Ling Luo furrowed her brows and said, “Give me your hand.”

Yue Liangze glanced at her, then generously extended his hand to her.

As usual, he didn’t ask anything, showing no sign of suspicion.

Ling Luo took his hand and examined his spiritual veins again. They were faint, as if the earlier surge of spiritual energy had been an illusion.

It might have been an illusion.

Ling Luo hesitated for a moment, then let go of his hand and narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized him.

Knowing that Yue Liangze would one day become the number one swordsman, even if the burst of spiritual energy had only been brief, Ling Luo didn’t believe it was an illusion.

“If nothing’s wrong, I’ll head back first,” Yue Liangze said softly.

Ling Luo hummed, walked forward for a couple of steps, then turned back to look at him. “If anyone asks you about Xiuman’s cheating tomorrow, just say what you know, don’t hold back.”

Yue Liangze looked at her with a calm expression.

“Huang Mao and Yin Wen, don’t let either of them off,” Ling Luo said. “Just tell the truth, or make something up, as long as it proves the cheating was real. According to the sect rules, they’ll both be expelled from Tianji.”

Yue Liangze asked his first question: “Did you go to see Hall Master Fan?”

“You don’t need to know.” Ling Luo lifted her hand to smooth the hair the night wind had tousled, then turned and said, “Just don’t mess up my plan.”

She had offended Huang Mao and the others, and with their tempers, they would surely hold a grudge and seek revenge later. Ling Luo wouldn’t give them the chance. Plus, the reason she went to see Yun Shouxi was already a bit of a stretch.

Watching Ling Luo’s retreating figure, Yue Liangze pursed his lips, lowering his gaze.

The two parted ways.

Yue Liangze headed toward the back mountain of the Medicine Hall, walking along a quiet path, the only sounds being the occasional chirping of crickets in the night.

Ling Luo didn’t return to her dorm but quietly followed behind him.

She was still thinking about the strange surge of spiritual energy she had sensed earlier.

Yue Liangze returned to his courtyard, first drawing water from the well to wash his face, then went to the kitchen to bring out a plate of vegetables, washing them with clean water.

Ling Luo had given him a bun, which he didn’t eat. The rice cakes and tea that Senior Sister from the Medicine Hall had given him also remained untouched.

Yue Liangze only ate food he had prepared himself.

Ling Luo, hidden in the shadows, sneered inwardly when she saw this.

She remembered the days back on Tianzhao Mountain, when Yue Liangze would always hang around the kitchen. When it was mealtime, the fragrance would waft far away, and the spirits and demons across the mountain would secretly come to watch.

They would whisper and howl, saying, “This fragrance is even better than the magic incense stone. Damn, it smells so good!”

“Take a deep breath, if we breathe it in, our cultivation will triple today.”

“Is that true? Don’t lie to me!”

“You can try it yourself and see!”
“Suction—it’s really true!”
“Move aside, let me try!”
One by one, fist-sized black balls with white dot-like eyes squeezed around the kitchen door and the eaves, staring at Yue Liangze with their eyes rolling.

Yue Liangze was dressed in simple and casual clothing, no longer wearing the black, white, and gold ornate robes of the Sacred Sword Sect. While he lost some of his elegance, he now appeared more like a mortal immortal.

His black hair was tied up high, his features delicate, and his serious expression made others reluctant to disturb him.

Yue Liangze scooped up a bowl of fresh soup and said to the spirits and demons by the door, “Go call her to eat.”

The spirits and demons immediately jumped up and down, howling and chirping.
“We’ll go, we’ll go!”
“How dare you! Don’t think you can eat with our master!”
“Master won’t be swayed by your mere four dishes and one soup! Unless you fry up some meat!”
“Report! Master said she’s not eating!”

So, Yue Liangze went to personally call her.

Ling Luo did it on purpose. Every time, she would say she wasn’t going, wasn’t eating, then wait for Yue Liangze to come and invite her, only to mock and ridicule this renowned swordsman—the strongest in the Sword Dao, and the number one immortal in the sect, trapped in her formation.

However, Yue Liangze wasn’t angered. He quietly listened to her, then asked, “Do you want to eat?”

Ling Luo gritted her teeth. “No! Don’t think just because I don’t want to kill you now you can get away with it. I’m keeping you here to deal with your master.”

Yue Liangze said, “My master won’t come.”

“You’re his favorite disciple. How can he not come?” Ling Luo didn’t believe it.

But Yue Liangze calmly repeated, “He won’t come.”

At first, Ling Luo didn’t believe him, but eventually, she did.

Because until Tianzhao Mountain was destroyed by the other sects, Yue Liangze’s master, that old, strange, and kind-hearted man, never showed up.

Ling Luo never understood why, when she had trapped Yue Liangze on Tianzhao Mountain for nearly two months—during the time when she was massacring and causing havoc—no one from the Sacred Sword Sect came to rescue him.

Even if they thought he had died, they should have come to avenge their younger disciple.

Unfortunately, she never got the chance to ask.

Because that day, she hadn’t seen Yue Liangze, and her mind was filled with a desire to challenge the heavenly path. Even though she briefly considered going to find him, it was only for a moment.

But he wouldn’t be in trouble.

The sects wanted to kill her, but if Yue Liangze encountered them, he wouldn’t face the sword or knife. Instead, he would cheer and shout, “The Sword Saint is still alive!”

Ling Luo couldn’t help but sneer as she thought about it, her eyes reflecting the young man picking vegetables in the courtyard.

She mischievously thought, those who treated Yue Liangze as a fallen immortal, believing him to be pure and untouched, the Sword Saint on high—now here he was, rolling in the mud, stepped on and beaten, at the mercy of others.

The weak, she thought, couldn’t help but pity him.

Yue Liangze prepared two dishes and one soup for himself. Despite often being bullied, he didn’t neglect himself when it came to food.

Ling Luo, hiding in the shadows, smelled the aroma of the food, and her stomach betrayed her with a loud growl.

She looked down at her stomach, annoyed.

After Yue Liangze finished eating, he cleaned up the dishes and then fetched hot water to wash up.

Ling Luo, feeling bored, yawned lazily. She thought he should be going to rest now, and so should she.

Just as she was about to leave, she saw Yue Liangze change out of his ceremonial clothes and come out wearing another clean set of clothes.

His hair was still dripping with water, but he didn’t mind. In his hand, he held a wooden sword, and he stood under the eaves, practicing a sword move with one hand.

Ling Luo looked back, her eyes curving in a smile. Oh? Practicing swordsmanship at this hour?

Yue Liangze was practicing the most basic sword moves—horizontal and vertical slashes—which he repeated over a hundred times.

He was working on the basics.

Not only outer disciples but even new sword cultivators at the start of their training would practice these moves. Yet, he had been in East Island Tianji for two years.

Ling Luo, lazily watching from the high flower tree, thought to herself that Yue Liangze wasn’t truly practicing his sword techniques. The few basic moves he was executing didn’t seem useful for cultivation. To her, it looked more like he was just getting familiar with the wooden sword in his hand.

After the basic moves, he sat cross-legged on the corridor next to the house, one hand forming sword gestures.

But for some reason, even though he was practicing the gesture, he didn’t channel any spiritual energy. Though his hand movements were correct, there was no effect whatsoever.

The key to the gesture was in the manipulation and control of one’s spiritual energy.

Yet Yue Liangze seemed more focused on the hand gestures.

He repeatedly formed the gestures.

Ling Luo watched him train for as long as he did.

Only after his damp hair dried did he put away his sword and return to rest in his room.

Ling Luo also yawned and quietly left in the night.

Though his spiritual energy was problematic, Yue Liangze never gave up on his cultivation.

Ling Luo remembered that the gestures he had practiced earlier resembled the sealing technique she used to close the Medicine Hall’s gate and couldn’t help but sneer.

So, you really learned it.