129. Specific Details

Duanmu Cheng—the name alone was thunderous!

Within the Taibai Sect, there were two names that no disciple below the Foundation Establishment stage could possibly have missed: Lu Yingfeng and Duanmu Cheng.

Of these two, one was a disciple under Perfected Master Xianhua, the cultivator with the highest cultivation level in the Taibai Sect, while the other was the beloved protégé of Perfected Master Yang Qizhen, who was also at the late stage of Nascent Soul.

Unlike those disciples who were scouted by Nascent Soul ancestors only after reaching Foundation Establishment, these two had been taken under the wings of Nascent Soul masters the moment they entered the Dao. They were true darlings of heaven. Matching this status, their innate talents were extraordinary, far surpassing their peers.

Lingyu recalled that just before she returned, Lu Yingfeng and Duanmu Cheng had successfully reached the Foundation Establishment stage. She had never met them and did not know if this Duanmu Cheng was the same one from reality. This was inside the Mirror of Three Lives; even if Duanmu Cheng truly looked like this, it could not be the real person. The name was likely just being borrowed.

"Fellow Daoist?"

Lingyu snapped back to reality and hurriedly offered a smile. "I am Cheng Lingyu. It is a pleasure to meet you, Fellow Daoist Duanmu."

"So, it is Fellow Daoist Cheng." Duanmu Cheng smiled with gentle propriety. "A pleasure."

After a few polite exchanges, Lingyu’s eyes darted about, and she asked with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Duanmu, to be honest, I am not a local. I have heard of this Sword Discussion Meet, but I am unaware of the proceedings. I wonder..."

"Oh?" Duanmu Cheng raised an eyebrow slightly, then nodded. "That is true. A sword cultivator like yourself would find it easy to participate in the Sword Discussion Meet; you wouldn't be traveling alone."

With too little information, Lingyu found it hard to respond, so she simply listened.

Duanmu Cheng continued, "The Sword Discussion Meet is a competition we hold at Mount Taibai every three years. It is called a 'Sword Discussion,' but it does not mean one can only duel with swords. It is named so because the founder of the meet was a sword cultivator."

"I see..." Lingyu nodded lightly. Mount Taibai—it seemed this world was modeled after the real Cangming Realm.

"Every time the Sword Discussion Meet approaches, Perfected Master Duanyue sends out invitations to various realms. Those who possess an invitation may bring one companion to participate. If one wins, the rewards are substantial. Because of this, the price of invitations on the black market has remained high over the years..."

Duanmu Cheng spoke with ease, leaving Lingyu feeling skeptical. "Fellow Daoist Duanmu, if that is the case, am I not taking a great advantage of you?"

Duanmu Cheng waved his hand with a smile. "That is not quite right. The holder of the invitation is the primary participant, and the guest is the assistant. If we win, the rewards will be split three-sevenths, so I am not at a disadvantage."

"I see..." Lingyu looked around. The Mount Taibai before her eyes was both similar and different from the one in reality. What remained the same were the positions and shapes of the peaks, but what differed were the familiar buildings, which were nowhere to be seen. She felt a strange sensation, as if she had been tossed into a different time and space, witnessing the same mountain in a different era.

On the mountain path, people came and went in a constant stream—some at the Qi Refining stage, others at Foundation Establishment. They walked with leisure, chatting and laughing, as if the Sword Discussion Meet held no danger at all.

"...Fellow Daoist Duanmu, you know nothing of my background. Isn't it a bit too casual to invite me as your companion?" It was as if he had just been walking along, seen her in front of him, and invited her on a whim.

Duanmu Cheng laughed. "It is just a Sword Discussion Meet. It does not matter even if we lose."

"Oh? Didn't you say the invitation was precious? Did you not intend to invite a companion when you came to the meet before?" Lingyu keenly felt that Duanmu Cheng’s attitude was off. He had just invited her and mentioned a heavy reward, so why did he not care now?

"I will not hide it from you, Fellow Daoist. I only received the invitation half a day ago and did not have time to invite a companion," Duanmu Cheng sighed. "Besides, at the Sword Discussion Meet, the Foundation Establishment stage is divided into early, middle, and late groups. It is very difficult to find a companion with a similar cultivation level and decent strength in such a short time. I had intended to find someone once I arrived, but I did not expect to run into you on the road. Since you are at the early stage of Foundation Establishment and a sword cultivator, you are already a rare candidate."

"So that is how it is... Then what do I need to do?" Seeing Duanmu Cheng’s sincere expression, Lingyu chose to believe him.

"You don't really need to do anything," Duanmu Cheng smiled slightly. "Just help me hold off the others."

There was still some distance to the peak, and Duanmu Cheng explained the rules of the Sword Discussion Meet to her in detail.

Since it was a "discussion of swords," the goal was victory. The organizers would hide five-colored flags throughout Mount Taibai, and the participants would compete to secure them. Those who found and seized the flags would be the victors; the more flags one obtained, the higher the ranking.

"...The flags come in five colors: red, yellow, green, blue, and white. Red is worth ten points, yellow twenty, green fifty, blue eighty, and white one hundred. The final ranking is based on the total points from the flags collected; higher scores rank higher."

"Oh..." Lingyu pondered. "Is each type of flag unique?"

"No." Duanmu Cheng shook his head gently. "The white one is unique, there are two blue ones, five green ones, ten yellow ones, and one hundred red ones."

Lingyu calculated carefully and murmured, "That is truly interesting. The highest total score comes from the red flags, which have the lowest individual value. Even if someone were to hoard the other four types, they still wouldn't be able to surpass half the total points..."

"Indeed." Duanmu Cheng was quite calm. "According to Perfected Master Duanyue, the reason for this scoring system is to teach people not to neglect the small things. Often, the accumulation of small gains is the key to victory."

This sounded reasonable, but Lingyu suspected the real reason was likely that they wanted the participants to scramble desperately for even the most numerous red flags, making the combat more entertaining.

"Perfected Master Duanyue?"

"Has Fellow Daoist Cheng never heard of Perfected Master Duanyue?" A look of surprise flashed in Duanmu Cheng's eyes. "Among the sword cultivators of our Taibai lineage, Perfected Master Duanyue possesses the most complete inheritance and is a top-tier expert."

"I am from out of town, so I am not familiar with him," Lingyu said, dismissing the topic.

Duanmu Cheng did not suspect anything; instead, he enthusiastically explained the "Taibai Lineage" to her.

Through Duanmu Cheng’s description, by the time they reached the peak, Lingyu had a detailed understanding of the world's environment. Here, there was no Taibai Sect, but there were various roles played by disciples of the real Taibai Sect. In other words, the Mirror of Three Lives had arranged various figures from the real Taibai Sect into this world, collectively calling them the Taibai Lineage.

It was said that the Taibai Lineage had been passed down from ancient times, sharing the same ancestor, but after years of development, it had split into different branches. Some branches occupied major peaks, while others were left with only a few disciples, their prosperity varying greatly.

In daily life, the branches of the Taibai Lineage competed with one another, with the branch of Perfected Master Canghua of Guanyun Peak being the most prosperous.

Hearing this, Lingyu silently mocked the situation internally. This was too fake. In the real Taibai Sect, Guanyun Peak couldn't even dream of being the top branch; it was hard to say if it could even rank third. Within the sect, the most powerful were undoubtedly the late-stage Nascent Soul Perfected Masters Xianhua and Yang, followed by a group of mid-stage Nascent Soul ancestors. Generally, it was believed that the branch of Sect Leader Gu Qinghua ranked third, followed by the branches of Perfected Masters Canghua, Duanyue, and Xianxuan. Even if Perfected Master Canghua were slightly superior to the Sect Leader, he could not compare to the late-stage Nascent Soul Perfected Masters Xianhua and Yang...

"Fellow Daoist Duanmu, which branch are you from?"

Duanmu Cheng smiled. "The branch of Perfected Master Yang of Shaoyang Peak."

Just as she thought! Lingyu appeared immensely surprised. "So, Fellow Daoist Duanmu hails from such a prestigious lineage. I have been disrespectful, truly disrespectful."

Although Duanmu Cheng's attitude remained indifferent, he could not help but feel a touch of pride. "Not at all, not at all."

"Since Fellow Daoist Duanmu was able to obtain an invitation bestowed by your mentor, you must be quite favored. Is there no fellow disciple within your branch with whom you have a close relationship?"

This question caused Duanmu Cheng to stiffen for a moment, then he gave a bitter smile. "A small Sword Discussion Meet only involves Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment disciples; my mentor didn't care for it at all. When the time drew near, he just casually distributed the invitations. I wanted to find a fellow disciple, but time was too tight, and they had all been taken by others."

Duanmu Cheng sighed with regret, looking completely helpless.

As they spoke, the two reached the peak. The summit of the main peak of Mount Taibai was vast. Lingyu usually saw dense clusters of buildings, so seeing the empty summit now, she couldn't help but be stunned. It turned out the main peak had such a natural, wide plaza; even if there were a hundred thousand people, it could hold them all.

At this moment, on this incredibly vast natural plaza stood over a thousand disciples, eighty percent of whom were at the Qi Refining stage, with twenty percent at Foundation Establishment.

Duanmu Cheng led Lingyu, naturally squeezing into the crowd of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"Fellow Daoist Duanmu, are all these people here to participate in the Sword Discussion Meet?"

"Of course not." A hint of pride appeared on Duanmu Cheng’s face. "Our Taibai Lineage's Sword Discussion Meet is quite well-known. Every time it is held, many people like Fellow Daoist Cheng come over. Even if they cannot participate, witnessing the event is a good experience."

"Then we..."

Before Lingyu could finish her sentence, she saw a beautiful young girl as cold as frost walking toward them. "Duanmu Cheng, you actually managed to find a companion?"

The girl was stunningly beautiful, with delicate features and skin like snow, but her expression was cold, like an ice-bound beauty. Among the women Lingyu had met, her appearance definitely ranked in the top three, and her icy demeanor was especially captivating.

Hearing the girl’s voice, Duanmu Cheng’s expression stiffened, and he managed a forced smile. "Junior Sister Lu, why wouldn't I be able to find a companion?"

Junior Sister Lu? The title made Lingyu instantly alert. The one who invited her was Duanmu Cheng; could this be Lu Yingfeng? Old Guo was her loyal supporter; at the Small Sword Pool, he always loved to talk about how wonderful "Senior Sister Lu" was, which meant that although Lingyu had never met her, she knew her situation like the back of her hand.

Old Guo had seen Lu Yingfeng a few times and described her as looking like ice and snow, beautiful as a celestial being, with an extraordinary grace like a fairy descending to the mortal world. In short, he used every exaggeration possible to describe her.

Looking at this "Junior Sister Lu" before her, Lingyu was certain she must be Lu Yingfeng. Her appearance was not inferior to that of Lady Yan, whom she had met in the Xingluo Sea, though she lacked that certain charisma that made it impossible to look away.

With Lu Yingfeng appearing, what kind of play was this?