He Was a Cultivation Prodigy

Chen Ye and Su Chunyi chatted happily, while Lan Shi quietly watched the two of them, feeling like an unwanted extra.

The girl who had once chattered like a little bird could now only stay silent.

But after the princess died, Lan Shi realized she had nowhere to go.

She could easily make her way in the martial world with her skills and certainly wouldn't starve. But no matter how recklessly she had behaved before, she could always return to the princess. Now, even if she stole ten thousand taels of gold, she wouldn't know where to take them.

Chen Ye and Su Chunyi were deep in conversation, but he could still sense what Lan Shi was thinking.

The little girl had been following him for several days. She never said a word, just kept trailing after him.

Seeing that she had suffered such a terrible loss, Chen Ye couldn't bring himself to turn her away harshly. But he was a cultivator, after all; he couldn't keep a little girl by his side. Never mind the trouble—when he ran, she wouldn't be able to keep up.

Now that they had brought up the subject of parting, it was the perfect chance to lay things out clearly.

"Miss Lan, I'm going to slay demons and monsters. If you're willing, come with us. Once we deal with this Jiang Shiyue, your revenge will be avenged, and you'll be free to live your own life without anything holding you back."

Lan Shi clutched the hem of her clothes, still keeping her head bowed and saying nothing, as if staying silent would keep them from sending her away.

Su Chunyi felt sorry for her, too, and asked gently, "Little girl, if you have nowhere to go, I can find you a place to stay. There are plenty of prosperous, peaceful towns near the Qinghe Sword Sect. It wouldn't be hard to settle down and live a good life."

The Qinghe Sword Sect was the sect most involved in the mortal world. After they quelled the floods, the banks of the Qinghe became the most fertile land around. With immortals nearby, there were no corrupt officials like the magistrate of Cui County, who squeezed the people dry, and few vicious criminals who treated human life like dirt.

It might not be paradise, but it was certainly a place where the people could live in peace and contentment.

Seeing she couldn't get away with staying silent any longer, Lan Shi finally spoke. "I know ordinary people have to walk, so they can't keep up with immortals who fly. But I have nowhere to go. I don't want to be alone. I've never been alone before."

Lan Shi looked up at Chen Ye, her eyes full of hope. "Daoist, can you teach me to cultivate? I can endure hardship. I promise I won't hold you back. I'll do anything."

Chen Ye gave a bitter smile. "You want to cultivate, and you're asking a Rogue Cultivator like me to teach you? Miss Su is a disciple of the Qinghe Sword Sect. If you can join the sect, you'll be soaring straight to the heavens."

Lan Shi glanced at Su Chunyi, but in the end she still asked Chen Ye, "Can I learn from you?"

Before Chen Ye could refuse, Su Chunyi said, "If you're cultivating only so you can follow him, you won't be able to keep up for even a year. You'll end up becoming a burden."

Lan Shi hurriedly said, "How could I? I never slack off when I practice."

Su Chunyi said, "Because the person you're following is a cultivation prodigy. No one in this world has ever slain two Tongxuan Realm fiends while in the Qi Sea Realm. Even the head of our Qinghe Sword Sect has never achieved such a glorious victory."

Chen Ye felt a little embarrassed when he heard that. "It was just luck. I made some preparations beforehand."

Su Chunyi shook her head. "There's no need to be modest, sir. You've simply cultivated for too short a time and haven't reached a high enough level yet. You understand yin and yang and the five elements better than I do. The fact that two Tongxuan Realm fiends died at your hands is proof enough. Your talent is beyond compare."

Su Chunyi had already noticed Chen Ye's abilities when they were making pills in the cave last time. A Rogue Cultivator who understood formations better than a disciple of the Qinghe Sword Sect—that kind of talent was as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns among cultivators.

Lan Shi didn't dare argue. After all, both Su Chunyi and Chen Ye were immortals, while she was nothing but an ordinary mortal.

For once, Su Chunyi let her gentle manner fall away and spoke sternly. "I know you're still unconvinced, so let me show you just how far sir stands above ordinary cultivators."

Chen Ye sensed something was off when he heard that. He feared Su Chunyi's next words would be, "Let's spar."

That would really be the death of him.

Fortunately, Su Chunyi said, "Let's go find that demon hiding out there and put an end to the matter in Cui County once and for all."

Chen Ye breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn't dare fight a cultivator from the Qinghe Sword Sect, but facing a little fiend in the same Qi Sea Realm? That would be a piece of cake.

Sword light streamed from Su Chunyi's body, wrapped around the three of them, and carried them out of the teahouse and up into the sky.

Though it was his second time flying on a sword, Chen Ye's heart still pounded. Looking down at the snow-white Cui County, he wondered when he would learn a technique like this.

Come to think of it, Su Chunyi always flew on sword light. He wasn't greedy—flying while standing on the Sword Box would be fine, too.

As for Lan Shi, she was already trembling with fear.

Her lightness skill had never taken her anywhere near this high. She stood firmly, and couldn't even feel the wind, but the county below looked no bigger than a fingernail. Her legs went weak, and she instinctively grabbed Chen Ye's sleeve.

"Please wait a moment, sir. I'll find that demon."

Su Chunyi joined her fingers like a sword and traced thousands of streaks of sword light through the air, weaving them into an intricate formation.

Chen Ye had seen this technique once before. When the sword light gathered, it could point toward a target and even estimate the distance. It was incredibly mysterious.

They hadn't been very close before, so Chen Ye hadn't felt comfortable asking. This time was different, and he got straight to the point. "Miss Su, you're using Sword Qi as a formation to calculate the demon's whereabouts. How does it work?"

Su Chunyi explained, "I can't really explain exactly how. This is a sword technique I comprehended from the Wuliang Sword Wall. My master said the sect leader created it in recent years, and it hasn't been named yet. Aside from the sect leader, I doubt anyone can explain the principles behind it. I only know how to use it, not why it works.

"If I had to explain it using what you said before, perhaps this is karma. When I form a formation over the victims' remains, it points to the killer. Now I'm forming one over Cui County and drawing on the karmic ties between you, Miss Lan, and the demon. That will let me find where he's hiding."

When Chen Ye heard what the sword technique could do, he couldn't hide his astonishment. "This incorporates divination into swordsmanship. Its brilliance isn't in the divination itself, but in how it lets people master divination naturally while learning the sword. It's no surprise for someone to be skilled in both swordsmanship and divination, but to teach others that way—the head of your sect truly deserves the title of the greatest in the world."

A smile appeared on Su Chunyi's face. She'd heard plenty of praise for her sect leader, but Chen Ye's words were different; they made her feel good just hearing them.

Chen Ye wasn't just being polite. Learning something yourself was one thing; teaching it to others was another. He'd been with Mo Ci for so long, and most of the time he'd had to teach himself. Mo Ci couldn't even explain why meditation required a fixed posture.

A master wasn't necessarily a good teacher.

The threshold for learning divination was the Tongxuan Realm, and most people couldn't learn it at all. Mo Ci, for one, had no knack for it whatsoever and could never get started.

For the head of the Qinghe Sword Sect to teach disciples through this technique—even if they only knew how to use it without understanding why—was still an astonishing feat.

Chen Ye exclaimed, "All the demons in the world must be trembling in their boots."

Just imagine: if every disciple of the Qinghe Sword Sect mastered this technique and could immediately pinpoint a killer wherever they went, how could demons possibly survive?

"It's not quite that simple. Divining with a sword formation can't be too complicated. I tried to divine what happened in Cui County before, but there weren't enough clues, and the more I calculated, the messier it got. I can only get a definite result when the matter is simple and clear. Like now—I even know the demon's name, so it's easier to calculate."

As if it had heard Su Chunyi's words, the tangled sword light quickly drew together, forming a pillar of light that pointed northwest.

Just as the result came into view, Su Chunyi furrowed her brow. "Huh? Why is that demon still daring to stay in Cui County?"