Chapter 750: Looking Down from the Pavilion

The Sword Training Academy had about thirty people, with more than ten small tables set up under a fake stone. Two or three people sat around each, and they were all sparsely filled.

Pei Ye brought Li Tishui in, greeted them twice, and people moved over to make room for a small table for the two. Now his reputation in the Sword Training Academy was quite high, and many people greeted him with smiles.

It was indeed bustling and lively. Pavilions by the pool, layers of height, countless small tables were placed, either gathered or scattered. Most of them were already occupied, with different clothing colors and distinct temperaments. Attendants shuttled back and forth, and the guiding and tea supply were orderly.

Two swordsmen were already competing on the pool, advancing and retreating, the white pearls brought up by the sword blades shining in the morning sun.

"If this were below the Fourth Life, they wouldn't be able to play." Pei Ye said.

Right next to him was Chu Shuiting, who said: "I don't think friends of the Third Life are very willing to play either."

Ning Shuhong said: "There probably aren't twenty Third Life people in the whole garden."

Although several people were talking to Pei Ye, their eyes were all on the veiled woman beside him, seeing her sitting quietly to the side, with an extraordinary bearing, neither speaking to anyone nor making eye contact, observing the surroundings, only a vague sword shape protruding from her knees under the spring robe.

"This is a senior friend of mine." Pei Ye said, "It's not very convenient for her to show her face."

Li Tishui turned her head and nodded slightly to several people.

Several people nodded in realization and bowed their fists in salute one after another.

Among several women on the other side, Jiang Yiner kept looking back at him. When the youth finished greeting and looked over, she gave him a smile, and then looked at the woman beside him with some doubt.

Pei Ye smiled at her, and the young girl turned her head back.

"Is that Jiang Yiner?" Li Tishui asked.

"Yes, it is Junior Sister Yiner."

"She is truly clean and cute." Li Tishui looked at the young girl's back of the head, "She looks like she is shining with spirit, she is a seedling for the sword path."

Pei Ye looked at her: "Should I call Yiner over to sit together?"

Li Tishui was silent for a while and shook her head: "Forget it. And don't mention me to her and Ying Suyu. Just watch the sword banquet. We won't probe each other today. You can ask me about anything regarding these people's sword fighting."

Pei Ye nodded.

The location of the Sword Training Academy was considered a quiet place, and it was quite central, with a good view. Pei Ye scanned it roughly. Although it was in a garden, each had its own position, but a closer look could still distinguish between inner and outer, high and low.

Many small and medium-sized sects were in the outer circle, about dozens or nearly a hundred, with young men and women bustling around their elders, but the number of invitations issued to each family was not too many, only three or five, and many even had only the master and apprentice attending. Among them were interspersed various Jianghu celebrities and children of the nobility in the Divine Capital.

The inner circle was sparse instead. The figures of the Thirty-Three Sword Gates began to appear

among them, and Pei Ye already recognized many—the one that looked like a Daoist but wasn't was Qingcheng, the one with blue and white clothing was Huashan, the familiar face was Xiaoyun Mountain, and the one next to it that looked similar was naturally Dayun Mountain.

Following that were Diancang, Taihang... Pei Ye's eyes suddenly paused, and he saw Kongdong. Kong Lanting, Guan Qianyan, and Zhang Jingbi were all among them, but the one at the head was a man Pei Ye hadn't seen before, with bronze skin and deep features, looking about the same age as Zhu Ge'er.

At this time, that side seemed to feel Pei Ye's gaze and looked over too. The three were stunned for a moment, and then showed surprised expressions at the same time, Guan Qianyan almost jumping up and waving.

Seeing old friends at this time also made Pei Ye feel quite close, and he waved at them with a smile. The young man looked over, and after being nudged by the junior brothers and sisters behind him, he also nodded and smiled at this side.

Tianshan, Kunlun, Daoist sects, and the Sword Training Academy itself were all in this circle, and further inside, there were only six places left.

Each place had about a dozen people. Pei Ye almost didn't recognize any of them. Some were aloof, some were quiet, some were cold... Soon his gaze paused and fixed on a silent man with long hair carrying a sword—he hadn't seen this face, but he remembered this person.

That mysterious fox mask of the Phantom Tower, the power holder of the Youdu lineage of the Beihai Prefecture.

But Chen Quan was not sitting beside him.

In the most central place, there were several small tables gathered together, which were quite conspicuous, with six young people.

Chen Quan was one of them.

Pei Ye hadn't seen the other four, but the last figure made him inexplicably familiar—a woman in a long dress with a hairpin, with a fair face, eyes like autumn water, and two thin eyebrows drooping slightly, looking immortal and weak.

Her posture was very upright and graceful, but the whole person was like a statue, her eyes straight, holding her sword and lowering her head, not moving at all.

Pei Ye frowned and stared at her for a while, but before he could think any further, a pale white skirt shadow appeared on the side of his vision, and the sound of rings ringing: "Young Hero Pei, we meet again."

Pei Ye looked up and saw Shi Zanxue's beautiful smiling face.

She was dressed particularly beautifully today—but of course, one still couldn't see the traces of dressing up—carrying a pot of clear wine, and placed it on Pei Ye's table: "Young Hero Pei, it was truly too busy today. I was originally going to welcome you at the door, but I didn't expect you not to be in the Sword Training Academy's team, so I missed you—here, good wine, there are only ten pots in the garden today, an apology."

This was truly not a lie. When the sword students entered in the morning, they saw this woman waiting at the door, asking about Young Hero Pei's whereabouts. Jiang Yiner replied to her that Pei Ye would come later, and only then did she leave.

Pei Ye laughed in surprise: "What kind of apology is this—Shi Gu Niang, do you have a strange addiction to apologizing to people?"

Shi Zanxue opened her eyes wide and laughed angrily: "Young Hero Pei, can you say something nice? Who has this kind of strange addiction—if you don't drink it, give it back to me."

Pei Ye hurriedly held it down: "There is no reason to go back on your word."

The woman put away her feigned anger, looked at Li Tishui beside her, but didn't ask Pei Ye, and bowed respectfully on her own. Li Tishui also nodded to her.

Then Shi Zanxue squatted down by the table temporarily, getting closer: "Young Hero Pei, there is a seat reserved for you over there, are you sitting here?"

She gestured to the seats of the few young people in the center.

"...... I'll just sit here, I don't know them."

Shi Zanxue nodded and explained: "This sword banquet is mainly for interaction, not competition. The process is also very simple. Because the number of people is huge, there are no rules. It's just according to the order from small sects to large sects. Whoever wants to go up and spar can go up. Those who win and want to stay can stay. This is how it goes round by round, letting the swordsmen show their faces, and everyone can watch the fun."

"Hm, I see. What is our order?"

Shi Zanxue thought for a moment: "The Sword Training Academy should be 89th. It's already the 17th now—but this is not very accurate. By the time it reaches the Thirty-Three Sword Gates, there won't be many sects left on the field. Each sword gate is familiar with each other, and everyone spars with each other, so it probably won't follow any order."

She pointed to the invitation on Pei Ye's table: "There is one rule, which is to limit the number of times everyone can go on stage. There are gold lines drawn on the invitation here. If there is one, you can only go on stage once. If there are two, you can go twice... Young Hero Pei, yours is not a gold line..."

"...... Not letting me go on stage?"

Shi Zanxue smiled: "These two characters are connected, 'All Permitted.' Young Hero Pei, whenever you want to make a move, you can go on stage at any time. I think everyone will be very happy to see it."

"...... Shi Gu Niang, you are so polite and gentle to me now, I'm really not used to it." Pei Ye said, "It's like I've become very amazing now."

"Young Hero Pei is very amazing now." Shi Zanxue smiled, "And was I not gentle to Young Hero Pei before?"

Pei Ye thought for a moment: "That's true, Shi Gu Niang, you treated me the same way before. Maybe I was being sentimental."

Shi Zanxue smiled, leaned closer, and whispered: "Maybe I will treat Young Hero Pei even more unusually in the future."

These words were almost ambiguous. Pei Ye stared at her, but the woman had already supported the table and stood up, leaving in Li Tishui's interested gaze.

"They even have beauty traps." Li Tishui muttered to herself, thought for a moment, "Fortunately, we have them too."

Pei Ye's widened eyes then turned to her.

The garden was not too big but not small either. Since it was on the outer periphery, one had to be in a higher place to see the whole picture clearly.

After all, it was the Tianshan Sword Banquet, so the Jianghu sword gates were naturally in the main venue. These children of the Divine Capital who attended were slightly behind, and they had to wait for the sword banquet to disperse and everyone to wander and chat in the garden before they could try to approach the swordsmen they admired.

Fortunately, President Cui had a high status and actually occupied a two-story small pavilion, with a corridor connecting to the side building, extending toward the garden, which was exactly a place for viewing the scenery.

With the heaven-reaching hand and eye of the new Vice-President Li, the number of people entering the garden reached an astonishing twenty-three. Everyone gathered together early in the morning, and then Vice-President Li waited at the door personally, led them here, and chatted for a while before leaving.

Then they watched the disciples of various sword gates entering the garden one after another, constantly searching for Young Hero Pei's figure among them.

To tell the truth, although everyone knew what he looked like, they had never seen this young hero with their own eyes. Although it was interesting enough to see so many fresh sword gate disciples and one after another figures whose names they had long heard, everyone was still looking forward to Young Hero Pei's figure the most.

When they figured out the seating, everyone argued about where Young Hero Pei would sit after he came, mainly a debate between the fanatical support faction and the rational analysis faction.

And now, more than twenty girls were leaning on the railing side by side, looking in the same direction.

A scholar and a young master were squeezed into the corner. On weekdays, one would angrily denounce the other for extravagance and the other would despise the other for being sour and rotten, but now the two were leaning against each other in silence.

The chattering of the girls must be a very heavy pigment in the world of sound, capable of covering up most of the light and pale colors, but fortunately, it was relatively bright and easier to endure than others.

Just now, when the sun rose, that figure finally appeared in the field of vision unexpectedly.

Everyone was incomparably excited for the first time. This was the first time they had seen Young Hero Pei's true face. Although it was a bit far, it was exactly the same as in the paintings. Simple attire, clear face, a pair of light brown eyes with spirit, and the sword in his hand and the beautiful little black cat on his shoulder.

He walked toward his seat step by step, and everyone was very excited.

A moving Young Hero Pei.

But soon someone asked: "Who is the person beside Young Hero Pei?"

So everyone was silent. The people on the left looked to the right, and the people on the right looked to the left, all staring at President Cui in the middle.

President Cui, who seemed to know everything, frowned at this time, holding her chin with her hand: "A friend, I suppose... Young Hero Pei uses his sword well and has many friends who admire him."

So everyone nodded in conviction.

Then they saw Young Hero Pei walk in, and the sword students all smiled and gave him their seats, and everyone was even happier, unable to help but discuss Young Hero Pei's status in the Sword Academy and the Jianghu—a living Young Hero Pei was indeed too novel a thing for the Fellowship Society, and everyone was observing carefully and discussing in detail, not only observing Young Hero Pei, but also trying to identify Young Hero Pei's friends.

Then everyone saw who Young Hero Pei was closest to. After he sat down and exchanged greetings, he soon met the gaze of a young girl who had been looking forward to it in the front row,

and the two smiled at each other very intimately, as if there was some eye interaction.

That young girl was truly good-looking. The people on the left looked to the right, and the people on the right looked to the left, and couldn't help but ask again: "Who is that again?"

"Does Young Hero Pei have a sweetheart?"

"They seem very intimate."

Cui Zhaoye said calmly: "Don't guess randomly, that is 【Little White Dragon】 Jiang Yiner, my good friend. She and Young Hero Pei are family friends, as close as brother and sister."

"Oh." Everyone felt embarrassed for the misunderstanding.

But soon Young Hero Pei greeted someone on the other side with a smile again.

Everyone's gaze moved over, seeing a young girl on the other side of the pond who almost jumped up.

"...... Who is that again?" Everyone looked at the president again.

"......" Cui Zhaoye frowned, "Kongdong's... who... is it?"

President Cui couldn't answer, so everyone was a bit silent, looking quietly at Young Hero Pei in the distance.

Then soon, a pale white skirt stopped beside the youth again.

She was as beautiful as an immortal, with jade phoenixes on her ears, handed Young Hero Pei a pot of wine, and squatted down. The two chatted intimately, and one could vaguely see the woman's feigned anger.

"President Cui, who is that again?"

Cui Zhaoye was silent for a moment, her brows locked: "Tianshan... a Jade Girl of Tianshan, I suppose... not 【Shuangcheng】, not 【Young Master】, not 【Feiqiong】..."

The pavilion was silent for a while, and suddenly the official's daughter, who was dressed quite beautifully today, whispered: "President Cui, tell me, tell me that day in front of the Vermilion Bird Sword Gambling... did Young Hero Pei really not go to drink flower wine?"

Everyone was silent.

Qu Xin lay on the edge, looking at the garden, and said calmly at this time: "What a boring thing to say. If Young Hero Pei loves to drink flower wine, let him drink flower wine; if he loves to stay in a brothel, let him stay in a brothel; if he wants to sleep with whichever girl, let him sleep with whichever girl. He is still the best swordsman in the Divine Capital."

Her face was plain, and her tone was decisive. She was simply the most loyal subject of the Fellowship Society who knew the strength of the grass in the strong wind.

Cui Zhaoye almost echoed a "Right!" ===== CHAPTER 751 =====