9.16 – So, let’s review it again
translation: xiin
editor: bear & alamerysl
Once he entered secluded cultivation, time passed very quickly. Xue Ling had no concept of time, so he did not know how long he was closed up for.
After successfully entering the Chuqiao stage, he chose not to leave secluded cultivation and rather continued trying to consolidate his cultivation and attempted to rise up in power again.
He originally had ten thousand years of cultivation foundation, and his base was stable. In addition, he could absorb Chi Lan’s power for his own use when he was near him, so he naturally would not need to waste time in order to temper his own cultivation. He did not lack actual combat experience. If he really wanted to hone his abilities, all he needed to do was to wake up Chi Lan, who was protecting him nearby, and the two of them could have a fight.
Mountains and rivers changed as countless days and nights went by in the blink of an eye. By the time Xue Ling roused himself from his closed door cultivation, he was already on the upper boundary of the Fenshen stage, and only needed one step to enter the Dongxu stage. Raising his strength to this level within five hundred years was within Xue Ling’s calculations.
Five hundred years had passed. Yu Shaofeng didn’t know how many times he had returned to Still Peak, but he was unable to see his martial brother every time. He barely even saw his Master, either.
After five hundred years of honing, both of them were no longer the youths of the past. Although there was no difference in their appearances, the sword Qi that came out from their body and their temperament were very different from before. The two of them were like two sharp, unsheathed swords. If one looked at them too intently, the sword would burn their eyes and turn them blind. Recently, both of them had been learning how to restrain and condense their sword aura. In the later stages of sword cultivation, all things could become swords. They had not yet reached that realm, but what they could learn now was how to condense their sword Qi, and return it back to its original simplicity.
Condensing their sword Qi to the extreme would produce miraculous changes. This was the road that Chi Lan pointed out for them, and the two of them listened to Chi Lan’s words and had already remained in Still Peak for some time as they cultivated and waited for Xue Ling to emerge.
So, when Xue Ling emerged from secluded cultivation, he unexpectedly found that there were two other people on Still Peak besides his cheap Master.
Over time, everything had changed. Even Still Peak looked very different from before, but Xue Ling was still the same as ever. The brightness in his eyes and the beauty between his brows had been tempered by his rise in cultivation, and his aura was calmer than before. Although he remained dressed in black, he was still somewhat different from before.
However, in Chi Lan’s eyes, it was still the same person, and all these changes only made him want him even more.
“Why are we all gathered together?” Xue Ling raised his eyebrows and looked at his younger martial brother who seemed excited, but did not dare rush over. He stretched out his hand and waved to him before saying, “Shaofeng, come here. Let your martial brother see how much progress you’ve made in the past few hundred years.”
Yu Shaofeng nodded, but he did not immediately go over. Instead, his sword came out of its sheath.
He understood his martial brother’s meaning. He definitely hadn’t asked him to come over so that he could pinch his face like he did in the past. He wanted to spar with him, and see where his strength was at now.
His sword was still the one that Xue Ling had made for him, but after years of cultivation and nurturing, the sword now had a sword spirit. When it came out of its sheath, winds blew and clouds gathered, and the sound of thunder rumbled as lightning flashed across the sky. His movements were full of momentum.
Xue Ling raised his eyebrows again, rather surprised at Yu Shaofeng’s growth. But after all, he was the main protagonist, and he also did not know what Yu Shaofeng and Chi Jian had experienced in the years where they had been let out to travel the world. Thinking about it, it should be the strange treatment that all protagonists were given. “The sword is a good one, but your movements are too broad. When you can condense this momentum into your sword, perhaps you will have a chance at winning against me.”
Yu Shaofeng pouted. Chi Lan had also said the same thing, but his tone of voice had been even harder to swallow than Xue Ling’s. But his feet did not hesitate as his sword slashed, carrying with it the momentum of thunder, electric lightning dancing across the blade – he only made one move, but it carried everything he had.
There was no other way. Xue Ling’s strength was above his. Even if sword cultivators could surpass ranks and kill those stronger than them, at most that applied to two minor stages, and the difference between him and Xue Ling was too vast.
It looked very terrifying, and anyone who was personally experiencing the attack would also feel frightened. But in front of Xue Ling, it was incomparably simple for him to dissolve it.
If one looked carefully, they would see countless small green leaves floating in the air. There was a circle of green energy around the fallen leaves, but the energy had now become mottled as they absorbed the strong energy coming towards them.
The entire Still Peak was covered in green. Yu Shaofeng shook out his hand and quickly put his sword away so that his martial brother’s little leaves wouldn’t accidentally gnaw on his sword spirit. “Martial brother… you seem to have become much more powerful…”
“Yes. I’m at a bottleneck now. Once I pass it, I’ll be at the Dongxu stage~” Xue Ling smiled widely and mussed up his little martial brother’s puppy head, then greeted Chi Jian. “Long time no see. Chi Jian has also made great progress.” Yu Shaofeng was in the Yuanying stage, and Chi Jian had already reached Chuqiao. As far as cultivation speed was concerned, these two were absolute geniuses, but it was still difficult to compare them to Xue Ling and Chi Lan.
The two of them were hacks, and after they added their plug-ins, they were also unscrupulous, going out and going wild everywhere. It was almost as though they were asking for a beating.
“Oh, right. Martial brother!” Yu Shaofeng put away his sword and as though giving up an offering to Xue Ling, brought out five stones.
The five stones were almost the same in size. They were dark and unattractive, and there seemed to be nothing special even if one looked closely. But when Yu Shaofeng and Chi Jian inserted their sword intents, the patterns in the five stones emerged and sketched out a picture.
In this picture, there was a hidden clue to a secret realm that had never been opened before. These five stones were the keys to that secret realm.
Xue Ling raised his eyebrows. These five stones were mentioned only once in the author’s outline, so Xue Ling had no idea where to go to look for them. Unexpectedly, the two of them had really managed to find them while going out to temper themselves.
“Martial brother, you said that you would bring us when we found them all.” Yu Shaofeng laughed cheekily as he spoke.
“I’ve checked with Shaofeng.” Chi Jian pointed to the picture that had not yet disappeared, and said, “This was once an ancient cultivator’s city. It should be a secret realm that was left behind by sword cultivators from the ancient era. If we can really open it, it will be truly beneficial to me and Shaofeng.”
Xue Ling nodded thoughtfully: “It’s no problem taking you there, but if it’s a secret realm that was left behind by the ancient cultivators, I might not be enough to completely unravel the outer seal that they left behind.”
“Ask Master to join us then.” Yu Shaofeng opened his mouth and pointed to the cottage standing not far away. “Master is not in closed door cultivation. He’s also stuck at a bottleneck right now. Perhaps if we look through the secret realm of ancient masters who have already flown up, he can also gain some insights.~”
Xue Ling looked at Yu Shaofeng and saw hints of scheming in his innocent expression. “Since you’ve got it all planned out, why don’t you go and ask Master yourself? Why are you asking me to convey the message?”
Yu Shaofeng immediately began pretending to be pitiful. “Even though I am already so powerful, Master still dislikes me a lot. Even having Chi Jian go over to talk to him is better than me going.”
“Didn’t he already promise to allow you to stay in Still Peak?”
“It’s one thing to allow me to stay. Disliking me is a completely separate matter…” Yu Shaofeng pouted and looked very pitiful. “Martial brother, you don’t understand how fierce Master was when you were in secluded cultivation. Every time I spoke to him, he would resent me, and resent me to death. As long as he sees me, he’ll beat me up, and if I hadn’t been a cheerful and optimistic person, I would probably end up depressed and shut up in a corner every day.”
Xue Ling’s lips twitched. He really wanted to know where Yu Shaofeng had learnt all these messy things from. He spoke oddly, “Speak properly. Even if you pretend to be pitiful, I will not pity you.”
Yu Shaofeng shrank his head into his shoulders and muttered, “Martial brother’s temperament is like Master’s now that he’s left secluded cultivation.”
Chi Jian rubbed his head and suggested he speak less.
Chi Lan naturally knew when Xue Ling came out of secluded cultivation. But as a Master, he could only wait for his disciple to come see him instead of going to look for his disciple.
Heavens knew how badly stifled he felt; he wanted to explode. When that Yu Shaofeng was still blah blah blah talking outside, he really wanted to directly go over and kill that cheap disciple of his.
How come he had so much to say? As a sword cultivator, he should just quietly stay to the side just like Chi Jian. He was already over 500 years old but still acting cute with his martial brother, did he want to keep living! With this kind of temperament, wasn’t he just asking for a beating!
By the time Xue Ling knocked on the door and entered the room, the expression of the man inside was not just a normal level of ugly. Xue Ling glanced at him a couple times in surprise, and then turned his head over to look at the two little brats outside.
Yu Shaofeng made a ‘you can do it’ gesture to him, and Chi Jian’s expression was full of helplessness, probably because he also couldn’t do anything about such a foolish Yu Shaofeng.
“What are you doing just standing there, shut the door and come in.” He hadn’t had a chance to raise his middle finger towards Yu Shaofeng when Chi Lan’s voice rang out, cold and calm. Xue Ling shivered and hurried to shut the door, completely blocking Yu Shaofeng from Chi Lan’s line of sight.
Once the door was closed, the interior became its own enclosed space. Xue Ling did not know why, but he felt that it felt a little too quiet, and a chill ran up his spine. “Your disciple has seen Master.” He cupped his hands and finally raised his head to look at the man.
The man sat there, his expression chilly. He seemed indifferent, but Xue Ling could tell that he was unhappy.
He was also unhappy. How come nobody cared about his poor little emotions?
“Come over.” Chi Lan beckoned to him.
Xue Ling blinked, his mouth turning up in a pout before revealing a smile that was almost normal as he walked over. “Has Master not seen his disciple for too long? Is that why Master needs a closer look?”
“I truly do need a closer look.” Chi Lan’s voice was extremely deep. It was only when Xue Ling came close and met his gaze that he discovered his pupils were unfathomably dark, a deep abyss of black that frightened Xue Ling into shivering all over.
“Master, could it be you’ve fallen into Qi deviation again…”
“If I’ve fallen into the devil’s path, would you save me the way you did last time?”
“…” Xue Ling was stunned, and then incredulously widened his eyes.
Chi Lan’s hand slid across his face, and his voice was still deep as it rang out next to his ear. It made Xue Ling’s entire body turn plaint. “Why aren’t you speaking? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I…” Xue Ling opened his mouth, but before he could speak, his lips were blocked by Chi Lan.
His palm was against his lips, his fingertips touching his cheek. “Or perhaps you can stay quiet, and let me speak instead…”
Xue Ling blinked and wondered in his heart if the man had been stifled for too long and really lost it…
“Are you wondering why I would say these things?” Chi Lan’s other hand threaded through Xue Ling’s hair, then pulled him completely into his embrace, his lips landing gently on Xue Ling’s forehead. “Or are you surprised that I remembered what happened that day… Although I had forgotten, you couldn’t possibly have also forgotten those fragments too, right?”
Xue Ling’s entire face was red. Although they had done it many times, he really did not want to talk about these kinds of matters straight on as they still had the ability to make him shy. “Wu…” His mouth was covered and he couldn’t speak. He reached out and tried to pull down Chi Lan’s hand, but it was useless.
Chi Lan simply used a small magic to fix his hand in place so that he had no way to move. “I feel that I still need to emphasize that although I forgot whether or not it really happened, I would always recall and savor it every now and then.”
Xue Ling’s ears were beginning to turn red.
Chi Lan kissed him on the tip of his nose. “What should we do, my disciple? You’ve become my obsession now. Without you, I won’t even be able to fly up and ascend.”
Xue Ling almost rolled his eyes at him. He really wanted to ask him whether or not he was joking. What did he mean, not being able to fly up without him?
“If I didn’t remember it by myself, would you always act as though these matters had never happened, and leave me to suffer forever? Let me want you but be unable to obtain you, having to be careful even when just trying to get close, until you finally drift further and further away from me and ultimately just leave?”
Xue Ling thought in his heart, ‘You should just let me talk! I’ll tell you, that was exactly what I wanted to do!’
And then you would go into a rage and shut me into a little dark room or something!
I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time!
But Chi Lan had no intention of letting him explain himself. He had endured this for too long, and would not listen to anything Xue Ling might have to say.
He bent his head and bit the junction between Xue Ling’s neck and shoulder. “I will never let you leave me, nor will I let you stand there and watch to see how low I can sink.”
Xue Ling: “…”
“So let’s review it again.” Xue Ling’s belt was directly pulled open. He found that he could move now, but it was of no use – he was still held tightly in the man’s arms. “Go over the images you want to forget, but which I love and enjoy so much~”
Xue Ling: “…” In fact, he was okay with it too… He had no intention of forgetting…
xiin: is it just me or is XL becoming less of a prude?
