The Unparalleled Sword Emperor
Chapter 224 - 223: Candidates for the Imperial Hunting Garden (16th update)

Chapter 224: Chapter 223: Candidates for the Imperial Hunting Garden (16th update)

Just as Lin Bai and the Second Elder have finished communicating,

Simultaneously, a warrior ran to Sword Alliance to find the Second Elder, inviting him to discuss matters in the Elder Pavilion.

The Second Elder hastily headed to the Elder Pavilion.

The Spirit Sword Sect Elder Pavilion, entirely crafted from treasure swords, was filled with a cold, permeating aura of sharpness and swords.

For some faint-hearted warriors, stepping into the Elder Pavilion was enough to send chills down their spines.

The Second Elder entered the Elder Pavilion and saw that all the elders were seated.

In the high place laid ten thrones, each crafted from more than a hundred bronze treasure swords.

Currently, on these ten thrones were seated nine elders, among whom one, surely, was the Grand Elder.

With the Second Elder sitting down, all ten major elders of Spirit Sword Sect had assembled.

Under the ten thrones, Su Cang sat in front of other ordinary elders, symbolizing his distinguished status.

The ten major elders, led by the Grand Elder, were ranked in order as Second Elder, Third Elder Ji Bai, Fourth Elder Zhang Yi, Fifth Elder Zhao Qian... and so on.

However, those who had become one of the ten major elders were generally addressed as elder by all warriors within the Spirit Sword Sect, not by their names.

Thus, until now, many disciples didn’t know the real names of the Grand Elder and the Second Elder.

Even Lin Bai didn’t know what the Second Elder’s name was.

Lin Bai didn’t dare to ask either.

"Since everyone is here, have a look. Young Sect Master, bring that thing out," the Grand Elder surveyed the circle, seeing all the elders had assembled, then muttered.

The voice of the Grand Elder was not loud, but it echoed like a giant bell in this immense Elder Pavilion.

"Yes." Su Cang answered, he took out a golden invitation from his bosom, released his true Qi, suspended the invitation in mid-air, slowly opened it, and golden characters fluttered out from the invitation, hanging in the air.

"Our Shenwu Kingdom, established by martial arts, respects martial arts."

"Today, coinciding with the prosperity of martial arts, everyone in the Shenwu Kingdom excels."

"On this special occasion, the end-of-year Heavenly Sacrifice of the Shenwu Kingdom sincerely invites the disciples of Spirit Sword Sect to participate in the Imperial Hunting Garden where they will compare notes with gifted hands from every direction."

"I am Bai Huatian, the ruler of Shenwu Kingdom!"

This golden invitation turned out to be an invitation from Bai Huatian, the king of Shenwu Kingdom.

He invited Spirit Sword Sect to participate in the Year-end Tail Sacrifice.

"Eh, it’s already the end of the year, isn’t it?"

"This Imperial Hunting Garden, I wonder how many Spirit Sword Sect disciples will get killed this time."

"Yes, in recent years, almost none of the disciples who participated in the Imperial Hunting Garden have returned alive."

"Alas, Spirit Sword Sect has fallen into decline..."

Many elders sighed regretfully upon seeing this invitation.

The reason was simple, one of the two most humiliating incidents for the Spirit Sword Sect in the past decade was the Imperial Hunting Garden.

One of the reasons for Spirit Sword Sect’s utmost humiliation was the Martial Arts Competition of the Four Major Sects, where Spirit Sword Sect had ended up last for over fifty years continuously.

Every time Spirit Sword Sect was defeated, Canghai Yuntai Palace and the Fire Palace would team up to ridicule Spirit Sword Sect.

A total disgrace for the Spirit Sword Sect.

The second most humbling incident was the Imperial Hunting Garden.

Over the past decade, the Spirit Sword Sect had few below twenty years old who had reached Heaven Martial Realm. Therefore, the warriors participating in the Imperial Hunting Garden were mostly around the Ninth Level of Earth Martial Realm, and this level of cultivation was nothing before Canghai Yuntai Palace and the Fire Palace.

In succession for several years, none of the warriors sent by Spirit Sword Sect to participate in the Imperial Hunting Garden had returned alive.

All were massacred in the Imperial Hunting Garden.

Yes, massacred.

The warriors of Canghai Yuntai Palace and the Fire Palace combined to massacre them, leaving no ability to resist.

Sometimes, even Edgeless Sect and other small forces took the opportunity to bully the Spirit Sword Sect.

That left Spirit Sword Sect with no face at all.

The Third Elder sighed lightly and said, "Then let’s not participate this year."

"Ridiculous!" The Grand Elder sneered: "Not participating? Our esteemed Spirit Sword Sect, the former hegemonic sect of Shenwu Kingdom, if we say this year that we will not participate in the Imperial Hunting Garden of the Shenwu Kingdom, won’t that be the laughingstock of the entire Shenwu Kingdom once word gets out?"

"Even if we’re not laughed at by Shenwu Kingdom, those old guys from Canghai Yuntai Palace and Fire Palace won’t die of laughter?"

"Laughing at our Spirit Sword Sect as having no one? Laughing at our Spirit Sword Sect as having no warrior who can compete?"

The Grand Elder said snortingly.

The Third Elder retorted: "Grand Elder, are you perhaps unaware that in the previous years, the warriors of Spirit Sword Sect didn’t even make it past the second round of the Imperial Hunting Garden? Five to six of them were crippled outright, directly crippled by the warriors of Canghai Yuntai Palace and Fire Palace on the martial arts stage in front of the various forces of Shenwu Kingdom."

"Is that humiliation not enough?"

The year-end Tail Sacrifice of the Shenwu Kingdom was divided into three parts.

The first part was the Heavenly Sacrifice.

Disciples from other sects did not need to participate in the Heavenly Sacrifice. Principally, it was attended by the royal family and nobles of Shenwu Kingdom.

The second part, the Imperial Hunting Garden.

In the Imperial Hunting Garden used by the royal family of Shenwu Kingdom, the experts from all corners will enter to hunt for prey and accumulate corresponding points, which can be exchanged for anything in the prize pool.

The third part was the Martial Arts Competition.

This competition required the disciples of the Four Major Sects, the disciples of other forces, and outstanding commanders from the army of Shenwu Kingdom to discuss martial arts together. Every time you defeat an opponent, you can get the opponent’s points.

Last year, a total of ten disciples from the Spirit Sword Sect participated. Eight of them were eliminated in the second round by the combined efforts of the Canghai Yuntai Palace and the Fire Palace.

As for the Spirit Sword Sect’s disciples in the past years, they were essentially annihilated in the third round, ambushed and killed by the combined forces of the Canghai Yuntai Palace and the Fire Palace.

The Grand Elder said indifferently, "Participation is a must, otherwise it would be a disgrace to our great Sect. But our current problem is, who should we send to participate."

"The one who participates should be able to represent the Spirit Sword Sect’s importance to the Year-end Tail Sacrifice and simultaneously not undermine our sect’s dignity. Most importantly, if this disciple were to die, we would not be too distressed," the Grand Elder stated mildly.

The Fourth Elder stated, "According to the Grand Elder, this disciple should have a very high reputation and status within the Spirit Sword Sect, possess a strong Cultivation level, and ideally should also have a certain level of fame throughout the territory of the Shenwu Kingdom."

"The question is, can such a person be found within the Spirit Sword Sect?"

Many Elders looked at each other and fell into deep contemplation.

After a long time, none of the elders spoke up.

At this point, Su Cang’s eyes darted around as he chuckled and said, "Elders, I have a candidate."

The Grand Elder curiously asked, "Young Sect Master, please enlighten us."

All the warriors turned their attention to Su Cang.

With a slight smile, Su Cang said, "Lin Bai."

"Lin Bai?"

"This name sounds somewhat familiar."

"Yes, I feel like I’ve heard it somewhere."

When Su Cang mentioned Lin Bai, the elders began to murmur among themselves.

Second Elder heard Su Cang mentioning Lin Bai, but he remained composed and silent. He continued his silence without uttering a word.

"Lin Bai..." The Grand Elder’s eyes narrowed, and a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

Xiang Tianyi had died at the hands of Lin Bai, the grudge of losing a son was something the Grand Elder had not forgotten in the slightest.

Su Cang gave a faint smile and said, "Lin Bai, in a little over half a year since joining the Spirit Sword Sect, has cultivated from a Martial Realm warrior to the eighth level of Earth Martial Realm, which clearly indicates he is a prodigy."

"After Lin Bai joined the Spirit Sword Sect, he won first place in the re-examination test, advanced to the Inner Gate as the first in the Outer Sect Martial Arts Competition, and not so long ago, battled several geniuses from the Inner Gate top Hundred Ranking on the No Return Cliff. He even slew Murong Yeshen with his sword."

"Now Lin Bai is the first person in the Spirit Sword Sect’s Earth Martial Realm."

"Lin Bai’s fame is very high within the Spirit Sword Sect, and now even people within the Shenwu Kingdom know that the Spirit Sword Sect has produced another youth prodigy second only to Su Cang."

Here, Su Cang deliberately placed his name in front of Lin Bai’s.

A genius second only to Su Cang.

Hehe.

Hearing this sentence, the Second Elder sneered disdainfully.

"Sending him not only shows the Shenwu Kingdom and the other sects that we, the Spirit Sword Sect, take the Year-end Tail Sacrifice seriously, but also upholds our Sect’s prestige. The key is that Lin Bai is dispensable to the Spirit Sword Sect. Even if he dies, it won’t harm us."

At these words, a meaningful smile appeared on Su Cang’s face.

The Grand Elder readily agreed, "Alright, let’s send Lin Bai. I assume no one has any objections." He said gleefully.

Lin Bai was merely at the eighth level of Earth Martial Realm.

The geniuses participating in the Imperial Hunting Garden are generally all experts around the Heaven Martial Realm second layer.

Lin Bai’s going is tantamount to inviting death.

Both the Grand Elder and Su Cang wanted to kill Lin Bai. It did not matter who Lin Bai died at the hand of. The important thing was that Lin Bai needed to die.

Even if Lin Bai miraculously survived.

Then he would surely be humiliated in the Imperial Hunting Garden. This could be considered as both Su Cang and the Grand Elder venting their anger.

No matter for the Spirit Sword Sect or Su Cang and Grand Elder, sending Lin Bai was the ideal choice.

"This..."

Many Elders upon hearing that the Grand Elder wanted to send Lin Bai, immediately had troubled expressions on their faces.

Most of these elders belonged to the Sword Alliance camp.

They all knew that Lin Bai was now a rising star in the Sword Alliance, and the Second Elder highly prized him.

They certainly did not have the audacity to push Lin Bai into the fire pit now.

Seeing that the elders were not daring to speak up, the Grand Elder turned to the Second Elder and asked, "Second Elder, you have no objections, do you?"

From the moment he entered the Elder’s hall, the Second Elder had not spoken a word. Upon hearing this, Second Elder said mildly, "Ok."

Hiss!

Upon hearing the Second Elder’s agreement.

Many elders from the Sword Alliance camp all wore puzzled looks, as well as enraged ones as they looked at the Second Elder.

Their eyes seemed to ask the Second Elder: Why would you agree? Are we going to abandon Lin Bai? He is our hope, the Spirit Sword Sect’s hope!

The Second Elder understood what the Sword Alliance camp elders were thinking. Feeling helpless, he shook his head and sighed lightly. In his heart, he said: I don’t want him to go either, but this is what he requested himself.

"Haha, since there are no objections, let it be settled. Lin Bai will represent the Spirit Sword Sect in attending the Year-end Festival of the Shenwu Kingdom in the Imperial Capital."

"Hahaha."

The Grand Elder burst into hearty laughter.

Su Cang also gave a satisfied smile.