Moonlight Spreads Like a Silver Blanket

The Cloud-top Sword Sect was not a prosperous sect; on the contrary, it was in decline.

This was specifically manifested in a serious lack of succession. The elder patriarchs at the top were too old, almost on the verge of passing away at any moment, while the disciples at the bottom had poor talent, with the highest only reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, hardly qualifying as pillars of the sect.

The current state of the Cloud-top Sword Sect was indeed too weak.

Moreover, Zhou Jia always seemed out of place in the Cloud-top Sword Sect. Apart from the disciples, even the elders were unusually respectful to her, as if Zhou Jia was not a disciple of the Cloud-top Sword Sect, but a higher-level existence.

Chen Xia naturally couldn't understand these things. He spent his days lost in thought about his own affairs, and he could indeed recall some things about himself.

For example, the Blue Sky Sword Sea that appeared in his mind that day, and subsequently, he remembered another word.

Sword.

It seemed he knew how to use a sword, only he had forgotten how to do so.

Zhou Jia would occasionally come to check on him, asking with concern:

"How is your cultivation going?"

Chen Xia didn't turn around, nor did he look at her. In fact, he hadn't even figured out what cultivation meant, but he just nodded and said:

"It's alright."

"Is it?" Zhou Jia's body swayed as she stood next to the seated Chen Xia, tilting her head and leaning in to examine Chen Xia's dazed expression. She couldn't help but ask with a smile:

"Do you really know what cultivation is?"

"I know, sitting in meditation and daydreaming is cultivation," Chen Xia replied with certainty.

His answer didn't seem entirely wrong.

Zhou Jia let out another light chuckle and said, "In a few days, it will be the Sword-Drawing Day for the disciples. You should prepare yourself. You'll need to draw out your own Lifebonded Flying Sword."

"Alright," Chen Xia's eyes lit up, as he had just remembered about swords.

The Cloud-top Sword Sect was located in the clouds, facing a sword-like mountain peak.

Chen Xia stood up, aligning himself with the sword's edge, and asked Zhou Jia curiously:

"Will the sword I draw out be mine?"

"Yes," Zhou Jia replied with a gentle smile.

Since ancient times, sword cultivators have had the tradition of drawing swords when choosing their Lifebonded Flying Sword. Generally, they would go to their sect's Sword Tomb to select, drawing out the flying sword most suitable for themselves, thus taking the most important step in a sword cultivator's journey.

"Are you confident about drawing a sword?" Zhou Jia asked again.

"Mm," Chen Xia nodded calmly, as if indifferent, yet also seeming certain.

Zhou Jia didn't know how to respond, so she just nodded lightly, her lips curling into a beautiful smile as she raised her fist towards Chen Xia and said:

"Good luck!"

Sword-Drawing Day.

The Sword Tomb at the highest point of the Cloud-top Sword Sect opened, and many new-generation disciples prepared to enter to draw their swords. Most were rubbing their hands in anticipation, hoping to obtain a high-grade flying sword to greatly enhance their abilities.

Zhou Jia stood with Chen Xia, explaining some of the taboos in the Sword Tomb, and then smiled:

"Your Lifebonded Flying Sword doesn't need to be of a very high grade. Having one is enough. Your cultivation level isn't high to begin with, so being able to get one is sufficient to prove you have talent in the sword dao."

Chen Xia didn't respond, just staring blankly at the sword-like mountain peak opposite them.

"That's the Sword Forging Peak. Legend has it that it was created by the founding ancestor of the Cloud-top Sword Sect. It's a protective sword formation for the sect, roughly touching the threshold of the Sea Inversing Realm, quite formidable."

Zhou Jia explained with a light smile, then tilted her head slightly, looking at Chen Xia as she continued:

"You're still young. When you go out to travel in the future, you'll learn many secrets of the cultivation world. If you can further improve your cultivation and become a great cultivator of the Mountain Moving Realm, or even the Sea Inversing Realm, you'll have the chance to experience the true essence of cultivation."

As Zhou Jia said this, there was a hint of sadness in her expression. For most cultivators, even if they spent their entire lives cultivating, they would at most reach the Great Perfection Realm. Those who could rely on their own talent to step out of the small starry sky were extremely rare.

Chen Xia didn't respond, but began to look up, staring at the Sword Tomb at the highest point of the Cloud-top Sword Sect.

The sword-drawing began.

The new generation of cultivators entered one after another, with the highest realm being mid Golden Core, leading the way into the Sword Tomb.

Drawing a sword is a long process, generally divided into two stages: choosing the sword and drawing the sword.

The cultivators who entered the Sword Tomb began to busy themselves, making use of every moment to choose their ideal flying sword.

Chen Xia, however, made no move. He instinctively didn't want to draw a sword.

Because he felt that all the flying swords here were very poor.

So poor that his soul directly started to slack off, and he began to stand still in a daze again.

Some passing cultivators noticed and couldn't help but laugh:

"Senior Sister Zhou really brought back a good disciple for the sect. He's always in a daze. If you didn't know better, you'd think there was something wrong with his head."

"Even those who do know think that," another cultivator retorted.

"Indeed."

Everyone was busy drawing swords, while Chen Xia stood there in a daze, which was indeed hard to understand.

It was around noon on the second day.

The first cultivator successfully drew out their own flying sword, excitedly flying out of the Sword Tomb on their sword, circling the top of the Cloud-top Sword Sect.

The elders looked on with delighted smiles. To be able to draw a sword so quickly, this was a good seedling for sword cultivation!

After that, cultivators who drew swords came out one after another. A total of five more people drew out flying swords, giving a new lease of life to the Cloud-top Sword Sect that had been lacking in succession.

Chen Xia was still in a daze. An image was flashing through his mind.

Swords.

A sky full of flying swords.

Among them, a bronze sword was particularly eye-catching, seemingly the lead sword, suspended at the forefront of all the flying swords.

A very faint sword light flashed in Chen Xia's eyes, and at sunset, he softly uttered:

"Come."

The entire Sword Tomb suddenly trembled.

Over a thousand flying swords instantly rose, suspended high in the air, their tips slightly raised, their hilts slightly lowered, as if bowing.

The many elders were puzzled and shocked, not knowing why there would be a scene of over a thousand flying swords moving in unison.

But after the thousand flying swords rose, there was no follow-up. They seemed to be waiting for someone's command.

Chen Xia looked up at the flying swords, his brows slightly furrowed, his deep soul even feeling some resistance to these flying swords.

Because he felt they were really too poor.

He shook his head slightly.

The thousand flying swords let out a mournful cry and fell one after another.

This was considered a rare strange occurrence in the Sword Tomb. The elders couldn't understand it, so they could only say it was the ancestral masters showing their divine presence.

The Sword-Drawing Day passed.

A total of thirteen people drew swords.

Chen Xia was not among them.

When Chen Xia walked back empty-handed from the sunset, Zhou Jia was already waiting for him with her hands behind her back, smiling lightly.

As Chen Xia approached, Zhou Jia gently patted his head and comforted him with a smile:

"It's okay, it's just a flying sword, not a big deal."

"Mm," Chen Xia nodded. He truly felt this way.

He had already remembered the sky full of flying swords, and could no longer look up to these shabby items.

The days that followed were monotonous.

Chen Xia sat in the most secluded part of the mountain gate, thinking about his own affairs.

His appearance never changed, always remaining that of a youth.

Twenty years later, the Cloud-top Sword Sect welcomed other new disciples, and Chen Xia gained junior brothers and sisters.

But he himself had no cultivation level, so rumors about him began to circulate in the sect.

It was said that Chen Xia was a cultivator without any talent, only with a somewhat special constitution, which was why Senior Sister Zhou had taken a liking to him and brought him back.

Some said Senior Sister Zhou had misjudged, thinking he was a prodigy when in fact he was useless.

Chen Xia never refuted these words, because he simply didn't care.

On the contrary, Zhou Jia would occasionally stand up for him. If she heard any disciple dare to say such things, she would forcibly drag that disciple to apologize to Chen Xia.

Chen Xia, however, didn't care about the apologies either.

This left Zhou Jia somewhat confused, and she asked: "Xiao Xia, if you have any questions about cultivation, you can come and ask me. I brought you back, so of course I'll take responsibility for you."

"No," Chen Xia shook his head, "I have no confusion. I'm very clear. I've figured out a lot. I understand everything."

His answer was very vague.

Zhou Jia didn't know how to respond, but as she left, she began to worry about Chen Xia's mental health. It was said that some cultivators, when unable to comprehend the path of cultivation, would be possessed by heart demons and their consciousness would split.

This was Chen Xia's seventieth year in the Cloud-top Sword Sect.

His thoughts were clear, and he had remembered everything about the Blue Sky Sword Sea.

This was also the first time Chen Xia descended the mountain.

The moonlight spread a silver carpet before him.

Symbolizing the return of the number one prodigy of all worlds and realms.