Chapter 66: 64 Whose Youth Is the Brightest

64 Whose Youth Is the Brightest

The gazes of the crowd immediately converged on Pei Shoujing's face.

For a moment, hearts were restless, each with their own thoughts.

Seeing that the situation was about to change, Pei Lifeng could not help but glance at Pei Laozu, who gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Pei Lifeng said, "It is not that we intended to conceal this; the matter arose suddenly, and even we were unprepared. It is not that we requested an audience, but rather that the Sword Guest suddenly summoned us..."

Pang Ke shouted, "It really is that Sword Guest who wants to see you?! Where will you meet? When?"

The crowd began to panic, and even the Wang Family, in-laws of Pei Lifeng, were at a loss, saying, "Father-in-law, since it is the Sword Guest who is descending, why didn't you notify us in advance? What are we to do! We didn't bring any gifts; how can we pay our respects empty-handed? Doesn't this make us appear rude?"

Tang Zhao noticed that Black Widow's hands paused slightly, her gaze flickering, and he thought: What, even she didn't know? Has an unexpected situation occurred?

Pei Lifeng said somewhat awkwardly, "Actually, there is no need to prepare. In fact, the Sword Guest will not arrive until tomorrow morning, and our gathering will disperse before dawn..."

Pang Ke said, "Oh? You won't even let us see him for a few hours? You are too overbearing; do you really treat the Sword Guest as your own family? Tell me, have all the benefits bestowed by the Sword Guest been swallowed by you?"

Pei Laozu glared at his son, blaming him for his lack of tact, and said slowly, "Everyone, have you ever considered whether the Sword Guest even wants to see you?"

The crowd quieted slightly, and Pang Ke was the first to speak again: "Since the Sword Guest took the initiative to seek your help, he naturally has a need. We have strength in numbers, and if we offer gifts with sincerity and generosity, could he possibly refuse?"

Pei Laozu sighed, "Who said he came to seek us out? He has been staying at Taohua Tower, and it was only after my little nephew invited him to our home repeatedly that he came. When he arrived, he was indifferent, not even glancing at the precious gifts we offered. That was until he saw my granddaughter." He pointed at Pei Shoujing.

"It was my granddaughter who caught his eye, and he intends to take her back to provide her with a future; it was through this that we began discussing the Demon Cave. Originally, although he intended to enter the Demon Cave, he planned to go alone. It was we who begged him to take us along. Now, he only cares to see my granddaughter; we do all the planning and gather the people, and he rarely asks about it. He only has eyes for children with potential; the number of times everyone else has seen him combined does not equal the number of times my granddaughter has."

This was self-consistent, and the crowd was somewhat convinced.

Because such things are possible, and are even what they hope for most.

After so many years of the Calamity Moon, although there are few seedlings with Spirit Talent, these wealthy families with many members can usually produce one or two.

If there are no innate ones, they can cultivate acquired ones; if there are no young ones, there are old ones. If there are no direct descendants, there are collateral ones. If there are no particularly strong ones, average ones are not hard to find. But how these clansmen realize their talent is an unreachable chasm.

Becoming a Heavy Swordsman is not difficult; which family doesn't have a few Art Tools in their collection? The difficulty lies in other resources, and even the opportunity to become a Sword Guest. You may have the aptitude for a Sword Guest, but you must encounter a suitable sword. With the same talent, encountering the right sword makes one a powerful Sword Guest; without it, one can only live a mediocre life. The ideal situation is few people and many swords, where everyone has multiple chances to try them one by one—if this one doesn't work, switch to the next, until one becomes a Sword Guest.

However, such a power does not exist in the world. Large powers, such as the Land Inspection Division or regional legions, certainly have many swords, but they have even more people, and countless compete for a single opportunity. Moreover, these powers have their own internal systems, and the Yunzhou Governor intends to cultivate confidants from civilian backgrounds; these wealthy families have no advantage in sending people in, but rather a disadvantage.

Especially since the Imperial Court's forces all shoulder responsibilities; joining means going to the battlefield, where life and death are fated. The geniuses of wealthy families are the treasures of the clan, and the foundation of the entire family relies on them; they are never willing to easily throw them onto the battlefield, preferring to keep them in hand to await the right time.

As for the major sects visible to the public, they each have their own spheres of influence and only recruit disciples within those areas; there are none within Yunzhou. Occasionally, a sect recruits disciples nationwide, but those are one in ten thousand, and their own children are never selected.

The remaining small powers have even fewer opportunities. The swords in their hands are not numerous and have been passed down for generations; they have long known what kind of talent they need. They will select a few candidate disciples for each sword, but the quantity is limited, and they will never cast a wide net. Firstly, the Imperial Court does not allow it, and secondly, they cannot afford it. Therefore, small powers do not open their gates wide, but only send envoys to quietly search for those with affinity.

These family disciples all hope for the legendary story: a small power possessing a Sword Guest has a masterless sword, and after searching for years without finding a suitable disciple, they can only search silently in the mortal world. One day, they happen to arrive at a small city and immediately take a fancy to a young person with extraordinary talent, allowing them to inherit that infinitely powerful sword—and this young person is their own family member.

Such good fortune is hard to come by, but it seems to be happening to the Pei Family.

Pei Laozu stroked his beard and said, "The Demon Cave is indeed an opportunity, but the Pei Family did not need to stake everything on it. Shoujing already has a path, just waiting for the future. But Lifeng still wants to do more: first, to accumulate resources for the family, and second, to perform a service before the Sword Guest to win more favor for Shoujing. Pity the hearts of parents everywhere."

He spoke with emotion, but could not hide the boastfulness within. The others felt envious, and Wang Feize said, "The Sword Guest likes children with potential? My son is one too. Even if he is a little worse than your niece, he still has aptitude."

Pang Ke snorted, "A little worse? More like a lot worse, right? Your niece has Innate Spiritual Inspiration, while your son's was trained through Acquired Talent; how can you call that having potential?"

Wang Feize glared at him fiercely, but his son, Wang Cheng, kept looking at Pei Shoujing and did not react to Pang Ke's words.

In fact, Pang Ke was right; Acquired Talent is weaker than Innate, which is common knowledge.

Acquired Talent is not only harder to communicate with swords and various Dharma Artifacts and Art Tools, but the requirements for a suitable sword are also more stringent; it must be a perfect fit. To use the dialect of Chen Zong's hometown, innate inspiration allows for "fuzzy matching," while acquired can only do "precision matching," making the range of choices much narrower.

Pei Lifeng glanced at Wang Cheng, then used his gaze to consult the old ancestor, asking, "Shoujing, since your uncle has spoken, why don't you take your cousin to see that lord in a while?"

Pei Shoujing had maintained a faint expression, like a porcelain doll, and at this moment said, "I am not optimistic."

Pei Lifeng was stunned; he did not expect her to have objections to his instruction, and he stared at her as if he did not recognize this daughter.

Pei Shoujing lowered her gaze and said, "Daughter is willing to try."

Pei Lifeng was relieved. Wang Cheng was overjoyed, though it was unclear if he was happy to see the Sword Guest or happy that Pei Shoujing was willing to help him.

A middle-aged beautiful woman nearby said, "Old Ancestor, niece, I have a nephew..."

Before she could finish, others were already chattering: "I have a daughter—" "I have a grandson!" "I..."

Pang Ke's face turned blue and red, and he muttered, "Actually, I also have a..."

Pei Shoujing whispered something to Pei Lifeng, and Pei Lifeng said, "Everyone, the Sword Guest will summon my daughter at the hour of the Dragon tomorrow, which is only four hours from now..."

The crowd immediately said, "We will go back and call our people; there is still time." Others added, "I have already called my team to set off; they are on the way, and I can rendezvous with them in less than two hours."

Pei Laozu sighed, "Since everyone is so sincere, how can we delay the children's future? Everyone, go back to pick up your people and prepare some gifts—I don't mean those worldly possessions; the Sword Guest doesn't care for those. You should organize a list of the people and resources you are offering, so the Sword Guest can see your sincerity."

The crowd nodded busily, and Pang Ke said, "I will bring my family's foundation and have my child carry it to show our sincerity."

This served as a reminder to everyone, and they all said, "Exactly, let's display our family assets to add some luster."

Once the decision was made, no one could sit still, and they all hurriedly bid farewell and rushed down the mountain. In the blink of an eye, only the Pei Family and the Wang father and son remained on the mountain.

Pei Lifeng said, "Brother-in-law, don't you need to go back to retrieve your Dharma Artifact?"

Brother Wang smiled, "I already had Cheng'er carry the Dharma Artifact. How could he not support his mother's family's actions? The others are already on the road and will arrive tomorrow."

Pei Lifeng said, "As expected, brother-in-law is reliable; I must have a good drink with you today. Is Cheng'er coming? He is eighteen, he can have a little."

Wang Feize laughed, "Don't let him drink; let the children go play by themselves. Furthermore, wouldn't one be afraid of losing decorum in front of the Sword Guest after drinking?"

Pei Lifeng said, "If that is the case, then so be it. But we can drink; the Sword Guest doesn't like to see us, so let's not go up and stick our cold backsides to his hot face."

After the outsiders dispersed, he spoke much more freely and said to Yun Xiangu, "Xiangu, prepare a banquet for us."

Yun Xiangu raised an eyebrow, "You dead ghost, why mention drinking in my clean place?"

Pei Lifeng laughed deviously, "Then we won't mention wine; bring that intoxicating tea for us to have a few cups." Having said that, he took Brother Wang and left.

Yun Xiangu ignored them for the moment, stepped forward to support Pei Laozu, and said, "Old Ancestor, let's go rest." Pei Laozu went with the flow, leaned on her, and slowly stood up.

Supporting Pei Laozu, she heard her complain, "You were too sudden; how could a Sword Guest just appear out of nowhere? You didn't even say a word in advance, you scared me to death..." She spoke all the way as they left.

In the blink of an eye, only Pei Shoujing, Wang Cheng, and Tang Zhao remained in the cottage.

Wang Cheng almost laughed out loud and said, "Cousin, shall we go for a walk outside?"

Pei Shoujing said, "It is late; do we not need to sleep?"

The tea cups and fruit in the room were in disarray, and Tang Zhao had to clean them up. He felt a headache, but fortunately, he had been through training and was no longer the little scholar who wouldn't lift a finger, so he hurriedly tidied up the tea cups.

He heard someone say by his ear, "You come tomorrow too, okay?"

Tang Zhao looked up and saw Pei Shoujing with her head slightly lowered, looking at him. At this moment, she looked a bit like the delicate young girl under the withered branches again.

"Me? You want me to go?" Tang Zhao was very surprised.

He had just heard clearly that the Sword Guest wanted to summon young sprouts with Inspiration; from that point of view, he certainly qualified. But how did Pei Shoujing know he qualified?

Even Xing Ji had to wait until he had received a Spirit stimulus to know.

Could it be that he had revealed some flaw?

Wang Cheng had originally been very happy, but seeing Pei Shoujing suddenly speak to a strange Daoist Child, he couldn't help but be impatient and said, "Cousin, you are committing... what are you thinking? The Sword Guest's summons is a benefit for us; what does it have to do with other people?"

Pei Shoujing ignored him and said to Tang Zhao, "I always feel that you are a person with spirituality; I don't know if you have talent. You can come and try tomorrow morning."

Tang Zhao said softly, "Didn't you not favor bringing people to that Sword Guest?"

Just a moment ago, when Pei Lifeng wanted Pei Shoujing to bring outsiders for the Sword Guest to see, her first reaction was to refuse; it was only later, when Pei Lifeng insisted and stuffed a whole bunch of people at her, that she stopped insisting on her own opinion.

Pei Shoujing said, "I still don't favor them now. The Sword Guest certainly won't like them. He doesn't like families like ours; the wealthier we are, the more he loathes it. I think he might like you better."