"Pass."
"Pass."
"Fail."
The first stage of the Inverse Blade Sect's examination tested root bone—the innate physical foundation for martial cultivation. For a power of this caliber, possessing exceptional root bone was merely the baseline requirement.
Of course, as one of the Five Supreme Blades, the Inverse Blade Sect would never accept disciples based on root bone alone.
James passed the first stage with ease.
"Our Inverse Blade Sect was established eight hundred years ago." The young man on the stone platform rose to his feet, his voice carrying across the gathered applicants like the toll of a bell. "All disciples follow the ancestral command of our founder: use the sword in hand to break all techniques under heaven."
He swept his gaze across the expectant faces below.
"This path is destined to be filled with hardship and obstacles. We take unconventional approaches. We practice in reverse to achieve mastery. Even if your aptitude is excellent, without true talent and determination for the way of the sword, you will achieve nothing here. Perhaps you consider yourselves geniuses—but the Inverse Blade Sect does not lack geniuses. We only lack geniuses of the sword."
His aura pressed down on the crowd like the weight of an ocean. James felt his breath catch.
*What level of expert is this?*
Transcendent? No—the Transcendent experts James had encountered before weren't fit to carry this man's shoes.
*Could he be a half-step Master?*
*He couldn't actually be a true Master, could he?*
If so, his father's connections were far more impressive than James had realized.
James studied the young man with renewed interest. To reach half-step Master at such a young age, this person was definitely ranked on the Rising Star Ranking—the list that recorded the most talented young experts in the Wei Empire. Those who made the list, even at the very bottom, were young Transcendent Realm cultivators at minimum.
Beyond the Rising Star Ranking, there were also the Earth Ranking and the Heaven Ranking. The Earth Ranking recorded Master-level experts, while the Heaven Ranking recorded Grand Masters. As for the Celestials who stood above even Grand Masters... no one was foolish enough to create a ranking for those monsters.
---
The second stage of the assessment tested sword aptitude.
James felt a flicker of apprehension. His family were not sword practitioners—the Everett core technique was the Tidal Blade Art, a saber style. While some said the saber and sword shared common roots, that principle only applied to experts who had already entered the realm of true mastery. James was nowhere near that level.
He received the assessment materials: a manual of basic sword techniques. The requirement was simple—master this basic sword form, then use it to defeat an opponent wielding a different martial style.
The concept reminded James of stories from his previous life. The Inverse Blade Sect's philosophy seemed to share principles with legendary techniques that could defeat any style by understanding its weaknesses.
*Learn. I must learn with everything I have.*
His fighting spirit ignited. With his aptitude now enhanced by the spirit fruit and his comprehension doubled by his future self's gift, he refused to believe he would fail—even starting from scratch.
James threw himself into his studies, forgetting to eat and sleep. Five days later, he requested to take the challenge.
"Are you certain you want to attempt it now?"
An elder regarded James with a peculiar expression. The second assessment lasted one full month, and anyone who completed the challenge within that period would pass. Although there was no limit on attempts, trying to learn a sword technique in just five days—even the most basic one—was no simple task.
James nodded seriously. He wasn't joking. He had genuinely mastered the basic form. In truth, he had always dreamed of becoming a legendary swordsman... perhaps it was an innate calling.
Of course, the real explanation was simpler. His martial aptitude had reached such heights that once his enhanced comprehension grasped the principles, mastery followed naturally. A Flawless Physique was exactly the kind of talent that any power would desperately want to nurture.
The elder glanced toward the young man on the stone platform. Seeing a slight nod, he made no further attempt to dissuade James.
---
James's opponent was an Inverse Blade Sect disciple.
In terms of raw cultivation, the disciple could have crushed James effortlessly. But the sect wouldn't do something so unfair. The disciple would use a non-sword martial style, and as long as James could break through her technique before being defeated, he would pass.
The opponent who stepped forward was a cold-looking young woman. She wasn't very old—perhaps sixteen or seventeen—with long hair held firmly in place by a silver-white hairpin. She stood straight as a pillar, her center of gravity shifted forward, her right hand gripping the sword hilt behind her back.
James cupped his hands in greeting. "Please grant me your guidance, Senior Sister."
The woman nodded slightly. Without a word, she moved.
The long sword behind her swept forward, its edge tracing an arc through the air like the crest of a great wave.
*This seems... familiar.*
James's eyes widened. Wasn't this his family's Tidal Blade Art? Though it hadn't captured the true essence and felt like a significantly weakened version—a Tidal Sword Technique rather than a saber form—the movements were unmistakable.
*So that's how it is.*
James finally understood what an insider arrangement looked like. This assessment had been designed entirely for him.
As the woman closed in, James leaned forward. His sword thrust upward at precisely the right moment, parrying and breaking her stance in a single motion. The tip of his blade stopped at the woman's snow-white neck before she could even react.
Silence hung in the air.
"Congratulations, Junior Brother." The woman's voice was calm. "You've passed the assessment."
James withdrew his sword and cupped his hands again. "Senior Sister overpraises me. I was merely lucky. I'm far from being your match."
He wasn't being falsely modest. He knew perfectly well that she had used a weakened version of his family's signature technique—of course he could spot the flaws. But he wasn't foolish enough to expose the arrangement. He would simply accept this favor with grace.
In just five days, James had passed the assessment, becoming the first person in this batch to do so. The other applicants watched with envy as he was led away.
---
Now, finally, James could speak properly with the young man who had been helping him.
"My name is Lucas Ashford," the man said as they walked toward the Outer Pavilion. "But you can call me Uncle Lucas."
His eyes held a warmth that contrasted sharply with the cold demeanor he'd displayed during the assessment.
"Congratulations on becoming a member of the Inverse Blade Sect. Don't worry now that you're here—your father and I have a bond of life and death. If you encounter any difficulties within the sect, come to me."
He smiled slightly. "I might not be much of a figure in the eyes of the wider world, but within the Inverse Blade Sect, my word carries some weight."
*Lucas Ashford...*
The name triggered something in James's memory. Suddenly, a title surfaced in his mind.
The Ashford Sword Lord. Ranked ninth on the Rising Star Ranking. The number one genius of the Inverse Blade Sect's current generation.
Wasn't that precisely Lucas Ashford?
At only twenty-seven years old, already a half-step Master. His word "carried some weight"? That was the understatement of the century. As long as Lucas didn't die young, he would become the next Pavilion Master of the Inverse Blade Sect—one of the people standing at the very peak of the Wei Empire.
"Uncle Lucas," James said carefully, "are you the Ashford Sword Lord?"
Lucas smiled at the recognition and nodded.
James couldn't contain his curiosity. "How did you and my father come to know each other?"
It was a reasonable question. One was a top genius from the Five Supreme Blades, ranked ninth among all young experts in the empire. The other was James's father—a man who had never broken through to the Transcendent Realm, merely an ordinary head of the Everett Family. The gap between their statuses was like the distance between clouds and mud.
Lucas's pace slowed. His expression grew distant, as if lost in memory.
"Well..."
A pause.
"Big Brother Jonathan is a good man."
---
**End of Chapter 7**