He Hasn’t Even Called Me Senior Brother Once
Over the next several days, Ji Chaoyun attended lessons as usual during the day and went to Cloud-Ascending Tower at night to organize the books.
Although Feng Qi had told him not to slack off, the man actually rarely came to the library, much less supervised Ji Chaoyun’s progress in sorting the collection.
Without that irritating phoenix around, Ji Chaoyun was perfectly content. He sought out, one by one, the scriptures he had never had the chance to obtain before and studied them carefully.
Yet cultivation could not be accomplished overnight. Even with access to Cloud-Ascending Tower Tower’s collection, Ji Chaoyun’s cultivation progress remained far behind that of ordinary disciples.
The Daoist scripture lessons were manageable. Ji Chaoyun had long since memorized the several scriptures required of Yellow-rank disciples, so they did not demand much of his attention.
The afternoon immortal-arts cultivation lessons, however, were not nearly so easy to muddle through.
The cultivation lessons for the Profound and Yellow ranks were overseen by Immortal Lord Kaiyang, but cultivating immortal arts depended upon tempering oneself and did not require an Immortal Lord to personally teach every day.
Thus, several higher-ranked disciples were usually assigned to supervise their training.
The cultivation lessons for Profound- and Yellow-rank disciples took place at the Sword Practice Grounds on the rear mountain.
Across the grass stood one towering stone figure after another.
Five disciples worked together against each stone figure, and victory required shattering the stone heart embedded in its chest.
Yet each stone figure stood two men tall, possessed tremendous strength, and moved with remarkable agility. After three full days, not a single group had managed to destroy a stone heart.
A tremendous crash sounded.
Ji Chaoyun hurriedly retreated several steps beneath the stone figure’s final blow. His legs weakened, and he dropped to one knee.
Ye Chenxing immediately ran toward him. “Chaoyun, are you all right?”
A fine layer of sweat had already formed across Ji Chaoyun’s forehead.
He shook his head and raised a hand to press against his chest. Beneath his lowered lashes, a pale light that he could barely suppress flickered faintly in his eyes.
It took him a long moment to shake off the dizzying spiritual exhaustion.
“I’m fine now. Let’s continue.”
Before them, the stone figure whose arm they had already severed was rapidly restoring itself to its original state.
Once any disciple left the stone figure’s attack range, the challenge was considered a failure, and the stone figure automatically repaired itself.
Ye Chenxing said, “Look at your face. Does that look fine to you? We’ve already been practicing for nearly two hours. Rest for a while.”
“I—”
Before Ji Chaoyun could answer, a disciple beside them suddenly said, “Rest again? If you’re that delicate, why not go back and lie down? Why bother coming here to train?”
Ye Chenxing snapped, “What do you mean by that?”
“Am I wrong?” The disciple put away his weapon and folded his arms across his chest, speaking in a strange, mocking tone. “Look around. Our group has the slowest progress right now. He’s the one making mistakes every time, and you still want him to rest?”
“How can you blame Brother Ji?” Bei Ran retorted. “Holding the stone figure back consumes the most strength in the first place. Why don’t you try doing it instead?”
The disciple scoffed. “Wasn’t he supposed to have the finest movement techniques, enough to rival Heaven-rank disciples? Why can’t he even handle one stone figure?”
“Looks like the rumors were right after all. Someone who entered the academy by cheating couldn’t possibly be that impressive.”
Ye Chenxing shouted angrily, “What nonsense are you spouting?!”
“Am I wrong?” the disciple said. “The whole academy knows about it. If he can’t pass the seasonal examination, he has to get out.”
“If there were no problem with his admission, why would the Immortal Venerables make such a decision? A low-grade spiritual root like his, how exactly did he pass the trials of Hongmeng Mountain and then pass the entrance examination? Only he knows that!”
Ye Chenxing flew into a rage and raised his sword to thrust at the man.
A flash of white passed before his eyes, and a sword blade firmly blocked his own.
Ji Chaoyun stood in front of him and said in a low voice, “We’re still in class. What are you trying to do?”
“But he—”
“Can’t win an argument, so you want to fight instead? Feeling guilty? You think I’m afraid of you?”
Ye Chenxing shoved Ji Chaoyun aside.
Ji Chaoyun had already exhausted too much strength. For a moment, he could not keep his footing and stumbled backward into another person.
The other man caught him.
Ji Chaoyun hurriedly said, “Sorry, I—”
He looked up as he spoke and immediately stiffened.
The man before him was handsome and tall, his expression faintly awkward. He released Ji Chaoyun as quickly as if he had been shocked.
It was Jiang Cheng.
Different senior disciples rotated through supervising training each day, and today’s assignment had fallen to Jiang Cheng.
Ji Chaoyun inwardly cursed his wretched luck at running into an enemy wherever he went. He stepped half a pace back, and something suddenly fell from inside his robes.
The sachet embroidered with pale-gold phoenix patterns rolled once across the grass and landed directly beside Jiang Cheng’s foot.
Ji Chaoyun’s heart tightened. He was about to bend down and pick it up when Jiang Cheng had already reached for it.
Jiang Cheng’s movement had been entirely instinctive.
Only after straightening did he belatedly realize what he had done, and his hand immediately froze in midair.
In the next instant, the sachet was snatched forcefully from his hand.
Ji Chaoyun said coldly, “Thank you.”
“...” Jiang Cheng’s lips moved as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he held it back.
His gaze swept over the people present. “What were you doing just now?”
The disciple who had been picking a fight immediately said, “Senior Brother, Ji Chaoyun kept making mistakes. This disciple got angry and argued with him for a few words, and then they tried to attack me...”
Jiang Cheng’s brows drew together.
Before he could speak, someone behind him suddenly said, “I wondered what all the noise was about. Is something this trivial really worth arguing over?”
Ji Chaoyun recognized the voice.
He turned toward it and, sure enough, saw Xu Zixing.
Xu Zixing was accompanying Jiang Cheng on his inspection. He gave a cold laugh. “Do you know why you’re being made to practice against these stone figures?”
“Because the first seasonal examination after enrollment is always a secret-realm trial, and the first stage inside the secret realm is precisely this Stone Figure Formation. The stone figures here possess less than thirty percent of the strength of those inside the secret realm.”
“If you can’t even get past these, you may as well not bother taking the examination.”
Ji Chaoyun’s eyes flickered faintly, and the hand hanging at his side slowly clenched.
If Xu Zixing had not said this, it might have been fine.
The moment he did, the disciple who had been causing trouble immediately panicked. “Then what are we supposed to do? This man keeps holding us back. At this rate, even if we practice for another two months, we still won’t pass.”
“If you don’t believe me, ask Qi Xuan. Am I wrong?”
The younger disciple who had remained silent was suddenly called by name. He hurriedly hugged his sword tightly against his chest. “I... I...”
“What are you stammering for? If you fail the seasonal examination because of him, you won’t even have anywhere to cry!”
Ye Chenxing could no longer tolerate it. “Shut up. How exactly has Chaoyun affected us...”
“Enough.”
Ji Chaoyun interrupted him.
He raised his eyes toward Jiang Cheng and said calmly, “I withdraw from this group.”
Jiang Cheng’s eyelid twitched.
Xu Zixing sneered. “Withdraw? These group assignments will carry over into the secret realm.”
“What, does the academy’s first useless spiritual root to enter by winning through movement techniques also want to become the first person to pass the seasonal trial alone?”
“You—”
Ye Chenxing was about to argue again, but Ji Chaoyun raised a hand to stop him and shook his head.
“It’s fine. You all continue practicing. I... I’ll rest for a while.”
Having pushed his spiritual strength well past its limit already, he now started feeling dizzy, and darkness repeatedly swam across his vision.
Ji Chaoyun turned to leave.
Behind him, Jiang Cheng suddenly said, “Idiot.”
Ji Chaoyun’s steps halted.
Jiang Cheng said, “The Stone Figure Formation requires at least five or six people to break. You act rashly for a moment, and then how do you plan to pass the seasonal examination?”
“What I choose to do has nothing to do with you.”
Ji Chaoyun said this and walked straight into the distance.
Jiang Cheng was about to follow when someone blocked his path.
Ye Chenxing stood before him and said coldly, “No need to trouble Senior Brother Jiang.”
“If I remember correctly, Senior Brother Jiang still owes our Chaoyun a kowtow and an apology.”
“...When exactly does Senior Brother Jiang intend to fulfill that promise?”
Jiang Cheng’s face alternated between green and white.
He cast one final glance at Ji Chaoyun’s retreating back, muttered a curse under his breath, and turned away.
Ji Chaoyun walked beneath the shade of a tree beside the Sword Practice Grounds and braced himself against the trunk as he slowly let out a breath.
He looked down at his hand.
The spiritual energy gathered in his palm dispersed almost as soon as it formed.
Ji Chaoyun stared at it for a long time before giving a bitter laugh. “I really have become useless.”
At that moment, a voice suddenly came from behind him.
“You were too impulsive.”
The voice was particularly familiar.
Ji Chaoyun turned around and saw a handsome young man walking toward him at an unhurried pace.
It was Song Zhifei.
Song Zhifei gave him a gentle smile and said calmly, “I heard everything just now. It wasn’t your fault, but you truly shouldn’t have acted so impulsively.”
Song Zhifei carried himself like a gentleman. Although he had lost to Ji Chaoyun in the arena, he bore him no resentment.
Ji Chaoyun had a favorable impression of him, so his tone softened considerably. “The key to breaking the stone figures doesn’t lie in cultivation or techniques. It lies in working together and finding the crucial point in the formation.”
“They’re unwilling to cooperate with me. If people’s hearts aren’t united, forcing the matter accomplishes nothing.”
Song Zhifei clearly had not expected him to understand the matter so thoroughly.
He froze slightly, then shook his head. “Even if people’s hearts aren’t united, forcing the matter isn’t necessarily useless. It simply takes time.”
“In the end, you’re still too stubborn.”
Ji Chaoyun looked toward the flashes of saber and sword light across the distant Sword Practice Grounds.
He said evenly, “If I weren’t stubborn, I wouldn’t be standing here today.”
Song Zhifei did not answer.
After a moment of silence, he said, “Still, there has been a precedent for someone clearing the secret realm alone.”
“Who?”
Song Zhifei looked steadily at Ji Chaoyun and slowly spoke a name.
“Feng Qi.”
“Feng Qi is the only disciple who entered the Heaven rank immediately upon admission. During the first year, every disciple must participate in the same secret-realm trial.”
“At the time, he was just like you. He refused all assistance and entered the secret realm alone.”
“How did he do it?”
“I don’t know,” Song Zhifei said. “Feng Qi entered the academy quite early, so not many people know about this. Moreover, outsiders have no way of knowing what occurs inside the secret realm. To this day, no one knows how he broke the Stone Figure Formation. If you want to know, you could ask him yourself.”
A complicated expression appeared in Ji Chaoyun’s eyes, but he did not respond.
The little yao dragon always drew clear boundaries between likes and dislikes.
Originally, the person he ought to have hated most in this academy was Jiang Cheng.
Yet ever since that inexplicable and flamboyant Second Highness Feng had appeared wearing a face identical to the one in Ji Chaoyun’s memories, Feng Qi had leapt straight to the top of Ji Chaoyun’s list of the people he hated most in his entire life.
Song Zhifei noticed his hesitation and was about to persuade him further when he saw Ye Chenxing and Bei Ran approaching side by side from the distance.
He swallowed the words that had reached his lips and said warmly, “I’ve said all I can. I’ll take my leave.”
Ji Chaoyun said, “Thank you, Senior Brother Song.”
Ye Chenxing pulled Bei Ran closer and looked toward Song Zhifei’s retreating back. “Wasn’t that Song Zhifei? What was he talking to you about?”
Ji Chaoyun shook his head. “Nothing. Why did you two come over?”
“You withdrew. Why would we stay?” Ye Chenxing wrapped an arm around his shoulders and grinned without a care. “We withdrew too. From now on, the three of us are a group.”
Ji Chaoyun said, “Nonsense. The Stone Figure Formation requires at least five people to break. If you do this—”
“What, you expect us to stand there and watch you attempt the formation alone? What kind of brothers would that make us?” Ye Chenxing interrupted him.
“Besides, who says we can’t pass the examination?”
“You mean...”
“I was just talking about this with Brother Ye.” Bei Ran raised his hand, his eyes shining brightly. “I thought of several more ways to deal with the stone figures. Even though we’re two people short now, they should still work. Do you want to try?”
Ji Chaoyun froze. He looked at Bei Ran’s eager expression, then turned toward Ye Chenxing beside him.
A sudden ache rose within his heart.
He had nearly forgotten. He was no longer alone.
The frustration weighing on him finally began to ease. He gave the two of them a faint smile. “All right. Let’s try again.”
The words had barely left his mouth when Ye Chenxing slapped him across the back.
“Try my ass. Rest first. Look at your face!”
The emotion Ji Chaoyun had just felt vanished without a trace.
Ye Chenxing’s shove sent him stumbling.
Ji Chaoyun turned back through gritted teeth. “Ye Chenxing, are you addicted to pushing me now? You shoved me toward Jiang Cheng earlier too, didn’t you?”
Ye Chenxing’s expression stiffened. He said weakly, “I-It wasn’t me who pushed you, was it? Wasn’t it that fellow from before?”
Bei Ran nodded firmly. “No. It was you. I saw it very clearly.”
Ji Chaoyun tilted his head, the corner of his lips curving into something that was not quite a smile.
A moment later, Ye Chenxing’s miserable scream rang out beneath the trees.
“Ahhh! I’m sorry, Chaoyun! I was wrong! Whatever you do, don’t let your bugs bite me!”
☁
Song Zhifei leisurely crossed the Sword Practice Grounds and entered the pine forest, where he soon spotted a tall figure standing beneath a tree, clearly waiting for some time already.
Song Zhifei walked up behind him and asked with a smile, “Satisfied now?”
The man turned around.
It was Feng Qi.
Feng Qi leaned against an ancient pine with his arms folded across his chest and said unhappily, “Satisfied with what? I asked you to give him a few pointers. I didn’t ask you to send him straight to me.”
Song Zhifei said, “I thought the Second Prince would prefer to guide him personally.”
“Who said that?” Feng Qi raised a brow. “With his cultivation and his innate aptitude, wouldn’t having me instruct him be a waste of great talent on a trivial task?”
Song Zhifei merely smiled without speaking.
Feng Qi cleared his throat and spoke with righteous dignity. “However, if he truly comes to me and begs bitterly enough, I suppose I could reluctantly teach him a thing or two.”
“Enough. I’ll return to Cloud-Ascending Tower first, so that—”
His voice abruptly stopped and did not finish the rest.
The amusement in Song Zhifei’s eyes deepened.
Feng Qi preferred peace and quiet. No matter how fine Cloud-Ascending Tower was, it still could not compare with Wenqu Peak.
Thus, he rarely stayed overnight at Cloud-Ascending Tower.
As for why he intended to go there tonight, naturally it was because he was worried Ji Chaoyun would be unable to find him yet would be too embarrassed to go looking for him at Wenqu Peak.
Song Zhifei understood perfectly.
He said, “Then I’ll thank Your Highness in advance on Junior Brother Ji’s behalf.”
Feng Qi pretended not to hear him and turned toward the depths of the pine forest.
Only after walking some distance did Feng Qi stop.
“Junior Brother Ji...”
He quietly repeated the form of address, a hint of sourness in his voice that even he himself failed to notice.
“That little yao dragon hasn’t even called me Senior Brother once, and he still wants me to teach him? He can dream.”
☁︎₊˚⊹ The Author’s Jade-Slip Aside ⊹˚₊☁︎
The vinegar-brewed phoenix has officially logged on.
————
Thank you all so much for your support. I’ll keep working hard!
0 Comments