9.8 – It was really going to be troublesome this time
translator: xiin
editor: alamerysl
Yu Shaofeng’s first impression of Still Peak was that it was bright and beautiful.
Just like that martial brother of his, whose eyes were bright and colourful, and beautiful beyond measure.
Oh. Martial brother said that they could not use the word "beautiful" when describing him, nor could they use the word "enchanting". Although it was true, these kinds of words could not be spoken out for their Master to hear.
“Why? Does Master care a lot about martial brother being described this way?" The young Yu Shaofeng once asked his martial brother this question, but he was completely confused by the answer he received.
His martial brother pursed his lips, laughed a little oddly, and his expression was as cunning as a fox"s. "No. It"s just that if someone reminds him like that, some mental hints that he"s giving himself will fail. His eyes will be able to see more of the truth, which is something he can’t afford at present.”
For a long time, Yu Shaofeng did not understand what his martial brother meant by his words. It was not until later on, after a certain incident occurred that his outlook on life and worldview would be completely overturned. He would finally understand that his master was actually a leader in the art of self-deception.
Still Peak was a very large mountain. But other than his martial brother who forced him to cultivate every day while he ate, drank, played and made merry and still rose in cultivation, he did not find a trace of anyone else. Yu Shaofeng memorized everything his martial brother told him. For example, on Still Peak, regardless of whether it was in cultivation matters, or in personal matters, he was responsible for himself. He did not know what other masters handed down to their disciples, but at the beginning, the number of times he ever saw his master was very pitiful.
On the other hand, he saw his martial brother a lot every day…
“Martial brother, when will Master come out of closed door cultivation?” Two months after his arrival in Still Peak, Yu Shaofeng finally summoned up his courage and asked Xue Ling this serious and difficult to answer question.
At that time, Xue Ling was sitting under a tree reading with one of his long legs bent at the knee. He leaned his head back against the knee as though thinking about something. After a long time, Yu Shaofeng finally received this meaningful reply: "Shaofeng, cultivation is timeless. People don"t come out of things like closed door cultivation simply because they want to."
“But when martial brother brought me back, didn’t he say to the martial uncle at Earth Peak that Master was waiting for me?” His impression of that scene was quite deep. After all, it was because of this remark that Ancestor Thunderbolt"s att.i.tude completely changed.
Xue Ling sighed lightly as he looked at the child that had grown quite a bit taller in two short months. "Silly child. Did you actually believe your martial brother"s words?"
Yu Shaofeng: “…”
System: “… And on that day, the protagonist tasted the cultivation world"s cruelty for the first time."
Xue Ling: “Shut up.”
Xue Ling played with a long strand of hair in his hand, his appearance careless. "Shaofeng, the words that I said back then were all spoken in order to s.n.a.t.c.h you from that d.a.m.ned old man"s hands! Come here, your martial brother will teach you some facts of life."
Although he thought that there was a great probability that his martial brother was talking nonsense, Yu Shaofeng still obediently went over and sat down, his expression seeming to express that he was earnestly listening. It made Xue Ling want to laugh. "Tell me, martial brother."
Xue Ling shook his head and conveniently smacked this little martial brother of his on the head. He sighed, "Younger martial brother, the world of cultivation is a dangerous place. Not everyone"s words are credible. You are not some naïve and innocent child, otherwise you would not be sitting here in front of me now."
Yu Shaofeng nodded his little head in understanding. "I understand martial brother"s meaning… But what martial brother said…"
“Regardless of whether it is your martial brother speaking, or your master, believe in what you can see in front of you, the things that you can prove. In this world, there is n.o.body whose words are completely true." When Xue Ling spoke, he was so severe and serious that it made Yu Shaofeng feel a little dazzled. "I said that Master was waiting to see you in order to trick that d.a.m.ned old man. I figured that he would not dare to come back with me to Still Peak, let alone discuss it with Master."
“You must remember. There are two important guiding principles that those of us who come from Still Peak must have mastered."
“What?”
“First, our own power must be strong enough to crush others." Xue Ling grinned, and used his fingers to count them out. "Second, when our own strength is not enough to crush others, bring out someone who can, and then continue to crush your opponent."
Yu Shaofeng: “…” He had really been naïve to believe that his martial brother was planning to share some guiding rules for the cultivation world.
“Think about it. Acting on these principles, you can walk sideways in the realm of cultivation.~"
“But isn"t Master in closed door cultivation all year round?"
“That’s the reason why you’re cultivating right now instead of finding somewhere comfortable to lie down."
Yu Shaofeng: “…”
The system crouched beside Xue Ling and looked at Yu Shaofeng’s expression. It opened its mouth and spoke earnestly, "I don’t think he can express what he wants to say. I can say it for him.”
Xue Ling gave the system an icy glance.
The system continued making trouble for itself: “He probably wants to say, "What you"re saying makes sense, and I unexpectedly can"t refute it."
Xue Ling seemed to be casually putting his hand down, but in actuality, it landed on the system"s head.
“And, your martial brother has a little secret to share with you.”
Although Yu Shaofeng thought his martial brother was unreliable, other than their master, there was n.o.body else but him on Still Peak, and he had n.o.body else to talk to.
And his elder martial brother was too beautiful. Even though every sentence made others really itch to beat him up, there was no way not to listen to him.
“Well, Master doesn"t know you exist."
“Ha?”
“I"ll tell explain it to you like this~” Xue Ling pointed towards the main peak where Chi Lan was currently in closed door cultivation. "Back then, I only told master that I wanted to go see the disciple recruitment convention, and even if I had already decided on you, I didn"t tell him that I had accepted an extra disciple for him. Master basically doesn"t even know about you."
Yu Shaofeng felt that the person in front of him was joking with him.
But his martial brother didn’t seem to be joking.
Xue Ling also knew that it was very harmful to Yu Shaofeng"s young heart to say such things, but there were some things where it was better if he was prepared rather than unprepared. "Your martial brother didn"t want to do this either, but in order not to let you fall into the hands of that old man, I had to do so.”
“… Why?”
“Others may not know, but I know why the so-called Ancestor Thunderbolt is accepting new disciples." Xue Ling was straightforward about exposing one of the climaxes of this story to Yu Shaofeng. "He has already reached the peak of his cultivation, and can no longer make any progress. If he doesn"t break through, he will be torn to ashes by lightning when he reaches the upper limits of his life. So, he began to try all kinds of ways to help him find a solution. Unfortunately, the mutated lightning root on your body is his shortcut."
“If you were really taken in by him, in a few hundred years or so, I will hear about your death.” Xue Ling gently touched Yu Shaofeng"s head, and his voice was full of affection. “Who told you to look at me? That"s why I decided to save you.”
Yu Shaofeng’s face was full of disbelief.
Xue Ling added, “Now you know why I went up against him back then, and also why I threw away that jade token. That thing can allow him to pinpoint your location. If you left Still Peak alone, you would probably lose your life immediately."
Yu Shaofeng felt that the world was a little magical.
He had only just begun his journey in the world of cultivation, and had already learned so much information. The amount of data was too much, and he couldn’t respond at all for a moment.
But some words still came out unconsciously. “Then what do we do about Master?”
“I don’t know~” Xue Ling shamelessly propped his chin on his hand, not appearing concerned at all. "Perhaps he"ll be so angry that he drives us out of Still Peak?"
Yu Shaofeng: “… In any case, he"ll only get rid of me…”
“It doesn’t matter~ If he really drives you away, I"ll go with you." Xue Ling fiercely ruffled the child"s hair, and then cheerfully continued, "In fact, I really want to go out and play. When the time comes, we can go to all the secret realms and look around~ I have a feeling that we"ll be able to obtain some amazing things."
Yu Shaofeng: “…” He really didn’t know what to say about his brother, but his intuition told him that he might have to wait for a long time before that day arrived. Based on his martial brother"s nature, many things that he said would not come true.
After all, he had a strong personality. Although he said he wanted to go out and play, if he didn"t cultivate enough to reach the point where he could walk sideways in the cultivation world, the probability of it happening should be zero.
Yu Shaofeng clearly hadn"t spent very much time with his martial brother, but he understood him particularly well for some reason…
In fact, the days spent cultivating in Still Peak were very dull, but Yu Shaofeng had a very strong sense of self-control. Although his master did not know of his existence, and all his cultivation pointers were given to him by his unreliable martial brother, he still improved by leaps and bounds. Sometimes even when he sat down and woke up, he"d find that his cultivation had improved once again.
His elder martial brother also praised him for being amazing. Things like insight was not something just anyone could do, but he often entered that kind of state. It really made him a rare talent.
After martial brother said it multiple times, Yu Shaofeng began to believe it.
Later, after he really learned the truth, he felt like an idiot.
When Chi Lan once again withdrew from the closed door cultivation state because his mind was restless, he finally decided to unblock himself from the outside world and take a look at his disciple.
Which was why he immediately realized how foolish it had been to shut down all five senses in order to calm his heart and completely stop tracking his disciple"s actions.
For the first time, Venerable Crimson Flame understood what it meant to feel suffocated in his heart.
On Still Peak, in addition to his disciple, a third person existed. As long as he hadn"t blocked his own perception, he would have learned of this as soon as the third person entered Still Peak. Now, he could tell that this person had already stayed at Still Peak for a period of time.
As soon as he realized that his disciple had not been alone, but had rather been accompanied by another person during his absence, the fire in Chi Lan"s heart began to burn. It raged as though wanting raze everything to the ground, and fire began to spring up from his eyes.
Xue Ling was naturally the first to discover that Chi Lan was about to come out of his closed door cultivation. After all, his original body was planted in that yard. That fire Qi was rushing straight up into the sky, and it would be strange if he couldn"t sense it.
At that time, Xue Ling had just caught a chicken on the mountain and was preparing to have Yu Shaofeng pluck its feathers so they could eat Beggar"s Chicken. He hadn"t stuffed the chicken into Yu Shaofeng"s hands yet when the chicken was so terrified by the change in atmosphere that it managed to break away from Xue Ling"s grasp and fled for its life.
Yu Shaofeng was a little muddled. He only felt a surge of Qi rush towards the sky before it shifted and pressed down towards him. And then, he watched his elder martial brother"s calm expression turn cold as he quickly came forward to block for him.
A gust of wind blew by in front of Yu Shaofeng, the killing intent contained within biting to the bone, causing his entire body to be frozen stiff.
His hand was suddenly stuffed with a leaf that came from who knew where. Yu Shaofeng heard his martial brother curse quietly before he turned his head back to say, "Go back to your room first. Hold the leaf I gave you in your hand, and don’t do anything unnecessary."
“Martial brother… What happened?”
“Master has come out of his closed door cultivation." His martial brother only left this sentence behind as he disappeared from in front of him.
Yu Shaofeng’s first impression of his master was of this powerful Qi, the flames that rushed towards the sky, and this icy cold killing intent, along with the warmth from the leaf in his hand.
Everything in the little courtyard looked completely different. The reclining chair that Xue Ling had specifically arranged for so that he could lie down comfortably had been burned to ashes. Only his original body remained, the branches swaying as they caught the killing intent that was surging out due to his Master"s Qi deviation.
Exactly. Chi Lan had been completely consumed by his inner demon. Or, his rationality might have been completely corroded by his spiritual roots. But the possibility of it being the second option was basically zero.
When Xue Ling appeared on his tree branch, Chi Lan had just run out of the house. There were flames all over his body, and anything that touched him, regardless of whether it was things or people, it would all be burned to ashes.
Fortunately, Xue Ling has been cultivating with him for many years. It had become habit and instinct to absorb the fire coming out of his body. With a wave of his hand, green leaves grew along the path the overflowing flame was taking, and the entire courtyard soon became covered in greenery.
Chi Lan"s pupils seemed to darken a little.
Only then did Xue Ling come down from the tree and step forward, poking his forehead with his hand and calling out, “Master?! Are you conscious now?”
The hand that was poking was covered by another hand that grasped it tightly before pulling it down. Chi Lan had restored some of his sanity, but the eyes that were staring into his still flashed a bright red.
He was truly lost in Qi deviation. Xue Ling tsked, and thought in his heart that things were really going to be troublesome now.
a huge THANK YOU to everyone who signed up for patreon! super touched by all your support ![:blobsnuggle:]()