Chapter 11

"The Black Tortoise has awakened!"

The people of Cloud Immortal Sect standing in the trees were almost about to faint on the spot, "Chang Fu Shangjun, save our sect leader!"

Unlike Wen Qingyin, the other members of Cloud Immortal Sect lacked the ability to manipulate plants; they specialized in alchemy and could only fly by relying on other things.

"Where is the Myriad Treasure Ship!"

Someone recalled the Myriad Treasure Ship they had ridden to the academy; if they used it now, they could also retrieve the sect leader.

The other alchemists frantically rummaged through their storage bags, and finally one realized, "It seems to be left with the immortal!"

At that time they had a conflict with sword cultivators on the road, and after arriving at Yingzhou Academy the immortal confiscated the Myriad Treasure Ship for three days as punishment.

Could it be that Heaven intends to exterminate them!

The alchemists were anxious like ants on a hot pan, and they began tossing down whatever usable pills they had in their bags.

In an instant, countless pills rained down from the trees; most fell onto the lake surface and drifted, looking as if a lake of pill broth had been boiled. Meanwhile, disciples from other sects were stunned by the sight.

"What a spectacular sight."

Wan Wanqiu stared agape and sighed.

However, after being schemed against by Wen Qingyin, the Black Tortoise had become more alert; it kept its mouth shut, trying to fling Wen Qingyin off its turtle shell by constantly stomping its feet and swaying its back.

Around the Black Tortoise was a whirlpool created by its trampling; if Wen Qingyin fell from the turtle shell, he would be sucked into the vortex and dragged down to the lake's depths.

Suddenly, a large mass of dark cyan fog burst open on the lake surface, directly enveloping Wen Qingyin and the Black Tortoise, making it hard for those in the trees to see what was happening on the turtle's back.

Only the sound could be heard: the sudden cyan fog made the Black Tortoise even more enraged, and roar after roar came from the mist; just hearing those few roars made people's hearts leap.

"Alchemists are truly foolish to the extreme, even mistaking the pills they themselves are good at using." The sword cultivators naturally enjoyed watching the panicked alchemists; Qiu Sanchi leaned against the windowsill, relishing the show, "Wen Qingyin is even more reckless—does he really think he's a great hero saving people? Tch, with his puny frame."

Qiu Sanchi naturally assumed that Wen Qingyin descended on a flower branch to show off before everyone; after all, being able to quell this disturbance before the disciples of all sects would surely earn praise from the superiors and the academy, and afterward he would gain immense fame. However, Wen Qingyin seemed to overestimate his abilities—this time he would likely end up embarrassed.

Qiu Sanchi was about to turn his head to seek approval from his own sect's young leader, but when he glanced sideways, there was no sign of Pei Junheng before him.

Where is the young sect leader?

"Who threw the fog pellet!" Zi Shu Zhi shouted furiously.

This isn't helping at all!

Zi Shu Zhi resentfully glanced at the other people in the trees; the freshmen of Yingzhou Academy all came from different sects and had previously had no interaction. They seemed to think that as the sect leader of Cloud Immortal Sect, Wen Qingyin naturally had plenty of heavenly treasures to escape, and now they only dared to protect themselves and watch, not daring to act on their own to help.

Truly, morals are declining and hearts are no longer ancient!

Zi Shu Zhi clung to the branch, gritting his teeth; he had to go rescue the sect leader.

Just as Zi Shu Zhi was about to slide down the branch heedless of danger, a figure shot ahead of him toward that mass of cyan fog.

Indeed, he flew there on his sword.

Zi Shu Zhi stared blankly at that person's back.

Pei, Pei Junheng?

The sudden cyan fog completely blocked the view ahead; Wen Qingyin could only make out a small patch of turtle shell beneath his eyelids.

The Black Tortoise, enraged by the fog, kept slamming its body into the giant tree; the resulting force made its shell shake even more, like riding on endless waves, making Wen Qingyin dizzy, yet he had to conserve his strength to avoid falling.

His fingertips flickered with a faint light; Wen Qingyin struggled to focus his thoughts to establish a connection with living things.

Because his vision was limited, Wen Qingyin simply closed his eyes and carefully sensed the sounds of plants.

He felt the lake-bottom algae slowly growing upward, bit by bit coiling around the Black Tortoise's thrashing feet, while the giant tree's branches grew downward, heading straight for the turtle's back.

They were about to meet!

But first came a tremendous jolt on the turtle's back; Wen Qingyin missed a step, reached out to grab a protrusion on the shell to steady himself, yet the spot he clutched was unexpectedly sharp, actually slicing a small cut in his finger.

In an instant, intense pain surged; Wen Qingyin's whole body shuddered, his hand loosened, and he slid down the sloping turtle shell.

It's over.

While his vision darkened as he slid down, Wen Qingyin quickly rummaged through his storage bag for a protective talisman, but instead of falling into the lake as he had expected, the previously tilting and shaking turtle shell ahead suddenly stilled and leveled out.

Just a moment ago the turtle shell had been steep as a mountain peak; now it suddenly became as flat as level ground.

Wen Qingyin, who had abruptly stopped sliding, stared at the talisman in his grip; the small cut on his hand hurt so much he gasped.

Wen Qingyin pushed himself up with his hands and stood; the blue-green thick fog still surrounded him, and he couldn't see what had caused the Black Tortoise to calm down.

Could it be that the superiors have arrived?

Suddenly, a light as bright as noon flashed before his eyes, descending from above and cleanly cleaving the thick, curtain-like cyan fog in two.

Wen Qingyin lifted his face, gazing toward the dazzling light; there it shone like a sudden sunrise.

Amid the dazzling, drifting mist slowly appeared a sword-wielding figure; before his sword tip, the imposing Black Tortoise lowered its head.

It was actually Pei Junheng.

The sword light blazed, as if all the light in the world were gathered within it.

Wen Qingyin instantly recognized that sword—White Rainbow, Pei Junheng's life-bound sword.

"This is White Rainbow!" Wan Wanqiu shouted excitedly.

"Tch." Gazing at Pei Junheng's figure in the mist, Zi Shu Zhi felt mixed emotions, but this did not affect his disdainful attitude toward all things sword cultivator: "Is that broken sword really impressive?"

Having thought Zi Shu Zhi was simply ignorant, Wan Wanqiu eagerly explained: "Ah! You don't understand. White Rainbow is an ancient divine sword; the life-bound sword sealed with the Old Ancestor Yangxi into the Sea of Heaven shares the same sword-forging immortal as its maker, and it even bears a fragment of Old Ancestor Yangxi's life-bound sword."

Wan Wanqiu looked at the Black Tortoise bowing in submission, his eyes shining with excitement: "No wonder even a divine beast must behave properly before this sword!"

He paid no attention to Zi Shu Zhi's reaction; Wan Wanqiu's gaze remained fixed on the sword in the great fog, like a guiding lamp, murmuring: "Since the Dragon Ridge Mountain incident, the radiance of the White Rainbow sword has not been seen in the world; I never imagined I could see it today..."

The Black Tortoise stopped striking the giant tree, and only then did the Rainbow Rain Pavilion atop the trees finally settle.

Only now did Chang Fu Shangjun withdraw his power; if he had not been there stabilizing the Rainbow Rain Pavilion with his cultivation, that pavilion together with its disciples would have swayed and toppled into the lake.

While Chang Fu Shangjun was busy cultivating, he failed to notice the commotion below the trees; only when Wen Qingyin fell into danger and the alchemists in the trees fell into chaos did he learn that the Cloud Immortal Sect's sect leader had actually confronted the Black Tortoise alone!

The Cloud Immortal Sect's sect leader is the pride of Penglai; if something went wrong here, the name of Yingzhou Academy might end up on the sect's blacklist from now on.

Chang Fu Shangjun hurriedly directed his power toward the still-undispersed cyan fog in the lake; just then, Qing Xuan Shangjun also arrived with several immortals, and they flew together toward the Black Tortoise's location in the lake.

Pei Junheng turned his grip on the hilt, a flash of blade followed, and upon looking again he had already stepped onto the turtle's back.

He stood at a distance from Wen Qingyin, his eyes fixed intently on Wen Qingyin.

What is Pei Junheng doing here? Could he have come to help?

That thought had just appeared in Wen Qingyin's mind when he dismissed it; if it was meant to humiliate him, then it might be possible.

Clearly his summons was about to take effect; Wen Qingyin moved his hand, and the waterweeds in the lake firmly bound the four legs of Xuanwu.

He didn't need Pei Junheng's help at all; he could have resolved everything himself, yet Pei Junheng's sudden appearance made it seem as if he had rescued him.

Wen Qingyin couldn't help but suspect that Pei Junheng's actions had an ulterior motive.

"What are you doing here?" Wen Qingyin steadied himself, lifted his chin, and looked at Pei Junheng.

The earlier ordeal hadn't diminished the youth's beauty in the slightest; his forehead hair was blown into extra disarray, his cheeks had taken on a misty flush from the recent gust, making his eyes shine astonishingly.

"I'm just afraid someone will be beaten by Xuanwu and end up begging for mercy on the ground." Pei Junheng placed the back of his hand behind him, suppressing the tremor in his right hand, yet his brows and eyes betrayed a calm, carefree demeanor.

Yet at this moment, that calm composure appeared to Wen Qingyin as blatant mockery.

"Young Sect Master, you'd better worry about yourself." The flower branches that had just been sensed swayed over; Wen Qingyin raised his hand, and the tender twigs reached out to entwine.

To avoid scraping Wen Qingyin's skin, he specifically extended the newest, most tender shoots.

As Wen Qingyin's hand touched the branch, preparing to step onto the thick one to return to the tree, two clear words suddenly reached his ear: "Reckless."

Was that referring to him?

Wen Qingyin's hand gripping the branch jerked to a halt; he turned to look at the person before him.

All he saw was Pei Junheng holding his sword, approaching slowly; the sense of pressure grew with his closeness, and the shadow cast behind him seemed capable of firmly ensnaring Wen Qingyin.

In the green mist, the light of his sword became even more conspicuous, impossible to ignore.

As Wen Qingyin's gaze was drawn to the sword's tip, Pei Junheng suddenly spoke more clearly: "After all these years, you're still just as reckless."

Wen Qingyin: ……?

How did he start with personal attacks again?

Wen Qingyin, who had been about to step onto the branch, withdrew his foot and turned to face Pei Junheng.

Pei Junheng was a head taller than him; as the distance closed, his gaze—colder than the sword's light—combined with a downward look made people feel frantic.

It felt as if he were inferior to Pei Junheng by a rank, which made Wen Qingyin deeply displeased, especially since Pei Junheng's resonant utterance of "reckless" seemed to echo in his ears.

Sensing Wen Qingyin's gaze on his sword, the dazzling sword light flashed, and Pei Junheng sheathed his blade.

Thinking the matter would end there, Wen Qingyin, out of regard for Pei Junheng's past kindness, didn't want to argue—but then Pei Junheng's dark eyes fixed on him, and his thin, merciless lips uttered another line:

"Your cultivation hasn't improved in the slightest."

When will this ever end?

Wen Qingyin clenched his fists, stepped forward, and slightly lifted his chin to stare at Pei Junheng.

As soon as he approached, it felt as if he were being intimidated by Pei Junheng's icy aura; although their hands had been warm when they previously held each other, Pei Junheng now before him resembled an ice sculpture, capable of freezing him at the slightest closeness.

Yet such intimidating presence never worked on Wen Qingyin; he waved his wrist's sword tassel before Pei Junheng, the bright red tassel like a handful of freshly spilled blood.

Seeing that circle of sword tassels, Pei Junheng's dark eyes flickered.

When he was in the tree, Pei Junheng watched Wen Qingyin's silhouette on Xuanwu's back, his eyes sunk like an indelible shadow.

He knew Wen Qingyin might be able to resolve things on his own, yet he still flew down from the tree as if out of control; even though he and Wen Qingyin had long since severed ties, he couldn't help but become embroiled.

When he uttered the two words "reckless," it was unclear whether he was referring to Wen Qingyin or to himself.

Pei Junheng's half-lowered eyes held a hint of mockery; it was unclear whether he was mocking Wen Qingyin's behavior or deriding his own uncontrollable actions.

Turbulent spiritual energy ravaged his meridians; the hand gripping White Rainbow trembled slightly, yet Wen Qingyin, convinced that Pei Junheng had come deliberately to humiliate him, failed to notice these signs.

"It doesn't matter." A smile curled Wen Qingyin's lips; his handsome face bore the spirited vigor of youth, "I will claim the championship."

He extended a fingertip to touch Pei Junheng's chest; as Pei Junheng frowned and tried to dodge Wen Qingyin's finger, Wen Qingyin's fingertip lightly tapped twice in front of his chest.

"Let's wait and see."

Without giving Pei Junheng time to react, Wen Qingyin made contact and then immediately withdrew.

Tch, you cold, wooden sword cultivator, just wait to be defeated by my hand.

Wen Qingyin scoffed disdainfully, but upon turning his head his whole body froze in place.

Ahead, amidst the thick green mist that had obscured the outside world, a host of immortals now stood clearly visible, led by Qing Xuan Shangjun and Chang Fu Shangjun, watching Pei Junheng and Wen Qingyin, who were as close as could be on the turtle's back.

Wen Qingyin: ……

When did they arrive?

Wen Qingyin quickly stepped to the side, attempting to distance himself from Pei Junheng to clear their association.

Yet this approach was obviously seen by the immortals as a feeble attempt to conceal, and Qing Xuan Shangjun smiled, eyes narrowing:

"Oh, you've become inseparable so quickly."