Chapter Six Little Junior Brother

  The atmosphere in the Tianjian Sect's Jian Xiao Pavilion was eerily quiet.

  At this moment, an unbelievable scene is unfolding in Jian Xiao Lou.

  Only two elderly men over 70 years old were seen, trembling and kneeling on the ground. In front of them stood an old man.

  The old man's snow-white long hair was casually tied back, revealing a complexion as tender as that of a young person, yet it appeared on the solemn and mature face of the elderly. Such a complexion, set off by a pair of snow-white sword-like eyebrows and snow-white long hair draped over his shoulders, can be truly described as "crane hair and childlike face".

  The most attractive thing about the old man is not anything else, but his eyes that are full of vicissitudes. The flow of light between his eyes cannot be seen at all, as if it's a profound and mysterious tale that one can't see through, which easily makes people get lost in them... All these seem to be telling the extraordinary story of the old man to everything around him.

  "Look up."

  The old man's voice gave people a sense of vicissitude and remoteness, as if it were the heavy tolling of an ancient bell.

  "Hmm," he said, looking at the two disciples he hadn't seen in over twenty years with his head slightly lowered. A faintly shallow trace of nostalgia also flashed across the old man's face as smooth as jade, and he sighed lightly: "It's been over twenty years, you haven't changed much, but you feel more mature."

  The old man suddenly remembered that when he first took the position of the former sect master and entered the Sword Tomb, these two disciples were already in this state. Twenty years had passed, but it was as if no historical mark had been left on the bodies of Lian Jun and the other purple-level warrior twenty years ago.

  If there were a third person present who heard what the old man said, they would surely be shocked...

  Have they matured? This old man actually said that today's Sword Sect Master and the Elder of the Executing Sword have matured?

  However, the two people kneeling on the ground, Lian Jun and others, did not think that the old man's words were inappropriate. On the contrary, after hearing this sentence, they felt warm in their hearts. Master, although he had left for more than 20 years, he still cared about them so much.

  "Master..."

  His face still had two tear marks on it, which hadn't been wiped away. At this moment, he seemed to have thought of something and opened his mouth lightly.

  "Get up and speak. You too, get up."

  Neither of them noticed that at the moment the old man spoke, a dazzling golden light suddenly appeared in the depths of his eyes as deep as an abyss, and then completely disappeared.

  At the same time, Lian Jun and Fan Yiran exchanged a glance, both sensing a hint of horror in each other's eyes. At this moment, they felt as if their legs were completely out of control, as if a force that inspired fear in both of them was manipulating their legs to stand up.

  As soon as the two of them stood up straight, that incredibly powerful and inexplicable force quietly left.

  "Master, I was just on my way to Jianzhuang to look for you..."

  Lian Jun paused for a moment, clearly recalling the coincidence of his master's arrival, which should be related to what he wanted to say. However, on the other hand, he didn't dare to confirm it, after all, Jianzhai was extremely far from Jianxiao Pavilion, even if it were his master, it was unlikely that he could always be aware of the movements here.

  "I already know," the old man waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to say any more. At the same time, the old man also saw the doubt in Fan Yiran's eyes and said, "I'll tell you the words passed down from generation to generation by your master's ancestors. Those rules don't need to be bothered with."

  "Yes!"

  Lian Jun heard the words, nodded continuously, and immediately turned his head to look at Fan Yiran, "Shixiong, every time our Tianjian Sect has a new sect master take over, the previous generation's sect master will inform the new sect master before leaving... As long as there is a disciple in the sect who possesses the Heavenly Gift Totem, the current sect master must go to the Sword Mausoleum to report this matter to the seniors and listen to their decision."

  Fan Yiran suddenly understood why his junior brother had reacted that way after hearing his words earlier. It was because of the ancestral teachings of their sect. How could Fan Yiran not know the profound meaning behind those words? Clearly, it was a senior from the Sword Tomb who was worried that his younger disciples would waste their innate talents and wanted to personally impart them with the supreme qualifications of the Tianwen Master.

  The seniors in Jianzhong are what kind of people, Fan Yiran is very clear, they are all top-notch existences on the Chongwu Continent, and they are all respected warriors!

  For the Innate Totem, Fan Yiran also had some understanding from the ancient classics: The biggest feature of the Innate Totem is that they can possess the "Spiritual Sense" unique to Respect-level warriors before reaching the Respect level. It seems that the classics mentioned that the cultivation of Innate Totems is mainly related to that mysterious "Spiritual Sense".

  At this time, Fan Yiran couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. Previously, he had only been thinking about accepting Ling Qingyan as his apprentice and hadn't thought that he himself was unable to teach him anything about the "Spiritual Awareness" aspect.

  "That's right," the old man looked at Fan Yiruo, who had already eliminated his doubts, and nodded: "The Heaven's Gift Totem is a matter of great importance, and there can be no loss. For my Tianjian Sect, it is even more extraordinary. In the thousands of years since our sect was founded, we have produced three Heaven's Gift Totems. In their time, all three were figures who could turn the tide with one hand, leading our Tianjian Sect to peak after peak. When they were around, our Tianjian Sect was at its most dazzling in the Zhongwu Continent!"

  At that moment, when they heard this secret news, both Jun and Fan Yiran's eyes lit up at the same time, and their slightly aging bodies were filled with a hot-blooded feeling.

  "Decisively!"

  Suddenly hearing his master's soft shout, Fan Yiran's body suddenly tensed up, and he responded in a series of voices: "Master, I'm here!"

  "I know you've been devoted to studying sword techniques since the beginning. The few styles of sword techniques you created, I've also discussed with your several senior fellow disciples, and they are indeed very good..."

  The old man saw that the big disciple's face suddenly turned red, and he couldn't help but change the subject. "However, you should know that a martial artist's cultivation is ultimately about self-cultivation. If one doesn't enter the realm of respect, they can't be considered strong, and they can't escape the shackles of mortality! Have you ever thought that if you continue to slack off... I haven't remembered wrongly, have you? You're also over 80 years old this year?"

  "Yes, Master, the apprentice is already 86 years old this year," Fan Yiran heard the master's question and replied in a string. For a moment, it seemed that he had grasped something from the master's words, but couldn't think of what it was.

  "Hmm!"

  The old man hummed softly, "Eighty-six years old... Ah, eighty-six-year-old Purple Rank Middle Stage. Among the past few generations of my Tianjian Sect, perhaps you are the strongest..."

  "Boom!"

  Seeing his master's anger, Fan Yiran immediately knelt down on the ground and didn't dare respond.

  Looking at his own disciple still being so afraid of him, the old man's heart flashed with a hint of helplessness, but he still steeled himself and said, "You can study your sword skills as you please... however, before the age of 90, if you have not yet broken into the later stages of the Purple Rank, then don't bother acknowledging me as your master."

  "Master!"

  But Jian Jun's face suddenly changed, and he was about to open his mouth to dissuade him.

  "Junior Brother!"

  Fan Yiran saw his junior brother wanting to retort back at their master, and immediately shouted to stop him. He then composed himself, looked at the old man and said: "Disciple obeys!"

  The old man nodded, and he also let out a sigh of relief. In his life, there were only these two disciples, and all along, he had been very optimistic about this eldest disciple, who was considered the first candidate to inherit the sect's leadership, and whose natural talent in swordsmanship was even beyond his own.

  It was indeed the case that this disciple spent far more time studying sword techniques than cultivating true power, resulting in him only reaching the initial stage of the Violet level when he first entered the Sword Tomb, and ultimately being able to pass on the position of Sect Master to his junior apprentice who had just broken through to the later stage of the Violet level.

  The old man was also worried that if his great disciple continued like this, he might not be able to break into the Honored Class in his lifetime. It was because of this thought that the old man had said those words earlier.

  The old man's previous words were not without reason, he had used his spiritual awareness to investigate the situation of his big disciple's cultivation in his body before saying that "before the age of 90" requirement.

  "Alright, you get up too. The master can't stay for long, let's make it brief..."

  At this point, the old man's face, like jade, rarely showed a hint of a smile. "Jyun, let that child with the innate Totem rest for now and bring him to 'Sword Tomb' in three days. From then on, I'll have another young apprentice."

  "Haha!"

  In the midst of hearty laughter, the air beside the old man suddenly trembled, and faint golden starlight burst forth, rippling outward like a wave. As the golden ripples faded, the old man's figure gradually disappeared along with them.

  The master had only stayed for a moment and hadn't said much before leaving, but both Jun and the other person's faces showed a hint of reluctance. Then, they exchanged a strange glance, and saw a hint of eerie smile in each other's eyes.

  From today on, they will have one more little brother.