TL-Checked by SassyStrawberry; Edited by Animeart

  27th day of April.

  On this day, something else happened.

  Lingsu said, “Pavilion Master, the disciples who have recently entered the sect have passed the assessment and will be formally accepted in the Sword Pavilion. The disciples and the elders are waiting in the hall.”

  The rules of the Sword Pavilion was that every new disciple would be registered as a named disciple, and would be recorded under the name bestowed by a Senior Master, an Elder or even the Pavilion Master who had a high qualification and profound cultivation. After being named, in addition to learning basic exercises and sword moves, most of them would actively learn martial arts in the line of the Master who named them. In the future, they may become inner disciples and be taught by the master themselves.

  ——There were also some disciples who did not want to be attached to a specific Master, but preferred to seek enlightenment on their own, those types of disciples were taught differently. The Cangshu Pavilion collection of classic books were as vast as a sea of smoke, and comprised the predecessors’ lifelong efforts. One need not fear that the disciples would lack guidance and hence end up resulting in wasted years.

  Today was the day when the disciples were bestowed a name by their Masters. It was called the “Initiation Ceremony”. Most disciples had already been selected by their Masters to follow them during the three-year assessment. Therefore, the ceremony was not long, it was just a formality.

  When Lin Shu arrived at the main hall, the elders were already seated at the head of the main seat, while the new disciples stood neatly in the hall, with several senior brothers and sisters leading them.

  Seeing Lin Shu walking in, the disciples saluted together, “We pay our respect to the Pavilion Master.”

  The six elders also saluted with a smile.

  Perhaps because of his young age, these elders treated him with utmost respect and kindness.

  After Lin Shu was seated in the central seat, the initiation ceremony began. There was no red tape, only the disciples expounded their knowledge of the sword and their understanding of martial arts they had learnt in the past three years. If there was a master who wanted to bring the disciple under his tutelage, he would ask a few questions and then take him in.

  Some of these disciples had unique and unmatched talents that the elders had found in the world, and some of them were children who are determined to be far beyond the ordinary people by kowtowing their heads one step at a time while climbing the nine thousand long steps. They were all materials that can be moulded, so there were generally no disciples that no one wanted.

  Lin Shu quietly watched the disciples worship into their own masters from above.

  In his previous life, probably the Sword Pavilion had already fallen. He had never done such a formal apprenticeship ceremony as a master.

  But his own old man, although his sword skills were mediocre, he was indeed a competent and good master.

  At that time, the main hall was more dilapidated and very cold than it was now. In the dead of night, when one meditated in the main hall, they could hear their own heart beating.

  The rise and fall of the world was the same. The Immortal Sects such as the Sword Pavilion would gradually decline and disappear, not to mention the bustling world at the foot of the mountain.

  A moment of silence in the ceremony brought him back to his senses. He saw a young disciple standing upright in the middle of the hall.

  \r \r \r

  The young man had good facial features, but he didn’t leave a deep impression on people. Lin Shu only felt he was familiar. After thinking about it, he remembered that it was exactly three years ago, on the way back to the Sword Pavilion, he had seen the young man in hemp clothes who was climbing the long steps.

  Originally, after explaining his own sword insights, the master would ask him questions, and be accepted into the school.

  But no one asked him questions.

  He stood in the center just like that, his head lowered slightly, his expression a little uneasy.

  There was a deafening silence that you could perhaps even hear a needle falling in the hall. After a long time, an elder asked: “Why did you learn swordsmanship?”

  The young man said: “I……have nowhere to go.”

  The elder sighed slightly.

  Lin Shu knew the reason for the sigh.

  There were many reasons to learn swords in the Sword Pavilion.

  You could learn swords for the sake of Taoism, you could learn swords for martial arts, or you could learn swordsmanship for the sake of the sword. But saying you were only learning because you had nowhere to go was not good enough.

  In other words, it was acceptable to have learnt the sword because one did not have anywhere to go when entering the Sword Pavilion, but after holding the sword for three years, it would be wrong to say that again.

  ——Today you have learned the sword because you had nowhere to go, and in the future you will abandon the sword because there is a way to go. Such people were not liked by the elders.

  The sigh of the elder was almost equal to giving up on this disciple.

  The hall was silent once again as if it was empty. Only this fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy biting his lips tightly, revealing a bit of embarrassment and panic in his eyes in front of everyone.

  This embarrassment and panic suddenly touched some deep hidden memories of Lin Shu, and at the moment when his mind moved slightly, he met the young man’s eyes.

  It was still that simple burning yearning, exactly the same look as when he climbed that nine thousand long steps.

  He heard himself ask: “Why is there nowhere to go?”

  The young man’s tone of voice was a little more unstable than when he faced the elder. He said, “Replying to the Pavilion Master, I didn’t have any relatives or friends, and I did not want to do anything. I didn’t want to live among the bustle of the world. I just wanted to come to the Sword Pavilion…… To have a try. Later…… ”

  After a pause, he lowered his head: “I was on the steps at the beginning, and I couldn’t hold on any longer, I was about to give up. But you, My Lord, gave me a look and nodded at me. I thought, if I could become such a person as My Lord in the future……”

  When he said this, his voice gradually lowered, and it took a while before it returned to normal: “I don’t want to go elsewhere.”

  After hearing this, the Elders and the disciples were a little moved, all of them were watching him, which made his head lower even more.

  Lin Shu didn’t expect to , but he made this disciple who should not have gotten into the Sword Pavilion to go to the Sword Pavilion.

  Since then, this young man had not wanted to go elsewhere. This was also his fault.

  He said: “You stay.”

  The disciple opened his eyes wide in disbelief, and then his voice trembled: “Thank you, Master!”

  Master. Lin Shu was a little confused for a while, he never had thought that he would be ever called a Master one day.

  It was a mistake, but he had always felt regretful that he didn’t serve his Master well in his last life. Today, he accepted an apprentice to fulfill his duty as a Master, which was also the compensation of cause and effect.

  Lingsu led the young man down after the ceremony was over. Lin Shu went to practice his sword, then he finished practicing his sword. At night, he brought him up again.

  The youth seemed very nervous.

  Lin Shu was impartial, and asked: “What is your name?”

  The boy seemed rather embarrassed and said: “Hu Lu.”

  Lin Shu’s movements paused for a moment.

  His own old man had a Taoist Title as Hu Lu Daoren……

  Karma was truly arranged by fate.

  But when one thought about it, it was very usual to have similar named people in the world. For example, Li Jimao and Li Yamao brothers, and there must be a lot of people in this world who were called “Hu Lu”. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

  However, the name of Hu Lu, after all, was not elegant and should be changed.

  The Sword Pavilion has been a generation for 20 years. This generation is one generation lower than those of Yunlan, with “Qing” as the first word.

  Lin Shu said, “Your name now is Qinglu.”

  Qinglu’s eyes lit up and said, “Thank you, Master for bestowing on me a name.”

  Lin Shu’s gaze moved past him and looked out of the window.

  Today was the 27th day of April, the day that the Great Wizard had spoken of.

  His face turned towards the vast night sky, attempting to search for some trickery, but to no avail. He felt as if he had been made a fool by the Great Wizard.

  Qinglu asked, “Master?”

  Lingsu said in a soft voice: “The Pavilion Master often has moments where he is seeking enlightenment and contemplating the Dao. Do not disturb him.”

  Qing Lu: “Oh……”

  At that very moment, the Southern 7th constellation phase, Suzaku, suddenly shone brightly.