By the time Yin Biyue was completely awake, it was already late at night, seven days later.
His core energy had been coursing in his body along his meridians for an entire week now, and never had he felt so clear in spirit nor so invigorated in energy.
The wound on his arm was entirely painless and was only slightly itchy from growing new skin.
His cultivation realm that was originally at the initial tier of the breakthrough stage had unexpectedly continued through to the middle tier.
Sitting by the bed, Luo Mingchuan smiled, “Shidi is awake? Are you still feeling unwell?”
Under the warm yellow of dancing candlelight, his face was painted with a dim glow, the smile in his eyes also set alight by the flickering candle flame..
Yin Biyue’s suddenly felt that his face was burning. “No, I’ve actually increased in cultivation realm…… Shixiong, how long did I sleep? What time is it now?
He subconsciously lowered his eyes and avoided Luo Mingchuan’s attentive gaze, but then he glimpsed the hand gripping his by the bedside.
He somehow had not been aware of it for this entire time.
Was it because his awareness and reactions were sluggish from being asleep for so long, or was it because he was held this entire time, and he became used to it?
Thinking of this, Yin Biyue felt his face burning even more.
Luo Mingchuan smiled kindly, “Seven days. Right now it is the third quarter of zi-shi.*”
Yin Biyue sat up in the bed, “I’ve slept too long and my bones are a bit stiff. I want to go outside for a stroll.”
“Alright.” Luo Mingchuan readily let go of his hand. He very naturally bent down and picked up the cloud boots* by the bed as if to help Yin Biyue into them.
Yin Biyue hurriedly said, “Shixiong, I really am perfectly fine.” At the same time he snatched his boots and put them on himself.
He wanted to walk around outside. On one hand, it was because he was indeed uncomfortable from lying down for so long, but on the other hand, there was the embarrassment of noticing that he was not in his own room, but was sleeping in Luo Mingchuan’s bed.
When he opened the door and left, Luo Mingchuan also followed him out. With nary a word spoken, Luo Mingchuan also added a cloak for him.
With the chill of the evening wind blowing, the heat on his face faded. Yin Biyue stood in the courtyard recalling the fight from that day.
In the pouring rain, he aimed his Yi Hu Sword towards the sky and rendered the ‘Midday Sun in a Clear Sky,’ breaking Zhong Shan’s Besieging the City with Wind and Rain. But the sword’s might was too vast, to the extent that his core energy and divine sense were severely depleted. Luo Mingchuan came up and supported him while he was bewildered, and Chatterbox seemed to have fed him a medicinal pill.
Afterwards were several days of half sleep, half wakefulness. He faintly recalled Luo Mingchuan unceasingly using his own core energy to nourish his meridians and disperse the medicine. This time his cultivation realm increased because he reached a greater understanding of his components in the midst of the battle, and also because Chatterbox’s medicinal pill was very effective, but especially because of the care Luo Mingchuan put in over the past seven days.
When he realized this, Yin Biyue started to judge himself.
Shixiong could not sleep soundly at night and was toiling exhaustively in every possible way. And himself, the moment he woke up, actually went as far as to think about some trivial things instead. That really was too improper!
The gentleman was magnanimous and calm; the affections between fellow disciples was profound. He truly doesn’t need to pay any heed to empty courtesies.
Yes, by the time he was fully awake numerous questions were flitting through Yin Biyue’s head. Such as, his body was so clean, so who helped clean the blood stains? Who dressed him in clean robes? They were one size too large, so they weren’t his own robes for sure, and therefore must be Shixiong’s…
After Yin Biyue finished berating himself he looked at Luo Mingchuan and sincerely said, “Shixiong, I am indebted to you for looking after me so wholeheartedly. I cannot make it up to you. I can only…”
He can only what?
He suddenly felt that continuing this sentence would be a bit weird, but could not pinpoint what about it would be weird. He choked on his words, “I can only look after Shixiong if there is ever a chance in the future.”
Correct! Just like that!
Luo Mingchuan’s smile slowly grew. “No need for thanks. I was doing what I was supposed to do. In the future…there will be a chance.”
The night wind gently blew and the moonlight was just right as the two men exchanged words under the tree. Yin Biyue did not have any fatigue, but upon the thought that Luo Mingchuan did not have a good night’s sleep for so many days, soon forced him to go back into the house.
On the next day at daybreak, Duan Chongxuan came out of the room and saw his fourth shixiong carrying his sword and heading out, apparently to practice his swordsmanship.
He couldn’t help but call out in surprise, “Fourth Shixiong, you’re awake. How do you feel? …… Oh, Shixiong’s cultivation seems to have increased again!”
Yin Biyue originally planned to finish practicing his sword, and then going to Chatterbox, but now he laughed and said, “I am feeling very fine. Indeed, I’ve had a breakthrough, and I need to greatly thank your medicinal pill…….You are also waking up early now, you really are more diligent now.”
Chatterbox smiled embarrassed, “What thanks, it’s no problem. Shixiong doesn’t need to give any thanks……“ He continued, lamenting, “Shixiong already broke through, I naturally also need to be more hard working, or else the pressure will be too great!”
“And there’s Zhong Shan, who also had a breakthrough according to the news from the Qinglu Sword Sect. He reached the Lesser Vessel stage so quickly. This really……” Duan Chongxuan could not think of any suitable words, and finally repeated, “the pressure is great.”
Yin Biyue smiled, “Zhong Shan was only one step away from the Lesser Vessel stage from the start……You only need to diligently cultivate, and in the future……”
At this time, there was the sound of someone knocking from the outside of the courtyard door, accompanied by the announced self-introduction, “Qinglu Sword Sect Song Tang along with his shidi are here to visit, sorry for the disturbance——”
Duan Chongxuan looked a little startled; he obviously did not think that to speak of the devil he shall appear. He went over to open the door and welcomed them in.
It really was Song Tang’s trio.
Five people exchanged courtesy greetings in the courtyard. Then, the first to open his mouth was not Song Tang, but was in fact the freshly advanced Lesser Vessel stage Zhong Shan.
His aura was abundant and grand, but it was not because he was accidentally leaking it, but because he broke through not long ago and couldn’t easily contain it.
He looked Duan Chongxuan and solumnly said, “This break through, is thanks to Cultivator Duan’s medicinal pill’s help. I do not have a single thing on me that can repay you, so I hope to establish a Heart’s Blood Oath, and repay you in the future……”
As he said this he gave a bow of courtesy. His cultivation was now higher than Duan Chongxuan’s by two levels, but his bow was extremely proper, without the slightest bit of hesitation.
Duan Chongxuan moved to the side and away from this bow. He understood Zhong Shan’s intentions, and immediately waved his hands and interrupted.
“No no no, ten million times no! It’s just one medicinal pill, my bag has plenty more! I can even happily eat them as candy!”
This was utter nonsense. When he left his home, his father gave him five to preserve his life. In this world, the total count was not more than ten.
But he gave them out, and not with any intention to receive recompense. He merely wanted to give.
Song Tang said, “When Xing Shan Temple’s healer came for a checkup, he said that Zhong Shan had taken a ‘Dragon Cloud Pill’.”
When Yin Biyue heard this he was startled in his heart. He surmised it was an excellent medicine, but he did not think it was this good.
One ‘Dragon Cloud Pill’ could even repair ruptured meridians. The strength of the medicine was so potent that if an uninjured person ingested it, they would not be able to withstand the power of the medicine and explode.
However, he will not give his thanks again, but will only quietly remember this in his heart.
Cheng Tianyu has a child’s temperament, so even if he did come to blows with Duan Chongxuan before, once he turned around, he had forgotten it. Now, listening to Duan Chongxuan talking this way, he thinks that perhaps he does not know just how precious the medicinal pills are.
“My master also gave me a lot of good things when I came down the mountain, however none of them can compete with the ‘Dragon Cloud Pill.’ We can’t just deceive you with some substitute replacement. Think carefully. Is there anything you want?”
As disciples of Qinglu Sword Sect’s sage Zhou Yuandao, the three of Song Tang’s group were wealthy; last night though, they pooled everything together and found that they were unable to pool together enough to match the value of one medicinal pill.
Since meeting at the Flower Picking Festival, Duan Chongxuan has also gained some understanding of the three’s characters. Now he knows that they would absolutely not accept a free gift. Thinking over it a bit, he turned to Song Tang and firmly said,
“I do not want any recompense. I just have one thing to request of young master Song, but if you find it embarrassing, you do not need to answer.
Song Tang beamed and said, “There’s no harm in saying what you want.”
Duan Chongxuan sighed lightly, “The situation with my third Shixiong Yan Xing, I’ve also heard about it…… when he talks he lets his mouth loose. It was his fault. I’ll first recompense his fault for him. He was drunk at the time, and by no means had any purposeful intention to humiliate young master Song. Afterwards, he was also extremely remorseful. I do not dare to request young master Song to forgive and forget, but only request that if there is a future encounter, please do not act first, but listen to what he says.
Yin Biyue thought of his clueless third shixiong as well, and with Duan Chongxuan together half-bowed towards Song Tang.
That ‘the man is sweeter’ kind of thing…… it’s really……
Cheng Tianyu was a bit antsy and nervous, as he was afraid that the mention of this affair would embarrass his shixiong.
But Song Tang very forgivingly replied, “Agreed, next time if I meet him, I will absolutely not hit him first.
The situation with Yan Xing really was beginning to get old, and the entire southern continent’s gossip has already left it behind. As time passed, he no longer bothered with it.
Duan Chongxuan smiled, “Just his one matter is good enough to balance what you owe. We both do not owe each other anymore!” Towards Zhong Shan he was still a bit awkward, “Please do not ever mention the Heart Blood oath again. If you actually dare to set it up I will risk backlash to find a way to get rid of it.
Zhong Shan pursed his lips and did not speak again.
They waited until the three said goodbye and left. Duan Chongxuan let a long sigh, opened his folding fan, and started pacing around the courtyard.
“I admire myself so much! Third shixiong must invite me to drink! Duan Chongxuan, you really are too great!”
Yin Biyue already was too accustomed to the fact that the person in front of him and the person behind him were not the same and smiled while watching him congratulate himself. He suddenly thought of an important thing……
“The Heart Blood oath, can it be lifted by the person that it is sworn to?”
Chatterbox unexpectedly said, “Of course not, I was fooling him. The party that the oath is sworn to has no way of dissolving the oath — they have to deal with it!”
Yin Biyue’s heart sank.
Luo Mingchuan also swore a Heart Blood oath.
On Xihua peak, while dark red blood drop by drop seeped into the ground, he had sworn, “This crude one will definitely find Mirror Lake’s Thousand Leaf Lotus for shidi, else I will never cultivate again!”
Never cultivate again.
Since Luo shixiong arrived in Ye city, he’s constantly been on the peak of the Breakthrough stage, but not advancing a step further. Many times Yin Biyue thought that he would breakthrough, but it never happened.
He felt regret thinking about this, and futilely wished time to flow backwards to that moment so he could rush to cover shixiong’s mouth and say, “You can eat whatever you want, but you can’t just say whatever you want ahhhhhhhhhh——!”
Duan Chongxuan seemed to know what he was thinking, and laughed saying, “Fourth-shixiong, today’s Thousand Leaf Lotus is already something that’s in your bag, there’s nothing to fear!”
“Is there not one more round?”
“There are only eighteen people left next round, so they are going to start assigning matchups. The competition system is no longer lottery-style, but is now challenges……”
It was at this moment Luo Mingchuan pushed open the courtyard door and walked in. Duan Chongxuan wondered, “Luo-shixiong, don’t you have a competition today?”
He originally planned take fourth-shixiong to go watch, but Song Tang’s three person troup came to visit and held them up for a while.
Yin Biyue had slept for several days, and slept through Chatterbox’s match this round. He did not take note that Luo Mingchuan’s match was today, and he momentarily had a small pang of guilt in his heart.
Luo Mingchuan laughed, “Indeed.”
Yin Biyue anxiously asked, “Did you not go?”
“I’ve finished already.”
Finished…finished….?
Yin Biyue looked at the color of the sky.
This should be…… an instakill.
********
The Flower Picking Festival’s fourth round ended, eighteen people advanced, and the competition changed from drawing ballots to matched challenges.
Qinglu Sword Sect’s attending hall first drafted a ranking based on the cultivation strength and martial might that each disciple revealed in the competitions.
The lowest ranked disciples could challenge the higher ranked ones.
After every match’s outcome is decided, the rankings will change.
After eighteen days the picking flower festival will end, challenges will no longer occur, and the rankings will be fixed.
Even more flexible than before, the competitors can now decide the time of the competition. As long as there is a free stage, even competing at night has no problem.
On the day that the rankings come out on the Chen Ying Wall, you can buy a handwritten copy in any boulevard, alley, or any other place in Ye city. The notes even include the cultivation lineage, the weapons, and achievements of the previous rounds of all eighteen people.
Duan Chongxuan also brought back a copy.
He also in passing overheard a lot of information.
“You’re talking about Yin Biyue? I’m not fighting with him. He’s matched up to even Zhong Shan.”
“I’m not fighting, not fighting! Don’t mention Midday Sun in a Clear Sky, I can’t even handle East Rising Sun!”
“What, are you saying I don’t have the guts?! If you think you can you go up*!”
The result was……nobody was willing to fight Yin Biyue.
Duan Chongxuan held out the ordered ranking, “Fourth-shixiong, I think you might have to take a bye again.”
Yin Biyue took a look and saw that he was in first place. The notes said: Yi Hu sword Yin Biyue, Breakthrough stage middle tier, a disciple of the Sword Saint, Noon Sun defeated the Wind and Rain Besieging the City. Martial might at the level of a Lesser Saint.
Luo Mingchuan was second, and notes said: Cang Ya Sect head disciple, spiritual cultivation, at the peak of the Breakthrough stage. Proficient in many cultivation methods, learned from a hundred schools.
Afterwards was Lian Jian Zong’s Chu Huan, Chenyi’s shixiong, ranked at third place.
Continuing down was two from Qinglu Sword Sect, two from Cang Ya Sect, as well as buddhist cultivation disciples.
Duan Chongxuan, because of the last move he used in his match with Cheng Tianyu, was also in the top ten, at eighth place. The notes for him specifically added a phrase saying, ‘Family is considerably rich, burns talismans endlessly.’
He Yanyun was also in the top eighteen, one step closer to the glutinous rice with chicken in lotus leaves.
Other people couldn’t help but lament that this time, the previously infinitely glorious Bao Pu Zong only had three people enter the ranked competition. The rankings were even somewhat towards the lower end. So, people all sighed that the lottery this time really was bad; if not for the first round where three people matched up against Cang Ya sect, the results would absolutely not be like this.
Yin Biyue thought that this ranking was way too partial. “How is Shixiong placed lower than me?”
He’s always had a kind of intuition that Luo Mingchuan hid a portion of his strength; to say the least, he himself could not beat Luo Mingchuan.
Duan Chongxuan was just about to explain when Luo Mingchuan smiled, “It’s just ranking, nothing more. Shidi does not need to care about it.”
Duan Chongxuan thought to himself, he really doesn’t know how to speak!
He can’t even grasp this kind of excellent chance to win fourth shixiong’s heart. In the future when even more people like fourth shixiong, what can be done?
Evidently he first ran to Qinglu Sword Sect’s attending hall to say, “Even though my cultivation realm is high, my martial skill cannot compare to Yin-shidi.” And then standing in front of the ChenYing Wall saying, “I am at one rank below Yin-shidi. If anyone wants to challenge him, it would be just a good to defeat me first.”
If even this kind of method was able to be concocted, is it so hard to tell the truth as it?!
Luo Mingchuan clearly did not want Chatterbox to continue this line of questioning, so he said, “I’ve received Chu Huan’s letter of challenge.”
The third ranked Lian Jian Zong’s Chu Huan, the Sage Qu Jiang’s disciple.
Cultivating Spring Returning to a Withered Tree, of the younger generation he’s been deemed the spiritual cultivator with the most potential to enter the ‘Saint realm.’
Yin Biyue defeated Qinglu Sword Sect’s most likely to win, Zhong Shan, if Luo Mingchuan can also surpass Lian Zong’s Chu Huan, their final rankings in the Flower Picking Festival would absolutely be assured.
1) 子时 – Hour of the child. ~11pm to 1am
2) cloud shoes are basically little ankle boots that you see in art of cultivators and stuff. Think…. classic goku boots.