Sect Master Lu played dirty

Shen Leyan dragged his exhausted body back to his quarters, carrying the Hangover Soup he had obtained after enduring "countless trials and tribulations."

Inside, Chen Jing and Qingli were sleeping soundly.

He heated the Hangover Soup, shook them awake, and fed them a bowl each.

After drinking the Hangover Soup and taking a moment to recover, their drunken eyes finally regained some clarity.

"Sorry for the trouble, Leyan... I'll head back now. See you at tomorrow's Apprenticeship Ceremony!"

"Why does my head hurt a little... Shen Leyan, I'm heading back to Spirit Perch Pavilion too. I'll be waiting for good news from you two tomorrow."

Shen Leyan saw them out. As he closed the door, he heard Qingli exclaim in the courtyard.

"Wow! What a beautiful Pegasus! But it looks a little familiar... Isn't this Elder Yan Shi's favorite?"

Chen Jing followed right after. "Wow! So many books and medicinal herbs! I remember these cultivation manuals aren't allowed to leave the Inner Sect..."

Then the two spoke in unison.

"Shen Leyan!!!"

Their tone made it sound as though he had secretly struck it rich behind their backs.

All that was missing was, "Dear junior brother, don't forget us when you're rich!"

Shen Leyan opened the door again, sounding rather helpless. "...Would you believe me if I said Elder Yan Shi left these things here?"

After seeing them off, Shen Leyan took a hot bath, sat on his bed to circulate his cultivation technique once, then burrowed under the covers and settled down to sleep.

Tomorrow, he had to compete at the Martial Arts Training Ground and return today's gifts to the elders of the various main peaks. Tonight, he intended to get a good night's sleep and replenish his strength.

He slept soundly all night.

The next day, before dawn had broken, Shen Leyan got up and dressed. He put away his Cicada Song Pavilion token and replaced it with the Jade Token the Enforcement Hall disciple had given him yesterday while delivering the message.

There was still some time before the sect's appointed gathering hour at the Martial Arts Training Ground, enough for breakfast at the restaurant and another round of cultivation.

Leading the Pegasus, pulling a large cart of goods behind him, and carrying the divination tools, he arrived at the restaurant.

The Outer Sect disciples on the early shift had nearly finished preparing breakfast. He ordered a bowl of mango double-skin milk pudding and a few spicy crayfish buns, then carried his dishes toward a private room at random.

When he pushed the door open a crack, he vaguely glimpsed someone sitting inside.

"Sorry, I have the wrong room..." He apologized instinctively and prepared to close the door and find another room.

He hadn't expected anyone else to be eating at the restaurant this early.

"It's all right. Come in and sit."

The voice inside sounded somewhat familiar.

He froze for a moment, then suddenly recognized it, a flicker of surprise crossing his dark eyes. "Sect Master Lu?"

He pushed the door open and entered. The first thing he saw was a tall stack of soup dumpling steamers on the table before Lu Yuanyi... By his rough estimate, there were seven or eight.

"Are these... all for you, Sect Master Lu?"

Most of Lu Yuanyi's silver hair hung loose, with a simple wooden hairpin securing his topknot. Perhaps because he would soon perform the rites honoring heaven, earth, and the sect's founders before the Apprenticeship Ceremony, his robes were far more elaborate than usual.

His smoky blue-green robe bore subtle cloud patterns, and a white jade belt cinched his waist, accentuating his tall, straight figure. He looked like a pine standing atop a snowy mountain, aloof and otherworldly—provided one ignored the half-bitten bun between his fingers.

"Mm. There were so many flavors of soup dumplings that I wanted to try them all, so I ordered a few extra varieties. What are you carrying?"

"Spicy crayfish buns. Would you like to try one, Sect Master Lu?"

He took one from Shen Leyan's plate and said mildly, "Not bad."

Then he took another.

Having learned Lu Yuanyi's temperament during their journey to the Southwestern Territory, Shen Leyan found nothing odd about this. He sat down comfortably beside him and began eating breakfast.

Lu Yuanyi glanced out the window. "What's with the Pegasus and that cart of things?"

Wouldn't it be a little inappropriate to tell Sect Master Lu that several elders secretly visited me last night and gave me lots of presents because they wanted me as their disciple?

I don't know how the cultivation world views this sort of thing. Since I'm planning to return the gifts anyway, maybe I should keep quiet for now? What if those elders get punished over it...

After considering it briefly, he gave a light cough. "Those... I found them along the way."

Lu Yuanyi narrowed his eyes slightly. "Found them."

"Yes! Qingli said that Pegasus probably escaped from Beast Taming Peak, so I'm planning to return it shortly."

Lu Yuanyi neither agreed nor disagreed. His gaze shifted to Shen Leyan's sleeve. "And you found this tortoise shell too?"

Shen Leyan looked down. At some point, the tortoise shell, wooden lots, and other things tucked into his sleeve had slipped out.

"...Well, I probably bought those at Luoxiang Hall."

"Luoxiang Hall was closed yesterday."

Shen Leyan fell silent.

Lu Yuanyi's lips curved. Suddenly, he raised a hand and gently tapped Shen Leyan's forehead with a bent finger. "You really aren't good at lying."

"So you know how I got these things, Sect Master Lu?"

"Mm."

"Will you punish those elders?"

Lu Yuanyi took another of his buns, his long lashes lowered. "Probably not."

Shen Leyan breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good... I'll return all these things."

"You don't want any of those elders as your master?"

"If I'm going to take a master, I should compete against the others at the Martial Arts Training Ground first. Accepting gifts and then taking a master like this... I shouldn't accept rewards I haven't earned."

"That sounds like something your Senior Brother Zheng would say."

Shen Leyan smiled. "I've spent quite a lot of time with Senior Brother Zheng, after all... Will he be back today?"

As the sect master's chief disciple, Zheng Ziheng could naturally take disciples of his own.

Senior Brother Chen Jing was still waiting eagerly!

"He still has family matters to settle in the capital. However, a Reflection Stone will record the entire Apprenticeship Ceremony. Once it's sent to the capital, he can take a disciple if he sees someone he feels a connection with."

Then Senior Brother Chen Jing won't have to wait another five years!

He was eager to go tell Senior Brother Chen Jing the good news.

"Then enjoy your breakfast, Sect Master Lu. I'll just..."

"Wait."

The youth obediently sat down and waited for him to speak, inexplicably feeling that Lu Yuanyi's gaze had flickered slightly.

When he looked more closely, those eyes were as deep and calm as ever. It seemed he had imagined it.

"Those gifts the elders gave you... Are you really not going to accept them? The Apprenticeship Ceremony's rules aren't actually that rigid. Whether the elders take a disciple has nothing to do with how many matches they win at the Martial Arts Training Ground."

"Those gifts are too valuable. If I accepted them all and then didn't choose a single master, wouldn't the elders stuff me into a sack and beat me up?"

"What about something less valuable?"

He blinked. "Huh?"

When Shen Leyan left the restaurant leading the Pegasus, a red jade peace pendant hung around his neck on a black cord. Against his skin, it wasn't cold like ordinary jade, but gave off a faint warmth.

According to Sect Master Lu, he had happened upon the jade used to make this pendant in a natural hot spring in the Southern Territory.

Apart from looking pretty and helping with cold-related ailments, it had no other uses.

Shen Leyan knew this body of his would fare poorly in winter. After confirming that the pendant couldn't hold Spiritual Power and wasn't a magical artifact, he accepted it.

He had originally intended to return the elders' gifts before heading to the Martial Arts Training Ground.

But the main peaks were some distance apart, and he was running short on time—

The Pegasus whinnied and affectionately brought its large head over to nuzzle his palm again. Its enormous snowy wings spread and flapped twice, showering him with feathers.

Shen Leyan quickly rubbed its head. "You mean I should try flying to Beast Taming Peak?"

The Pegasus was about as fast as an ordinary cultivator using Sword Flight. If he rode it, he would indeed have enough time.

The Pegasus nodded, then intelligently lowered its head, signaling for him to mount the saddle on its back.

After a moment's hesitation, Shen Leyan grabbed the reins and swung himself into the saddle.

The Pegasus galloped a few steps, beat its wings, and instantly soared into the sky, pulling the loaded cart swiftly toward Beast Taming Peak...

When he found Elder Yan Shi, the elder was scrubbing a unicorn. Seeing him dismount from Pegasus, Elder Yan Shi's dark face flushed red.

"Shen Leyan? Y-you, you, you came to..." His voice held a trace of nervousness. "I-I look a little grubby right now. Could you wait a moment? I'll go change."

"No, Elder Yan Shi, there's no need to trouble yourself."

Shen Leyan gathered his courage, still feeling like a heartless scoundrel abandoning someone he had seduced.

He tried to be tactful. "I came to return Pegasus and these things. I appreciate your kindness, Elder Yan Shi, but..."

Elder Yan Shi's expression immediately fell. He wiped his hands on his clothes, then quickly nodded. "I-it's fine. You don't need to feel bad."

Even as he told Shen Leyan not to feel awkward, his own stutter grew worse.

Pegasus seemed to realize it would be staying at Beast Taming Peak. Reluctantly, it nuzzled the owner it had followed all night—and those hands that gave such good massages.

Shen Leyan comforted him. "If you don't mind, Elder Yan Shi, I could come to Beast Taming Peak from time to time to help you feed the Spirit Beasts, bathe them, empty the chamber pots..."

"Yes, yes, of course you're welcome! Y-you still need to go to the Martial Arts Training Ground, right? Walking down the mountain isn't convenient. You can borrow Pegasus a little longer."

He thanked Elder Yan Shi sincerely, and Pegasus carried him toward Nine Stars Pavilion.

On Beast Taming Peak, Elder Yan Shi watched the youth disappear into the distance, then returned dejectedly to bathing the unicorn.

"Little Horn, my heart aches."

The unicorn remained silent.

"I thought I was probably the only one who went to see Shen Leyan yesterday." Speaking to a Spirit Beast, Elder Yan Shi was perfectly fluent, without the slightest socially anxious stutter. "Now it seems far too many people are competing with me for a disciple. I just saw Shen Leyan carrying Xuanji's tortoise shell."

The unicorn remained silent.

"But Xuanji definitely won't manage to get him either."

The unicorn looked puzzled.

"I kept seeing that peace pendant he's wearing in Sect Master Lu's hands these past few days. Who could possibly beat that shameless cheat?"

The unicorn gave a cry of agreement.

There really was no beating him~

Outside Nine Stars Pavilion, clouds and mist swirled, lending the place an ethereal air.

Although dawn was nearly upon them, the sky above Nine Stars Pavilion's open-air hall remained pitch-black and studded with stars.

Holding a horsetail whisk, Elder Xuanji sat with closed eyes before the Fallen Star housed in the hall. A few bamboo lots lay scattered before him as he instructed his disciples. "I have already divined that today, you will gain an exceptionally gifted junior brother."

Shen Leyan knocked politely.

"Elder Xuanji?"

Elder Xuanji's eyes flashed brightly. "Look, your exceptionally gifted junior brother has arrived!"

Several senior brothers and sisters with the bearing of immortals turned toward him in unison.

Shen Leyan fell silent.

Why did it feel as though Elder Xuanji's Divination wasn't especially reliable?

"There's been a misunderstanding... I've come to return some things," he said tactfully. "Elder Xuanji lent me some divination artifacts yesterday, and I've come to bring them back."

He took the tortoise shell, bead bracelet, wooden lots, and everything else out of his sleeve and presented them to Elder Xuanji with both hands.

"If there's nothing else, I'll head to the Martial Arts Training Ground for the Apprenticeship Ceremony..."

Elder Xuanji's lips moved as though he wanted to say something, but his disciples spoke first.

"Master, I kept asking to borrow this Black Tortoise Shell, but you couldn't bear to lend it to me. Now, how could you..." The voice was aggrieved.

"Master, when I went down the mountain to slay demons, you wouldn't even give me this Evil-Repelling Bead Bracelet. Now, how could you..." This voice was even more aggrieved.

"Master, when I wanted to ask about my marriage prospects, you wouldn't even divine them with these Peach Blossom Lots. Now, how could you..." This voice was so aggrieved that its owner sounded ready to throw acid.

Shen Leyan didn't dare listen to any more of Nine Stars Pavilion's affairs. He bowed apologetically to the senior brothers and sisters, then hurried out and mounted Pegasus.

Behind him, Elder Xuanji was overwhelmed. "Oh dear, there was a small mishap with today's divination... This really isn't what you think!"

By the time Shen Leyan reached the Martial Arts Training Ground, the timekeeping hourglass was nearly empty. He had arrived just in time.

The elders' personal disciples stood behind their masters, while the other inner and Outer Sect disciples were arranged neatly in rows. Those participating in the Apprenticeship Ceremony gathered directly on the various combat platforms.

The Martial Arts Training Ground was merely a collective name for an enormous area.

At its northernmost end stood the Ancestor Hall, which housed the spirit tablets of the Cloud Radiance Sect's founder and successive sect masters.

Beyond it were several hundred steps. At their foot lay dozens of combat platforms—circular structures rising several yards above the ground. When two cultivators fought on a platform, the protective formation around it would activate to prevent spectators from being accidentally injured.

There weren't many who had passed the spiritual root test and qualified for the Apprenticeship Ceremony. With participants competing in pairs on the platforms, all the matches would probably be finished in just a few days.

He picked a platform at random, climbed up, and joined the crowd.

The rites had not yet begun, and two people beside him were talking quietly.

"Have you noticed that several elders look a little unhappy?"

"Mm... Elder Xuanji looks especially haggard. Elder Yan Shi seems distracted."

"Could something major have happened in the cultivation world?"

"Surely not. Look how calm Sect Master Lu is. What could have happened?"

Lu Yuanyi and the elders in charge of the main peaks stood above the several hundred steps. Without their cultivation, they probably wouldn't have been able to make out their faces at all.