Chapter 8

Those eyes held the same calm as always.

It seemed as if Pei Junheng's final words were already a settled fact, he was certain that Wen Qingyin would not

Such blunt words made Wan Wanqiu stare with his mouth open; he keenly sensed the unusual atmosphere, his whole body swiftly leaning back, trying not to be swept up in the impending war.

How dare Pei Junheng say such impossible words right in front of their sect master!

Even if he was the young sect master of the Wan Zhou Sword Sect, what of it? Zi Shu Zhi was about to give Pei Junheng a long lesson, but seeing Wen Qingyin lightly raise his hand, he forcibly held his tongue.

The sect master has his own ideas.

Wen Qingyin met Pei Junheng's gaze without fear, his eyeballs beautiful like translucent glazed ware under sunlight. But unlike glazed ware that glows from refraction, his eyes were light itself, bright as if containing light and fire.

Without engaging in lengthy debate or endless argument with Pei Junheng, Wen Qingyin merely curled his lips with a hint of mockery.

He moved forward, pressing a few inches close to Pei Junheng, his gorgeous face catching the eye.

It seemed Pei Junheng hadn't expected Wen Qingyin to suddenly draw near; his pupils contracted imperceptibly, and even his usually calm sword brows furrowed.

Yet Wen Qingyin paid no heed to Pei Junheng's reaction; his lips, like ripe fruit, turned up, his face lovely as peach and plum, and he spoke without mercy:

"If that's the case, then let's wait and see."

"Young, sect, master."

The youth's breath seemed to carry sweet sugar; just drawing a little closer, one could catch a faint scent on Wen Qingyin's body, like a flowery fragrance wafting over.

Before Pei Junheng could identify what fragrance it was, the fleeting scent that brushed his nostrils vanished with Wen Qingyin's withdrawal.

Quick as an illusion, before Pei Junheng could reach out to grab him, Wen Qingyin had already widened the distance between them.

Like a gust of wind that cannot be grasped.

Want him to lose to Pei Junheng?

No way.

Upon withdrawing, the false smile hanging on his lips vanished instantly, and Wen Qingyin's face returned to its cold demeanor.

He looked at the wound in his right palm, like a pink flower blooming in the center of his hand.

Obvious, striking.

Wen Qingyin slowly closed his hand.

This wound, he will sooner or later return it to Pei Junheng.

Seeing the disciples' emotions stirred by himself, Chang Fu Shangjun smiled and announced that from now on it was free activity time; everyone could speak freely and wander about in the Rainbow Rain Pavilion.

Upon saying that, disciples of the same sect gathered together, discussing how to prepare for the sect grand competition, wanting to display their sect's totem on the stone pillars.

What a magnificent undertaking that would be!

Wen Qingyin also rose immediately, not wanting to stay another moment beside Pei Junheng.

Behind him, Zi Shu Zhi followed Wen Qingyin to another place.

"Why are you following me?" Zi Shu Zhi asked Wan Wanqiu, who was walking beside him, glancing at the disciples of the Huafu Zhunque led by Chi Feishan in the distance, "Aren't you Huafu Zhunque supposed to be over there?"

Hearing Zi Shu Zhi's question, Wan Wanqiu scratched his head, his eyes turning to Wen Qingyin.

The slender Wen Qingyin leaned against the wall; behind him, the latticed window revealed branches bursting with vigorous life, sprouting upward.

A continual rain of flowers drifted through the window, light blue petals floating onto Wen Qingyin's black forehead hair.

Delicate white fingers plucked the mischievous petal; the sky‑colored petal, upon touching the fingertip, seemed like a living thing unfurling, and when held before the eyes, the single petal that had been just a moment ago unfolded in Wen Qingyin's fingers into layer upon layer of petals.

Like a divine miracle.

This near‑fantasy scene left Wan Wanqiu staring blankly; only then did he notice that outside the window behind Wen Qingyin were all verdant branches, tender green, bearing blossoms identical to the flower in Wen Qingyin's palm.

The Rainbow Rain Pavilion's heavenly great tree obviously bore only snow‑white blossoms, yet at this moment, on the paper strips behind Wen Qingyin, flowers of every hue burst forth, as if all the beautiful colors of the world had gathered behind him.

The flower branches bent, pressing against the window behind him, as if wishing to draw near in reverence but daring not to touch; they merely clung to the window behind Wen Qingyin, opening blossom after blossom, clustering around the handsome youth before the window.

Wan Wanqiu suddenly recalled the legend of the Taihe Immortal Monarch.

The Taihe Immortal Monarch could converse with plants; flowers and trees grew at his command, and it was said that every step his toes took would cause blossoms to sway into bloom. Even when he leaned upon a thousand‑year‑old withered tree, that dead wood would spring back to life because of him.

Like a spring deity bringing a hundred flowers to the mortal realm.

In the ancient war of the gods, the Taihe Immortal Monarch forged the Sea that Reaches Heaven from flowers, grasses, and trees; within the sea all spiritual energy lay in the Ten Continents and Four Immortal Mountains, while the black sea region was as barren as the northern wastes.

Yet the Taihe Immortal Monarch used his own essence‑blood to awaken the sea‑bottom creatures, causing a towering tree that shot straight to the clouds to sprout spontaneously in the ocean depths. The tree seemed to possess sentience, sensing the loss of his essence‑blood, its growth unstoppable, and in one motion it wrapped the formerly waning sea waves and surged toward the firmament.

That day, rain poured long and hard within the sea, and sweet dew fell from heaven.

The people of the sea said it was the spirits weeping for the Taihe Immortal Monarch who had overdrawn his essence‑blood, so much that even the clouds in heaven shed tears.

After the Old Ancestor Yangxi perished in the Sea that Reaches Heaven, the Taihe Immortal Monarch alone returned to Penglai to enter seclusion, and has not emerged to this day.

Since the Taihe Immortal Monarch, the Cloud Immortal Sect has never produced another herbal cultivator whom flowers and trees favor as they did him.

Only after the Taihe Immortal Monarch had been in seclusion for thousands of years did the Cloud Immortal Sect's sect master Wen Qingyin be born; overnight, the flowers of the Ten Continents and Four Immortal Mountains in the sea blossomed, and the barren Dragon Ridge Mountain was covered in apricot blooms.

From then on, the hundred flowers of Penglai never withered, all because of Wen Qingyin.

"Something up?" sensing the gaze, Wen Qingyin asked him.

Only then did Wan Wanqiu, called back by Wen Qingyin, recollect what he had come to ask.

Wen Qingyin ground his teeth against his lower lip; anyone could see his mood was poor, yet Wan Wanqiu, who dared to ask him face‑to‑face about his romance gossip with Pei Junheng, was clearly not perceptive, belonging to the oblivious lot.

He obviously had a strong drive to get to the root of things, ignoring Zi Shu Zhi's glance, Wan Wanqiu rashly asked: "I just saw the sect master and the young sect master; I can't help but be curious about what the sect master said to me earlier."

"Oh?" hearing this, Wen Qingyin gave him a sidelong look, "Curious about what?"

Could it be that this idiot finally realized something was off?

Only Wan Wanqiu, with a solemn expression, asked him: "I don't think the young sect master is the sort of person the sect master described; was what the sect master told me earlier a deception?"

Having seen Pei Junheng with my own eyes today, this young sect master does not look like someone who has been beaten to a sorry state; if he were the one beating others into such a state, I could still imagine it.

Zi Shu Zhi almost blurted out, "Our sect master is not someone who would lie," but as the words reached his lips, he recalled Wen Qingyin's outrageous "past" spoken of in the Rainbow Rain Pavilion, hesitated, and swallowed the remark back.

He'd better say less.

Indeed, he was deceiving you; it's all just Wen Qingyin's nonsense.

Slender fingertips glided over the azure petals, like touching soft clouds; the petals trembled slightly with delight at the motion, the soft petals brushing against the skin.

Thinking of Pei Junheng's past actions and that scar nearly buried in memory, Wen Qingyin's fingers paused, his fingertips tinged with suppressed anger.

Yet his expression remained unchanged; Wen Qingyin cleared his throat and spoke mysteriously: "No, no." He then continued to slander Pei Junheng without reservation.

"It's just that you've seen too little; Pei Junheng is no different from an old dog before me, practically a clinging dog that wags its tail and begs."

Seeing Wan Wanqiu's doubtful look, Wen Qingyin raised an eyebrow and asked, "You don't believe me?"

Nonsense, Pei Junheng looks like a dog—it's unthinkable even for dogs!

Wan Wanqiu felt he still retained some sanity; he wouldn't blindly believe the Young Sect Master's words just because he was handsome.

As a result, Wen Qingyin waved a finger in front of Wan Wanqiu, stepped forward two paces, and spoke more firmly: "You still don't understand—love can change a person's appearance."

Though his face is as tender as a newly sprouted bud, his words sound old-fashioned, like those of a weathered veteran.

Wan Wanqiu simply… completely believed what Wen Qingyin said.

His face showed a sincere, bewildered stupidity: "Really, what kind of dog is Young Sect Master Pei?"

Hearing that, Wen Qingyin couldn't help but bend over laughing; outside the window, flowers of all colors fluttered down with his smile, yet everyone inside was drawn to the Young Sect Master's grin, for Wen Qingyin himself surpassed all the world's beauty.

After Wan Wanqiu had been dazed by Wen Qingyin's beauty who knows how many times, Wen Qingyin's amused voice sounded in his ear:

"He's at most just a Haba dog."

So the Young Sect Master Pei is actually a Haba dog!

Wan Wanqiu's eyes widened, not because of Wen Qingyin's words, but because he caught a familiar figure again.

He silently reached out, covered his face with both hands, and turned away.

Meanwhile, the corner of Wen Qingyin's mouth froze, an inexplicable sense of foreboding rising in his heart; he stiffly turned his head to see Pei Junheng standing behind him at some point.

It was like a nightmare; he nearly blacked out and collapsed.

What's wrong with him today? He keeps running into this! Indeed, encountering Pei Junheng always brings trouble.

He quickly turned his head, trying to pretend he hadn't seen Pei Junheng, and Wen Qingyin asked Zi Shu Zhi with a glance: "When did he arrive?"

Zi Shu Zhi, unusually, didn't answer Wen Qingyin but instead wearily raised a hand to his forehead.

"Since the moment you said I was like a dog."

Pei Junheng's voice came from behind, and this time he even dared to answer back.

Wen Qingyin: ……