Two Geniuses

The next morning, Ling Tian woke up yawning nonstop. Remembering how he'd tossed and turned half the night, he couldn't help but smile wryly. But then a sweet warmth spread through his heart. Seeing how tired he looked, Ling Tian's thoughts stirred, and a warm, peaceful aura filled his body. Strangely, the heavy drowsiness that had clung to him vanished in an instant, leaving him bright and alert. Ling Tian was used to this by now and didn't give it much thought.

"Am I going to see Min'er? But why does my heart feel like it's thumping wildly?" Though Ling Tian had been thinking about Hua Min'er constantly, now that he was actually going to see her, he suddenly felt a little uneasy.

"What are you scared of? It's not like you're going to see some ferocious ghost or beast." Ling Tian tried to encourage himself, then set off at a run for Qingdie Peak.

Qingyou Peak lay to the east of Qingyun Mountain, while Qingdie Peak lay to the west. Ling Tian still couldn't use Object Flight, so the quickest route was naturally to pass Qingyun Peak on his way to Qingdie Peak.

Ling Tian was sprinting along when, upon reaching Qingyun Peak, he couldn't help stopping at the sound of its disciples' chatter. He paused to listen closely.

"Have you heard? A once-in-a-century—no, once-in-a-millennium genius has appeared on Qingdie Peak." A slightly dark-skinned disciple on Qingyun Peak looked around at the others and spoke smugly, as if he himself were the genius.

"How could we not have heard? The news has spread everywhere. Apparently, that girl made it to the top of Qingdie Peak's 'Heavenly Ladder.' Sure, Qingdie Peak's ladder only has four colored stages, but that's already enough to leave even the Peak Masters far behind." Another disciple chimed in, his face full of envy.

"Who believes she could only manage four colored stages? She still seemed to have energy to spare when she finished. She could probably have kept going."

"Oh, really? How come I haven't heard about this?" one disciple asked, looking puzzled.

"Tsk, you're just out of the loop. I hear her master, Peak Master Ye Feidie, will bring her to our Qingyun Peak's main lineage soon for a test. Of the nine peaks of Qingyun Mountain, only Qingyun Peak's 'Heavenly Ladder' goes beyond four levels—all the way to the full nine." The disciple looked smug, as though he knew some earth-shattering secret.

"I hear our Sect Master was furious this time, but all he could do was stew in silence," one disciple said cautiously.

"That genius girl slipped right through the Sect Master's fingers. How could he not be annoyed? But there's nothing he can say. He was the one who failed to recognize her talent back then." Another disciple picked up the conversation, lowering his voice even further. If they hadn't been cultivators, the others might not have heard him at all. He seemed afraid of being overheard.

"Right. One of our Qingyun Vein's Martial Brothers was the one who rescued her back then. I guess the Sect Master saw her crying and thought she had no talent, so he simply let Qingdie Peak have her," said a disciple who knew a little of the inside story.

"Ahem. The Sect Master's affairs aren't for us to discuss. Let's talk about that genius instead." A disciple cleared his throat and glanced toward the Great Hall on Qingyun Peak, quickly stopping the others. Fear flashed in the other disciples' eyes, and they hastily stopped discussing Green Cloud Master. Clearly, they held the Sect Master of Qingyun Peak in great awe.

"I wonder when the Peak Master of Qingdie Peak will bring her here. I'd love to feast my eyes on that genius's immortal beauty. I hear Qingdie Peak only accepts beauties." A lecherous-looking disciple licked his lips, wearing a rather lascivious expression.

"Probably in the next few days. Don't get your hopes up. A genius like that is beyond the likes of ordinary people like us. But there's no harm in taking a look, so let's keep an eye on what's happening at Qingdie Peak over the next few days." That disciple had a fair amount of self-awareness and spoke with a self-mocking smile.

"Yeah. Speaking of this genius, though, she reminds me of another 'genius.' Heh." When he said "another genius," his expression was full of both disdain and schadenfreude. It was astonishing to see both at once; the man certainly had a wide range of expressions.

"You mean the one from Qingyou Peak? Now that's a real genius—the genius who made it to the top of the nine-colored 'Heavenly Ladder.' Ha ha!" one disciple said, laughing without restraint.

"Haha!" Everyone burst into laughter.

Now Ling Tian could understand the man's two contradictory expressions. The disdain was because he considered the other person a useless good-for-nothing. The schadenfreude, he guessed, came from the selfish pleasure of seeing someone else's path to genius cut short—of not being a genius himself, and not wanting anyone else to be one either.

"A genius has appeared on Qingdie Peak? Seems I've been too cut off from the world. I don't know anything," Ling Tian said with a faintly self-mocking smile.

For all these years, Ling Tian had spent his days playing or cultivating on Qingyou Peak, rarely paying attention to what was happening on the other peaks. No wonder there was so much he didn't know.

Could I be the 'other genius' they mean? Ling Tian felt a little down, but the feeling soon vanished, replaced by anger.

"Forget it. Father said there's no need to stoop to the level of petty men." Remembering his father's words, Ling Tian quickly suppressed his anger.

"Come on, let's go to Qingdie Peak. I wonder if Min'er misses me." With that thought, Ling Tian hurried off.

"Hey, that person just came from Qingyou Peak. Could it be..." One person watched Ling Tian's retreating figure and spoke with a trace of worry.

"So what if it is? He's a 'good-for-nothing' who can't cultivate. What's there to fear?" A burly disciple spoke carelessly.

"You're all brawn and no brains. Why didn't you join Qingshi Peak back then? They specialize in cultivating the body; it would've suited you perfectly." Another, somewhat sharper-witted disciple was clearly unimpressed with the burly disciple's intelligence.

"What do you mean, Martial Brother?" The burly disciple scratched his head and asked with a foolish grin.

"You... Sigh, how do I explain this to you? We don't fear Ling Tian, naturally, but there's a terrifying figure standing behind him." The sharp-witted disciple was completely defeated and could only explain it to him, though he couldn't help feeling a little amused.

"Uh, I probably couldn't beat the Peak Master of Qingyou Peak. He won't come after me for revenge, will he? What should I do, Martial Brother?" The burly disciple finally caught on to something, and sweat immediately beaded on his brow.

"Junior Brother Ren Qing, really, don't scare Junior Brother Shi Tou. Would the Lingyun Peak Master stoop to dealing with people like us?" A nearby disciple saw Ren Qing teasing Shi Tou and couldn't stand by, so he spoke up to defend him.

"Heh heh, I haven't had a chance to mess with him in ages. I was just teasing Shi Tou. Why'd you have to ruin it, Martial Brother Chu Yun?" Ren Qing chuckled sheepishly, giving Chu Yun a slightly disgruntled look.

"Martial Brother Ren Qing, you're picking on me again. Boo-hoo." Shi Tou pouted, putting on an adorably foolish act. With his burly build, though, the gesture looked decidedly odd.

"Stop pretending. Your acting is so bad it's ridiculous. Hahaha!" Ren Qing laughed loudly, tapping Shi Tou's enormous head.

Everyone burst into laughter too.

"Still, people have seen Ling Tian training his body quite often these past few years. We'd better not underestimate him." Chu Yun paused to think, then said what had come to mind.

"Hmph. When it comes to physical strength, I'm not afraid of him. He only dares act tough because he has the Lingyun Peak Master backing him. If he dares come at me, I'll make him regret it." Shi Tou was exceptionally burly, and he waved an arm thicker than Ren Qing's thigh. Since he was often bullied, he naturally wanted to try bullying someone else for a change. Besides, when it came to physical strength, he feared no one. Ren Qing only managed to bully him because he'd reached the Qi Solidification Stage and could fly on a sword.

"You really need to stop being so reckless. One of these days, you'll pay for it." Chu Yun smiled gently, clearly quite fond of his simple-minded junior.

"It's fine. I have you Martial Brothers, don't I? Why should I bother using my head?" Shi Tou looked ingratiatingly at the others.

"Heh heh..." They all chuckled, then quickly forgot about Ling Tian. The group continued discussing the other things they'd seen and heard around Qingyun Mountain.