Chapter 29 The Sword Move is Wrong

“Fuguang Peak Xiwutai.

Yu Xiao looked at the disciples below the platform. Compared to four years ago, there were a few more unfamiliar faces, presumably those Ah Xu had taken in after he left.

But at a glance, these disciples didn’t even match Li Yanhe’s talent. The only thing that caught the eye was their swordsmanship.

Perhaps Ah Xu taught swordsmanship without speaking, so the disciples’ swordsmanship was still decent.

Yu Xiao lowered his eyes and saw Li Yanhe squatting in the corner with his sword, looking like he alone was sober while everyone else was drunk, staring coldly at himself.

“Master, there’s one move from the previous lesson on the Sword of Picking Wine and Pear Blossoms that I still haven’t mastered…” A young disciple timidly spoke up, carefully watching Yu Xiao’s expression.

It was said that Master had been abducted by the Demon Lord and suffered much humiliation. Some even said that Master might never return.

But this morning, Master actually came back on his own, not only returning but also immediately bringing them to the martial arts platform to practice swordsmanship.

Could it be that Master hadn’t been abducted by the Demon Lord before, but had instead secluded himself in a remote place where no one was around?

Certainly, that must be it. How could Master possibly lose to that demon?

He must have secluded himself. No wonder Master’s aura upon returning this time was even colder and more intimidating than before, as if he had become a different person.

Yu Xiao coldly looked at the young disciple, his brows slightly furrowed. He didn’t recognize this person; he looked about thirteen or fourteen years old, but his cultivation had already reached the Golden Core stage, quite a genius in the cultivation world.

The young disciple didn’t receive a response for a long time, seemingly afraid that “Chu Xuyun” wouldn’t remember him. He hurriedly added, “Disciple An Suning, brought back by Master from the outer sect two years ago.”

Yu Xiao still didn’t speak.

The real Ah Xu wouldn’t speak up here either.

The Sword of Picking Wine and Pear Blossoms was exactly the first set of sword techniques Ah Xu had taught him.

The sword techniques were complex, with numerous killing moves, sufficient for participating in the sect’s grand competition.

Yu Xiao grabbed a wooden sword from the weapon rack and threw it to him.

An Suning hesitated for a moment, caught the wooden sword, quickly understood Yu Xiao’s meaning, took a step back respectfully, bowed, and then began to demonstrate the sword moves he had practiced for Yu Xiao.

Yu Xiao watched for a while and suddenly felt that Li Yanhe wasn’t as useless as he had thought.

Geniuses in the world were rare. People like Li Yanhe were already few and far between; it couldn’t be forced.

Ah Xu must have been very troubled by teaching these wastes.

“Master, is there any particular area where the disciple still needs to practice?” An Suning asked softly, “Please criticize freely, Master.”

Yu Xiao glanced at him, just about to speak and ask him to practice again when he suddenly realized that he was now Ah Xu himself and couldn’t speak casually.

He pondered for a moment how to convey his meaning to the other person. But after thinking it over, Yu Xiao found that apart from speaking, the simplest and most straightforward way was actually to just turn around and leave.

He remained silent. At this moment, he inexplicably understood many reasons why Chu Xuyun had left with a cold face.

Gestures might not be understood, and writing was too troublesome. Only by turning away would the other person continue practicing swordsmanship.

Yu Xiao suppressed the urge to speak and, under An Suning’s expectant gaze, passed him to look at the next disciple.

Glancing sideways, he noticed An Suning’s disappointed expression after he left, which reminded him of his own feelings back then.

After looking at several disciples in succession, Yu Xiao could only turn away each time. He realized that if it were anyone else, these disciples would probably already resent him deeply.

It turned out that being Ah Xu wasn’t so easy.

Unable to speak and yet having to teach a group of useless disciples.

He reluctantly continued to watch, only to find that Li Yanhe was the only one left.

Li Yanhe remained in the same posture as before, unmoving, his eyes glaring at him with resentment.

When Yu Xiao walked up to him, Li Yanhe gritted his teeth and spoke, “How does it feel to snatch someone else’s place?”

“You’re really good at pretending to be calm!” Yu Xiao’s mood improved slightly upon seeing his displeasure. He lowered his voice and replied, “Ah Xu entrusted me personally to teach you, naturally it feels good.”

“Damn you! Who gave you the right to call him Ah Xu!” Li Yanhe wished he could tear off the mask from Yu Xiao’s face in front of everyone, but he feared that if Yu Xiao was indeed sent by Master, exposing him would be detrimental to Master. So he could only swallow his anger and watch Yu Xiao put on a show, feeling disgusted.

“Of course, I have the right.” Yu Xiao was in a good mood. He drew his sword from his waist and used the scabbard to fiercely strike Li Yanhe’s body. He said coldly, “Hurry up and go practice your swordsmanship, don’t embarrass Ah Xu.”

Li Yanhe reluctantly grabbed the sword, then suddenly raised his voice, “Master, today I want to spar with you. What do you think, Master?”

Yu Xiao raised an eyebrow and pointed the tip of his sword at him.

“Senior Brother, what are you doing?” Other disciples were startled and hurried forward to stop Li Yanhe. “Master has finally returned, don’t make Master angry again.”

Li Yanhe almost lost his temper, “How did I make him angry? I just want to spar with him!”

As soon as he said that, Lin Ze immediately covered his mouth. “What nonsense are you talking about? How can you talk to Master like that? Senior Brother, if you keep this up, I’ll be angry too.”

Under Yu Xiao’s amused expression, Li Yanhe had to suppress his anger and said in a low voice, “Disciple knows his mistake, didn’t mean to offend Master, just learned a new sword technique and wanted to learn from Master.”

“That’s more like it.” Lin Ze patted Li Yanhe’s shoulder with relief. “Senior Brother, that’s more like your usual self. Just now, I thought you were replaced by a demon cultivator.”

Li Yanhe: …

You blind people, the one who’s really been replaced by a demon cultivator is this smiling Master in front of you. Can’t any of you see that he’s not acting normal?

“Master seems to be in a good mood today. Please don’t cause any more trouble.” An Suning’s words echoed in his ears.

In an instant, Li Yanhe suddenly realized that perhaps these disciples didn’t really understand Chu Xuyun.

Despite daily interactions and constant presence, they never conversed, and there was a long distance between their hearts.

They respected Master, so they dared not ask, only speculating in their hearts that Master might just be a cold and arrogant person who wasn’t good with words.

But what was the real Chu Xuyun like?

The tip of the sword in Li Yanhe’s hand trembled slightly.

He didn’t know.

He didn’t know what the real Master was like, what he liked, disliked, wanted—none of it.

Why didn’t he know?

If he did, perhaps there would be someone to accompany Master, and he wouldn’t have fallen for someone like Yu Xiao.

His eyes gradually moistened, and Li Yanhe wiped his eyes in embarrassment, saying nothing more.

Yu Xiao tapped his face with the sword blade and, in a voice only the two of them could hear, scoffed, “I’m here to teach you on behalf of Ah Xu. Don’t take it personally.”

Li Yanhe stared coldly at Yu Xiao for a long time, then turned the tip of his sword back toward him, gritted his teeth, and said, “I’m also listening to you for Master’s sake, even though you don’t deserve it.”

The two said no more. They drew their swords and engaged, their movements almost too fast to be seen with the naked eye, the sword light dazzling.

Yu Xiao’s cultivation was too high, and Li Yanhe felt as if he were actually sparring with the real Master. Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead, and in the end, with a mistake in his move, he was pinned by Yu Xiao’s sword in a corner. The sharp tip of the sword was just a hair’s breadth from his neck. If Yu Xiao wanted, Li Yanhe would have been decapitated the next moment.

Looking at the reflection of Yu Xiao’s cold eyes on the sword blade, Li Yanhe inexplicably felt a chill in his heart. Why did he feel like Yu Xiao really wanted to kill him?

Didn’t they agree that it was just a teaching session?

Everyone present held their breath, afraid to lose focus, but no one believed that “Chu Xuyun” would actually kill Li Yanhe.

“Master is truly formidable.”

“Yes, Senior Brother can only exchange a few moves with Master. If it were me, I would have knelt down after the first strike.”

Li Yanhe listened to the sweat flowing down his back.

Good junior brothers, can you stop praising and come to rescue your good senior brother?

“Just a moment.”

Li Yanhe’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he turned his head excitedly.

Who was it, which good junior brother noticed Senior Brother’s embarrassment and came to his rescue?

But when he saw the person clearly, he was stunned for a moment.

Who is this?

All eyes turned to the unfamiliar voice, even Yu Xiao turned to look.

On the steps of the mountain stood two slender figures wearing straw hats that covered their faces—one in dark blue robes and the other in green Daoist attire.

“Why are you stopping him? If you hadn’t stopped him, maybe he would have killed him just now!” Tan Mo nearly wanted to strangle the person in front of him in anger, his voice low and furious.

“Intentional, aren’t you? Planning to back out, Chu Xuyun?”

Chu Xuyun ignored his words, staring fixedly at Yu Xiao and Li Yanhe not far away.

He wasn’t backing out.

He just wanted to say one thing.

“Wrong.” Chu Xuyun walked forward slowly, gently pushing aside Yu Xiao’s sword with his fingertip, frowning. “Your sword technique was wrong.”

The Wine-Picking Pear Blossom Sword was a technique familiar to his disciples, and Chu Xuyun knew it well.

Li Yanhe, unaware of Chu Xuyun under the hat and veil, muttered irritably, “Of course, I know I was wrong, otherwise I would have definitely hit him just now.”

Chu Xuyun glanced at him and said calmly, “It’s not you who was wrong.”

As his words fell, everyone fell silent.

If it wasn’t Li Yanhe who was wrong, could it be that “Chu Xuyun” was wrong?

This sword technique was created by Chu Xuyun himself!

“Who are you? This is the main peak of my master, Supreme Immortal Taiqing. You’d better look clearly before speaking so arrogantly,” An Suning said disapprovingly. “This person before you is Chu Xuyun, Supreme Immortal Taiqing.”

Yu Xiao slowly sheathed his sword, scrutinizing the person under the green veil but was unable to discern anything.

Indeed, there was a mistake in the previous sword technique, which he hadn’t used for many years, feeling rusty with it. However, he felt confident enough to deal with Li Yanhe and hadn’t taken it seriously.

“Supreme Immortal Taiqing, as your master, how could you teach your disciple a wrong sword technique?” Chu Xuyun didn’t respond to An Suning, instead looking straight at Yu Xiao, his tone slightly displeased. “Let’s start over.”

“Again?” Li Yanhe groaned, “Why don’t you do it yourself?”

Getting beaten up hurts, you know?

Yu Xiao narrowed his eyes, not cruelly continuing to attack Li Yanhe but pointing his sword at Chu Xuyun instead.

He was indeed wrong, but he could afford to be wrong. Supreme Immortal Taiqing, however, could not afford to be wrong.

He couldn’t afford to lose face for Ah Xun.

Seeing this, Li Yanhe breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said, “You said my master was wrong, then demonstrate it yourself to my master.”

As long as he didn’t continue to get beaten up, Yu Xiao wouldn’t dare to go all out on anyone else.

Upon hearing this, Chu Xuyun let out a breath and agreed, “Alright, I’ll demonstrate it to you all. Pay close attention.”

Before, he couldn’t speak to his disciples like this. Seizing this opportunity, he wanted to say all the things he hadn’t said before.

The Wine-Picking Pear Blossom Sword originated from Chu Xuyun once seeing a drunkard hide unfinished wine in the branches of a pear blossom tree. Unable to reach the wine jug, the drunkard used a wooden branch to sway and try to pick the wine, but instead of getting the wine, he knocked down the pear blossoms on the ground.

Enraged, the drunkard angrily used the wooden branch to whip at the pear blossoms. The blossoms spiraled in the air, repeatedly dodging attacks with the wind created by the branch.

After watching for a long time, Chu Xuyun suddenly thought that using a sword instead of a branch, mimicking the pear blossoms, could create a good sword technique.

Thus, the Wine-Picking Pear Blossom Sword was born, but his disciples could never quite grasp the technique, making Chu Xuyun almost doubt himself, never expecting even Yu Xiao couldn’t master it.

He had to do it himself.

Taking the sword from Li Yanhe, Chu Xuyun stood opposite Yu Xiao.

Li Yanhe hesitated to speak and then stopped.

Shouldn’t he be beaten to death?

Yu Xiao looked coldly at Chu Xuyun, thinking arrogantly that this nobody wouldn’t last half a move against the real Ah Xun, getting pinned to the ground in two or three moves.

A moment later, Yu Xiao stared in disbelief at the long sword’s tip pressed against his throat. He seemed to sense the chilling cold on the sword, and the person in front of him looked down from a high place, giving him an inexplicable feeling of resemblance to Ah Xun’s cold and lonely appearance earlier.

How could this be possible?

He actually lost to a nobody,

And it hadn’t even been half a move.