Sacrificial Artifact System: From Bell-ringer to the Ancestral Patriarch

More than a month had passed since the selection of the True Inheritor.
On the mountain.
The air was fresh, the mist vast and boundless.
Suddenly, the clear sound of a bell pierced through the fog, resonating among the mountains and valleys, startling some birds into flight, and after lingering in the air for a while, they settled down again.
After Li Qian released the hammer, he began cultivating the Pure Sword Body.
His daily cultivation was now mainly divided into two parts.
One was cultivating the Pure Sword Body.
The other was practicing the Heartless Sword Skill, in order to comprehend the Heartless Sword Intent.
After completing a cycle of practice, Li Qian stopped, his meridians slightly aching – a side effect of countercurrent Inner Qi.
This was a significant improvement from when he first began cultivating the Pure Sword Body.
As for the Yuan Vein Elixir given by Master Zhou Buping, he took one every three days.
The effect? Slight.
What really made a difference was the ringing of the Chen Bell... Without the Chen Bell, cultivating the Pure Sword Body would be exceptionally difficult.
Suddenly, the voice of Chen Yong came from below the bell tower.
"Brother Qian."
Li Qian had sensed someone approaching long ago, and immediately stood up to see Chen Yong climbing up the slope, smiling lightly, "Chen Yong, judging by your appearance, you must have gained something from the strength ranking this time, right?"
A few days earlier, Chen Yong had come up the mountain once to seek advice from Li Qian about the Sword Stabbing Fist, as he was preparing to participate in the strength ranking.
Chen Yong was the only friend within the Divine Sword Sect that Li Qian could really talk to, and he was more than willing to offer whatever help he could.
"Hehe, I made it onto the list... at the very bottom."
Chen Yong said happily.
He had come straight here as soon as the final results of the strength ranking were revealed.
"Congratulations."
Li Qian said.
"Brother Qian, this little achievement of mine is nothing."
Chen Yong scratched his head.
Coming into the Divine Sword Sect as servant disciples in the same year, he was still working hard to open his Eight Extraordinary Meridians, while Li Qian had already become an Official Disciple Martial Artist.
"Take your time, as long as you make progress, you still have hope to become an Official Disciple in the future."
Li Qian encouraged.
"Hm... I will definitely work hard."
Chen Yong nodded, full of motivation.
...
Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, another half year had passed.
In the meantime, he took some time to complete a simple escort task.
It went very smoothly.
He did not run into trouble like the first time.
Atop the bell tower.
After practicing the Pure Sword Body, Li Qian summoned the system interface to check the latest information.
Host: Li Qian.
Cultivation: Acquired (Ninth Layer 99/100).
Sacrificial Artifact: Chen Bell (Power 821/10000).
Martial Arts: Sword Stabbing Fist (Perfect), Heartless Sword Technique (Perfect), Pure Sword Body (Minor Achievement 46/100).
Martial Intent: Heartless Sword Intent (Embryonic Form 58/100).
Secret Skill: Ten Thousand Transformation Sword Qi.
....
After reaching Minor Achievement in the Pure Sword Body, it basically took three days to increase by one point of progress.
It's only Minor Achievement now, but when it reaches Great Success... the rate of cultivation will become even slower.
However, he was not in a rush.
Cultivating by striking the bell every day at Chen Bell Platform, undisturbed, was quite nice.
In the evening, he arrived at Yanmen Valley.
Now, he only came here about once every half a month.
There wasn't much to do usually, and he wouldn't usually come over.
Master Zhou Buping also wasn't here most of the time.
Once, Li Qian asked his master why he chose to stay in Yanmen Valley and not go out to find a disciple with superior root bone qualifications and high comprehension, as that would be more efficient.
Zhou Buping replied that root bone qualifications were easy to test, but comprehension was a profound and elusive matter, which only manifested slowly through cultivation. Good root bone did not necessarily mean high comprehension; there was no certainty in this.
Therefore, finding someone with high comprehension was like finding a needle in the ocean.
In contrast, among the vast number of servant disciples, tens of thousands coming and going, perhaps one with extremely high comprehension was hidden among them.
"I need to leave for a while, and the time of my return is uncertain... So, take the elixirs and resources for the next few months with you, and also move this jar of Medicine Wine back so that others won't take it away."
Zhou Buping said to Li Qian immediately after he arrived.
"Master, where are you going?"
Li Qian was quite surprised.
It seemed like his master was going to be away for several months.
"There has been a rebellion by the Moon Worship Sect in the Southeast Eight States, and the imperial court needs to gather a group of high-ranking martial artists from various sects to participate in the suppression. I have just been selected for this."
Zhou Buping said indifferently.
"Master, won't this be very dangerous?"
Li Qian asked.
He had been staying in the Divine Sword Sect for a long time, rarely interacting with others, and his sources of information were extremely limited.
"Danger is certain, but... it shouldn't be a big issue. You don't need to worry about your master... Also, if you plan to do Inner Sect tasks... try not to choose extermination tasks."
Zhou Buping warned.
Once he left the sect, if anything unexpected happened while Li Qian was on a mission, he wouldn't be able to attend to it at all.
"Master, I'll be careful."
Li Qian nodded.
After that, Zhou Buping entrusted him with a few more matters.
By the time Li Qian returned to Chen Bell Platform, he carried a bamboo basket on his back filled with jars and a large pot of wine.
This medicine wine was carefully brewed by Zhou Buping with various precious spiritual medicines. It was an absolute tonic.
After drinking a small cup of medicine wine, Li Qian lay down in a slightly tipsy state.
Deep in the quiet night.
A full moon cast a silvery glow, making the earth hazy.
Suddenly, a shadow flitted past the Bell Platform swiftly and silently, not pausing and heading towards the darkness behind the mountain along the mountain path.
Inside the Bell Platform, Li Qian, who was originally sound asleep, opened his eyes.
His alertness while sleeping was exceedingly high.
Even though he had drunk wine, it was the same.
He was sensitive to the slightest hint of movement.
"Someone?"
He could faintly sense something passing by the Chen Bell Platform.
However, he had no intention of going out to look.
Maybe it was a Divine Sword Sect expert traveling in the dead of night?
It's better not to meddle in things one shouldn't.
...
Several days later.
Li Qian descended the mountain and came to the Inner Sect Task Hall.
He was ready to complete his tasks for the year.
There were quite a few people inside the Task Hall.
He glanced at the task wall, which was covered with tasks.
"Eh, why are all these tasks extermination tasks?"
Li Qian was quite puzzled.
He had initially wanted to find a simple task to just get it over with.
"Senior brother, why are all these tasks extermination tasks?"
He suddenly asked a young Inner Sect Disciple also looking at tasks.
"Junior brother, have you been in closed-door cultivation all this time?"
The young Inner Sect Disciple asked in surprise.
"Senior brother, how did you know?"
Li Qian cooperated.
"It's been spread around for a while now, because of the Moon Worship Sect's rebellion, the entire Southeast Eight States have been in chaos. Although the state and county where our sect is located are still relatively stable, the Moon Worship Sect has also been very active..."
The young Inner Sect Disciple explained.
Li Qian had already heard about the rebellion of the Moon Worship Sect from his master Zhou Buping a few days ago.
He originally thought it was confined to the Southeast Eight States, but he didn't expect the Divine Sword Sect to also begin to be affected.
This indicated that the rebellion caused by the Moon Worship Sect was something significant.
"I see. Senior brother, besides extermination tasks, are there no other types of tasks?"
Li Qian asked again.
"Hehe... other types of tasks, as soon as they come out, get snapped up.... See those people there? Many are waiting here for tasks."
The young Inner Sect Disciple pointed his mouth towards many Inner Sect Disciples standing on the side.
Many extermination tasks involved fighting fierce Moon Worship Sect followers, and although the reward of contribution points was high, so was the risk.
They were not preferred by many Inner Sect Disciples.
"Then, aren't these extermination tasks going undone?"
Li Qian asked.
"Once the task deadline arrives, they'll just be forcibly assigned. Plus, there are some Inner Sect Disciples who like adventure and battle..."
The young Inner Sect Disciple said.
Li Qian thought it made sense; although there were not a few other types of tasks, given the number of Inner Sect Disciples, it was a case of too many monks and not enough porridge.
Inner Sect Disciples could choose not to do the tasks.
The consequences, however, were severe.
The Sect would cut off the supply of cultivation resources.
The right to exchange for Martial Arts Secret Manuals and use special cultivation places would also be lost.
It was as if one merely had the identity of an Inner Sect Disciple and nothing more.
There were no chances for mitigation.
.....