Chapter 642: Chapter 642: Sword Intent

“Here we are, this is Qingyun Hall. You can enter by yourselves,” said the core disciple indifferently.

Pushing open a large green metal door, Song Jian and the others headed towards the hall of Qingyun Hall.

The hall was spacious and somewhat vacant, Sect Leader Liu Qingyun and more than a dozen elders turned their gaze simultaneously towards Song Jian’s group.

“Greetings, Sect Leader, greetings elders!” The group respectfully greeted.

Each of these dozen or so elders emitted fluctuations of Tier-1 Combat Power, surpassing ordinary Tier-1 combatants. Song Jian had felt this level of intimidating might only once before, on the leader of Blackwind Village.

As for Liu Qingyun, seated on the Sect Leader’s throne, even Song Jian couldn’t discern his actual strength. To what extent had he reached? The only descriptor in his mind was “unfathomable”.

“No need for formality, you all represent the future of the Qingyun Sword Sect. We’ve asked you here mainly for us old fellows to meet you, and as a reward for your performance yesterday,” Liu Qingyun said amiably.

“We are willing to serve the Sect!” Song Jian and the others bowed and shouted in unison.

“Good, other than Song Jian, all of you are inner disciples. Several elders appreciate you a lot and wish to take you as their direct disciples,” said Liu Qingyun. The inner disciples looked at each other in surprise, then burst into excitement. Becoming a direct disciple of a master, was like taking a step up into the heavens. Not all successful participants in the disciples’ trial could become direct disciples, they must be selected by the elders.

“Chu Qiang, Hao Dadong here, you must have heard of me. Today, I wish to take you as my twelfth direct disciple. What do you think?” A burly white-haired old man stood up and shouted loudly.

The disciple who had spoken with Song Jian earlier stood up, his face glowing with excitement. Holding his fists in respect, he bowed to the old man and said, “Disciple, disciple is willing!”

“Liu Chunhua, old man…”

One by one, elders stood up, taking the internal disciples as their direct ones.

The information of these disciples was already known to them, so it was more a matter of formality. Those who became direct disciples would see their status greatly improved. No inner disciple would refuse to acknowledge this favor.

All the disciples who were accepted as direct disciples stood behind their masters, leaving only Song Jian standing alone in the middle of the hall.

Everyone quietly watched him.

“Song Jian, can you tell us how you managed to annihilate the whole of Blackwind Village by yourself?” Liu Qinghuan asked slowly.

The Qingyun Sword Sect had already sent people to examine Blackwind Village. It turned out that it was completely empty and had been burned down. The bodies of the people had been burned to ruins and no trace could be found.

Some elders were even preparing to strike. As soon as Song Jian showed any indication of weakness, they planned to launch a powerful attack to kill him on the spot.

“Sect Leader, Honorable Elders!” Song Jian responded without arrogance or humility, “When I initially accepted this assignment, I did not plan to annihilate the entire Blackwind Village. I knew my own strength. I was not, at the time, capable of completely annihilating Blackwind Village. My intent was only to kill some ordinary bandits, and earn some cultivation pills in the process.”

“However, after killing the ordinary bandits, I suddenly entered a strange state. I don’t even know what I was doing, I just moved continuously towards the Blackwind Mountain Village. When I came to my senses, the bandits of the entire Blackwind Village had been killed by me!”

“I was afraid at the moment, so in my panic, I over turned a brazier, and fled back here overnight.” Song Jian added.

“What is this strange state you are referring to?” An elder asked with wide eyes.

“I… I don’t know…” With a slight frown, Song Jian shook his head.

The elders closest to Sect Leader Liu exchanged glances before looking back at him.

With a hint of a smile, Liu Qingyun asked, “Can you enter that state again?”

A few elders’ eyes brightened. This was exactly what they wanted to know. If Song Jian said he couldn’t enter again, his suspicion would greatly increase. If he could, but his strength didn’t change at all after entering the state, he would not be able to prove his innocence, and would definitely be under intense scrutiny in future.

“I can!” Song Jian replied, “Afterwards, I attempted to enter that state multiple times. After numerous trials, I can now deliberately enter and exit that state.”

“Can you show us now?” Liu Qingyun asked with a smile, appearing relaxed throughout, unlike the tense elders around him.

The rest of the elders were mostly like spectators, sitting quietly, saying nothing.

Song Jian nodded, lightly closed his eyes and tensed his muscles, seemingly using all his strength.

After a moment, Song Jian activated his “Primordial Chaos Indestructible Sword Body” technique, causing a keen aura to radiate from his body. Golden Sword Qi swirled around, and eight sword shadows slowly rotated around Song Jian.

Song Jian was taking a gamble. The concept of Sword Intent was well-known in the Qingyun Sword Sect. Their sect leader had been considered a genius in his youth for his independent comprehension of Sword Intent. Due to the enthusiastic endorsement of some people, the types and strengths of Sword Intent were a common topic among the disciples of the Qingyun Sword Sect.

Song Jian found that the so-called Sword Intent was akin to a boost in status. Depending on the specific Sword Intent, the effect varied. His “Immortal Sword Body” greatly resembled this amplified state. Although Song Jian didn’t know if there were any Sword Intents similar to the Immortal Sword Body in this world, he felt that his chances of winning this bet were high.

“Sword Intent, it’s really Sword Intent. This isn’t just touching the threshold of Sword Intent, this is complete Sword Intent!” An elder stood up in shock, staring at the Song Jian, who was exuding a fierce aura with golden Sword Qi swirling around him, and cried out in surprise.

Liu Qingyun squinted his eyes, involuntarily squeezing the armrest of his throne. A “crack” sound echoed as the sturdy armrest developed a crack.

“What kind of Sword Intent is this? It feels powerful, definitely capable of contesting a Tier-1 combatant’s strength…”

All the elders turned their gaze to Sect Leader Liu Qingyun. Among them, only a few had touched the threshold of Sword Intent. In the entire Qingyun Sword Sect, only Sect Leader Liu Qingyun had truly mastered Sword Intent.

…