Qi Yan glanced at her. Without saying whether he had seen him or not, he simply let out a soft “Mm.”
“His swordplay is really good,” Lin Zhiyue said as she caught up with Qi Yan, the two of them slowly walking down the stone steps. “His strikes are incredibly steady, with almost no wasted movement. It’s as if he calculates the path of every strike in his head before he even moves.”
She paused here, stealing a glance at Qi Yan. She found his face expressionless, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of interrupting her.
She pinched her fingers and adopted a lighter tone, casually tossing it out like small talk. “Master, you only have four disciples under you right now. Don't you think that's a bit too few? Just the other day, Second Senior Sister was saying that our lineage is so sparsely populated we can’t even fill a table at the dining hall.”
Qi Yan didn’t stop walking, but he turned his head to glance at her. Lin Zhiyue’s heart tightened under his gaze, but she maintained her “just casually chatting” expression, even blinking innocently at him.
“Your Second Senior Sister was talking about her own issues,” Qi Yan said flatly. “She just thinks Chu Zhixun is too noisy when he eats.”
“But it's still a fact that we have few people,” Lin Zhiyue pressed on, her steps light and brisk. “I watched the outer disciple minor competition today, and there were indeed a few promising prospects. Master, if you want to take on another disciple, you could consider that Jiang Yuezhan...”
She quickly added, “Of course, I’m just saying this casually. Whether you take him in or not is entirely up to you, Master. I just felt that his style of swordplay is quite similar to what you taught me, so it felt a bit familiar.”
She spoke incredibly fast, like spilling a bag of beans. After finishing, she quickened her pace to walk a short distance ahead, her ears perked up as she waited for the person behind her to speak.
Qi Yan trailed half a step behind her. After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke. “You sat there for the entire afternoon just to tell me this?”
Lin Zhiyue paused and turned around to look at him. The twilight spilled over from behind her, wrapping her face in a soft glow. She opened her mouth, feeling a bit guilty. “I was mostly watching the matches, and I just happened to notice him.”
Qi Yan looked at her. The corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly, as if he had seen through her little scheme but chose not to expose it.
He took another step forward. As he passed by her, his voice, carried by the evening breeze, fell soft and light into her ears. “We’ll talk about it after the outer sect assessment.”
Lin Zhiyue stood dazed for a moment. Then, she quickly spun around and shouted toward Qi Yan’s retreating figure, “Then remember to look at the assessment results later, Master! His name is Jiang Yuezhan—Jiang as in river, Yue as in leap, and Zhan as in deep blue!”
Qi Yan didn’t look back, only raising a hand to wave dismissively, indicating he had heard her.
Standing on the stone steps, Lin Zhiyue watched the dark-teal figure disappear around the corner of the main peak, letting out a long sigh of relief.
That was as far as she would go.
She wouldn’t do anything extra for Jiang Yuezhan, and she certainly wouldn’t use Qi Yan to open a back door.
Now that she had mentioned him, the rest would depend entirely on his own ability.
When she returned to her courtyard, the system screen popped up with a line of small text: 【Quest Progress Updated: Created an opportunity for Jiang Yuezhan to come into contact with Venerable Yanchen. Current Progress: (1/5).】
Lin Zhiyue paused.
“Five times?” she whispered. “You even divided it into stages for me?”
The system did not reply.
The screen quietly vanished as if nothing had happened. Lin Zhiyue stood in the courtyard and took several deep breaths. Finally, she shut the door, deciding to think about this tomorrow.
The temptation of Jinyao Fairy’s koi-fish domain was just too great. Since she had already taken the first step today, she would figure out the remaining four steps as she went.
The results of the outer sect assessment were posted five days later.
Jiang Yuezhan’s name hung high at the very top of the list. In the grade column, it read: “Comprehensive Evaluation: Grade A-Plus.” Below it, a few lines of detailed scores for each trial were listed. The swordplay section was followed by a very rare evaluation: “Nascent sword intent, solid foundation, a highly promising talent.”
A total of seven outer disciples passed the assessment and were brought into the inner hall of the main peak. As per tradition, eight chairs were arranged in the hall—the central seat was for Palace Master Xiao Sheng, flanked by the seats of the seven elders.
Today, five elders had arrived. Along with Xiao Sheng himself, there were plenty of choices for the seven disciples to choose their master. Qi Yan’s chair was empty, just like every year in the past.
Everyone was used to this. Venerable Yanchen never cared about these assessment results when taking disciples; in previous years, he didn’t even know what the first-place winner of the outer sect assessment looked like.
Lin Zhiyue and Cen Xi'er huddled in the side parlor at the corner of the inner hall. A plate of melon seeds and two cups of spiritual tea sat in front of them, giving them a perfect view of the entire hall.
This was a prime spot they had picked out long ago to watch the drama unfold. Liu Fengyao would sometimes join in on the fun, but today she had other duties.
“I bet the first-place winner will choose the Palace Master,” Cen Xi'er whispered as she cracked open a melon seed. “In previous years, the top scorer of the outer sect assessment usually went that route. The Palace Master’s lineage has the most abundant resources, after all.”
Lin Zhiyue nodded, chewing on her melon seeds without speaking. She also thought Jiang Yuezhan would choose Xiao Sheng. It was true that Qi Yan was at the Soul Transformation Stage, but the Palace Master’s status was paramount. Becoming a disciple under the Palace Master meant priority access to the sect's core resources. Any smart person would make that choice.
Her gaze drifted toward the empty chair, and she felt a complex mix of emotions—a bit of regret, but it was within expectations.
In the hall, the seven disciples stepped forward one by one according to their assessment rankings. Jiang Yuezhan was first. He walked to the center of the hall and stood straight. His faded grey outer disciple robe had been replaced with clean, ordinary robes, and his hair was neatly styled.
He bowed to the elders and the Palace Master. When he raised his head, he looked straight ahead, neither humble nor arrogant.
Just then, the doors of the hall were pushed open.
Everyone turned to look. Qi Yan, dressed in red and black martial robes, walked in from outside. The stray hairs on his forehead were lightly stirred by the passing breeze. He walked at a leisurely pace and sat down in his long-vacant chair.
His movements were casual, as if he had just decided to sit down on a whim. However, the exchanged glances among the elders betrayed their shock—Venerable Yanchen had actually shown up to the outer disciples' apprenticeship ceremony, which was unprecedented.
Xiao Sheng glanced at his junior brother, his brow arching slightly, but he said nothing and only let out a faint smile.
Standing in the center of the hall, Jiang Yuezhan’s gaze locked onto Qi Yan for a moment after he sat down.
Watching this from the side parlor, Lin Zhiyue’s heart suddenly skipped a beat. She couldn’t explain why, but she had a strange feeling—the way Jiang Yuezhan looked at Qi Yan was slightly different from how he looked at the others in the hall.
Xiao Sheng spoke to break the silence. “Jiang Yuezhan, first place in the outer sect assessment, do you have a master in mind?”
The hall fell dead silent for a moment. Jiang Yuezhan withdrew his gaze, lowered his eyes in thought, and then looked up. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was clear enough for everyone in the inner hall to hear: “This disciple wishes to study under Venerable Yanchen.”
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