Chapter 2364: The Aloof Sword Cultivator and His Natal Sword Spirit 08

True Person Ling Xu, ethereal and dao-boned, stepped out with a smile, his aura becoming more rounded and profound.

Welcome Master's emergence from seclusion!

As senior martial brother, Yun Che immediately led the disciples in bowing.

"Xie Qingmo, go ahead." Jin Chen's lazy voice echoed in Xie Qingmo's sea of consciousness, "What are you doing standing back there? You're the second disciple."

Xie Qingmo looked at Master, gave a soft hum, and stepped forward.

Just then, a subtle sword qi sliced past.

Liu Qingcheng, who was lowering his head preparing to follow the others forward, suddenly slipped on the smooth stone tiles beneath his feet!

Plop!

Unprepared, he fell flat on his face with a loud thud, letting out a short cry of pain.

"Master!" Liu Qingcheng shouted in disarray, raising his head, scrambling to get up.

Just as he propped up half his body, that tricky sword qi accurately struck the tendon in his ankle again!

"Ouch!" Liu Qingcheng lost his balance again, falling heavily to the ground; this time even his hairpin was askew, his face smeared with dust, looking utterly miserable.

"Master..."

Plop!

Liu Qingcheng climbed up, "Mas..."

Plop!

Everyone: "..."

"Junior Brother Qingcheng?" Shi Yan, puzzled, wanted to help him, while Xing Yan and Lan Yi also looked surprised.

Xie Qingmo, however, stepped forward with his usual composure, passing the still-prone Liu Qingcheng, calmly walking to the front, standing shoulder to shoulder with senior martial brother Yun Che, and bowed again to True Person Ling Xu: "Welcome Master's emergence from seclusion!"

Liu Qingcheng was both angry and anxious, but could find no one to blame for the mishap; he could only endure the pain, crawling up with a dirty face, seething with hatred inside.

"Xie Qingmo, happy or not, let me vent for you." Jin Chen's voice carried a hint of smugness.

Xie Qingmo's fingertip lightly brushed the icy tassel of the Chen Sword, the faint arc at the corner of his lips deepening.

True Person Ling Xu saw Liu Qingcheng's miserable state, especially the bloodstain uncleaned at the corner of his mouth and his face covered in dust.

His mind suddenly clouded, he instinctively furrowed his brows, his eyes flashing with pity, and he hurried forward to personally help Liu Qingcheng up.

"Qingcheng! What happened? You fell so badly—quickly let your master take a look!"

Seeing his support arrive, Liu Qingcheng lunged into True Person Ling Xu's embrace, clutching Master's sleeves tightly; his tears fell like broken pearls, pattering down, and he cried so bitterly it was like pear blossoms in rain, his heart torn apart.

"Master... snivel, I, I'm useless... almost harmed my senior brothers and sisters, and ended up like this..." He choked, his words incoherent.

True Person Ling Xu's heart clenched at his sobbing; he gently patted his back to soothe him, his fierce gaze sweeping over the other disciples, his tone tinged with blame: "What happened? How did Qingcheng get hurt like this? And what are these jade shards on the ground?"

The ethereal and dao-boned middle-aged man held in his arms a handsome youth who cried like pear blossoms in rain, clinging tightly to him—this scene...

Huh.

【Huh!】

Jin Chen and Ling Gun Gun rolled their eyes in unison.

Jin Chen: "Xie Qingmo, your master is about to lose his virtue in his old age."

Xie Qingmo: "..."

He too was jolted by this overly intimate scene, his eye twitching, likewise unable to bear watching, forcing himself to look away.

Jin Chen was clearly stimulated by the scene, "Curse him!"

Xie Qingmo hadn't had time to stop it, or rather, that petty malicious thought deep inside him also tacitly approved.

Hum!

The Chen Sword hanging at Xie Qingmo's waist suddenly let out a clear hum and shot forth.

Swish! Swish!

The Chen Sword flew behind Liu Qingcheng; on the blue stone tiles, imposing sword qi instantly etched the large characters: "Pretentious."

Immediately after, a line of smaller characters appeared: "Shameless."

And on the blue stone tiles behind True Person Ling Xu, the sword qi precisely carved three large characters: "Old and shameless!"

The entire venue fell dead silent.

Everyone's gaze locked onto the two lines of characters etched by sword qi.

Liu Qingcheng's sobbing cut off abruptly, as if his throat were choked; he stared wide-eyed at the glaring two lines on the stone behind him, the color draining from his face, shame and fury overwhelming him.

True Person Ling Xu's soothing motion froze; he turned his head in disbelief to look at his own back, his aged face flashing between green and white.

Liu Qingcheng cried even harder and more aggrieved, pointing at the Chen Sword, choking: "Master, this is the second senior brother's sword, it..."

Before he could finish, True Person Ling Xu, having realized, jerked back, unable to believe he had been so intimate with a disciple.

It was utterly improper for a master and disciple.

Even more strangely, he couldn't recall why he had acted so improperly; upon reflection, he felt a surge that defied reason.

Thus Liu Qingcheng fell again with a pap, landing nose-first.

Liu Qingcheng: "..."

【Detected Villain Blackening Value -5, total 54!】

The first to break this eerie silence was senior martial brother Yun Che.

He felt delighted, his gaze fixed on the Chen Sword at Xie Qingmo's waist: "Xie Qingmo, your sword has gained sentience!"

Even the tearful Liu Qingcheng forgot to sniffle, looking at that ancient simple long sword.

A sword giving birth to spirit and intelligence is extremely rare!

It means this sword has been reborn, possessing infinite potential.

True Person Ling Xu was also shaken; he instantly cast aside his earlier embarrassment and anger to the clouds, his eyes bursting with delighted light, his tone unreservedly relieved.

The sword has given birth to spiritual awareness! Good, good! Qingmo, has your cultivation progressed?

Xie Qingmo met the Master's gaze, his expression calm, "Reporting to Master, I have reached mid Golden Core, only half a step away from advancing to late Golden Core."

Ling Xu Zhenren's joy showed on his brows, and he exclaimed "good" three times.

His second disciple naturally possesses exceptional talent, but his disposition is overly aloof and cold.

Now not only has his natal sword given birth to spiritual awareness, but his own cultivation has progressed leaps and bounds.

He seemed to see again that young sword cultivator whose sharpness was fully exposed, the one whom the entire sect had high hopes for.

"Good!" Ling Xu Zhenren stroked his beard and laughed loudly, then curiously asked, "During this period you secluded yourself behind the mountains, yet you have made such progress? Did you obtain some opportunity, or have you comprehended some crucial point?"

Xie Qingmo's thin lips slightly parted, just as he was about to speak, Jin Chen's voice, tinged with lazy mischief, sounded in his sea of consciousness.

"Xie Qingmo, follow my lead: lower your head, remain silent, sigh, then say..."

Xie Qingmo paused imperceptibly, then, as instructed, lowered his eyelids, remained silent for a moment, before letting out an extremely faint sigh.

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the fellow disciples with varied expressions, finally landing on Ling Xu Zhenren's face; his voice was low, carrying the weariness of having seen through worldly affairs.

"Opportunity…… not really; it's just…… that I have seen through some people's hearts and understood some principles."

He did not deny the claim that the sword had given birth to spiritual awareness.

Jin Chen's existence will sooner or later be known to the sect; rather than hiding it, it's better to use this opportunity to let them gradually become accustomed.

The desolation and faint disappointment in his words could be heard by anyone.

Yun Che and the others felt a jolt in their hearts, somewhat panicked, as if they could sense that in the future they would only grow more distant from Xie Qingmo.

Ling Xu Zhenren looked at this increasingly aloof and isolated second disciple before him, recalling the reason he had secluded himself behind the mountains, and recalling his own recent neglect of him due to favoring Liu Qingcheng, a belated guilt welled up.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but it ultimately turned into a complex sigh, "Qingmo…… is for the Master……"

"Master!" Seeing the Master's attention completely captured by Xie Qingmo, even showing guilt, alarm bells rang in Liu Qingcheng's heart; she immediately squeezed out tears again, pitifully reaching to tug at Ling Xu Zhenren's sleeve, trying to regain his pity.

Just then, a transmitting talisman tore through the air, hovering before Ling Xu Zhenren—it was an urgent summons from the Sect Leader.