Chapter 72: 72. Chapter 72

72. Chapter 72

Guan San is currently petting the server; please complete your subscription to defeat him! Of course, Li Ke bringing up the fact that the disciples collectively cross-dressed to cast votes for Bai Xinli was not to make them believe they were actually perverts who enjoyed cross-dressing. At his level of cultivation, external appearances are merely skin and flesh; sometimes he is too lazy to even judge beauty or ugliness. Moreover, he also knew clearly 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 solely from the disadvantage of having too few people. 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 after. To push open the Immortal Gate, one must accept a self that is imperfect, or even 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 grew up in the sect like the back of his hand. Every sentence could accurately and ruthlessly poke at the most painful point of the other person, and the Classroom was suddenly filled with wails.

Zhao Kuo's explanation for this was: "Because of the Sick Sword, Elder Li cannot easily leave the sect; 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 gray-faced and dejected.

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

Following the listless Senior Brothers who were like wandering souls to the canteen, and then drifting back to the Dizi Yuanshe together, what could have been called a dull day actually felt full of interest in the eyes of Bai Tian, who had obediently been a wealthy young lady for fifteen years.

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

Then, she saw that sword again.

In a trance, 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 floating in the center of the sea of fire. Flowing light surged over the inscriptions carved on the blade, and the black and red hilt tilted slightly toward her.

Atian had seen quite a few swords so far. Whether it was the moon-white Broken Sword containing surging Sword Intent from the Founder, 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, scorching 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 aren't... then I will break you."

"Boom!"

The clawing, dancing flames began to rage.

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

After finally managing to squint and put on his clothes in a crumpled mess, he stumbled to the door and pulled open the door that was being pounded with a "clatter" in one breath, only to feel a heatwave rush over, forcing him to retreat a few steps.

"Junior Brother Zhao!! You're finally awake!!" The Senior Brother next door, who hadn't yet lowered 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 unprecedented crimson color covering the sky; 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?

Zhao Kuo, whose mind was filled with "What the heck," couldn't care about his initial morning grumpiness. He hurriedly turned back, grabbed the lapel of the Senior Brother next door, and shook him, "Senior Brother Mu! What is going on!"

Zhao Kuo was already at the middle stage of Qi Refining; someone who could be called "Senior Brother" by him naturally had a cultivation level that wasn't weak. This Senior Brother Mu patted him on the shoulder, steadied this panicked Junior Brother, then grabbed him by the back of his collar and jumped straight down from the tenth-story high platform, landing in the crowd gathered at the very bottom.

"Senior Brother Zhao!"

Song Zhicheng, with sharp eyes, immediately saw Zhao Kuo descending from the sky. He didn't care about avoiding the disheveled image of this Senior Brother and immediately squeezed through the crowd to come over.

"... Ah, Junior Brother Song," Zhao Kuo had just stood steady when he saw the newly arrived Junior Brother in front of him, 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 revealed a bitter smile upon hearing this, "Senior Brother, look at everyone present, who 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; it would be strange if they ran into each other.

"If the Junior Sister Bai you are 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 raised his finger to point at the Dizi Yuanshe that had already been swallowed by flames. At this moment, 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 spoken, 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 you standing there for?! Hurry and go save Junior Sister Bai..."

Halfway through his shouting, he couldn't continue. Only four people lived 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 year-round. So, it was obvious who caused the fire.

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

"Sometimes fate is just so wondrous. Our little Junior Sister has really caused a big stir." Senior Brother Mu nodded.

Even so, figuring out the cause of the fire didn't mean they could relax. For a Sword Cultivator, forging a sword is of the utmost 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 end in the destruction of one's foundation and bones. Therefore, there is usually a master or elder monitoring nearby. Moreover, if this continues, the Beihai Sword Sect will probably really have to rebuild the Dizi Yuanshe.

Zhao Kuo was so anxious that sweat was pouring down his forehead, "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. Just as the two were preparing to head to the Martial Arts Arena to find Bai Xinli, they discovered that the disciples who were originally chattering while looking at the fire fell into silence in an instant, and in the next second, they shouted excitedly:

"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 both sides consciously, clearing a path wide enough for one person to pass.

No one could fly on a sword under the Founder's sword, so Bai Xinli walked over step by step. Every step he took was very steady, 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 pushed aside by Senior Brother Mu next to him. The latter not only occupied his position but also finished saying his words.

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

"Mm."

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.

Every step he took, the flames retreated a step. Just like that, he walked step by step along the stairs to outside Bai Tian's room. The flames were also suppressed by him to the area around this one room, leaving only scorch marks on the other dwellings to prove its former rampage.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Bai Xinli raised his hand and knocked on the door. The wooden boards, already 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 undergarment, and a pitch-black long sword was suspended in front of her. The young girl's right hand was placed on the blade, fresh blood flowing 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 lit up; the corners of her lips curled into an arc resembling a smile, and she stumbled as she climbed up, 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."

However, she was essentially like someone who had become a scholar before even taking the preliminary exam; she had to study the Four Books and Five Classics before she had even learned all the characters, and if she wanted to advance further, she would inevitably have to cram frantically.

"Elder Li Ke's Enlightenment class must continue," Su Ying took out a scroll, spread it out on the table, and then picked up a brush to write and draw on it, "Hmm... whoever chooses Master's Star Astrology, Eight Trigrams, and Guide to Luck is an idiot, cross it out, cross it out."

Atian sat obediently to the side, watching her motherly Senior Sister Su Ying help her choose her classes, not daring to even let out a deep breath.