Chapter 47: Azure Cloud (25)

Between Xiangli Xuan and Xiangli Lingze sat He Tingtong and Fu Fengyan. This was mainly because Xiangli Lingze had forcefully squeezed himself next to He Tingtong, leaving Fu Fengyan with no choice but to shift aside. As a result, when he turned his head, he found himself staring at Xiangli Xuan.

“Hello.”

“Mm.”

The two taciturn individuals nodded perfunctorily and turned their heads back.

Fu Fengyan shifted his seat until he was practically pressed against He Tingtong. Xiangli Xuan tilted his head slightly, looking at Xie Xuanxiao. Judging by their gazes, the two seemed to be communicating via secret voice transmission.

At this moment, the shopkeeper brought up the wine. Xiangli Lingze’s eyes lit up, and he was just about to jump out to take it when he heard the young man in the seat of honor say indifferently, “You are young; do not drink alcohol.”

Xiangli Lingze: “…”

The shopkeeper brought the wine jars up, then took them back down. Xiangli Lingze gazed longingly after them, wanting to sigh but holding it back.

As he ate, he caught a glimpse of Xiangli Xuan sitting with Xie Xuanxiao out of the corner of his eye. Frowning, he also used secret voice transmission to ask He Tingtong, Why are you guys mixed up with Xie Xuanxiao? Weren’t you shouting for blood during the final trial?

He Tingtong ate calmly without looking up. A chance encounter. Thanks to the Guili Sword Master, Xie Xuanxiao insisted on treating us, so naturally, we indulged him.

Stay away from them. Don’t be bought by this meal, Xiangli Lingze warned. Those two are experts at putting on airs, full of bad intentions, petty, and vengeful. Birds of a feather flock together.

Xiangli Lingze raised his eyes and suddenly leaned bonelessly onto He Tingtong, draping his arm over him. “Actually, I feel quite a connection with you. Why don’t we form an alliance?”

He Tingtong’s eyebrow twitched slightly. He only asked, “How would we ally?”

Xiangli Lingze’s eyes glinted with malice. “Of course, to beat them down!”

He Tingtong: “For example?”

Xiangli Lingze rubbed his hands together eagerly. “I have a rare Drunken Dream Pill here. I’ll secretly slip it into their teapot later and get them drunk. I guarantee they’ll be dead to the world, not knowing heaven from earth. Once we leave the restaurant, on the way back, we’ll sack them and throw them into the lake!”

He Tingtong put down his spoon. “No.”

Xiangli Lingze: “…Coward!”

“This is at school, not some other place. We can defeat them using open and aboveboard methods; why resort to getting them drunk?” He Tingtong picked up Xiangli Lingze’s bowl and served him some soup as well. “Besides, I don’t form alliances; I only make friends. Alliances are for profit; friends share life and death.”

“Young Master Lingze, do you want to be my friend or my ally?”

Xiangli Lingze was stunned. He looked at the soup bowl placed steadily in front of him, and the arm draped over He Tingtong loosened slightly. Then, he shifted his chair to the side, distancing himself a bit. He neither answered nor sent another voice transmission, just hugged his bowl and drank soup as if nothing had happened.

Beside them, Fu Fengyan watched He Tingtong serve the soup personally. His eyes widened slightly as he stared at Xiangli Lingze’s bowl, then looked at his own. He transmitted, I want some too.

So He Tingtong picked up a piece of sweet cake to shut him up.

“May I ask where Fellow Daoist He studied? Your swordsmanship is superb, and your immortal talismans are drawn very well.” Xie Xuanxiao suddenly raised his hand for a toast. “Cultivating both sword and array is rare in this world.”

“A mere Third Realm, not worth mentioning. It has to be the Young Palace Master—not yet twenty, but already at the Seventh Realm. A peerless genius that makes others feel ashamed of their inadequacy.” He Tingtong smiled. “My knowledge of immortal talismans is shallow. It’s all thanks to Xiao Yue, who taught me everything he knew along the way, allowing me to learn a little.”

Yue Qianxun, cheeks bulging as he chewed, suddenly looked up at He Tingtong when his name was called, his eyes full of confusion.

He Tingtong gave him a look, telling him not to mind, so someone lowered his head and continued eating.

“Azure Cloud Academy has many talents this year, but the most outstanding among them are still Young Palace Master Xie and the two Young Masters Xiangli.” He Tingtong raised his teacup high and toasted the three of them from a distance. “For the next four years, I hope fellow Daoists will give me much guidance.”

Beside him, Xiangli Lingze raised his cup and drank. Xie Xuanxiao fingered his wine cup, while Xiangli Xuan looked at He Tingtong with emotionless eyes. They were all sizing each other up. He Tingtong drank the tea in his cup in one go. He just smiled, looking like he was showing goodwill.

“Xiao He, you are also very good,” Su Tan suddenly spoke up. “Everyone is very good. Formal classes will begin in two days. Four years in the academy, we are all classmates. Everyone should help each other and progress together.”

Xie Xuanxiao: “Naturally.”

So everyone raised their cups in unison and clinked them. For a moment, the atmosphere was very harmonious and innocent. Then, they finished the meal hastily and dispersed.

The two Xiangli brothers returned to the Heaven Sound Pavilion. Zhang Duixue said Xie Xuanxiao hadn’t recovered yet, so he would send him back to the Langhuan Pavilion first before returning himself. Yue Qianxun had overeaten, so He Tingtong took him to buy hawthorn berries for digestion.

Su Tan didn’t dare walk on the main street anymore and stood in a dark alley waiting for them. Fu Fengyan stood beside him and suddenly spoke, “Guili Sword Master, I’m sorry, I lied to you.”

Su Tan: “What?”

“My cultivation is at the Tenth Realm.” Fu Fengyan was expressionless, his eyes half-lowered, his expression showing a hint of fragility. “I did use Sword Intent in this trial, but I’m not a bad person. I deliberately hid my cultivation because I ran away from home to follow He Tingtong to the academy.”

“He doesn’t like me, but I like him and want to pursue him. But the elders in my family keep a strict watch, so I hid my identity and didn’t dare expose myself.”

Tears fell patter-patter. Fu Fengyan’s voice carried a hint of grievance. “We’ve traveled together all this way, and I’ve seen the Teacher’s character. I shouldn’t have lied; I should have been honest… But can you please not reveal my identity? I’ve only been with him for four months. I want to accompany him more.”

Su Tan: “…”

His consciousness immediately sank, shaking Qin Tan awake. “Did you hear that! Did you hear that! I told you you were too fierce!”

Qin Tan came online. Looking at the youth in front of him with his head lowered and tears falling continuously, he frowned. “Why didn’t you say so just now?”

“My reaction is slow,” Fu Fengyan sobbed. “I just realized it now.”

Qin Tan: “…”

His brow furrowed almost into a knot. “Which family are you from? How old are you this year?”

Fu Fengyan: “Seventeen. I cannot speak of my family background. The clan’s discipline is very strict. I have never killed anyone and carry no evil karma.”

As he spoke, Fu Fengyan raised his head, wiped his tears, and revealed his forehead. “The Sword Master can verify.”

Qin Tan raised a finger and probed with spiritual power. It was truly empty. Not only was there no evil karma, but the entire brain was empty, without a single aperture opened.

Qin Tan frowned extremely tightly, asking in disbelief, “You are at the Tenth Realm but have no Consciousness Sea or Heart Domain?”

Fu Fengyan shook his head.

In normal cultivation, the Consciousness Sea is born after the Seventh Realm. The Consciousness Sea is closely related to one’s state of mind. For example, Qin Tan was devoted to the Sword Dao. When he broke into the Sword Tomb at the Seventh Realm, he gained the recognition of sword spirits. Thereafter, ten thousand swords bowed to him, resonating with his Consciousness Sea and Heart Domain to form the Forest of Ten Thousand Sword Tablets.

Everyone’s Consciousness Sea and Heart Domain were different, some large and some small. Some were as tiny as a mustard seed, while others were as vast as city walls. But Qin Tan had never seen anyone like Fu Fengyan, who had absolutely nothing.

His brows knit together. Disbelieving, he checked carefully again. The spiritual veins were broad, and the root bone was excellent, but there was indeed no reaction from anything else.

So he asked, “Since your family discipline is strict, how did you get out?”

“I was brought out by the clan elders and then got separated.” Fu Fengyan said truthfully, “I met He Tingtong, fell in love at first sight, and followed him… Can you please not drive me away?”

Qin Tan: “No one came looking for you?”

Fu Fengyan: “No.”

He answered so straightforwardly and candidly that Qin Tan fell silent instead.

Among the aristocratic families of the cultivation world, there were many favored children of heaven. Seventeen years old and Tenth Realm was a bit shocking, but if he had no Consciousness Sea or Heart Domain… that was different.

A person with a Stone Heart. This was a defect. He had heard about it from his Sect Leader Martial Uncle but had never seen it with his own eyes.

Without a Consciousness Sea or Heart Domain, it meant he had no Heart Tribulations. Advancing without tribulations was indeed extremely fast, but such a person was no different from wooden puppets or stones. They could not comprehend the Dao in their lifetime, nor receive the favor of the Heavenly Dao. No matter how high their realm rose, they only had the spiritual power contained within their spiritual veins.

Stronger than mortals, but with insufficient spiritual power. If the spiritual veins were exhausted, they would just be ordinary people who were slightly better at fighting. If they faced someone who had opened their Consciousness Sea and Heart Domain, they wouldn’t last a single round.

Such people were often born with immense strength and achieved great heights in the Martial Dao, but they had nothing else. Even at the Fifteenth Realm, they would still age, and their lifespan would be equal to that of mortals.

No wonder Fu Fengyan looked dull; he might indeed have congenital deficiencies and not be very bright.

Even his appearance in Jubei Prefecture might not be because he got lost, but because his family was unwilling to support him anymore and abandoned him in the Northern Territory to fend for himself.

Qin Tan looked at the youth still wiping his tears, his heart filled with mixed feelings for a moment.

“Alright, stop crying.” Qin Tan still didn’t have a good expression, but his voice softened a little. “I won’t drive you away. Since you have entered the academy, just cultivate well.”

Fu Fengyan’s eyes were red. “Really?”

Thinking of the few seedlings he valued, Qin Tan felt the burden on his shoulders was too heavy. He said helplessly, “Really. You are my student; no one can drive you away.”

Fu Fengyan wiped his face and thanked him, “Master, you are so good!”

Qin Tan: “…Don’t act coquettishly with me. He Tingtong is here; go find him.”

Fu Fengyan turned his head. At the other end of the alley, He Tingtong was walking over holding two candied hawthorn sticks. Fu Fengyan wiped the tears off his face, then walked over with a smile and was fed a mouthful of hawthorn.

Su Tan sighed with emotion. “See, I told you Xiao Fu is a good child. In the future, if anything happens, don’t just start shouting for blood. Talk to them; maybe many misunderstandings can be resolved.”

“We will be masters later too. A master is like a father. Passing on the Dao, imparting knowledge, and resolving doubts—we should have some patience with students.”

Qin Tan snorted coldly. “You do it if you’re so capable.”

Su Tan gave up. “I can’t. At most, I can do some psychological counseling. I don’t know how to use a sword. With so many little cubs, I hope I don’t lead them astray…”

In the distance, three teenagers ran toward him. He Tingtong stuffed a cold stick of candied hawthorns into his hand. “Just made. Brother Tan, try it?”

Su Tan took it smoothly and took a bite. The sugar shell was thin and crisp, and the hawthorn… hmm, was also very sweet.