Anyone I, Feng Qi, intend to protect, I will never fail to protect
The sparring on the Sword Practice Grounds continued, though calling it a one-sided beating would have been more accurate.
Once they truly started fighting, Feng Qi showed no trace of fatigue whatsoever. One strike of the whip after another lashed toward Xu Zixing.
The latter managed to block and dodge for a while at first, but as his stamina gave out, he took several strikes in a row.
“Too slow. Get up.” Feng Qi snapped the whip across the back of Xu Zixing’s knee, forcing him down onto one knee. “I heard you advanced from the Yellow rank to the Profound rank in your first year after entering the academy. Is this all you’re capable of?”
“You...” Xu Zixing raised his head, breathing heavily, bloodshot eyes fixed on Feng Qi.
Feng Qi was not actually striking very hard. On an immortal body, blows of this degree would not even leave wounds on the flesh.
However, Xu Zixing could see perfectly well that Feng Qi was simply toying with him.
Qi Xuan had refused to say a word about what happened before, but many people had seen Ji Chaoyun confronting him outside the classroom.
Xu Zixing had not been there himself, yet he could roughly guess that it must have been connected to the sachet.
The one thing he had never expected was for Feng Qi to suppress the entire matter on Ji Chaoyun’s behalf.
Not just Feng Qi, either. Jiang Cheng too.
The moment Jiang Cheng learned what had happened, he immediately rushed to the Nameless Sea to redeem the sachet Xu Zixing had sold.
From that moment onward, Xu Zixing knew he had made a mistake, but he did not understand.
Why were all these people standing up for that spirit beast dragon?
That person clearly...
“Ngh—”
Xu Zixing lost focus for a moment and was swept to the ground by Feng Qi’s whip.
Feng Qi casually flicked the long whip in his hand twice and reprimanded him coldly, “You dare lose focus while fighting me? Xu Zixing, what exactly do you spend your days doing? If your heart isn’t in the right place and you have no intention of cultivating properly, then get out of Hongmeng Academy as early as possible.”
“Get up!”
Xu Zixing staggered to his feet. “Don’t go too far. You...”
Before he could finish, Feng Qi’s next move was already upon him.
Xu Zixing had no attention to spare for anything else and hurriedly dodged left and right.
From beginning to end, Feng Qi had not moved his feet even half a step.
“Hiss... that’s already more than thirty lashes. Is he really going to be all right if this keeps up?”
In the distance, several Yellow-rank disciples sat beneath the shade of a tree and watched the miserable battle.
“If he’s hitting him that hard, won’t Xu Zixing be stuck in bed for several days?” Ye Chenxing clicked his tongue in amazement. “What did Xu Zixing do to offend this ancestor? Steal his wife?”
“Cough, cough...” Ji Chaoyun choked on nothing and coughed. “Stop talking nonsense.”
“Am I wrong?” Ye Chenxing said. “That flower peacock has always looked down on everyone. Who dares provoke him, and when have you ever seen him care about anyone?”
“Tsk. Looks like Xu Zixing really kicked an iron plate this time.”
The others behind him continued whispering.
Ji Chaoyun stared at the tall figure within the distant barrier and momentarily lost himself in thought.
Suddenly, the barrier shattered.
Feng Qi kicked Xu Zixing straight out of it.
Xu Zixing rolled several times across the grass and did not stop until he reached Ji Chaoyun’s feet, where he landed flat on the ground in a perfect full-body prostration before him.
Everyone: “...”
Feng Qi put away the golden whip and walked casually toward the crowd. “What were all of you talking about just now?”
Ye Chenxing guiltily shrank behind Ji Chaoyun.
Ji Chaoyun had nowhere to hide and could only answer stiffly, “Nothing.”
Feng Qi lowered his eyes toward Ji Chaoyun, the corner of his lips curving into a smile that was not quite a smile.
Then he glanced at Xu Zixing, who was sprawled across the grass and could barely crawl.
He raised his voice. “That’s enough for today. Anyone who failed is to copy the cultivation manual one hundred times.”
“Especially you, Xu Zixing. You’ll copy it three hundred times and hand it directly to me for inspection.”
After saying this, Feng Qi lowered his head toward Ji Chaoyun. “I’m heading back first. Don’t go to Cloud-Ascending Tower tonight. Go straight back to Wenqu Peak. I have something to discuss with you.”
“...”
Feng Qi pressed, lowering his voice, “Say something. Did you hear me?”
“...I heard you.”
“Good.” Feng Qi smiled in satisfaction. “Go practice.”
With that, he stepped over the half-dead Xu Zixing and swaggered away.
“...” Ji Chaoyun sighed helplessly.
Then he turned his head.
A crowd of Yellow-rank disciples was staring at him in shock.
Ye Chenxing looked as though he were sleepwalking. “What... what did he just say?”
Bei Ran looked equally dazed. “Go back... to Wenqu Peak?”
Ji Chaoyun rubbed his forehead. “...Let me explain.”
☁
Feng Qi did not return to Wenqu Peak.
At this time, all the disciples were attending lessons on the rear mountain, leaving the square on the front mountain of the main peak completely deserted.
He crossed the front mountain and soon arrived outside the Heart-Inquiry Hall, where the academy head handled official matters.
Snow-covered pines surrounded the hall, making the place quiet and elegant.
Feng Qi was just about to knock when the doors creaked open by themselves.
“...” Feng Qi paused with an odd expression, then walked inside.
A faint incense burned within the hall.
Immortal Lord Tianshu sat in the inner chamber with his eyes closed. He sensed Feng Qi enter but did not open them.
Feng Qi properly bowed. “Uncle.”
Tianshu asked calmly, “Why are you here? What trouble have you caused this time?”
Feng Qi did not mention a single word about disrupting the afternoon lesson for the Profound- and Yellow-rank disciples.
He smiled. “Of course not. In your eyes, am I truly so fond of causing trouble?”
Tianshu was silent.
“...Speak. What do you want?”
The amusement in Feng Qi’s eyes faded somewhat.
He sat down beside the meditation couch where Tianshu was seated and leaned closer. “I do have something I’d like to ask Uncle about. It concerns... the Divine Realm.”
Tianshu’s breath caught. At last, he raised his head. “Why do you ask?”
Feng Qi said, “I came across a miscellaneous book in Cloud-Ascending Tower. It described one of our Phoenix Clan’s predecessors undergoing trials and ascending to the heavens, so I became curious. If the Phoenix Clan once had gods among us, why have I never seen one?”
“Of course you haven’t. That happened before you were born.” Tianshu seemed to relax slightly and explained, “Three hundred years ago, the war between gods and demons caused devastating losses among the Divine Clan. They were forced to recuperate and could no longer leave the Divine Realm.”
“My old injuries were also sustained during that time.”
Feng Qi frowned slightly. “So from three hundred years ago onward, no god has appeared in the Immortal Realm?”
“Not to my knowledge.”
Feng Qi’s eyes flickered.
He continued, “Then does Uncle know about Divine Pacts?”
Tianshu said, “The Divine Pact is a mark unique to the Divine Clan. Once placed, it can only be opened by the one bound to its owner or by someone of the same bloodline. In essence, it is a protective seal. If you truly wish to know more about the Divine Realm, I can have one of the Immortal Lords give the disciples a lesson on the subject another day.”
“Thank you, Uncle.” Feng Qi pondered for a moment before saying, “Then this disciple will disturb Uncle’s cultivation no further.”
He bowed and was about to leave when Tianshu suddenly called after him.
“Feng Qi.”
Tianshu said, “You entered the academy directly at Heaven rank. In truth, there is not much that any of us Immortal Venerables can teach you.”
“You should have completed your cultivation and left long ago. Do you know why I have kept you here until now?”
A faint flicker passed through Feng Qi’s eyes before he answered truthfully, “This disciple does not know.”
“You don’t know, yet you never came to ask?”
Tianshu gazed into his eyes and said slowly, “These past few years, you have neither attended lessons nor cultivated properly, relying on your profound cultivation to run rampant through the academy. You wanted me to expel you from the academy, did you not?”
“...This disciple wouldn’t dare.”
Tianshu gave a cold snort. “I raised you myself. Do you think I wouldn’t know what you’re thinking?”
“I kept you here because among the younger generation of disciples, you are the one with the greatest hope of passing through the Gate of Ascension.”
“Several thousand years ago, the Immortal and Divine Realms were originally one. Later, the gods raised the Divine Realm with boundless divine power. Ever since then, only Hongmeng Academy’s Gate of Ascension has allowed immortals to reach the Divine Realm.”
Tianshu continued, “The Gate of Ascension contains endless karmic fire left behind by the gods. Only one who endures the agony of having that fire scour the body can successfully ascend. In several hundred years, you are the first person I have seen who has any hope of accomplishing it.”
The room was dim.
Feng Qi stood at the boundary between light and shadow, his expression impossible to discern.
After a while, he chuckled softly. “Thank you for placing such high hopes on me, Uncle. Unfortunately, this disciple has never had any particularly grand ambitions. I’m afraid I’ll disappoint you.”
Tianshu clearly had not expected this answer and was stunned. “You...”
Feng Qi said, “I’ve said all I have to say. This disciple takes his leave.”
Feng Qi turned and left the Heart-Inquiry Hall. The doors slowly closed behind him, and silence returned. After a long while, the only sound within the dim hall was an almost imperceptible sigh from Immortal Lord Tianshu.
☁
At the hour of Hai, evening lessons ended.
When Ji Chaoyun returned to Wenqu Peak, Feng Qi was sitting beside the lotus pond feeding the fish.
Hearing footsteps, Feng Qi looked up and smiled as he beckoned. “Come here.”
Ji Chaoyun asked, “What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Can’t I call you here without having something to discuss?” Feng Qi did not answer directly. Instead, he said, “I helped you vent such a great deal of anger today. Shouldn’t you properly thank me? Or do you think that wasn’t enough? Tell me how you want to deal with him. I’ll help you.”
“...” Ji Chaoyun was silent for a moment. “There’s no need.”
“You’re sure?” Feng Qi propped his chin on one hand as he studied Ji Chaoyun’s expression. Half in jest, he asked, “I did help you, yet why do I get the feeling you’re not very happy about it?”
“I’m not unhappy.” Ji Chaoyun came to a stop beside the stone bridge and said softly, “I... I’m very happy, Feng Qi. After all these years, you’re the first person who has ever helped me get even after I was wronged. I once thought... there would never again be anyone in this world willing to help me.”
“Then why are you...”
“But next time, please don’t do this again.”
Ji Chaoyun stared at the koi thrashing in the water as they fought over food. He spoke with difficulty.
“Xu Zixing previously schemed against me to avenge Jiang Cheng. I was angry, so I used spiritual insects to hurt him. All that brought me was even worse retaliation. That is simply how this world works. If grievances are repaid endlessly, all that happens is more trouble.”
“So you’d rather swallow your anger?”
“No. That isn’t what I mean...” Ji Chaoyun shook his head.
“I’ve encountered things far worse than this before. In the end, the real reason was simply that I wasn’t strong enough. Relying on others may be comforting, but some people can protect you for a time without being able to protect you forever. In the end, you can only depend on yourself. I understood that three hundred years ago.”
Feng Qi went still.
Ji Chaoyun raised a hand and touched the sachet through his robes, still feeling the faint warmth it gave off.
“Feng Qi, I’m truly grateful that you stood up for me, but really... let it end here.”
Do not give him hope again. Going through something like that once had already been enough.
Feng Qi stared at his face.
The stars above were brilliant, and clear moonlight shimmered across the water, making Ji Chaoyun’s face appear especially pale.
After a moment, Feng Qi tossed the remaining fish food into the pond, brushed off his robes, and stood.
“I understand what you mean. I also admire you for thinking this way. However, there’s one thing you said wrong.”
“What?”
Feng Qi suddenly leaned toward him.
Ji Chaoyun instinctively stepped backward, his back striking the railing beside the stone bridge.
In an instant, only the slightest distance remained between them. He gazed into those clear, dark eyes, his own gleaming with teasing amusement and unmistakable pride.
“I don’t know what you’ve been through to make you fret so much over gain and loss, too afraid to place your trust in others, but I am different from everyone else. Anyone I, Feng Qi, intend to protect, I could never fail to protect.”
He straightened and ruffled Ji Chaoyun’s hair.
“So focus on cultivating and stop thinking nonsense. As long as you remain in Hongmeng Academy, I won’t let anyone make you suffer. By the time you’re able to leave this place, you’ll already be strong enough that you naturally won’t need my protection anymore.”
He stepped slightly away.
The familiar, overbearing presence pressing around Ji Chaoyun disappeared, and only then did Ji Chaoyun gradually remember how to breathe.
Feng Qi turned toward the bedroom.
Ji Chaoyun called after him and only then realized how hoarse his own voice had become.
“Why are you helping me?”
Feng Qi’s steps paused.
“Because...”
He lowered his head and hid the gentle smile in his eyes. Yet when the words reached his lips, they changed.
“Naturally, because someone wants me to help you.”
“Who?”
“That’s none of your concern.” Feng Qi waved a hand without looking back. “I’m not going to find anyone to clean the bedroom on the right. Deal with it yourself when you have time.”
“Until then, I’ll allow you to sleep in my bedroom.”
☁︎₊˚⊹ The Author’s Jade-Slip Aside ⊹˚₊☁︎
Little Dragon: Some people sure know how to make pretty promises, then turn around and hit me with amnesia. Heh.
P.S. There’s no timeline error in this chapter. It’s foreshadowing =w=
————
If the chapter shows as modified, that was just some minor editing. The changes aren’t significant, so there’s no need to reread it.
0 Comments