Chapter 15: Zhe Feng

Newly admitted disciples were given a three-day adaptation and study period.

The curriculum included, but was not limited to, studying the disciple rules of Yonglu Mountain, learning how to earn spirit stones and cultivation resources on the mountain, and undergoing adaptive training tailored to their spiritual roots. Simply put, it was preparation for the apprenticeship ceremony three days later.

Similarly, these three days gave the powerhouses of the inner sect who wished to take on disciples a chance to observe them. Although three days was not enough to fully judge a person’s character, it was better than nothing.

Originally, Yonglu Mountain had been just like other sects, with no such three-day buffer period. Once the spiritual roots were tested, the elders would take whoever they wanted. Those left behind were assigned to the outer sect first, and they could try for a second round of apprenticeship during the sect’s disciple tournament a year later.

However, a former sect master of Yonglu Mountain later realized that establishing a master-disciple relationship without any buffer was far too hasty. He had suffered from this himself, having blindly accepted a disciple based solely on talent without considering their personality. Even after his disciple reached the Nascent Soul realm at two hundred years old, the man still did not dare to leave the mountain gates to travel. Furious, the sect master had nearly expelled him. Perhaps because he had suffered through it himself, he established this three-day adaptation period.

“This is obviously ridiculous. A two-hundred-year-old Nascent Soul Lord! I suspect this sect master was just using the three-day rule as an excuse to show off his brilliant disciple to the outside world!”

Wen Xu rarely admired anyone, but at this moment, he deeply admired Bian Chunzhou. “Where did you hear all this gossip?”

“I just found a random senior brother to chat with. Since I have Water-Fire Dual Spiritual Roots, which no one has ever seen before, they were naturally willing to talk when I struck up a conversation.”

In truth, even more people had come to look at Wen Xu. However, he wore a blindfold, and though he seemed approachable, everyone knew he came from the Mortal Realm. Fearing they might frighten him and draw the ire of the elders, they did not dare to strike up a conversation. Besides, now that he was in Yonglu Mountain, there would be plenty of opportunities to get to know him later.

“That is also because you are cheerful and likable. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be willing to tell you all this.”

Bian Chunzhou chuckled. “Actually, I know a lot of people are talking behind my back. They say I hit the jackpot by making friends with you, and that with my Water-Fire Dual Spiritual Roots, I’ll definitely never make it into the inner sect. They think I’m clinging to you desperately, hoping you’ll carry me and bring me into the inner sect in the future.”

Wen Xu was caught off guard by this directness. “They…”

To be honest, due to his upbringing, Wen Xu was not a particularly warm-hearted person. However, Bian Chunzhou had helped him immensely, even saving his life. Even if two Blood Recovery Pills were not valuable in the cultivation world and any random cultivator on the street could produce them, no one else in the Poyun Secret Realm would have saved his life without a second thought the way Bian Chunzhou had.

Afterward, Bian Chunzhou had rescued him from the Poyun Secret Realm and helped him enter the immortal sect. Wen Xu had even considered what he should do to quietly help Bian Chunzhou establish himself and increase his spiritual power if he were mistreated at Yonglu Mountain due to his spiritual roots.

“Who cares what they say? Besides, these spiritual roots belong to me. I’ll cultivate however I want!” Bian Chunzhou said earnestly. “Wen Xuxu, people who only talk behind others’ backs about their shortcomings are not worth making friends with.”

A warmth bloomed in Wen Xu’s heart. “Chunzhou, actually, there is something I’ve been wanting to tell you.”

“What is it?” Bian Chunzhou leaned closer and sat down.

“After this new year, I will be twenty-two by nominal age^[1].” Wen Xu had passed the imperial examinations at eighteen and observed a three-year mourning period. Even by actual age, he was twenty this year. No matter how one calculated it, he was older than Bian Chunzhou.

The nineteen-year-old Bian Chunzhou was utterly shocked. “No way! If you hadn’t said anything, I would have thought you were still a minor!” You look way too young.

“I have already reached adulthood. Chunzhou, you should call me elder brother.”

Bian Chunzhou snorted. “I won’t!” The truth was, he was so used to calling him Wen Xuxu that he couldn’t change it now.

“Besides, if I call you elder brother, wouldn’t I have to call Chen Zui elder brother too?” Bian Chunzhou shook his head like a rattle. “No, no, no, no. It’s better to keep things as they are.”

“Oh? You didn’t know?” Wen Xu asked, feigning confusion.

“Know what?”

“Chen Zui is the youngest among the new disciples admitted to the sect this time. As far as I know, he has barely just passed his eighteenth birthday.”

“What? I don’t believe it!”

Bian Chunzhou stood up in shock and sprinted toward the person practicing saber techniques over there. “Are you really eighteen?”

Chen Zui barely managed to sheath his saber in time. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’d believe you if you said you were eighty-eight! Seriously, can you stop looking so scruffy? Tomorrow is the day we choose our masters. You should at least tidy up your appearance. Anyone who doesn’t know better would think you’d been picking through trash along the way… Wait, you weren’t, were you?”

Chen Zui explained solemnly, “I just… didn’t have any spirit stones to stay at an inn, so I slept outdoors.” When he was at home, his mother would remind him, but after leaving home, he had forgotten. “Do I really look that scruffy? I can’t tell.”

“Yes! Extremely! Extremely scruffy! If you don’t believe me, ask the others.”

Chen Zui looked at the others. Seeing them all nod in unison, he finally realized. “No wonder no one wanted to team up with me during the Mountain Exam. So that was why. Mother said people outside don’t like messy folk. Actually, I use the Cleansing Spell every day.”

…But you look like you haven’t bathed in three years.

“How can a Cleansing Spell replace a bath! No way! Go take a bath right now, this instant! I have a Water-Fire Spiritual Root, I’ll heat the bathwater for you!”

The onlookers: …Hey, that is not how you use Water-Fire Dual Spiritual Roots!

Chen Zui was dragged off to bathe by Bian Chunzhou. Perhaps because he was used to his mother doing the same at home, he didn’t refuse. After a thorough scrubbing and grooming, he stepped back out…

“Whoa, who is this handsome guy?”

“No way. Is this Chen Zui?”

“If he looked like this during the Mountain Exam, I would have immediately gone up and said, ‘Hey, teammate!'”

Chen Zui wore the disciple robes of Yonglu Mountain. He was very tall, and his muscles were highly developed from years of practicing saber techniques. Combined with his thick eyebrows, large eyes, and exceptionally heroic features, he practically exuded raw masculinity.

The person was the same, the saber was the same, and the clothes were the same, but… he seemed like a completely different person!

But how should one put it? He looked even less like an eighteen-year-old now.

“Chen Zuizui, what on earth did you grow up eating?” After holding it in for the longest time, Bian Chunzhou finally couldn’t resist asking.

Being stared at by so many people, Chen Zui didn’t feel the least bit uncomfortable. He sat down with his saber in hand. “What did I eat? My mother’s cooking is terrible, so I grew up eating Fasting Pills. Why do you ask?”

“How is that possible? I don’t believe you.”

Bian Chunzhou touched his own barely perceptible muscles and sourly slunk over to Wen Xuxu’s side. “Tell me, how long do I have to train to get a body so good that even thick clothes can’t hide it?”

“Why do you want to train to look like that? Do you want to practice the saber too?” Wen Xu was a scholar, with a typical scholar’s aesthetic. In his eyes, that kind of burly, muscular physique was the standard for a military general.

He imagined a muscular Bian Chunzhou. Uh, how should he put it? It was just very weird.

“No, what man doesn’t want an eight-pack!” Unfortunately, he only had a single soft belly.

Abs? No one else could see them anyway. Wen Xu found it impossible to understand. “As long as you’re happy.”

After all, he had decided to continue pretending to be blind. As long as he couldn’t see, it didn’t matter what Bian Chunzhou trained himself to look like, since he wouldn’t see it anyway. Even if it was an eyesore, it would only be an eyesore to others.

“Wen Xu, is Wen Xu there? Someone from the Alchemy Peak is looking for you outside.”

Alchemy Peak? Elder Zhan? Could they be here to check his eyes?

Wen Xu went out the door, and someone quickly approached him. A light breeze blew over, carrying no scent of pills or herbs, but rather a few traces of metallic fire Qi. He subconsciously took a step back, but the visitor flashed directly behind him. “Little blind boy, you are a bit too sharp. It’s my fault too, for coming over without concealing my aura.”

“May I ask who you are, sir?” Since he could appear on Yonglu Mountain, he should be someone from the sect.

Little Martial Uncle Zheng smiled and said, “Me? I’m from the Refining Peak. I came to give you a small gift.”

Refining Peak? Giving him a gift? Why?

“Here, this folding fan is fated with you, so it’s yours.” Having said that, Zheng Jin stuffed the fan in his hand to the little blind boy. “This fan is just something I made on a whim. I didn’t use any good materials. I originally planned to use it to fan myself in the summer, but I didn’t end up using it. If you come across any good materials in the future, I can forge it for you again.”

Wen Xu did not dare to accept this gift. “This fan is too valuable, I fear…”

“I don’t like to hear that. If you don’t want it, just throw it away.” Zheng Jin directly covered his ears, acting so childishly that he didn’t look like a Nascent Soul True Monarch^[2] at all.

Wen Xu thought, could this be Yonglu Mountain showing goodwill to him? If he refused again, it might turn out badly. Actually, in his heart, when he handed in this folding fan, he had been very reluctant to part with it. He had even asked the disciple collecting the magic treasures if there was a way to buy this folding fan.

“Does this fan have a name?”

“That’s more like it. As for a name, of course it doesn’t have one. You can name it yourself.” Since it was his own thing, he should name it himself. There was no need to mention the name Dingfengbo, of course.

Wen Xu thought for a moment and said, “How about calling it ‘Zhe Feng’?”

“Wind-Folding Fan, not bad, not bad. Maybe this name will resound through the cultivation world in the future.” Zheng Jin smiled. Sensing a familiar spiritual energy fluctuation behind him, he immediately shot up into the clouds. “Little blind boy, let’s not chat for now. I just ran out of the Discipline Hall. If I don’t run now, I’ll be caught and dragged back!”

Wen Xu: …Escaped from the Discipline Hall?! I accepted the folding fan too early!!

Just as Zheng Jin fled, Zhao Qi chased after him. Seeing the folding fan in Wen Xu’s hand, he understood in his heart, but deliberately asked, “Where is the person who gave you the folding fan? Did you see which way he ran?”

This voice… it was Elder Zhao, who hosted the Mountain Exam. Wen Xu fell silent for a moment. “Replying to Elder, I cannot see, and my cultivation is low.”

Zhao Qi: …

Meanwhile, in the discussion hall of the Sect Master Peak, the powerful elders of Yonglu Mountain were holding a small consultation meeting regarding who would get the genius with the Mutated Wind Spiritual Root.