Xiao Yan crossed his arms, his lips curling slightly. “A high-grade Wind Spiritual Root, personally accepted by the Sect Master, yet he skips the entire morning on his very first day at the Dharma Academy. Quite a grand display indeed.”
Several murmurs of agreement rose around him, and many children of the great families showed looks of disapproval. Although the title of the Sect Master's personal disciple was prestigious, putting on such airs and arriving late on the very first day was simply taking oneself too seriously.
Jiang Rui's divine sense lingered on Lu Beichen's face.
Normally, she would have shown some respect to the Sect Master's personal disciple. The words, “No matter, just be on time next time,” had already rolled to the tip of her tongue.
But as her divine sense swept over Lu Beichen's shoulder, it happened to land on the moon-white figure in the front row. Junior Sister Shen sat perfectly upright. From the beginning of the morning class until now, her posture on the futon had not changed in the slightest.
Jiang Rui's tongue curled back, swallowing the words of reassurance.
“Cultivation is a struggle against heaven for one's fate. You come from humble origins, yet you possess a single spiritual root and were personally accepted into the Sect Master's lineage. Each of these is an opportunity others can only dream of.”
“Under such circumstances, you skipped the entire morning class on your very first day. Junior Brother Lu, do you think this is appropriate?”
The whispers below the platform suddenly grew several decibels louder.
These words were far harsher than her earlier explanation of the rules. She was clearly reprimanding him in front of all the new disciples.
Lu Beichen's brow furrowed slightly. He had not expected Deacon Jiang to put it so bluntly.
His fingers, hanging by his sleeves, clenched slightly as he bowed his head. “Deacon Jiang's reprimand is just. This disciple was indeed delayed by urgent matters today and did not intend to be negligent. In the future...”
“Urgent matters? What urgent matter could be more important than the sect's first class?”
A round, chubby voice suddenly piped up from the back row, sharp with sarcasm, poking right at his sore spot.
Yin Ruozhuo had stood up at some point. A smile was plastered on his chubby, round face, but his voice was loud enough for the entire hall to hear. “As the saying goes, true gold fears no fire. Can a prodigy who hasn't been tempered by fire even be called a prodigy? A golden phoenix doesn't fly out of the deep mountains—unless that phoenix once fell and dragged itself back up.”
“Wouldn't you say so, Senior Brother Lu?”
A few muffled snickers came from the back. Zhao Yu buried his face in his sleeve, his shoulders twitching as he struggled not to burst out laughing.
Gu Qingyi lowered her head to fiddle with the moon-glow stones on her cuffs, unable to suppress the curl of her lips.
Lu Beichen's expression finally changed.
He turned his head, his gaze cutting across the futons to pierce straight through Yin Ruozhuo. Anger simmered in his eyes, but he managed to keep himself from lashing out.
Since entering the Sect Master's lineage, he had been pampered and fawned over wherever he went. When had he ever suffered such public mockery?
Facing that piercing stare, Yin Ruozhuo cupped his hands to him and grinned, flashing a mouthful of white teeth. “Ah, don't misunderstand, Senior Brother. This junior brother has no other meaning. I just feel that our Azure Cloud Sect is full of talents this year. Senior Sister Shen has a high-grade Lightning Spiritual Root, yet she didn't miss a single class, sitting perfectly still for half a day.”
“Yet you, Senior Brother, with your Wind Spiritual Root, skipped the entire morning. Doesn't that make you seem... hm?”
His words sounded polite, but his tone trailed off meaningfully. The latter half was clearly swallowed on purpose, yet everyone in the hall understood.
It was a blatant accusation that Lu Beichen put on greater airs than Senior Sister Shen, but his capabilities might not necessarily match his display.
The veins on Lu Beichen's temples throbbed, but he ultimately withdrew his gaze. Turning back to Jiang Rui, he bowed even lower than before. “I know my mistake. For tomorrow's morning class, I will surely arrive early.”
Jiang Rui's expression softened slightly. She waved her hand dismissively. “Go on then. Tomorrow's seat is the second on the left in the front row. Don't sit in the wrong place again.”
Lu Beichen acknowledged her, turned, and walked toward the futon area. As he passed the front row, his peripheral vision caught Shen Qingci. His gaze paused on her for a moment before he quickly withdrew it and sat directly in the second seat on the left.
The eyes of the entire hall followed his footsteps, scanning from Senior Sister Shen's dignified, straight back to his tense, dark face. The stark contrast between the two was clear to everyone.
Shen Qingci did not turn her head to look at him once.
In her sea of consciousness, she quickly flipped through her memories of the original novel.
In the original novel, this segment described the male protagonist being late for most of the first day. Jiang Rui had only given him a mild reprimand before letting it slide, without causing even a ripple of drama.
Back then, the male protagonist had only just become the Sect Master's disciple a few days prior and was at the height of his fame. The people of the Deacon Hall would naturally show some deference to the Sect Master.
But the situation now was clearly different.
Jiang Rui's words carried thorns, Yin Ruozhuo had mocked him to his face, and the gazes of the disciples in the hall darted back and forth between the male protagonist and her, clearly placing the two of them on opposite ends of a scale.
She muddled through the events from beginning to end: the grand display of being summoned by five Peak Masters simultaneously, the rumors of an Earth-grade pill as a tuition gift, and her status as Sword Venerable Jinglian's personal disciple—every single one of these had completely overshadowed the hype of the male protagonist becoming the Sect Master's disciple.
The reason Jiang Rui's threshold of tolerance had dropped so much today was ultimately because Shen Qingci, this “fine jade,” was standing right in front of her as a benchmark.
The faint rustling of fabric came from beside her.
Gu Qingyi had moved forward two steps at some point, leaning in close behind her. Lowering her voice, she whispered, “Senior Sister Shen, that Senior Brother Lu just now is the Sect Master's youngest disciple. He has a high-grade Wind Spiritual Root.”
Shen Qingci turned her head slightly.
Observing her expression, Gu Qingyi added, “In this batch of new disciples, there are only three with a single spiritual root: you, me, and this Senior Brother Lu.”
“I have a mid-grade aptitude and have been accepted under Elder Liu of the First Peak. You and Senior Brother Lu both have high-grade aptitudes. You entered Wanjian Peak under Sword Venerable Jinglian, while Senior Brother Lu entered under the Sect Master.”
She laid out her own mid-grade aptitude without any attempt to hide it. Her words were swift and steady, devoid of any self-deprecation, but rather showing a touch of sincerity.
After listening, Shen Qingci nodded to her. “I see. Thank you for telling me, Junior Sister Gu.”
Gu Qingyi said no more and retreated to her own futon.
Shen Qingci withdrew her thoughts, mentally placing the labels of “high-grade Wind Spiritual Root” and “Sect Master's lineage” side by side.
In the original novel, the male protagonist's cheats were incredibly massive. Becoming the Sect Master's disciple was merely the starting point. Following that were secret realm adventures, ancient heritages, and a string of beautiful confidantes waiting for him, allowing him to soar all the way and remain invincible among those of the same realm.
However, with her series of actions, she had directly propelled herself to the very peak of popularity in the Azure Cloud Sect.
The news of the five peaks simultaneously inviting her during the Disciple Recruitment Assembly had already spread throughout both the inner and outer sects. The anecdote about the Everlasting Youth-Retaining Pill being given as a tuition gift was even used as gossip to accompany meals by the dining hall's miscellaneous disciples.
In contrast, the Sect Master's newly accepted personal disciple with a single spiritual root had only been discussed for a few days during his initiation. Afterward, his spotlight had been completely overshadowed by her.
With such a comparison, Jiang Rui's attitude toward Lu Beichen today made perfect sense.
Without Shen Qingci setting a benchmark in front, skipping half a day of class would have been a trivial matter. But with her, a personal disciple who arrived exactly on time and sat more upright than a stone statue, if Jiang Rui still let him off lightly, it would invite gossip of “favoritism” and “currying favor with the Sect Master” once word got out.
Shen Qingci lowered her eyes, her fingertips tapping twice on her knee.
Was this a good thing?
At the very least, she had derailed a section of the plot's tracks. No one was running along the course laid out by the original novel anymore.
Jiang Rui dared to publicly reprimand the male protagonist, Yin Ruozhuo dared to mock him, and even Gu Qingyi dared to actively approach her to share information.
This breath of fresh air felt truly satisfying.
Rate on N.U.
