Chu Xisheng soon drew his attention away from the system.
Holding his saber point-down, he cupped his fists toward Academy Master Lei Yuan and Long Sheng opposite him. "This disciple's skills were lacking, and I failed to pull back in time. Please forgive me, Academy Master, and I hope Brother Long will excuse me as well."
Long Sheng clearly had no intention of excusing him. Pressing the wound on his wrist, he stared at Chu Xisheng in shock and fury, his eyes seeming to hold poisonous flames.
This fellow wielded his saber so viciously. Who was he trying to fool?
"Though it was wrong to injure someone, there was a reason for what happened today. You cannot be blamed."
Lei Yuan brushed it aside, studying Chu Xisheng's hands with a hint of surprise and admiration in his gaze. "What quick hands! Your blade work is good, too. That move, Empty Cave Brings Wind, was concise and refined, and captured the Essence of Swift Blade.
"No wonder Instructor Ye recommended you so strongly. In talent with a blade alone, you are not even inferior to this intake's Chief True Disciple, Li Fenglai."
The instant Lei Yuan said this, another uproar erupted on and around the platform.
Shao Lingshan's face turned livid. The Li Fenglai whom Lei Yuan had mentioned had become Zhengyang Martial Academy's Chief True Disciple three months earlier.
Li Fenglai also specialized in the Blade Dao, excelling in the Gentle Breeze and Fine Rain Blade. Both cultivation and fighting strength were already approaching seventh rank, unrivaled in the academy—a widely recognized Blade Dao prodigy.
Yet Shao Lingshan did not feel Academy Master Lei Yuan was exaggerating at all. Chu Xisheng's swift blade just now had truly been stunning.
Ye Zhiqiu's mouth hung wide open. She felt as though her jaw was about to come unhinged.
Everything she had said earlier had been a bluff, merely to give Academy Master Lei Yuan a passable reason.
Since when had this fellow Chu Xisheng attained ninth-rank blade skills? No, that was talent. He actually possessed such outstanding talent for the swift blade!
He should have said so sooner!
Had she known Chu Xisheng's blade skills had reached their present level, she would have put him forward without taking any money.
Only when Lei Yuan looked her way with approval did Ye Zhiqiu come back to herself.
She hurriedly closed her mouth and assumed an expression of having expected this all along. With a cold scoff, her face chilly and her words frosted over, she said, "Naturally, this boy has considerable talent with a blade. Yet my recommendation was worth less than a Spirit-Gathering Formation from the Long Household, less than a word from Instructor Shao?"
Lei Yuan could not help looking sheepish, guilt rising within him.
He had thought Instructor Ye had recommended a sickly boy out of personal affection.
Now, however, it appeared he had measured a gentleman's heart with a petty man's yardstick.
Though this child was physically frail, his talent in the Blade Dao was indeed outstanding.
Lei Yuan immediately beckoned to an eighth-rank civil official seated nearby. "Registrar Wen, arrange for that Essence-Gathering Formation Instructor Shao delivers later to be placed in the East Court. Allocate another eighty taels of demon silver this month to add dishes to the East Court's Dining Hall menu. Also, allot this child five Origin-Nourishing Pills and a Hundred-Forged Light Steel Saber."
Ye Zhiqiu's expression immediately improved considerably.
An Essence-Gathering Formation was worth five hundred taels of demon silver. It could only last three months and accommodate ten people cultivating their primal arts within it.
What Ye Zhiqiu cared about was, of course, not the value of the Essence-Gathering Formation itself, but face.
For every day that formation remained in the East Court, she would be grinding Shao Lingshan's face into the mud.
This was a comfort and delight that money could not buy her.
Chu Xisheng's expression brightened. "Thank you for nurturing me, Academy Master!"
It was said that one Origin-Nourishing Pill was equivalent to ten days of cultivation.
As for the Hundred-Forged Light Steel Saber, not only was its blade tough, it was also a quarter lighter than a normal steel saber, making it especially suitable for his swift blade. It was a fine weapon that money could not buy on the open market.
Together, these two items were worth over fifty taels of demon silver. As compensation went, it was quite sincere.
Shao Lingshan's expression grew even uglier. He snorted coldly, pulled Long Sheng along, and turned to leave.
Long Sheng was unwilling to leave just like that. Shao Lingshan had to tug him several times before he moved.
His gaze remained fixed on Chu Xisheng, as though he wanted to engrave his appearance deep in his heart.
As Chu Xisheng stepped down from the stone platform, he saw Ye Zhiqiu standing with her arms folded, studying him in utter amazement.
Being shocked was only right.
Even Chu Xisheng had not expected the Wind-Chasing, Lightning-Pursuing Hands granted by his dear system to be so powerful, truly doubling his blade speed, let alone Ye Zhiqiu.
"Incredible." Ye Zhiqiu deliberately pinched the muscles of Chu Xisheng's arm, then felt his bones. "Your blade chased the wind and pursued lightning when you struck. I never noticed you had such talent before."
Since Chu Xisheng had joined Zhengyang Martial Academy, she had given him two private lessons and believed she understood his situation.
At the time, Chu Xisheng's hand speed had only been a notch above that of ordinary people, nothing especially outstanding.
"I feel as though I'm dreaming, too. I wasn't thinking about anything at the time. My blade just suddenly became faster when I struck."
Chu Xisheng did not know how to explain it, so he made something up off the top of his head.
Ye Zhiqiu actually believed him. She nodded thoughtfully and released his arm.
"This should be a bloodline awakening. We humans are descendants of Pangu, but later, for some unknown reason, our bloodline was sealed, and we lost our innate divine strength. So cases like yours are still quite common. Many people awaken talents and supernatural abilities they never had before when faced with danger or desperate straits.
"But you still need to put work into practicing your blade. How can a blade wielder fail to control his own weapon? Right now, you aren't even bringing out seventy percent of your full talent."
Ye Zhiqiu glanced at Chu Xisheng's face, then clicked her tongue and looked away.
This fellow's face was far too deceptive.
"Come on. I'll take you to the storeroom to collect your Origin-Nourishing Pills and Hundred-Forged Light Steel Saber. With a light steel saber in hand, your blade speed can increase by another twenty percent. Oh, are you and your sister still renting a place outside the academy?"
"We've rented a little loft, not far from the academy's south gate." As Chu Xisheng answered, he looked at Ye Zhiqiu with some puzzlement, unsure why she had suddenly brought up their rented lodgings.
Zhengyang Martial Academy provided all its disciples with room and board. Even outer disciples like them were offered row-house rooms shared by eight people.
The brother and sister could not accept that arrangement, however.
It was not that they could not get used to living there, but that they had too many secrets to be suited to crowding in with other people. They would rather spend money renting outside.
"I really don't understand. When you two first came to Xiushui, you were willing to take any hard, exhausting work and stretch every coin into two, yet you would rather spend silver on rent than share a row-house room with others."
Ye Zhiqiu untied a long key from her belt and tossed it to Chu Xisheng. "There are two empty side rooms in the Storage Yard to the right of our East Court. You can move in."
Chu Xisheng's brows rose slightly at once, a trace of delight appearing on his face.
Though this Storage Yard was supposedly used to store miscellaneous items, it actually held seldom-used things such as timber, steel ingots, and stone. Few people normally went there, making it fairly private.
Behind the little courtyard was also an open space five zhang square, where he could practice martial arts and his blade.
"How could I accept? Wouldn't it be against the rules?" Even as Chu Xisheng spoke, he was already tucking the key into his sleeve.
"If you can't accept it, give it back."
Ye Zhiqiu glanced disdainfully at Chu Xisheng's hand, then smiled. "You earned it. You really made me look good today. You didn't see Shao Lingshan's expression just now. Tsk, tsk, words simply couldn't describe it-"
Chu Xisheng was not listening closely. He felt the key inside his sleeve, thinking of his younger sister, Chu Yunyun.
Chu Yunyun had set out on an escort job a day later than he had. Judging by her traveling pace, she should return around noon today.
If all went smoothly, they could move into the academy that afternoon.
After parting with Ye Zhiqiu, Chu Xisheng went to the medicine shop one street away and had four bottles of medicine prepared.
The medicine was called Yanghe Powder. Taking it could not only extend Chu Xisheng's life by two days, but also expel the yin poison and cold baleful intent accumulated in his body, easing his symptoms after exposure to sunlight.
This medicine was very expensive. Even its cost price reached three taels of demon silver.
Risking his life in the wilderness on an escort job that took three days round trip, Chu Xisheng could earn only enough for two bottles of Yanghe Powder.
Now he had less than half a tael of demon silver left in his pocket; his purse could truly have been washed clean.
Chu Xisheng hesitated for a long while, but still went to the market and brought home a two-jin perch.
He thought that a happy occasion like entering the academy's inner ranks deserved a celebration.
Returning to their rented loft, Chu Xisheng first lit a fire in the stove and put rice on to cook before starting to prepare the perch.
He deftly snipped off its fins, scraped and washed away its scales, and slit open its belly.
While removing its innards, Chu Xisheng deliberately kept the intestines and swim bladder.
People in this world disdained eating these things, finding them fishy, but Chu Xisheng could not bear to throw them away.
The brother and sister rarely saw meat, so they treasured any edible animal food.
Not long after Chu Xisheng chopped ginger and garlic, scattered them over the perch, and put it in the pot to steam, a creak came from the loft's door.
Chu Xisheng turned around to see the door being pushed open. A girl in a white dress stood in the doorway, a broad wash of sunlight spilling inside and leaving her expression hidden in shadow.
This was his "younger sister," Chu Yunyun.
Well, strictly speaking, she was also the wife he had acquired without lifting a finger.