Publicity

Chu Xisheng paid no attention at all to the cracked chopping board.

It was perfectly normal for their Yunyun to damage some furniture and smash some flowers and plants in the course of a day.

Especially since Chu Yunyun already had a record of chopping two chopping boards to pieces, he had deliberately found an exceptionally thick piece of wood to use as one a month ago.

This wood would still be usable even if it cracked.

"I wonder what faction sent her to infiltrate the Zhengyang Martial Academy. She's simply not cut out to be an undercover agent. Being lively is one thing, but she actually has a chivalrous heart, and she's far too optimistic. Hmm-another problem is that she's too clingy, and a little naive-"

In Chu Xisheng's eyes, these were all strengths. A chivalrous person was easy to talk around, and a naive one was easy to fool.

But Chu Yunyun put far too much force into her next chop again.

Thud!

The cracks in the chopping board had gone from two to eight.

Chu Xisheng still paid it no mind. If it broke, it broke. He had a spare.

Clicking his tongue, he continued, "You have no idea-she's actually a great cook, too. When we were in the cavern, she used a spell to cook a pot of snake meat. It was so delicious that Tie Xiaosheng and I nearly swallowed our tongues. I wonder what lucky man will benefit from that someday."

Clang!

The pork bone beneath Chu Yunyun's blade shattered, sending bone fragments flying in every direction.

Chu Xisheng could not help knitting his brows.

Now that was intolerable. It was simply a waste of ingredients.

Especially since he was injured now and needed some bone broth to nourish himself.

Chu Xisheng sighed and reached out to snatch the knife from Chu Yunyun's hand. "All right, let me do it-"

He was just about to swing the knife when he tugged at the wound on his left shoulder, immediately sucking in a sharp breath with a hiss.

Lu Luanli's supply of talismans was limited, and they were expensive. She had stopped applying Sweet Dew Mending Talismans to Chu Xisheng three days ago.

Now Chu Xisheng could only grit his teeth and bear the pain.

Chu Yunyun's expression shifted slightly. She immediately pulled open Chu Xisheng's robe to look at the wound on his left shoulder.

After examining it closely, her expression eased a little, and she let go. "When did you get hurt?"

Chu Xisheng's injury looked all right and was healing well.

"The day we went down into Firebone Cavern." Chu Xisheng straightened his clothes, the corners of his lips rising slightly. "You have no idea how dangerous that fight was. I fought sixteen men alone and won. I was already lucky to get away with such a minor injury."

Chu Yunyun completely missed the pride in Chu Xisheng's voice.

Understanding dawned in her eyes as she recalled what she had seen at the hot spring that day.

So Lu Luanli had been treating Chu Xisheng's injuries then? Had she gotten the wrong idea?

For some reason, Chu Yunyun's mood improved a little, and all the pent-up gloom in her chest vanished.

In the end, Chu Yunyun still did the chopping, cutting up the ribs before Chu Xisheng took over to simmer the soup.

He also used the scraps of meat shaved off the bones to stir-fry a dish, which the two of them ate with steamed buns for breakfast.

Chu Xisheng recounted his experiences in Firebone Cavern while Chu Yunyun listened quietly.

When she heard how Chu Xisheng had used tactics to kill sixteen men in succession, a gleam appeared in Chu Yunyun's eyes, and the corners of her lips lifted slightly.

Afterward, she even made a point of fetching several buckets of water for Chu Xisheng to wash with.

But while unpacking Chu Xisheng's belongings, she noticed Eagle Sword Du Hong's sword and three Hundred-Forged Light Steel Sabers among them, and her delicate brows immediately drew into a deep frown.

The reason she had left Eagle Sword Du Hong's sword at the scene rather than taking it was precisely because she feared all the trouble that might follow.

Selling something with such a traceable background carried enormous risks, even on the black market.

Given their current circumstances, the slightest misstep could cost them the entire game.

Especially since the hallmarks of her attacks were so obvious now: she had no true essence at all and relied entirely on physical strength.

Noticing her gaze, Chu Xisheng could not help laughing. "Don't worry. This sword has already passed through my hands. People will only connect it to Tie Xiaosheng. Failing that, we can have Lu Luanli take the blame for us. Besides, Lu Luanli dissolved Eagle Sword Du Hong's corpse with corpse-dissolving liquid.

"Don't go hunting on West Mountain for the next few days, either. Later, we'll go to the black market east of the river together and sell these sabers and the sword. They should fetch six or seven hundred taels of demon silver to help you with your Advancement to ninth-rank upper."

Chu Yunyun hesitated for a moment, but put the sword away after all.

She was actually rather short of money at present.

Although spellcasters did not need secret medicines or the like for Advancement, the resources they consumed exceeded even those of martial cultivators.

Every spell they cultivated required a large investment of demon silver.

Spellcasters had to draw on the power contained within demon silver to inscribe various cinnabar talismans and jade scripts within their own spirit seeds as the cores of their spells.

The key to Advancement from a ninth-rank lower spellcaster to ninth-rank upper was mastering three different spells.

The frustrating thing was that the more powerful the spell, the more demon silver it required.

"Oh, right."

Chu Xisheng remembered something else. "Yunyun, do you know who in the academy has the best information, the widest connections, and a loose tongue for gossip? Hmm, preferably someone with a little standing among the inner disciples, whose words people will believe."

He was usually either out escorting shipments or concentrating on his martial training, and had paid little attention to his fellow disciples within the academy.

Chu Yunyun tilted her head, confusion showing in her eyes.

A gossip with a loose tongue who also had standing? Wasn't that contradictory?

But there really were people like that in the academy.

"There are, actually. Two brothers. One is called Hu Kan, and the other is Hu Lai. They're disciples of our East Court, too. You should have seen them before. They're chubby, one with drooping eyebrows and the other with a drooping mustache. They're very easy to recognize."

Chu Xisheng's eyes flickered. He remembered the pair now.

Next, he scrubbed himself vigorously from head to toe, washing away all the sour stink on his body, then left with twenty taels of demon silver.

He now needed more Martial Dao Points to exchange for the Body of Light-Speed Shadow.

As it happened, after gaining a preliminary understanding of the system's mechanisms and rules, he had a few ideas he wanted to try out in the academy.

All this time, his Martial Dao Points and reputation had grown passively.

What would happen if he took the initiative to spread his own name?

After returning to the academy, Lu Luanli went back to the Disciples' Quarters and slept for the entire morning.

She lived alone in a small single room, roughly two zhang across.

The room was quite expensive, requiring an additional ten taels of demon silver each month. These were rooms the academy provided specifically for wealthy disciples.

Lu Luanli would rather pay extra than squeeze in with others.

She slept so deeply that her head was still muzzy when she woke at noon.

It was already lunchtime, so Lu Luanli immediately took her lunchbox to the Dining Hall.

While she was queuing for food in the Dining Hall, she heard people talking quietly behind her.

At first, Lu Luanli paid them no attention, but when she heard the name "Chu Xisheng," she pricked up her ears.

"-You mean Junior Brother Chu, the Chu Xisheng who saved us in the Library Tower?"

"Who else? He's really offended the Inner City Long Clan this time. But he's seriously impressive, too. After fleeing into Firebone Cavern, he cut down more than thirty members of the Inner City Long Clan as easily as slicing melons and vegetables."

Word of what happened in Firebone Cavern has reached the academy already? Lu Luanli wondered.

She turned her head and saw a fat man with drooping eyebrows five paces away, clicking his tongue as he spoke. "You know the Hengmen Eighteen Riders, right? Three of them fell at his hands this time, and Junior Brother Chu only suffered a minor injury."

Lu Luanli recognized him as Hu Kan. He and his younger brother, Hu Lai, were fairly well-known in the academy as busybodies who knew all the latest news.

A group had gathered around Hu Kan.

Someone questioned him. "Impossible. The Long Clan's soldiers are all as strong as our academy's outer disciples. The Hengmen Eighteen Riders all wear heavy armor and are skilled in coordinated attacks and battle formations. Even eighth-rank martial cultivators would find them troublesome."

"What do you know? This information came from inside the Long Household."

Hu Kan sneered, his expression disdainful. "What sort of person is Junior Brother Chu? The Academy Master himself praised his talent with the saber as no less than Chief True Disciple Li Fenglai's. His saber was already fast, and now his cultivation has made great strides, too. His essence cultivation has reached ninth-rank lower. What's killing a few of the Hengmen Eighteen Riders to him? His saber technique should be among the very best in the ninth rank-"

The corner of Lu Luanli's mouth twitched. Isn't that just boasting?

Chu Xisheng's saber was indeed fast, and he was very talented, but his current saber technique was at most at the ninth-rank upper level. He was still a long way from being "among the very best."

She paid it no mind. After getting her food, she went to a table to eat alone.

As it turned out, the disciples at the next table were discussing Chu Xisheng, too.

But the longer Lu Luanli listened, the more she felt something was amiss.