Chapter 91: Disciples Conference (Part 3)

Something rather notable happened in the arena.
Around this time in previous years, Fu Shuangshuang would return to Tianshan. This year, however, she hadn’t returned and was instead invited as a special judge. Sitting in the spectator area, she crossed her legs and told a young attendant, “Tell Xu Qianqian to move her carriage back. Its shadow keeps swaying and interfering with my view.”
Across from the arena hovered Xu Qianqian’s Zhilan.

The carriage was drawn by five-colored clouds, with two golden-tailed spirit cranes flapping their wings, radiating brilliance. Among all the carriages, it was the most stunning and eye-catching.
All passing disciples couldn’t help but glance at it, and many found their own fights affected by the dazzling display.
After a while, Xu Qianqian’s maid came over to report, “Miss has been watching the matches here for years, and it has never disturbed the proceedings. We kindly ask Madam to find a more suitable spot.”

Fu Shuangshuang slapped her iron fan and stood up, but Xu Baopu held her hand and gave it a squeeze, stopping her from reacting outright.
Just then, Shen Suwei happened to pass by, and Fu Shuangshuang spotted him, beckoning him over, “Third junior brother, come here.”
Shen Suwei had no choice but to approach.
“Be the judge for me,” Fu Shuangshuang said. “That sister of yours falls ill every three days, and every five, she’s bedridden. Ever since I married your senior brother, the precious pills of Tianshan have been flowing into her chambers like water, yet she shows no respect for me as her sister-in-law.” She huffed, “Suwei, go and tell her to move back.”

“What’s this? Are you finding it difficult?” Seeing his silence, Fu Shuangshuang’s eyes narrowed. “Have I ever held back on any celestial pills for you? Are you on my side, or Xu Qianqian’s?”
Shen Suwei calmly glanced at Xu Baopu, who was desperately signaling at him with his eyes, and said, “The sect’s rules honor and respect elders. Naturally, I stand with the senior brother.”
Xu Baopu smiled but gave him a subtle glare.
What a clever answer, tossing the dilemma right back at him!
Fu Shuangshuang chuckled; if senior brother was on her side, then that meant he would support her decision too. She waved Shen Suwei away, “Go on, tell her to move back ten steps, and make sure her shadow doesn’t fall on the stage.”

Shen Suwei looked at the stage. As a sword cultivator herself, Fu Shuangshuang had high standards for arena conditions, and her point was valid; Xu Qianqian, not being a cultivator, wouldn’t realize this. So he approached the opposite side.
Before he got too close, the Zhilan, wreathed in golden light, slowly lowered to the ground. The deep blue velvet curtain, embroidered with an eight-petaled lotus, lifted slightly. Shen Suwei raised his sword to signal that Xu Qianqian didn’t need to step out.
From behind the curtain, a pale, gaunt face appeared. Xu Qianqian’s clear eyes focused intently on him.

It had been a year since they last spoke. He looked the same as ever, though now, after forming his Nascent Soul, his aura was even colder, his appearance more striking. Xu Qianqian’s gaze held a mix of longing and faint emptiness.
Shen Suwei glanced at the tree canopy overhead and carefully said, “It’s hot here. Please move back under the shade to watch the matches.”
Without a word of protest, Xu Qianqian immediately instructed the carriage to retreat into the shade.

---

“Isn’t that your senior brother?” Ruan Zhuqing gestured as they walked along.
Encountering one’s senior brother on the arena grounds wasn’t particularly surprising. Lin Shuyue’s messenger butterflies arrived one after another, urging her to join him at the Magic Palace tonight. Xu Qianyu wasn’t as quick to respond, and if he didn’t reply in time, Lin Shuyue would send another, leaving Xu Qianyu scrambling to keep up.

The five-colored clouds surrounding the chariot of Zhilan were dazzling, casting a radiant glow over Shen Suwei’s snow-colored attire. He stood in front of the chariot, speaking to someone inside, unaware of anyone watching him from afar.
As she took a couple more steps, Xu Qianyu could see a pale young girl with slender arms lifting the curtain within the chariot.

Xu Qianyu took a few more steps forward, gazing at the girl intently.
This was her first time seeing Xu Qianqian.
In her previous life, when she joined the sect, Xu Qianqian had already passed away—a person who only existed in memories.
To Xu Qianyu, Lu You did indeed resemble Xu Qianqian, but their temperaments were entirely different.

Lu You had a delicate charm, like a porcelain flower that evoked a tender affection. Xu Qianqian, on the other hand, had a frail, almost shattered aura, akin to a withering orchid. Having never trained in cultivation, Xu Qianqian’s demeanor was more like the refined, gentle young ladies Xu Qianyu had seen in Nanling.

She was taller, with long limbs, more mature and graceful—a true “woman.”
In the silhouettes of these two people, Xu Qianyu perceived a sense of tranquil beauty with the passage of time. As she received another letter butterfly, she muttered, “Why is he bending down to speak?”
Ruan Zhuqing found her question strange. “If he doesn’t bend down, the person inside won’t hear him. Senior Brother Shen is considerate and well-mannered.”
Xu Qianyu, of course, knew Shen Suwei’s courtesy was impeccable.

Yet, seeing him act with such thoughtfulness toward someone else left a distasteful feeling. It wasn’t the same as his courtesy to her.
Still, since Xu Qianqian hadn’t joined the sect to train, they likely didn’t have much interaction. Casually, she asked, “Are they close?”
Ruan Zhuqing responded, “Ah, they’re definitely close; didn’t they almost get engaged?”
Xu Qianyu: ?
She wondered if she had misheard.

To her, Shen Suwei was someone who had renounced all sentiment, yet here was another piece of worldly attachment she hadn’t known about.
The drowsy Yu Chu suddenly perked up, circling around to Ruan Zhuqing’s other side. “When did this happen? Tell us!”
“Don’t tell anyone,” Ruan Zhuqing replied hastily. “I heard it from Master, so it might not be true. It was around the time Qianyu joined the sect. They say Qianqian liked Senior Brother Shen, but it didn’t work out for some reason.”

Xu Qianyu asked, “Before I joined?”
“Just before you joined.”
Xu Qianyu’s heart suddenly raced. For some reason, the sunlight piercing her eyes felt almost like seawater, sharp and blinding. She wanted to look again at the scene of those two to confirm if it was true, but Senior Brother had already left, leaving no way to verify.

Another two butterflies arrived from Lin Shuyue. Xu Qianyu glanced at the words, but they blurred before her eyes. She decided to head straight for the Magic Palace.

…
After Shen Suwei took his leave, Xu Qianqian’s eyelashes trembled, as though something had been lost. She said to her maid, “The red string on Senior Brother Shen’s sword—many disciples have them. Where can I get one? I’d like to get one for me and my brother.”
The maid obeyed and soon returned with two similar red strings obtained from a disciple skilled in Magic, offering them to Xu Qianqian.

Worried she might confuse them, the maid said, “The double-fish string is yours, Miss, and the double-gourd one is for Brother Xu.”
“Miss, are you alright? Are you feeling unwell?” Noticing her pale expression, the maid grew concerned.
Xu Qianqian forced a smile and shook her head, clutching the red string as the color drained from her face.

Just as she suspected, the red string for a female cultivator has a double-fish pendant, while that for a male cultivator has a double-gourd.
She had once gifted a sword to Shen Suwei, which he accepted but never used, perhaps because he didn’t like it.

The sword he now carried, however, was an unremarkable, rusted, willow-leaf-shaped blade she had never seen before. So many things must have transpired that she couldn’t know. Her heart sank with a sense of loss. He was such a low-profile man, modest in every way, yet he carried a splash of red on his sword—a strange contradiction.
That red string bore the double-fish pendant belonging to some female cultivator.

*
Lin Shuyue invited Xu Qianyu to the Magic Palace for a meal. Xu Qianyu thought it would be just the two of them, but upon arrival, she found ten other disciples she didn’t know, both male and female, all of whom Lin Shuyue had invited. Each one assumed they were meeting Lin Shuyue alone.

The ten disciples looked at each other, slightly embarrassed.
Unfazed, Lin Shuyue chuckled, “It doesn’t matter if you’re strangers—one meal and you’ll be friends. The more, the merrier!”
It didn’t bother Xu Qianyu either. She couldn’t remember all their names, but it didn’t stop her from drinking and socializing. She was naturally skilled at making friends, and by the end of the meal, she had stolen the spotlight: many of the disciples didn’t know Lin Shuyue well, but they all became acquainted with Xu Qianyu, the sword-wielding junior disciple of the sect leader, known for her straightforward personality and remarkable generosity.

She even had fresh-made iced desserts and wine brought in from Penglai, ensuring everyone had their fill in a display of luxurious indulgence.
After a few rounds of drinks, those preparing for the next day’s tournament left first. The remaining group went to swim in the Spirit Pool of the Magic Palace, then returned to play dice and cards onshore until, too drowsy to keep their eyes open, several more departed. By midnight, only Lin Shuyue and Xu Qianyu were left.

Xu Qianyu thought these disciples couldn’t handle much fun.
Pulling her aside, Lin Shuyue said, “Don’t go back tonight; stay with me.”
Xu Qianyu, not keen to return that night, agreed, and they stayed together in the disciple’s quarters of the Magic Palace.
Lin Shuyue kept her word and gifted Xu Qianyu a magical tool—a palm-sized peach-shaped device. When activated, it unleashed an array of peach blossom petals like those used in battle. Each petal in the array was as sharp as a blade.

Xu Qianyu tried it and liked it very much. “Can you only use offensive arrays?”
“Not necessarily,” Lin Shuyue replied. “After reaching the eighth level of foundational training, each spell practitioner awakens a unique ability. I recently awakened mine, though I’m not sure how useful it is.”

“What’s your ability? Let’s test it out!”
“It… consumes a lot of spiritual energy.”
Ever since she started practicing talisman art, Xu Qianyu has kept cinnabar charms on hand. She drew several charms on the spot and handed them to Lin Shuyue.

Lin Shuyue was stunned by her generosity. “You’re buying so many spirit-gathering talismans. That must cost a lot of spirit stones, right?”
Hua Qingsan told her to keep a low profile, and Xu Qianyu just nodded.
The spirit-gathering talismans floated in the air, forming streams of spiritual energy that surged into Lin Shuyue’s body. She rapidly formed hand seals, glancing over with a smile. Xu Qianyu observed the surroundings; everything seemed normal, as if nothing had happened. “What is this?”

“Throw me an apricot.”

An apricot from the fruit tray was tossed over, and Xu Qianyu’s pupils narrowed as she watched it freeze mid-air. In that instant, it felt as though an invisible wave of energy pressed down, freezing the air in the room. Then, the apricot fell onto the table.

All four talismans burned to ashes. Lin Shuyue, breathless, said, “This is it, the Dimensional Pause Formation!”
“You can stop time!” Xu Qianyu realized. “How could you say it’s useless?”
“It sounds impressive, but it only lasts a moment. How useful can that be?”
Xu Qianyu asked, “How large an area can you cover?”
Lin Shuyue looked around. “About the size of this room.”

Xu Qianyu stared at her. “In that moment, a top sword master could strike five times; I could strike three. With this power, you have to make it to the top ten at the hairpin flower conference. I’m joining you.”

“Alright.” Lin Shuyue’s eyes sparkled, seemingly captivated by Xu Qianyu’s charm, and she smiled sweetly before suddenly hooking her arm around Xu Qianyu’s neck and kissing her cheek. Xu Qianyu’s eyes widened, stunned, and she wiped her face in shock. Lin Shuyue, already munching on the apricot, ducked into her bedroll.
She didn’t forget to send a message with her spirit butterfly.

Xu Qianyu felt a little annoyed. Lin Shuyue had asked her to stay with her but was too busy to talk, constantly messaging others.
“I have five potential Daoist companions I’m nurturing,” Lin Shuyue explained, noticing Xu Qianyu’s steady gaze. “Over the past two days of the disciple tournament, some won, some lost. Some need congratulating, some need consoling. It’s a bit busy. Just give me a moment.”
Xu Qianyu nodded.

After a while, Lin Shuyue, noticing she hadn’t commented, asked, “Qianyu, do you have a Taoist companion?”
“I…” Xu Qianyu had no concept of having five potential companions. She thought for a moment, then said, “Before I joined, I had ten male servants.”

Lin Shuyue’s head shot up, seeing Xu Qianyu’s calm, beautiful face with wide eyes, and she felt admiration rise within her. “You’re definitely my friend now!”

*
It was midnight, yet the lights in Zhaoyue Hall remained off.
Today wasn’t Xu Qianyu’s usual day to return late, so when Shen Suwei saw that it was past the third watch, he entered her room and found a note on the dressing table: “I won’t be back tonight. I’ll go directly to the tournament tomorrow.”

Shen Suwei looked out the window at the night sky and folded the note.
She hadn’t sent him a spirit butterfly message nor given a reason, not even calling him “senior brother.”
He looked at the flowers in the vase, feeling unsettled.

He didn’t know what Xu Qianyu was like before she joined the inner sect, but since then, she had sometimes come back late. However, this was the first time she hadn’t returned at all.
Suppressing the urge to locate her with his spiritual sense, Shen Suwei reminded himself that, as a Nascent Soul master, he could easily find out where she was and even what she was doing. But spying on his junior sister felt like crossing a line.

He closed his eyes, extended his senses just to check her location, confirmed she was safe, and retracted his consciousness.
She wasn’t near Wuzhen’s pavilion, nor with Hua Qingsan.
It seemed she was near the Spell Hall.
With a calm expression, Shen Suwei took out a water jug from his mustard seed gold bead and watered the orchids.

His mind was cluttered, but it didn’t affect the precision of his actions. Recently, with the right amount of watering, the leaves of the dark orchids in Zhaoyue Hall had stood upright, thriving once again.
As he glanced at the pot, he suddenly noticed a faint blue sprout.
The floating grass from Shenchong had sprouted.
Shen Suwei gazed at it, his dark, quiet eyes carefully channeling spiritual energy into it.
After finishing, the darkness still weighed on his shoulders and above his head, pressing down with suffocating heaviness.

With Xu Qianyu gone, the room felt especially empty and cold. In contrast, suspicion flashed in his mind.
He suddenly remembered that Wuzhen, when severely injured, had stayed in the Spell Hall.
Shen Suwei’s eyelashes trembled, suppressing his urge to investigate further. He simply extended his hand, and a golden message butterfly landed in his palm.
No matter what she was doing, a message from him now would be an interruption.
But as he went to write, he found himself hesitating, unsure of a reason to disturb her at midnight.

*
In a small room in the disciples’ quarters, Xu Qianyu tossed and turned. She had initially decided, since she wasn’t going back tonight, to fully rebel and not study. But feeling uneasy, she sat up, wrapped in her blanket, and tried to review today’s notes.
But she couldn’t focus, feeling that she might have overlooked something.
Before, she always thought her senior brother liked Lu You. But for some inexplicable reason, what if it was because of his childhood friendship with Qianqian? And Lu You did resemble Xu Qianqian.

The system chimed in, “No, this is going too far. I didn’t write such a love line!”
Xu Qianyu replied, “Then why are they engaged in this lifetime?”
The system fell silent. The chaotic five years after the world’s reset had indeed altered many things.

Once again feeling that hollow sense of loss, Xu Qianyu couldn’t focus, growing frustrated.
Lin Shuyue, awakened by Xu Qianyu’s movements, lit a lamp. “What time is it? Ugh, only the third watch! Are all sword cultivators this terrifying?”
Though exhausted, she picked up a spell book in the atmosphere, half-awake and flipping through it as if she’d fall behind if she didn’t.

The two of them read ineffectively for a while. Then Xu Qianyu suddenly asked, “Shuyue, if someone you loved killed you, what would that feel like?”

“Ah?”
Lin Shuyue paused for a moment to calm herself, then replied, “That depends on which one of them I liked. For me, my first love was earth-shattering. If he were to kill me, I would be shocked, in pain, afraid, and regretful. I might even come up with some reasons, like he killed me out of necessity; that would make it a bit easier to bear. The potential partners that come after him are just whatever. If they dare to kill me, even if I turn into a ghost, I would drag them down to hell with me.”

Xu Qianyu thought to herself that the things she was missing were indeed quite complex.
Although Lin Shuyue was extremely curious about her ten male servants, she dared not ask too many questions: “Did you have a nightmare? What kind of person do you admire?”
Xu Qianyu replied, “I hope he likes no one.”
Lin Shuyue asked, “No one at all? Like a statue or a sculpture?”
“No. He has to be alive, someone who can run, jump, and speak.”
Lin Shuyue cautiously inquired, “Then do you like monks or Taoists from the temples?”
Xu Qianyu remained silent for a moment. “He has to be someone I prefer more than them, but only for me, not for anyone else.”

“…” Lin Shuyue put down her book. “Then how could he possibly like no one? Don’t you want him to like you?”
She continued, “Isn’t this just wanting to like him while also wanting him to like you?”
Xu Qianyu lay down silently, her eyes wide open.
She liked her senior brother and wanted him to like her back.
This touched upon the secret desire hidden deep within her heart that she had never acknowledged, sending shivers through her entire being.
Yet she still didn’t quite understand what it felt like to like someone.

In this lifetime, Xu Qianyu only understood the desire to “obtain,” which was not much different from wanting to secure a spot as an inner disciple or aiming for first place.
She wanted to have Shen Suwei.
But she understood that Shen Suwei was destined for the great path, making it impossible for her to obtain him; hence, she remained in a state of longing and yearning.
Just then, a butterfly carrying a letter from Shen Suwei fluttered around her.

Xu Qianyu had planned to stay out tonight, expecting her senior brother to send her a message. But she didn’t know what he would say—perhaps reminding her to stay safe and to remember to review her studies while out.

She didn’t want to think about how he hadn’t slept yet; she originally thought he would only notice the note the next morning. Was there something urgent that their master had instructed him to tell her?
However, her heart hadn’t settled yet, and she found herself afraid to open the letter. After a while, she caught the butterfly but was stunned.

There were no words at all.
It was blank.
Xu Qianyu repeatedly confirmed that the butterfly had no content on either side and then put it away.

Shen Suwei was very cautious in his speech and actions; he would never do anything ambiguous. If he had accidentally sent the wrong message, he would surely correct it later.
She closed her eyes for the duration of a stick of incense, when a second butterfly flew in.
Xu Qianyu opened it, and it was still blank. Clearly, it wasn’t a mistake; it was intentional. Her mind buzzed as a layer of cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
Two empty butterflies seemed to be an unspoken tease and hint.
Xu Qianyu tucked it into her book without replying.
After a while, a third butterfly gracefully arrived.
Still empty.
Before dawn, Xu Qianyu suddenly began to get dressed: “I’m going to the arena.”