Chapter 1290 - Six Swordbearers

The Celestial Welcome Hall was located at the gate of Azuresoul Sword Mountain. There was a pine tree thousands of meters in height on the cliff near the hall. Its needle-like leaves looked like green swords that filled the sky, making an entire world of swords.

There were currently thousands of swordpupils standing in front of the entrance, all of whom were over a hundred years old. However, they all looked and felt like middle-aged folk. People like Sovereign Xi, who still looked young and nubile at the age of five hundred, were like them in some regard. Given Tianming's current physique and his level of cultivation, he wouldn't really age before reaching the age of five hundred. That was what differentiated lower life forms from higher life forms. These swordpupils that were allowed to continue training on the Azuresoul Sword Mountain were no doubt considered the elite among such higher life forms.

Grade-two swordpupils had to be solarians, that is, at the Solar stage. That was the level Tianming had to aim for, though it wasn't fair to compare their power. After all, Tianming was only in his twenties, while they were hundreds of years old. As far as they were concerned, Tianming was no different from an infant. And not even the strongest infant could fight an adult.

The swordpupils stood ramrod straight. They were like sharp blades, their razor-like gaze aimed toward the south of the mountain.

Orderia was a place that was without want for space. Most lifebound beasts didn't have the habit of staying within the lifebound space long term. As such, gigantic lifebound beasts that radiated sword auras could be seen all over the place near the swordpupils; there was more than enough space for them to be in their natural habitats. Lan Huang would definitely love a place like this. Sounds of roars and sharp chirps came from all over in this lively world.

The leaders that stood among the swordpupils looked a little worried. The one standing in the middle was the number-one person of the sect, Gujian Qingshuang of the Gujian clan that had founded the sect. He wore a green and white robe and had a long beard. He seemed quite slender, and his gaze was as deep as the galaxy. There was a celestial air about him. Among the six Swordbearers, he was known as the Ancient Prime Sword.

To his left was a white-haired man with a hunched back. However, his sharp facial features didn't look that old. One of his eyes looked like it had suffered a traumatic injury from the way it seemed caved in. The socket was empty. The other eye was dark purple and filled with intrigue. He was second in command of the sect and Gujian Qingshuang's senior, Ye Dongliu. Being the second-ranked Swordbearer, his sobriquet was the East Forth Sword.

To Gujian Qingshuang's right was an old crone that liked fresh flowers. There was quite a lot of floral embroidery on her long, twilight-yellow robe. She looked even older than Ye Dongliu, but her aura was subdued and gentle in a refreshing manner compared to the others'. She was the third in command, often called Granny Mu Hua, and was the oldest person in the sect. It was said that her power had once surpassed Gujian Qingshuang and that she had contributed far more to the sect than he had. Though her current power had diminished due to age, she was still stronger than the majority of people there and was known as the Green Grass Sword.

The three of them were the most respected members of the sect with proper status, bloodlines, and contributions befitting their name. Granny Mu Hua, especially, had earned even more respect for still being so powerful despite her age. Coupled with Jiang Qingliu, they made four of the six Swordbearers.

There were two other younger Swordbearers, namely Ye Buzhiqiu and Gujian Daoyi, who were both younger than Jiang Qingliu. The former was Ye Dongliu's son, while the latter was Gujian Qingshuang's younger brother.

The Swordbearers were the highest authority in the sect, each of them controlling a main branch and taking their own disciples. Jiang Qingliu was in charge of the Sixth Sword Branch, which was rather small in scale, not even a third of the size of the Fifth Sword Branch. Similarly, Yu Ziqian belonged to the Sixth Sword Branch, so his status in the sect was rather negligible. Even though Jiang Qingliu was the Defender of the Azuresoul Tower, there were still quite a few people that had higher authority than him. Without the tower, he would merely be a bystander on the sidelines of power.

There were two main factions within the sect, namely the Gujian clan and the House of Dongye. The former was the clan of the chief instructor, while the latter was a group of famous plant beastmasters that made up the main base of the sect. Most other sects had far more complex histories or structures, while the Azuresoul Palace was considerably simpler.

All in all, the Swordbearers had great authority, with the Dongye house and Gujian clan having even more factional power. Though their status wasn't impressive among the Myriad Solar Sects, they were among the most influential people on the Azurecloud Continent. Aside from Tianming's status as a Sky Palace disciple, he could only count on them.

"They've already reached the continent," Gujian Qingshuang said, reading a transmission stone note and crushing the stone.

"Jiang Qingliu!" the white-browed Ye Dongliu said with a face full of dissatisfaction.

"The Whitedragon Empress is with them as well?" Granny Mu Hua worriedly said.

"That's right. To be fair, Jiang Qingliu wouldn't be able to stop her if he tried," Gujian Qingshuang said.

"This Jiang Qingliu is looking more and more pathetic. What a disgrace to the Azuresoul Tower! How could he be so weak as to let a woman walk all over him...." Ye Dongliu blew his beard to vent.

"A woman? Putting aside the chaos at the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect, Long Wanying is an impressive legend in her own right," Granny Mu Hua said, glaring at Ye Dongliu.

"So what? Their sect is as good as gone now. No matter how things turn out, nothing good will come of associating with them. We'll either piss off the celestial orderians, or the Sky Palace and the other sects," Ye Dongliu said.

"It's not that bad. They didn't lose that many people. However, the sect is under the control of the Veildragon Palace and the celestial orderians. The sun emperor used repatriating the Veildragon Palace as an excuse. Eventually, they'll begin brainwashing the next generation. When the current generation finally dies off, the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect will be completely changed," Granny Mu Hua said. She had seen too many such occurrences in her long life. There were two ways to completely take over a territory. The first was to massacre all of its existing inhabitants, while the second was to maintain tight control and use propaganda over a few generations. The ones born later would have forgotten who their forebears really were.

Given the existing social norms, not even the sun emperor would dare to massacre billions of people outright, so the invaders had chosen the latter method. They would raise the descendants of the conquered to be loyal pawns, and do nothing to the current generation apart from maintaining tight control. Eventually, all of them would die off anyway, and their children would mock them for their stubborn resistance. That was a far worse fate than being killed outright.