Chapter 7

Later on, the two naturally didn’t get to fight as they wished; the sect prohibited internal sword fights, an unspoken rule. However, if this rule didn’t exist, Mu Chongxi felt that either he or Ming Xuan would be dead.

“Enough noise,” Xue Yu reluctantly intervened, “Elder Duan Yu is coming soon.”

The elder responsible for their training was a rugged man with a beard and a strong build.

“Are you the new personal disciple?” Duan Yu patted her shoulder, and Ye Qiao was floored by his slap.

She: “…”

Duan Yu was slightly surprised. “Not good at taking a hit, are you?”

Ye Qiao looked at his developed muscles and then at her own slender arms and legs, not daring to say a word.

Mu Chongxi sneered, “Elder, she’s not me, you’ve been beating me up for so many years.”

“Ye Qiao just arrived today. Be gentle with her,” Xue Yu pleaded.

Ye Qiao gave him a grateful look.

It’s worth it that we met.

Duan Yu chuckled. “Of course, I know what to do.”

After sizing up Ye Qiao, he reluctantly said, “Let’s start with the Clear Wind Stance.”

He threw a manual to her, and Ye Qiao instinctively caught it.

“This technique can improve your speed. Every personal disciple has one. Your other senior brothers have mastered it. Practice it during your free time in the coming days.” Duan Yu glanced at her, obviously aware of her previous lackluster performance at the outer sect, and warned, “I’ll review your progress in three days. Those who are slow will be kicked by me.”

Ye Qiao: “… Kicked?”

How does he kick?

She soon found out.

As a newcomer, Ye Qiao sat on the sidelines, watching Mu Chongxi’s daily sword training session. Duan Yu followed behind him like a cat teasing a mouse, mercilessly kicking his butt whenever Mu Chongxi slowed down.

Ye Qiao was green with envy.

Her face was green.

Although she liked to slack off, she didn’t like being kicked.

…

In the following three days, Ye Qiao diligently memorized Duan Yu’s attacking techniques, preemptively dodging them to avoid the fate of being continuously kicked.

The benefit of the Clear Wind Stance was that it made it easier to dodge kicks.

Mu Chongxi had clearly become accustomed to being kicked. He even managed to pull Ye Qiao along while running.

The two of them, one after the other, would speed up whenever one of them slowed down to avoid being kicked in the butt. Neither wanted to bear the shame of being kicked.

Thus began the arduous training life of the two unfortunate siblings.

As a talisman expert, Ming Xuan didn’t need to participate in such matters. He even took pleasure in mocking them as he drew his talismans.

Even Ye Qiao didn’t escape the sharp tongue of her poisonous-tongued second senior brother.

“Little Potato Landmine,” he said, pinning down her head with his hand in disdain. “How did you end up looking like this? Did your family not feed you?”

Ye Qiao: “… Stay calm, stay calm.”

She began brainwashing herself fervently in her mind: don’t get angry when others do, when you’re angry, no one will feel bad for you. He’s a personal disciple, and that’s impressive.

During the two months of training, the spiritual energy on the main peak was so rich that even someone with poor cultivation like Ye Qiao had improved from the fifth layer of Qi Refining to the ninth layer.

Today was a lesson in the Clear Wind Stance. Unfortunately, the elder teaching her today was Elder Zhao, who had witnessed several months ago how she and Mu Chongxi had dug a big pit on the back mountain.

Maybe because she had offended him, every time during the lesson, she had to answer questions. If she couldn’t answer, she would be doomed to clean the library.

This time was no exception.

As Elder Zhao spoke, Ye Qiao was already losing track. Seeing that he was about to ask her a question, she raised her hand from behind and shouted loudly.

“Elder Zhao, Ming Xuan said he knows the answer to this question!!”

Ming Xuan: “…?”

Only then did Elder Zhao notice the distracted youth sitting behind. “Ming Xuan knows? Come, demonstrate it for your junior brothers and sisters.”

“What.” Ming Xuan blinked in confusion, then looked at the troublemaker with astonishment.

Seeing him stand up, Ye Qiao breathed a sigh of relief and put on a sweet smile. “If not you, who will go to hell? Second Senior Brother, you are the hope of the talisman lineage of Changming Sect. As they say, the capable shoulder more responsibility, so you should bear more.”

Senior brothers are meant to be tricked.

She firmly believed in this principle.

It wasn’t just because he always called her “Little Potato Landmine.”

Frankly, the lesson in the Clear Wind Stance was rather boring, and Ming Xuan wasn’t paying much attention. Since Ye Qiao arrived, Elder Zhao had been focusing on her, and when it was his turn unexpectedly, he stood up in bewilderment and sat back down in confusion.

As expected, he received a reprimand.

Halfway through the lesson, Ye Qiao propped her chin up and began to doze off. She lowered her head slightly, her eyes could not hold up and began to fight

Suddenly, Ming Xuan’s voice sounded softly, “Little sister, class is over.”

Half-asleep Ye Qiao had the phrase “class is over” ingrained in her DNA. She reflexively stood up with a swish, her sudden movement causing the desk to be knocked away.

Ye Qiao instinctively prepared to dash to the cafeteria but was stopped by Ming Xuan.

A bad premonition arose in her mind. Sure enough, when she turned around, she saw that Xue Yu and the others were all sitting obediently. Class wasn’t over at all.

Elder Zhao frowned. “Why did you stand up?”

“Oh,” he sneered, “Are you dissatisfied with my teaching? Kicking the desk to liven things up?”

Disrupting the class was no small matter.

After a round of scolding from Elder Zhao, Ye Qiao was sent to the library to clean again. This was her tenth time being punished to clean the library in a month.

After she sat down, Ming Xuan smiled leisurely, “Karma never fails, Little sister.”

Just as he finished speaking.

“And you!”

“Ming Xuan!!” Elder Zhao’s furious voice echoed.

“You still can’t grasp such a simple concept? You two go clean the library after class.”

Ming Xuan’s smile gradually faded: “?”

Ye Qiao, who had a sulking face, immediately laughed, “What goes around, comes around, Senior Brother.”

Come on, let’s hurt each other.

Ming Xuan: “…”

*

The library had rows of bookshelves spread across four floors. The first floor housed mental cultivation methods, the second floor contained pill techniques, the third floor had talismans, and the fourth floor stored sword techniques. The layout was spiral-shaped, with a hollow center displaying a bluish array, creating a visually striking effect.

The manager glanced at her from his chair, “Here to sweep again?”

That “again” word hit her soul.

Ever since she started Elder Zhao’s mental cultivation class, Ye Qiao had been sweeping here for over ten days, gaining extensive sweeping experience.

However, Ming Xuan had never done such chores before. He didn’t want to move, and Ye Qiao was sweeping half-heartedly.

“Move,” she said grumpily, sweeping the broom.

Ming Xuan: “…”

He gritted his teeth and silently moved his feet.

“I’m the only talisman expert among the personal disciples of Changming Sect,” Ming Xuan reiterated his status, “and I’m also your second senior brother.”

Didn’t she know she should respect her senior brother?

Ye Qiao leaned on the broom and clapped listlessly, “Oh. Impressive.”

“Very impressive.” Her tone was perfunctory and lazy.

Ming Xuan felt she was mocking him.

Neither of them wanted to sweep, both thinking, “Why should he/she not sweep?” They just wasted time like that.

The manager snorted, “You can’t eat until you’re done sweeping.”

Ye Qiao’s dead fish eyes widened: “…”

Time passed second by second. Eventually, Ming Xuan couldn’t hold out any longer. He said, “I’m hungry.”

With that, Ye Qiao also realized, “I’m hungry too.”

Ming Xuan cleared his throat, “How about we sweep faster?”

Ye Qiao: “Alright.”

The two who were bickering a moment ago instantly reached an agreement, grabbed brooms, and started sweeping furiously.

Their goal was to finish quickly and head to the cafeteria.

Using the Clear Wind Stance, both moved swiftly, each holding two brooms, jumping around and creating a dust storm.

The manager, who was reading, was choked by the dust and looked up to see the two previously lazy individuals now sweeping like mantises, leaping up and down.

His mouth twitched violently.

These two idiots.

After a perfunctory sweeping, the two rushed to the cafeteria, leaving the manager behind, speechless, throwing down his book and shouting to no one, “Is this the good seedling you mentioned?”

Good seedling? He thought she looked more like a reincarnated hungry ghost.

Duan Yu emerged from the shadows, having clearly witnessed their behavior. He rubbed his chin, smiling awkwardly, “She has a great memory.”

Not just great.

Practically photographic.

Even Mu Chongxi, born with sword bones, took over ten days to master the Clear Wind Stance.

But Ye Qiao mastered it in just three days.

Duan Yu had suggested to Elder Zhao that they let her sweep the library more often so she could read more books, lest her talent go to waste.

But this girl, she just swept and ran off, never bothering to look at the books in the library.

The manager snorted, “If she truly had a photographic memory, why were her outer sect assessments always so mediocre?”

Swordsmanship assessments mainly tested the mastery and familiarity with swords.

“If she really could memorize instantly, she should have memorized the sword techniques within two months. How could she perform so poorly?”

It was indeed a puzzling issue.

Duan Yu fell silent. Had he misjudged her?

Could it be that her quick mastery of the Clear Wind Stance was just a fluke?