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Cheng Qian wasn"t interested in the news. He had never held any interest in pointless things like competing with others, because there was no need.

As he got older, his prideful heart had been tested with a fair deal of self-doubt and become even more steadfast as a result. Now, in Cheng Qian"s eyes, there were only two kinds of people in this world: people who are no match for him now, and people who will be no match for him in the future.

Cheng Qian"s back was beginning to hurt greatly, so he didn"t want to loiter around. He announced simply, “I"m leaving if there"s nothing else.”

“Hold it, your business isn"t done yet, stay right there,” Yan Zhengming said before turning to Han Yuan, “Have you finished your daily a.s.signment of thirty wooden charms?”

Han Yuan, “…”

Seeing this, Yan Zhengming raised his brow, “What does that compet.i.tion have to do with you? Hurry up and go!”

Han Yuan dejectedly stuck his tongue out and didn"t dare to say another word.

Their Sect Leader was no longer the person he used to be — He had grown from a little boy playing the part of a vain narcissist, into a vain narcissist who actually has authority.

Five years ago, Sect Leader Yan, who"d suffered humiliation at the Lecture Hall, had made a seemingly illogical decision without a care for public opinion — He obstinately insisted that Fuyao Sect cultivates through reciting sutras, preserving the tradition of training the meridians through carving charms. Even if they had to follow in other people"s footsteps and hurry to build their cultivation base, they must still spend additional time to complete these two a.s.signments.

Regarding this, Yan Zhengming had explained his reason with some self-deprecation, “I"ve grown to this age, but other than this face that my parents had birthed me with, there is nothing on my person that holds any sort of value. What right do I have to change the thousand-year tradition of our sect? In any case, even if the sect tradition makes no sense whatsoever, it"s still something left behind by our master.”

That last line had moved Cheng Qian, causing the only person who would go against the Sect Leader"s words to change sides.

Li Yun never had much opinion to begin with, so he agreed quickly. As for Han Yuan, he didn"t even have a clear viewpoint. Thus, this matter was decided just like that.

Those five years had proven that Yan Zhengming"s seemingly absurd decision was correct.

After absorbing Qi into their body, forming their cultivation base wasn"t a smooth process. Once a person began cultivating, they would encounter one Trial every three years. Each time, they would experience something akin to a minor heavenly tribulation, which might result in dire consequences if they weren"t careful. In the best case scenario, their cultivation wouldn"t improve for the next few years; in the worst case scenario, they"d experience a Qi deviation.

These were the trials that had to be endured once a common person treads the path of cultivation.

Back then, Muchun Zhenren had never urged his disciples to form their cultivation base. If he hadn"t departed unexpectedly, the disciples" boring days of charms and sutras in the Mission Hall would"ve continued for so many years. This process was long and tedious, its results not immediately visible. But when repeated daily, their meridians would become strengthened through these continuous efforts.

It goes in line with the saying ‘Sharpening the axe won"t interfere with cutting firewood [1]".

This way, when they truly began to build their cultivation base through conventional means like other people, their progress would be much faster, even if not extremely so. When encountering their Trial, too, their experience would be much better than other people"s.

But with the firewood presented right in front of them, how many people in the world would be willing to keep sharpening their axe?

After telling Han Yuan off, Yan Zhengming made a gesture toward Cheng Qian, telling him to follow, and led the way out.

Shuikeng, who was originally squatting in the middle of the courtyard, immediately lit up when she saw him emerge. She stared at Yan Zhengming with eager eyes, like a bird that had been caged for a long time.

Each time Yan Zhengming saw her, he would always feel like he"d seen his own past self. It produced a strange sentiment of ‘One wouldn"t know the grace of one"s parents before raising their own child". With a flick of his finger, he sent out a bolt of his Qi, which accurately hit the charms under Shuikeng"s feet. An opening was torn in the flawless circle of charms, through which the Qi within leaked out, creating a small vortex right there.

After she was freed, Shuikeng plopped down on the ground, drawling out a boorish accent that she"d picked up from some unknown place as she stretched her neck, “Oh, mother, ow ow ow ow — this old body"s all exhausted.”

Hearing this, Yan Zhengming"s footsteps halted. Shuikeng saw that things were taking a bad turn, so she hurriedly jumped to her feet, wiped her face with the small dirty hands she"d just used to pat her rear, and feigned innocence without regard for her slovenly appearance, “Hehe, thank you, Eldest Shixiong.”

Her every action made Yan Zhengming"s eyes twitch continuously. At last, he couldn"t stand it anymore and turned to leave with a flick of his sleeves. He told Cheng Qian as he walked, “If she dared to grow up like Tang Wanqiu in the future, I"m going to kick her out of our sect no matter what.”

“She won"t,” Cheng Qian comforted him, “She"s the Yao Queen"s daughter after all. I heard that the offspring of a cuckold usually wouldn"t be too ugly.”

Sect Leader Yan, “…”

He did not feel better in the slightest.

Yan Zhengming opened the door to his own room and jerked his chin at Cheng Qian coldly, telling him to enter. Cheng Qian hesitated at the doorway — Even though the fragrant aroma in Yan Zhengming"s room had become much milder after Xiao-Yue"er left, Cheng Qian still couldn"t help sneezing when the door was opened.

He rubbed his nose while looking at the flowers on the table, which always remained in bloom with the help of charms, and took a moment to admire his Sect Leader"s deeply-ingrained sophistication. He secretly let out a sigh. He might not be able to get out of this one.

Zheshi rose to his feet. “Sect Leader.”

“There"s nothing for you to do here, you can leave.” Yan Zhengming said, “When the Lecture ends tomorrow, tell Xueqing to come to my place, there"s something I need him to do.”

Zheshi obediently left the room. Yan Zhengming closed the door behind him, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and leaned his back against the door. To Cheng Qian, he said, “Take off your clothes.”

Cheng Qian, “…”

“Hurry,” Yan Zhengming said expressionlessly, “Are you waiting for me to strip you?”

Cheng Qian, “I"m not…”

Seeing his lack of cooperation, Yan Zhengming immediately took a step forward, about to make good on his words and ‘carry out the law on the spot".

Cheng Qian saw his determination to pursue the issue, so he reluctantly began to disrobe while intentionally trying to disgust Yan Zhengming, “Eldest Shixiong, I haven"t bathed in three days, aren"t you afraid of corrupting your eyes?”

Surprisingly, Yan Zhengming didn"t take the bait. He reached out to tug off the clothes Cheng Qian kept hanging on his body and saw the bruise on Cheng Qian"s back, which extended from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist. It had almost blackened, the ruptured blood vessels spreading out like spiderwebs. On the youth"s pale back, it was an extremely horrifying sight.

Other than that, there were many other wounds of varying degrees on Cheng Qian"s body. Some of them had deeper colors, while others seemed like they would fade out soon — absorbing Qi into the body didn"t mean they could practice inedia and be free of worldly needs, but after they"d begun cultivating, their marrows and bones would be cleansed. Their bodies wouldn"t blemish as easily as those of common people, and their wounds wouldn"t scar either. Except if they hadn"t managed to recover.

With just a glance, Yan Zhengming immediately averted his eyes. It felt like his chest had been struck mercilessly, his heart aching so much it seemed to be on the verge of breaking. Even his own back was throbbing as a result.

A strange unreasonable anger toward Cheng Qian formed inside Yan Zhengming. His chest rose and fell repeatedly as he forced himself to calm down, which took a while.

“Go lie on the bed,” Yan Zhengming said. He unsuccessfully tried to hold himself back, and added in a resentful voice, “If you had been two years younger, I would"ve beaten you until not even your master could recognize you, b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”

Cheng Qian tried to turn his neck a few times, but didn"t succeed, so he obediently lay on his stomach to let his Eldest Shixiong apply medicine for him. He still tried to explain himself, “Is it bruising? They always cover large areas, but they"re actually alright… Ah!”

“Alright?” Yan Zhengming"s voice turned cold.

Cheng Qian didn"t dare to anger him further, so he buried his face in the sheets and focused on enduring the pain.

The demon-vanquishing club naturally had divine murderous energy. If it weren"t for the user being so incompetent, unable to bring out even a tenth of its power, that thing could have shattered the entirety of Cheng Qian"s innards through his back.

Yan Zhengming"s cusses and berating words were right at the tip of his tongue, but when they were about to leave his mouth, he couldn"t make a single sound. After experiencing so much, Yan Zhengming"s empathy-lacking heart had finally grown back.

The current Yan Zhengming, with his fully-functional heart, knew exactly how Cheng Qian had earned each of the wounds on his body.

Now that he thought about it, any grudge or fury couldn"t have kept him going for so many years. Yan Zhengming couldn"t deny that this Shidi of his, who was the youngest out of them all, had pushed him to come to this point.

Cheng Qian had never criticized his Sect Leader about anything. His att.i.tude had always been the same: If you can do it, do it yourself; if you can"t do it, I"ll do it for you, even if my body is ruined and my bones are shattered.

Each wound on Cheng Qian"s body was like a slap to Yan Zhengming"s face. Because of this, he didn"t dare to rest for even one moment.

In the hardest days, Yan Zhengming had been unable to close his eyes for an entire night, because he kept seeing this Shidi of his in his nightmares.

There was a soothing scent in Yan Zhengming"s warm sheets, the aroma permeating into the body and limbs. These past few days, Cheng Qian had been waiting for the right timing next to the Wupeng Herb, so he was thoroughly exhausted. Not long after he"d lied down, he didn"t want to move another inch.

After he finished applying medicine, Yan Zhengming saw the youth"s increasingly thinning waist and couldn"t help thinking, The Sect Leader"s seal hangs around my neck. Even if I"m not around, there"s still Li Yun — Even Han Yuan is older than you, so why couldn"t you just be like Shuikeng, and remain blissfully ignorant? Why do you have to force yourself like this? Why don"t you rely on your Shixiong more?

And yet, though he could have said these words to anyone, he couldn"t say them to Cheng Qian, whose exhaustion became apparent after he had relaxed.

Because they had been relying on each other for life all these years, even saying ‘thanks" was difficult for Yan Zhengming, much less enlightening words of that sort.

After some inner turmoil, Yan Zhengming only told him tersely, “Zhou Hanzheng has returned, but he won"t stay for long. No matter what, you have to endure it and keep a low profile, do you hear me?”

Cheng Qian drowsily made a sound in response, clearly treating his words like the wind.

Yan Zhengming looked down and realized that the little b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s eyes had closed. Cheng Qian"s head was slightly turned to the side, his eyelashes sometimes trembling minutely. There were faint dark circles under his eyes. Even the remaining air of adolescence on him had been overpowered by his exhaustion.

Yan Zhengming sighed, gathered his medicines, and made no other sound as he undid Cheng Qian"s hair, pulled his clothes up, and placed a thin blanket over his body. He went to sit and meditate on the side.

But after sitting for a while, Yan Zhengming finally couldn"t help himself. It felt like he wouldn"t be able to meditate peacefully if he didn"t ask this important question, so he went to give Cheng Qian a solid shove, “Hey, have you really not showered for three days?”

The back of Cheng Qian"s head fully showed his murderous intent.

At this point, Yan Zhengming"s mentality had long since stopped being so disturbed like back then. Using meditation as a replacement for sleep was a regular occurrence for him. But this particular day, his mind suddenly became disturbed before dawnbreak, so he opened his eyes.

The colors of the night hadn"t receded from the heavens. Cheng Qian had left at some point — ever since the day Yan Zhengming got to know him, Cheng Qian had never slept till the sun had risen. There was still some leftover warmth in the sheets.

Yan Zhengming sat silently for a moment, focusing his attention to consider himself. He didn"t seem to have encountered any Trials, but he couldn"t settle down no matter what… as if something was about to happen.

He lit the lamps with a wave of his hand, paced in his room a few times, and procured three copper coins from under the lampshade.

Yan Zhengming wasn"t familiar with the path of divination. He had seen his master do this before, but whenever he tried to ask about it, Master never agreed to teach him, only saying, “Foreknowledge of the future is the culmination of the Dao and the beginning of ignorance. This is a dishonest practice, there is no need for in-depth knowledge.”

Was something important about to occur on Azure Dragon Island?

The three copper coins danced between his deft fingers. After turning them about for a moment, he cleared his mind and sat down to silently recite the Scriptures on Clarity and Stillness.

As expected, Zhou Hanzheng was a harbinger of misfortune. Nothing good ever came from his presence.

Han Yuan"s information was proven to be true. The next day, news of the Grand Compet.i.tion was announced at the Lecture Hall. The mysterious, rarely seen Left Protector and the Right Protector with the face of a debt collector had both gathered on this rare occasion. It was announced that everyone who could absorb Qi into their body was required to partic.i.p.ate. Those who didn"t want to fight could forfeit and admit defeat, otherwise they must step up for the compet.i.tion. The victors could enter the inner halls of the Azure Dragon Island to read the ancient records and listen to the lectures of the disciples without acknowledging the Island Lord as master.

While those endless rules were laid out up there, Cheng Qian sat on the ground without raising his head, carving a wooden tablet the size of his palm.

Yan Zhengming swept a quick glance and explained off-handedly to Han Yuan, “That"s called the ‘Puppet Charm". Carrying it on your person could help ward off a calamity. It"s a well-known visible charm, one of the Seven Great Charms. There are one hundred and eight carvings in total, each stroke interrelated. The strokes must never break, and must never be carved wrong… Look, this small askew stroke has ruined it.”

The tip of Cheng Qian"s burin seemed to have been b.u.mped by something, his spiritual energy abruptly bursting out. Han Yuan felt a gust of raw, moist energy hitting his face, which dispersed in the air quickly. His eyes widened in awe.

Yan Zhengming lazily leaned to one side, patted Cheng Qian"s shoulder, and said, “You"ve only absorbed Qi into your body for six to seven years, but you dared to attempt the Seven Great Charms — You"re really over-demanding, Tong Qian.”

Cheng Qian put the ruined wooden tablet and burin aside, and sat still to regulate his Qi.

Yan Zhengming then continued his words to Han Yuan, “Mistakes in carving can either be caused by lack of practice or running out of energy… In the case of your Third Shixiong, he has run out of energy. Tong Qian, why did you suddenly want to carve this?”

Cheng Qian said casually, “I just wanted to try it.”

Soon enough, Yan Zhengming found out why he wanted to try it.

While everyone was excitedly discussing the Azure Dragon Island"s Grand Compet.i.tion, Yan Zhengming saw Xueqing off at the port of Azure Dragon Island.

“Go and come back as soon as you can,” Yan Zhengming said, “Go back to Fuyao Mountain first, and then go home. See if any of the expenditures were lacking, and replenish them with my funds.”

At this point, Xueqing had grown into a young man, his appearance much more mature. He noted down each point and nodded in affirmation.

“That"s all. You can go…”

“Xueqing-ge, wait!”

As they spoke, a flying horse came galloping toward them. Before it could come to a complete stop, Cheng Qian had jumped off of it. His appearance was evidently a bit disheveled, probably blown by the sea wind or something. When he landed, his breathing was even a bit ragged.

Xueqing had always been gentle and kind, never one for many words. When he was younger, he had been very attentive and meticulous in caring for Cheng Qian. Compared to Yan Zhengming, the Eldest Shixiong who often didn"t act his part, Xueqing was more like a reliable older brother, so his relationship with Cheng Qian had always been quite good.

Xueqing smiled at him, “I will be back soon, so the Third Shishu must take good care of himself.”

“Nn, okay, I understand,” Cheng Qian nodded and procured a small cotton packet from his bosom, which he gave to Xueqing, “I thought I wouldn"t make it. Carry this with you, be careful on your way.”

Yan Zhengming, who had been left out of the picture, asked, “What is this thing, for you to hurry and deliver from so far away?”

Xueqing opened the cotton packet and found a small wooden tablet inside. When he pulled it out for a closer look, Yan Zhengming went rigid — It was a completed Puppet Charm.

Cheng Qian said, slightly bashful, “My energy isn"t enough, so I kept failing. Even after so many days, I could only struggle to complete this one. Keep it with you, but you still need to be careful on the way. Since this was my creation, if you encounter anyone whose cultivation is higher than mine, it would only be a useless piece of wood.”

Xueqing hurriedly said, “Yes, many thanks to Third Shishu.”

Yan Zhengming"s heart was filled with an unusual feeling of dissatisfaction. He thought, I didn"t get any — I went through such pains to raise this little thankless wretch, but he never even carved a whistle for me. The Puppet Charm that he"d worked so hard on was given to someone else first, how ridiculous!

But he was an honorable sect leader, so he couldn"t possibly kick up a fuss with his Shidi and a Daoist child in broad daylight. Yan Zhengming could only put on a straight face and solemnly told Xueqing to hurry back. After seeing him off, he didn"t even spare Cheng Qian a glance before turning to leave angrily.

But he"d only taken two steps when he realized that Cheng Qian was still looking at where the boat had gone, thoughts unclear, not even noticing Yan Zhengming"s anger. So Sect Leader Yan purposefully returned to wait. Only when Cheng Qian finally turned around with a heavy heart did Yan Zhengming act. He made a loud ‘hmph" for Cheng Qian to hear before turning to leave under his Shidi"s baffled eyes.

Cheng Qian looked around himself quickly and realized that there was n.o.body there, Yan Zhengming had directed his snort to Cheng Qian.

He asked in confusion, “Eldest Shixiong, what"s wrong with you now?”

Yan Zhengming ignored him, continuing on his way without a care. Cheng Qian had no clue what strange mood he"d fallen into, so he had half a heart to just leave him alone and let him go where he wanted to cool off, but the Sect Leader"s tantrums were very troublesome. Thus, in order to avoid the fate of becoming a Daoist child dedicated to brushing the Eldest Shixiong"s hair, Cheng Qian could only go after him.

As the two of them went on their way one after the other, even the flying horse had been left behind. The awkwardness continued until they returned to their dwellings. In the end, Cheng Qian no longer cared which wrong nerve of the Eldest Shixiong had been poked at, and was only following along helplessly.

Yan Zhengming forcefully slammed his door shut, keeping Cheng Qian outside.

Shuikeng, who was lazing around with the Scriptures on Clarity and Stillness in the courtyard, wasn"t surprised by the seemingly strange sight — Normally, when the Eldest Shixiong was with the Second Shixiong, they were both quite dignified and seemed more similar to normal grown-ups. The Fourth Shixiong wasn"t much better than her, so he rarely dared to cross the Eldest Shixiong. Only the Third Shixiong, each time with his face that seemed to say ‘I didn"t do anything", was able to anger the Eldest Shixiong until he lost all of his bearing.

Shuikeng leisurely hummed a tune, “Iya, look what sin the little sweetheart [2] has committed now —”

Cheng Qian went straight to her, stroked her head, and bent down to draw a circle of charms around her feet. He said gently, “It will disperse by itself after you"ve recited the scriptures thirty times. Be good now, stop looking. Not even ‘the little sweetheart" can save you.”

Shuikeng felt like she had set herself on fire.

Cheng Qian sauntered back to his own room. The moment he opened the door, his faint smile immediately froze. Cheng Qian abruptly turned around to sweep his eyes over the courtyard, but there wasn"t a single person out there other than Shuikeng, who was murmuring the scriptures under her breath.

Cheng Qian hesitated, placed a hand on the wooden sword at his waist, and carefully went in, closing the door behind him — someone had entered his room and left an object behind.

It was a sword. Not a wooden sword — a real, genuine sword.

Its innate brilliance was profound, as if a spirit was dwelling within.

[1] ‘Sharpening the axe won"t interfere with cutting firewood" The phrase used here is 「磨刀不誤砍柴工」. It"s a Chinese idiom, which means "making preparations won"t delay the actual work".

[2] ‘sweetheart" The word used here is 「冤家」, which could both mean ‘little sweetheart" or ‘archenemy". Fun fact: there"s a Chinese expression, 「不是冤家不聚頭」, which could both mean "Lovers are destined to meet" and "Sworn enemies are bound to cross paths", though the latter meaning is more commonly used. It is said that all conflicts or amorous feelings caused by these encounters are predestined by your past life.

The Chinese word for "Trial" (with capital letter T) is 「瓶頸」. In a literal sense, it means "bottleneck". In a less literal sense, it means "major obstacle". Since this seems to be a specific term (as in, it"s something that happens to cultivators once in three years), I"ve decided to capitalize it to make things clear.

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