Chapter 76: Fitting In

The aftermath of this match was truly immense. Forget the people directly involved—even the spectators discussed it excitedly for days. Whenever anyone brought it up, their blood would start pumping all over again.

The disciples who had been busy that day and missed the match cried out in regret. Fortunately, someone had recorded the entire battle with a shadow-recording stone, and many copies were later made. Even during lessons at Six Lectures Peak, the substitute instructors from Sword Peak and Saber Peak used the battle as teaching material to explain the flexible application of swords and sabers during combat.

Some people even studied it carefully and genuinely managed to comprehend a few things from it.

In the sect tournament, the spotlight had always been concentrated on the Golden Core Realm and Foundation Establishment Realm divisions. After all, cultivators in the Qi Refining Realm had only just begun cultivating, so their battles were not usually very interesting.

This year was different.

This single high-quality clash between sword and saber had completely overshadowed every final below the Golden Core Realm.

Moreover, both participants had only joined Yonglu Mountain last year.

One year!

Even swallowing immortal pills would not produce progress this absurdly fast. Had they merely been slightly ahead, others might still have made a few sour remarks. But this strength had been forged through a genuine clash of sword and saber. No matter who watched, they could not find a single fault to criticize.

Whether it was Chen Zui or Wen Xu, both deserved their present fame.

Perhaps there had once been people who privately muttered that Wen Xu had only managed to surpass so many talented cultivators because he had found himself a good master and possessed an excellent spiritual root.

Now, those voices had vanished completely.

Everyone at Yonglu Mountain knew that Divine Venerable Chengwei was not renowned for swordsmanship. For Junior Granduncle-Master to wield a sword to such a degree, his own powers of comprehension had to be extraordinary.

The name of the Folding Wind Fan had yet to become widely known, but everyone at Yonglu Mountain had already heard of the Folding Wind Sword.

As for Senior Brother—or Junior Brother—Chen Zui, he was truly ferocious. Apparently, the attention after becoming famous had irritated him so much that the moment his injuries healed, he grabbed his secret-realm entry quota and rushed straight to the rear mountain.

By now, he was probably about to enter the secret realm.

Huo Shengyin had also witnessed that match.

How should she put it?

Before the match began, she could still curse inwardly about how detestable geniuses were. But after it ended, her mind had gone completely blank. She could no longer say a single word.

Geniuses were terrifying enough.

Geniuses who gave everything they had were even more frightening.

She suddenly felt that losing her match might have been a good thing. At the very least, she now had a proper standard in her heart.

And that standard had been forged for her by her fellow disciples, rather than by some ill-intentioned fellow cultivator outside Yonglu Mountain.

Carrying her guqin on her back, Huo Shengyin prepared to head to Kaiyuan Peak and complete the procedures for entering the inner sect.

That was right. Although she had lost the match, a master had accepted her.

Her master also cultivated the guqin path. At last, she could settle down and devote herself to refining her guqin skills.

The procedures for entering the inner sect were extremely simple.

Her disciple waist token was replaced, she received a new set of disciple robes, and her divine soul was registered in a soul lamp. With that, she officially became an inner disciple of Yonglu Mountain.

“Congratulations, Junior Sister Huo.”

Huo Shengyin was naturally delighted. “Thank you, Senior Brother.”

“It’s nothing. When does Junior Sister plan to collect your prize from the sect tournament?”

The top ten competitors in the sect tournament all received a basic prize: one Foundation Establishment Pill and a place accompanying the delegation to next year’s Five Sects Assembly.

The top three received additional rewards.

Chen Zui had already chosen the secret-realm entry quota, which left a custom-made artifact and fifty thousand spirit stones.

“Has Junior Granduncle-Master already made his choice?”

The senior brother from Kaiyuan Peak nodded. “Yes. So, about this artifact…”

“What?”

Huo Shengyin was instantly shocked.

“Wait. Junior Granduncle-Master chose the fifty thousand spirit stones? He…”

“Yes. He said that Junior Sister might have greater need of a suitable guqin.”

What was she supposed to do?

She suddenly felt so moved.

Back when Huo Shengyin had been in the outer sect, she had been a reliable senior sister. Her junior brothers and sisters had all respected and looked up to her. Of course, she had experienced the goodwill of fellow disciples before.

But fifty thousand spirit stones and a custom-made artifact—one produced by the sect’s own Artifact Refining Peak, no less—could not possibly be compared.

“He…”

Huo Shengyin had no way to reject this kindness.

She understood perfectly well that with Junior Granduncle-Master’s status and abilities, he would not lack a low-grade, third-rank artifact. More than that, the Folding Wind in his hands had been crafted by that genius Junior Martial Uncle from Artifact Refining Peak. He certainly had no need for another custom-made artifact.

But no matter how one explained it, he had never been obligated to yield it to her.

She was the one who had lost the match, and she had accepted that defeat wholeheartedly. Receiving fifty thousand spirit stones should have been enough for her.

“I’ll claim it now.”

She would remember this kindness.

“Junior Sister only needs to leave your spiritual-power imprint here. Once you decide what kind of artifact you want forged, you can go directly to the registration desk in the main hall of Artifact Refining Peak. The junior disciples there will help record your requirements.”

“Thank you, Senior Brother.”

While Huo Shengyin collected her reward at Kaiyuan Peak, Wen Xu—whose injuries had already healed—was being made by his master to…

Review his own sect tournament final.

More precisely, he was being made to watch its recording on a shadow-recording stone.

He had no idea where his master had obtained such a high-grade shadow-recording stone. It even reproduced the sensation of being physically present at the scene.

But watching his own battle was somehow embarrassing.

Even though Wen Xu remembered everything clearly, sitting there and watching it with his own eyes still filled him with an inexplicable sense of shame.

As for losing the match, Wen Xu felt no resentment.

“Ah-Xu worked so hard. Your master will treasure this shadow-recording stone forever.”

“Seeing Ah-Xu fight so hard to win has suddenly made your master look forward to next year’s Five Sects Assembly.”

Wen Xu was rendered speechless and chose to remain silent.

Divine Venerable Chengwei clearly did not require his disciple to play along. He could happily continue all by himself.

“I originally prepared three cutting remarks for you, but now it seems one will be enough.”

As expected of him.

If Jun Zhaoying saw this shadow-recording stone, wouldn’t she…

Heh-heh.

She would not dare come to Yonglu Mountain looking for another fight.

“Come to think of it, what reward did you receive?”

Wen Xu had not won, so naturally, he had failed to obtain the secret-realm entry quota he had wanted.

As for the remaining two rewards, neither made much difference to him. After the Folding Wind Fan had been reforged, it would remain useful all the way until he reached the Nascent Soul Realm.

After weighing his options, he had chosen the fifty thousand spirit stones.

“What? Only fifty thousand spirit stones? Has our sect fallen on hard times recently?”

Wen Xu said, “…Master, please don’t say that.”

Sect Master Gu would be heartbroken again if he heard.

“But it’s true. Still, your sword is indeed quite good, so you don’t need another artifact.”

Divine Venerable Chengwei clearly understood the situation perfectly.

“As for the secret realm on the rear mountain, I think it would be better for you to enter after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm.”

“The rear mountain’s secret realm truly is very suitable for your training and cultivation. However, the benefits are greatest the first time you enter. When the time comes, you’ll understand why your master says so.”

In other words, Wen Xu should not ask now.

Even if he did, his master would not tell him.

Wen Xu had already thoroughly grasped his master’s temperament. He listened without asking further questions.

Recently, he had not been cultivating frantically as he had some time ago. Instead, in a rare departure from his usual habits, he had allowed himself to empty his mind.

Bian Chunzhou had thought that losing the match had dealt him too great a blow.

But in truth…

Wen Xu simply needed this stretch of blank time to let everything settle.

After one entire sect tournament, the series of high-intensity battles had finally allowed him to touch the threshold of what it meant to be a true cultivator.

He was no longer merely discussing strategies on paper or running simulations in his mind. Having experienced everything firsthand, Wen Xu finally felt something solid beneath his feet.

At last, he could distinguish between who he had been before and who he was now.

Walking the path of cultivation had been forced upon him, yet it had also come about naturally. It had never originated from his own conscious desire.

To put it another way, he had fought desperately to earn the opportunity to study.

But stumbling into the cultivation world had happened because he had been hunted to the brink of death and the heavens had granted him an opportunity.

He had seized that opportunity.

Yet everything had happened so abruptly that he never had the time to quiet himself and think carefully.

He had never considered what truly lay at the heart of his decision to cultivate.

Even now, he remained lost in ignorance.

Bian Chunzhou’s heart was relaxed and at ease, because there was neither gloom nor dust in his eyes.

Chen Zui’s heart was straightforward and open. He did not need to think before charging fearlessly ahead.

But Wen Xu was different.

He was an ordinary, worldly man.

He schemed too much and cared about far too many things. In everything he did, he placed his own interests first.

He was not the noble, pure-hearted person others believed him to be.

Yet he had deliberately molded himself into precisely that kind of person.

Wen Xu had to admit that when he first entered Yonglu Mountain, he had considered why he needed to pretend to be blind.

But he had never once considered shedding that disguise.

It was like his skin.

Without it, he would lose the sense of security on which his survival depended.

Yet that all-out battle had finally begun to awaken something inside him.

Back in the Mortal Realm, he had needed to disguise himself in order to climb upward and obtain what he wanted from others.

But now…

Did he still need to?

Did he still need to disguise himself every moment of every day?

Did he still need to make himself fit in?

When he had completely lost himself in the fight, he had heard no jeers around him.

No one had disliked him because his attacks were sharp and aggressive.

In fact, his reputation had only grown afterward.

The strong wrote the rules of the world.

In the cultivation world, where the weak were prey to the strong, that was the true iron law.

He had stepped onto the path of cultivation with revenge in his heart.

That vision had been far too narrow.

Wen Xu steadied himself, then once again emptied his mind.

Every shift in his young disciple’s expression fell into Divine Venerable Chengwei’s eyes.

With his ability to perceive the human heart, he naturally understood that Ah-Xu’s state of mind remained somewhat shallow.

But so what if it was shallow?

Everyone began from shallowness.

Cultivators needed to know how to cultivate, but even more importantly, they needed to know how to think.

Ah-Xu was thinking.

He was reflecting on himself.

That meant progress was not far away.

When his young disciple finally returned to his senses, Divine Venerable Chengwei lazily spoke.

“You were in seclusion during the New Calendar last year. Are you planning to enter seclusion again this year?”

Wen Xu honestly shook his head.

“I see. That means this will be your first New Year in the cultivation world. Your master’s suggestion is that, for your first New Calendar, you should watch the sunrise from the roof ridge of the Grand Hall of Juyong.”

The Grand Hall of Juyong?!

Wen Xu stared at him in shock.

“The Grand Hall of Juyong doesn’t allow anyone to—”

“But your seniority is high.”

Divine Venerable Chengwei was practically covered from head to toe in rebellious disregard for convention. Even the way he taught his disciple was exactly the same.

“Trust your master. It suits you perfectly.”

In any case, the Grand Hall of Juyong only opened once a year. What was wrong with letting his own disciple climb up and experience the first breeze of the New Calendar?

It was not as though the building would lose a piece of itself.

Wen Xu fell silent.

“Don’t be afraid. You can secretly go with your little friends. As long as no one discovers you, then you were never there. Right?”

Divine Venerable Chengwei felt that he was simply too considerate.

He truly was the greatest master under heaven.

“Of course, it doesn’t matter even if you are discovered. Even if the sky over Yonglu Mountain collapses, your master will still be here to hold it up for you~”

“Really?”

At that moment, Wen Xu wanted nothing more than to flee Spring-Crossing Peak overnight.

“Of course. At worst, we master and disciple can cling to the sect master’s legs and cry together. The Punishment Hall would never dare punish you then. After all, they wouldn’t want the sect’s family shame to become public.”

Wen Xu fell silent again.

Thank you, but I choose to accept the punishment.

He had to admit that he was still someone who cared greatly about saving face!

He could not bear such humiliation!

His master was not allowed to lose face either!

He would personally defend the dignity of the divine dragon!

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