Chapter 15

Before Wen Qingyin could answer, Zi Shu Zhi had already taken the lead: "Young Sect Master, let me accompany you!"

Zi Shu Zhi felt completely uneasy letting Wen Qingyin be alone with Pei Junheng; recalling Pei Junheng's series of movements in the Rainbow Rain Pavilion, he could be certain that this guy harbored ill intentions toward their Young Sect Master.

As soon as the words fell, a clear snicker sounded in his ear, that light laugh seemingly carrying immense lethal force.

"What are you laughing at?" Zi Shu Zhi bristled.

Feeling Pei Junheng's gaze fixed on him from start to finish, Wen Qingyin glared back without showing weakness.

Only seeing Pei Junheng, upon hearing Zi Shu Zhi's question, respond in a neutral tone: "I never expected the Young Sect Master of the Cloud Immortal Sect to need a sect disciple to accompany him just to pick up the academy uniform."

Pei Junheng's voice was low and pleasant, yet these words were grating to Wen Qingyin's ears.

He stared into Pei Junheng's eyes, able to see blatant mockery in the dark pupils, just as yesterday when Pei Junheng looked down on him from above on the Black Warrior.

Contemptuous, not taking it to heart.

"If we're going, then let's go."

Wen Qingyin stormed out from behind Zi Shu Zhi, unwilling to show weakness as he stepped before Pei Junheng and said, "I'm just afraid that when the Junior Sect Leader arrives, he'll have to kneel at my feet and beg for mercy."

Pei Junheng's sword‑sharp brows twitched slightly at the words; the corner of his lip curled into a subtle smile, as if hearing the funniest joke in the world: "I await the Young Sect Master's grand display of skill." Though he said so, his tone seemed not to take Wen Qingyin's harsh words to heart.

Angered, Wen Qingyin could only take a deep breath to keep himself calm.

He walked out of the gate of the Lotus Fall Cottage, apparently about to go to the Hall of Void together with Pei Junheng.

Zi Shu Zhi tried to detain him: "Young Sect Master, let me go with you!"

But Wen Qingyin turned around, leaving only a firm remark: "I'll go myself."

"Young Sect Master!"

Zi Shu Zhi wanted to turn and chase after him, but Wen Qingyin's gaze stopped him; helpless, he could only stay in place, watching Wen Qingyin and Pei Junheng walk farther and farther apart.

"Is Pei Junheng really that terrifying?" Chi Feiqian took in everything that had happened before; previously, in the Hall of Myriad Symbols, the discord between pill cultivators and sword cultivators had been merely rumor, but seeing it these two days truly opened his eyes.

"You don't understand!" Zi Shu Zhi gritted his teeth; just thinking of the Young Sect Master being alone with Pei Junheng made him unable to relax, "All those of the Myriad Noon Sword Sect are a bunch of hypocritical gentlemen; back then the Young Sect Master merely went out alone, and while he left fine, he returned……"

…actually a sorry sight, drenched from head to toe by the downpour, his right hand covered in blood streaming straight down.

Speaking of this, Zi Shu Zhi swallowed his words back down his throat, his eyes already burning with anger from the memory.

The Young Sect Master is such a proud person!

Zi Shu Zhi had never seen Wen Qingyin in such a sorry, weakened state, as if he'd been fished out of an endless sea, soaked from head to toe.

Moreover, thinking of Wen Qingyin's right‑hand wound made Zi Shu Zhi stomp his foot in anger despite himself.

Wen Qingyin had been raised in pampered indulgence throughout the Cloud Immortal Sect; everyone up and down the sect could not bear to let him suffer even a slight bump, wishing they could hold him in their mouths and cradle him in their palms.

Especially since the Young Sect Master fears pain, even a tiny cut as a child could make Wen Qingyin cry for ages, let alone the split‑flesh wound on his right palm—just how painful must that be!

Even after the Young Sect Master fainted from the pain, he refused to say who had injured him, but when they treated his wound they saw clearly that it was clearly caused by sword qi.

The one who wounded Wen Qingyin to that extent was a sword cultivator!

After walking a few steps, silence fell between Wen Qingyin and Pei Junheng, as if an invisible, stagnant wall lay between them.

Neither spoke as they walked forward.

The fact that the person walking beside him was Pei Junheng made Wen Qingyin extremely uneasy, just as when he entered the academy and had to hold hands with Pei Junheng; Wen Qingyin could barely remember how long it had been since he and Pei Junheng last walked side by side in such quiet companionship.

Wen Qingyin's clear eyes shifted slightly, about to glance at Pei Junheng from the corner of his vision, but before his eyes could turn, a hand reached out in front of him.

A flawless white‑jade tablet lay in that large palm, presented before Wen Qingyin.

He instantly recognized it as his own jade tablet.

"Your jade tablet." Pei Junheng said.

Reaching out to take the jade tablet Pei Junheng handed over, Wen Qingyin felt a small surprise.

Pei Junheng was surprisingly thoughtful, bringing along the jade tablet he had left at the Falling Star Institute.

But before that surprise could last two seconds, Wen Qingyin heard Pei Junheng's cool voice: "To claim the uniform you need to show your jade tablet; I don't want to be dragged down because of you."

Being dragged down by him?

Wen Qingyin tightened his grip on the jade tablet, feeling his fist clench.

"In a moment I'll go see Exalted Lord Qing Xuan to change my lodgings; you can stay where you are."

"Pei, Jun, Heng."

Because Pei Junheng is a head taller than him, whenever Wen Qingyin utters harsh words and lifts his gaze to Pei Junheng, he must raise his chin.

Wen Qingyin felt this made him lose his aura, so when meeting eyes he would slightly lift his chin, pairing that with his breathtakingly handsome face, making him utterly arrogant.

After saying that, Wen Qingyin still felt his harsh words weren't harsh enough; he curled his lip and asked maliciously, "Junior Sect Leader, sharing a room with me, aren't you afraid of dying in your sleep at my hands?" As soon as the words left his mouth, the smell of gunpowder in the air instantly intensified.

Wen Qingyin reached his hand toward the sky, five slender, fair fingers; when clenched they should also be soft. Light specks filtered through the layered treetops above, landing on his hand like a warm shard of gold.

But Pei Junheng's gaze dropped to Wen Qingyin's right hand hanging at his side, the scallion‑like fingertips curling inward, faintly revealing a reddish scar on the palm.

"Nothing to fear."

Pei Junheng's words caused the faint smile at Wen Qingyin's mouth to vanish instantly.

"You have never beaten me." His gaze fell cold and indifferent, yet it ignited a fire in Wen Qingyin's chest.

Upon reflection, that was indeed the case.

The rivalry between the Young Sect Master of the Cloud Immortal Sect and the Junior Sect Leader of the Myriad Noon Sword Sect had begun as early as their first‑year ceremony.

The coming‑of‑age ceremony for the heirs of all sects within the realm is held jointly; since the Young Sect Master and the Junior Sect Leader are close in age, they both participated in the ceremony.

Yet the Exalted Lord in charge of the ceremony never imagined that the grudge between pill cultivators and sword cultivators ran in the blood; at the ceremony, the two heirs—one a pill cultivator, the other a sword cultivator—actually brawled over a pair of jade rings.

The two cherubic infants, carved like jade, swung their tiny fists at each other, evenly matched, impossible to separate.

The other infants had already grabbed their items and been carried off, while the Young Sect Master and the Junior Sect Leader remained rolled together in a tangle.

Seeing that they could keep fighting indefinitely, the observing immortals had to step in to separate them; finally the Exalted Lord split the pair of jade rings, giving one to each, and the ceremony barely concluded.

This counts as the first clash between Wen Qingyin and Pei Junheng; later came the encounter on Dragon Spine Mountain, which even left a scar on Wen Qingyin's right hand.

Thinking of Dragon Spine Mountain, Wen Qingyin's eyes darkened a shade, and he turned his head toward the distant hundred‑zhang stone pillar.

Stone pillars covered in reliefs stood tall, impossible to block even by dense forest; the splendid totem of the Abyssal Isle Academy on the pillars was like a torch guiding the way forward.

"At that time, the totem of the Cloud Immortal Sect will shine upon it." Wen Qingyin turned his head, voice clear: "When the time comes, Young Sect Master, don't be a sore loser."

Pei Junheng also looked at the totem on the stone pillar, but before his eyes appeared Wen Qingyin's gorgeous face; his Adam's apple rolled slightly as he said, "I'm waiting."

The top of the gray‑cold stone pillar bore Vermilion Bird–shaped wings; within the wings hovered a blazing totem, spiritual power swirling inside like a spiritual snake weaving through.

Sometimes immortal cranes rode the wind in, circling the totem halfway before flying off, as if paying homage.

After Pei Junheng finished saying those three words, Wen Qingyin and he exchanged no further words.

The two arrived at Nothing Hall in silence; an Immortal Elder was already waiting inside, and upon seeing them knew they had come to collect the academy uniforms.

"Which residence?" the Immortal Elder asked.

"Falling Star Courtyard."

After stating their residence, they handed the jade slip to the Immortal Elder; he took it, saw the names 'Pei Junheng' and 'Wen Qingyin', blinked, then carefully lifted his head to look at the two standing before him.

He saw that the two before him were both like jade trees and orchid blossoms—one hard as a sword, the other soft as spring water.

He never expected that these two were the legendary Little Sect Master Wen and Young Sect Master Pei.

Even before enrollment, their fame had spread; on the way to the academy they were actually sent to the Dean's Office after a fight, and on the first day of class they dared to confront the ancient divine beast Black Tortoise with their own bodies—Wen Qingyin's and Pei Junheng's names spread throughout the Abyssal Isle Academy, making them true movers and shakers.

Never would have imagined……

The Immortal Elder repeatedly confirmed his eyes weren't mistaken, then asked in disbelief: "You're sharing a room?"

Whoever arranged the lodging actually put the two together—aren't they afraid of blowing the roof off Falling Star Courtyard!

It's to the point that even a passing Immortal Elder finds it absurd.

Wen Qingyin's mouth twitched; he whispered, "It won't be like that for long." He immediately went to find Qing Xuan Shangjun to change lodgings.

It's unknown whether the Immortal Elder who went low to fetch the corresponding uniform heard Wen Qingyin's words; instead, Pei Junheng beside him glanced at him askance.

The Immortal Elder produced a set of moon‑white uniforms and handed it to Pei Junheng, then turned to fetch Wen Qingyin's.

Although all disciples of the Abyssal Isle Academy wear uniforms of the same style, tailored to each individual's build, the uniforms of different cultivator paths also differ in color,

Sword cultivators wear moon‑white, alchemy cultivators willow‑green, talisman cultivators indigo blue, artifact cultivators goose‑yellow.

The uniform handed to Wen Qingyin was willow‑green.

Wen Qingyin took the uniform from the Immortal Elder and unconsciously unfolded it to have a look.

"The waist is too big." Pei Junheng suddenly spoke.

The Immortal Elder and Wen Qingyin turned their heads in unison—?

How did you know?