Tian Buyi rose to his feet, eyes traveling slowly up and down Lin Jingyu's form, his expression growing exceedingly ugly. "Impressive skill!" he said, his voice ice-cold. "And what killing intent!"
Qi Hao whispered to Lin Jingyu, "Junior Brother, hurry up and apologize."
Lin Jingyu was young and hot-blooded, his brows drawn into a tight knot. He stepped forward—yet it was to Zhang Fan, standing to one side, that he turned and spoke: "Fan, what happened just now was my fault. We were testing each other's cultivation, but I had no control over my strikes. I'm sorry."
Zhang Fan was genuinely worried for his friend, yet the only word he could manage to say was, "What."
Everyone from Dazhu Peak changed their expressions. The fury in Tian Buyi's heart burned even fiercer; he suddenly stepped forward, a flush of red sweeping across his face.
Qi Hao's expression changed drastically. Unlike Lin Jingyu, he had been a member of the Qingyun Sect for many years and knew full well that although the Big Bamboo Peak branch was far weaker than the other six branches in terms of overall strength, its leader Tian Buyi and his wife SuRu possessed truly extraordinary abilities that none of the other branches had ever dared to underestimate. Even the habitually haughty Daoist Cangsong had cautioned him before departing: Tian Buyi may be narrow-minded, but his cultivation is exceptionally profound, and his wife SuRu is a renowned talent within the Qingyun Sect — even the Sect Master, True Person Daoxuan, holds the couple in considerable esteem. So unless it was absolutely unavoidable, he should not go out of his way to provoke him.
Lin Jingyu, however, was entirely unaware of this—though from the look of him, even had he known, he likely would not have taken it to heart. Young in years, yet exceedingly arrogant; it was easy to surmise that much of it had been indulged out of him by Daoist Cangsong's excessive doting.
Tian Buyi grew more furious at the sight and was about to make a move, when a figure flashed—Su Ru had already stepped to her husband's side, reaching out to restrain him. A faint smile played at the corners of her lips as she murmured low, "At your age, stirring up trouble with a junior of the same sect—what kind of example is that?"
Tian Buyi froze for a moment and stopped in his tracks. Qi Hao quickly stepped in front of his junior brother, saying with an ingratiating smile: "Uncle-Master Tian, a man of your standing is naturally magnanimous—for our master's sake, please do not trouble yourself to take offense at us juniors."
Zhang Fan watched in anxious dismay as Lin Jingyu managed to anger their Master. In his eyes, Lin Jingyu—a fellow orphan from Caomiao Village—was as dear to him as a blood brother. Seeing Qi Hao speak up in Lin Jingyu's defense, warmth flooded his chest; unable to hold back, he too rushed out and dropped to his knees before Tian Buyi. "Master, it was entirely this disciple's fault. When I saw Senior Brother Lin Jingyu flying over on his sword, I wished to observe his cultivation and so made my move first. Everything was this disciple's doing…"
Tian Buyi had already been brooding, a swell of rage with nowhere to go, pressed down by sheer will. Qi Hao was one thing—but to see Zhang Fan kneeling there as well, babbling nonsense with the look of a born fool, sent an unnamed fury surging through him. "Shut your mouth, you useless wretch!" he snapped.
With a sweep of his sleeved robe, Zhang Fan felt a fierce wind slam into his face. In an instant his body went weightless — wild gales howled in every direction, fore and aft, left and right, above and below, as though all the air around him had been stripped away. His head swam and his legs went limp. Then a colossal force came crashing down like mountains collapsing and seas overturning. His entire body flew backward of its own accord, hurtling straight into the wall on one side of the Shoujing Hall. A thunderous boom rang out as he slammed into the stone and crumpled to the ground. The world spun; his vision darkened. A sweetness rose in his throat, and with a sharp cry he spat out a mouthful of blood.
In the Hall of Stillness, everyone froze.
Linger cried out first and rushed forward to catch Zhang Fan. Lin Jingyu charged over at almost the same moment, and the instant he saw the bloodstain across Zhang Fan's chest, rage surged through him. Had he himself been the one injured, he might not have been so furious—but he had watched Zhang Fan speak up for him and be repaid like this. Lin Jingyu threw all caution aside, spun around, and shouted at Tian Buyi: "You fat little man, what do you think you're doing?"
As he spoke, the Dragon-Slaying Sword seemed to sense its master's thoughts, and the azure light blazed brilliantly once more.
Tian Buyi's brows shot up in rage—that stubby little man's words had clearly sent him into a seven-orifice fury. With a flick of his sleeve, he vanished from everyone's sight without another word.
Qi Hao cried out urgently, "Junior Brother, your heart!"
Lin Jingyu had long been on guard. The moment he caught sight of Tian Buyi's silhouette flickering like a specter, he immediately summoned the Dragon-Slaying Sword before him, wrapping himself in its cyan sword-qi to shield his entire body.
But his vision blurred for an instant—Tian Buyi's short, stout frame treated those streaks of fierce azure light as though they were nothing, and he materialized abruptly right before him. Every thread of azure sword qi ground to a halt a full three feet from his body, unable to advance another inch. Lin Jingyu's heart lurched. He found himself face-to-face with Tian Buyi's wide, furious eyes, nearly nose-to-nose, and panic seized him as he stumbled backward—thud, thud, thud—yet even so, the Dragon-Slaying Sword remained unwavering, hovering in the air before him to guard its master.
Tian Buyi let out a cold snort and shot his right hand forward, thrusting it straight into the sword qi. A layer of crimson radiance flared across his palm, holding back the azure light, and in the blink of an eye he had seized the Dragon-Slaying Sword in his grasp.
Qi Hao immediately rushed into the arena, shouting at the top of his voice, "Uncle-Master Tian, show mercy!"
Tian Buyi did not press the attack. He let Qi Hao shield Lin Jingyu behind him, his gaze resting only on the Dragon-Slaying Sword in his hand.
By now, nearly all the azure sword qi had dissipated, yet the Dragon-Slaying Sword seemed to possess a spirit of its own. In Tian Buyi's pudgy hands, its sword light flickered and it struggled ceaselessly, casting a green glow over half his body — yet still it could not break free.
Tian Buyi raised his eyes and gazed ahead, his voice glacial: "The Dragon-Slaying Sword may be one of the Nine Divine Weapons, but that hardly makes it invincible beneath the heavens!" The words had scarcely left his lips when his five fingers clenched with sudden force. The Dragon-Slaying Sword shuddered as though struck by a heavy blow and instantly went still. A moment later, the entire blade blazed anew with cyan sword-qi, radiant and blinding — brighter by an immeasurable degree than it had ever appeared in Lin Jingyu's grasp. Qi Hao cried out in disbelief: "Uncle-Master Tian—" Tian Buyi's face was as cold as hoarfrost. Without another word, he gripped the Dragon-Slaying Sword tight in his right hand and slashed downward through the empty air in a single sweeping stroke aimed at Qi Hao and Lin Jingyu. A sharp crack of cleaving wind rang out. In an instant, a piercing shriek tore across the sky as green radiance surged like a mountain, coalescing into a towering pillar of jade qi the height of two men. Like a wrathful tide ripping through the void, it blasted forward.
Qi Hao clenched his teeth, both hands simultaneously forming the sword seal. With a sharp cry, a white immortal sword was swiftly summoned forth—none other than his long-celebrated blade, "Frost."
In the blink of an eye, the green sword qi unleashed by Tian Buyi came cleaving through the air. Qi Hao shielded Lin Jingyu and retreated several steps, his right hand rapidly forming sword seal after sword seal. The "Ice Sword" blazed with a flash of white light as an overwhelming wave of cold erupted — within moments, seven walls of ice had risen one after another before the two of them.
A rapid succession of crashes rang out as the green sword-qi slammed into the ice walls — yet what followed was utterly unlike anything that had happened when Lin Jingyu had driven his sword against them before. This time, the Dragon-Slaying Sword cut through like a blade through bamboo: with a thunderous crack, all seven ice walls were shattered to pieces in an instant, shards of ice spraying in every direction. And the green sword-qi had not diminished by so much as a hair's breadth — if anything, its momentum surged fiercer still, howling like an enraged dragon baring its fangs and claws as it bore down on Qi Hao.
Qi Hao's face drained of color. With no room to dodge, he had no choice but to muster every last ounce of his strength. His ten fingers flew in rapid succession, and his frost sword unleashed ten thousand beams of white light that condensed into a shield before him.
With a thunderous boom, the green sword qi crashed against the white radiance. Though it did not shatter the light at once, it drove the white glow surging backward in an instant. Qi Hao's eyes flew wide open; he poured every last ounce of his strength into holding his ground, and only barely managed to arrest that seemingly unstoppable green sword qi a foot before him. In that moment all he was aware of was the green radiance blazing and flickering before his eyes, the wind-cry bitter and raw, mere inches away — as though he stood face to face with some savage, ferocious beast — a sight to make one's blood run cold.
Before he could even collect himself, the surging, overwhelming pressure of green radiance came crashing down on him wave after wave. Qi Hao exerted every ounce of his strength to keep the white light from dissipating, yet his footing could no longer hold — he was driven straight backward by that tremendous force.
From the moment he had made his move until now, Tian Buyi had not stirred from where he stood — not a single step. Yet the green-glowing sword energy he had channeled through the Dragon-Slaying Sword in his hand only grew stronger with distance. Qi Hao and his companion were driven by that tremendous force straight out through the doors of the Hall of Quiet Stillness, and still they were pushed backward without pause. Once they cleared the hall and were out in the open, the green radiance blazed even more ferociously — wherever it swept, the ground was split as though by some colossal blade, carving out vast trenches a full foot deep, a sight that left one's heart reeling with dread.
Such astonishing green sword qi streamed ceaselessly from the Hall of Quiet Cultivation, driving Qi Hao and his companion back another full three zhang. By now the white light before Qi Hao had been compressed to less than half a foot from his body, and he himself was gasping for breath, his complexion shifting from red to a ghastly pallor, his feet sunken deep into the earth without his even realizing it. A moment later, Qi Hao finally cried out and could hold on no longer. The white light collapsed, and the frost sword was struck by an immense force that sent it spinning into the air, utterly out of control.
Qi Hao and Lin Jingyu went pale as sheets. The ferocious green sword-qi came hurtling toward them in the blink of an eye — truly a moment where life and death hung by a thread — yet it abruptly halted, frozen motionless in midair.
Qi Hao's palms were drenched in sweat; he didn't dare move a muscle.
After a moment, the green radiance seemed to lose control, slowly dispersing into the air.
*Clang*!
Where the sharp sound rang, the cold ice sword descended once more, plunging blade-first into the earth before the two of them. Qi Hao's rattled nerves steadied somewhat; he hastily turned toward Shouqing Hall and called out with reverence, "Many thanks to Senior Uncle Tian for showing mercy."
Standing to one side, Lin Jingyu could not help but lower his head upon witnessing this plain-looking Tian Buyi display such extraordinary supernatural powers.
The voice from the void rang out again, startling both of them greatly. Then, in a flash of emerald brilliance, something came shooting out from the Hall of Tranquil Stillness—azure light flickering around it, it was none other than the Dragon-Slaying Sword. It streaked through the air and landed squarely before the two of them, driving itself into the ground right beside the Cold Ice Sword. The two blades crossed each other, quivering without cease.
"Go on, then!" Tian Buyi's voice had returned to its usual calm, drifting out from the depths of the hall, the coldness in it unmistakably clear.
Qi Hao hastily replied and tugged at Lin Jingyu, who was still craning his neck to peer into the hall. The two of them sheathed their respective immortal swords and, not daring to linger, took to the air and departed.
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊Seeing Tian Buyi's thunderous fury descend, not one of the disciples dared so much as breathe. Zhang Fan in particular, witnessing Tian Buyi's wondrous arts and divine power for the very first time, was struck with such overwhelming admiration that he nearly forgot the wound on his chest—until a moment's inattention sent a jolt through it, and he cried out "Aiya!" in spite of himself, teeth bared and face contorted in pain.
Tian Buyi heard Zhang Fan's cry of pain and looked over at him. Zhang Fan gritted his teeth, forcing himself to endure it, and lowered his head. Tian Buyi glanced at him twice but said nothing further, then shifted his gaze one by one to the disciples standing in a line to the side.
Everyone lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.
Tian Buyi let out a long, heavy sigh, shook his head slightly, and clasped his hands behind his back as he turned and walked toward the inner hall. Su Ru, standing to one side, watched her husband's retreating figure, then addressed the gathered crowd in a raised voice: "You may all withdraw for now."
The disciples acknowledged the order. Tian Lingji stepped forward and helped Zhang Fan to his feet, then filed out of the hall with the others. When everyone had left the Hall of Tranquil Stillness, Su Ru walked alone into the inner chamber. The moment she crossed the threshold, she saw Tian Buyi standing on the covered corridor, gazing in a daze at the green bamboo in the courtyard.
Su Ru walked over. Coming to her husband's side, she said softly, "Why are you so worked up today?"
Tian Buyi gave a slight shake of his head. Instead of answering, he turned the question back: "Just now, when Ling'er and Lin Jingyu came to blows, Qi Hao condensed ice into a wall to block the Dragon-Slaying Sword — did you see it clearly?"
Su Ru let out a sigh and did not summon her frost sword."
Tian Buyi let out a snort. "At the Grand Trial of the Seven Veins, Qi Hao still had to rely on the power of his Immortal Sword Artifact just to conjure an ice wall. To think that in a mere few decades, he has already reached this level of cultivation." At that, he turned to look at Su Ru: "You were watching from the side just now — in your estimation, what stage has his cultivation attained?"
Su Ru said coolly: "When he cast his spells, he was unhurried and had strength to spare. He has cultivated to at least the eighth level of the Yuqing Realm."
Tian Buyi's lips moved as if to speak, but he stopped himself. It was Su Ru who finished the thought for him: "Among all the disciples of Big Bamboo Peak, not a single one is his match."
Tian Buyi gave his wife a long, deep look, then slowly turned his head to gaze at the bamboo that filled the courtyard — all of it gradually withering and yellowing as winter drew near. Without quite realizing it, he drifted into a quiet daze.
After a long while, he suddenly said, "How is Old Seven doing?"
Su Ru looked at him, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "So what? I got beaten until I coughed up blood by a great immortal like you!"
Tian Buyi seemed to catch for a moment, his short, stout frame giving a small shift. He did not turn around, however, and said flatly, "Tonight, take a Dahuang Pill and go check on him—lest he play dead tomorrow and leave us all without a meal."
Su Ru smiled but said nothing.
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊Night fell, and the world darkened.
Zhang Fan slowly made his way back to his quarters and pushed open the door. Hui, the monkey who had been trotting at his heels the whole way, was the first to dart inside, followed by Dahuan, who in that short journey had already grown impossibly fond of the little primate. The two of them—one monkey, one dog—tumbled and wrestled about the room without pause, a ceaseless chorus of *woof woof woof* and *chitter chitter* filling the air.
Zhang Fan's lips curved into a faint smile as he walked over to the table and sat down. His chest still ached with a dull, lingering pain, yet his mind was filled with the wondrous techniques and marvelous spells he had witnessed during the duel between Tian Buyi and the others. His heart swelled with yearning, and he could not help but let out a long sigh.
"Why the sudden sigh?" A warm, gentle voice drifted in from the doorway.
Zhang Fan was startled. He turned around to find his master's wife, Su Ru, standing in the doorway. The evening breeze drifted softly, setting her robes billowing in a gentle dance, the treetops swaying in its wake—she looked for all the world like an immortal descended from the heavens. He quickly rose to his feet and called out, "Master's wife."
Su Ru walked up to him, placed her hand on his shoulder, and smiled. "It's alright. Have a seat."
Zhang Fan was flattered beyond measure and dared not refuse. He sat down obediently. Su Ru studied his complexion with care, then reached out and pressed a hand to his chest, feeling for a moment before giving a nod. "Good — nothing serious." She reached into her robe and drew out a white vial, tipping a finger-sized, golden-yellow pill into her palm, and held it out to Zhang Fan. "Take it."
Zhang Fan hesitated for a moment, then took it and swallowed. Shortly after, he felt a warm current rise first from his Dantian, then spread outward to his limbs and the crown of his head. His entire body was suffused with a comfortable warmth, and even the faint ache in his chest vanished without a trace.
Zhang Fan was both startled and overjoyed. He stood up and moved his body about — sure enough, everything felt perfectly normal. The spirit medicine's efficacy was nothing short of miraculous, utterly beyond comprehension. His heart brimming with delight, he hurriedly turned to Su Ru and said, "Many thanks, Master's Wife."
Su Ru smiled and gave a nod. She tucked the bottle away and settled into the other chair. "No need to thank me — it was your master who sent me to bring you the Da Huang Pill."
Zhang Fan froze. *Father—he no longer blames me?*
Su Ru glanced at him and smiled. "He asked me to come see you. Naturally, I hold no blame against you. But I do wonder — do *you* blame him?"
Zhang Fan was startled, and hastily said, "There's no such thing, Master's Wife — I would never dare..."
Su Ru raised a hand, cutting off Zhang Fan mid-sentence, and said softly, "Fan, will you hear me out for a moment?"
Zhang Fan's heart gave an inexplicable lurch. In a hushed voice, he said, "Mother."
Su Ru said: "Your master was clearly in the wrong to raise his hand against you. I was watching from the side and could see it plainly — the moment he struck, regret had already set in. It's just his nature……"
Her face, gentle and serene, held a faint trace of compassion. She continued: "It is only that he has always been proud by nature and sets great store by face — so even if remorse stirs in his heart, he would never let it show. You mustn't hold it against him."
Zhang Fan shook his head. "Mother, I dare not blame Master. I only have myself to blame for being too stupid and making Master angry."
Su Ru glanced at him and sighed softly. "It's not really your concern. In Cultivation and the pursuit of the Dao, everything comes down to one's innate aptitude. Diligence can compensate for shortcomings, but only so much—there will always be a gap. Your master understands this in his heart. That's not what troubles him."
Zhang Fan asked in surprise, "Then what is Master troubled about?"
Su Ru smiled faintly, a trace of helplessness in her expression. "Talents like Qi Hao and Lin Jingyu are always rare and hard to come by. Yet here in the Qingyu Sect, the lineage of Great Bamboo Peak has been declining with each passing day. Your master's cultivation may be profound, but he is constantly mocked by the various martial uncles over the caliber of his disciples. He is a proud man, and it weighs on him terribly. He also fears that after he transcends this world, the Great Bamboo Peak line will never have a chance to rise again — and that would be a far greater failure to the founding ancestors. This crushing burden rests on his shoulders alone, and deep down, he suffers greatly."
Zhang Fan said nothing. Su Ru immediately came to her senses, shook her head with a rueful smile, and said, "Really now, what am I doing, going on like this to a fourteen-year-old kid like you?" With that, she rose to her feet, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Get some rest."
Zhang Fan called after her, "Take care, Shimu."
Su Ru gave a nod and walked out. Zhang Fan accompanied her all the way to the door, watching until her figure disappeared from sight before turning back inside.
But the moment he stepped through the doorway, his eyes were suddenly dazzled — for there beside the table, in the wavering lamplight, stood a graceful woman robed in red. Her face was fair as a lotus bloom, her beauty radiant as peach and plum blossoms in full flower, beyond all compare.
He stared blankly, his heart suddenly racing, and called out in a hushed voice, "Senior Sister!"