Chapter 104: 104. Chapter 104

104. Chapter 104

Guan San is currently petting the server; please complete your subscription to defeat him! "Morning, Senior Brother Song." She called out Song Zhicheng's new title with good adaptability, sat directly in another seat, and pulled one from the mountain-like stack of bamboo steamers to place in front of herself.

"Ah," the man whose name was called looked up, a half-eaten bun still in his mouth, "Junior Sister Bai, morning."

"……Excuse me, brother, who are you?" Bai Tian was completely stunned when she saw the man's face.

"What's wrong? I'm Song Zhicheng!" The man revealed a bewildered expression.

"Liar! Senior Brother Song is clearly a majestic man with a thick beard!" Atian slapped the table and stood up.

"I do have one! Ah……" The man also stood up excitedly, even dropping his bun onto the plate. Halfway through speaking, as if remembering something, he reached out to touch his chin. Naturally, there was only smooth skin there. "Oh right, my beard is gone……"

"My beard is gone!"

Sweeping the bamboo steamers on the table aside, the youth suspected to be "Song Zhicheng with his beard shaved off" slumped onto the table and let out a wail. Atian swore she could hear a sobbing tone in his trembling voice.

"S-Senior Brother Song?" The cautious question she asked received a pitiful "En" from the other party, which immediately terrified her. "It really is Senior Brother Song? How did you…… become like this?"

It wasn't her fault; anyone would be shocked to discover that the bearded man who loved smelly feet and the clean-shaven youth before her were the same person.

Song Zhicheng, whose beard had been shaved off, raised his head upon hearing this, his face full of desolation and listlessness. "Last night, they told me to go pay respects to the Senior Brother. I stood outside the Stone Chamber waiting and waiting, and only after much difficulty did I wait for you to come out……"

His words were only half-spoken, but Atian already understood completely. She pursed her lips and asked in a low voice: "You…… fainted?"

Song Zhicheng's answer to this was a weak nod; he couldn't help but shiver. "That guy…… is too terrifying. I couldn't hold on. When I woke up, I found myself lying on the bed with Uncle-Master Guo standing beside me. He was cleaning the remains of my beard. Not only that, he won't let me call myself 'I' anymore, saying the Beihai Sword Sect doesn't need embarrassing bumpkins……"

A feeling of mutual sympathy spread between the two. Atian's eyes were filled with pity, and her hand holding the chopsticks quietly reached toward the bamboo steamer, snatching a bun and stuffing it into her mouth with lightning speed.

"That really is too much……" Atian echoed vaguely.

"……Hey," Song Zhicheng looked at her mouth covered by her sleeve, "The one you're eating, is that my bun?"

"Your eyes are playing tricks on you." Atian swallowed what was in her mouth, gave him a shy smile, and picked up another one to put in her mouth.

Song Zhicheng watched in a daze as the buns in the steamer disappeared into thin air, then looked at Atian, who was still covering her mouth with her sleeve. He was completely shocked by her shamelessness. "……Can you move your sleeve and let me see?"

Atian gave him an embarrassed look, and failing to control her strength, she pinched the chopsticks directly into several pieces.

"No, Big Boss, I shouldn't have asked. Please, go ahead……"

Song Zhicheng pushed the entire bamboo steamer in front of him toward the young girl with a mournful face.

Thus, after Su Ying finished her morning class, she saw Atian sitting in the middle of the cafeteria, being served hand and foot by the newly promoted Junior Brother.

"What are you two doing?" she asked.

Atian covered her mouth and smiled, put down the chopsticks in her hand, and said gently: "Senior Brother Song saw how hard I worked yesterday and couldn't bear to see me laboring more. He really is a good person."

A good person?

Su Ying looked at the scurrying Song Zhicheng with suspicion in her eyes.

This guy, he isn't trying to poach the Senior Brother's corner, is he?

Song Zhicheng felt so wronged he could have had snow fall in June.

The disciples who had finished their morning classes entered the cafeteria one after another. They carried their food and sat down at the long tables in turn. Legendary immortals were said to sleep in the open and eat the wind, but in reality, cultivators who had not yet reached Bigu still needed to eat, and even those who had successfully reached Bigu were happy to satisfy their appetites.

Watching the number of people in the cafeteria increase, the string in Atian's mind tightened. The more people eating, the more people there would be attending the Enlightenment class with her later, and the stronger her sense of crisis became.

"Senior Brother Song, shall we go first?" She frowned.

"Eh? Why? I still want to eat a little more……" Song Zhicheng looked at the porridge in his hand with reluctance.

Atian showed a troubled expression, and failing to control her strength, the chopsticks in her hand followed in the footsteps of their predecessor.

Song Zhicheng, who had witnessed the whole process, immediately nodded his head like a chick pecking at rice. "Sorry, Big Boss! I'm going! I'm going right now!"

Having finished their breakfast at lightning speed, the two Junior Sister and Senior Brother followed the errand route from last night to find the location of the Classroom. It was a small, inconspicuous palace that looked somewhat shabby compared to other buildings, but the plaque hanging on it proved that the two had indeed found the right place.

The door of the Classroom was tightly shut, and a stone statue of a Jiaotu was coiled at the entrance; at first glance, this thing looked like a large lion carrying a snail shell. Atian unfolded the class schedule given by Su Ying, found "Enlightenment" among the courses offered today, placed her hand on the head of the Jiaotu statue at the door according to the instructions on the schedule, and loudly recited the name of the teaching Elder.

The imposing Jiaotu statue seemed startled by the sudden voice; it actually jumped up directly from the entrance, the entire lion shrinking into the snail shell, and then rolled aside, clearing the path to the interior. On it, someone had written the six large characters "Path to Enlightenment Course" in gold.

The two entered one after another, and then, they both saw a raised buttock.

Immortal Elder Zhao Kuo, who had disappeared without a trace after bringing Atian to Shengxian Town, was currently crawling between rows of desks and chairs, clutching a handful of Yellow Talismans, muttering incantations that couldn't be understood, and crawling forward bit by bit.

"This person…… is sick?"

Song Zhicheng looked surprised, but Atian waved and greeted him enthusiastically: "Immortal Elder～ Zhao～"

These three words, like a death-summoning talisman, reached his ears. Zhao Kuo shivered all over, his mouth stuttered, and he recited the spell wrong. By the time he realized it, it was too late to save.

"Boom!!"

A mushroom cloud rose slowly above the Classroom. The disciples who saw it continued with their own business, as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough," a series of coughs came from the smoke. When the smoke and dust obscuring the view dissipated, Zhao Kuo, who had been blown into a disheveled mess, hunched his waist like a shrimp, coughing while patting the dust off his body, still muttering, "Thunderbolt Bomb from Leihuo Mountain…… you bastards, this is going to get someone killed."

"Immortal Elder Zhao?" Atian looked at him with concern.

Hearing the death-summoning talisman again, Zhao Kuo subconsciously shivered again to show respect. He turned his head mechanically and gave Bai Tian a smile that was uglier than crying. "……Junior Sister Bai."

As soon as this form of address came out, he wanted to slap himself twice. Why call her Junior Sister, why call her Junior Sister! This sounded like a lecher trying to get close; hadn't that beating been painful enough?!

Atian was naturally unaware of the dramatic changes in his heart. Thinking that it was indeed inappropriate to call him Immortal Elder so distantly after she had already joined the sect, she immediately changed her words. "Senior Brother Zhao, are you here to attend this class too?"

As soon as this question came out, the smile on Zhao Kuo's face stiffened further. "Reviewing the old to learn the new, reviewing the old to learn the new! Every time I listen to Elder Li talk about the content of Enlightenment, I have new realizations."

Although he said this, he was crying inside. Because of his poor performance during the mission, he didn't dare to go to the Senior Brother to collect his mission reward, fearing that if things went wrong, he would lose his life. He never expected that Bai Xinli would enthusiastically deliver the goods to his door! If he had only been beaten until his face was bruised and swollen, it would have been fine, but after receiving a beating disguised as "internship guidance," before Bai Xinli could even say anything, his dear Master had already taken the lead.

Although the Beihai Sword Sect had abolished the one-on-one master-disciple system, if you were particularly compatible with a certain Elder, you still had the chance to become their true disciple. You would attend classes with others as usual on weekdays; the only difference was that true disciples could occasionally enjoy private tutoring from their own Master.

To date, the Beihai Sword Sect had three major true disciples. The position of the Grandmaster's true disciple was naturally firmly occupied by the Senior Brother Bai Xinli. Elder Tan Tianming, who was responsible for managing mission releases, had Senior Sister Su Ying under his tutelage, and Zhao Kuo, who couldn't do anything right and ate everything in sight, had actually squeezed into their ranks. His Master was none other than the jolly Guo Huai.

Because his performance during the mission was truly too terrible, Zhao Kuo, who could have already accessed higher-level courses, was kicked by his Master to be sent back for re-forging.

Of course, this could not be said to Bai Tian.

"Senior Brother Zhao, what are you doing crawling on the ground?" Atian continued to ask.

"I'm disarming traps," Zhao Kuo wiped his face. "In our sect, there is an unwritten rule: as long as you can break the defenses and traps the other party left on their seat, you can occupy their position. It's just that these bastards often use dangerous items to occupy seats, so you still have to be vigilant."

"So that's how it is!" Atian clenched her right fist and tapped it against her open left hand. "Then just how dangerous is it?"

"A group of brats who just joined the sect got their hands on Thunderbolt Bombs from Leihuo Mountain. In terms of power, they are only slightly inferior to the Soul-Chasing Arrow of the Tianxing Sect," Zhao Kuo waved his hand. "Hmph, but these are just petty tricks relying on external forces. Don't be afraid, let Senior Brother take you to fly."

"It's inferior to the Soul-Chasing Arrow..."

Atian seemed lost in thought, and then, under Song Zhicheng's horrified gaze, she walked straight toward the table and chairs, stepped over Zhao Kuo who was sprawled on the ground, went to the spot with the best view, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

"Hey, hey, hey! That's very dang...!"

Zhao Kuo's anxious warning was only half-spoken when he saw the little black ball that had just given him a pot-full suddenly pop out; at the very instant it was about to explode, it was tightly gripped by a slender, jade-like hand, and the expected sound of an explosion did not come, but instead, black debris leaked out from between the fingers.

"I like this spot," Atian said, taking out a handkerchief to wipe her hands and turning her head to the two men who were dumbstruck, "snatching a spot isn't very hard, is it?"

"Fine, Big Boss, whatever you say is right."

Zhao Kuo replied while covering his face, with Song Zhicheng standing beside him, his face a complete blank.

Atian had already heard many people say before: the Square Immortal Dao is the head of the four great immortal sects, dominating the entire southern part of the continent. But before seeing it with her own eyes, these were just a few pale and powerless descriptions; as a small-town girl, she could no more imagine how imposing its mountain gate must be than she could imagine how magnificent the imperial palace really was.