Confessed To

At the next morning's class, Chu Zeming counted heads on the training ground and suddenly noticed two extra people in the line of six.

One was Xuan Mo.

Xuan Mo still looked frail and scholarly, but his gaze had become much firmer.

Yesterday's incident, where his residence had been seized and he had needed his senior brother to stand up for him, had dealt him a heavy blow. Now, he truly wanted to cultivate properly.

The other was Ling Tian.

He stood at the far right of the line, six people away from Xuan Mo, his face still bearing the "badges of honor" left by yesterday's beating.

Chu Zeming stared at him for a long moment before slowly spitting out two words. "Looking for trouble?"

That was it.

So handsome.

Ling Tian's heart tightened. He then looked away, snorting through his panda eyes. "I came for morning class. No one said I wasn't allowed to come, did they?"

Though displeased, Chu Zeming did not drive Ling Tian away and simply pretended not to see him.

By the end of the morning class, all seven of them had once again been trained into the ground.

This time, Xuan Mo did not complain. Sweat beaded across his forehead and face as he rested quietly against a wooden post, his eyes exceptionally resolute. Chu Zeming sheathed his sword, glanced at him, and the corner of his lips lifted ever so slightly without anyone noticing.

Putting away the Luminous Glaze Sword, Chu Zeming said blandly, "Dismissed. Remember to get up early tomorrow."

Then he turned and left.

Although he had been teaching morning classes these past few days, Chu Zeming did not want his own cultivation to fall too far behind. So he moved his morning training to the afternoon.

After practicing his sword, he sat on a rock as usual to regulate his breathing and absorb spiritual energy.

"Senior Brother..."

A ghostly voice suddenly sounded beside his ear, startling Chu Zeming. By reflex, he threw a punch.

He did not hold back.

With a dull thud, the white figure behind him toppled to the ground.

Chu Zeming withdrew his fist and looked at the person lying flat on his back, feeling black lines fill his head.

Yue Lian gave a little "Eek," covered his eye as he got up, and gazed at Chu Zeming resentfully.

Chu Zeming said, "...Why did you come here? Do you need something?"

Yue Lian rubbed his eye, which was gradually swelling red, and nodded. "Yes, I do. I haven't seen you in a long time. I missed you a little."

The moment those words left his mouth, his other eye was punched too.

Yue Lian felt terrible all over.

"Master told Eldest Senior Brother to take better care of me."

Chu Zeming withdrew his fist and apologized without a ripple in his voice. "Mm, I can't do that. Sorry."

Yue Lian: "..."

Not sincere at all.

Touching his agonizing eye sockets, Yue Lian shot Chu Zeming another resentful look before speaking seriously. "Senior Brother, the Extreme Sea Secret Realm will open next month. Master asked me to notify you. When the time comes, the sect will have you lead the team."

Chu Zeming raised a brow at that.

The plot was arriving this quickly?

The Extreme Sea Secret Realm opened once every two hundred years. Inside lay countless treasures, along with inheritances left behind by ancient great powers unknown to the world.

In the original novel, Chu Zeming had also led the junior brothers and sisters of the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect there in search of treasure.

Unfortunately, the original owner had not obtained anything particularly precious within it—because not only had he risked his life to protect Yue Lian, he had even given Yue Lian the good things he had found with such painstaking effort.

Among them was a broken sword, the natal artifact of an ancient great power who had fallen.

After the original owner gave it to Yue Lian, Yue Lian had it reforged, creating the extraordinarily terrifying immortal-grade artifact, the Moon-Severing Blade. Later, Yue Lian had even used that blade to stab the original owner, who had fallen into the demonic path, several times.

Whenever he thought of that plot, Chu Zeming felt utterly stifled and heartsick.

Wouldn't it be far better to keep the broken sword and reforge the Luminous Glaze Sword himself?

The black-haired young man's gaze seemed to drift far away. For the first time, an expression like being choked up appeared on his bold, unrestrained face, making Yue Lian rather curious.

"Eldest Senior Brother, what are you thinking about?"

Chu Zeming swiftly pulled his thoughts back and looked at the white panda, a meaningful smile appearing on his face. "Nothing."

I was just thinking about stealing your opportunity again, that's all.

The first dragon egg had been an accident. When he went to the Extreme Sea Secret Realm again, such an absurd mishap definitely would not happen again.

At that thought, Chu Zeming's mood brightened.

He refused to believe he would crash and burn again this time.

Over the next few days, Chu Zeming was in an excellent mood. His face was gentle and his smile bloomed like a flower, frightening the junior brothers on the training ground badly.

Except for Ling Tian.

Chu Zeming had thought Ling Tian had come to the training ground on a whim to pick a fight, but that was apparently not the case. He had even persisted under Chu Zeming's public revenge and malicious targeting. He seemed to want to secretly learn Chu Zeming's cultivation methods, never missing a day of training.

Standing atop the plum blossom posts, Ling Tian turned his head to look at his eldest senior brother, dressed in elaborate black robes, leaning beneath the shade of a tree and watching Xuan Mo.

A gust of wind swept past, setting the young man's long black hair dancing. The corners of his gorgeous face were curved in a smile, making him seem much gentler and softer.

Ling Tian turned away and took a deep breath.

For the first time, he ran off before the class was even over.

As though sensing something, Chu Zeming turned his head and saw Ling Tian's retreating back as he stormed away. He clicked his tongue disdainfully.

He had thought Ling Tian could hold out longer.

Morning class ended.

With Xiao Hei tucked against his chest, Chu Zeming prepared to leave the training ground when a graceful green figure suddenly blocked his path.

She was a girl of about sixteen or seventeen. Looking up at Chu Zeming, she was not especially beautiful, but she was very cute, with a faint blush on her ears and cheeks.

"Eldest Senior Brother, I'm a disciple of Star-Moon Peak... I... I like you!"

After saying that, the female disciple stuffed a pale pink embroidered handkerchief into Chu Zeming's hands, then covered her face and ran off.

Chu Zeming froze where he stood.

"Go on... you go too!"

"If you don't go now, Junior Sister will beat you to the punch."

"Haven't you liked Eldest Senior Brother for ages? Hurry up and confess!"

A little farther away on the training ground, behind a tree, a group of people shoved a white-robed disciple around.

Seemingly encouraged by everyone, the disciple being pushed finally gathered his courage and ran up to Chu Zeming as well.

"Eldest Senior Brother, I like you too!! Please be with me!"

That muffled confession made Chu Zeming's heart skip a beat. With a dark face, he spat one word at the broad-shouldered, thick-waisted male disciple before him, whose face was full of expectation. "Scram."

"Eek!" The male disciple stamped his foot, then ran away while crying and acting coy.

Being confessed to by a burly man had hit Chu Zeming rather hard. His beautiful face, which had only just become gentle, returned to its previous state, while the junior brothers trained by Chu Zeming all breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, the sight of their senior brother wearing a gentle expression while mercilessly swinging his sword and hacking wildly at them was a little fractured and perverse. It gave them nightmares whenever they returned at night.

After the incident with that "scram," fewer disciples secretly came by to watch their senior brother in their spare time, though some still came.

Behind a large tree with a lush canopy and gnarled branches.

The cute female disciple in a long emerald-green robe, with a round face and big eyes, cautiously held the trunk as she quietly watched that streak of black on the training ground.

She had embroidered that handkerchief herself, spending two full days and nights on it. Would Eldest Senior Brother carry it with him?

"Junior Sister, are you watching Eldest Senior Brother?"

A voice as crisp and pleasant as a jade spring suddenly rang out behind her.

The female disciple could not help withdrawing her gaze from Chu Zeming and turning around—only to see a graceful, beautiful woman in white standing behind her at some unknown moment.

Adorned with pearls, jade, and a floral forehead ornament, she shone with every glance. She was as beautiful as a celestial maiden from the Ninth Heaven, enough to make others feel ashamed of their own inferiority.

"Y-yes."

The female disciple looked up at her blankly, momentarily dazzled.

Since when had the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect possessed such a peerlessly beautiful woman? Merely standing there quietly, she was already breathtakingly beautiful.

The graceful woman stepped forward twice and lowered her head slightly. Her clear, beautiful eyes, like translucent glaze, looked toward the disciple before her as she spoke softly, "I came to see Eldest Senior Brother too." After saying that, the woman lightly pressed her lips together, and two faint blushes surfaced on her fair face.

The female disciple was stunned and stammered, "S-Senior Sister, you like Eldest Senior Brother?"

"Mm. Senior Brother asked me to wait for him here." His voice was very light and soft, carrying a faint sweetness. Anyone could tell he was a woman in love.

The female disciple's face instantly turned pale.

"I... I've never heard that Senior Brother was involved with a disciple from any of the sect's peaks."

"Of course I am a disciple from another sect." The woman in white paused, her beautiful eyes turning toward the female disciple. Even her gentle voice carried a hint of icy sharpness. "What? Do you think Eldest Senior Brother and I are not well matched?"

The woman in white walked forward with lotus blossoms beneath her feet. Looking at the black-haired young man on the training ground, her peerlessly beautiful face was filled with seriousness. "Eldest Senior Brother is so handsome. Not just anyone gets a chance."

Those words showed no mercy. The female disciple felt as though someone had fiercely slapped her across the face, crushing even the last shred of courage she had left. She muttered, "I... I still need to cultivate. Farewell, Senior Sister."

With that, she hurried away, pale-faced.

After the female disciple left.

Yue Lian removed the jeweled hairpin and floral forehead ornament from his head, let down his black hair again, tied it with a dark green ribbon, then rubbed his chest and pulled two apples from inside. He ate as he watched Chu Zeming train.

Author's note:

Yuyu: Wrong, idiot. This rival in love can be ignored.

Yue Lian: 0·0