Xie Xiyi, your sword has betrayed you!

Not a grain of rice or a drop of water could be wasted carelessly.

Ling Hezhou fell silent. He did not know what to say. Gazing at the sliver of moonlight spilling down from the top of the valley, he felt desolate. He had never expected something like this to happen on his very first training journey down the mountain.

Cultivation was an act of defiance against heaven, and cultivators ought to face life and death with equanimity, but he had not become a sage. He still had human emotions and desires, and naturally, he feared death.

He sighed endlessly. Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a thread of golden light in the pitch-dark woods, but when he looked closer, it was gone. Assuming his eyes had played tricks on him, he lowered his head and continued sighing in distress.

What he did not know was that, in the place where he thought his eyes had deceived him, a hand with well-defined knuckles released a pine branch. The pine tree, lush with foliage a moment before, withered in an instant and crumbled to dust.

Xie Xiyi hovered in the air. Phantom Lightning hummed in his hand, wisps of bloody aura seeping from its jade-white blade to reveal a trace of liquid-like golden light within.

Xie Xiyi did not move. Black incantation script flowed from his wide sleeves, winding like snakes onto Phantom Lightning and forcibly suppressing its humming.

His voice remained pleasing to the ear as he murmured, "You're very restless."

Naturally, Phantom Lightning could not answer him. As a spirit sword forged from the spine of a Golden Core Realm cultivator, it was destined never to develop an artifact spirit, because it already possessed a little spirituality of its own and could achieve the wondrous state of unity with its master's mind.

It was undoubtedly an exceptionally useful spirit sword. Xie Xiyi cherished it and could satisfy its thirst for slaughter most of the time.

But tonight, Phantom Lightning was unusually agitated. That agitation had begun when the youth appeared.

Xie Xiyi's divine sense covered the entire valley. He could clearly see the youth eating with composure, even enjoying such a hearty appetite that he ate three bowls of rice. There was not a hint of fear or panic on his face as he chatted intermittently with the cultivator inside the Soul Pearl.

A faint chuckle escaped Xie Xiyi's throat, carrying a bone-deep indifference. "He won't die today? Who gave him that confidence?"

Chi Yu, who was washing his pot, suddenly stopped. He lifted his eyes and looked ahead, seeing Xie Xiyi emerge from the shadows.

Chi Yu was not surprised. In fact, he had long known that Xie Xiyi had been watching him from the dark.

Naturally, he had been lying when he told Ling Hezhou they would not die today.

He was gambling on a possibility.

Before Xie Xiyi could speak, Chi Yu spoke first, his voice a little hurried. "Let's play a game. If I win, you let us go. How about it? If I lose, I'll not only hand Ling Hezhou over to you, but you can take my life too."

Xie Xiyi's mask had no openings at all, revealing neither expression nor emotion. His voice remained pleasing to the ear; anyone who heard it would have thought him a man of refined character rather than a bloodthirsty fiend. "You're making demands of me?"

Chi Yu said, "You are the radiant moon, while I'm merely a glimmer of firefly light. Of course I have no right to make demands of you. But as you've seen, I'm only a lowly cultivator at the first level of Qi Refining. A morning mushroom knows nothing of the month's beginning and end; a short-lived cicada knows nothing of spring and autumn. My knowledge and horizons are no match for yours. Whatever game we play, I'll most likely lose. Since my defeat is certain, what harm is there in playing one game with me?"

Xie Xiyi fell silent, seemingly considering it.

In the secluded depths of the valley, there was only the murmur of water. After Xie Xiyi appeared, not even a single insect or bird called. It was as though they were the only two living things in the entire valley.

The utter silence, the faint scent of blood, and the absolute pressure made Chi Yu's legs go weak again. His heartbeat pounded through the ringing in his ears, bringing a touch of dizziness.

Despite all these adverse reactions, Chi Yu continued scrubbing the pot as though nothing were wrong-a pot in the cultivation world did not actually need scrubbing, since it stayed clean at all times, but psychological barriers were not so easily overcome, so he still had to go through the motions.

Once he had scrubbed it clean and put it back in his Sumeru Ring, Xie Xiyi spoke with interest. "What game do you want to play?"

A smile appeared on Chi Yu's face, and his eyes shone like sparks as he looked at Xie Xiyi. "This is a game popular among mortal nobles, called Fight the Landlord. We'll play ten rounds, and whoever wins the most rounds wins. Very simple. But you'll need to give me a little time to make the things we need."

Phantom Lightning hummed in Xie Xiyi's hand. Golden light flashed at its tip, and forbidden incantations coiled like chains around the jade-white blade, yet could not suppress its trembling.

There was a faint smile in Xie Xiyi's voice. "All right. I'll give you time."

Chi Yu soon made a deck of cards. His cultivation was low, and he had not yet shed his mortal body, so he still felt both heat and cold. By the time he finished the deck, his fair forehead was covered in beads of sweat.

Without finding time to wipe it away, he placed the cards before Xie Xiyi and explained the rules.

A low table and two meditation cushions were set down on the grass. Chi Yu sat first, and Xie Xiyi followed. His long, ink-black hair trailed down, only to be gently lifted by a wisp of black mist just as it reached the grass.

The mist also formed a pair of gloves around Xie Xiyi's hands, which were as white as jade. Only then did he pick up a thin card.

Ling Hezhou had not dared speak since Xie Xiyi appeared, so only Chi Yu's voice rang out. "Actually, you look very familiar. I think I know you."

The moment he said this, Ling Hezhou broke into a cold sweat, and Xie Xiyi raised his head slightly. Very soon, however, he lowered it again-Phantom Lightning was still humming.

Xie Xiyi ignored Chi Yu, but Chi Yu did not feel embarrassed. He continued, "You look a lot like an old acquaintance of mine."

Xie Xiyi spoke softly. "Is that so?"

Chi Yu said, "Yes. That old acquaintance's name is Xie Xiyi."

Xie Xiyi tilted his head slightly. The mask on his face was actually hideous, with a blue face, fangs, and a pair of sinister red eyes. A single glance could cost someone their sanity, but one thing greatly concerned Chi Yu-Why doesn't this mask have eyeholes? Wouldn't that make it impossible to see?

But Chi Yu soon realized that cultivators often observed their surroundings with divine sense, so their eyes were not all that useful.

Xie Xiyi's tone barely changed. "Your turn."

Playing cards was only a pretense; getting close to Xie Xiyi was Chi Yu's real aim. He had ten rounds to work with. Winning or losing did not matter.

Chi Yu played his cards and continued, "I was very close to that old acquaintance. We once watched the sunset together on the grasslands. Later, he disappeared without a trace."

As he spoke, his gaze settled on Xie Xiyi. Black mist did indeed coil around him, seemingly some sort of living thing. Xie Xiyi only needed to hold the cards, and the black mist formed another hand, drew out a card, and placed it on the table.

The mist's presence made Chi Yu extremely uncomfortable. Looking at it really did make him feel ill, just as Ling Hezhou had said. At such close range, his limbs were stiff and difficult to control. Worse still, Xie Xiyi's killing intent and the bloody burden of his slaughter had taken tangible form, sharp as blades, making it difficult for him even to breathe. His throat and lungs felt as though they had been slashed, and whenever he spoke, blood surged within him, leaving a metallic sweetness in his throat.

Chi Yu swallowed that sweetness and continued speaking.

Naturally, everything he said about being close to Xie Xiyi was false, but he was gambling on making Xie Xiyi curious about him. Curiosity was one of humanity's most primal instincts, inescapable even through cultivation.

But Xie Xiyi remained unmoved throughout. In that still-pleasant voice, he said, "Noisy."

Then Chi Yu discovered that he could no longer speak.

Chi Yu: "..."

He had not expected Xie Xiyi to outright ban his account.

As for the ten rounds of Fight the Landlord, there was no need to elaborate. Naturally, he lost every one.

After all, Xie Xiyi's luck was overwhelming. When luck was involved, he would win even without using supernatural powers.

The ruby-like earring flew straight into Xie Xiyi's hand. Only then did Ling Hezhou finally cry out, "Chi Yu! Run!"

Chi Yu did not move. Phantom Lightning flew into Xie Xiyi's hand, and his voice remained bright and delighted, as though he were doing something enjoyable. "I'll take your life. Find a good family to be born into next time."

With that, Xie Xiyi drove his sword through Chi Yu's heart.

Phantom Lightning was still humming. Golden light flickered, its bloody aura receded, and it actually lost its spirituality, becoming like an ordinary sword.

Unmoved, Xie Xiyi withdrew his sword. Chi Yu's body collapsed limply.

Ling Hezhou screamed, then quickly fell silent as he was wrapped in black mist and drawn into Xie Xiyi's body like a trophy.

Thunder cracked on the horizon. In this land where rain was rare, a downpour actually began. Torrents cascaded from the top of the valley, only to be blocked by a layer of churning mist just before they reached Xie Xiyi, pattering onto the grass beside him.

Xie Xiyi left.

Only a body with a hole through it remained.

Rain soaked Chi Yu's body. Before long, he sneezed and climbed up from the ground.

Xie Xiyi had killed him so quickly that his consciousness had cut out before he even felt pain.

Chi Yu sighed, mourning Ling Hezhou.

But Chi Yu had no time to grieve.

He could not fathom Xie Xiyi's ways at all, nor did he have the slightest ability to hold a conversation with Xie Xiyi as he was now. He was too weak. Who would trust an ant?

Chi Yu dried himself, changed his clothes, brought up the system panel, and continued pummeling the system. He wanted cultivation, wanted at least the ability to speak to Xie Xiyi as an equal.

Static soon flashed across the system panel, as though it had short-circuited. Then the system spat out a stack of snow-white paper.

Chi Yu picked it up and looked. It was labeled "Preparing for the 2024 College Entrance Examination: Mock Chemistry Paper (National Paper, New Curriculum)."

Chi Yu: "..."

Author's note:

Fish Eater: I want to go home qaq

Chapter 4: Xie Xiyi, your sword has betrayed you!

"Senior brother, the Myriad Phenomena Disc has stopped responding." A youth dressed in the robes of a Tianyan Sect inner disciple came to report, worry entering his voice. "I'm afraid Junior Brother Ling's chances are grim."

Ling Tian said nothing. Several days earlier, he had discovered signs that the protective artifact the sect master had given Ling Hezhou had activated, and immediately realized that something had happened to him. He had acted decisively, gathering a team of disciples to retrieve Ling Hezhou's primordial soul.