Screeching Sparrow Sect was greeted by another bright sunny day. The disciples woke up when the gong struck for the start of breakfast and slowly wandered out of their rooms, looking like a hoard of fierce corpses. The three lord immortals that ran the sect were much worse. Even at the sound of the insistent gong, none of them budged from their respective rooms. All remained inside, knowing that breakfast could be served much later. Besides, they didn’t need to eat anyway.
As the disciples trailed off to the lake where most bathed, a few disciples with keener hearing noticed the splash of water. But that was strange. No one in Screeching Sparrow Sect woke up before the breakfast gong. Only the servants would, but even then, they would not be bathing.
A surprised gasp came from the front of the group, jerking the sleeping disciples awake.
Amidst the fog of the warm water was a shadowy figure. The man rose from the lake and grabbed his clothes. They noted the man’s strong back muscles and the scars that punctured through his shoulders. When the man let his wavy hair down and turned around, they were greeted with a cold look, causing the young men to all look away with guilt riling up in their hearts.
Finally, Su Han, who had been at the back, cleared his throat. “Good morning, Lord Immortal.”
The remaining boys clumsily echoed the head disciple of the sect.
“Good morning,” Wu Lingtian replied smoothly as he pulled his socks and his shoes on. He quickly wrapped his hair into a loose bun and stood up from the side of the lake. He glanced at the group of boys who looked as if they had been scared awake and then looked at Su Han. “I will be taking my leave then.”
“Walk slowly, Lord Immortal,” Su Han gave him a calm smile.
The boys scuffled to the side with their heads bowed. They didn’t dare move until the man’s footsteps were out of earshot.
“That scared me to death,” one of the younger disciples whispered.
“I expected it to be a wild animal, but it turned out to be an immortal!” another shuddered.
“He isn’t going to tell Sect Leader, is he? We didn’t walk in on him on purpose.”
“What’s the point of telling Sect Leader? We’re all men anyway. Besides, it isn’t like we even saw anything,” one of the more reasonable boys pointed out.
“Right, we only saw his back.”
“…Though his back did look very nice.”
The boys all glared at the last one who spoke. They were about to continue when Su Han cleared his throat. “The girls will eat all the breakfast if you all don’t hurry up.”
The boys were suddenly alarmed by such a statement. They quickly threw off their clothes and jumped into the lake. Su Han followed them but lowered himself in a much more dignified fashion.
“What was Lord Immortal doing up so early anyway?” a disciple wondered aloud.
“Didn’t you see? He was taking a bath.”
“I heard that Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect wakes up at 4AM and they sleep at 8PM,” one disciple spoke.
“That early!?” another gasped. He paused and shook his head. “But it isn’t 4AM. It’s 9AM.”
“Well, if I were him, I also wouldn’t want to wake up at such an ungodly hour anymore. He isn’t even part of the sect.”
Su Han cleared his throat, successfully quieting down the gossipy teenage boys. “The less we know, the better. Just concentrate on cultivating and don’t mind the issues of the older generation.
“Yes, da-shixiong.”
The group of boys met up with the female disciples after their baths. The quiet dining hall was soon flooded with the young disciples, but the normally bustling morning became silent when they saw who was sitting at the corner of the dining hall. A few of the more courageous disciples tugged at each other and asked for conformation on whether that was the Yu Lan Sword Immortal or not. Those who didn’t have the guts merely lowered their head and rushed off to get their food.
Li Qing, who had been walking beside Hua Anting, looked around at the commotion until her eyes landed on Wu Lingtian. She immediately woke from her sleepy stupor and broke away from Hua Anting. The sound of her pattering feet rang out over the slow-moving disciples. She drove her heels into the ground and stopped in front of Wu Lingtian with a bright smile.
Wu Lingtian looked up from his congee and waited for Li Qing to speak first.
Li Qing bowed a full ninety degrees as she shouted: “Good morning, Lord Immortal!”
The originally humming dining hall fell dead silent. The disciples mourned over the fact that Li Qing was still too young while others only cursed the fact that Hua Anting hadn’t kept a tighter hold on the little child.
Wu Lingtian on the other hand didn’t show much reaction. He hummed in his usual deep tone and hesitated a moment before speaking a bit more. “Did you sleep well?”
“Mn! Did Lord Immortal sleep well?” Li Qing asked, her body nearly shaking from excitement of getting a response.
“I did,” Wu Lingtian looked down at Li Qing’s hands that were tightly clutching at the sides of her robes. “Are you not hungry? Go get food.”
Li Qing shifted from foot to foot, her gaze concentrated just slightly over Wu Lingtian’s shoulder. “May I bring my food here to eat with you?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Wu Lingtian nodded without even a second of hesitation. “You may.”
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Li Qing didn’t care. She received her food and then went directly back to sit across from Wu Lingtian. She ate quietly for a few minutes, but soon couldn’t contain herself. Her legs began kicking below the table and her food was forgotten. She told Wu Lingtian about her day yesterday and even had the audacity to ask what Wu Lingtian had been up to.
At this, Wu Lingtian glanced up. His eyes fell on her uneaten food. “Eat.”
Li Qing’s smile faded. Her lips pushed out into a small pout, but she obeyed Wu Lingtian and began eating. The disciples nearby assumed that this was Wu Lingtian’s way of politely telling another family’s child to stop talking, but to their surprise, Wu Lingtian’s mellow voice sounded again.
“Yesterday, I was with Third Pillar,” Wu Lingtian said.
Li Qing perked up again. “What were you and Shishu doing?”
Wu Lingtian looked at Li Qing, who was at most eleven years old, and felt that he most likely should not inform the child about her shishu’s day drinking habits. “He was showing me around WuYe City.”
“Oh,” Li Qing nodded. “Ren-shishu says that Tian-shishu knows the city very well.”
Wu Lingtian ignored the suggestive tone in her voice. “Hm.”
“Tian-shishu likes going out at night the most,” Li Qing continued.
“Oh?”
“Mm-hm! He comes back extremely late. We’re all usually asleep when he returns,” Li Qing said. “This one time, I heard Shizun tell him not to stay out too late.”
“Oh.”
“Then Shishu said, ‘well maybe you should give me more work’ but for some reason Shizun just laughed at him,” Li Qing nibbled at her chopsticks.
“Don’t nibble,” Wu Lingtian said.
Li Qing immediately moved her chopsticks from her teeth and began eating normally again. “I think Shishu is just bored. But I also don’t understand why Shizun doesn’t want him to go out that much.”
Wu Lingtian unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. At least these adults still had enough propriety to not tell the children where they wandered off to in their free time.
“Sect Leader is most likely worried that Third Pillar is returning too late. It gets dangerous at night.”
Li Qing’s eyes widened. “It does?”
Wu Lingtian nodded. “There are bad people in the world. Remember to be careful when you begin to travel.”
Li Qing nodded seriously with an enlightened look in her eyes. She turned back to her food and fell into a quiet daze. Wu Lingtian reached out and carefully wiped away pieces of rice from Li Qing’s mouth before finishing his own food. Instead of leaving, he stayed and waited patiently until Li Qing was finished before standing up with her.
“Lord Immortal, are you planning on doing anything today?” Li Qing asked curiously.
Wu Lingtian paused a moment before shaking his head. “I have no plans.”
Since becoming a guest in Screeching Sparrow Sect, he experienced what it truly meant to be a waste of space. He had been in a coma for several days and, after waking up, he continued to do nothing but sleep and eat. He had thought about discussing what he should do with Fan Yi the past two days, but Fan Yi didn’t seem too interested in discussing such a thing with Wu Lingtian. Whenever Wu Lingtian hinted at it, Fan Yi would look at him blankly and say that there was nothing for him to do, rendering Wu Lingtian speechless. Wu Lingtian was well-known in the cultivation world for being everywhere at once. Even little children who were just weaned of milk knew just how busy Lord Immortal Yu Lan was. Yet, here he was now, wandering about a sect that he didn’t even belong to with absolutely nothing to do.
“Would you like to watch the disciples train?” Li Qing asked sweetly.
Any disciple nearby who heard this sentence immediately whipped their heads over to glare at Li Qing. Who are you asking?! Why in the world would this silly little girl want Lord Yu Lan watching them? Moreover, she didn’t even participate in this training! They began to bow their heads and collectively willed for Wu Lingtian to reject the offer.
However, Wu Lingtian wasn’t a god. No matter how much they pray to him, he still will not receive their prayers. Seeing Li Qing’s expectant gaze, Wu Lingtian nodded his head and allowed himself to be pulled away by Li Qing’s excitement.
That was why, when Fan Yi arrived at the training grounds, he was met with a crowd of anxious looking teenagers who tottered from foot to foot. The normally rambunctious disciples were dead silent in the large open field. Their heads were bowed. Some of them fiddled with the tassels at the ends of their swords, others stood around and gazed blankly up at the sky, as if waiting for a vision to come to them. The only person who looked relatively relaxed was Wu Lingtian, who sat at a bench overlooking everyone.
Fan Yi clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention. The disciples straightened at once and lined up—something that they rarely ever did before.
“Third Pillar is feeling a little ill today,” Fan Yi announced. “So, I will be taking his place.”
The normally discouraged looking disciples immediately perked up. Fan Yi was a far more lenient teacher than Tian Xiewen.
“Let’s start with a warmup,” Fan Yi walked to the front, passing by Wu Lingtian. He paused as the disciples all got into their places and looked towards Wu Lingtian. He lowered his voice. “What are you doing here?”
“Am I not allowed to be here?” Wu Lingtian asked.
“You are,” Fan Yi said. “But why are you here?”
Wu Lingtian couldn’t find it within himself to tell Fan Yi he was far too bored and that was why he decided to sit in on a lesson. Instead, he glanced about the disciples. “I wanted to see the energetic youth.”
Fan Yi stared at him blankly before scoffing, followed by a disbelieving laugh. “Oh. I see.”
Wu Lingtian avoided Fan Yi’s amused gaze and stared strictly forward. “Aside from your direct disciples, does everyone else learn the same technique?”
“Yes,” Fan Yi saved Wu Lingtian from his embarrassment and willingly changed the subject. “Our sect has our own secret technique that’s based around the long sword. Of course, it can be applied to any melee weapon, but the long sword is the most suitable for it. Every disciple, even those under Tian Xiewen, have to learn how to use a long sword.”
“I see,” Wu Lingtian murmured. “Do you use this technique?”
Fan Yi glanced at Wu Lingtian.
The two of them were quite familiar with each other’s fighting style. After exchanging blows more than a handful of times, Fan Yi deciphered that Wu Lingtian used a very chaotic variation of Lord Wan Li’s Thousand Sword technique, which created an illusion of a sporadic duplication of swords. The tecnique Fan Yi was more familiar with was much more fluid, causing each movement to blend into each other and creating a mirage that enemies would never get out of—yet Wu Lingtian’s fighting style was different in this aspect. While it was usually the opponent that needed to break the illusion, Wu Lingtian was the one who broke it for his opponent. To him, the illusion was a distraction—a way to break his opponent’s mind. With each blow that looked so soft an elegant, Wu Lingtian was able to render his enemy helpless beneath his feet in just a few sharp hits.
“This isn’t the technique I use,” Fan Yi said. “I do use it though since I created it. But I use a technique that this one was based off.”
Wu Lingtian’s eyes sparkled with interest. “What is it?”
Fan Yi smiled. “Secret.”
Fan Yi sat down beside Wu Lingtian. “Only family members can know.”
Wu Lingtian silently observed Fan Yi’s suggestive gaze for a moment before turning his head away. “Then I am not interested.”
Fan Yi had expected as much. He smiled understandingly and looked out into the hardworking disciples. He turned back to Wu Lintian. “How are you feeling?”
Perplexed as to why Fan Yi suddenly asked this, Wu Lingtian gave a suspicious gaze. “I am fine now. Thank you.”
“Then are you feeling well enough to fight?” Fan Yi asked.
Wu Lingtian understood Fan Yi’s meaning. “But can your disciples withstand our pressure?”
The pressure emitting from cultivators of their caliber would immediately crush disciples who had just barely formed their golden core.
“We can set up a barrier. They will watch from the outside,” Fan Yi suggested.
Wu Lingtian acquiesced after a moment. If the disciples were safe, he didn’t mind fighting.
Fan Yi stood and clapped his hands together. “Alright, we aren’t practicing today! Today, since we have a special guest, we will do something different. Lord Immortal Yu Lan and I will be fighting. Whoever is pushed out of the boundaries of the stage first loses. Once we’re finish, your job is to give us a report on what you observed. If you do well, then you won’t have practice again for the entire week. If the observations aren’t satisfactory then you will have to do five laps around the stadium.”
The disciples agreed almost immediately. Running five laps the stadium was nothing compared to what Tian Xiewen normally put them through. On top of that, they will be able to witness a fight between two high-ranking cultivators! Even if they fail, it would have been worth it.
The area was quickly cleared out and Fan Yi smoothly erected a barrier. With this, any spiritual energy released will be contained within and won’t interfere with the disciples outside. However, that also meant that they will not be able to see Wu Lingtian’s techniques as clearly as the people being personally affected by them.
“Take note—Lord Yu Lan’s techniques are highly based on illusion,” Fan Yi said, his voice resonating through the stadium. “Beware that you may get confused during our exchange.”
The disciples all answered positively and waited on the edges of their seats for a show.
Fan Yi tossed a sword at Wu Lingtian with a simple warning: “It might break.”
Wu Lingtian weighed the lifeless sword in his hand and thought back to his own sword that he had wielded for several centuries. To be honest, to him, the two weren’t much different.
“Then I apologize in advance,” Wu Lingtian discarded the sheathe to the side and took a stance.
Even with the barrier, the disciples felt a slight hum in the air as the two cultivators took their places. They shuddered to think what sort of pressure they would be under if the barrier protection wasn’t there. They would probably have already begun bleeding from their orifices and fainted only a short minute in.
With one swift motion, Wu Lingtian threw the borrowed sword up into the air. The disciples watched with a concentrated curiosity as Wu Lingtian performed a series of difficult hand gestures. In the next moment, Fan Yi slid to the ground, as if avoiding an invisible force, and rolled forward. He thrust his sword out as well, but it didn’t even manage to touch the edge of Wu Lingtian’s robes.
As Fan Yi danced about, Wu Lingtian remained in a stable position, watching Fan Yi move about the stage with a set of cold eyes. Not even two minutes in, Wu Lingtian recalled his sword and lunged forward. The loud sound of metal against metal scrapped against the disciples’ ears. They watched as Fan Yi easily side-stepped and pushed Wu Lingtian off. The two men became engaged in close hand-to-hand combat.
One could see the clashing of colors bouncing about within the barrier. If they could be released to their full potential, their fight could easily be seen from in the city.
Wu Lingtian glanced down at the sword in his hand. A slim crack had begun to form at the hilt, slowly moving up higher and higher to the tip of the blade. Wu Lingtian turned to Fan Yi and lunged at him once more. He didn’t have the urge to win, but he did still want to put up a good fight. Fan Yi’s eyes flickered towards the flat of the sword. He glanced at Wu Lingtian and the smile on his face grew further.
“You are displeasing to the eye,” Wu Lingtian commented as he smoothly flew back. His toes barely touched the ground again when he met Fan Yi in the middle of the stadium.
“You don’t mean that,” Fan Yi sighed. “You should stop saying such hurtful things. I’ll take them seriously one day.”
“Your smile is really unpleasant,” Wu Lingtian continued, regardless of Fan Yi’s disappointment.
“Yu Lan, you know you can’t work me up like this,” Fan Yi said with a bright laugh.
Wu Lingtian met Fan Yi’s gaze. The laziness just from the one look caused Fan Yi to laugh once more, though he did not become distracted in the slightest.
The two men crossed their sword once more. Fan Yi pushed his weight against Wu Lingtian, driving him closer to the edge of the stage. Wu Lingtian parried Fan Yi’s sword and slid to the ground, successfully evading Fan Yi by sliding between the man’s legs. Fan Yi turned on his heel immediately and charged after Wu Lingtian. Wu Lingtian jumped up in a graceful arc and, once again, landed behind Fan Yi.
The two men began to engage in a game of tag with Wu Lingtian hopping from pillar to pillar and Fan Yi following close behind him.
The moment Fan Yi’s toes touched the ground, Wu Lingtian launched himself from his position and dove towards Fan Yi. The swords clashed together, creating a myriad of sparks. Fan Yi was driven back to the edge of the stage. Just as he put forth pressure to push back, the sword in Wu Lingtian’s hands shattered. Fan Yi’s eyes widened and the sword that was soaring forward in his hand was suddenly recalled. Wu Lingtian took this chance to send his palm forth and push Fan Yi out of the stage with a burst of spiritual energy.
Fan Yi flew from the stage and caught himself on the ground below.
The disciples fell silent for several heartbeats before breaking out into a chorus of cheers. It was the most interesting fight they had ever witnessed in their lives.
Fan Yi climbed back onto the stage and looked Wu Lingtian over. “Are you okay?”
Wu Lingtian clasped his hands together over the hilt of the broken sword and bowed. “Sect Leader has gone easy on me.”
Fan Yi took in Wu Lingtian’s unperturbed expression and let out a laugh of disbelief. He placed his hand on his forehead and laughed again—this time, his smile was slightly more genuine.
“Fine, fine. You win,” Fan Yi grinned. “It’s a waste of time to be worried about you.”
The disciples had run towards the stage when the barrier dispersed. They watched on at this scene below the stage in silence. The sect leader’s clear laughter, the sect leader’s carefree smile—while it was mesmerizing and new, the disciples suddenly turned towards Wu Lingtian. There was another layer of newfound respect in their eyes.
Fan Yi turned away from Wu Lingtian. The expression from before had faded as abruptly as it came, making the disciples doubt their own eyesight. Fan Yi had recovered his usual appearance as his eyes silently observed the disciples below.
“So, what did you observe from the fight?”
The disciples who were caught off guard began to sputter out their answers one after another. Wu Lingtian watched them for a moment before trailing off to the side. Various words entered his ears, some praising him and other analyzing and guessing at what could have been happening during that time. Wu Lingtian looked down at the battered sword in his hand. The grip around the hilt tightened. He placed the broken sword down on the bench and made his way out of the stadium, only to be stopped by Fan Yi.
“Yu Lan, could you tell them what you actually did?” Fan Yi asked.
Wu Lingtian turned back to the disciples who watched him with sparkling eyes of admiration. He suddenly felt uncomfortable.
“I enacted an illusion technique,” Wu Lingtian said. “It erases reality from the victim, making it hard to tell which is the real sword and which is the fake. The swords attack at a rapid pace, pushing the victim away. Once far enough, I fly into the air and strike down. Breaking the illusion will cause confusion and, at times, even insanity.”
“In short, what Lord Immortal Yu Lan does is a mind game,” Fan Yi said. “Although there aren’t many who do it as well as him in the cultivation world, who knows if there will be anyone else like him in the future? Remember to always keep a clear mind in battle and never fret. A calm disposition is the best. See, even when Lord Immortal Yu Lan tried to distract me, I hadn’t even reacted.”
Wu Lingtian nodded in acknowledgement.
“What did Lord Immortal say?” a curious disciple asked.
“I said his smile looks unsightly,” Wu Lingtian replied honestly.
The honest answer surprised the disciples. A moment later, the group began laughing, not caring that their sect leader’s face looked somewhat grim. Fan Yi sighed and glanced at the group of kids before looking back at Wu Lingtian. The man who normally had a gaze encased in ice had a slight smile in his eyes. It was reminiscent to a sun light hitting freshly fallen snow at just the right angle—it was unbelievably dazzling.
“Alright, alright, enough laughing,” Fan Yi sighed. He clapped his hands together. “Everyone’s response was satisfactory! Then, by the power invested in me, there will be no more lessons for the rest of the week. But be sure to practice on your own, alright? Don’t just run off into the city!”
The disciples cheered happily and thanked Fan Yi until the man irritably waved them off.
Wu Lingtian watched the group of children run off happily and softly shook his head. When he turned back around, he found Fan Yi staring back at him. “What is it?”
“You would make a good teacher.”
Yu Lan is starting to enjoy the liveliness around him . Nice!
Thank you for chapter
thank you so much for the reads and comments 😀
I hope Fan Yi lets him teach. The disciples definitely respond to him.