Chapter 84

Chapter 83. Who's the senior? You're dead now. (3)

"I'm your senior. You're my junior."

"So what?"

"Show respect to your senior."

'Seniors freeze to death. They're like ghosts.'

Qingming sighed, filled with irritation.

It's one thing that there's no sign of him, but in this vast land of Central Plains, it's not strange that there's someone with such a peculiar constitution.

In fact, Qingming is so specialized in sensing people through his aura that if he really tried to use his five senses, he wouldn't miss a person's presence.

The real problem is something else.

"Why are you following me like this!"

"Following?"

"...Yes."

Qingming felt a deep sorrow.

'If the senior disciples saw me now, they'd shed tears of blood... No, they'd laugh until they choked.'

They might even clap until their hands broke. They're the kind of people who would still have energy to spare.

It's a bitter pill to swallow, having to show respect to a junior who isn't even as old as a granddaughter. It feels like the impermanence of life is hitting me hard. I might even gain enlightenment and ascend to immortality from the sheer futility of it all.

Not to mention whether the Immortal Realm would accept me.

- They wouldn't, you brat.

Ah, come on!

Qingming sighed deeply and looked at Yuisol.

"Again! Why are you following me like this!"

"Following?"

"...Following."

Yuisol raised his eyebrows, as if he didn't like it.

He seemed to be trying to intimidate with a slightly angry face, but it just looked cute.

'It's not just that I find him cute because I'm old.'

As the other three major disciples, including Zhaogel, all agreed, he is indeed very handsome. If he had a more expressive face and a softer appearance, he would be even more eye-catching.

But that's just the surface.

People tend to be attached to the surface. Didn't Qingming benefit greatly from his handsome appearance in the past...?

Ah, I get it! I understand!

"That sword."

Yuisol looked at Qingming and said.

"The sword that makes plum blossoms bloom."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Qingming pretended not to know.

While he could explain, there's no need to. He hates trouble, so it's best to just brush it off.

"I don't know what you saw, but I don't know about such things, so don't waste your time... "

"Teach me."

"Teach... what?"

"Teach me."

Qingming narrowed his eyes.

'Is this why you've been following me?'

He thought Yuisol would just annoy him by asking where he learned martial arts not from Huashan or if he practiced dark arts, but he never expected this.

Now he was curious.

"Do you know what it is... No, I don't know such things."

Yuisol bit his lip.

"I'll tell the senior disciples."

"Go ahead. If they believe you."

"I'll tell the sect leader too."

"Sure, go ahead. Do as you please."

Qingming snorted and waved his hand.

'Believe what you want to believe.'

A greenhorn who's been in Huashan for less than half a year making plum blossoms bloom with a sword on Lianhua Peak?

The sect leader would probably think:

'Oh, our Yuisol must have been very tired from his seclusion. He's seeing things. I'll find a good doctor for him.'

And that would be the best-case scenario.

"I won't tell if you teach me."

"I already said, go ahead and tell. It doesn't matter to me."

Qingming chuckled.

"So stop interfering with my cultivation and go away. Because of you, I can't even practice."

Go away, okay?

Just go away! You brat!

Just as Qingming was about to say more, Yuisol looked at him and spoke.

"Will you not teach me?"

"Hey, senior."

"Yes?"

"You're the senior, and I'm the junior. What would I teach you? If anything, I should be the one learning."

"..."

Yuisol flinched.

'Oh, this works.'

Yuisol had emphasized being the senior when they first met. So this should work...

"There's no hierarchy in learning."

"..."

What are these people learning Confucianism from? Did the blue-clothed disciples all convert to Confucianism? Where are they practicing Confucianism in this sacred Taoist temple? If Taishang Laojun knew, he'd foam at the mouth!

"So teach me."

"No, I have nothing to teach you!"

Qingming said firmly.

"I don't know what you saw, but it was just a dream. Or an illusion. Or maybe you saw something because you were tired. I don't know what you're talking about. So stop and go away."

Qingming's firmness made Yuisol narrow his eyes.

"I couldn't have seen it wrong."

"No, it was just an illusion..."

"I've seen it before."

"Before...?"

Qingming's eyes widened.

"What?"

Qingming's demeanor changed. He glared sharply at Yuisol.

The sword that makes plum blossoms bloom.

The Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

Huashan has many sword techniques inspired by plum blossoms.

But few can actually make plum blossoms bloom, not just imitate their form.

Except for one, these techniques are not passed down to ordinary disciples. Only elders can learn them, and even then, only through oral transmission, not written manuals.

On that day, all the elders of Huashan died on the summit of the Ten Thousand Peaks. No one expected total annihilation, so no manuals were left behind.

That means...

If someone could make plum blossoms bloom with a sword, it must mean they learned the Twenty-Four Hands Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

And that technique is now only passed down in...

"What's your connection to Zhongnan?"

Qingming growled, and Yuisol tilted his head.

"Zhongnan?"

"..."

"Which Zhongnan?"

Not it?

Qingming stared at Yuisol's face. No matter how he looked, Yuisol seemed genuinely clueless. If this was an act, he should quit the sword and become a Peking Opera actor. He could perform in front of the emperor.

But Yuisol, with his innocent side, didn't seem capable of such perfect acting.

Qingming's resolve weakened.

'Even if he saw the manual in Zhongnan, he couldn't have learned the Plum Blossom Sword Technique properly. It only works with Huashan's internal energy.'

...But could these brats have stolen Huashan's internal energy too?

No way?

Qingming, smiling wryly, shrugged and asked.

"What do you mean you've seen it before?"

Yuisol's face became a bit blank.

"A long time ago."

He looked up at the dark sky, as if recalling a distant memory, then said firmly.

"Teach me."

"I really don't know."

"Really?"

Yuisol nodded.

'Finally giving up?'

That would be a relief...

"Then there's nothing I can do."

"Seems like you understand now..."

Swoosh.

A sword was drawn from Yuisol's waist. Qingming looked at the scene in shock.

"Wait, why the sword all of a sudden!"

"You're not going to teach me, right?"

Is this girl crazy?

Pulling out a sword just because I won't teach her a sword technique? What did the elders do to raise such a disciple?

"Why are you drawing your sword if you won't teach me?"

"Because you're right."

"Huh?"

"I'm the senior, you're the junior."

"..."

"So I'll teach you."

Yuisol raised his sword and pointed it at Qingming.

Qingming smiled wryly.

'No wonder the blue-clothed disciples don't get along with him.'

Of course not. He's not in his right mind.

'Is his obsession with the Plum Blossom Sword Technique just because he wants flowers?'

Putting a plum blossom in his hair might make it easier to identify him, and it would be mutually beneficial. But Guangnian should avoid him. Yes.

"I'm coming."

"Don't come! Don't come here!"

But a crazy person wouldn't listen to Qingming. Yuisol, with his sword pointed straight, charged at Qingming at high speed.

"Hey!"

Qingming quickly blocked Yuisol's sword with his wooden sword and retreated.

"Hey! Why is a senior attacking a junior with a real sword!"

"Because you're stronger than me."

What? That's true, but...

But what's the basis for that thought?

The reasoning is clearly wrong, but it's a strange case where the conclusion is right, so he can't just dismiss it.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Yuisol's sword was as agile as before. It was incredibly graceful.

It stabbed sharply, then curved smoothly. It flickered like an illusion, then stabbed lightly again.

A Huashan sword.

Since returning to Huashan, Qingming has seen many swords. He's seen the swords of the blue-clothed disciples, Yunjian's sword, and occasionally the swords of the elders.

But the sword in front of him now is more in line with the essence of Huashan than any other.

It's almost nostalgic to watch.

Why is that?

Is it because her nature is similar to Huashan's? Or...

"An opening!"

At that moment, Yuisol's sword stabbed at Qingming's face at lightning speed.

Qingming turned his head sharply to avoid it.

Swish.

A few strands of his hair were cut.

"Ah!"

No, this crazy girl is really trying to stab me?

"Are you crazy? If I can't dodge, I'll die!"

"You won't miss."

"Why do you have so much confidence in me?"

What's wrong with his head? His thinking isn't normal.

No wonder he's handsome but has no friends.

But there's no time to argue.

Yuisol's sword, aimed at Qingming, became sharper. He could handle it, of course.

If... he could just attack.

One wrong move with the sword, and he'd be a patricidal brat. So he had to subdue her without getting hurt.

Swoosh!

"Stop using lethal moves, you woman!"

"Senior!"

"Which senior uses lethal moves on a junior? What's wrong with your head?"

Oh, sages. Huashan has come to this!

Qingming's frown deepened.

Perhaps because he could freely use lethal moves, Yuisol seemed to be getting lost in his sword. His eyes became hazy, and his sword deviated from the set path.

'Hmm?'

Entering enlightenment during a sparring match?

'Zhaogel wouldn't even dare to interfere.'

In terms of talent for the sword, he might be the best in Huashan.

'No, that's not it.'

Qingming subtly extended his wooden sword to nudge Yuisol's sword back onto the correct path.

The stage of entering a state of no-self and finding one's own sword path. Ordinary people would hesitate to interfere, for fear of disrupting the enlightenment or causing a mental breakdown.

But Qingming, with his understanding of all sword paths, could guide Yuisol back to the right path.

'Not there. No, here. No, no, here.'

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Qingming extended his sword to tap Yuisol's sword, guiding it back to the correct path. Only Qingming could do this while lethal moves were flying at him.

"What are you doing! You brat!"

Qingming turned his head sharply at the sudden interference.

Baitian, looking like he had lost his mind, was charging at him at a mad speed.

Ah... Why are you here!