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T/N: The previous translators used the words ‘Senior Brother" and ‘Junior Brother", but I"ve decided to use the words ‘Shixiong" and ‘Shidi" instead in response to my followers" request (I"m also more used to using these words).

n.o.body had expected this development. The crowd, which was gathered closely around them, immediately backed off and left out a large s.p.a.ce for them.

Some of the bystanders openly put their heads together in discussion, trying to figure out their origins.

The Fuyao Sect had secluded themselves from human eyes for a long time. Other than the formidable masters who had lived for thousands of years from back then, not many people had ever heard of the sect now. It just had to be that this sect with unknown origins had been putting up a wealthy and high-ranking act since that day on the port of the East Sea, that people couldn"t possibly not know them. Everyone had heard of the wastrels in this sect.

Even if cultivators wouldn"t care about worldly matters and wealth, could they really be so indifferent when the Island Lord also gave these people special treatment?

Yan ZhengMing and his group, who never interacted much with outsiders, didn"t know that they had already become a thorn in these people"s eyes.

Cheng Qian, with his figure of an eleven- to twelve-year-old boy, stood there without moving, a lone wooden sword that looked like a child"s toy in his hand.

Somebody sneered among the crowd, “What a c.o.c.ky child. Is there no senior in the sect to keep him in line?”

Another one said, “What, didn"t you hear that the Island Lord had allowed them to enter the Lecture Hall? What kind of honorable sect would let their disciples enter other people"s lecture halls?”

“That"s quite strange. Then why does the Island Lord give them such special treatment?”

“Who knows? It"s probably the young master of a wealthy family, or even a relative of the royal family. Maybe they had spent large sums of money to acquire a rare treasure and swayed the Island Lord, so they were allowed in.”

“Thinking that anyone could be a cultivator, what an unrealistic dream. Is the path of cultivation so easy to tread?”

Yan ZhengMing had practically been driven mad. He finally understood that Cheng Qian"s reliability was only a flower in the mirror, the moon reflected on the water [1] — It didn"t really exist!

Face cold as ice, he gritted out in a low voice through clenched teeth, “Cheng, Qian!”

Cheng Qian wasn"t deaf, of course he had heard those comments. He immediately understood then — their days on the island wasn"t ‘going to be" difficult, it had already become difficult starting then.

After making a such a show, his karma bore fruit early too. Cheng Qian had suspicions that his master"s words on the boat back then were a premonition of sorts.

But now that things had come to this point…

Cheng Qian didn"t actually want to make any real move, he had only meant to put up an act for the people of Azure Dragon Island to see.

Firstly, the other party had lost earlier, it wouldn"t be reasonable for him to get on the platform again. Secondly, Cheng Qian knew his own age. Let"s not talk about these cultivators — even among the common folks, it wouldn"t be reasonable for a large grown-up man to pick a fight with a barely adolescent boy.

At this point, Cheng Qian finally realized that he might have unwittingly jumped onto the tiger"s back [2].

If he were a good boy who was good with words, he could have easily talked his way out of this situation. He wasn"t any kind of person with status anyway, the top of his head could barely reach that man"s chest, so he didn"t need to consider his face much, his life was most important — But Cheng Qian had never been an unruly brat to begin with.

Mind racing, he quickly went through all the exchange of blows that he"d seen on the platform earlier. When he finished, he did not retreat and steeled himself instead, thinking: “Come at me if you want, it"s not like I"m afraid of you.”

Cheng Qian refused to back down and ignored Yan ZhengMing"s warnings. Acting like the bystanders didn"t exist, he cupped his fist with his other hand and said to the rogue cultivator, “I"ve learned a bit of swordplay myself, but I"m not very skilled yet. My master still wouldn"t let me use an iron sword. I"d appreciate any pointers from you, Brother [3].”

It was unclear what kind of sect out in the wilderness had produced this defeated rogue cultivator, but he didn"t care much for face or respect. After hearing those words, he immediately responded, “Giving pointers is too much of an honor for me. Since Young Master could enter the Lecture Hall without partic.i.p.ating in the compet.i.tion, you must have some kind of unique talent.”

The moment he finished speaking, a small part of the crowd laughed in a soft voice — probably at his lack of shame.

One of the bystanders who"d been watching the spectacle interrupted then, “Second Brother Zhang, this young brother has challenged you, so accept his challenge. If you win, maybe the Island Lord would also give you special privilege!”

Han Yuan said angrily, “What if you lose? Kneel down and… mmph!”

Li Yun reached out to cover his mouth, completely shutting up this troublemaker.

The rogue cultivator made a show of raising his brows, “Aiya, what did that little brother say just now? What would happen if I lose?”

Cheng Qian slowly levelled his wooden sword, made an opening gesture, and said mildly, “I wouldn"t dare. My Shidi"s words were insolent, do pardon him — Please.”

Yan ZhengMing fumed with anger and decided to grab Cheng Qian back without caring for anything else. But he had only taken one step when a folding fan appeared out of nowhere to block his way.

He saw a scholarly man wearing a long robe, eyes slanted and sharp. The man swept a glance toward Yan ZhengMing and said in a slightly frivolous manner, “Ah, don"t be in such a hurry to stop them, Sect Leader Yan. Let us witness the skill of your sect"s favorite disciple.”

“Out of my way!” Yan ZhengMing struck at that person"s wrist with the base of his sword.

Li Yun, “Eldest Shixiong, don"t…”

Before Yan ZhengMing"s sword could even brush against the corner of that person"s clothes, a formless great energy collided with his sword"s hilt. The force of the collision went along his arm toward his chest. After suffering this blow, Yan ZhengMing retreated three steps, a suffocating feeling in his chest, and almost vomited a mouthful of blood.

Li Yun hurried to support him from behind. “Shixiong!”

Yan ZhengMing forced himself to swallow the metallic taste in his throat and glared at the man in long robe.

That person showed no regard for him at all. He calmly unfurled his folding fan and made a show of fanning himself. On the fan, written in a colorful and elaborate fashion, was the line ‘Think thrice before you act [4]". He smiled meaningfully as he said, “Such recklessness is ill-fitting for a sect leader.”

This person was clearly here to stir trouble for them!

That rogue cultivator had lost in the Azure Dragon Compet.i.tion anyway, so he didn"t have much to consider. He didn"t even care that Cheng Qian only had a worn out wooden sword in his hand. Throwing aside all earlier pretenses, he charged forward with a slash of his sword.

This wasn"t a strike that could be stopped easily. It was unclear where he had obtained his sword, but there were enhancing incantations carved onto it. The rogue cultivator also practiced some kind of strange cultivation method, that before the sword even landed a hit, an eerie wind had arrived first, causing an irritating pain on the skin.

The wooden sword truly wasn"t a strong object. Cheng Qian didn"t have his Master"s skill, so he avoided the tip of the sword and dodged with a twist of his body.

The rogue cultivator saw that he would only retreat and dodge instead of meeting the strikes, and immediately became frenzied. He jumped around quickly, using his showy and fancy swordplay that the eyes could hardly follow, and forced Cheng Qian to move all over the place to dodge him.

The scholar standing in Yan ZhengMing"s way watched those two like he was watching a monkey show. He smiled. “Your honorable sect"s disciple is still so young, but he has great talent to be a counterattacker.”

He ironically ‘praised" Cheng Qian for only being able to dodge and retreat. Yan ZhengMing"s sword-wielding hand turned green at the knuckles. From the day he was born till now, when had he ever suffered such disgrace?

The rogue cultivator closed in on Cheng Qian and smiled maliciously, “Does your sect"s brilliant swordplay only teach you to dodge and retreat?”

As he spoke, the wooden hairpin in Cheng Qian"s hair was split in two by the wind from his sword. A large part of his hair immediately came loose.

The rogue cultivator, “You"d better go back to drink your milk… ugh!”

Cheng Qian caught him off guard with his counterattack then.

He jumped sideways, the tip of his foot lightly tapping the floor. And then he turned with the move ‘Tides of the Full Moon [5]".

This was the opening move of Tide Swordplay. Just like the magnificent sounds of the seas and rivers, its footwork used long strides. The wooden sword swept by like a thousand waves, somehow giving off a strange fearsome feeling, that the rogue cultivator couldn"t help hesitating.

Two kinds of people were suitable for this kind of swordplay: The first was people who crudely fought with raw strength, who would break through any fancy techniques with one forceful blow; The other kind was people who were merciless in their ways, like Cheng Qian.

Cheng Qian trained with his sword diligently, but he had never really fought with anyone. His natural reaction was still untrained, so it was useless no matter how practiced his own swordplay was — Even though the rogue cultivator"s skill wasn"t that high, Cheng Qian was still no match for him, so he had never planned to exchange blows directly.

While watching the match, Cheng Qian had seen that this rogue cultivator"s sword techniques were packed with power, so he took a risky guess and predicted that his opponent wouldn"t change his techniques much.

He had been avoiding and dodging the attacks earlier because he only had one trick up his sleeve. He was waiting for his opponent to get carried away and push on his seeming victory, to use this technique and deliver his own blow.

The wooden sword accurately sliced through the wind from the rogue cultivator"s sword. Brushing along the iron sword"s edge, he cleanly avoided the sword tip. And, with the unique cultivation method of Fuyao Sect that trained the meridians through carving charms, he mercilessly struck the rogue cultivator"s face.

Of course, the blunt wooden sword wouldn"t cause his blood to be splattered for three feet, but the rogue cultivator was still stunned by this strike. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, his two lips split into three. A dark bruising mark was left on his face, which swelled to the size of a steamed bun in the blink of an eye. n.o.body knew whether his teeth were knocked out.

It was said that one shouldn"t hit the face when beating someone. This strike was so shocking that the bystanders were bewildered.

Even the scholar with the folding fan seemed stunned. “What a merciless little whelp.”

Cheng Qian was already feeling regretful after landing his. .h.i.t. It was as if he had made an even bigger mess of things.

Because of this, he showed no sign of complacency and only retracted his wooden sword with an emotionless face. The tip of his sword was pointed downward to show respect. Clasping his hands together, he lowered his head in apology. “I apologize for the displeasure. Many thanks for Brother"s helpful pointers.”

The rogue cultivator covered his own face, unable to speak. The scholar with the folding fan raised his brows, retracted the folding fan back into his palm, and commented as if deep in thought, “His venom is quite reserved too. How interesting.”

When Cheng Qian lowered his eyes, he had swept a glance toward the Azure Dragon Platform. He saw some of the Protectors [6] putting their heads together in discussion. Tang WanQiu had even shown a hint of a smile. Only then did he wipe his cold sweat on the hilt of his sword, feeling like he could retreat now that he had made his point.

He let loose a breath in relief, thinking, “In the future, I"d better pick fewer fights, and displease fewer people.”

But this issue was clearly not over yet. Cheng Qian had wholeheartedly apologized, but when he turned around with his wooden sword, he heard an inhumane howl from behind.

“Little b.a.s.t.a.r.d, stop right there!”

And then there was a sharp hiss of the wind from behind. Cheng Qian reflexively dodged to one side, but someone in front of him was standing in his way. Cheng Qian couldn"t dodge, so he could only raise the wooden sword in his hand.

Right then, a hand forcefully caught his arm. Cheng Qian lost his balance and b.u.mped straight into that person"s chest. The clear sound of clashing metal rang next to his ear with a silk-splitting sharpness. Cheng Qian"s pupils narrowed into slits — The defeated rogue cultivator had disregarded everything in his anger and slashed at him from behind. Cheng Qian had been pulled aside by his Eldest Shixiong.

Yan ZhengMing"s sword, which he didn"t manage to unsheathe in time, had deflected the rogue cultivator"s sword. But that rogue cultivator"s black charcoal of a brother made use of this opening to throw a piece of metal charged with his energy, directly hitting the end of Yan ZhengMing"s sword and causing it to slip in his hand. The rogue cultivator"s sword, which should have been deflected, changed directions because of this and sliced into Yan ZhengMing"s shoulder.

Cheng Qian"s sight turned red instantly.

Yan ZhengMing first became enraged, but he didn"t even manage to express his fury before he was beaten by the pain of his ‘heavy wound" — He had originally meant to unsheathe his sword and cut down his opponent, but he didn"t get to do this because it felt like the injured side of his body could no longer exert any strength.

Of course, the outsiders didn"t know any of these details. In their eyes, the much too young Sect Leader Yan had only held his sword without a move, showing a steady and mature air that was rarely found in young people.

After inhaling a deep breath expressionlessly, Yan ZhengMing finally spoke, “I"ve gained new knowledge today.”

Now that things had reached this point, Tang WanQiu finally spoke from next to the Azure Dragon Platform.

She couldn"t leave the Azure Dragon Platform, so she was quite a distance away, but each of her word could be heard clearly, as if she was speaking directly next to them, “Those who have been eliminated from the Azure Dragon Compet.i.tion, leave as soon as possible. Don"t loiter around to create a disturbance, what kind of place do you think this is!”

Seeing that someone from the Azure Dragon Island had spoken up, the rogue cultivator brothers exchanged a look. In the end, they didn"t dare to continue making a scene. After glaring at Cheng Qian and Yan ZhengMing viciously, they disappeared into the crowd and left.

Yan ZhengMing hissed lightly, released Cheng Qian, and said through gritted teeth, “Let"s go.”

Cheng Qian held onto a corner of his sleeve so tightly his fingers might puncture the fabric. In a barely audible voice, he spoke next to Yan ZhengMing"s ear, “I"m going to take their lives.”

Yan ZhengMing was surprised. He forcibly reigned in his look of pain and asked, “What did you say?”

Cheng Qian swept his reddened eyes over Yan ZhengMing"s b.l.o.o.d.y shoulder. “One day, I"m going to reduce them to ashes.”

Yan ZhengMing raised a hand to clap his back, “Nonsense… Ow, aiyo… I"ll slap you if you spew anymore nonsense!”

Cheng Qian looked at him, placed Yan ZhengMing"s arm around his own neck, and wordlessly supported him as they walked back. But his eyes still bore the beginnings of resentment — even if he spoke no more of it, he had engraved this grudge in his heart.

There was a kind of capability unique to some people with a big heart: No matter how happy or enraged they felt, as long as there was somebody else close to them who was more emotional than they were, they would be able to calm down immediately. Like Yan ZhengMing, for example. He had been almost consumed with rage earlier, but when he heard Cheng Qian"s words, he somehow felt that his fury had lessened a lot.

Li Yun hurried to help support Yan ZhengMing and released Cheng Qian"s hand. Cheng Qian silently followed them, eyes lowered and fixedly staring at the ground in front of him.

The four of them returned to their temporary dwelling on the Azure Dragon Island without a word.

“Forget it, Copper Coin,” Yan ZhengMing saw that Cheng Qian"s face seemed odd and was a little worried he would really go to kill those people, so he awkwardly tried to console him, “You were the one who"d struck his face to begin with. n.o.body would be able to accept that, so don"t keep a grudge against them now.”

Li Yun never thought that he would ever hear this kind of enlightening words from his Eldest Shixiong. He immediately looked at him in shock and raised a trembling hand to feel his Eldest Shixiong"s forehead.

Cheng Qian made no sound in response.

Yan ZhengMing seemed to have noticed something. He stiffly turned half of his body around, reached out to lift Cheng Qian"s chin slightly, and said in amazement, “Aiyo, Copper Coin, you"re crying?”

Somehow, this discovery made Yan ZhengMing"s heart burst with such joy, that his wound didn"t even hurt so much anymore. One could almost see a tail rising behind him as he shamelessly said, “Could it be, you"re feeling sorry for this Shixiong of yours? Ah, out of grat.i.tude for your filial piety, I"ll allow you to serve tea for this Sect Leader.”

Cheng Qian slapped his hand away. “Scram!”

And then he ran toward his own courtyard.

Yan ZhengMing looked around for a bit, found a black stone pillar on a nearby corridor, and told Li Yun, “Help me go over there.”

Li Yun thought that he had some kind of urgent business and hurriedly brought him to the pillar. When he saw Yan ZhengMing stare fixedly at the stone pillar, he asked in slight worry, “Why… Eldest Shixiong, is something wrong with this pillar?”

“There"s nothing wrong,” Yan ZhengMing said happily, “It"s quite clear.”

Li Yun only understood what he meant after a long while. He immediately became irritated. “A dog truly couldn"t be trained to stop eating s.h.i.t [7].”

Yan ZhengMing studied his own reflection on the stone pillar"s surface. The small wound on his shoulder did nothing to impair his natural elegance. Even as an injured person, he remained charming and beautiful.

Cheng Qian"s reddened eyes had given Yan ZhengMing a peculiar feeling. It was as if a small wolf that would always ignore him all day and bite his hand for no reason had come in the dead of night to sneakily lick at the wound on his hand. It felt very tender and soothing.

In this feeling of tenderness, Sect Leader Yan, with his very small wound, was delicately helped into his room, crying out in pain all the way. Amid the Taoist children"s panicked fussing, he was treated like a delicate vase that would break with the slightest touch.

[1] ‘a flower in the mirror, the moon reflected on the water" The phrase used here is 「鏡花水月」. It refers to an illusory existence, something that doesn"t actually exist despite seemingly being there.

[2] ‘unwittingly jumped onto the tiger"s back" The phrase used here is 「騎虎難下」. It"s a Chinese expression that refers to a difficult dilemma, in which one couldn"t back out of a commitment once they"ve started on it. Brief explanation: When riding a tiger, one couldn"t dismount by simply jumping off because the tiger could just turn around to strike. Continuing to hold on would wear out the person and cause them to fall, which would lead to the same outcome. One can only dismount safely after killing the tiger.

[3] ‘Brother" The phrase used here is 「兄台」, which is not used for blood-related brothers. Quick note: People in this sort of setting often use variations of "Brother" to address strangers whose names they don"t know.

[4] ‘Think thrice before you act" The phrase used here is 「三思而後行」. It"s a pretty self-explanatory Chinese expression, which means one must consider everything carefully before taking action.

[5] ‘Tides of the Full Moon" The phrase used here is 「海潮望月」. It could also be translated into "Tides looking upon the moon" if you treat 望 as a verb, but 望月 as a noun means ‘full moon".

[6] ‘Protectors" The word used here is 「護法」, which is commonly used to say "protector of Buddhist law". In this setting, it"s a term for some select individuals on Azure Dragon Island including Tang WanQiu.

[7] ‘A dog truly couldn"t be trained to stop eating s.h.i.t" The phrase used here is 「狗改不了吃屎」. It basically means that bad habits couldn"t be changed so easily.

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