Envy and Jealousy

A simple "Greetings, senior brothers" pulled everyone out of their stupor, though the atmosphere remained somewhat awkward.

The older senior brothers, in particular, whose expressions had been the most exaggerated moments ago, now appeared even more flustered.

There was no helping it; after all, Li Mu had made no effort to conceal his cultivation. For someone of his age to break through to the Second-rate realm was already the mark of a genius, yet here he was, having reached the late stage of the Second-rate realm after a mere half-year.

While the disciples with lower cultivation levels didn't sense it as clearly, the older senior brothers were a different story. They had identified Li Mu's realm at a single glance, and it was hard not to be shocked.

"Junior Brother Li, has your cultivation broken through again?"

Liu Bufan asked, sounding uncertain.

As the disciple who had long followed Zhou Qingyun and handled miscellaneous affairs, Liu Bufan had the most contact with Li Mu and understood him the best.

It was precisely because of this understanding that Liu Bufan felt so unsure. After all, having just broken through to the Second-rate realm half a year ago, to break through again now was truly somewhat exaggerated.

Yet, the expressions of his fellow senior brothers could not be faked; if he were merely at the early stage of the Second-rate realm, everyone would pay attention, but they certainly wouldn't have lost their composure.

The current Mount Hua Sect was teeming with talent, and almost every generation saw geniuses breaking through to the Second-rate realm before the age of twenty; having seen so many, everyone's immunity had increased.

Facing the curious gazes of the crowd, Li Mu braced himself and replied, "I had a moment of sudden enlightenment, and thus, by sheer luck, I broke through."

He had clearly been looking for an excuse to be "humble," but to the ears of those present, it sounded exactly like a scene of "humble-bragging."

"Sudden enlightenment" had always been the most coveted dream of those in the martial arts world, and there was absolutely no logic to be found in it.

Ninety-nine point nine nine percent of martial artists would never encounter it once in their entire lives; it could be said that they only heard of its name but never saw its trace.

Just how profound it was, even those who had experienced it personally could not clearly explain, but one thing was certain: a massive surge in cultivation was inevitable.

As for exactly how much one's cultivation could increase, it was entirely a matter of luck; those with heaven-defying luck could even break through a major realm directly. Li Mu didn't know if that was true or false, but he had heard plenty of such legends.

After a moment of silence, Liu Bufan sighed, "Junior Brother, you truly have deep fortune!"

The others followed with a round of congratulations. Although there was a hint of sourness in their tone, Li Mu could still feel their sincerity.

They were all under the same master, forming a natural faction within the sect. The stronger the faction, the greater their voice in the sect, the more resources they could be allocated, and the better everyone's lives would be.

The title of "Master" was not given in vain; under the master-disciple inheritance system, one was truly expected to treat their master as a father.

As long as Zhou Qingyun remained, they were all bound tightly together. Even if one wanted to jump ship, it was impossible; no other faction would accept such a "traitor."

In fact, Li Mu had initially intended to hide his cultivation and just go through the motions during the grand competition, but the rewards offered by the sect were simply too generous.

No one would complain about their cultivation speed being too fast, and Li Mu was no exception. Although his cultivation was already advancing by leaps and bounds with the assistance of the Jade Disc, it could be even faster if he had sufficient resources.

This was especially true now that the "Conflict between Sword and Qi" remained unresolved, making strength all the more precious. After all, the crisis of the conflict didn't just come from the infighting between the two factions, but more so from other martial arts forces looking to kick them while they were down.

Even if the original story hadn't mentioned it, Li Mu didn't believe that a single conflict between the Sword and Qi factions would leave the Mount Hua Sect with only a few "Bu-generation" disciples left.

No matter how insane the two factions were, they wouldn't have dragged children who had just entered the sect into the fray, would they?

Even if an accident had occurred and all the disciples on the mountain had been wiped out, the disciples performing tasks off the mountain should have survived.

According to what Li Mu knew, more than half of the Mount Hua Sect's disciples were constantly traveling, either managing the sect's industries or wandering alone in search of opportunities to break through.

These people were scattered across the land, and even if they wanted to gather, it would be extremely difficult.

A mutually destructive infighting clearly sounded more like an accident; the two factions couldn't have predicted it in advance, so the idea of them gathering disciples regardless of the cost didn't hold up.

After all, people had to eat, and unless absolutely necessary, they wouldn't voluntarily abandon their external industries. Since these people didn't die from internal causes, they must have died from external ones.

The internal threat was obvious at a glance, but who the external enemies were remained a muddled account; in any case, Li Mu couldn't make sense of it.

Amidst the pleasantries, Zhou Qingyun had already walked out.

"This grand competition is extraordinary; there must be no mistakes. You are all the elite of our Mount Hua Sect, and you must display the might of the Mount Hua Sect before the many guests."

"If you have any questions regarding your cultivation now, you may ask me, or you may exchange insights among your fellow disciples."

After a slight pause, Zhou Qingyun added with a hint of frustration, "Especially you few, pull yourselves together and strive to use this opportunity to break through to the Second-rate realm."

As he spoke, his gaze swept toward Li Mu.

Without comparison, there is no pain.

There were plenty of Mount Hua disciples stuck at the peak of the Third-rate realm; originally, everyone hadn't thought much of it, but with a genius junior brother as a foil, the feeling was quite different.

However, a bottleneck was something where everyone's situation was different, and it was hard for outsiders to help. If you understood it, you passed through; if you didn't, you could only grind away slowly.

Zhou Qingyun was a good master, and he imparted his experience without reservation, but that experience didn't necessarily apply to everyone.

Regardless, having someone to guide you was better than having no one. Even if it couldn't guarantee a breakthrough, at least it could help you avoid some pitfalls.

The group went up in twos and threes to seek advice, but Li Mu remained seated firmly on his "fishing platform." There was no help for it; when it came to the understanding of the Mount Hua Mental Method, even Zhou Qingyun likely couldn't compare to him.

With no questions to ask and unable to leave, he could only find a place to drink tea and watch the excitement.

Seeing this, Liu Bufan also came over. He followed Zhou Qingyun year-round and didn't lack opportunities to ask for advice, so he naturally wouldn't compete with his fellow disciples, and now he found himself idle.

"Junior Brother Li, you are truly leisurely!"

The tone of "envy" was also laced with a hint of jealousy. However, this emotion wasn't obvious; all in all, Liu Bufan's temperament was quite good, and he was able to control his emotions well.

"Senior Brother, that joke isn't funny. For the sake of the grand competition, I've been so worried I'm nearly going gray; where is there any leisure to be found?"

It would have been better if he hadn't explained; with this explanation, Liu Bufan felt even worse. He scrutinized Li Mu carefully, from head to toe, but he couldn't see a trace of nervousness.

"Going gray" was an even bigger joke. With Li Mu's head of jet-black hair, where could one find a single silver strand?

"Junior Brother, you are the one joking. Among the disciples of our generation, your cultivation is the highest. Unless you intend to challenge the senior brothers above us, there is simply no difficulty for you at all."