of me. I have to keep a low profile in the future, and if it doesn't work, I'll just run away..."

Xie Yuan didn't know if Qin Zhenyang was somewhere silently watching him, but he had already been alert, reminding himself not to rest easy just because the Heavenly Hidden Technique could be hidden from the Grandmaster.

There are countless masters here, and many situations cannot be resolved by the Heavenly Hidden Technique.

Upstream of the stream, in the courtyard where the outer disciples live.

Qin Zhenyang stood beside a courtyard, silently looking down at the servants' yard below, like a sculpture.

Looking at Xie Yuan who looked normal, he thought to himself:

"You can pay more attention to this junior brother."

He retracted his gaze, took out a small notebook, ticked a line of words, looked at the unresolved matters listed below, sighed softly, shook his head, and walked to a disciple courtyard nearby to prepare to explain things.

Autumn is gradually approaching, and the land of Yunzhou below the mountain still retains the residual warmth of summer. While marveling at the ferocity of the autumn tiger, the autumn wind has already started blowing on Yunshan Mountain.

In the golden month of September, the entire Yunzhou, and even the entire Dali Dynasty's cultivation community, all turned their attention to this beautiful mountain covered with red maples.

In two days, the leader of the Donghu Cangjian Pavilion, one of the four sects, will lead more than a hundred elders and disciples to the Yunshan Sword Sect to discuss swordsmanship.

Countless people from the martial arts world crowded into Yunzhou, Yunshan County, and Yunshan Town, even forcing Xie Yuan to pay more money to keep the room where he stored his things.

The arrival of so many warriors gave the Yunzhou government a headache. After all, wherever the martial artists go, there will be chaos.

Fortunately, the Dali government is very powerful. The Six Gates and Chunyu Tower, which are responsible for the affairs of the martial arts world, are also very powerful. Yunshan County is the territory of the Yunshan County King, a martial arts master. They were well prepared and sent many people to maintain order around Yunshan. The Yunshan Sword Sect also sent disciples to assist, so as to avoid a major chaos.

However, there was no major chaos, but confusion was inevitable. In recent days, there had been martial arts competitions and vendettas every day at the foot of Yunshan Mountain. There were even many small sects and large martial arts halls who wanted to take the opportunity to become famous or to settle accounts. Many fighting arenas, gambling houses, and prostitutes had been opened at the foot of Yunshan Mountain. Yunshan Town was more lively than ever before, even more lively than the Yunzhou Prefecture.

The gathering of people from the martial arts world here was like a carnival. But they knew who the protagonist was. Although the Yunshan Sword Sect had closed its doors to visitors recently and did not allow outsiders to climb Yunshan, people still gathered here, wanting to be the first to know the outcome of this sword fight that would affect the world's martial arts landscape.

The Sword Sect declined to watch the ceremony, but someone could always get an invitation. In addition to some representatives of major sects that were friendly with the Yunshan Sword Sect or the Hidden Sword Pavilion, the Yunshan County King of Yunzhou and Situ Qin were naturally qualified to go up the mountain.

So two days in advance, Situ Qin visited Huagu Guesthouse again.

"Thank you, Captain Escort. Why are you so busy? Aren't you the manager of this guesthouse? You're not here every day."

Situ Qin complained that she had originally wanted to talk about the event with Xie Yuan, but Xie Yuan was too busy these two days and it was hard for him to find some time to have tea with her.

Xie Yuan sighed:

"I've been promoted. Now I'm in charge of several guest houses on the hillside. The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility..."

"Tsk, you're so proud!"

Situ Qin curled her lips, then smiled brightly and said:

"You're free now, right?"

"Well, I found that I don't need to do everything myself. I can just assign a few servants to clean up. Once they say it's arranged by the eldest brother, they are more diligent than anyone else. Tsk, they are used to being treated like cattle and horses, and they don't know how to order others around."

Xie Yuan shook his head, grabbed a snack from Situ Qin's food box, put it into his mouth, and chewed it happily.

"Hey, that's the last one! It's my favorite! Can't you eat something else?" Situ Qin stared with anger and anxiety on her beautiful face. She had fair skin, rosy cheeks, and wide-open eyes, which was very attractive.

Xie Yuan laughed casually:

"Oh, I didn't mean to..."

"You did it on purpose!"

Situ Qin opened her eyes and stared at him angrily. She had long been accustomed to his various strange words.

She snorted lightly, not arguing any more, picked up another dessert, put it into her mouth, and narrowed her eyes into crescents.

After eating the snack, Situ Qin wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and asked with great interest:
"How about it? The event will start soon. Are you looking forward to it?"

"I'm looking forward to it, and even a little nervous. My hands are shaking when I think about my sect's disciples going on stage to participate in such an important sword fight."

Xie Yuan took another piece of dessert and said lazily:
"But I suddenly remembered that I was just a handyman and didn't have to go on stage, and I was no longer nervous."

Situ Qin chuckled and couldn't help but hit him:
"It seems that you have no sense of sect honor at all?"

"I'm just a sweeper. What does the sect's affairs have to do with my monthly salary of thirty cents?"

Xie Yuan laughed, but he was a little more serious:

"But to be honest, I've been on the mountain for a few months and I feel that Yunshan Sword Sect is really good. The people are nice and the mountain is nice. It's comfortable to stay here. I hope they can win this time."

"Disaster."

Situ Qin shook her head:

"The people from Hidden Sword Pavilion are already on their way, and the list is no secret. Looking at their lineup, apart from the necessary remaining forces, it is not an exaggeration to say that they have come out in full force, and it seems that they are also attaching great importance to this."

"Really? Who are the celebrities?"

Xie Yuan asked with great interest.

Situ Qin joked:

"With your knowledge, you may not understand even if I tell you."

Xie Yuan didn't take it seriously and said with a smile:
"Please, Miss Qin, introduce me to you. Then I will know."

"Since you are good at speaking, I will tell you about it with all my might."

Situ Qin took a sip of tea and pretended to clear his throat:
"Ahem, well. Let's talk about the first one first, the leader of the Hidden Sword Pavilion, the fifth on the Flying Dragon List, 'Sea Covering Sword' Wei Dong. His 'Sea Calming Sword Art' has reached the highest level, and his sword can calm the sea, which is not an empty statement. It is said that not only is his swordsmanship extremely high, but his cultivation has also reached the highest level, and he is only one step away from becoming a Grandmaster, so he is ranked fifth on the Flying Dragon List."

Xie Yuan nodded. He had heard of the name of this top master.

"Then came the elders of the Hidden Sword Pavilion. Two of them came, both of them are Grandmasters, and one of them is the 32nd on the Flying Dragon Ranking, 'Autumn Water Divine Sword' Song Qingping. There is no need to say much about his cultivation, as his ranking on the Flying Dragon Ranking is enough to prove it. However, the main reason why he is famous is that he is handsome and romantic, has a romantic temperament, and has many anecdotes. Many male and female warriors in the world regard him as an idol."

Situ Qin smiled and said:
"For example, Master Jingchen of Mingxin Temple was once a top beauty in the martial arts world when she was still a laywoman. She had countless admirers, but in the end, she entered Mingxin Temple because of him. Now, she has become a master of the Flying Dragon Ranking... Hehe, I will talk about that later."

Mingxin Temple and Cangjian Pavilion are one of the four sects. Master Jingchen is the Flying Dragon List Grandmaster of Mingxin Temple. Xie Yuan has naturally heard of her name, but he did not know that there was such a past. He did broaden his horizons for the moment.

"There are also many people from the Hidden Sword Pavilion below the Grandmaster level. He Jin, the eldest disciple of the Hidden Sword Pavilion, who is ranked seventh on the Hidden Dragon List, is naturally here as well. He will definitely have a fight with your eldest senior brother. The two eldest disciples are fighting for the sword for the sect. They are all heroes on the Hidden Dragon List, so it is naturally a battle of topics. However, Qin Zhenyang is only ranked 26th, which is a big gap from He Jin, so his chances of winning are slim.

"Below He Jin, there is another person named Huang Hao, who is ranked 68th on the Hidden Dragon List. He entered the Hidden Dragon List not long after he broke through the second transformation of Qi and Blood. His strength should not be underestimated."

Xie Yuan nodded silently. The format of this competition had been planned in advance. The swordsmen all tried to keep it simple, and the rules were not complicated.

The two sect leaders were bound to compete with each other. This was the purpose of Wei Dong's initiative to challenge the sword fight. He wanted to know to what extent Li Xingtuo had achieved breakthrough.
Under the sect master, the grandmaster elders must also send a representative to represent the sect’s top-level forces in the competition.

Below the Grandmaster realm, there is the Qi and Blood Transformation realm, and there is an elite disciple on each level. Needless to say, for the third transformation, the two chiefs will fight against each other; and for the second transformation, the candidates of Yunshan Sword Sect are a little stretched, as they do not have any disciples on the Potential Dragon List who have reached the second transformation of Qi and Blood.

As for the change in qi and blood, it was even less well-known. He was only famous within the sect, but few outside the sect knew about it.

For disciples below the Qi and Blood Transformation Stage, a few more matches were set up for external training, to test the talents of the new disciples and also to warm up the atmosphere.

From this point of view, Xie Yuan felt that except for the fact that the strength between the sect leaders was similar, it seemed that the Yunshan Sword Sect was completely at a disadvantage in every battle.

If the external training is not counted, thinking of the fact that there is still a scene of Situ Qin that has not been introduced, Xie Yuan asked curiously:

"What if the Qi and blood change? Who will come out from their side?"

Situ Qin drank a sip of tea to moisten his throat, then said slowly:
"It's probably that kid Yao Tianchuan."

"Yao Tianchuan?"

Xie Yuan was somewhat familiar with the name, but couldn't remember it.

However, looking at Situ Qin's expression, he realized something and asked:

"A descendant of the Yao family of Jinling?"

(End of this chapter)