Chapter 75: Xiao Cao (Little Grass)
"Therefore, the Sword Palace's entrance test begins now!" On the platform, the several sword skill tutors announced. The entrance test, which was held by the twin witches personally, that had gathered almost all the young people of the right age, finally started.
The selection method was actual combat. Nothing could be more suitable than this method to show the geniuses' actual combat power. The candidates chose their opponents by drawing straws.
Countless white light leaves flew out from the twin witches' position, dropping like feathers onto all the young candidates' heads. They were just the right amount for every candidate.
"The first exam area, Number three VS Number seventeen."
"The second exam area, Number seven VS Number thirty-five."
"The third exam area, Number ten VS Number fifty-one."
"The fourth exam area, Number thirty-one VS Number seventy-five."
The drawing straws were random. The people who had been called appeared on the stage one by one.
The stage was nearly thirty-square-meters wide, the edge of the stage was surrounded by a hazy light. That was the magical ward personally made by the twin witches, which meant that after you appeared on the stage, unless you admitted your defeat or were defeated, there weren't any other choices.
Win, win and win, till you became the last winner! This was the rule of the Sword Palace's entrance test. However, if the loser showed enough talent in the fight, the person still had a chance to be admitted into the Sword Palace. After all, only the twin witches could decide if the candidates were entitled to pass through the test.
In the other areas of White Lotus Sword Domain, there were many similar tests being held. However, all the noble families only paid attention to this unheralded small town, because the people who held the test were the future twin masters of White Lotus Sword Domain - the twin witches.
Even though they didn't really show their faces in front of the public, however, the truth that the future masters of White Lotus Sword Domain were looking at them was already making the candidates excited. For this day, they had wasted many thoughts to arm themselves to the teeth.
As future elites coming from noble families, they believed that they would become the winners of their generation. However, the next development was out of everyone's expectation.
...
In the first exam area, the first battle was ongoing.
One of the combatants was a noble family's child. His name was Lin Feng. Although his fame was inferior to the three Childes, he was one of the top ten swordsmen amongst all the noble families' candidates. He was good at the Fierce Wind Sword Skill. He was a real elite.
His Lin family's force was all over the Eastern God's Domain. Not just in the Sky Sword God's Domain, they were also famous in other god's domains. Although his family was just a branch of the Lin family in the White Lotus Sword Domain. However, he had reached the 2nd ranked at the age of seventeen, which meant that his family’s training was successful.
He was at the 2nd ranked and his opponent was just at the first rank. In any circumstances, he should have been able to win the battle with an overwhelming advantage. His goal wasn't just to pass through the first round, but to become one of the top sixteen. His final goal was squeezing into the queue of the top eight.
However, he faced a wall. A desperate wailing wall.
Why is your sword so nimble?
Why are your actions so skillful?
Don't get me wrong! You're just a village girl!
Lin Feng's opponent was the girl who had received the black-haired maid's first strand of hair. Even she herself didn't know her own name. The villagers told her that she was a kid they had brought back from the wild, so they called her "Xiao Cao" (Little Grass). She liked this name because her life was similar to what the name meant. No matter how bad the environment was, she still grew sturdily and tried her best to live.
The village she lived in was a poor village in the lowest area of White Lotus Sword Domain. Everyone had a hard life. No one could easily fill their belly all the year round. As an orphan, she knew how hard it was to survive in the world. From four years old, she had begun to help other people. When she was five years old, she had to go to the forest to catch little bugs to fill her belly.
As time went by, sixteen years had passed. Xiao Cao had become the only first rank swordsmaiden in the whole village, becoming the only glory of the villagers. To such a poor village, a first rank swordsmaiden was already monumental, to the degree that it could be recorded into the village’s pedigree.
With the villagers' blessings and expectations, Xiao Cao had walked a long way alone. Finally, she had hitchhiked a kind noble girl's carriage, coming to the examination place. She had never learnt any sword skills systematically. Compared to Lin Feng who had been trained as an elite from his childhood, she should not have been at the same level as him.
Xiao Cao had clearly understood this even before she saw her opponent. Her journey should have stopped here. This was an opponent she couldn't beat. She had seen the haughty Childe's battle before the test. Even his weapon and his sword skill were both something she could never obtain.
If Lin Feng was a towering tree, then she was a supple grass stalk. But that isn't the reason for me to give up. At any rate, I have obtained a lucky charm from the black-haired girl, didn't I?
With this faith in her mind, Xiao Cao brandished her sword. Then the situation was reversed. After she brandished her sword, Xiao Cao suddenly found that the world seemed to have changed.
Why was her body so light?
Why was her heart so peaceful? Shouldn't she feel nervous to the extent that her heart would explode?
She felt that something was growing inside her body. It was a seed. The seed was taking root and sprouting, releasing a mysterious power in her body. Time seemed to have slowed down. At first, Lin Feng's sword should have been sharp and unstoppable, but now, Xiao Cao just felt that his moves were flawed. Not only that. She also had a hunch about where Lin Feng's attack would come from and what his stance would be.
She felt as if she had fought with Lin Feng over a hundred times and had known everything about him.
Was this the power of the lucky charm?
With this incredible feeling, Xiao Cao followed her instinct to brandish her sword.
"Ding!" Lin Feng's sword suddenly stopped.
Xiao Cao's sword straightly hit the sword skill's flaw, blocking Lin Feng's sword!
