Shen Xuan finally understood who Lu Junheng was talking about.
“You mean Senior Brother Yu? He’s in charge of recruiting new students this year, so it’s normal for him to be here on duty. Can’t you just go over there yourself?”
What was wrong with him? Was Lu Junheng some child who was afraid to meet other people without an adult accompanying him?
Lu Junheng stared at him with a faint, gloomy look.
Thinking that he was genuinely hungry, Shen Xuan shoved the paper bag of steamed buns into his hands.
“Come on. I’ll go with you.”
Lu Junheng watched him walk away, then took one of the still-steaming buns from the bag and bit into it.
The filling was generous, and its sweet, delicate flavor spread through his mouth.
He took two steps forward to catch up with Shen Xuan and immediately started looking for something to complain about, as usual.
“Why are they filled with red bean paste? Who besides you would like something this disgustingly sweet? Even a dog would hate it.”
Shen Xuan calmly suggested, “Isn’t the dog already complaining about it? If you don’t like it, you can cut out your own tongue.”
Lu Junheng finished the bun in two or three bites and said casually, “How scary. You only dare to talk to me like that.”
Shen Xuan felt that this idiot had been acting strangely awkward since earlier.
“What exactly are you trying to say? Just say it.”
Lu Junheng looked up at the sky.
“It’s just… now that we’ve gotten a second chance at life, what do you think of your senior brother?”
Shen Xuan finally understood what Lu Junheng had been awkwardly trying to ask and almost laughed out of frustration.
“What exactly are you thinking? Did you never give him a wedding gift, or did you never attend any of his wedding banquets?”
Lu Junheng finally fell silent.
He glanced sideways at Shen Xuan’s profile and, seemingly without realizing it, took two steps closer to him.
Even for cultivators, nearly a thousand years was an extraordinarily long time. It was enough to bring obvious changes to most people, and certainly enough for Shen Xuan’s Senior Brother Yu to have three marriages.
That sounded like a lot, but Yu Le wasn’t someone who was naturally unfaithful. In fact, he was sincere and devoted in every relationship. Unfortunately, he simply seemed to lack the fate to stay with any of his partners for long.
Yu Le came from a prestigious family and was a disciple of the master of Taiyi Academy. He was handsome, gentle, refined, and talented. Although his talent couldn’t compare to monsters like Shen Xuan and Lu Junheng, whose abilities had already surpassed ordinary people’s understanding, he was still considered an outstanding genius among ordinary cultivators.
Overall, he was an excellent young man with hardly any major flaws.
Or rather, he was the most perfect and natural result of Shen Chenghe’s teachings.
Unlike Shen Xuan, whose personality had become somewhat twisted after being disciplined and forced into a mold, Yu Le genuinely agreed with his master’s ideals.
He longed for a stable life and disliked taking risks. Even when he was young and full of youthful ambition, he had never considered leaving the academy to make a name for himself.
He was perfectly content to follow the path his elders had arranged for him for the rest of his life.
Compared with Shen Xuan, this disciple personally raised by Shen Chenghe was actually much more suited to being Shen Chenghe’s biological son.
Yu Le had always believed that a complete life should include a well-matched partner with a compatible personality.
So after his engagement to Shen Xuan fell through, he was depressed for a while, but then he actively began meeting other cultivators of similar status.
His first partner was the child of one of the academy’s elders.
They were married for a hundred years before peacefully parting ways.
The reason was that his partner thought Yu Le was too boring. Being married to him felt no different from being single.
Yu Le remained single for several decades.
When he was over two hundred years old, he married the descendant of a high-ranking official from the Fourth Divine Temple.
This time, he learned from his previous experience. He showered his partner with care and attention and even learned how to write love poems.
But after three hundred years, his partner still chose to leave him.
The reason was that the Divine Temple had sent his partner to guard a place far away from Qingxi, and their paths had gradually diverged.
Yu Le’s third marriage took place after Lu Junheng defected.
His partner was a newly appointed elder of Taiyi Academy.
Shen Xuan received an invitation and a letter from him. The letter confidently stated:
“I think I’ve finally met the person destined for me this time. I’m sure we’ll grow old together.”
…
He had said exactly the same thing when he got married the first time.
As for whether Yu Le’s third marriage would truly last until old age, Shen Xuan had no idea.
After all, the world was destroyed before the result could be known.
After all that trouble, Lu Junheng finally obediently went to stand in line.
…
“Age requirement passed. Aptitude requirement passed.”
“Cultivation…”
The male disciple responsible for the testing stopped.
Unwilling to believe what he was seeing, he tried testing again.
The instrument still didn’t light up.
He hesitantly looked up at the person in front of him.
Two thoughts battled in his mind:
Is the instrument broken?
Or did this person come here just to cause trouble?
Lu Junheng looked back at him, seemingly unaware that there was anything unusual about his situation.
“No need to test again. I really don’t have any cultivation.”
Having cultivation talent but temporarily possessing no cultivation was actually quite common.
But seeing someone like this during Taiyi Academy’s new student registration was certainly unusual.
Everyone knew how difficult the academy’s entrance examination was. No one would normally send a child without any cultivation there to essentially get themselves killed.
The male disciple’s thoughts became a mess for a while, but his conscience won out first.
“Uh… Fellow Daoist… Are you sure this is appropriate?”
Lu Junheng asked, “What are the requirements for applying to Taiyi Academy?”
The male disciple instinctively recited:
“Anyone between the ages of fifteen and twenty who possesses cultivation talent…”
“Exactly!”
Lu Junheng praised his memory and patiently continued.
“Then do the rules say that people without cultivation aren’t allowed to apply?”
“No… They don’t.”
The male disciple mentally went through the regulations again and finally came back to his senses.
“But the academy’s entrance examination is extremely difficult. Someone without cultivation won’t be able to pass it. You might even be putting your life in danger. Why would you insist on doing this to yourself?”
Life and death were common matters in the cultivation world, but they were righteous cultivators. They couldn’t simply watch someone walk toward certain death without at least trying to stop them.
Lu Junheng simply looked at him.
The male disciple felt increasingly pressured under his gaze. After hesitating for a moment, he still couldn’t make a decision, so he turned to ask for help from Yu Le nearby.
“Senior Brother Yu!”
The gentle and refined young cultivator walked over.
“What happened?”
The male disciple explained Lu Junheng’s situation.
Yu Le’s eyes fell on Lu Junheng, and his brows furrowed.
Shen Xuan couldn’t stand watching anymore and stepped out from the crowd.
“Senior Brother Yu, register his name. I’ll vouch for him. He won’t die.”
When Yu Le saw Shen Xuan, he immediately forgot about Lu Junheng.
His eyes lit up.
“Junior Brother, you’re back? Where have you been these past two days? Master, he…”
His expression changed several times. Apparently, it was difficult for him to repeat some of his master’s less-than-pleasant words.
“Father was looking for me?”
Shen Xuan considerately finished his sentence for him.
“I know. I’ll go back and accept my punishment later.”
Yu Le sighed and quietly gave him some advice.
“Master hasn’t been in a very good mood these past two days. Be careful, Junior Brother.”
Shen Xuan nodded.
“I understand. Thank you, Senior Brother Yu.”
Lu Junheng glanced at Shen Xuan and frowned slightly, seemingly wanting to ask something.
Shen Xuan stepped on his foot and whispered,
“Keep your mouth shut for now.”
Lu Junheng obediently closed his mouth.
Yu Le looked at the two of them, his brows furrowing even deeper.
He gestured for the other disciples to continue testing the cultivators waiting in line.
Then he turned toward Lu Junheng, his expression becoming serious.
“As for this fellow Daoist… Junior Brother, come with me. I have a few things to ask you.”
Shen Xuan silently signaled to Lu Junheng to behave himself and followed Yu Le to a secluded spot.
He assumed Yu Le had discovered Lu Junheng’s former status as a wanted criminal of the Second Divine Temple and was already thinking about how to explain it.
Instead, Yu Le suddenly asked him,
“Junior Brother, tell me. Did that person threaten you just now?”
Shen Xuan froze.
“What?”
It took him a while to process what Yu Le meant.
Lu Junheng threatened him?
Yu Le looked at him seriously.
“You almost never openly show your displeasure toward anyone. But just now, you looked extremely annoyed with him. You clearly dislike him very much, yet you still said you would vouch for him. If he didn’t threaten you, what else could it be?”
“Does he have something on you? Did he trick you into escaping from the confinement room? You’re still young, so it’s perfectly normal that you don’t know how to deal with this kind of situation. Tell me first. Even if I can’t resolve it myself, I can report it to Master.”
Shen Xuan: “…”
Apparently, this only proved that Lu Junheng really was universally irritating.
“He didn’t threaten me. He’s my—”
Shen Xuan couldn’t find a suitable word to define his relationship with Lu Junheng, so he simply abandoned the sentence and explained directly,
“Senior Brother Yu, I voluntarily vouched for him. He’s capable. He won’t die during the examination.”
Lu Junheng’s registration was eventually approved.
Shen Xuan said goodbye to Yu Le and pulled Lu Junheng away from the crowd.
Once they reached a quieter place, Lu Junheng tugged at Shen Xuan’s collar and spoke first.
“Explain.”
Shen Xuan pushed his hand away.
“Explain what?”
Lu Junheng answered briefly.
“Your punishment.”
“I suppose I never told you.”
Shen Xuan said casually,
“I escaped from the confinement room this time.”
Lu Junheng stared at him.
“Don’t tell me… you couldn’t even solve such a minor problem before coming to find me?”
“Of course I could.”
Shen Xuan laughed softly.
“But can you really not see it, or are you pretending not to? Whether I miss it or not, I’m no longer suited to the atmosphere of the academy.”
“When I was sixteen, I could sacrifice my own feelings to maintain the stability around me. But I’m no longer at the age where I’ll obediently accept unfair punishment.”
“So if I didn’t leave the confinement room this time, I would have done it sooner or later anyway.”
“And as for Father… I’m not the successor he should continue cultivating. He should have realized that sooner.”
Lu Junheng fell silent.
Shen Xuan repeated,
“What are you being awkward about again? This has nothing to do with you. Even without you, I couldn’t possibly stay at the academy.”
Lu Junheng cursed him again.
“You’re such an idiot.”
Shen Xuan couldn’t be bothered to respond.
He summoned his spirit sword and tossed it to Lu Junheng.
“I’ll go back to the academy first. You can borrow this.”
Lu Junheng caught the sword and turned his face away.
“…What’s the use of lending me a spirit sword? I don’t know how to use a sword.”
Shen Xuan ignored his nonsense and gave him one final warning with a cheerful smile.
“I’ll be one of the supervisors for this entrance examination. Unless something unexpected happens, I’ll be staying in the confinement room until the examination begins.”
“If I come out and find that you’ve caused more trouble, you’re dead.”