"I don't plan to go head-to-head with him," Jiang Yifan said with a slight smile.
"It seems Fourth Senior Brother plans to use magic tools to deal with Qu Chen," Feng Weilan remarked.
"In that case, I wonder how many rounds of bombardment Qu Chen can withstand." Duan Xianxing sounded somewhat gloating. After all, the unpleasantness that had occurred back at the inn outside the Forest of Demonic Beasts was still fresh in his memory.
There was no helping it; who told him to have such a good memory and a penchant for holding grudges?
"Fourth Senior Brother, remember to throw more!"
Just as Duan Xianxing spoke, another spirit fruit smacked him on the head.
"Magic tools are not meant to be thrown like that." The veins on Jiang Yifan's forehead pulsed. "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll throw you in along with them!"
"Alright, Fourth Senior Brother, you speak first." Duan Xianxing backed down quickly, though the spirit fruit that had just hit his head was already in his mouth.
"In any case, I'll take this opportunity tomorrow to test the waters and see his true depth. After all, there are some things you only truly understand by seeing them with your own eyes."
"That's true." Feng Qingping toyed with her array flags. "We need to see the capabilities of those Sword Heart Sect people for ourselves before we can rest easy."
Mu Wenyan nodded. "In tomorrow's battle, feel free to go all out, Junior Brother Jiang. However..." He looked at Jiang Yifan. "Save your magic tools where you can. There are harder battles ahead."
Jiang Yifan gave a blank response. "Mm."
Duan Xianxing grabbed another spirit fruit and began munching on it, saying indistinctly, "Second Senior Brother, if Fourth Senior Brother can save his precious magic tools, why not leave a couple for me to play with?"
Smack!
Another spirit fruit accurately hit his forehead.
"If you treat magic tools as toys one more time," Jiang Yifan said coldly, "the next thing I throw will be a fire-thunder pearl."
Duan Xianxing shrunk his neck and obediently shut up to eat his fruit, but he subtly shifted his body to hide behind Li Nanzhu.
After all, she was likely the only one who could protect him now.
Li Nanzhu: ...
Ultimately, she couldn't bear to see Duan Xianxing's pitiful look and quietly pulled a small stack of explosion talismans from her storage bag, pressing them into his hand.
Duan Xianxing perked up instantly, his energy returning at a visible rate. To prevent him from saying anything else that might make their Fourth Senior Brother lose his temper, Li Nanzhu slapped a silence talisman on him as well.
Duan Xianxing: ...
The boomerang he'd used on Mu Zeting was coming back for him, wasn't it?
"As a precaution, do you need me to help test the effects of the magic tools?" Mu Wenyan asked.
Jiang Yifan shook his head. "No need." He paused, offering a rare explanation. "They've already been tested many times. Don't worry."
Feng Qingping leaned against the doorframe, the array disk at her waist chiming softly. "Fourth Senior Brother's coordination of magic tools has always been exquisite. Qu Chen is bound to suffer a great loss tomorrow."
With his mouth sealed by the silence talisman, Duan Xianxing could only nod frantically in agreement, still clutching the explosion talismans Li Nanzhu had given him.
Mu Wenyan thought for a moment and pulled a memory stone from his sleeve, handing it to him.
"I have records of Qu Chen's matches here. It's not much, as he finishes his opponents very quickly, but you can study it."
"Thank you, Eldest Senior Brother." Jiang Yifan took the memory stone and put it away, planning to study it as soon as he returned to his room.
Duan Xianxing was hopping with urgency nearby, pointing at his mouth to signal he wanted to talk. Li Nanzhu sighed and helped him remove the silence talisman.
"Eldest Senior Brother! I want one too!" Duan Xianxing shouted the moment he could speak. "I want to see their matches too! I don't have any memory stones recorded."
Before Mu Wenyan could answer, Feng Weilan glanced at him. "What use is it to you? Aren't you about to 'join' the Sword Heart Sect? You can watch them however you like then."
Duan Xianxing choked on his words and shrunk back sheepishly, pulling out another spirit fruit to munch on.
Mu Wenyan looked around at everyone. "Alright, if there are no more questions, everyone go get some rest. Watch Qu Chen and Pei Ji's methods closely tomorrow."
Looking again at Duan Xianxing who was silently eating his spirit fruit, he finally pulled out a few more memory stones and pressed them into the boy's hands.
"The ones for the Sword Heart Sect are all here."
"Thank you, Eldest Senior Brother!" Duan Xianxing moved to pounce on Mu Wenyan. Mu Wenyan's lip twitched, but remembering the hardship of his junior's undercover mission, he gently patted his back.
"Everyone, get some rest early."
...
The next day.
Mu Wenyan woke everyone up. "It's almost time. Let's prepare to head out."
As they were about to leave, a commotion broke out outside their residence. Zhao Wufeng arrived personally with several elders to "pick up" Duan Xianxing.
"Little Friend Duan, why not watch today's matches with me?" Zhao Wufeng asked with a warm smile.
Duan Xianxing immediately adopted an expression of being overwhelmed by the honor. "Sect Leader Zhao is too kind! This junior is deeply honored!"
He turned to Mu Wenyan and the others, cupping his hands apologetically. "Eldest Senior Brother, everyone... I..."
Mu Wenyan simply nodded in silence.
Zhu Yinxi and Feng Qingping's faces had already darkened.
Jiang Yifan's expression was subtle, as if he were somewhat intrigued by the treatment Duan Xianxing was receiving.
As for Feng Weilan, he remained expressionless, his true thoughts impossible to discern.
Only Li Nanzhu, holding Suisui, had red eyes. "Seventh Senior Brother, you... don't forget to come back and eat spirit fruits tonight."
Zhao Wufeng and his companions took all of this in, a faint, imperceptible smile touching their lips.
It seemed the internal unity of the Five Elements Dao Sect was not as strong as they had imagined.
Once the farewells were finished, Duan Xianxing followed Zhao Wufeng away with an "unwilling" expression, though he managed to give the group a quick wink before he disappeared.
Only when their figures had completely vanished did the group heave a sigh of relief.
"Everyone's acting is pretty good," Feng Qingping said with a laugh. "Especially Fourth Senior Brother."
Jiang Yifan said, "...Aren't we supposed to be heading to the match? Let's go."
The arena was already teeming with people.
Li Nanzhu looked up and saw Duan Xianxing sitting next to Zhao Wufeng in the Sword Heart Sect's seating area, appearing highly valued.
The other direct disciples of the Sword Heart Sect were also seated there.
Li Nanzhu's heart tightened as she spotted that familiar white figure—it was Cang Dongqing.
She wasn't worried that Duan Xianxing would fall for Cang Dongqing; she was worried that being so close, it would be easy for Cang Dongqing to do something to him.
She wanted to send a message via her communication jade slip to warn him, but she feared it might raise suspicion.
She could only silently pray that Duan Xianxing would stay sharp.
On the high platform, Duan Xianxing was munching on a spirit fruit with great interest, but he was also discreetly observing the other direct disciples.
Over the past few days, although he had wandered around the Sword Heart Sect, he hadn't caught a single glimpse of these direct disciples. Clearly, the sect hadn't wanted them to have too much contact.
Yet today, he was suddenly brought to the high platform to watch the matches.
"Did they find something out?" Duan Xianxing's heart raced. He didn't think he'd left any slip-ups; otherwise, the Sword Heart Sect wouldn't be treating him like this.
Could it be that he wasn't wearing his Sword-Locking Jade? He instinctively felt his waist. The jade pendant was still there.
Then what was going on?
"Fellow Daoist Duan?"
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