The revealed blade body reflected the bright moonshine like a mirror, leaving the entire stone-made entrance hall in a watery glow. The moonlights flickered everywhere in the room.

The rusted sword changed!

Suddenly, the things that the strange man in black had said crossed Ding Hao’s mind. He seemed to realize something at that moment. He grabbed the sword and scrutinized at the revealed shining sword body. The body was smooth, he could see no trace of time at all. As if it had just been forged, the bright sword body reflected Ding Hao’s face.

Could the sword bear some kind of secret? The sword was actually a real treasure?

Ding Hao felt surprised in a good way.

The only thing was that the rust did not peel off completely. About two-thirds of the rust was still on the sword body. Although Ding Hao tried to get rid of them, he failed after some attempts.

“Well, Little Chap Ding, give up. You can’t really get the rust off any time you want to.” In Ding Hao’s mind, the Sword Master could not help reminding him in a smug way.

“You knew the sword’s secret all along?” Ding Hao realized something. “Then what should I do to get them off?”

“Well, I did not get the ‘Sword Master’ for nothing. I can see through every sword and every swordsmanship with my own eyes. If the mad drunkard can see through the sword’s secrets, why can’t I?”

“Why don’t you tell me?” Ding Hao asked, irritated.

“Tsk, your foundation is weak, it won’t help you if I told you earlier… You rusted sword is really something. Before you become the Martial Emperor, it’ll be enough for you.” Sword Master continued to coach Ding Hao in a smug way and added finally, “Rest assured, the rust will peel off itself. Don’t worry, with the rust, the sword won’t attract some unwanted attention and get you into trouble. It’s best for you!”

Ding Hao was dazed and considered for a while. In the end, he had to agree Sword Master’s words.

If the sword was really a rare treasure, then he would become a criminal if he bore it. Someone might set his eyes on him.

However, if the sword stayed in a shabby condition, it would not attract others’ attention.

After the conversation with the two “ancestors” Sword Master and Saber Master for a while, Ding Hao calmed down and continued to exert Qi to heal himself.

Time passed quickly.

…

…

Swish!

Ding Hao drew back his sword with a satisfying smile on his face.

It was six days later after the five academies competition.

During the six days, Ding Hao summarized the experience he gained in the previous battles, and exerted his Qi to heal the wounds. As of today, he had completely recovered. No matter big or small, all the injuries on his body had disappeared. Only some salmon pink marks could be seen. Ding Hao believed that in the near future, the marks would vanish too. His strength would be as strong as before.

The effect of the five academies competition was slowly disappearing.

The nominal disciples were also returning to the usual routines of the daily cultivation.

Ding Hao did not know about other academies, but his academy’s disciples were training like hell under the cynical man’s guidance. The teacher-in-charge Wang Juefeng was like a gorilla in heat. Every morning before the dawn, he would wake the disciples from their dreams and made them do all kinds of laboring work, like jogging and running while carrying sandbags with them.

In the afternoon, there would always be two more theory classes.

Other than cynical man Wang Juefeng, Eastern Academy of green shirts also owned six other teachers in different subjects. Their classes included sword forging, herb planting, inscription, formation, and other subjects.

Because they had taken second place in the five academies competition, they had earned relatively plentiful cultivation resources.

For example, every disciple would receive a crude Lower Grade Qi jade to extract and temper their Qi. It was much better than extracting and tempering with absolutely nothing. Thus, every disciple’s strength had been increasing rapidly these days.

The same went with Ding Hao. He was also vigorously consuming various knowledge on martial arts of this world.

An enigmatic door was slowly opening for Ding Hao.

Today, Ding Hao had completely recovered from his wounds.

He decided to use his rights as the winner of the competition, to head for the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect’s Swordsmanship Hall Library to choose one or two magic skills or martial techniques that suited his cultivation base. He wanted badly to make up for his shortcomings in cultivation.

…

…

Swordsmanship-seeking Sect had plenty of important departments in charge of different affairs.

For example, the Sword-forging Hall devised weapons and armors, the Sentencing Hall dealt with laws and inflicts inside the sect. Moreover, the Herb Hall refined elixir, created inscriptions, and bred herbs. The Drill Hall taught magic skills and supervised disciples. Finally, there was the Swordsmanship Hall Library where magic skill books were stored.

Right now, Ding Hao was on the way to the library.

Having won the five academies competition, he not only received a Qi-collecting Pill and 10 sect Contribution Points that he did not know how to use yet, but also had a chance to enter the sect’s library to pick one magic skill or martial technique book to practice.

Ding Hao was going to the library to choose.

This was a chance that countless nominal disciples had dreamed of.

Numerous books on magic skill and martial technique were stored inside the Swordsmanship Hall Library. It was the most treasured hall in Swordsmanship-seeking Sect. For any kung fu practitioner, it was their dream to enter such a place. As long as they could pick one magic skill that matched with their cultivation, they would instantly stand out in the fierce competitions of the sect.

Thinking of that, Ding Hao could not help humming to himself, lighthearted.

On the way, he met lots of nominal disciples from different academies.

Except for the Central Academy of white shirts disciples who somewhat held grudges against him, most of the nominal disciples from other academies had warmly greeted him. Ding Hao greeted back with a smile.

Even, one or two crazy female disciples boldly rushed to him and poured out their love in front of him…

It looked like that after the five academies competition, Ding Hao was famous and revered in a way that other nominal disciples could not compare at all.

However, when it came to finding the right directions on maps, Ding Hao was no genius.

Luckily, along the broad road decorated with green tiles, there were conspicuous signs.

Leaving the first step area, Ding Hao took the green tile stairs upward. He took his time and finally arrived at his destination after 30 minutes, the Swordsmanship Hall Library, No. 28 in the third step area.

“Well, the legendary library, here it is.” Ding Hao looked up to observe the building.

It was a grand building decorated with green tiles. The pagoda-shaped library had six floors.

Seen from the outside, the higher the floor was, the narrower it presented. If you looked at from afar, you would find it like an antique long sword stuck in the ground. Under the shining sunlight, the entire pagoda seemed to give out jade green halos and rays, which added to its charm.

It looked like loosely-guarded, and not even a patrolling guard was spotted.

…