The jade-green bamboo swayed freely, the slender leaves dancing back and forth.
Yu Xiao Peak was at the very heart of Tai Hua Mountain, surrounded by the other six peaks, and held the position of having the very best earth-type spiritual veins. Yu Xiao Peak had 81 first-class restrictions, 36 second-class restrictions, which just so happened to correspond with China’s 36 provinces; and lastly there were nine third-class restrictions, symbolizing that nine divided by nine is one. (1)
There were so many that all of the previous great elders even joined together to set up and seal an enormous army at the summit, which could trap any cultivator that was at the Mahayana stage or lower.
If Tai Hua Mountain was every cultivator’s holy land, then Yu Xiao Peak was the foundation of Tai Hua Mountain.
For the past thirteen consecutive generations, Yu Xiao Peak has only ever accepted one disciple. One reason was that Yu Xiao Peak’s requirements for accepting disciples were very high and they must have a superior level constitution; the other reason was that training one disciple needed a great deal of effort and care. If they were merely an ordinary disciple, then there would be no problem, but Yu Xiao Peak’s disciples were nurtured with the goal of making them great elders of their sect.
Xuan Lingzi had cultivated for no more than 316 years, and today he was the sole cultivator in the entire world who had achieved Spirit-Refining. Luo Jianqing was 17 years old when he achieved Qi Foundation, Core Formation at 32, and he was also already a giant among men of this generation. He had confidence that he would definitely break through Spirit-Refining one day.
And currently, Xuan Lingzi was looking downwards at the bloodstains in his disciple’s palm, not saying anything.
Cultivators that achieved Core Formation already had bodies as tough as steel, and it was nearly impossible to injure them.
This series of crescent-shaped scars were clearly recent and were left behind by the owner’s own nails. How strong was his determination, even if he had absolutely no fingernails, if it made him able to draw blood from his hard skin?
Xuan Lingzi still hadn’t made any inquiries, only brushing away his sleeve to take out a small white jade bottle from his storage ring. He drew out a drop of Concentrated Jade Syrup and gently smeared it on the wounds. His smooth, round fingertips softly stroked the tender skin of his palm. Luo Jianqing’s entire body trembled a little, the numbness passing along to his palm.
Even when Xuan Lingzi was applying the magic medicine, he was as calm and undisturbed as usual, completely unwavering.
His narrow eyes lowered slightly, the white robe that covered his entire body aloof and eminent. The golden sword marking on his forehead made him seem elegant, dignified and honorable, making no one dare to approach him. After he was done cautiously applying medicine on Luo Jianqing’s left palm, he smoothly took the other hand.
But Luo Jianqing suddenly withdrew his hand and said hoarsely, “Master, I’ll do it myself.”
Xuan Lingzi’s movements suddenly become sluggish. After a moment, he lightly nodded his head and handed over the Concentrated Jade Syrup to him.
Luo Jianqing took a bit of light green ointment and smeared it over his right palm.
—He used his right hand to hold his sword, and as a sword cultivator, this was his most important hand. His left hand was already so sensitive; provided that if he really let this person help him apply ointment on his right hand, he didn’t know what kind of things he would’ve done.
After a short time, Luo Jianqing was done with the ointment.
The light green ointment immediately dissolved, and Luo Jianqing felt that his wounds were a little numb. When he raised his hands and looked at them, the small wounds had already healed, leaving behind only a row of pink scars.
Xuan Lingzi said lowly, “Take this bottle of Concentrated Jade Syrup with you, and do not harm yourself again.”
Luo Jianqing nodded in response.
Less than a moment later, the two went to an open space outside the bamboo house, preparing to try out the sword.
Luo Jianqing’s right hand held his sword, his line of sight concentrated into a thin line. He stared solemnly in front of him, like he was facing a single enemy. In his hand, Shuang Fu answered his greeting and sent out bursts of green haze in eagerness, like it was impatient.
In the next second, his sword rushed forth, emitting a brilliant sword-light.
His long sword danced, his sleeves flying energetically as the green sword-light fluttered all around the viridian bamboo like a swimming dragon, stirring up sand and dust. The oppressive aura of his sword swept the entire forest like a mighty river, but he handled it so flawlessly that he didn’t hurt the bamboo itself, only making them wobble violently.
This sword was an earth-type life-bound magic weapon, and the person dancing with the sword was the top master of a young generation.
His black hair moved without wind, the beauty of his refined and exceptional appearance could be faintly seen in the middle of the sword movements, his manner relaxed, and his sword-energy was also oppressive. If his little junior sister could see this, perhaps stirrings of love would emerge. But the one watching off to the side was Xuan Lingzi, only watching from above with indifference and without any judgment.
After he was finished trying out his sword for the first time, Luo Jianqing clung to Shuang Fu as he headed back to the bamboo house.
“Master, this sword is connected to my heart.”
Xuan Lingzi nodded indifferently. “Mn, practice hard.”
“Yes.”
Luo Jianqing’s hair was already soaked with sweat, his bright eyes rippling with the color of water, with his lips dark red and cheeks pink. His already beautiful immortal-like face became even more astonishingly alluring, like the most splendid, flickering haze around scenic lakes and mountains. His loveliness was so great that it had already transcended the boundaries of gender.
But Xuan Lingzi had no reaction to any of this. After talking about some trivial things again, he started to walk.
Luo Jianqing was slightly startled, and impulsively yelled, “Master!”
Xuan Lingzi turned to look at him. “What is it?”
Luo Jianqing pursed his lips for a long time, saying, “Master, why were you in seclusion for so long this time?”
As if he couldn’t come up with an answer, quite a while had passed before Xuan Lingzi finally said, “ “The shortest I have been in seclusion was half a month. The longest was three years.”
Luo Jianqing’s expression turned dark.
This was entirely different from his past life.
In his past life, after Xuan Lingzi had accepted Li Xiuchen, he never went into seclusion again. Throughout the entire 18 years, he spent a generous amount of time teaching Li Xiuchen with great attention, so much that this boy with no constitution achieved Qi Foundation at 20 years old and possessed an extraordinary ability to resist.
Luo Jianqing was already quite well along in his past life, having been in the late stage of Core Formation and only a step away from entering the Nascent Soul stage. But at that time, Li Xiuchen was no more than 34 years old and he was only in the late stage of Qi Foundation. To his surprise, he led a group of decent and righteous people and broke a great boundary, stabbing that sword into his heart.
When Li Xiuchen was present, this person never went into seclusion, preferring to let his cultivation stagnate at the early stage of Spirit-Refining for 18 years. And now that Li Xiuchen wasn’t here, he immediately continued seclusion and only spoke a few trivial words to him, then had nothing else to say.
Slowly, this bitter feeling became agony, until it finally transformed into a raging blaze, consuming Luo Jianqing’s heart.
His handsome and unworried face no longer had any trace of the joy he had before. Luo Jianqing cupped his hands in salute, and said expressionlessly, “Master, this disciple hopes that your great masters will order to drive out that new disciple who should have never entered Tai Hua Mountain.”
For a very long time, Luo Jianqing waited for Xuan Lingzi’s answer with his head lowered. Finally he heard the other person say flatly, “What for?”
Luo Jianqing said again, “You do not need to ask who it is?”
Xuan Lingzi said, “That boy who wanted to enter Yu Xiao Peak, isn’t it?”
Luo Jianqing’s entire body tensed.
His master never remembered people. Of the seven finest disciples of Tai Hua Mountain’s seven peaks, his master didn’t remember any of them. But surprisingly, he had remembered Li Xiuchen.
Luo Jianqing’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked down, his voice colder than a forest. “Yes, that’s him. Master, at Leiting Road, Jianqing personally witnessed him take the effort to retreat back a step, hiding behind that □□ year old little girl who was accompanying him. He even pulled the corner of the girl’s robe just to block the lightning for him. Such a cruel and merciless disciple absolutely must not enter our Tai Hua Mountain. Master, please see clearly.”
Luo Jianqing’s fingers were clenched tight, stubbornly waiting for his answer.
After a while, he heard Xuan Lingzi say in a level tone, “Since he has already entered Hao Ming Peak, naturally senior brother Guangling should inspect this matter instead. You should discuss this with senior brother Guangling and ask him to investigate this thoroughly. If what you say is true, no mercy should be shown.”
Luo Jianqing gritted his teeth, the blaze in his heart already burning again.
“Jianqing, you must not get involved in this matter by any means. Bear in mind that you should concentrate only on cultivation. Do not get too involved with that disciple again.”
His voice fell, and the door to the bamboo house shut.
Luo Jianqing stood outside the bamboo house by himself, still cupping his hands in salute. After a very long time, he slowly straightened up and stared at the bamboo house with a painful and complex gaze, like he could see the person inside.
That’s right, he’d forgotten. At that time, that person’s life-bound sword had ruthlessly pierced through his stomach. That sword was so cold, as cold as the person who owned it. In the end, the master and disciple who had been together for dozens of years couldn’t compare with Li Xiuchen, who he had known for eighteen years. If he didn’t have the heaven-level Xuan Ling sword, Li Xiuchen’s fortune with the heavens wouldn’t matter, as he couldn’t cross levels and behead him.
Unfortunately, it did turn out to be Xuan Ling!
Mind boiling in impure qi, Luo Jianqing’s pupils shrunk, and hurriedly rushed into his own bamboo house. Once he entered, he vomited a mouthful of blood from his heart. The resentful sorrow that had been reverberating ever since he reincarnated, dissipated and was replaced by an overflowing rage.
“Aren’t you my master, and aren’t I your disciple?”
“I followed your teachings so closely throughout my entire past life, I never crossed your limits by even half a step until the very end, and what do I get back?”
“Wu Yin… Wu Yin.”
“Wu Yin!”
After taking care of the blood in his heart that boiled from his anger, Luo Jianqing meditated in the bamboo house for the next three days. On the afternoon of the third day, Luo Jianqing heard a clamoring coming down from Yu Xiao Peak far, far away. He immediately grasped his sword and went down the mountain, then saw the erratic Xie Zizhuo.
Luo Jianqing’s lips pulled up and turned around to leave.
Xie Zizhuo hurriedly caught up to him without saying anything further. Suddenly, he laid down on the ground and hugged Luo Jianqing’s thigh. “Senior brother!!!”
Luo Jianqing, “…”
After a moment, Luo Jianqing flung the animal off his thigh. However, he didn’t expect for this animal to cling to him so tightly like a piece of dog-skin plaster, and couldn’t get him off.
Luo Jianqing said in astonishment, “Junior brother, you’re a golden core cultivator as well, can’t you have some face?”
Xie Zizhuo shook his head, not caring in the slightest. “Nope! Senior brother, if you don’t answer me I won’t get up!”
Luo Jianqing, “…”
After Luo Jianqing went up Yu Xiao Peak, dragging Xie Zizhuo along the entire journey, he carried some bamboo-green tea from the top of Yu Xiao Peak, which Xie Zizhuo gulped an entire cup of. He immediately took the teapot and poured it in his mouth, just like a cow chewing a tree. Luo Jianqing, who was not in a good mood, tilted his head to look at this person. Xie Zizhuo didn’t seem to notice. After he was done drinking, he laid on his stomach again and clung to Luo Jianqing’s thigh.
“Senior brother save me!!!”
Luo Jianqing wordlessly gave Xie Zizhuo a boiled chestnut and listened to his explanation.
Originally, the reason why Xie Zizhuo wanted to find little junior sister to refine pills for him was not for him, but was for… fifth junior brother’s spiritual beast. That day, Xie Zizhuo went to Yu Shou Peak to find fifth junior brother and couldn’t find him. Then he went to find fifth junior brother’s recently tamed sixth-level spiritual beast.
Xie Zizhuo took a big gulp of tea, then said, “Senior brother, a sixth-level spiritual beast! That’s on the same level as a Nascent Soul cultivator, and it was tamed too!”
Luo Jianqing raised an eyebrow. “So what happened with it?”
Xie Zizhuo chuckled mischievously. “I just did a little something to it.”
Luo Jianqing didn’t believe him as Xie Zizhuo was in the early stage of Core Formation, and what threat could he pose to a sixth-level spiritual beast? But the affairs of the world were hard to guess. Xie Zizhuo didn’t know that this spiritual beast had an internal injury, and the reason why fifth junior brother left was to give this spiritual beast a medicine pellet. In front of Xie Zizhuo’s shameless provocations, the spiritual beast was knowledgeable and was certain he would not hold back. Thus, Xie Zizhuo attacked it despite its internal injuries and caused it serious injury.
Xie Zizhuo originally had thought, “Have I really gotten that strong?” then heard that fifth junior brother was hurrying to humiliate him.
Fifth junior brother had already made every Yu Shou Peak disciple beat Xie Zizhuo whenever they saw him, and if they couldn’t, they would call him to come beat him up! Therefore, on the days that Luo Jianqing wasn’t present, everyone was calling each other to beat up Xie Zizhuo. It was so awful that it had gotten to the point where he would frequently seclude himself.
Xie Zizhuo knew that he was guilty, and wanted to find little junior sister to refine a medicine pill to bring the spiritual beast back to death. However, little junior sister didn’t care, and that was why he went to find Luo Jianqing today.
Xie Zizhuo sobbed as tears and mucus flowed down his face. “Senior brother, next year is the great sect competition. If I don’t resolve this spiritual beast business, fifth junior brother will beat me to death! His cultivation isn’t as good as mine, but his spiritual beasts are so scary, you have to rescue me!”
As he spoke, Xie Zizhuo was holding onto his thigh the entire time, beginning to explain in detail the past ten years or so. First he talked the time during his childhood when he accompanied Luo Jianqing kneeling in punishment, then talked about the camaraderie of the time the two of them peeked at third senior sister showering…
Listening to him talk made the blue veins on Luo Jianqing’s forehead jump. “Stop talking nonsense! In those days, you dragged me off to wherever you went, and I didn’t know that was third junior sister… cough, and you weren’t accompanying me, I was accompanying you! Master…” His voice stopped suddenly.
Xie Zizhuo didn’t notice Luo Jianqing’s strange behavior and picked up his words. “Yes yes yes, I know that martial uncle Xuan Lingzi was always strict with you, but it’s not your fault that you wanted to kneel together with me. Senior brother, help me this time, I don’t want your jade ox comb anymore, you only…yi?”
A short, light brown jade comb suddenly appeared in front of Xie Zizhuo.
Xie Zizhuo scrambled for the jade ox comb and raised his head, smiling bashfully. He wanted to give Luo Jianqing thanks, but saw the “Tai Hua’s Flower” great senior brother smile tranquilly. A small star flashed through his clear and elegant eyes, enough to draw anyone in.
“Go … give it to little junior sister, and tell her that I like someone else, so she won’t wait anymore.”
He said these words softly and quietly, making Xie Zizhuo gradually become sentimental. By the time Luo Jianqing got up to see him out, Xie Zizhuo suddenly snapped out of it. He looked at his senior brother with a complex and profound look, and finally couldn’t help saying, “Senior brother, you have been friends with her for thirty-three years. Little junior sister could never forget you. If you use that kind of excuse, there’s no way she’ll believe it.”
Luo Jianqing couldn’t help but give a low laugh, looking at Xie Zizhuo for a moment too long.
It was just like in his past life. They thought that “I like someone else” was just an excuse, but no one knew that he was telling the truth.
Xie Zizhuo’s words reminded Luo Jianqing to ask, his eyebrows furrowed, “I remember that the new disciples’ first practice is in two months. Are they led by little junior sister?”
Xie Zizhuo nodded seriously. “Yes, senior brother. They are being led by little junior sister.”
This matter had already happened a very long time ago, but once he was reminded, Luo Jianqing remembered something.
Xie Zizhuo said that little junior sister could never forget him, but little junior sister still married Li Xiuchen in the end, becoming his number one wife. That was because during their first practice, little junior sister and Li Xiuchen fell into the great vestiges of someone’s Nascent Soul together. In the end, he was consumed by the poison of desire, and had no choice but for that kind of relationship to break out between her and Li Xiuchen.
Xie Zizhuo could guess what happened considering Li Xiuchen’s nature and how he treated his little junior sister. That boy, merely third-stage Qi Foundation, was violating the early-stage Core Formation little junior sister, whose mind was not clear. He remembered that in his past life, after his little junior sister came back, she came to Yu Xiao Peak to look for him before completely secluding herself for five years.
His little junior sister waited at the bottom of the peak for an entire ten days. Because he wanted to break her heart, he cruelly never went to see her.
At that time, little junior sister had just ***, and the person who came up Yu Xiao Peak and humiliated her was none other than Li Xiuchen, but she still stubbornly waited at the place where her enemy came to find her. Thinking about this, Luo Jianqing’s heart hurt unbearably.
He would never give that crook a chance to do that to his little junior sister ever again!
Even though little junior sister would be rescued by Li Xiuchen time and time again, finally left with no choice but resolve to give herself in marriage, he would not allow Li Xiuchen to rape his junior sister under those circumstances. “Seeking Immortality” didn’t miss any details, so much that even those private affairs were written out in full.
“This senior sister had been long feverish from head to foot, but through life or death, she would not budge. Finally, Li Xiuchen could not bear it and pulled her hand. A tear streamed from the corner of senior sister’s eye, and after a long time, she finally took Li Xiuchen’s hand. The haughtiness she displayed just before dissipated thoroughly under the poison of desire. Li Xiuchen turned over the arrogant and willful senior sister and pushed her down, tearing apart her clothes.”
What was written afterwards was too embarrassing to mention.
His eyes already completely red, Luo Jianqing had been preparing for this moment, and steadied his mental state as much as he could. He turned his head to say to Xie Zizhuo, “I can ask sect leader martial uncle to let me lead practice in two months. Let little junior sister relax and take her time refining pills for you.”
Xie Zizhuo stared blankly. “Senior brother, guiding newcomers during practice is an unimportant matter that you don’t have an obligation to.”
Luo Jianqing shook his head firmly. “I’ll go this time.”
Xie Zizhuo shook his head in a way like it was filled with fog. When Xie Zizhuo was about to leave, Luo Jianqing looked at him and said calmly, “How is that Li Xiuchen doing at Hao Ming Peak?”
When he mentioned the name, Xie Zizhuo’s expression darkened. “How? His constitution is so awful that he still hasn’t entered Qi Condensation.”
Luo Jianqing nodded his head in understanding. Quietly, he said as a last word, “Junior brother, I don’t like him.”
Xie Zizhuo suddenly stared, then chuckled. “I know, senior brother. You can relax.”
Very quickly, Xie Zizhuo turned into a ribbon of silver light disappearing into the horizon. The business about “driving Li Xiuchen out of our sect”, Luo Jianqing hadn’t mentioned to Xie Zizhuo at all, because he knew that not a single person would believe him based off empty words. Also, Liu Xiaoxiao herself didn’t know something like that had happened, and even in fear she will stand up for her big brother Chen.
Luo Jianqing could not act so recklessly.
Looking at the verdant, lush grass at the base of Yu Xiao Peak, Luo Jianqing knit his eyebrows slightly, and finally let out a long sigh.
In two months, he would lead the new disciples through practice. During this period of time, he must concentrate fully on cultivation, or at the very least deal with his incessantly scattering spiritual energy appropriately. The boundaries… must, never, be, crossed, again!
(1) Nine by nine is one: An abacus rule. Also means that things are inevitable.
jianqing jianqing, yes master? eating vinegar, no master, open your mouth, hahaha