Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 56 White Stone Martial Arts Tournament
The fifth day of the fourth lunar month is auspicious for offering sacrifices, building stoves, and leveling roads.

The White Stone Martial Arts Tournament was held in the Sword-Touching Garden within the Sword-Casting Manor.

The Sword Wiping Garden is located beside Laishui Lake, where three large martial arts arenas have been built. These are also the arenas used by the Sword Casting Manor for its own internal competitions.

Outside the arena is a plaza, which was originally also used for martial arts competitions, but now it is covered with temporary tarpaulin tents, under which are tables and chairs for the martial artists who come to watch the competition to rest.

The table was laden with fruits and snacks, and maids and servants were bustling about, serving tea and water to everyone.

However, those sitting here are usually martial artists with no background or from small sects. The truly famous families and sects in the martial arts world are mostly invited to the top of the tower.

The Sword Casting Manor has a total of twelve towers, all built around Laishui Lake on the shore. There are eight towers in the Sword Wiping Garden alone, and four more are distributed in a radiating pattern along the shore outside the garden.

Besides being used by disciples for enlightenment and cultivation, these towers were also used to entertain martial artists from various aristocratic families and sects during the Sword Appraisal Tournament.

Furthermore, these towers are not free; each tower requires a rental fee: twenty strings of cash per day for the eight inner towers and ten strings of cash per day for the four outer towers. In this way, as the host, the Sword Forging Manor can both recoup some funds and avoid disputes arising from inviting various powerful families and sects into the towers—why should your sect be allowed into the inner towers while we are not?
Zhang Chengdao was also invited to participate in this martial arts tournament, and he didn't have to pay any money.

The tower where he sat was in the Sword-Touching Garden, which offered the best view, and his companion was none other than Wanqi Boyan, the old master of the Sword-Forging Manor.

Despite his advanced age and mastery of martial arts, Wanqi Boyan is not good at socializing. Even his younger brothers are somewhat afraid of him. Therefore, this tower with the fewest people is very quiet, so quiet that the scene is somewhat awkward.

Xu Ying was quite adept at social maneuvering, but he was somewhat resentful towards the Sword Forging Manor, so he deliberately kept a cold face and remained silent. Only Chang Ping'an and Murong Ruyan huddled together, whispering and discussing the young men and women gathered near the dueling platform.

This White Stone Martial Arts Tournament is divided into three arenas, one of which is called "Wind and Cloud Platform," where participants are restricted to being unaffiliated with any sect or faction.

The second and third are named "Dragon Tiger Platform" and "Leader Platform" respectively, and there are no restrictions on the lineage of the applicants.

However, there are differences between the Dragon Tiger Platform and the Champion Platform. For example, the Dragon Tiger Platform does not allow martial artists of the sixth rank or above to register because it is originally intended for the younger generation of various sects. The Champion Platform, on the other hand, does not have this restriction; anyone can register, including martial artists without a sect or affiliation.

Among them, the Wind and Cloud Platform is the most watched. Every martial arts tournament has geniuses who stand out from the Wind and Cloud Platform, join famous sects, and reach the pinnacle of their lives.

Many martial artists participate in the Dragon Tiger Platform and the Champion Platform mainly for the comments and guidance of Wanqi Boyan, a Grandmaster-level martial artist.

It's worth mentioning that the "Champion's Platform" is named as such because, as the name suggests, it's the arena where martial artists vie for the title of champion. The martial artist who wins the championship will become famous throughout the world along with the martial arts tournament and will also receive a prize from the host country.

For this White Stone Martial Arts Tournament, the prize offered by the Sword Casting Manor is a precious sword, the last longsword forged by Elder Gai Yu before sealing the furnace. It is crafted from the Azure Gold Cold Iron of White Stone Mountain and is currently unnamed.

The swords of the Sword Forging Manor that have not yet been given a master do not have names, because these swords are mostly the natal swords of various martial artists. Only when these martial artists name them themselves can they be better nurtured.

Since its forging, this precious sword has not yet been tested, so its grade cannot be determined. However, among the top thirty precious weapons on the World's Divine Weapons Ranking, eight of the eleven swords were made by the Sword Forging Manor, two of which were forged by Gai Yu.

Therefore, this final masterpiece, even if it doesn't qualify as a top-grade divine weapon, is still quite good, and as a prize, it's extremely generous.

This martial arts tournament was truly grand. Although only a little over two months had passed between sending out invitations and the official start of the event, even the Dajuekang Temple, located far away in the Western Regions, sent two monks to offer their congratulations. Countless other prestigious sects also came to join the fun. If those without invitations hadn't had to pay an entrance fee per person, the square at the Sword Forging Manor would likely have been overflowing! This was Zhang Chengdao's first time witnessing such a scene, and he looked out the window with great interest.

Very messy.

Besides the tarpaulin shed erected by the Sword Casting Manor, there are many other sheds that look like they were set up by other people themselves, crooked and crooked, which is not friendly to people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Moreover, since Zhang Chengdao was looking down, he had a clear view of the entire venue's layout. Besides the spectators, he could see many vendors selling food and drinks, and even several gambling tables. However, these gambling tables were not set up inside the manor; instead, they were used to place bets on the martial artists participating in each match. It was unclear whether this was arranged by the Sword Forging Manor itself.

In the center of the arena on the water, Wan Qizhang was presiding over the martial arts tournament and delivering a congratulatory speech.

His voice reverberated across the plaza with his inner energy, clear as if right next to someone's ear, drawing praise from many martial artists—for Wan Qizhang's age to possess such cultivation was truly remarkable.

After Wan Qizhang left, Wan Qizhongqiu, who was supervising the competition, went up on the stage and announced the participants for the first match on each competition platform.

The two who appeared on the stage were nobodies, at least not famous in the martial arts world.

As soon as the gong sounded, Zhang Chengdao started yawning.

These two were truly like chickens pecking at each other. One held a knife, and the other a sword. They fought back and forth with a lot of noise, but it was just the same few moves. They had already gone through the knife and sword techniques two or three times, and there was still no winner.

Clearly, these two did it on purpose—most martial artists who sign up for the Fengyuntai are aiming to join prestigious sects, so how can they not spend some time showcasing themselves?
With the incense in the censer almost burned out, the two of them pretended to determine a winner, which was incredibly boring.

Even so, after the two stepped down from the stage, several disciples from reputable sects waited to the side, seemingly inviting them.

Then, Zhang Chengdao saw the two of them leave with their faces glowing, following the disciples. It could be said that they had gotten what they wanted.

Meanwhile, things had already ended long ago at Longhutai.

The first match was between disciples of the Jade Void Sect and disciples of the Boundless Academy. The former was a renowned sect in the Xiao Kingdom, specializing in both internal and external cultivation, particularly skilled in soft swordsmanship. Its disciples were mostly rich in internal energy and placed great importance on skill.

The latter is a "sect" in Jiangnan that half pursues an official career and half practices martial arts. The reason it is called "academy" is actually to skirt the rules in Chu, a place with extremely strict control over martial arts. The government treats academies much better than martial arts sects.

The two exchanged only a few moves, stopping short of a decisive blow, and then stood by waiting.

After the Fengyuntai event concluded, a deep voice came from the tower closest to the plaza—

"The Jade Void Sect's swordsmanship emphasizes lightness and agility. Your swordsmanship is light and quick but too mechanical, rigid and lacking in variation. Perhaps you could try using your inner energy to strike the sword instead of relying on moves."

(End of this chapter)