Chapter 51: Azure Cloud (29)

Yue Qianxun crawled darkly on the ground and finally dug a hole through the dense array talismans. Copying how He Tingtong had broken Xie Xuanxiao’s array in the past, he punched a hole in the wall, smashed the earthen wall, and successfully crawled out of the house.

He shook the dust off his body, looked at the brilliant sunshine outside, and felt refreshed. With his hands on his hips, he laughed heartily and said confidently, “Old man, a mere small array can’t trap me!”

Then he turned his head and bumped into a cold sword hilt. His stomach hurt from the impact. Yue Qianxun shuddered subconsciously, looked up, and saw Qin Tan’s lowered eyes, pitch-black and cold, flickering with a murderous chill. Staring at him, he said coldly, “Skipping class collectively? Don’t want to learn the sword anymore?”

Behind Qin Tan, Teacher Mu “sat” on the reclining chair, his whole body stiff. A transparent sword shadow hung in front of his head, pointing straight at his glabella, ready to strike. It felt like ten thousand swords would fall in the next second, turning him into a sieve.

Seeing this, Yue Qianxun knelt with a thud, wishing he could kowtow twice on the spot. He immediately pointed to the sky and swore, “Teacher Qin, absolutely impossible!”

Qin Tan was slightly satisfied and said calmly, “Where are the other three?”

Yue Qianxun immediately turned around, pointed to the hole he had crawled out of, and said obsequiously, “All inside, haven’t come out yet. I’ll go save them right now.”

Looking at that dog hole, the corner of Qin Tan’s mouth twitched. “Can’t even solve such a small array. Useless.”

Raising his eyes slightly, he kicked the main gate open, forcibly tearing a breach with his own spiritual power. With a loud boom, the layers of arrays circulating on the periphery shattered instantly. Also shattered were the ten catties of spirit stones Teacher Mu had buried under the corner of the wall, and his courtyard wall.

Teacher Mu had lived to such an age and was used to bloodshed in his youth. Although he had lost power now, he was just staying in his good friend’s academy for retirement. For the first time in his life, he saw someone being so unreasonable to him. His beard bristled with anger. Ignoring the Sword Intent above his head, he jumped out and shouted, “You brute! You destroyed my house; this old man will fight you!”

He raised his hand and formed a seal. Several golden lights flashed at his fingertips. Seeing that he was about to throw out an array cage, Qin Tan sensed danger. His eyebrow twitched slightly, and he pressed the hilt of his sword, drawing it out just an inch. Sword Intent surged. Just as they were about to fight, a hoarse roar came from the side: “Stop! Don’t fight!”

Dean Xu, who had just returned from work, used several Instant Body Techniques to rush over. He slapped his hand over Teacher Mu’s mouth, blocking all the spells the other was about to utter. Panting, he looked at Qin Tan, whose sword was half unsheathed, and said grumpily, “Fighting between teachers is prohibited in Azure Cloud Academy!”

Qin Tan raised an eyebrow and sheathed his sword. Teacher Mu was held down by his old friend and couldn’t do anything. He brandished his claws and teeth in impotent rage, watching helplessly as half the array he had set up was destroyed. Then Qin Tan leisurely went inside, led the other three little cubs out, and kicked each of them on the butt. “Can’t even break an array. Shameful!”

Teacher Mu: “Wuwuwu!”

The four of them stood in a row. Zhang Duixue was overwhelmed with shame, Yue Qianxun was cowering, and Fu Fengyan was lost in thought, still thinking about what he had learned in the small room just now. Only He Tingtong, looking at the half-collapsed courtyard wall, twitched his eyelid. His gaze turned to Teacher Mu, whose face was turning a bit green while being held by Dean Xu, with a hint of sympathy.

“Go back.” Qin Tan turned around crisply. “Make up for the class hours wasted in the morning this afternoon.”

Seeing the four little ones forming a line to leave, Dean Xu couldn’t help but speak up to keep them. “Little Qin, come here. A word, please.”

The aloof sword cultivator paused, looked back, and frowned faintly. After sizing them up for a long time, the aura around him relaxed. With a wave of his hand, he grabbed He Tingtong first and asked a question, “Were you willing or forced?”

He Tingtong saw at a glance that the person had changed, so he leaned into the ear of Su Tan, who was taking the blame, and whispered, “Actually, this Teacher Mu has quite some insight into array arts. I originally planned to let him teach Xiao Yue.”

“In other words, you were trapped because Xiao Yue was taking a class quiz and was too slow, dragging you guys down?” Su Tan’s gaze shifted to Yue Qianxun. The youth shuddered and turned his back.

He Tingtong nodded decisively. “Yes, he still needs more practice!”

Yue Qianxun: “…” Clearly, I was the only one who successfully broke the array!

Su Tan leaned closer and whispered, “Nothing to do with the Langhuan Pavilion? Not deliberately targeting you?”

He Tingtong: “Not at all. Teacher Mu isn’t familiar with the Langhuan Pavilion.”

Su Tan facepalmed. “Then it’s over. I told you early on not to fight. How did you end up causing trouble?”

Calming himself down, he turned to look at Dean Xu, hooked his lips into a smile, instantly becoming as warm as a spring breeze. Softening his voice, he became extremely affectionate. “Dean Xu, what did you want to say to me?”

Dean Xu: “?”

Teacher Mu: “…”

The three adults approached, leaving the four youths where they were, and went to the other side of the bamboo forest to whisper, glancing over occasionally, looking like they were bargaining.

Yue Qianxun squatted on the ground, plucking grass leaves, very gloomy. “I feel like I can’t learn arrays anymore. I’d better honestly learn the sword. Tomorrow I’ll run three laps up the mountain.”

Zhang Duixue, having been bound for a long time, squatted on the other side. “I really can’t do anything. Learning arrays is a mess, and learning the sword can’t even break a trapping array. I’m so useless.”

The two murmured, resentment soaring above their heads. He Tingtong had to squat down, wrapped an arm around each of them, and patted their heads. “Just a small setback, brothers. Don’t be discouraged.”

“Only Xiao Yue broke this array, which shows you are truly a peerless genius in the way of arrays! I didn’t find a single clue and was drinking tea in the room with your Brother Fu.”

“After all, this is a trapping array set up by a teacher of Azure Cloud Academy!”

Yue Qianxun remained emotionless: “Oh.”

“Let me tell you a secret secretly. I’ve read a gazette from the Jingyu Tower. This person surnamed Mu is a good friend of the Dean, an array master, and very likely the number one array master from a hundred years ago, Mu Shenji.” He Tingtong leaned close and whispered, his tone sneaky.

Yue Qianxun shook all over. Although he had never heard of this name, hearing “number one” made him instantly respectful. “Ah? For real?”

He Tingtong shushed him, signaling him to keep his voice down. “I’m just guessing too, but think about it. Someone who can teach at Azure Cloud Academy is definitely no ordinary person. Your performance this time must have been noticed, and you’ll be accepted as an entry disciple.”

He Tingtong gave a thumbs up, sighing with emotion: “Your path is smooth!”

Yue Qianxun: “…”

He Tingtong: “Believe me?”

Yue Qianxun: “…Believe!”

So He Tingtong tilted his head to the other side. “Brother Zhang, although you failed to break the array, don’t be discouraged. You should know that fortunes change. Today you are trapped by an array, but we have Teacher Qin’s guidance. Wait four years until you enter the Sword Sect directly. When your Sword Dao is accomplished, within the Nine Provinces, no array will be able to trap you. In heaven and earth, there will be no more cages for you!”

“Look at that wall, look at that array. The next top scholar of Azure Cloud will be none other than you!”

The two looked at each other for a long time. Zhang Duixue gripped his sword tightly, his blood boiling, and said firmly, “Good friend, one day, whatever dangers lie before me, I will break them all with a single sword!”

The three grasped each other’s wrists, their gazes resolute.

Fu Fengyan squatted in front of He Tingtong. “What about me? What about me? Do you have anything to say to me?”

He Tingtong: “Come here and help me tidy my hair.”

Fu Fengyan: “Okay!”

So he happily went behind He Tingtong and tightened his somewhat loose hair ribbon.

On the other side of the bamboo forest, Qin Tan listened to these people wrangling back and forth, only feeling his head throbbing. In his boredom, he glanced aside with his divine sense, suddenly shuddered, and asked in confusion, “What are they doing?”

Su Tan spared a moment from bargaining to look back. “I don’t know, but it feels like they’re fired up.”

Qin Tan: “?”

After some “friendly exchange,” Teacher Mu finally buried the hatchet with “Qin Tan.” The three of them amicably divided up these seedlings. Zhang Duixue would continue to learn the sword with Qin Tan and didn’t need to come over anymore. Yue Qianxun would stay in the Mingxin Courtyard to learn arrays in the future; he indeed had no talent for the sword. As for He Tingtong, Teacher Mu rarely asked for him, but Su Tan wouldn’t allow it.

What a joke. His good fellow townsman was doing perfectly fine as a sword cultivator; how could he let him fall into someone else’s hands to learn arrays?

After discussing for a long time, no one could convince anyone. Finally, Dean Xu stepped in. “Aiya, how about this? Since no one is convinced, stop fighting. Coursework will become tighter in the future. For fairness, I’ll take a loss and reluctantly accept two disciples.”

Su Tan: “?”

Teacher Mu: “??”

Dean Xu finalized the decision, the corners of his mouth twitching up uncontrollably. “Alright, it’s settled! I’m not too busy on my side; I can still spare three to five days a month to go to your place.”

“Anyway, Azure Cloud Academy has no limit on classes. If they like it, they will naturally go to you to learn things, right?”

Teacher Mu jumped up to hit him. “You old thief, plotting something!”

Dean Xu greased the soles of his feet. “I’m doing this for fairness!”

After speaking, he turned and left, quickly walking to the group of youths nestled together. Then he smiled at He Tingtong and Fu Fengyan. “You two, come with me?”

He Tingtong: “?”

And so, inexplicably, they changed masters.

Dean Xu, Xu Yinwei. This person’s most praised skill was begging for food, but his teaching ability was unknown. To be honest, no one had ever seen it.

In his dozen lives, He Tingtong had never seen Dean Xu teach, nor seen him hit anyone, nor heard what Dao he cultivated.

He only knew that his background was extremely high, his seniority extremely high, and he had extremely many friends. He also had an elder brother who was the leader of the Immortal Alliance and a nephew as famous as Qin Tan. Additionally, he opened Azure Cloud Academy and expanded enrollment year by year, allowing more people to enter the immortal sects. Whether they were from third-rate small sects or wandering rogue cultivators, as long as they had ability, they could come into contact with top-tier immortal arts. This replenished the Immortal Alliance with a steady stream of talent, enabling it to forcibly prop up the immortal sects through the turbulent decades of wind and rain in the Nine Provinces that followed.

In terms of conduct, He Tingtong admired him greatly.

But in terms of teaching… He Tingtong looked at the Dean with a gentle smile before him, then at the stacks of rosters by his hand.

“Dean, you are…”

“Just call me Teacher.” Dean Xu patted their shoulders. “I felt joy as soon as I saw you two. I knew you must be teachable talents and couldn’t bear to let your master be lonely and helpless.”

Fu Fengyan: “?”

Dean Xu: “Come, come and look. Entering my Azure Cloud Academy, the first step is to cultivate the heart. So, help your master organize these thousand rosters first.”

Perhaps feeling he was too frenzied, Dean Xu raised his head and smiled kindly at them. “Not working for free. I provide meals here; we don’t eat at the cafeteria.”