Ye Chi returned back in a daze. He dropped onto the ground beside the boundary stele and stared gloomily up at the sky.
Mosquitoes buzzed around him, repeatedly crashing into his body, but he couldn’t even summon the energy to chase them away.
Senior Brother is going to form a cultivation bond.
And his partner isn’t me.
Ye Chi spent two hours contemplating the meaning of life. Moonlight fell over his body as he lowered his head and stared at his lonely shadow stretching across the ridge between the fields. Finally, he buried his face in his palms.
“What are you doing sitting here, pretending to be a scarecrow?! Sitting out here in the middle of the night! are you planning to hatch a whole nest of cockroaches and make every last one of them take the surname Ye?!”
A thunderous shout exploded from behind him.
Ye Chi shuddered so violently that he nearly rolled off the ridge.
He rubbed his painfully ringing ears and turned around with a deeply aggrieved expression.
“Uncle Zhao, you scared the life out of me.”
Zhao Qun stood a few paces away, glaring at him.
“You haven’t even eaten, and you’re sitting here spacing out! Let me look at those mosquito bites all over your arms! Your master has been looking for you for half an hour, and what are you doing? You’ve run all the way out here to brood like some mysterious, profound hermit!”
Zhao Qun strode over and lifted Ye Chi up as easily as if he were picking up a chick. Ye Chi stumbled forward under the force of the pull before barely managing to regain his footing.
Uncle Zhao had always been an impatient man with an exceptionally loud voice. Ye Chi had long since grown accustomed to him. Sometimes, he would even grin cheekily and argue back for fun.
But today, he simply wasn’t in the mood.
He lowered his eyes, looking utterly dejected.
Seeing him in such low spirits, Zhao Qun softened his tone a little.
“Hurry up. The martial arts training ground behind the rear cliffs.”
Ye Chi muttered something under his breath and dragged his feet toward the rear cliffs. After being shouted at by Zhao Qun, however, his mind had become somewhat clearer. At least he wasn’t drifting around in that dazed, miserable state anymore.
Weeds covered the ground, their tips gleaming pale beneath the moonlight. Xiao Jihan stood in front of an enormous boulder riddled with sword marks, his hands clasped behind his back.
Ye Chi walked over and stood properly in front of him. Trembling slightly, he bowed in greeting.
“Your disciple, Ye Chi… pays his respects to Master.”
Ye Chi felt as though thorns were pricking his back. He was certain Xiao Jihan was going to reprimand him for what had happened that afternoon.
The atmosphere grew heavy and still.
After a long while, Ye Chi finally heard an extremely faint sigh.
“Ye Chi, you’ve been my disciple for three years. Your studies have shown no improvement, yet you never miss a chance to run over to Tingyun Marsh, rain or shine. Your persistence in that regard is truly impressive.”
Just as I thought.
The tips of Ye Chi’s ears grew warm.
“I don’t oppose you liking someone. It’s your own freedom to choose whom you love. But at the very least, you need to make yourself stronger first.”
The corner of Ye Chi’s mouth twitched.
That was all perfectly reasonable advice, but, Master, you like Senior Brother Shen too! I know you’re in a bad mood, but even though we’re technically rivals in love, there’s no need to lecture me at a time like this, is there? It’s not as though I’m the person Senior Brother is going to form a cultivation bond with.
Speaking of forming a cultivation bond…
Ye Chi’s thoughts drifted away again.
Just who was the lucky bastard who got to become Senior Brother Shen’s cultivation partner? How enviable! It was enough to make anyone jealous!!
“Ye Chi.”
“…Hmm?”
Ye Chi snapped back to reality and discovered that Xiao Jihan was staring at him. A hint of displeasure had surfaced in those amber eyes.
“Repeat what I just said.”
Of course, Ye Chi hadn’t heard a single word. He opened his mouth, but after struggling for a long time, he couldn’t squeeze out even one syllable.
Xiao Jihan suddenly raised his hand, and Ye Chi instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.
…Wait a minute. Master, are you going to beat me up?! You’re supposed to be the untouchable, otherworldly beauty of our Mistshadow Sect, someone who stands high above the mundane world. Surely you wouldn’t actually do something as crude as beating your own disciple?!
Something was suddenly thrust into his arms. The impact struck his chest, leaving him with a dull, aching pain.
Ye Chi opened his eyes.
Oh. It was his master’s Frostglory Sword.
“Draw your sword.”
Xiao Jihan took two steps back.
“Let me see what you’ve learned over these past three years.”
Ye Chi held the sword in his arms, feeling rather embarrassed.
Fight his master? He couldn’t even win a friendly spar against Uncle Zhao, who wasn’t particularly skilled with a sword himself. If he actually fought Xiao Jihan, wouldn’t he end up scattered into pieces all over the ground?!
“Master, your disciple…”
“Enough nonsense. Fight.”
Ye Chi took a deep breath and drew the Frostglory Sword.
Xiao Jihan had obtained this sword by chance while traveling outside the sect to gain experience. According to the story, a demonic beast had run amok in a certain snow-covered mountain that year, killing many people.
Xiao Jihan had fought the Ice Rhinoceros for three whole days. After finally defeating the enormous beast, he discovered this sword in the monster’s lair at the center of a lake.
The Frostglory Sword was considerably heavier than Ye Chi’s own Blazing Plains Sword. Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth, braced himself, and charged forward.
Xiao Jihan shifted slightly to the side, effortlessly avoiding the sword qi. Ye Chi’s first strike missed its target, so he swept his sword horizontally before turning his wrist and thrusting it back toward his opponent.
Xiao Jihan’s sleeve fluttered lightly. With impeccable precision, he deflected the tip of the sword, then extended two fingers and clamped them around the blade, neutralizing the force behind Ye Chi’s attack. A surge of inner power traveled along the length of the sword.
A sharp, excruciating pain shot through the web between Ye Chi’s thumb and forefinger. His arm instantly went weak, and the Frostglory Sword slipped from his grasp.
Xiao Jihan caught the hilt, then slid the sword back into its scabbard.
“You couldn’t even withstand two moves. Again.”
Ye Chi rubbed his wrist, not daring to slack off. Gritting his teeth, he charged forward once more.
The master and disciple continued fighting for quite some time. More accurately, it was Xiao Jihan unilaterally beating Ye Chi to a pulp.
“Master, I really can’t fight anymore! Please, have mercy and let me go!”
Xiao Jihan remained as cold and merciless as ever. “We’ll stop here for today. From now on, you are not to slack off.”
By the time the two of them left the martial arts training ground, the moon was already high overhead.
A blue spiritual butterfly fluttered down and settled beside Xiao Jihan’s shoulder. He raised his hand slightly, allowing the butterfly to land on his fingertip. A moment later, his brows drew together faintly.
“Elder Duan Yue has sent a message. Something unusual is happening at an abandoned formation field. Since you know how to repair formation inscriptions, come with me.”
How could Ye Chi possibly dare to refuse? He could only nod vigorously.
The formation field lay near the boundary between Black Mud Marsh and Red Miasma Marsh. Even during the day, few people ventured there. At this hour, the place was downright eerie.
A faint, fishy stench lingered in the air.
“Master, these markings don’t look as though they cracked simply because the formation has been abandoned for years. It looks more like something underground has pushed them upward from below.”
Following the direction of the markings, Xiao Jihan looked toward a stone pillar ahead, then glanced at Ye Chi.
Ye Chi immediately understood what he meant, and the two of them walked over to the fallen stone pillar.
Xiao Jihan crouched down and pushed aside the weeds, examining the carved marks at the base of the pillar. Stone dust still clung to the edges, making it obvious that the carvings were recent.
“Someone has tampered with this place.”
Ye Chi had only just laid his hand on the carved markings when a gigantic circular formation disk suddenly illuminated beneath their feet. Xiao Jihan sensed that something was wrong, and his pupils trembled slightly.
Several vine-like tentacles burst out of the ground and coiled around Xiao Jihan’s legs. He drew his sword and severed several of them, but the moment they were cut apart, the severed ends split into even more slender branches that oozed a sticky, viscous fluid.
“Master, what the hell is this thing?!”
“It’s a variant of the ancient Binding Spirit Formation. Someone altered the formation’s core, activating the ancient formation buried underground.” Xiao Jihan pointed toward the stone platform. “That is the formation core. Destroy it, and the formation will break. I can’t move. You go.”
Ye Chi rushed toward the stone platform, drew his Blazing Plains Sword, and brought it down on the dark-red crystal at the center.
The crystal shattered instantly, its fragments flying in every direction. Thick black smoke burst out from within, carrying a foul, pungent stench that made it difficult to breathe.
The black smoke slowly drifted into the air, gathering into a dense mass. Ye Chi held his breath and looked up. The shape seemed to resemble a vague human figure.
Oh, heavens above! This is way too terrifying! Aaaaaah! Waaaaah!
The black mass let out a furious roar and lunged toward him.
Ye Chi didn’t even have time to react.
Xiao Jihan forcibly tore himself free of the formation’s radiance binding his legs. Blood stained the hems of his trousers as he gripped his sword and slashed through the oncoming black mist, releasing a powerful wave of sword qi.
The divided clouds of black smoke swept past Ye Chi on either side. Then, as though nothing had happened, they gathered together again and hurtled straight toward his chest.
Ye Chi hurriedly raised his sword to block the attack. However, the black mist possessed an overwhelming amount of energy. Within just a few breaths, it had forced him to retreat again and again.
In an instant, the world spun around him.
Xiao Jihan reached out, grabbed Ye Chi by the collar, and dragged him aside. At that very moment, the black mist split off an extremely fine strand that slipped into Xiao Jihan’s back.
Xiao Jihan let out a muffled groan and dropped to one knee. His thin lips pressed tightly together, and all the color drained from his face.