When Yin Biyue awoke, he saw the canopy directly above his head and scented the fragrance of soothing incense drifting through the air. The sounds of light chatter and a refreshing smell cleared his head.
His mind went blank for a moment. Then he suddenly sat up and slammed his fist into the bed, unable to restrain the urge.
He remembered everything that had happened last night and thought his brain must have been full of ‘Drunken Immortal’.
He had actually drank too much!
Aside from having drank so much, he even went to find Luo Mingchuan to discuss life!
Discussing life didn’t yield any results! Forget about blindly trusting whatever the other person said! But he even snatched the other’s wine to drink! And even fell asleep!
Forget falling asleep! He even grabbed his sleeve and said, ‘I just want to peacefully live my life.’
“Living” his ass!
How could this kind of cover blowing speech be said so casually!
Huh? What happened after that conversation? Why wasn’t he on the roof right now?
… Chatterbox had fallen down a while ago; in the end it must have been Luo Mingchuan that dragged him back!
Did he do anything crazy while drunk?! Did he loudly pronounce the villainy manifesto?! Did he drench the other person entirely in spit?!
Way! Too! Shameful!
Yin Biyue was busy wallowing in self-disgust, and right at this moment, a familiar voice came from the courtyard, “Shidi, are you up…”
Without even thinking, he shouted, “I’m not here!–”
…
Life is a tragedy.
Yin Biyue almost raised his hand to run himself through with his sword.
He felt like he must have established an incredibly stupid impression of himself in Luo Mingchuan’s heart.
With a wooden face, he got off the bed, faced the mirror, and straightened his clothes. In his mind was an endless replay of his own voice, ‘I’m not here I’m not here I’m not here…”, and then he silently opened the door.
Luo Mingchuan stood underneath a tree. On his face was the same smiling expression as always, courteous and amiable, without even a hint of teasing.
Within Yin Biyue’s heart rose a thread of hope…
Maybe yesterday he didn’t act too crazy drunk after all?
And that ostrich-headed ‘I’m not here’ a moment ago was also not heard by anyone?
In that instant, Chatterbox opened his door and asked, astonished, ‘Eh? Fourth shixiong? Weren’t you not here?”
…
He’s brought shame to his sect.
The corner of Yin Biyue’s mouth twitched.
Fortunately Luo Mingchuan let out a single cough with impeccable timing, “Since my two shidi are both awake now, let us go.”
Yin Biyue only then suddenly realized, Luo Mingchuan had a match today; he and Chatterbox had even said they would go together to watch.
A strong feeling of guilt arose in his heart; he regretted he went so far as to drag him to go drink and talk about life last night.
Third shixiong was right! Drinking really made a mess of things!
Duan Chongxuan also showed a face of shame.
Luo Mingchuan laughed, “Yesterday after drinking some wine, I slept especially well at night; today I woke up with both my mind and spirit refreshed, and my entire body feels unhindered.”
Yin Biyue finally felt a bit comforted, “That’s good then, let’s go.”
By the time he stood under the stage watching the two sides greeting each other, he felt he was even more focused than Luo Mingchuan.
During the first round, Luo Mingchuan faced Bao Pu Zong’s Wang Zhen, and using his sword as a rod, he demonstrated the Academy’s Disciplinary Whip.
In the second round, he had a bye and went into closed door cultivation at Lake Qiu to breakthrough; he didn’t go watch the battle between Luo Mingchuan and Xing Shan Temple’s Pu Hong. Reportedly, the two of them discussed Buddhism, and Pu Hong thought himself inferior and surrendered.
But no matter if it was the Disciplinary Whip or the buddhist doctrines, both were other people’s techniques; naturally they couldn’t possibly be Luo Mingchuan’s specialty.
He really wanted to see in the end how many cultivation methods Luo Mingchuan could use and what the strongest ace up his sleeve was.
Yin Biyue silently observed around the stage and discovered that in the direction of the Qing Lu Sword Sect, Song Tang, Zhong Shan, and Cheng Tianyu had all come. On Bao Pu Zong’s side, besides Zheng Wei, almost all of them had come.
It looked like the ones wanting to understand you weren’t just your companions, but also your opponents, and even your enemies.
In cultivation realms alone, Luo Mingchuan was the best among this generation of Cang Ya disciples, and he was also rumored to be the person most likely to defeat Zhong Shan and seize first place.
Thus, even though this battle appeared to be an assured victory, the number of spectators was still rather numerous.
The one standing opposite Luo Mingchuan was a disciple born in the Western Continent’s frontiers. His sect’s reputation wasn’t very prominent, but his own cultivation was not bad. His greeting was also very proper, “It’s an honor to meet the famed Luo Mingchuan. Today, we are on the same stage fighting. It really is good fortune.”
Duan Chongxuan said in a low tone, “This person is a spiritual cultivator; his innate spiritual vein is very rare, and the cultivation methods he practices are also rare. Last round he even defeated a Lian Jian Zong disciple.”
Yin Biyue nodded and saw Luo Mingchuan modestly give his reply, “You flatter me; I’m humbled. Come.”
That person also stopped being courteous; his right hand lifted slightly and his fingers flew up and down.
Countless minute water droplets appeared in front of him, rapidly condensing into a thin water screen that was smooth as Lake Qiu and could display a person’s reflection.
Duan Chongxuan spoke, “His hand seals are actually pretty fast.”
They were indeed very fast. In the blink of an eye, the water screen sharply expanded to three zhang, as if a lake was erected vertically on the stage.
At the same time, the air around the stage rapidly became dry.
Ten thousand water arrows condensed, breaking through the lake!
It was clearly water, but because of the swift speed and boundless core energy, it produced a high pitched sound that pierced the air.
Luo Mingchuan swept his sleeve, the wind whistled, and the arrows darting towards him stopped a meter in front of him and dropped out of the air. Water splashed near his feet, like a sudden downpour onto the ground.
But it failed to wet a single corner of his robes.
This kind of core energy barrier technique could be considered simple and crude; Yin Biyue had seen Luo Mingchuan use it before while they were in the PanLong Mountains.
Unlike the fights between cultivators that used swords and sabers, the battles between spiritual cultivators were more often than not very slow.
Even though it had already passed enough time for a cup of tea, the two opponents were still trading blows, one after another, a back and forth sort of exchange.
Just when many people thought the conclusion was foregone and that Luo Mingchuan was going to rely on the differences in core energy in a war of attrition to beat his opponent, Yin Biyue noticed that person’s forehead was gathering a lot of sweat and his expression was also anxious and impatient. He was clearly unable to endure any longer and had to use his most precious technique.
As expected, in the next moment, people began to cry out in surprise, “Fog is rising!”
The fog came from all directions; yet it clearly wasn’t the morning mist, and it wouldn’t scatter in the wind.
On the contrary, more and more assembled, thick and dense, enveloping the entire stage.
Yin Biyue directed his core energy to wrap around his eyes, but he still couldn’t see anything.
Many people were the same as him, unable to see the mysteries within the fog, only able to see a vast expanse of white.
Chatterbox, also shocked, asked, “What is this technique?”
Yin Biyue narrowed his eyes to look for a moment; his consciousness was very strong, so he now used his divine sense to look, “Tower Lost in Fog， Ferry Shrouded in the Moon.¹”
Chatterbox did not suddenly understand; instead he lowered his head and choked out, “Fourth shixiong, I haven’t studied that much…”
Yin Biyue explained, “It was invented by a saint during the ‘All Saints Era’; with an innate water type spiritual vein, but one that was out of the norm. It can turn water into fog, obscuring an opponent’s perception, the famous ‘Tower-Shrouding Fog’. Right now, he hasn’t attained the right cultivation realm, but if his realm was just a bit higher, he could even form an illusion within the mist, and that would be ‘Ferry Lost in the Moon’.
Chatterbox lamented, “Not having been seen in these many years, it looks like this spiritual vein is indeed quite rare.”
Yin Biyue watched Luo Mingchuan lift his hand and make the seal for ‘Guiding Wind Art’. The weeds beside the stage gently swayed, but the fog was so dense that even the wind could not blow inside. He could not help but be nervous for an instant.
The people below the stage couldn’t make anything out clearly and were only able to wag their tongues and make conjectures.
In actuality, Luo Mingchuan was able to see.
Jia Lan Spiritual Pupil Arts was known as ‘Buddha’s Discerning Eye’; once one’s cultivation was high enough, it allowed the user to see through every barrier and obstacle.
With his current cultivation realm, even without him pushing the Pupil Arts, forget the dense fog; in his eyes, even the movement of his opponent’s hand seals slowed down to a crawl.
In addition to that, he could also see shidi below the stage, staring at his nervous expression.
Brows slightly knitted, serious and concentrating, like there was only one person in his eyes.
He didn’t know why, but the movement of his hand seals also slowed down.
Within the dense fog, arrows came from all directions, without sound and without paths, as if they appeared out of thin air. This was enough to make one feel panicked and hopeless.
Luo Mingchuan’s expression did not change; he lifted his hand and swept his sleeve, blocking the arrows yet not dispersing the fog.
He finished his hand seals, and a screen of water rose in front of him, unexpectedly the exact same as the one in front of his opponent.
The same water screen and water arrows, but with greater might.
Under the cover of fog, not a single person realized it. Even that disciple on the stage was apprehensive; he didn’t know why he couldn’t see through his own fog. He thought Luo Mingchuan had used some kind of method to change the water arrows’ trajectories, making them turn on each other.
“The fog still hasn’t dispersed yet. Is this technique really this powerful?”
“Even Cang Ya’s head disciple actually can’t handle it?”
Yin Biyue also didn’t see the water screen in front of Luo Mingchuan, only thinking it was strange.
If Luo Mingchuan was unable to see, why was he so untroubled, without a single tear in his defense? If he could see his opponent was only three feet away from him, why didn’t he directly attack his opponent?
Even if the pace of this battle was slower, there must still be an ending.
The mist scattered, and the people appeared; complexion pale, that disciple stooped over and gasped for breath, yet he wasn’t injured, only out of strength.
He didn’t understand why though his opponent could have defeated him long ago he dragged it out until now.
After thinking it over again, Luo shixiong- being considerate of others- was probably just thinking to save him some face. He couldn’t help but gratefully say, “I concede.”
Luo Mingchuan cupped his hands as a response and saw his opponent off the stage.
He had neither the joy nor pride of victory, nor did he show the exhaustion of having just fought a battle. Not a single thing was out of place from his headpiece to the edge of his robes, just like when he first stood on stage.
Cheng Tianyu wrinkled his brow and said, “Using cultivation realm and amount of core energy to forcibly exhaust his opponent? Then if his opponent’s cultivation realm was just a bit higher, wouldn’t he be out of luck?”
Song Tang shook his head, “The methods he could use to win, as far as I know, are not less than ten… As for why he didn’t use them, could it be that he wanted to stay unnoticed? Or he didn’t want to reveal his final hand too quickly?”
He turned to the person beside him and said, “Luo Mingchuan has learned many strategies and methods that can’t be guarded against, and his mind is steady. I believe, if you want to win first place this time, he would be the most difficult opponent to defeat.”
Zhong Shan’s expression did not change. Only the knuckles of the hand grasping his sword turned faintly white.
Unlike the other people making conjectures about this assured victory, Yin Biyue lifted his head and looked at the shining eye of the sun.
Today was the hottest day of the year.
Rotting grass would turn into fireflies, and the rainfall had yet to come.²
He remembered, Luo Mingchuan seemed to be very susceptible to heatstroke… and just now he stood for that long.
‘Shixiong, are you dizzy? Do you need to look for a person to help you back?’
He looked at the sea of people around the stage. No, this was too embarrassing. Shixiong would lose a lot of face.
Luo Mingchuan walked off the stage. Cang Ya disciples surged to surrounded him to congratulate him, and he nodded his head as regards to each of them one by one.
He saw the slightly blank-faced Yin Biyue and asked, “Shidi, what’s the matter?”
Yin Biyue muttered, “I just thought of a matter that needs to be addressed; is shixiong willing to go with me?”
Luo Mingchuan had not yet said anything, but He Yanyun and Ruan Xiaolian’s eyes lit up, “Of course it’s fine.”
Every disciple that had received an embroidered handkerchief now came to an unspoken agreement, again responding with a kind of hidden joy, “Luo shixiong, you should quickly go with Yin shixiong.”
At the same time they hurriedly rushed Luo Mingchuan out.
Duan Chongxuan lightly coughed and nodded at Yin Biyue.
They waited until the two of them had accompanied each other far away enough that their backs were almost out of their line of sight.
He Yanyun watched as the sleeves of the two people gently drift in the breeze, touching every now and then, and sighed with great emotion, “Truly beautiful. When will Luo shixiong and Yin shixiong get married?”
Someone answered, “It’s clearly very good, but why do I feel like… I’ve been injured?”
“Duan shixiong, how do you view this matter?”
Duan Chongxuan waved his fan, “Watching from the sidelines… I’m used to it.”
Yin Biyue took Luo Mingchuan back first, sensing the atmosphere behind them was a bit off.
When they returned to Ye City, they changed their route to the small, remote alleyway they had gone through before.
Yin Biyue checked in all directions to make sure there weren’t any other people, “Shixiong, today’s weather is intensely hot, are you… feeling any discomfort?”
Luo Mingchuan was startled, immediately recalling his excuse from that day, and for a moment he felt a bit like he didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry; but he also felt very moved. Not only did shidi firmly and unwaveringly believe that, but he even remembered it up till now.
He felt guilt settle in his heart and should not deceive shidi again; he wanted to say ‘I’m very well, no discomfort. Last time was just a coincidence.’
But when the words got to his mouth, they became “Actually, there’s still a bit; I must inconvenience shidi again.”
Yin Biyue happily thought, of course it was; how quick-witted of me! ～（≧▽≦）/
1)雾失楼台，月迷津渡 – Name of technique. in less concise and technique-like wording, the meaning would be: losing the tower in the fog, the moon mystifies the crossing of the ferry.
2) 腐草为萤，大雨却未行 – This originates from the belief that fireflies come from the rotting grass during the hottest time of year (summer). The rains herald fall, so when the rain hasn’t fallen, it’s still the height of summer.