Great Bamboo Peak.
Ye Xuan hadn't even had time to greet anyone.
Then he heard a loud bang.
The wooden door, which seemed incredibly fragile at that moment, was shoved open.
A powerful gust of air swept dust straight toward them.
Song Daren strode out, his face flushed with excitement.
"Master!"
"I..."
Huh?
Song Daren's foot hung in midair. He didn't dare set it down.
His eyes went wide as he stared at Tian Buyi, who was so close their noses nearly touched.
Master's pose...
Why did it look like he was... eavesdropping at the door?
Tian Buyi reacted incredibly quickly.
The instant their eyes met,
he whipped the hand behind his back and flicked his sleeve. His ear, which had been pressed against the door, snapped back into place, and he straightened his back.
The look of surprise on his plump face vanished in an instant.
In its place was a stern expression that seemed unfathomable.
"Ahem!"
Tian Buyi gave a heavy cough.
He looked up at a forty-five-degree angle, as if studying the weather over Great Bamboo Peak.
"Daren."
"I just happened to be passing by..."
"Not bad. My usual teachings weren't wasted on you."
As he spoke,
Tian Buyi reached out quite naturally and patted Song Daren on the shoulder.
Behind them, Ye Xuan couldn't help clicking his tongue.
That acting.
The Oscars owed Fatty Tian a statuette.
"Master!"
"This disciple didn't let you down. I've broken through to Yuqing Layer Six!"
Song Daren was an honest man.
He didn't think twice. He dropped to his knees with a thud, cracking the floor tiles.
His booming voice could probably be heard all the way at Heaven-Piercing Peak.
Tian Buyi had already expected this.
But even so, hearing it with his own ears
made the flesh on his plump face twitch twice.
Yuqing Layer Six!
At last, someone besides him, Su Ru, and Seventh could hold the fort at Great Bamboo Peak!
Just then,
the west wing exploded.
It really did explode.
Boom!
The window paper burst apart in the blast of air, fluttering through the sky like snow.
Waving his battered fan, He Dazhi drifted out through the window with a calm expression.
"Master."
"This disciple was lucky enough to reach the peak of Fourth Layer of Jade Purity."
Right after that,
Lu Daxin and Du Bishu's doors were also flung open with brute force.
"Master! I made it to the fourth layer too!"
"Me too! I can control objects now!"
Du Bishu was as excited as a monkey.
The three dice he always carried were spinning wildly above his head under his control.
Seeing this,
Tian Buyi's upturned lips grew harder and harder to restrain.
"Father!"
A clear, sweet voice rose above all the commotion.
A red sash shot into the sky like a spirit serpent, streaking across the night in a dazzling trail of crimson.
Tian Ling'er came riding the sash, her robes fluttering like a celestial maiden descending to the mortal world.
Her landing was a little wild, though: she bounced straight over to Tian Buyi.
"Father!"
"I broke through too!"
"I reached Yuqing Layer Four! I can fly!"
Tian Ling'er's cheeks were flushed, and her eyes shone like stars in the sky.
Silence.
A deathly silence.
A flicker of surprise crossed Tian Buyi's eyes.
If he remembered correctly,
his little troublemaker had only recently broken through to the third layer of the Yuqing Realm.
One Foundation Replenishing Pill, and she'd gone straight to the fourth layer of the Yuqing Realm?
Five years' worth of cultivation had worked that well?
"Um..."
"Master, everyone's stomachs are growling. How about we eat first?"
Looking at Tian Buyi, who stood frozen in place,
Ye Xuan smiled and spoke to him.
Hearing Ye Xuan's words,
Tian Buyi finally came back to his senses.
He tried to set his face and calm himself down.
"Mm."
"Since you've all broken through, there's no need to stand around here."
"Let's eat!"
Dining hall.
The dishes tonight were especially sumptuous.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but even the plates of vegetables seemed to glow.
The long table was packed with people.
Lin Jingyu and Zhang Xiaofan sat at the very end.
The two boys hunched their shoulders and stared wide-eyed.
Looking at their senior brothers and sisters, all glowing with excitement, they felt as if they'd stumbled into some gathering of immortals.
The pressure was so intense that they didn't even dare pick up their chopsticks.
"Eat!"
"What are you all sitting there for?"
"Daren."
"Go fetch that jar of Drunken Immortal Brew I've been saving!"
Tian Buyi sat at the head of the table and swept his hand grandly, looking every bit like a man directing the world.
"Master."
"That's the jar you buried fifty years ago..."
Song Daren froze for a moment, then broke into delight.
He'd been eyeing that jar of Drunken Immortal Brew for years.
"Just go get it!"
"Why all the questions?"
Tian Buyi glared at Song Daren.
"Right away!"
Song Daren darted into the back hall, moving so fast he kicked up a gust of wind.
"Buyi."
"I'm glad you're happy tonight, but don't drink too much."
Su Ru sat beside Tian Buyi and put a piece of bamboo shoot in his bowl.
Though she was advising him to drink less, everyone could hear the indulgence in her voice.
"Happy!"
"Of course I'm happy!"
"Back then, Great Bamboo Peak had so few disciples, and our cultivation..."
"But now,"
"apart from Eighth and Ninth,"
"everyone else has reached at least the fourth layer of the Yuqing Realm."
"When the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament begins,"
"just watch me wipe those smug looks off their faces."
"..."
Tian Buyi gave a chuckle.
The flesh on his face bunching into a flower.
"Especially that Cang Song from Dragon Head Peak!"
"He's always turning up his nose at me. Who does he think he is?"
"When the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament comes around, let's see if he still dares act so high and mighty!"
At the mention of that name,
Tian Buyi's voice suddenly jumped eight pitches.
"Eldest Brother."
"You're at Yuqing Layer Six now. Keep working hard and try to make the top four!"
"If you can beat that Qi Hao, I'll give you the Crimson Flame Sword!"
Then,
Tian Buyi's gaze shifted to Song Daren, who had just come in.
He didn't ask anything of Ye Xuan.
The reason was simple.
No matter how strong Qi Hao was, he was still only at the Yuqing Realm.
Ye Xuan had already broken through to the Shangqing Realm.
Surely dealing with Qi Hao would be a piece of cake for Ye Xuan.
In Tian Buyi's mind,
Ye Xuan was all but guaranteed to take first place in this year's Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament.
"Ahem..."
"Master, Senior Brother Qi Hao is the leading disciple of Dragon Head Peak. I heard he's long since..."
Hearing Tian Buyi's words,
Song Daren looked troubled.
"Long since what?"
"Don't build up others while tearing down your own!"
"You're at the sixth layer. At most, he's at the sixth or seventh. What are you afraid of?"
Seeing Song Daren's reaction,
Tian Buyi thumped his bowl on the table and scolded him irritably.
Ye Xuan bent his head over his food, laughing to himself.
Master had really gotten carried away.
Qi Hao's cultivation was probably more than just the seventh layer.
But
there were still several years to go before the Seven Peaks Martial Arts Tournament.
If he refined more pills to improve his cultivation...
Then Senior Brother Song Daren might actually have a shot at suppressing Qi Hao.
After several rounds of drinks,
the atmosphere grew ever more lively.
Watching this bunch of fools having the time of their lives,
Ye Xuan felt a hint of warmth rise in his heart.
So this is what it feels like to be home.
Suddenly,
Wu Dayi, seated across from Ye Xuan, set down his wine bowl.
He hesitated for a moment, but then stood up.
His face was a little red. It was hard to tell whether the alcohol had gone to his head or he was nervous.
"Master."
"Disciple... I want to go down the mountain and gain some experience."
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