On the road, Xu Chaoqi secretly watched his Senior Brother while attempting to circulate his spiritual energy. Yet no matter how he busied himself, his cultivation showed no change.
His head drooped, and he glanced outward in boredom.
****
Below the platform, the disciples kept watching the movements of the auspicious cloud.
The auspicious cloud rose from low to high, piercing through the layers of cloud. Gradually, the disciples below could no longer see them.
The auspicious cloud pressed past the many other clouds, and by the time they stopped, they were already ten zhang higher than the clouds of the various Great Region Lords.
At that moment, a golden heavenly staircase suddenly appeared in the sky, its illusory form stretching downward from the massive auspicious cloud at the highest point, all the way down to the auspicious cloud beneath Sect Master Wen’s feet.
All the mighty experts bowed their heads. Two figures emerged, one before the other, walking up toward the sky—one’s steps were light and brisk, the other’s steps steady and composed.
The mighty experts sensed something was off, and many of them instantly looked up. In their pupils, they saw that legendary figure who had dwelt alone in the Immortal Palace for ten thousand years, that dignified and solemn person cold as frost, now rarely seen to be so gentle.
The other party seemed to have withdrawn his aura, walking slowly up the heavenly staircase like an ordinary person.
His long, ink-colored robe hem trailed on the ground. Beside him was a person in red, who appeared extremely young, carrying a vivid, lively air, and walking even faster than Sect Master Wen.
Few people ever accompanied Sect Master Wen.
Aside from the handful of people—no more than a dozen—who that day had witnessed Wen Chaoxi treat Xu Chaoqi with special regard, most of the mighty experts above the clouds were seeing Xu Chaoqi for the first time.
Xu Chaoqi had long legs and a slender waist, his ink-black hair smooth as silk.
Even from a distance, people could see Xu Chaoqi smiling as he leaned close to Wen Chaoxi, and when he happened to glance back, the loose strands of hair on his forehead swayed lightly. On his fair face, his eyes were like starlight, his lips red, his teeth white.
With just one glance, everyone could see how strikingly beautiful Xu Chaoqi was.
Not to mention that, even in the presence of this foremost figure of the Twenty-Seven Regions, Xu Chaoqi showed no fear at all—instead, he fully displayed his own beauty to its greatest effect before the man.
Xu Chaoqi truly was someone with real ability. Even a ten-thousand-year-old pear tree like Sect Master Wen had been captivated by him, so rare a thing that he actually paused his steps now to smooth down the stray strands of Xu Chaoqi’s hair.
Seeing this, everyone’s hearts stirred.
The few Region Lords on the topmost clouds kept their heads down obediently the whole time. The mighty experts on the lowest clouds could not see anything, and so could not judge either.
But among those in the middle, a few had other thoughts. They did not speak aloud, but instead used extremely private soul transmission, audible only to the two of them.
“This little beauty looks so thin, and his waist is so slender, and his cultivation isn’t even that high—I bet he gets tormented something fierce at night, doesn’t he?”
“With a face like that, if he cried, Sect Master Wen would probably want to screw him to death.”
The moment the two of them laughed, an overwhelming pressure descended, as if the sky itself had collapsed and crushed them straight down to their knees.
The two of them went cold all over, and before they could even think, countless creaking, crunching sounds rang out, big and small, and they collapsed straight to the ground.
The cold, biting spiritual energy withdrew like a pair of invisible giant hands. The two men on the ground were numb from the pain—it was as though they had just been gripped tightly by something, and now every bone in their bodies was shattered.
On the heavenly staircase, Wen Chaoxi stopped walking, his deep eyes turning to look behind him.
Seeing this, Xu Chaoqi stopped as well. He looked back in confusion. “What’s wrong, Senior Brother?”
His Senior Brother touched the top of his head, his gaze unchanged, but he smiled and tilted his head upward, looking toward the forest on the immortal mountain in the far distance.
“It’s nothing. I just saw the Biruan flowers have bloomed, so I was thinking the Biruan fruit must be ready to eat too.”
“What is Biruan fruit?” Xu Chaoqi looked up at his Senior Brother, his eyes moist and bright.
His Senior Brother smiled and turned around with him, continuing up the heavenly staircase. “Given the season, the Biruan fruit should have already been picked and set out up there. Xiao Yao should like it.”
“Oh?” Xu Chaoqi’s eyes curved with laughter, and he glanced back once more without thinking. Only, unlike his Senior Brother, what he looked back at was not the clouds.
His pupils reflected layer upon layer of thick clouds, blocking his view.
But if those clouds were to part, directly below, precisely and without deviation, would be the dueling platform.
His smile did not fade as he withdrew his gaze—it seemed like an idle glance, but perhaps there had already been an intention in his heart all along.
Above the clouds, the Western Region Lord watched the two men kneeling collapsed below and sneered—how foolish. If they had thoughts they couldn’t hold in, why did they have to transmit them to the person beside them?
A petty trick like that—even someone of his own cultivation level could sense it out with a single probe, let alone Sect Master Wen, whose pressure blanketed every corner of the Southern Competition Immortal Platform.
He was just about to turn around, not paying it much mind, when, looking toward the dueling platform, he suddenly recalled something.
His son had kept asking him to help promote a young man skilled in talisman-drawing named Xu Qi. At the time, he hadn’t known who this person was.
But just a few days later, all the mighty experts had gathered, and Sect Master Wen had come as well.
That night, a phoenix bird had burned in the sky, and at the time, someone beside him had said that whoever could draw such a talisman was a genius the likes of which appeared once in ten thousand years—so much so that even Sect Master Wen, who for years had paid no mind to worldly affairs, had rarely spoken up for this person.
Thinking of this, his heart suddenly gave a violent lurch.
A talisman-drawing genius the likes of which appears once in ten thousand years… if it truly happened only once in ten thousand years, how could so many suddenly appear at once?
What if it were the same person?
The Western Region Lord’s heart pounded even harder, and a smile spread across his face.
If it were the same person, then this Xu Qi had truly obtained an enormous stroke of fortune!
The little fellow probably hadn’t even imagined that, young as he was, he could earn Sect Master Wen’s praise.
It suddenly occurred to him that if, someday, there were a chance to introduce Xu Qi to Sect Master Wen, then even if Sect Master Wen only offered a few words of guidance, this boy would have struck extraordinary luck, and from then on would soar straight to the heavens.
The Western Region Lord was in an excellent mood. Suppressing his excitement, he lay back on his couch, and a servant beside him stepped forward to fan him.
On the massive auspicious cloud, Xu Chaoqi stepped onto the thick clouds. He took a step forward and passed through a thin layer of something. Only when he turned back did he realize that what he had passed through was a barrier.
The barrier blocked outside prying eyes, while still allowing those inside to see out, and it also blocked most of the wind.
And inside the barrier, it was very bright—overhead was a sky without a single cloud, and underfoot were clouds, soft yet unyielding, that did not collapse beneath one’s weight.
Directly ahead was a shallow but wide pool of water, the water flowing and extremely clear, with a few tender green leaves floating on its surface.
Behind the pool was a long table, most of it laden with delicious food, accented by a scattering of fruits.
Xu Chaoqi and his Senior Brother walked to the jade couch behind the long table. The couch was enormous—even with two people lying on it as a bed, there would be more than enough room.
Seeing this, Xu Chaoqi sat down on the footstool in front of the couch, touching the jade couch with great curiosity.
“It’s a bit cold, but it must be wonderful to lie on when the weather’s hot.”
Wen Chaoxi’s brow furrowed slightly, and he bent down as well to look at the jade bed. “Still, a jade couch can’t compare to a wooden bed.”
The wooden bed he had chosen was made from ancient sacred wood; Xiao Yao’s body was better suited to sleeping on a wooden bed.
Upon hearing “wooden bed,” a certain Xiao Yao took a deep breath, feeling quite stifled.
He raised his eyes and said listlessly, “Senior Brother’s wooden bed is extremely small.”
Wen Chaoxi was somewhat taken aback, and he raised an eyebrow. “A zhang and a half—still small?”
Xu Chaoqi’s expression twisted slightly, and he muttered under his breath, “As the saying goes, even a rabbit has three burrows. I can’t just go back to my own room to sleep every time I’m tired, can I? But of all the places we live, only my room has a large bed. Sometimes I want to stay in Senior Brother’s room, but Senior Brother’s bed downstairs is so small it can only fit one person to sleep on, and the immortal palace is even more empty—there isn’t even a bed there, only a futon to sleep on.”
As he spoke, he suddenly sensed something was off, and leaned in close to his Senior Brother, their eyes meeting. “Senior Brother, don’t tell me you haven’t slept in years?”
The two of them were so close their eyes nearly touched, their upturned lashes almost brushing together.
Xu Chaoqi tried to read his Senior Brother’s gaze, but those eyes were deep and murky, and even though the eyes themselves did not move, he still could not understand them.
“Senior Brother…” he murmured softly. Hot breath spread out, his lips nearly grazing the other man’s chin.
His Senior Brother pulled away from him and straightened up, his tall shadow falling over him once more.
A faint laugh drifted down from above, his voice slightly hoarse. “Xiao Yao shouldn’t let his imagination run wild. Senior Brother is simply used to meditating in seated cultivation.”
Xu Chaoqi raised his eyes slightly, hesitating. “But even for a cultivator, no matter how high their cultivation, they still need to sleep at least once every ten years, or else they risk falling into a demonic trance. And if one goes a hundred years without sleeping, transcending tribulation would become difficult too.”
His head was patted, and his Senior Brother’s tone was as light and elegant as always. “Senior Brother does sleep.”
Xu Chaoqi had been about to say he didn’t believe it, but then his Senior Brother added, “Before too long, the immortal palace will be fitted with a new wooden bed.”
Xu Chaoqi thought it over, and let the matter go.
What was past was already settled; if Senior Brother could sleep on schedule from now on, that would be a good thing too.
They sat on the couch together, and Xu Chaoqi liked to prop his feet on the footstool while leaning against his Senior Brother.
His Senior Brother brought a plate of fruit over and said, “This is the Biruan fruit.”
Xu Chaoqi glanced at the fruit. Its outer layer had a green rind, but the rind grew strangely, clinging stubbornly to the flesh beneath. And this rind was poisonous—one could never simply crack it open and bite straight in, but had to peel the flesh out carefully, without letting a trace of the rind touch it.
The rind was also quite the ordeal to deal with—hard in some places, soft in others. If one didn’t handle it with the right amount of force, the whole fruit risked being crushed, the rind and flesh mixing together, ruining the entire fruit.
Xu Chaoqi tried peeling two of them himself, and unsurprisingly, he ruined both completely.
As the juice splattered everywhere, the fragrance of the fruit began to fill the air, sweetness mingled with a delicate scent, and rich spiritual energy flowed out along with it. Just from the smell alone, Xu Chaoqi’s mouth was already watering.
No wonder this fruit was so troublesome to peel, yet still made it onto the table.
His Senior Brother also took out a fruit, but instead of using his hands, he wrapped it in spiritual energy. In an instant, the rind came off in one complete piece, revealing the pure white flesh inside.
His Senior Brother glanced at him from the corner of his eye, and Xu Chaoqi, understanding at once, picked up a small bowl.
The flesh dropped into the bowl, no bigger than a small apricot. Xu Chaoqi used his chopsticks to bring it to his mouth.
The moment the flesh touched his tongue, a delicate fragrance mixed with a creamy sweetness, along with a faint floral scent. The sweetness whetted his appetite at once—sweet, but never cloying.
He savored the aftertaste endlessly.
Just then, the second fruit had also been peeled, and once again Xu Chaoqi popped it straight into his mouth, his cheeks bulging.
Xu Chaoqi relaxed completely, utterly at ease.
****
Down in the mortal realm.
A moment after Sect Master Wen entered the auspicious clouds, the Southern Competition Immortal Platform gradually grew quiet, and everyone’s expressions turned solemn as well.
As the sound of wind and drums rose, Fu Xuandao struck the divine bell before the eyes of all present.
“The Centennial Grand Disciple Competition of the Sects Across the Twenty-Seven Regions—begin!”
At that moment, dozens of disciples stepped forward, and one among them stood out in particular.
That person stood at the very front of all the disciples. While the disciples of Yingtian Sect wore black, half of the Daoist robe on his body was white, gradually shifting to black from the waist down.
He strode forward, his bearing dignified, a jade crown on his head, his gaze resolute and brooking no refusal.
In full view of everyone, he walked to the front of the platform and performed the disciple’s bow to Fu Xuandao.
“This disciple, Yu Chengzhou, seventeenth-generation Young Sect Master of Yingtian Sect, comes at the sect’s command to attend the first match of the Centennial Grand Disciple Competition.”
Watching his disciple, who had now become someone capable of holding his own, Fu Xuandao could not help but feel a surge of relief in his heart.
He smiled and nodded. “Good. Zhou’er, show the venerable elders here the bearing of our Yingtian Sect disciples.”
After Yu Chengzhou returned the bow, he ascended the dueling platform.
Fu Xuandao watched his figure, his gaze somewhat complicated. He shook his head, on the verge of furrowing his brow, but then suddenly smiled.
He looked up at the sky, then withdrew his gaze.
Such a fine child, and yet he had suffered a heart-demon tribulation—though it seemed now that he had found a way through crisis to survival.
….
Above the auspicious clouds, Xu Chaoqi watched the screen of light before him while biting into the fruit flesh in his bowl.
Upon hearing the words “Young Sect Master,” he froze for a moment, forgetting to chew the fruit in his mouth.
“Xiao Yao…” his Senior Brother called to him.
Only then did Xu Chaoqi come back to his senses. Still chewing the fruit, he cast a look of astonishment toward the screen of light.
“Young Sect Master… he’s the Young Sect Master?”
In Xu Chaoqi’s childhood, “Young Sect Master” had meant the Young Leader of the sect.
His Senior Brother made a soft sound of acknowledgment.
In previous years, the first match of the Centennial Grand Disciple Competition had always been fought by Yingtian Sect’s Young Sect Master, and his opponent was never a real person, but rather several puppet fighters whose cultivation was set several ranks above the Young Sect Master’s own.
This was the so-called “auspicious opening”—first, it gave the competition a good omen, and second, it meant no disciple from another sect had to face off against Yingtian Sect’s Young Sect Master, only to be publicly humiliated and lose face.
Yu Chengzhou stepped onto the platform and summoned his life-bound sword. His eyes were calm, and everything in the outside world failed to register in them.
“He’s a sword cultivator?!” Xu Chaoqi set down his bowl, both hands pressing against the table, his bright eyes filled with a smile—clearly, this was very much to his liking.
Wen Chaoxi had just finished peeling a fruit. Hearing the fondness in the voice of the person beside him, his eyes did not change, and his expression remained calm.
This time, he did not reach for another Biruan fruit, but instead took a purple fruit of somewhat inferior taste and began to peel it.
“Mn, that’s right.” Having said this, he placed the fruit into the bowl.
Xu Chaoqi took a bite and sensed something was off. He blinked in confusion and looked toward his Senior Brother.
“Senior Brother, the Biruan fruit…”
“It’s not good to eat only one kind of fruit all the time. Time for a change.” His Senior Brother’s smile remained just as gentle as he coaxed him.
Xu Chaoqi mulled over his Senior Brother’s words and found some sense in them, so he began eating the purple fruit, though somewhat listlessly.
Fortunately, in the screen of light, Yu Chengzhou’s swordsmanship was excellent, and in just a few moves he defeated a puppet whose cultivation was two ranks above his own.
“Well done!” Xu Chaoqi couldn’t help but praise him, and at the same time ate another purple fruit that wasn’t quite so tasty.
Yu Chengzhou swung his sword, and in the next instant, one sword transformed into ten thousand, countless sword-shadows piercing into the puppet.
Xu Chaoqi’s eyes grew even brighter. “This move is excellent—executed with no weakness at all, the sword-light fierce and sharp. Even I might not necessarily be able to beat him.”
The purple fruit was sent into Xu Chaoqi’s mouth by spiritual energy. As he chewed, his Senior Brother said beside him, “Xiao Yao need not belittle himself.”
Xu Chaoqi shook his head, his eyes curving. “If my skill falls short of another’s, then it falls short—that much I’ll admit.”
Yu Chengzhou slashed his sword through the air, the sword-shadows spinning and turning, and an illusory image actually took shape in midair.
Xu Chaoqi grew even more astonished. “Man and sword as one, the sword-qi taking form—how formidable!”
He ate another black fruit that wasn’t especially tasty, and Xu Chaoqi’s brow furrowed slightly. “Just as some people’s swordsmanship each has its own merits, so too does the taste of these fruits, each in their own way.”
Fortunately, the black fruit wasn’t bad either—it simply wasn’t as stunning as the Biruan fruit.
After several rounds of sword techniques, Yu Chengzhou naturally won in dazzling, brilliant fashion.
The mighty experts, having witnessed the skill of Yingtian Sect’s new Young Sect Master, were even more astounded.
“This Yu Chengzhou is no ordinary talent—the student surpasses the master. I recall that back in his day, even Fu Changzong wasn’t as impressive as he is now.”
The person beside him laughed. “Yingtian Sect just keeps growing more powerful—naturally each generation of Young Sect Master surpasses the last. I’ve lived quite a long time myself, and looking at all the past Young Sect Masters, not a single one can compare to Yu Chengzhou!”
“The later generations may not measure up, but as for this generation—that’s not so certain!” someone said, clearly implying something.
Those nearby quickly fell silent upon hearing this.
….
Within the auspicious clouds, Xu Chaoqi had eaten so many different kinds of fruit that his hair had even begun to droop.
He watched Yu Chengzhou step down from the platform, his lovely eyes flickering, and said with feeling, “He’s truly formidable—only slightly less impressive than Senior Brother back in his day.”
Wen Chaoxi, who had been peeling a black fruit, paused. He looked at the smooth surface of the fruit, rubbing his thumb against the rind, and in an instant a wormhole appeared on the skin. He then casually tossed the fruit aside.
Xu Chaoqi took a bite of a new fruit, the delicate fragrance and creamy sweetness mixing in his mouth. His eyes lit up, and he looked at his Senior Brother. “Didn’t you say I couldn’t eat the Biruan fruit anymore?”
Wen Chaoxi peeled the rind unhurriedly, his tone leisurely. “You’ve eaten plenty of the other fruits now, so it’s just about right to switch back.”
Another piece of creamy white fruit flesh dropped into the bowl.
Xu Chaoqi put the flesh into his mouth and continued, “I remember Senior Brother already knew these sword techniques by the time he was around twenty. Our sect had no cultivation techniques of its own either—Senior Brother had to figure it all out alone through comprehension.”
His Senior Brother, eyes lowered as he peeled the fruit, spoke as though it were of no great matter. “Pride and self-satisfaction are not to be indulged. One must remain humble over the long term in order to preserve one’s true nature.”
Xu Chaoqi didn’t think much of it. He bent down and took a bite straight from the tip of his Senior Brother’s finger, biting off the piece of fruit flesh there.
His Senior Brother’s fingertip curled slightly, withdrawing into his palm.
A clear, bright voice rang out in the air. “Senior Brother truly is amazing—both in talent and in endurance, the very best in this world.”