“Master…”
“Master.”
“Master!”
Yi Ling suddenly opened his eyes, and Cang Yu’s blurry figure appeared in his still unfocused line of sight. The boy seemed exceedingly anxious: “Master, this disciple is going to be late for Shangqing Academy!”
What?
He was astounded to realize that he had somehow fallen into a deep sleep once again.
Yi Ling frowned, looking at Cang Yu in utter confusion. He thought to himself that he rarely slept at all, so why did it feel like he was losing control every time he slept near his young disciple, easily drifting off into slumber without even noticing it?
Because of this sleep, he had completely forgotten to make Cang Yu wake up early for body tempering.
However, there was no time left for him to contemplate these matters now. He hurriedly picked up the Scroll of Spiritual Resonance on the outer edge of the soft couch, stuffed it into Cang Yu’s hands, and produced a brand-new set of robes to change him into.
Fortunately, Cang Yu ultimately managed to sit down in his seat right before the immortal master stepped into the classroom.
“Oh my, I thought you would not make it today.”
A voice came from beside him. Cang Yu turned his head to look, only to see a disciple of about twenty years old facing him with a smile.
“Shall we get acquainted? My name is Bai Yu.” He stretched out his hand and waved it slightly.
This disciple possessed clear and handsome looks with a gentle voice. Cang Yu had a favorable impression of him and nodded in agreement.
He shook Bai Yu’s hand in return and released it in a timely manner: “Cang Yu.”
“That group of disciples over there does not dare to sit with you,” Bai Yu chuckled. “I am the only ‘bold’ one.”
Cang Yu asked in confusion: “Unwilling to sit together with me? Why?”
The Scroll of Spiritual Resonance in Bai Yu’s hand vibrated twice. He casually opened the voice transmission sent from his Directory of Immortals: “Naturally, it is because of your Master.”
“Are they very afraid of my Master?” Cang Yu became even more puzzled. Those disciples had always liked Yi Ling the most, so why would they suddenly…
Yet before Cang Yu could figure it out, Bai Yu suddenly spoke a set of words into the Scroll of Spiritual Resonance that stripped away Cang Yu’s ability to process thoughts entirely.
“Babe, do not worry about me. We are merely sitting in the same place to study. When today’s coursework ends, I will go find you.”
?
“Babe”?
Cang Yu looked at him in total shock. If he remembered correctly, the person who had sent the voice transmission to Bai Yu just a moment ago was clearly a man, was he not?!
Seeing Cang Yu’s expression, Bai Yu could not help but burst into laughter: “Why such a reaction? He is my Dao companion. Do you not address your Dao companion like this?”
He deliberately emphasized those last few words, watching with great interest as Cang Yu’s face gradually flushed red before the boy swiftly dodged his gaze.
“Oh my, getting so shy just thinking about your own Dao companion, you…”
However, before Bai Yu could finish speaking, two light strikes of spiritual energy landed on their foreheads.
The immortal master who was currently teaching scolded angrily: “You two over there! Ever since I stepped through the door, you have been gossiping non-stop. Fifteen minutes have already passed! Do you really have that much idle gossip to speak of? Do not think that just because this is an arithmetic class you will not need it in the future, and thus let down your guard. Especially the one named Cang! Your Master obtained a Grade A in every single coursework back in the day. As Elder Yi’s sole personal disciple, you should strive even harder to set an example. If you fail to get a Grade A on this year’s arithmetic exam, I will certainly have a thorough talk with Elder Yi about this!”
Cang Yu: “.”
Bai Yu: “My apologies.”
Interrupted by the immortal master’s scolding, the figure of Yi Ling that had inexplicably appeared in Cang Yu’s mind dissipated along with it.
Cang Yu felt that ever since he read those absurd statements in Discourse, he had become very abnormal. Upon hearing the words “Dao companion,” the first person to come to his mind was actually his own Master? What kind of illness had he caught!
After arithmetic class ended, Bai Yu truly went to look for his Dao companion. When he left, his attire was still exceedingly standard, but when he returned, not only were his lips swollen and red, but his clothes were also disheveled.
For a moment, Cang Yu did not know where to direct his gaze. He hesitated before asking: “You two, being so unrestrained, is it truly acceptable?”
“Hmm? Where am I being unrestrained?” Bai Yu paid it no mind. “Once you have a Dao companion in the future, you will be like this as well.”
Cang Yu: “.”
This was truly not a matter of whether one had a Dao companion or not.
Cang Yu hesitated repeatedly before opening his mouth: “But you are both men.”
“What of it if we are both men? Oh, right,” a smile appeared on Bai Yu’s face. “It seems you do not know about the circumstances of the Bai clan.”
“What?” Cang Yu suddenly had an ominous premonition.
Bai Yu intentionally dragged out his voice: “That is, naturally, almost everyone has a passion for the cut sleeve.”
Cang Yu: “?!”
“Besides,” Bai Yu continued to say, “even if I were not a member of the Bai family, the outer sect disciples of Lingxiao Palace, male disciples and female disciples, have their living quarters separated by ten thousand miles. Even if one were not a cut sleeve, would they not be forced to become one?”
Thinking about it this way, it seemed somewhat true.
“Sigh,” Bai Yu let out a sigh. “Although the original intention of past Sect Masters might have been the fear that romance between men and women would affect cultivation, are male-male romance and female-female romance not exactly the same? Furthermore, just look at how the outside world rumors Lingxiao Palace, calling it the sect that those with passions for the cut sleeve and split peach most wish to join!”
“That, that cannot possibly mean every single person is like that, right?”
Bai Yu narrowed his eyes, leaning close to Cang Yu’s ear to say: “Let me whisper this to you secretly. As far as I know, Sect Master Lu and the other four elders are actually all cut sleeves.”
Who could have expected that Cang Yu would reject the claim without the slightest hesitation: “My Master is absolutely impossible!”
Bai Yu: “?” He forced himself to swallow back the second half of his sentence, “especially your Master.”
Cang Yu turned his head away resentfully. He thought to himself that Bai Yu was no different from those who carelessly discussed Yi Ling in Discourse. Why were all these disciples purely entertaining such thoughts?!
However, just as he was deliberating how to admonish Bai Yu not to follow the example of other disciples, his train of thought was interrupted by a familiar figure walking into the classroom.
“Elder Yi?”
“Heavens, Elder Yi is actually coming to teach a class?!”
“Wait, if I remember correctly, this is a class teaching the methods of Hehuan, right? Is Elder Yi not on the Dao of All Living Beings? How could he teach this?”
The moment Yi Ling stepped into the classroom, he heard the disciples’ discussions. His footsteps paused slightly, and in his heart, he quietly noted down a debt against Lu Yufeng.
After delivering Cang Yu to Shangqing Academy, Yi Ling had deliberated repeatedly. He felt that since he wanted to ensure the boy’s complete safety, rather than beating around the bush to warn those disciples from behind the scenes, it was better to directly become an instructing immortal master at Shangqing Academy.
Even if a cultivator in the Divinity Transformation Realm could cover the entire Lingxiao Palace with their divine sense, how could he possibly arrive in time the moment he sensed danger?
Thus, he turned around and headed toward Wuwang Peak.
When he stepped through the door, Lu Yufeng was resting against a reclining chair, a worn, ancient tome covering his face. Perhaps because Yi Ling’s movement in pushing open the door was too forceful, Lu Yufeng leaped up from the chair as if startled awake, causing the book to slide onto the ground.
“Did the Demon Clan attack?” Lu Yufeng’s hazy, sleepy eyes caught sight of Yi Ling’s figure, and he relaxed once more. “Oh, it is you.”
Yi Ling walked over and picked up the book.
Records of the Cang Realm?
Lu Yufeng hurriedly took it away, tucking it back into his arms like a precious treasure: “Why do you come to my place every day recently? Today cannot possibly be about Cang Yu again, can it?”
Yi Ling nodded: “It is, and yet it is not. Have the instructing immortal masters for Shangqing Academy this year been fully arranged? See if you can arrange a coursework for me.”
“Are you serious?” Lu Yufeng was astonished. “You actually want to go teach those children?”
“However, speaking of it now is indeed a bit late,” Lu Yufeng pulled out his Scroll of Spiritual Resonance, tapping and swiping through it. “I will do my best.”
Yi Ling nodded: “Preferably one with few tasks, plenty of free time, and closer proximity to the disciples.”
“?” Lu Yufeng stopped his movements. He looked at Yi Ling with an indescribable expression, clutching the Scroll of Spiritual Resonance so tightly that it seemed he might shatter it in the next instant.
Yet after a short moment, a smile broke out on his face again: “In that case, there is indeed a coursework that is extremely suitable.”
“Hehuan course?” Yi Ling looked at the jade token handed to him by Lu Yufeng, his brows furrowing deeply. “You are asking someone on the Dao of All Living Beings to teach this?”
“Does this not fit your requirements perfectly?” Lu Yufeng spread both hands. “Besides, at this point, other courseworks have long been snapped up by others. Only this one remains.”
Yi Ling: “.”
“Furthermore,” Lu Yufeng reached out to pat his shoulder, “you scored Grade A in all your courseworks back then. Could you possibly fail to teach the Hehuan course well?”
Yi Ling: “. Remove your hand.”
He truly did not understand whether Lu Yufeng was doing this on purpose. After all, the instructing immortal masters of the Hehuan course in previous years were often requested by disciples to demonstrate in person. As a result, through the demonstration, they would actually end up becoming Dao companions with a disciple. As time went on, everyone jokingly said that if you could not find a Dao companion, go become an instructor for the Hehuan course, and success within a year was guaranteed.
However, there seemed to be no better alternative at the moment, so Yi Ling could only comply with Lu Yufeng’s arrangement.
Yi Ling’s gaze swept over the disciples sitting obediently below one by one, but upon meeting Cang Yu’s line of sight, he immediately retracted it.
He lowered his eyes and opened the textbook, appearing composed on the surface. Yet, looking at those exceedingly explicit words, he still felt a sense of shame in his heart.
In truth, he had not obtained a Grade A in the Hehuan course back then.
Yi Ling had always possessed outstanding grades until he encountered the Hehuan course. It was not that he could not comprehend the instructional content of the Hehuan course, but rather that the exam for the course, which required everyone to find at least one Dao companion, proved to be far too difficult for him.
Back then, he and Lu Yufeng were merely two ordinary disciples in the Foundation Establishment Realm at Lingxiao Palace. Because they frequently sat together, their relationship gradually became familiar.
Faced with the troublesome Hehuan course exam, he had proposed to Lu Yufeng: “Why do you and I not pretend to be Dao companions for a period of time to deal with him?”
Lu Yufeng, like Yi Ling, was troubled by his inability to find a Dao companion, so the two clicked immediately.
Yet, in the end, they were still discovered by the instructing immortal master.
“You two are Dao companions?” The immortal master let out a cold snort. “Then you two kiss right now for me to see?”
Lu Yufeng gritted his teeth, grabbed Yi Ling’s shoulders, and was about to lean in for a kiss.
Originally, Yi Ling should have endured without moving so that they could pass off the deception, but after enduring again and again, in the end, he sent Lu Yufeng flying with a single slap.
Lu Yufeng immediately flew into a rage: “Yi Ling, what are you doing!”
Yi Ling frowned in disgust: “What did you eat that you still want to kiss me?”
Promptly, the two engaged in a brawl, fighting all the way from Shangqing Academy to Wuwang Peak, where Sect Master Yun Chen resided.
Yun Chen happened to exit seclusion at that exact moment. Upon opening the door, he saw two disciples with bruised noses and swollen faces slumping on the ground, gasping for air.
It was unknown what went through Yun Chen’s mind at the time, but Yi Ling and Lu Yufeng somehow ended up becoming Yun Chen’s personal disciples. As for the instructing immortal master of the Hehuan course, who had originally given them a Grade D score, seeing them suddenly become the Sect Master’s personal disciples, he was so terrified that he directly changed it to a Grade A.
Yi Ling retrieved his thoughts, letting out a deep sigh, and then raised his eyes to speak to the disciples: “This year, I shall be the one instructing all of you in the Hehuan course.”
The disciples clearly had not recovered from their shock.
However, looking at Yi Ling, who seemed composed on the podium, Cang Yu was utterly unable to ignore the prominent wave of shame transmitting from his heart. He noticed that Yi Ling’s left hand, hidden behind his back, was unconsciously clenching and unclenching, and his voice carried a tight stiffness.
He felt as though he had discovered something novel, carefully savoring the emotion in his heart.
Ah, so Master could actually experience this kind of feeling as well?
Yi Ling picked up the textbook and read with great awkwardness: “The so-called dual cultivation can be divided into two levels. The first level is ‘joint cultivation,’ where through simple physical contact, one concentrates their mind to induce an exchange of spiritual energy, thereby enhancing cultivation efficiency. However, if two people share a harmonious mind during ‘joint cultivation,’ they will directly enter the second level. As for the second level, you will naturally come into contact with it in the future, so I shall not elaborate further.”
Perhaps because Yi Ling’s voice was too pleasant to hear, or perhaps because his tone was excessively gentle, after he read a few sentences, all the disciples actually felt an irresistible wave of drowsiness.
At this moment, Bai Yu noticed that Cang Yu beside him was, completely unlike everyone else, focusing with all his attention. A thought turned in his mind, and he raised his hand.
Yi Ling: “Does this disciple have a question?”
Bai Yu stood up, his tone sincere: “Elder, it might be somewhat presumptuous, but this disciple feels that the method of dual cultivation is originally not something restricted to textbooks. Why does the Elder not demonstrate in person, so that we may truly comprehend it?”
Cang Yu raised his head in astonishment to look at him: “?!”
Yi Ling showed no reaction on the surface, but in his heart, he was already intensely nervous.
It had finally come after all, demonstrating in person: the inevitable fate of every instructing immortal master of the Hehuan course.