Chapter 9

As the sky was about to brighten, a faint light seeped through the door crack into the room, playfully landing on Su Yi's tightly closed eyes. His eyelids twitched slightly, and Su Yi slowly opened his eyes, glancing out the window. It should be around four or five in the morning.

He did not make a sound, slowly stood up, put on a blue-gray Taoist robe, and quietly opened the door to go out.

Despite his extremely light movements, he still managed to rouse his fellow disciples in the same room. The person sleeping beside him struggled to open his eyes and mumbled, "Little Brother Yang, it's still so early. Are you going out to practice swordsmanship again?"

Su Yi smiled and said, "Sorry, Senior Brother Yin, I woke you up."

Indeed!

His roommate was none other than Yin Zhiping, who later raped his daughter-in-law. When Su Yi first heard this name, he was quite startled, thinking to himself, "If I live in the same room with such a rule-breaking guy, what if he corrupts me?"

In fact, Su Yi was overly worried. After a few days of interaction, Su Yi found that although Yin Zhiping would later commit a deed that was... well, not enviable but infuriating, he was actually a pretty decent person. He was gentle, polite, and had a gentlemanly demeanor, which is why he was later favored by Ma Yu and others to become the leader of the Quanzhen Sect. Thus, Su Yi started to worry about how he might corrupt this good kid...

In Yin Zhiping's eyes, this Little Brother Yang indeed lived up to the high praise of his master. Although his martial arts were not yet top-notch, this was probably due to the lack of a master to guide him. Since Little Brother Yang arrived, his diligence surpassed everyone in the Quanzhen Sect. How could someone so diligent have poor martial arts skills?

By now, Su Yi had been in the Quanzhen Sect for over a month. Before his enlightenment, Qiu Chuji had just returned to the Quanzhen Sect and announced his seclusion, hurriedly entrusting Su Yi to his only disciple, Yin Zhiping, and then disappeared.

Apart from losing control at critical moments, Yin Zhiping was indeed a gentleman in every other aspect. Qiu Chuji had always boasted that his disciple Yang Kang was the best in the Quanzhen Sect, which had long made other disciples envious. However, Yin Zhiping could answer Su Yi's questions about internal cultivation without any bias or reservation, which was why Su Yi quickly changed his impression of Yin Zhiping.

Two men who had a good impression of each other naturally became good friends. Of course, the author is very pure, so they were just friends, nothing more.

After apologizing to Yin Zhiping, Su Yi opened the door and went out, using his lightness skill to run down the mountain. The Zhongnan Mountains were picturesque, and there was a lake at the mountain waist that seemed to be a concentration of the essence of heaven and earth, beautiful enough to make one's heart drunk...

On the third day of his arrival at the Quanzhen Sect, Su Yi had already fallen in love with this scenic spot. He would come here to meditate and practice swordsmanship before dawn every day, diligently cultivating his martial arts. He wouldn't return for lunch, just eating some wild game to fill his stomach (someone mentioned that the Quanzhen Sect only ate vegetables, which he couldn't stand). He would only return to the sect when it was deep into the night and everyone was asleep, dragging his tired body back.

Therefore, although only a little over a month had passed, Su Yi had already become the most diligent disciple in the entire Quanzhen Sect and also the most mysterious one. Many people knew that the best disciple praised by Uncle Qiu had been brought back to the Quanzhen Sect, but few knew what he looked like. Out of ten people, eight didn't know...

So Su Yi was almost a legend in the Quanzhen Sect, fitting the saying, "I am not in the world, but the world still has my legend..." Moreover, before, only Qiu Chuji praised his disciple, but now all six of the Quanzhen Sect's disciples had learned to say, "Look at Qiu Master's (Qiu Junior Master's) disciple Yang Kang. Regardless of his martial arts, his diligence is something you can't match..."

Even Yin Zhiping, who was always diligent in practice, expressed admiration for Su Yi.

Su Yi humbly responded with a smile, but in his heart, he was secretly mocking their narrow-mindedness, thinking, "You guys have never played online games. Back in the day, to level up, I stayed up for seven days straight, fighting monsters in the internet cafe, eating and even using the toilet at my seat. I could stick to such a tedious task, so how could I not stick to practicing martial arts..."

Seeing his internal energy growing stronger and his sword skills becoming more proficient, he could now strike three or four times in a second, though still not top-notch, he could see progress every day. This sense of achievement made Su Yi feel like he had eaten a piece of gum, unable to stop...

If it weren't for the Quanzhen Sect's rule that disciples must rest indoors every night, Su Yi would probably not even take a break at midnight.

However, today he couldn't continue his pleasant practice. Qiu Chuji was to emerge from seclusion at noon, and as his direct disciples, Su Yi and Yin Zhiping had to be present. Therefore, Su Yi only practiced his sword skills for a while, meditated, and practiced his internal cultivation before hurriedly returning to the Quanzhen Sect.

He greeted the disciple guarding the gate and quickly headed towards where Qiu Chuji was in seclusion. By now, his lightness skill was quite advanced, as the Spiral Nine Shadows technique, which was included in the *Nine Yin Manual*, was indeed very sophisticated.

When he arrived, Yin Zhiping was already waiting there. Seeing Su Yi, he smiled and greeted him.

Next to Yin Zhiping, an old Taoist with a white beard was also there. Seeing Su Yi, he nodded with a smile.

Su Yi knew this was Ma Yu, whom he had met on his first day. After greeting him, he stood behind him, waiting for Qiu Chuji to emerge from seclusion.

Ma Yu stood there, chuckling, and turned to Su Yi behind him, saying, "Kang'er, you've been in the Quanzhen Sect for over a month. The life here is a bit hard, not as comfortable as at home. Is there anything you find difficult to adapt to?"

Su Yi respectfully replied, "A martial artist must endure hardships to become a superior person. I can endure the hardships."

"That's good. I was worried you might not adapt."

"The other disciples can endure the hardships, and I am no different. However, there is one inconvenience I would like to request from you, Senior Uncle, I hope you will grant it..."

"Oh, what is it? Speak up..."

Su Yi said, "I enjoy practicing swordsmanship in the morning, so I wake up earlier than others. This has been disturbing Senior Brother Yin's rest, and I feel very guilty. Therefore, I hope Senior Uncle will allow me to build a small hut at the mountain waist, so I won't return to the Quanzhen Sect to rest every night..."

Yin Zhiping couldn't help but choke, his handsome face turning red. Although Su Yi had no ill intentions, it still made him feel embarrassed, as if he was being portrayed as more lazy than the other.

Of course, Yin Zhiping was a gentleman and wouldn't take such a small matter to heart. If it were Zhao Zhijin standing there, he would probably have already stabbed Su Yi a hundred times with a sword in his mind.

Unfortunately, Yin Zhiping was too upright and didn't notice the fleeting mischievous smile on Su Yi's lips. This guy was deliberately saying it... Perhaps this was what was meant by "a gentleman can be deceived by a straightforward lie."

Facing Su Yi's request, Ma Yu smiled and said, "You can discuss this issue with your master later. I really shouldn't overstep. If he agrees, I will have no objections..."

After saying this, Ma Yu sighed deeply, and a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes as he looked at Su Yi. Su Yi seemed to sense something, but Ma Yu quickly turned his head away, no longer looking at him.

In his heart, he couldn't help but sigh. He had just returned from Mongolia and was deeply fond of Guo Jing, not wanting this simple child to face any setbacks. However, facing this talented and diligent nephew, Ma Yu was disheartened to realize that his trip to Mongolia might have been in vain.

The death of one of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan and the waste of eighteen years, could it all end in failure? Ma Yu suddenly wanted to persuade Qiu Chuji to simply admit defeat in this competition... But thinking of his competitive younger brother, he felt a headache... Looking at Su Yi, who was obsessed with martial arts just like his younger brother, his headache worsened.

Just as he was feeling a headache, a loud laugh came from inside the stone room, followed by a loud bang. The entire stone door shattered into pieces, and when the smoke cleared, Qiu Chuji's figure was revealed inside.

Qiu Chuji was still wearing the blue-gray Taoist robe he had when he returned to the mountain, which was now black and dirty, worse than a beggar's. His face was also thinner, but his complexion was excellent, his eyes shining with a fierce light, making one feel a sharp pain. Clearly, after a month of seclusion, his martial arts had made significant progress.