It was only recently that rumors had started going around. People said Qin Tailai had feelings for Li Qingmeng, that he looked at her strangely, and that you could always tell when someone liked another person by the way they looked at them.
But there was no solid evidence at all.
Even so, the baseless speculation stirred up a commotion on the school forum.
Qin Tailai's female fans, along with Li Qingmeng's male and female fans, argued fiercely. Then there were the troublemakers who loved watching the drama and egged both sides on. It was the talk of the year.
Zhao Cheng didn't spend much time on the forums, so he usually didn't pay much attention to these things. But his deskmate, Zhou Yu, was one of those troublemakers who fanned the flames, so Zhao Cheng still heard a little about it.
In the end, the winning side declared that fairies didn't date, and that was how the topic came to a close.
As for the two people involved, neither had any desire to comment. The more they said, the more suspicious it would look, so all they could do was stay silent and wait for the rumors to die down on their own.
Sometimes, being a "celebrity" wasn't all good.
That was why Zhao Cheng always kept a low profile. Unless it was necessary, he rarely let his brilliance show.
It was called keeping one's talents hidden and waiting for the right moment to act.
Before long, the instructors began arriving one after another. Zhao Cheng had seen most of them a few times at major school events, so their faces were at least familiar.
The teachers who taught the large swordsmanship classes usually stayed with the same class until graduation. They weren't constantly reassigned.
So, despite having studied at Qingyuan for so many years, Zhao Cheng was only familiar with Teacher Wu Nian.
Aside from Zhao Yue, the prettiest of the teachers, he couldn't even remember the names of the rest.
Zhou Yu had once said that there were only two and a half great beauties at the school.
Two were students: upperclassman Li Huang'er and underclassman Li Qingmeng. The remaining half wasn't a student, but a teacher.
Zhao Yue was a veteran swordsman, thirty-three years old, never married, beautiful, poised, fair-skinned, and long-legged. Her family was well-off, and she had countless admirers out in society.
In terms of looks and bearing, she was absolutely no less impressive than the other two. For certain people, she even had an extra finishing move. After all, some people didn't like younger women; they preferred someone older. They had a real taste for Cao Cao's kind of thing.
The reason Zhou Yu only counted her as half a beauty was that she had never married. Supposedly, she'd once had a fiancé, but before they could wed, he had died in an accident.
Humans were complicated creatures. Sometimes, a widow who had been married was far more alluring than a woman who had never married.
A thousand years ago, there had been a certain big boss surnamed Cao who was especially fond of that sort. A thousand years later, there were even more people like him.
The example set by one's ancestors had boundless influence.
Just then, Zhao Cheng saw Wu Nian strolling over. He immediately stood and went up to greet him.
The two teachers beside Wu Nian saw Zhao Cheng, gave him a glance, and smiled. "Old Wu, this new student of yours is quite good. His mind is pure and his thoughts are clear. He's got real potential."
In Zhao Cheng's previous life, people used to say that you could know someone's face without knowing their heart. But in this life, unless someone's spiritual realm had transcended the ordinary and could change endlessly, a swordsman with powerful mental strength could sense what kind of person they were.
It wasn't just swordsmen, either. Even some ordinary people with unusually keen senses would instinctively recoil from certain people, disliking them at first sight.
With others, they might feel an inexplicable fondness even upon meeting for the first time, despite knowing nothing about them.
Some called that compatibility, and that wasn't wrong. At its core, though, it was a strange form of perception on a spiritual level.
Ordinary people had weak mental strength, and even those with strong mental strength had their limits, so their instincts were sometimes right and sometimes wrong. But a powerful swordsman could read someone at a glance, as if looking at the lines in their palm.
Of course, that was a realm beyond what a swordsman could reach. Still, with years of experience, a swordsman could make a reasonably accurate judgment.
"Of course! If there's one thing I can brag about, it's my eye for talent. When have I ever been wrong?"
"They don't call me Wu Fiery Eyes for nothing!"
Wu Nian said proudly.
Fiery Eyes, of course, referred to the legendary Fiery Eyes and Golden Gaze.
"Come on, Zhao Cheng. I'll introduce you to a few of your senior fellow apprentices."
Wu Nian beckoned.
"There's no senior-most or second-senior-most here. It's based on when you joined: those who joined earlier are seniors, and those who joined later are juniors. I've got four students at Qingyuan now, counting you."
"Two of your three senior fellow apprentices are in their final year of high school, and the other is a year below them."
"You and Zhou Yu seem to get along. If that kid worked a little harder, he'd probably be your junior soon. For now, you're the youngest."
Wu Nian laughed heartily. As he spoke, he had the air of a heroic wanderer from ancient times.
As they were talking, a group of three came up to Wu Nian and greeted him in unison. "Hello, Teacher Wu!"
"This is Qi Ming, a senior."
Wu Nian pointed to a boy who was a little dark and thin, but whose eyes were exceptionally bright.
The boy was dark as soot, neither handsome nor particularly noticeable, but he gave off a fierce air.
"Don't let your senior fellow apprentice's skinny build fool you. He's incredibly strong. There's a saying for it: all strength, no bulk. Even Zhou Yu, training at the same pace, can't match him for strength."
Wu Nian introduced him.
The world was vast beyond measure, and there were countless kinds of strange constitutions. A constitution like his might have been rare in Zhao Cheng's previous life, but in this life, even a small place like Xiangnan had plenty of them.
But a constitution was just a constitution. Whether someone could master swordsmanship still depended on their character. If their resolve wavered, then no matter how strong they were, they were still rotten wood—like Zhou Yu, for example.
"This is Zhang Shen, a senior."
Wu Nian pointed to another boy, fair-skinned and tall, with a face that was far too soft around the edges. He had a baby face. From behind, he looked like a valiant young man, but once you saw his face, it was easy to question his gender.
"This is Zhu Guang, a junior."
Wu Nian finally pointed to a tall boy.
He was young, but looked quite mature. If all three walked together, everyone would assume Zhu Guang was the oldest.
In reality, he was the youngest.
"Hello, senior fellow apprentices!"
Zhao Cheng greeted the three without the slightest nervousness.
"This is your junior fellow apprentice, Zhao Cheng. He's in his second year of high school."
Wu Nian pointed to Zhao Cheng.
"Hello, junior!"
The three seniors greeted him in unison, without a hint of awkwardness.
As Zhao Cheng and the others were talking, more people arrived. Two figures walking side by side immediately drew a great deal of attention.