Chapter 12: 12. Chapter Twelve

12. Chapter Twelve

People are iron, rice is steel; if you don't eat a meal, you'll feel famished.

Atian had already missed two meals and was now starving to the point of madness.

Su Ying was in a rush to attend her morning class and had given her a lift while leaving the dormitory; as one of the only two people on the entire Floating Island who could enjoy a leisurely morning, she was not surprised to see Song Zhicheng buried in his food in the empty canteen.

"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 small mountain of stacked steamer baskets to place in front of herself.

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

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

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

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

"I do have one! Ah……" The man stood up excitedly as well, even dropping his bun onto the plate. Halfway through speaking, he seemed to remember something and reached up to touch his chin; naturally, there was only smooth skin there, "Oh right, my beard is gone……"

"My beard is gone!"

Sweeping the steamer baskets off the table, the young man 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?" Her cautious question received a pitiful "Mm" 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 brute who loved stinky feet and the clean-shaven youth before her were the same person.

Song Zhicheng, having had his beard shaved off, lifted his head upon hearing this, his face full of desolation and hopelessness, "Last night, they told me to go pay respects to the Senior Brother. I stood outside the Stone Chamber waiting and waiting, and finally, I waited until you came out……"

He only said half of his sentence, but Atian had already understood completely. She pursed her lips and asked in a low voice, "You…… passed out?"

Song Zhicheng's answer to this was a weak nod, and 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 up the remains of my beard. Not only that, he wouldn't let me call myself 'your father' anymore, saying the Beihai Sword Sect doesn't want embarrassing bumpkins……"

A feeling of shared misery spread between the two. Atian's eyes were filled with sympathy, but her hand holding the chopsticks quietly reached toward the steamer basket, and with lightning speed, she picked up a bun and stuffed it into her mouth.

"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 basket vanished 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 snapped her chopsticks into several pieces.

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

Song Zhicheng pushed the entire steamer basket 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 canteen, 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 softly, "Senior Brother Song saw how hard I worked yesterday and couldn't bear for me to labor any further. He really is a good person."

A good person?

Su Ying looked at Song Zhicheng, who was running around, her eyes filled with suspicion.

This guy, he wouldn't be trying to poach the Senior Brother's territory, would he?

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

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

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

"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, having 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 and senior siblings followed the errand route from last night to find the location of the Classroom. It was an unremarkable little palace, even somewhat shabby compared to other buildings, but the hanging plaque proved that the two had indeed found the right place.

The doors of the Classroom were 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 Su Ying had given her, 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 doorway, the entire lion retracting into its snail shell, then rolled aside, clearing the path to the interior, with the six large characters "Path to Enlightenment Course" written on it in gold.

The two entered one after another, and then, they both saw a protruding pair of buttocks.

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

"This person…… is he sick?"

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

These three words, like a death warrant, reached his ears, and 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 it.

"Boom!!"

A mushroom cloud rose slowly over the Classroom. The disciples who saw it were unfazed and continued with their own business.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough," a series of coughs came from the smoke. When the dust that obscured their vision cleared, Zhao Kuo, who had been blasted until he was covered in soot, hunched over like a shrimp, coughing while patting the dust off his body, still muttering, "A Thunderbolt Bomb from Leihuo Mountain…… you bastard, this is going to get someone killed."

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

Hearing the death warrant again, Zhao Kuo subconsciously shivered again to show his respect. He mechanically turned his head 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 his internal dramatic change. 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 even more, "Reviewing the old to learn the new, reviewing the old to learn the new! Every time I listen to Elder Li teach the content of Enlightenment, I have new insights."

He said this with his mouth, but his heart was weeping. Because of his poor performance during the mission, he didn't dare go to the Senior Brother to claim 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 it were just being beaten until his nose was bruised and his face was swollen, that would be fine, but after receiving a sound thrashing under the guise of "internship guidance," Bai Xinli hadn't even said anything yet, and 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 personal disciple. On weekdays, you would attend classes with everyone else as usual; the only difference was that personal disciples could occasionally enjoy private tutoring from their own Master.

To date, the Beihai Sword Sect had three major personal disciples. The Grandmaster's personal disciple position was naturally firmly held 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 couldn't finish anything he ate, had actually squeezed into their ranks. His master was none other than the jolly Guo Huai.

Because his performance during the mission was truly terrible, Zhao Kuo, who could have already accessed more advanced courses, was kicked by his master to be remade in the furnace.

Of course, this couldn't be told to Bai Tian.

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

"I'm disarming a trap," Zhao Kuo said, wiping his face. "In our sect, there's an unwritten rule: as long as you can break the defenses and traps someone has left on their seat, you can take their place. It's just that these bastards often use dangerous items to hold their spots, so one must remain vigilant."

"So that's how it is!" Atian tapped her right fist into her open left palm. "Then just how dangerous is it?"

"A bunch of brats who just joined the sect got their hands on some Thunderbolt Bombs from Leihuo Mountain; in terms of power, they're only slightly inferior to the Soul-Chasing Arrows of the Tianxing Sect," Zhao Kuo said, waving his hand. "Hmph, it's nothing but a petty trick relying on external force. Don't be afraid, let your senior brother lead the way."

"Inferior to the Soul-Chasing Arrows, huh..."

Atian looked thoughtful, then, under the horrified gaze of Song Zhicheng, she walked straight toward the desk and chair, stepped over the prone Zhao Kuo, walked to the spot with the best view, pulled out the chair, and sat down.

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

Zhao Kuo's anxious warning was only half-finished when he saw the small black ball that had just given him a hard time suddenly pop out; at the very instant it was about to explode, it was tightly gripped by a slender, delicate 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, then turning her head to say to the two stunned men, "Snatching a seat isn't that 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.