Chapter 14: 14. Chapter Fourteen

14. Chapter Fourteen

Li Ke bringing up the matter of the disciples collectively dressing in women's clothing to cast votes for Bai Xinli was, of course, not to make them believe they were actually perverts who enjoyed women's clothing; at his level of cultivation, the external is merely a skin and appearance, and sometimes he couldn't even be bothered to judge beauty or ugliness, furthermore, he was well aware that they certainly didn't wear them because they liked it.

As the sect with the strongest offensive power in the world, the Beihai Sword Sect ranked last among the Four Great Immortal Sects, suffering from the disadvantage of having too few members; ever since then, whenever there was any voting activity, they would rack their brains to make up for their shortcomings, which also resulted in most disciples having a few dark histories that everyone kept secret together.

Life Dual Cultivation: temperament comes first, lifespan comes second; if one wants to push open the Immortal Gate, one must accept an imperfect self, or even a self full of dark history and flaws.

If the morning was just a trial run, the afternoon was a precision strike.

Li Ke knew the embarrassing stories of these disciples who had grown up in the sect like the back of his hand, and every sentence could accurately and ruthlessly poke at the most painful point of the other party, causing immediate wailing throughout the Classroom.

Zhao Kuo's explanation for this was: "Elder Li cannot easily leave the sect because of his Sick Sword; it is truly bitter for him."

Atian nodded in understanding: it's just because he's bored.

By the time the day's lessons were over, apart from the two bystanders Bai Tian and Song Zhicheng, even Zhao Kuo had not escaped Li Ke's poisonous hands, left looking battered and bruised.

When announcing that today's session was over, Li Ke smacked his lips as if still wanting more, even his pale complexion flushed with a hint of red, and his meaningful gaze swept over Song Zhicheng, making the latter's hair stand on end.

Following the listless Senior Brothers who were like wandering ghosts to the canteen, and then drifting back to the Dizi Yuanshe together, despite it being a day that could be called dull, in the eyes of Bai Tian, who had obediently been a wealthy young lady for fifteen years, it actually felt full of fun.

Taking off her outer garment and crawling into the quilt, Atian secretly made a wish; she also wanted a sword of her own.

Then, she saw that sword again.

In a daze, she remembered that she had just fallen asleep after listening to lessons all day, and felt muddled, thinking she was still at the bottom of the sea.

Flames filled her entire field of vision, a black long sword hovered in the center of the sea of fire, light surged through the inscriptions carved on the blade, and the black and red hilt tilted slightly toward her.

Atian had seen many swords so far, whether it was the moon-white Broken Sword containing surging Sword Intent from the Grandmaster, the red-silk White Jade Sword worn at Bai Xinli's waist, or Su Ying's amber-colored short sword "White Colt," or even the heavy sword "Mountain Breaker" that gave Zhao Kuo a headache, all could be called masterpieces of the time, dazzling and mesmerizing.

However, in Atian's eyes, none of them compared to the one before her.

No matter when or where this pitch-black long sword appeared, it could easily steal her heart and soul.

The surroundings were filled with crackling sounds of burning; she walked into the sea of fire as if she didn't feel it, tongues of flame licking her skin, hot and stinging. Bai Tian stood before the black sword; she opened her arms and hugged it, pressing her face against the cold blade, feeling the uneven inscriptions, and rubbed against it gently.

"Are... you 'me'?"

She gripped the blade tightly, not caring if her palms would be cut by the sharp edge.

"If you're not... then I'll break you."

"Boom!"

The clawing flames began to rage.

Zhao Kuo was woken up by the commotion; he rubbed his eyes roughly, kicked away the quilt wrapped around his waist, and muttered irritably while putting on his clothes, "Who isn't sleeping in the middle of the night? If I catch you, I'll beat you to death..."

After finally managing to put on his wrinkled clothes with squinted eyes, he stumbled to the door and pulled open the door that was being pounded with a "clanging" sound, only to feel a wave of heat rush toward him, forcing him to retreat a few steps.

"Junior Brother Zhao!! You're finally awake!!" The Senior Brother next door, who hadn't yet put down his hand from pounding the door, breathed a sigh of relief, "Run! It's on fire!"

On fire?

Zhao Kuo was completely awake now; he pushed past the Senior Brother next door and walked outside, only to see an overwhelming, unprecedented crimson color—it was the raging fire entrenched on the Dizi Yuanshe.

Is there anyone in this world who can set a fire in the Beihai Sword Sect?

With his mind filled with "What the hell," Zhao Kuo couldn't care about his initial grumpiness, and hurriedly turned back to grab the Senior Brother's lapels and shake him, "Senior Brother Mu! What is going on!"

Zhao Kuo was already at the middle stage of Qi Refining, so the person he called "Senior Brother" naturally couldn't have weak cultivation; this Senior Brother Mu patted his shoulder, steadied his panicked Junior Brother, grabbed him by the back of his collar, and jumped down from the tenth-floor platform, landing in the crowd gathered at the bottom level.

"Senior Brother Zhao!"

Song Zhicheng, with sharp eyes, immediately spotted Zhao Kuo descending from the sky, and not caring about avoiding the disheveled image of this Senior Brother, he immediately squeezed through the crowd and walked over.

"... Ah, Junior Brother Song," Zhao Kuo saw the newly promoted Junior Brother in front of him as soon as he stood steady, and couldn't help but think of the other Junior Sister who hadn't appeared yet, "Speaking of which, have you seen Junior Sister Bai?"

Song Zhicheng gave a wry smile upon hearing this, "Senior Brother, look at these people here, which one can be called a Junior Sister? I still don't know what happened."

Zhao Kuo slapped his forehead, feeling he was muddled from sleep; Bai Tian lived on the twentieth floor, and Song Zhicheng lived on the first floor, so it would be strange if they met.

"If the Junior Sister Bai you're talking about is the new Junior Sister, then you don't need to look for her," Senior Brother Mu on the side patted Zhao Kuo's shoulder and pointed to the Dizi Yuanshe that had already been swallowed by flames, while people were still jumping down from the high floors, "She is probably still in the room, because the fire started from the twentieth floor."

Once these words were out, Zhao Kuo's first reaction was—what to do if the Senior Brother's child bride is about to be burned to death?!

"Then what are we standing here for?! Hurry and go save Junior Sister Bai..."

Halfway through his shouting, he couldn't continue; there were only four people living on the twentieth floor: Senior Sister Su Ying was on night duty tonight, Senior Sister Chen Zhi was not in the sect, and Senior Sister Liu Yan stayed in the Sword Scripture Pavilion all year round, so it was obvious who caused the fire.

"... Her time has come, isn't this too fast?" he muttered.

"Sometimes timing is just so mysterious; our little Junior Sister has really made a big scene." Senior Brother Mu nodded.

That said, figuring out the cause of the fire didn't mean they could relax; for a Sword Cultivator, forging a sword is of paramount importance, because when the Sword Bone is about to break through the body, it is also the moment when it is most uncontrollable; if things go wrong, it could lead to the destruction of one's foundation, so there is usually a teacher monitoring nearby, and besides, if this continues, the Beihai Sword Sect will probably really have to rebuild the Dizi Yuanshe.

Zhao Kuo was sweating from anxiety, "And Master is not here at this time! Hurry and call Senior Brother! Oh no! Junior Sister Bai is a girl! Better call Senior Sister Su Ying..."

Senior Brother Mu nodded in agreement, and just as the two were about to head to the Martial Arts Arena to find Bai Xinli, they found that the disciples who were chattering while looking at the fire fell into silence in an instant, and then started shouting excitedly the next second:

"Everyone move aside! Senior Brother is here!"

Senior Brother is here!

A simple sentence injected a backbone into the Beihai Sword Sect disciples present; they immediately moved to the sides consciously, clearing a path wide enough for one person to pass.

No one could fly on a sword under the Grandmaster's sword, so Bai Xinli came step by step; he walked very steadily with every step, which in turn made the hearts of everyone present steady as well.

"Senior Brother!"

Zhao Kuo was overjoyed and hurriedly stepped forward, but unexpectedly, he was suddenly pushed aside by Senior Brother Mu next to him, who not only occupied his position but also finished his sentence.

"Senior Brother! Junior Sister Bai is in trouble!" Senior Brother Mu leaned close to Bai Xinli, ignoring his own Junior Brother's glare.

"Hmm."

Upon hearing this, Bai Xinli untied the moon-white hair ribbon from his head and tied it behind his head, covering his eyes.

Then, he stepped onto the stairs occupied by the flames; the flames, feeling provoked, instantly surged three feet high against the wind, but were blocked firmly by an invisible force just as they were about to touch him.

For every step he took, the flames retreated one step; just like that, he walked step by step along the stairs to outside Bai Tian's room, and the flames were suppressed by him around this room, leaving only scorch marks on other rooms to prove its former rampage.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Bai Xinli raised his hand and knocked on the door; the wooden boards, which had been burned to their limit, turned into fly ash the moment they touched the external force, revealing the scene inside the room.

Atian was kneeling in the center of the room wearing only a thin garment, while a pitch-black long sword was suspended in front of her; the young girl's right hand was placed on the blade, and fresh blood flowed from the wound, outlining the inscriptions on the sword body.

As if hearing a sound, Bai Tian turned her head back, and upon seeing the blindfolded Bai Xinli, her eyes instantly brightened; the corners of her lips curled into an arc resembling a smile, and she climbed up somewhat unsteadily, gripping the black and red Sword hilt with one hand.

"Senior Brother, are you willing... to take a Sword strike from me?"

Bai Xinli paused upon hearing this and replied, "... Junior Sister Bai, please."