Soul Emperor Martial God

"Inherit the title of the strongest?" Xiao Yi muttered to himself, then chuckled.

"Sorry, I'm not interested anymore."

In Xiao Yi's view, the Sky-splitting Sword Sect had become a place of disputes.

So many people targeting him.

Staying here longer was certainly not a good choice.

"You don't get to decide that," Duan Yun said sternly.

"What, Elder Duan Yun plans to forcefully keep me here?" Xiao Yi sneered.

Normally, a senior like Duan Yun.

Wouldn't lose face by keeping a junior against their will.

Yet, this time he hesitated not a bit and said, "Indeed."

"Now, you possess both inheritances."

"You cannot act recklessly."

"I have a responsibility to protect you until you grow stronger."

"Once your cultivation is achieved, you can travel the wide world freely."

Xiao Yi frowned.

On the other side, Ye Ming and the others looked delighted.

"Junior Brother Xiao Yi, you should quickly thank Elder Duan Yun."

"Elder Duan Yun wants to take you as his disciple."

"Oh, no, you should start calling him 'Master'."

"No." Duan Yun shook his head, "I do not plan to take any disciples."

"Of course, it's not that I don't want to."

"A prodigy like the Northern Mountain Sword Master, any strong practitioner would be envious."

"Everybody would want to take him as their disciple."

"But, I don't think I am qualified to teach."

Saying this, Duan Yun looked at Xiao Yi and said.

"With both inheritances in you, let the Sky-splitting Sword Demon and the Sky-splitting Sword Maiden from before be your 'Master'."

"I do hold those seniors in high regard," Xiao Yi commented neutrally.

"As for joining the sect, my mind is already made up."

"No one can change that."

Determination was written all over Xiao Yi's face.

Some things, if he didn't want to do them, no one could force him.

"Boy, don't be foolish," the Great Elder said.

"I know you hold grudges."

"But the sect will compensate you appropriately."

"Do you know how many benefits the title of Strongest Sword Master can bring you?"

"The least reward is to choose 23 treasures from the Sect Treasure Vault."

"23 portions?" Xiao Yi's eyes lit up.

He noted that the Great Elder said 'portions', not 'items'.

"Yes." The Great Elder smiled, "Excluding the area of treasured items."

"In other areas, you can choose any 23 portions."

At that moment, Duan Yun added, "I'll use my authority to give you an additional six portions."

"Also, in the area of treasured items, besides that Shadow Sword, you can choose another item."

"A total of seven portions, making it 30 portions."

"This will compensate for my previous inaction."

"Are you satisfied with that?"

"Satisfied," Xiao Yi smiled and bowed, "Thank you, both elders."

"Good." Duan Yun smiled contentedly.

"Great Elder, take the Northern Mountain Sword Master to receive his rewards first."

"After that, proceed with the ceremonies due for the Strongest Sword Master."

"Yes, Elder Duan Yun," the Great Elder nodded.

"Kid, come with me."

The Great Elder turned and led the way.

Xiao Yi followed, and Ye Ming and the others, not wanting to stay put, followed too.

Then, Ye Ming whispered with a laugh, "Junior Brother Xiao Yi."

"When the elders said you were cunning, I didn't believe it."

"Now I truly believe it."

"Getting seven portions of rewards, and one from the area of treasured items."

"Shush." Xiao Yi gestured for silence.

Behind them, Duan Yun couldn't help but laugh silently.

With his cultivation, he could hear Ye Ming no matter how quietly he spoke.

"Northern Mountain Sword Master Xiao Yi, seems to be an interesting young man."

Duan Yun chuckled, then his figure flashed, and he returned to the Elder's Seat.

He grabbed Zhong Wuyou, who was still struggling, and then drifted away.

...

Inside the Sect Treasure Vault.

As soon as Xiao Yi entered, he immediately headed for the area of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

The treasures in the vault were some by item.

Others were by portion, packed uniformly into Qiankun Bags.

Like Demon Beast Core and Demon Beast Essence Blood, were counted by portions.

"Sixth-level inner core, one portion contains a thousand."

Xiao Yi pondered for a moment.

He could choose 30 portions, excluding that one from the area of treasured items, making it 29 portions.

29 portions of sixth-level inner cores, that would be nearly 30,000 pieces.

And according to his estimates, what was needed to fully form an Earth Element Golden Core.

Was still short by 80,000 pieces.

Elder Mu from Medicine King Valley owed him 60,000 pieces.

Adding them up would be enough.

Yet, now he had no chance to reach Elder Mu.

Xiao Yi thought this over and turned his gaze to the seventh-level inner cores.

"Seventh-level inner core, one Qiankun Bag contains 300 pieces."

29 portions amount to nearly 9,000 cores.

Regarding sword points, one Seventh-level Inner Core is roughly equivalent to three Sixth-level Inner Cores.

But in terms of the power they contain,

one Seventh-level Inner Core may equate to five or six Sixth-level Inner Cores, perhaps even more.

Xiao Yi pondered for a moment, and finally chose to exchange for 29 portions of Seventh-level Inner Cores.

Initially, he had been envious of the Demon Beast Cores, one Qiankun Bag after another.

Regrettably, the Sect's valuation of various treasures was different from the norm.

Because a normal disciple did not require many Demon Beast Cores,

the Sect arbitrarily elevated the sword points value of the Inner Cores significantly.

An exchange one by one would be utterly unworthy.

The present reward, when exchanged in portions, was different, however.

He took the 29 portions of Seventh-level Inner Cores.

Xiao Yi headed to the Treasures area.

He took one of the Six Gold Puppet Balls.

Then he left the treasure vault.

Outside, the Great Elder had been waiting.

He glanced at the items Xiao Yi had exchanged and immediately furrowed his brows.

"Young man, I can understand your taking a Six Gold Puppet Ball,"

"But why would you exchange for so many Demon Beast Cores?"

"Their value lies in the refinement of Pure Elixirs."

"Well, do you have a large Qi Spring?"

"Um," Xiao Yi nodded and said, "It is quite large."

"How large?" the Great Elder pressed, "Could it be larger than Elder Bai's?"

Bai Mohan, as the leader among the Six Talents of the Royal Capital,

carried the name of a supreme talent for a reason throughout the Flame Martial Kingdom.

His Qi Spring reached five hundred fathoms.

He was said by Elder Yi to be the one with the largest Qi Spring he had ever seen.

"Yes, larger than his," Xiao Yi nodded.

Just how large?" the Great Elder urgently asked.

"Um…" Xiao Yi thought for a moment,

then with a wave of his hand,

a surging vortex of Spiritual Energy condensed in mid-air.

It was about seven hundred fathoms.

"A seven-hundred-fathom Qi Spring," the Great Elder inhaled sharply.

"My heavens, no wonder even with Mystic Breakthrough Ninth Layer Cultivation, you possess strength akin to an Earth Origin Realm."

Xiao Yi touched his nose; he had tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Yet, he had still managed to startle the Great Elder.

"Tsk, are you a monster?" the Great Elder exclaimed.

"If you had shown this earlier, Elder Duan Yun would have already intervened on your behalf."

"You wouldn't have had to wait so long."

"Um," Xiao Yi changed the subject, "Great Elder, weren't there other procedures as well?"

"Yes," the Great Elder said, "Follow me, let's head to the Ancestor Hall."

...

The Ancestor Hall, naturally, was the resting place of ancestors from all the past generations.

Located within a bamboo grove.

The two arrived,

inside were spiritual tablets of the ancestors, densely packed, numbering over a thousand.

"Offer incense to our ancestors," the Great Elder said in a solemn voice.

Xiao Yi offered incense to each one.

Then came a series of various rituals.

Once all were completed,

the Great Elder led Xiao Yi out of the hall, then continued onward through the bamboo grove.

Passing through the bamboo grove, they suddenly came upon a pavilion.

Inside the pavilion, two women were present.

Their faces were unclear, but one of them was playing a zither.

The sound of the zither, like curling tendrils of melody, was extremely pleasant to the ear.

"Hiss…" Xiao Yi suddenly gasped in surprise.

The zither music had drawn his thoughts in, nearly making him lose himself.

"Young man, don't get distracted; keep up," the Great Elder chastised.

Then he bowed to the pavilion.

Only after that did he continue to lead the way.

Xiao Yi furrowed his brow and caught up.

After a while, they reached the end of the bamboo grove.

Ahead of them were two menacing barriers.

The Great Elder explained, "The barrier on the left houses the Martial Arts Steles of the past Sect Masters."

"The barrier on the right contains the Martial Arts Steles of the strongest Sword Masters from the past."

With that said, they entered the right barrier.

Inside the barrier, it was like another space.

There, 23 vast steles stood, each engraved with the Martial Arts Knowledge of one of the 23 strongest Sword Masters.

"Young man, pay your respects," the Great Elder ordered.

Xiao Yi nodded and bowed to each of the twenty-three steles.

Sword Masters came in every generation; however, the Strongest Sword Masters did not.

Sometimes, it could span several generations without a Strongest Sword Master.

Hence, over countless years, the Sword Sect had only ever had 23 Strongest Sword Masters.

Those 23 rewards were actually gifts from the Sect, representing the Strongest Sword Masters of past generations, given to Xiao Yi.

In front of the steles, there were three swords radiating terrifying auras.

One blazing with extreme heat.

One cold as ice.

One with an edge that shocked the heavens.

...

Second update.