A sword competition.

Jie Yang Zan immediately sent a letter to the HuiXue sect.

Eventhough Jie Fu Lian had tried his best to hide his feelings, Jie Yang Zan could still see through the boy.

The boy was too attached to the sword he had miraculously forged so there was no guarantee that he wouldn't change his mind about giving it away.

Jie Yang Zan needed to do something before the boy changed his mind and that was exactly what he did.

The old sect master Quan was quite interested when he heard about this celestial grade Qi-collecting sword and he immediately sent a response to the Yan sect.

The sect master of the HuiXue sect invited Jie Fu Lian over as a guest disciple and Jie Yang Zan was overjoyed with such turn of events.

The HuiXue sect had never been too close with the other prominent eight sects so Jie Yang Zan naturally saw this as an opportunity to get close.

If the two sects could get along well, in the future, there would clearly be a lot of benefits.

Unlike Jie Yang Zan, his son wasn't feeling happy at all as he received the invitation letter.

Ever since he had agreed to hand the sword over, he had been trying to convince himself that he had made the right decision, but no matter how hard he tried to fool himself, he still couldn't help but feel a little sad.

He slacked around a little and instead of working on the sword's appearance, he went around playing and hanging out with his other martial brothers and sisters from the Yan sect.

He tried his best to keep the sword out of his mind, but when he went to XiuJiang city with senior martial sister Yin Ru, the woman brought up the topic and made him feel complicated once again.

In front of Yin Ru, he pretended to be okay with it, but in reality, he was far from okay.

That sword was like a part of him.

Only he knew how deep the connection between him and that sword was.

Even though the sword didn't contain a part of his soul like Changbo, It was still like a part of his body and heart.

Giving it away to Hua Tianshu was like giving away a part of him to the boy.

It sounded quite romantic but Jie Fu Lian had never even met the boy properly so how could he not feel anxious?

Days passed by in a blur and finally, the day came when he had to go to the HuiXue sect as a guest disciple.

By that time, he had already finished working on the appearance of the sword and once it was done, even he felt a little shocked with his skills.

The sword wasn't as beautiful as Changbo but it was certainly not lacking either.

It had a smooth, straight blade with a sharp edge and a pointy tip. The hilt had been completely changed and no longer looked uncomfortable. It didn't have too many designs on it. The sword looked quite simple but at the same time, it had an amazing aura around it.

The sword was elegant, strong and beautiful.

Jie Fu Lian couldn't help but think that the only one worthy to weild such a sword must be the number one cultivator under the heavens!

If Hua Tianshu couldn't become the number one under the heavens, then it would truly be a pity...

When Jie Fu Lian headed out to the HuiXue sect, he was accompanied by three of his martial brothers.

Xian Huan, Shi XiuYing and Xue Liang.

Xua Liang and Xian Huan were the same age as Jie Fu Lian while Shi XiuYing was about ten years older than him.

The only reason why Shi XiuYing had tagged along was because of Jie Yang Zan's request while the other two simply came to have some fun.

When they reached the gate of the sect, Jie Fu Lian showed a golden token to the guards and all four of them were politely welcomed in.

"Brother Ming, is this place always this lively?" Xua Liang slightly leaned in towards Jie Fu Lian as he questioned in a whisper.

"It's my first time here. How can I know?" Jie Fu Lian clicked his tongue as he replied while casually looking around.

"According to the rumors, it shouldn't be this lively," Xian Huan sighed as he joined in on the gossip, "I once heard somebody saying that entering the gate of the HuiXue sect was alike entering the gate of a cemetery. It is always chilly and silent."

Jie Fu Lian couldn't help but doubt those words when he looked around.

Since where did there exist such a lively cemetery...?

The entire sect, from the gate to the individual halls, were all decorated with care and Jie Fu Lian dare not assume that all this was done to welcome him. No matter where they looked, they could see disciples running around, practicing and conversing enthusiastically with one another. If there was delicious food present then Jie Fu Lian might have even assumed that there was a festival going on.

One of the HuiXue sect disciples who seemed to have eavesdropped on their conversation, coughed as he spoke up, "Usually, our sect isn't this noisy. It just so happens that you guys have come during this time of the year when we organize our annually-held sword competition."

As soon as Jie Fu Lian heard the words 'Sword competition' his ears perked up with great interest and even his eyes twinkled with delight as he asked, "A sword competition? The HuiXue sect holds a sword competition every year? How come I have never heard of it?"

The HuiXue sect disciple looked away and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck as he tried to respond politely, "Well, it is quite an internal event. From outside the HuiXue sect, not many are invited and No outsider had ever participated in it."

Jie Fu Lian couldn't help but frown as he heard this. If he had heard about it before, then he would have surely come and participated!

"It seems that the HuiXue sect is quite afraid of losing to outsiders," Shi XiuYing suddenly commented with a thin smile that looked to be a bit mocking.

"This respected guest seems to have misunderstood my words," The HuiXue sect disciple immediately spoke up with an awkward chuckle as he tried to save his sect's face, "We aren't afraid of losing. It's just that, till now, nobody had ever challenged us and actually won."

Shi XiuYing's smile suddenly deepened a bit and his eyes also seemed to have narrowed down on the disciple as he heard this, "In that case, can we dare to participate this year?"

Jie Fu Lian had no idea what his senior martial brother Shi XiuYing was thinking, but as soon as he heard that question, he couldn't help but nod his head as he joined the man's side.

Jie Fu Lian had always been a fan of sword competitions.

It was a great place to test out his newly learned techniques and with every match, he gained experience and skills. It was basically training, knowledge and fun infused together in a single event!

The HuiXue sect disciple didn't seem to have expected such turn of events so at first, he was a bit shocked, however, in the end, since he had been the one to bring up the topic, he couldn't shamelessly refuse them.

"You can talk to the sect master about this. I am sure he can add your name to the list of competitors."

"Brother, I have another question." Jie Fu Lian suddenly beamed as he looked at the man with quite an enthusiastic expression, "Would Hua Tianshu also be joining this sword competition?"

Jie Fu Lian couldn't help but feel excited with just the mere thought of Hua Tianshu participating.

If they were taking part in the same competition, there was a high chance that they would meet and cross swords with each other.

Even though the chances of winning against an opponent like Hua Tianshu was near to impossible, Jie Fu Lian still wanted to try his luck.

Just getting to have Hua Tianshu as his opponent would already be quite fortunate.

The HuiXue sect disciple sighed as he shook his head and spoke, "Unfortunately, Brother Hua Tianshu isn't participating this year."

Jie Fu Lian felt as if he had been stabbed straight in the heart as he heard this.

He had already started imagining their amazing battle but now... It looks like that battle was forever going to remain an imagination...

This was unfair!

"How odd," Shi XiuYing muttered with a disappointed expression plastered on his face, "If he doesn't compete, its not going to be any fun. Is there a particular reason why he doesn't want to compete this year?"

"Actually," The HuiXue sect disciple sighed as he hesitantly spoke after thinking about it for a few minutes, "It's his sister. She recently woke up and he had been personally attending to her ever since."

Jie Fu Lian pursed his lips and remained silent.

That Hua Meifang... The only reason why she had gotten hurt was because Jie Fu Lian failed to close the east gate of the demon realm.

No matter how he looked at it, he was also to be held responsible for her condition so how could he not feel a little guilty when he heard about her?