The culprit responsible for the deaths of his parents was standing right in front of him, yet the concern in his sincere eyes and the worry in his voice seemed completely genuine.
What incredible acting.
“Master, you needn’t worry.”
Chi Yan lowered his eyes, hiding the disgust within them. He calmly pulled his hand free and cast a healing spell. The wound closed instantly, leaving behind only a scar that looked far more frightening than the actual injury had been.
Shi Qixue stared in utter astonishment.
He’d almost forgotten that this was a cultivation world. An injury of this level could be healed with a simple spell.
That made him, as the sect master, look like he was making a mountain out of a molehill.
“It was my fault for making Master worry.”
Chi Yan lowered his head and cupped his hands respectfully.
“Master has devoted himself to teaching me every day. Unfortunately, my abilities are limited, and I have no way to repay your kindness. All I can do is protect you to the best of my ability. Even if one day I have to climb a mountain of blades or cross a sea of fire, I won’t hesitate.”
Good, good, good!
Truly, what a wonderful disciple I have!
Except…
Disciple, aside from waking me up at the same time every day, what have you actually learned from me?
Cooking, cooking, cooking, cooking, and more cooking…
Where exactly did you learn anything from me?
What have I turned you into?
The corner of Shi Qixue’s mouth twitched slightly.
He felt guilty.
When he met his disciple’s sincere, devoted gaze, an inexplicable sense of shame welled up inside him.
That was exactly what Chi Yan wanted.
He lowered his head, the corners of his lips curving up ever so slightly.
“Ahem.”
Ling Fengqi covered his mouth and coughed lightly, interrupting the touching display of affection between master and disciple. He shot Shi Qixue a meaningful look.
Shi Qixue came back to himself and turned toward the people from the Jinglei Sect.
His voice was cold.
“I, Shi Qixue, have always conducted myself honorably. I have no need to prove that I didn’t do something I never did. Whether you believe me or not is up to you, but if you continue lingering here, things will only become more embarrassing.”
“The Immortal Dao Conference will be held in a month…”
Shi Qixue left it at that.
“Let’s go!”
Ruan Anjing gritted his teeth.
“But don’t you dare hide when the Immortal Dao Conference comes around, you old bastard! We’ll settle this then!”
Ruan Anjing turned around and was about to leave when someone stopped him.
“Oh, dear. The only jade mirror of its kind in the entire world has been shattered. Whatever shall we do about that…?”
Ling Fengqi twirled a strand of hair around his index finger, the corners of his lips curling into a faint smile.
Several hundred people each tossed down two low-grade spirit stones before angrily mounting their swords and flying away.
Ling Fengqi counted every single one of them, determined not to let even one person slip through the net. He even raised his hand and waved enthusiastically.
“Take care, Brother Anjing! Come visit again next time!”
Ruan Anjing stumbled and nearly fell off his sword.
Ling Fengqi collected all the spirit stones into his Qiankun pouch, then turned back and asked curiously,
“I thought you’d use your most famous pressure to drive them away.”
Huh?
Who?
Me?
Shi Qixue met the blazing gazes of more than a thousand people, and his scalp immediately tightened.
Apparently… I can use pressure?
Ling Fengqi remained just as talkative as ever.
“Didn’t you used to unleash it every three days, with a particularly powerful display every five? Whenever you released a little pressure, they’d all drop to their knees, shouting that they’d settle the score with you someday before scurrying away. Why did you have so much to say today?”
Shi Qixue: “…”
“Now I understand!” A disciple of the Hehuan Sect suddenly jumped in. “Master is taking the more refined approach of convincing people with reason. As a powerful cultivator, constantly releasing your spiritual pressure whenever something happens would be rather vulgar. It’s no different from a man going around telling everyone how impressive he is in that department. It would simply bring shame upon the dignity of our Chaoyang Sect.”
“So that’s why!”
“Master endured all those insults for our sake! Waaaah! Even after being insulted, he didn’t lose his temper or dignity. How many people in this world could possibly possess such broad-mindedness?”
“Master is wise and mighty!”
“…”
Ling Fengqi was covered in black lines.
Shi Qixue kept his jaw slightly tense, maintaining his usual cold, aloof, and noble demeanor.
See?
As long as I don’t say anything, someone will always find a way to explain it for me.
The whole farce had arrived and disappeared just as quickly.
The disciples of the Chaoyang Sect soon returned to their usual training, each of them flying off as fast as they could.
“Everyone else is flying. Why aren’t you?”
Shi Qixue turned his head and looked at the disciple walking beside him, his eyes shifting slightly.
“Master wants to see how well you’ve learned sword flight. How about giving it a try?”
That way, he could hitch a ride back to his Qingyue Hall and continue sleeping soundly. 🙂
“I don’t know how.”
“Why don’t you know?”
“Master hasn’t taught me.”
Shi Qixue: “…”
Oh, no.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Disciple, how are you supposed to protect me when you’re this weak?!
“I’ve been terribly busy these past few days, so I honestly forgot. Learning is certainly important, but there’s no need to rush…”
“Anyway, we’ll discuss it another day.”
We’ll talk about it after he learns.
Shi Qixue said all this with his eyes closed because he simply didn’t dare look into his disciple’s eyes.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his body.
His vision went black as an enormous force slammed into him, nearly sending him flying.
“Ow—!”
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Sect Master, are you hurt?”
Shi Qixue was left dizzy and disoriented as someone helped him to his feet.
After taking a moment to recover, he finally got a clear look at the black-robed youth standing before him.
The boy had a round, childish face and an unmistakably youthful air. His golden hair was tied up neatly, while his silver eyes were bright and clear as mirrors, making him look extraordinarily well-behaved.
Yet hanging from his left earlobe was an earring made from a command token.
A single character was engraved upon it:
Abstinence.
“I’m sorry, Sect Master. Wen Yao has always been rather careless. I hope you won’t take it to heart.”
A tall man dressed in black appeared behind him.
He had sharp brows and bright, star-like eyes, with a somewhat cold expression.
He pressed down on Wen Yao’s head, forcing him to bow.
The same Abstinence command token hung from his waist.
Shi Qixue slowly blinked.
As it happened, he knew this man.
His name was Xuan Ye.
He was quite the character—and someone who was always trying to give Shi Qixue a hard time.
To put it simply, that irritating cauldron that rang at five every morning?
Xuan Ye was the one who had ordered someone to bang it.
The dozens of sects within the Chaoyang Sect had frequently been at odds with one another in the early years.
For the sake of maintaining harmony among the sects, the Discipline Hall had eventually been established as an independent organization.
It was filled with nothing but difficult-to-deal-with yet exceptionally talented old-fashioned cultivators.
Xuan Ye was the senior-most disciple of the Discipline Hall’s elder.
However, the elder was already advanced in age and had long since stopped concerning himself with sect affairs, preferring to travel around and enjoy the scenery.
As a result, Xuan Ye was effectively the highest authority in the Discipline Hall.
A few days ago, everyone had been discussing the fact that the Discipline Hall had made an exception to accept a new disciple.
Shi Qixue hadn’t understood why everyone was making such a fuss about it.
Now that he saw him…
A Discipline Hall disciple with golden hair who wears the command token as an earring instead of around his waist?
Interesting.
The two brothers were still bowing and apologizing when Shi Qixue waved his hand.
His voice softened.
“It’s fine. I wasn’t watching where I was going either. You two may go about your business.”
“Thank you, Sect Master.”
Xuan Ye was about to leave, but Wen Yao remained where he was.
Like a small animal, he twitched his nose and sniffed around.
“Senior Brother, do you smell something?”
“It smells so good!”
“Can the fragrance of the pear blossoms from the mountaintop really drift all the way down here?”
Shi Qixue’s fingers curled slightly.
Almost instinctively, he reached toward the gland at the back of his neck.