"Little Ten, stay a moment. I have something to say to you!"
"Oh!"
As the four returned to the Ancestral Peak, the two Guest Elders vanished in a blur of motion. Only Ruan Hao remained, ambling down the long steps while taking a puff from the dry tobacco pipe at his waist.
Flight was forbidden within the Sword Mound due to the overwhelming sword pressure. However, those in the tribulation transcendence stage were unaffected and could come and go as they pleased.
After the others departed, only the blue-robed young man and the white-clad Ye Xianyu remained standing before the towering Sky Gate with their hands behind their backs. The two stood in silence, the atmosphere growing somewhat awkward.
Bored, Ye Xianyu edged forward and took the initiative to break the silence, saying with a straight face, "Fifth Senior Brother, if you have nothing to say, I’m leaving. I’m actually quite busy."
Hearing this, the blue-robed young man turned his gentle gaze toward the girl and smiled warmly. "Is that so?"
Ye Xianyu raised her voice. "Of course! I manage such a massive sect all by myself. I’m so busy every day that my feet barely touch the ground. Extremely busy!"
The blue-robed young man shook his head with a chuckle. "Heh."
"What are you laughing at?"
"Fine, thank you for your hard work," he said.
Ye Xianyu tilted her head up like an innocent young girl, acting prideful. "It’s not hard. Toiling a bit for the sake of the sect is nothing."
The blue-robed young man didn't intend to expose his little junior sister. Although he resided on the Main Peak and had long since stopped meddling in sect affairs, he still occasionally heard the rumors circulating within the mountain gates.
This little junior sister of his had long since become a hands-off manager. She spent her days idle, admiring flowers, drinking tea, and arranging blossoms.
He began to lecture her patiently. "Even if you are busy, you must still practice. Look at you; your cultivation hasn't improved in a long time."
"I am practicing!" Ye Xianyu replied, her face neither red nor her heart racing with the lie.
The blue-robed man continued as if he hadn't heard her.
"Cultivation is like rowing against the current; if you do not advance, you fall back. Once laziness becomes a habit, it is extremely difficult to change. Though you are in the tribulation transcendence stage, you are only at the early phase. You are still far from the peak of the Great Dao. Even I, when I look up to glimpse the Dao, cannot see even a fraction of it..."
The blue-robed man talked on and on, rambling and long-winded.
Ye Xianyu listened impatiently, swaying her head, rolling her eyes, and pouting.
The Fifth Patriarch had an excellent temperament. Even so, he only asked softly, "...Do you understand what I’ve said?"
"I know!" Ye Xianyu drawled, her face practically screaming her boredom.
The blue-robed young man said with a hint of irritation, "Stand up straight!"
Ye Xianyu curled her lip. "Oh!"
He frowned. "Don't find your senior brother's nagging annoying. You are still young; I'm doing this for your own good!"
Ye Xianyu looked at him with feigned sincerity, her tone dismissive. "I get it, I get it, I get it all. May I ask, Lord Senior Brother, if I can leave now?"
The blue-robed young man sighed. "Sigh." His brow was filled with helplessness. Instead of answering, he asked, "I heard Little Eleven broke through to core formation?"
"Mhm!"
"If I recall correctly, he isn't even eighteen yet, is he?"
"Almost!"
The blue-robed young man felt a rare sense of gratification. "Not bad. A core formation stage cultivator before eighteen is much stronger than we senior brothers and sisters were."
Ye Xianyu pouted and complained, "It's because he hogged all the food for himself."
"Hogged the food?"
"Yeah, the Nine-Turn Spirit Lotus." She didn't forget to add, "Not even half a leaf was left for anyone else."
The blue-robed young man laughed. "Haha... it seems our little junior brother is blessed with immense providence. He truly does resemble a Child of Fortune from the stories."
"It’s more than just 'immense,'" Ye Xianyu muttered.
The blue-robed young man smiled and waved her off. "Fine, you go back. Have Little Eleven come accompany me instead. It’s a good time for me to speak with him; I haven't had a chance to chat with him since he joined the sect."
"Great!"
As if receiving a grand pardon, Ye Xianyu vanished in a flash.
The blue-robed young man gave a bitter smile and whispered, "Sigh—this girl. She’s over a thousand years old, yet she still acts like a child."
On the other side, while the Wendao Sect crowd was observing the sword intent and the blue-robed young man was lecturing Ye Xianyu, Xu Xian was inside the Sword Mound.
He hadn't just pulled out the first divine sword, the Heaven-Burning Sparrow; he had also placed it inside the Sword Tower.
Divine swords required the Sword Tower to suppress and nurture them. With Xu Xian's current realm and strength, he couldn't simply carry a divine sword around on his back.
If he wanted to use it, he only needed to summon the Sword Tower, open the Sword Gate, and take out the Heaven-Burning Sparrow.
As the Heaven-Burning Sparrow took its place on the first floor of the Sword Tower, the vigorous qi within the tower fed back into Xu Xian. Like a vast ocean or a river flowing in reverse, Xu Xian broke through two minor stages and one major realm in an instant.
Core formation stage, middle phase...
Core formation stage, late phase...
Nascent soul stage, early phase.
Although Xu Xian was currently in a state where his soul was separated from his body, he could still clearly sense his soul strength surging in that moment.
Those in the nascent soul stage could strengthen their divine souls and summon nascent fire for alchemy and qi refining. Their lifespan could reach a thousand years...
Beyond the increase in cultivation, Xu Xian also unlocked control over the Sword Mound.
When he first became the Master of the Sword Mound, the Little Book spirit had told him that once the first floor of the Sword Tower was built, he wouldn't need to pass through the gate in Heaven Beyond the Sword to enter and exit the Sword Mound.
It hadn't been lying. It was truly possible.
Unfortunately!!
For now, his physical body could not enter and exit at will. Instead, a wisp of his divine sense could enter and exit this Sword Mound world at any time and place...
Simply put, Xu Xian had been swindled by the Little Book spirit again.
He strongly condemned the Little Book spirit for this.
He had originally thought that once the first floor was finished, he could roam the world freely. With the Pupil of Insight to hide his presence and the Sword Mound to escape at any time, where in the world could he not go?
However, the Little Book spirit acted as shameless as Xu Xian himself.
It said with absolute conviction, "I said you could enter and exit the Sword Mound with a single thought. I never said your physical body could enter. A 'single thought' means a wisp of your thought, not 'in the blink of a thought.'"
It even claimed Xu Xian had misunderstood, so it couldn't be blamed.
Xu Xian was speechless.
Speaking was an art. The same sentence coming from different people could have entirely different meanings. The same sentence heard by different people could lead to different conclusions.
It was just like when he had killed the Xiushe. Xu Xian had indeed promised to release it. But Xu Xian meant he would release it from his waist, while the Xiushe thought he was letting it fly away to freedom.
Xu Xian didn't argue with it. That would make him seem lacking in depth.
Regardless, it wasn't entirely useless. Although his physical body couldn't enter, that wisp of thought could connect to the Sword Mound. This meant he could put his belongings inside.
It effectively gave Xu Xian an infinite storage space.
Those storage bags he had scavenged could now be exchanged for merit points.
Xu Xian couldn't wait to try it out. His thoughts darted back and forth between the Sword Mound and his small cottage. Before long, he had stockpiled all his belongings by the Divine Sword Pool.
Though he didn't have many possessions, he could only bring one item in or out at a time. This resulted in him traveling back and forth to the Divine Sword Pool dozens of times.
And so...
Upon that Sky Gate, the five-colored light flickered on and off, on and off, on and off...
It looked like a strobe light at a disco.
The old man guarding the Sword Mound was stunned. Even the Fifth Patriarch was dumbfounded!
His brow furrowed, a wooden and dazed look on his face.
"This... is so lacking in dignity!"
Rate on N.U.
