A Stone Stirred a Thousand Waves

That night, at Hot Spring Cliff, peach blossoms fell, and Lingzhou Yue made a decision.

That night, moonlight shone upon the bathwater, and the girl began taking a man as her master.

That night, Xiao Ran soaked in the Spiritual Energy of flowers, grass, and spiritual plants, and slept soundly.

But he had still underestimated the Spiritual Energy concentration, moisture, and nourishment of Sword-Wielding Mountain.

When he opened the door the next day and looked outside—

The emerald wheat and rice fields were already half a person tall, and ears of grain had begun to emerge.

The medicinal plants had opened their flower buds, while the Rapeseed Field was a brilliant yellow, like spring itself.

To the east stood lush green pine woods, interspersed with fiery red maples and cherry blossoms. Colorful Swimming Fish frolicked in the pool, chasing the falling maple leaves in circles.

To the west, the Vegetable Plot was flourishing: chives shooting straight up in wild disorder, tiny pointed Red Chili peppers, Cucumber crowned with blossoms and covered in prickles, purple-tinged Amaranth, Hyacinth Beans blooming with purple flowers, and Tomato hanging everywhere like little red lanterns.

He had planted too much, and it was growing too fast. They would never be able to eat it all...

The fruit trees were a step slower, still in their growing and flowering stage.

New bamboo shoots poked up in the Bamboo Forest, flowers and grass cast shade, attracting not only bees and butterflies but also a group of squirrels and gray rabbits.

Xiao Ran looked around. Any plant that had not entered a rank had already matured or was about to mature. Only the few rank-entry herbs and grains had just begun to sprout.

This concentration of Spiritual Energy... He had truly underestimated Sword-Wielding Mountain! By the South Cliff outside the gate—

Lingzhou Yue stood lightly amid the sea of rapeseed flowers, their vivid yellow reflected in her clear, picturesque face.

In a thousand years, this was unexpectedly the first time she had come into close contact with such mundane crops. Unexpectedly, they were quite beautiful.

Yet a rare trace of sorrow flashed through her clear eyes, like amber-lit lake water.

After draining a jug of wine, she merely murmured to herself,

"However beautiful mortal things may be, they will eventually come to an end..."

Xiao Ran came up behind her. Seeing his Master's increasingly full and graceful figure, he wondered what exactly had happened when the peach blossoms fell last night.

"Master."

Lingzhou Yue did not look at him. She tipped back her head and took another gulp of Malt Wine.

"There are only three people on Sword-Wielding Mountain. Can you even finish eating all that food you planted?"

Xiao Ran smiled.

"Master is drinking so early in the morning. How could I not work harder to plant more grain for brewing wine?"

Only then did Lingzhou Yue turn around. The sorrow on her face had faded, and an almost imperceptible, fleeting peach blush appeared on her handsome face, moistened by the hot spring.

"Where is your precious disciple?"

"She went back to her natal family to handle the formalities."

Xiao Ran casually cracked a joke.

Natal family... A trace of reminiscence crossed Lingzhou Yue's face as she said meaningfully, "Though she came for me, she can still be considered as helping you in my stead, so you do not have to work so hard alone."

Oh? Even an elder like you has started claiming credit to show concern for your disciple? Xiao Ran remained respectful on the surface, but spoke with genuine sincerity as well.

"This disciple is happy to show filial devotion to Master. It is no hardship."

Lingzhou Yue smiled faintly. Her sword-like brows were soft and delicate, drifting into her temples.

"Do you think people have past lives?"

Master was acting rather strangely today. Could even clear wine poison someone...

The problem was, as a transmigrator, Xiao Ran really did have a past life! He hurriedly said, "No. They do not exist. It is all superstition."

"Is that so?"

Lingzhou Yue cast Xiao Ran a faint look. Her eyes were clear and rippling, like shimmering lake light refracted on water, making one suddenly lose one's soul.

As Xiao Ran stood lost in thought, he suddenly heard his Master say,

"I am leaving for three days. Watch the house carefully."

Three days? With such a huge gap in time, how was he supposed to earn Filial Piety Points? "I want to go with Master."

Lingzhou Yue replied airily,

"This journey is very dangerous. I may not be able to look after you. When the day comes that you can deal with Wraiths on your own, I will take you out with me."

If even Master could not protect him, just how dangerous would it be?

And when had Master become this diligent?

Was there something she absolutely had to do?

"Yes, Master."

"I'm leaving."

Lingzhou Yue's figure flashed, vanishing into the rolling sea of clouds.

For some reason, Xiao Ran saw a trace of melancholy and the solemn heroism of someone who had made up her mind in his Master's departing silhouette.

Was it really that dangerous?

Xiao Ran thought that he too had to speed up his cultivation. Only by becoming Master's right-hand man as soon as possible—or even stronger than Master—could he protect her! After his Master left, Xiao Ran gave the fields, Vegetable Plot, and Orchard some simple watering, fertilizing, and care.

He boiled some hot water to drink, filled his stomach with flatbread along with Tomato and Cucumber, then, after busying himself for a while, rose into the air on a paper kite.

He flew toward the Main Peak!

Zongzhi Mountain's Main Peak covered an enormous area.

The Sword Plaza alone was a full circle larger than the entire summit of Sword-Wielding Mountain.

Located halfway up the eastern slope, the Sword Plaza was a massive circular platform half suspended in the air, paved with alternating bluish-gray Marble. High-level Spirit Runes filled its seams.

At the center of the Sword Plaza stood a Square Platform about half a zhang tall and one mu wide.

At the center of the Square Platform stood a hundred-zhang-tall Sword Stone Tablet.

Sword Bamboo grew sparsely around the Sword Plaza.

The Chen Hour had arrived.

Beside the Sword Bamboo at the entrance stood a blue-and-yellow banner—

Sword-Wielding Peak Direct Disciple Open Challenge.

Direct Disciple challenge matches were unofficial competitions usually organized by core Inner Sect Disciples. They had a long history and focused mainly on sparring. There were no strict rules; under the banner of exchange and learning, challengers tested the strength of Direct Disciples.

The last Direct Disciple to be challenged had been Luo Sheng, the Discipline Hall's Direct Disciple. The challenge had lasted a year, and Luo Sheng had fought until he was reborn before finally passing.

As for Chunwa and Qiuchan, the Hundred Herbs Peak Direct Disciple, no one had challenged her to this day.

After all, it was merely a freely organized competition among Inner Sect Disciples. Who would challenge two Qi Refining children? One punch each and their sobbing would become a nuisance.

In fact, Direct Disciples could choose not to accept challenges.

Back then, Luo Sheng had also been forced to participate by his own father, Huangfu Qun.

This time, the Disciple Challenge had once again been stamped and certified by the Disciplinary Elder, who required Xiao Ran to participate.

When recommending the worthy, one did not avoid relatives. Huangfu Qun had not even spared his own son, so his certification carried great authority.

The Inner Sect Disciples had already held great grievances against Xiao Ran. Now that they had the Disciplinary Elder's certification, the crowd was stirred up, all eager to try.

Among them, only Jiang Chuyan and Ye Fan genuinely wanted to join Sword-Wielding Mountain. The rest saw no hope of that, and testing Xiao Ran's strength was just a pretense...

They simply wanted to vent their resentment! Xiao Ran had anticipated this as well.

He simply had not expected there to be no atmosphere of competition at all on the Sword Plaza.

The imagined sea of people was nowhere to be seen.

Looking down from above the Sword Plaza, most of the sparse crowd consisted of Inner Sect Disciples who had risen early to practice swordsmanship. A few looked around as if they were spectators.

Comparing them against the challenge Jade Slips, not a single person who genuinely intended to take the stage had arrived.

Xiao Ran was somewhat surprised, but after thinking it over... it made sense.

This Disciple Challenge would last a month. Many people had never expected Xiao Ran, a mere mortal, to appear at the Sword Plaza on the very first day—or even in the very first hour.

The dark-yellow paper kite drifted down onto the Square Platform of the Sword Plaza.

Xiao Ran abruptly appeared in the midst of the disciples.

All the disciples looked over and were suddenly startled.

His enviable robe-style disciple uniform fluttered in the wind.

Identity confirmed: Xiao Ran! The disciples were first puzzled. Why had he come so early?

Then, more than a hundred streams of divine sense swept across Xiao Ran's body.

He really was a mortal! Only a small number of female disciples could see the few shining points Xiao Ran possessed.

Handsome features, a tall and slender frame, an elegant and refined bearing... and other strengths besides.

Suddenly! No one knew who it was among the disciples that abruptly called out,

"Good morning, Uncle-Master Xiao."

The Sword Plaza instantly fell silent. A moment later, everyone clasped their hands in salute.

"Good morning, Uncle-Master Xiao."

"Good morning, Uncle-Master Xiao."

"Uncle-Master Xiao..."

Xiao Ran understood as well. Though they were not truly respectful and most doubted him in their hearts, seeing the neat and uniform saluting postures before him and hearing those respectful greetings... made him feel a little lightheaded.

That transcendent feeling of standing above others was truly exhilarating! Even if one's virtue did not match one's position, even if one's talent did not match one's position, it was still exhilarating.

Since he had arrived early, Xiao Ran decided to establish an impressive persona.

Because if he acted forcefully, some formidable Inner Sect Disciples would choose to wait and see, reassessing the Sword-Wielding Elder's judgment. That way, they would avoid rashly taking action, suffering defeat, losing face, and making things awkward between them afterward.

With that in mind, Xiao Ran stood with his hands behind his back, swept his gaze across the crowd, revealed a disappointed expression, and casually tossed the challenge Jade Slips onto the platform.

Jade Slips representing famous Inner Sect challengers scattered messily across the ground.

"Aren't you here to challenge me? There is not even a shadow of a person in sight. Inner Sect Disciples truly grow worse with every generation."

Xiao Ran's words struck the ground like a stone, stirring a thousand waves!

Eh, was today the male lead's birthday?