Ever since that day, everyone in the sect knew Su Yunyu’s stance.
Even though his newly accepted disciple was a good-for-nothing whose meridians were severed, he was determined to protect him.
When Xiao Qingran learned of this, he was so infuriated that he practically ground his teeth to dust. He struck a tree heavily with his fist, feeling utterly stifled and vexed. At that moment, his lackey chimed in with flattery:
“What does it matter if the Immortal Venerable dotes on him? He is still just a good-for-nothing with severed meridians. How could he ever compare to you, young master?”
Hearing this, Xiao Qingran’s expression softened somewhat. He patted his lapels, flicked away non-existent dust, and curled his lips into a mocking smirk:
“You’re right. With meridians shattered like that, he is no different from a cripple.”
Sooner or later, Xiao Shuying would be cast aside.
And with his own exceptional talent, he would sooner or later catch Su Yunyu’s eye.
At this thought, Xiao Qingran’s spirits lifted immensely. He generously handed his allotted medicinal pills to his lackey, chatting and laughing breezily:
“Let’s go, to the Sword Hall.”
The Tianxuan Sect specialized in swordsmanship. All newly initiated disciples could earn a sword by passing an evaluation within the Sword Hall.
In this mystic realm evaluation, the highest-grade swords available were Earth-grade. Among Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow, Heaven was regarded as the supreme tier, meaning Earth-grade was already remarkably high. However, those capable of obtaining one were few and far between.
Even so, as a disciple’s very first weapon, this mystic realm evaluation filled the new disciples with yearning and uncontrollable excitement.
Inside the Sword Hall at that moment, a batch of disciples stood in an orderly fashion, whispering among themselves while waiting for the elder to arrive.
As Xiao Qingran walked into the hall, his gaze immediately locked onto Xiao Shuying in the front row. Xiao Shuying was dressed in inner-sect attire, the lotus patterns glaringly eye-catching.
The person who had once been dim and unnoticed in the Xiao Manor had transformed overnight into someone envied by thousands. Such a drastic contrast left Xiao Qingran with an inexpressible surge of emotion.
Walking past everyone as if no one else was there, he eyed his half-brother, patted his shoulder, and spoke with a smiling smirk while his gaze turned icy:
“Since you lack cultivation, you’d better not bite off more than you can chew.”
Without bothering to see how Xiao Shuying reacted, he strode away. His demeanor was casual, his attitude arrogant, the very picture of arrogance cultivated within the Xiao Manor.
The lackey behind him, remembering the incident from the previous day when he had bumped into Xiao Shuying, shrank his neck in guilty cowardice and hurried along closely behind.
Xiao Shuying raised a hand to brush off the shoulder Xiao Qingran had patted. His face betrayed no emotion, but his heart was filled with utter disgust.
Upon seeing that person, he thought to himself: Just as expected.
In his first life, it was mostly Xiao Qingran and his gaggle of lackey sycophants targeting him. He hadn’t expected things to be just the same this time around.
However.
Xiao Shuying lowered his gaze to look at the token hanging at his waist.
It looked the same as usual, yet different.
At this moment, the lotus flower carved on the jade pendant was glowing with a faint, gentle radiance.
Xiao Shuying held his breath for a moment, waiting for the person inside the jade token to react.
For today’s evaluation, worrying that Xiao Shuying possessed no cultivation, Su Yunyu had split a wisp of his divine sense to attach to the jade pendant to handle any contingencies.
It was quite a coincidence; Su Yunyu should have witnessed all of Xiao Qingran’s posturing just now.
Yet, Xiao Qingran’s words and actions had been clever enough not to leave others with any handles to grasp.
Still, would Su Yunyu bother to intervene?
Xiao Shuying waited quietly for a moment, only to find the jade token as dead and silent as an inanimate object.
Hah, figures. In his first life, Xiao Qingran had idolized Su Yunyu, while Su Yunyu’s attitude had remained ambiguous.
Perhaps now, the two of them were back to hitting it off just like in the past.
The mere thought that these two might once again collude drove Xiao Shuying away from wanting to let Su Yunyu off easy. Instead, he simply used his sound-transmission token to ask:
“Master, my brother seems a bit.”
His tone was hazy and vague, and his stance appeared exceptionally timid.
Xiao Shuying didn’t even know when he had become capable of acting like this; it was probably from learning by example from Su Yunyu. Since Su Yunyu liked to put on an act, he would play along too.
Let’s see whose act lasts longer.
The jade token trembled slightly, and then drifted out with an ethereal voice:
“What?”
There seemed to be hesitation; those two words were even more hazy and vague than Xiao Shuying’s.
Hah, keeping up the act right to the end.
Just as Xiao Shuying wanted to speak again, the elder walked into the hall.
Thus, all the thousands of words he had prepared to make sarcastic remarks at Xiao Qingran’s expense finally condensed into two words:
“Nothing.”
Meanwhile, inside the jade token, Su Yunyu used his divine sense to examine Xiao Shuying, then asked the system with a puzzled tone:
“Why does he look so gloomy?”
The system replied: [Probably because he has no cultivation. Hurry up and repair his meridians, and the kid will cheer up.]
Finding this reasoning sound, Su Yunyu quickly cast his doubts aside and excitedly asked the system to play him another episode of Tom and Jerry.
This cultivation world had no smartphones, no video games, absolutely nothing. He was bored out of his mind, and upon discovering that the system could double as a television, he had immediately nagged it into playing several episodes of Tom and Jerry.
Anyway, the elder was still talking, so he could catch one last episode!
“Throughout the history of our sect’s evaluations, what is tested is never the level of your cultivation, but rather whether you can conquer a sword spirit. Therefore, I ask each of you to do your utmost to acquire your first weapon upon entering the sect…”
After the long-bearded elder finished speaking, he waved his large sleeve, and a flash of white light erupted, washing over the entire Sword Hall. In the blink of an eye, the scenery before their eyes shifted into an entirely different realm.
Those disciples who had been standing beside him moments ago had completely vanished. Xiao Shuying glanced around: it was pitch black everywhere, save for a single path stretching out before him, upon which a sword rested in plain sight.
Having finally managed to tear himself away from Tom and Jerry, Su Yunyu looked around and, relying on his meager experience, began leading his disciple astray:
“Go ahead and take a look.”
Not going forward wasn’t an option, as this was the only path available.
Nor did Xiao Shuying believe Su Yunyu would design some trap within the mystic realm to kill him, so he simply walked forward, intending to pick up the sword.
However, halfway there, raging fires suddenly ignited beneath his feet. The flames scorched every inch of his skin; while they inflicted no substantive physical damage, they stripped away every breath of spatial oxygen.
Standing amidst this blazing fire alone made Xiao Shuying feel as though his entire body were a melting candle. Even worse, his connection with the jade token was severed.
There was only a single path stretching both before and behind him. Glancing at the sword not far away, Xiao Shuying hesitated no longer, stepping through the flames and dragging his feet forward step by step.
As he drew closer and closer, closer and closer, he finally stretched out his hand with all his might—only for his fingertips, at the very moment they touched the sword, to trigger a reset.
The flames vanished, the path remained as before, and as he looked around, he found himself unexpectedly returned to the very starting point.
Xiao Shuying checked his left and right; still, only the path ahead remained open. Once again, he walked toward the sword.
Yet this time, just as before, halfway down the path, fierce fires suddenly erupted. The flames this time were even more violent than the last; with every breath he took, his vision grew increasingly dizzy and dim.
Fire surrounded him on all sides. He could only press forward as usual, walking ahead and reaching out to touch the sword. But once again, the moment he touched it, he was sent back to the starting point.
Just what on earth was this evaluation.
Xiao Shuying wiped the thin layer of sweat from his forehead. Though the flames were gone now, the scorching heat in the air still lingered from his previous experience.
He was certain of one thing: aside from moving forward, there was no second path.
Looking again at the sword, with each of his first two touches, it seemed to grow sharper and clearer.
Xiao Shuying could even make out the gorgeous deep-golden pattern on the hilt and the flashing, piercing glare of the blade’s edge.
That was an Earth-grade sword.
Since he lacked cultivation, a sword that willingly offered its allegiance within the mystic realm was undoubtedly the most suitable weapon for him.
Furthermore, given the sword’s impressive grade, he was determined to secure it today.
For the third time, Xiao Shuying stepped onto the dim path.
The pitch-black surroundings felt like an inverted giant bell, oppressive and stifling.
Halfway down, the roaring inferno ignited once more, even fiercer than the previous time.
Hesitating no longer, Xiao Shuying quickened his pace, stepping forward to touch the glowing sword hidden within the flames.
Once again, his vision dissolved, and he was hurled back to the starting point.
Only this time, the sword appeared a fraction clearer.
As long as the path wasn’t the wrong one, repeating it ten thousand times meant nothing.
Xiao Shuying stepped forward yet again, meeting the burning flames once more.
Each time was more violent than the last; each time was more ferocious than before.
He had long lost count of how many times he had touched the hilt, and lost count of how many times he had returned to the origin.
In any case, by this round, Xiao Shuying felt that the flames had reached the absolute limit of what he could endure. His vision began to darken, and his entire body grew weak.
Staggering forward until he was within a spear-length of the sword, he tried to reach out, but his body finally collapsed entirely. At this moment, his eyelids grew incomparably heavy, so heavy that he longed to sink into a deep slumber.
No, I cannot fall here.
If he failed this evaluation, his situation would only become even more precarious.
Yet, despite the mere distance of those few steps, as Xiao Shuying looked at the sword, it felt as distant as the horizon.
His breathing was heavy, a relentless ringing echoed in his ears, and the taste of blood seeped into his mouth.
Just before he lost consciousness completely, the jade token at his waist trembled melodiously, sending forth a voice that felt close enough to touch:
“Shuying”
Clear plains reflecting shadows, autumn seas mirroring the bright moon.
The next moment, a white figure like a secluded epiphyllum drifted out from the jade token, falling gracefully before Xiao Shuying. It resembled a hazy, indistinct mass of mist where everything was blurred, yet Xiao Shuying clearly caught sight of the face.
He had to admit, the deeper Su Yunyu sank into slumber, the more breathtakingly, shockingly beautiful he became.
Like an immortal transcending the mortal dust, ready to feather-flight away at any second.
His already snowy-white skin looked even more fragile than crystal after he had split his divine sense.
Xiao Shuying felt his consciousness slowly slipping away, yet he stubbornly held onto his breath, narrowing his eyes to watch Su Yunyu channel spiritual energy into him.
The burning heat throughout his body was soothed by spiritual Qi as cold as a frozen pool. He watched as the sword, which had remained a step away, drifted directly before his eyes.
“The sword spirit has already acknowledged you as its master.”
Su Yunyu reassured him. Seeing Xiao Shuying’s extraordinary persistence, constantly emerging from the fire like a phoenix from the ash and restarting over and over again, the sword had naturally recognized his steadfast willpower.
Now that the sword was within arm’s reach, its brilliance was all the more dazzling.
The hilt bore a densely intertwined dragon-scale pattern, while the cold gleam of the blade reflected the distinct play of light and shadow.
Feeling as though he were still in a dream, Xiao Shuying reached out his hand. The moment his fingertips touched the physical texture of the hilt, an inexplicable sense of intimacy welled up deep within his heart.
When a sword spirit acknowledges its master, no hesitation is needed.
This sword was finally grasped within his palm.
Before losing consciousness entirely, he caught sight of Su Yunyu’s eyes—clear as autumn water, resembling morning mist.
Unlike his first life in some subtle way, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
For some reason, Xiao Shuying thought: At this very moment, I am utterly exhausted. If you want to kill me, now is the absolute best time.
In truth, he would much rather face Su Yunyu’s naked, unconcealed intent to kill.
Rather than this present state, where everything was acted out so convincingly it felt real.
So, come and kill me then.