Yulan’s mindset was similar to Hua Mao’s, but she had seen the sect leader’s eldest disciple, He Zhibai from Sect Leader Peak, so she was aware of the gap between them and the inner sect, and she accepted it more quickly.
But accepting it didn’t mean she wasn’t sad or disappointed, so she lowered her head, her voice uncontrollably dropping, “Sorry, Senior Brother, I admit defeat.”
Having broken the unspoken rule by using spiritual power first, she still lost undeniably. Yulan accepted it wholeheartedly. Despite her disappointment, she was happy for Lian Chaoxi, happy that the gentle Peak Master finally had a successor, happy that Sword Peak finally had an heir.
“Don’t be sad, Yulan,” Lian Chaoxi noticed the girl’s low spirits and gently comforted her, “Shuangzui is a mutated single spiritual root, it’s his natural talent. He naturally has more insight into the path of cultivation, so don’t compare yourself to him.”
“Besides, Yulan, you’re already very impressive. Even though you have a pseudo-spiritual root, you’ve already reached the fifth level of Qi Refining. In a few years, you’ll definitely reach Foundation Establishment, and then you’ll have a lifespan of two to three hundred years. With such a long time, reaching Golden Core isn’t impossible. You know, even the outer sect disciples might not be able to form a Golden Core.”
“I understand, thank you, Peak Master.” Although her mood wasn’t great, Yulan felt warmth from these comforting words, and the gloom in her heart dissipated a lot. She wiped her face and gave Lian Chaoxi a bright smile, thanking him.
Lian Chaoxi sighed. He had always known about these issues. After all, back then… Wen Weili had fallen out with him over this. But cultivation is indeed cruel; talent almost decides everything, and one’s foundation represents their future path.
Feeling it’s unfair doesn’t change anything. It’s survival of the fittest, and achievements determine status and resources. The Demon Realm is always restless, and the Monster Clan often clashes with the Immortal Realm. Only those with talent can uphold the rules of the Heavenly Dao and prevent the world from falling into chaos.
However, he could see that Yulan had truly accepted it, but as for Hua Mao…
Lian Chaoxi glanced at the despondent immortal servant, looking a bit helpless. He turned his head and met Lou Shuangzui’s gaze. His eldest disciple had been watching him for who knows how long, those golden eyes clear and quiet, just watching him silently.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
The Sword Master patted Lou Shuangzui’s head. The young man let his master treat him like a child, just shaking his head and continuing the conversation, “So gentle, Sword Master.”
“…Hmm?” Lian Chaoxi couldn’t help but laugh. He seemed to remember something, and a bit of warmth appeared in his eyes, “Really? Does Shuangzui like such a master?”
The eldest disciple met those purple eyes, a hint of a smile appearing on his face, “Of course.”
Being too gentle might make one easy to bully, but with Lou Shuangzui here, it didn’t matter. Lian Chaoxi could firmly maintain his gentleness, and as for the sharp edges, Lou Shuangzui would stand in front and repay them a hundredfold for his master.
After Lian Chaoxi comforted the servants, he didn’t forget the real purpose of this trip.
Lian Chaoxi was the one with the combat prowess. Although he only fought two matches, both of which were Lou Shuangzui’s overwhelming victories, he still noticed a problem and had a plan in mind.
“Firstly, a sword is a more direct and powerful weapon, but Shuangzui, your way of thinking and attack methods aren’t suitable for swordsmanship. Moreover, sword cultivation is just one branch of the path of cultivation, and forcing yourself to adapt isn’t conducive to growth.”
Lian Chaoxi walked to the weapon rack, propped up the fallen rack, and after a moment of contemplation, took the only whip from it.
“Actually, you should be more suited to—whips. Can you accept this weapon, Shuangzui?”
Lou Shuangzui nodded, “I’ll follow Master’s decision.”
The weapon request was quickly relayed to Lu Mique. The production wouldn’t be fast, taking at least two months. Coincidentally, the sect’s Foundation Establishment and Golden Core courses were on break and would reopen in two months, so Lu Mique sent a message saying his disciple Yan Zhige would bring the finished weapon to Lou Shuangzui then.
And participating in the courses required Foundation Establishment. Two months from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment… wasn’t a difficult task for Lou Shuangzui.
He studied Lian Chaoxi’s notes on his own and successfully reached Foundation Establishment in less than a month. He even had time to help Lian Chaoxi with work and sneakily place Recording Stones in various hidden but good vantage points around Sword Peak.
The Recording Stones couldn’t capture long footage, so Lou Shuangzui tried to develop a suitable replacement formation. For this, he spent half a month frequenting the library, and he actually managed to grasp the basics of formations, learning a bit about talisman drawing and formation setting. The next step was his own research and improvement.
During these two months, Lou Shuangzui also received gifts from the other fourteen peaks of Chen Yue Sect that hadn’t sent anything yet, including magical artifacts, jade, and ancient texts, filling his previously sparse room.
Two months passed in a flash, and it was time for Lou Shuangzui to attend the sect’s courses.
Coincidentally, Lian Chaoxi suddenly had an epiphany, seemingly about to break through to the peak of the Transformation Stage and enter the Return to Void Stage. So, after entrusting Sword Peak’s affairs to Lou Shuangzui, he went into seclusion in the back mountain the day before classes started.
The one who took Lou Shuangzui to the Suspended Mirror Platform was He Zhibai, the eldest disciple of Sect Leader Peak. His master was Wen Shunian, and since his attributes were suitable, even though he wasn’t from Beast Taming Peak, he learned beast control. He Zhibai’s contracted spirit beast was a particularly large red-crowned crane, with well-maintained feathers that felt very comfortable to touch.
Seeing Lou Shuangzui couldn’t resist petting it a couple of times, He Zhibai didn’t mind. Instead, he smiled brightly at him, “Zhizhi feels nice to touch, right? I apply care oil to it every two days, it took a lot of effort to raise it like this!”
“And Zhizhi is amazing, it flies steadily and quickly. Come on, Zhizhi, fly!” He gently patted the crane’s wings. The crane turned its head to look at its owner, its brown eyes showing almost human-like exasperation, but it still flapped its wings and obediently flew into the sky.
The cold wind at high altitude whistled past, and Lou Shuangzui quietly looked down, silently memorizing the mountain’s terrain until He Zhibai’s voice sounded in his ear, prompting him to look up at his senior brother.
“Lou Shidi, it seems you’re not afraid of heights.” The sect leader’s eldest disciple had a harmless face, soft and cute, very likable. But perhaps because there was always a Wen Guyue by the sect leader’s side, his personality developed a bit freely like his uncle’s.
He slapped Lou Shuangzui on the back with a “smack,” “Not being afraid of heights is a good thing. I heard you’re not a sword cultivator, but even if you’re not, you still have to learn to fly. It’s just the difference between sword flight and cloud riding! Not being afraid of heights makes it much easier to learn!”
Lou Shuangzui forcibly suppressed his desire to dodge or retaliate, just sighing inwardly. Not used to such familiarity, he didn’t really want to talk, so he just gave a few perfunctory “mm-hmms.”
The crane took only a quarter of an hour to land at the entrance of the Suspended Mirror Platform. Sixty percent of the outer sect disciples and most of the inner sect had to come here to study. Although He Zhibai had gone early to pick up Lou Shuangzui, by the time they arrived, there were already quite a few people.
The sect leader’s eldest disciple was naturally more concerned than those from other peaks. He Zhibai hesitated for a moment but couldn’t help but turn his head to remind Lou Shuangzui.
“Your peak’s course should end before the hour of You. I don’t attend Foundation Establishment classes, so my course will be half an hour later than yours. If you can’t wait, go find Yan Zhige from Artifact Refining Peak and have his crane give you a ride. I’ll come find you after my class and help you contract a temporary crane, and also show you the way a few times. After that, you can come by yourself in the mornings.”
Lou Shuangzui nodded to show he understood, but He Zhibai was still a bit worried, so he thought for a moment and added, “Yan Zhige has red eyes and black hair. Look for the one who looks the fiercest but isn’t ugly.”
In fact, once they got to the lecture hall, Lou Shuangzui didn’t need to look for him; Yan Zhige came over on his own. Despite having a fire spiritual root, Yan Zhige looked cold as ice, his face saying “don’t bother me,” making him seem more like an ice spiritual root.
He was holding a large box, first sizing up Lou Shuangzui from head to toe, his voice sounding fierce, “Lian Shibo’s disciple, Sword Peak’s first disciple Lou Shuangzui, right?”
Lou Shuangzui had a cloth bag in his hand, with some less important paperwork inside to pass the time. When Yan Zhige approached, he was hanging the bag by the table, and only looked up when he heard the voice, sizing up the person.
—Although he looked fierce, from his eyes and body language, Yan Zhige didn’t seem malicious, just naturally looking that way.
So Lou Shuangzui quickly tied the bag securely, straightened up, adjusted his posture, and turned to face Yan Zhige, “That’s me. You’re Yan Zhige from Artifact Refining Peak, right?”
Yan Zhige nodded, placing the box in front of Lou Shuangzui, unable to resist a bit of sarcasm, “My master actually got it right this time. He rarely gets things right! Before I came, he told me to find the best-looking junior brother, and the best-looking one must be Lou Shidi.”
He wasn’t wrong. Lou Shuangzui was indeed good-looking, his black curly hair making his face look even paler, his golden pupils dazzling, and when he smiled, there was a sickly yet alluring beauty that could almost leave people stunned.
Even though there were many beauties in the immortal sects, this kind of intricate beauty stood out among the upright and bright ones.
Lou Shuangzui was amused by his words, his eyes curving, the gold in his pupils flowing, looking even more beautiful. He poked the big box with his finger, “Yan Shixiong, is this the weapon Lu Shishu made for me?”
“Yes! Open it and see if there’s anything that needs changing.” Yan Zhige crossed his arms, his gaze on the box filled with a bit of heat, “My master and I made this together. We chose materials like Xuan Gold, Nether River Black Iron, and a few Emerald Heart Crystals my master brought back from a secret realm last time. After it was finished, its level unsurprisingly reached the standard of a high-grade immortal weapon.”
In the cultivation world, these weapons are divided into five levels: Mortal, Spiritual, Treasure, Immortal, and Divine, with each level further divided into four grades: low, medium, high, and top.
For a normal immortal to own a medium-grade immortal weapon is already considered good, and servants often can only get mortal or low-grade spiritual weapons. Having a treasure weapon in the outer sect is quite good and would be cherished.
Wen Shunian, as the sect leader, generously gave Lou Shuangzui an immortal weapon hair crown as a gift to celebrate his junior brother receiving his first disciple.
Even though Sword Peak’s treasury was already considered rich, it only had three immortal weapons unsuitable for Lian Chaoxi. Lou Shuangzui took a look, found none suitable for himself, so he just took inventory and put them back.
Now, Lu Mique had his disciple bring Lou Shuangzui’s second magical artifact, a high-grade immortal weapon, which was truly precious.
So as soon as Yan Zhige finished speaking, a girl with light green long hair sitting a bit in front of Lou Shuangzui turned around with a curious “wow.” She had green eyes, phoenix-like, giving her a scholarly air.
“High-grade immortal weapon! I want to see, I want to see!”
But where there’s a pure and cute child, there’s bound to be a jumping clown. Lou Shuangzui heard a cold laugh from the direction where he had felt malicious gazes since admitting his identity.
“Hah? As expected of the inner sect, only two months in the sect, without doing any tasks, and they can just have an immortal weapon like that.”
The boy’s voice was sarcastic and sharp, making Lou Shuangzui frown immediately.
Author’s Note: