It seemed that Senior Brother didn’t hear clearly, so Lin Zhusheng kindly repeated himself, adding an explanation: “The young master of the Qi Sect.”

This time, Senior Brother appeared to understand, falling silent as his gaze landed on the sword blade. After a moment, he responded with a simple, “Hmm.”

What a brief reply. Thinking that Senior Brother wasn’t interested in the topic, the considerate Lin was about to change the subject when he heard the other person ask, “Are you on good terms with him?”

His tone was quite ordinary, making it hard to detect anything unusual. Lin Zhusheng quickly waved his hands, saying, “Not at all, he finds me annoying.”

He had already learned that Chen Shaozong was quite the face-conscious person, and while he had mentally prepared for it, he didn’t expect it to be this blatant—his disdain was unmasked.

This was the first time he had been so openly disliked by someone, and he could only say it was a rather fresh experience.

Wen Baizhou quietly repeated, “Annoying?”

He handed the sword back, and Lin Zhusheng turned to receive it. Just as he was about to turn back, he felt something brush through his hair, gently tapping the side of his head.

The cool sensation made him open his eyes wide, and he turned his gaze to meet Senior Brother’s eyes, hearing him say, “You’re great.”

“?”

After thinking for a moment, he finally realized that this was meant to say he was great, implying that Chen Jinghao’s disdain for him was his own problem.

Nodding, he smiled and said, “I think I’m great too.”

Then he added, “Senior Brother is great as well.”

Senior Brother smiled a little and withdrew his hand.

Perhaps because he was quite tired today, his smile didn’t carry the usual warmth, instead holding a hint of an unreadable emotion.

Seeing that Senior Brother was exhausted, Lin Zhusheng didn’t want to delay his rest any longer. He sent him off with a bunch of fruits from last time, urging him to go back and rest early, promising to come play again next time.

Senior Brother accepted the tired response with a casual nod, but it was already ineffective. He waved his hand, insisting that Lin should hurry back to rest, as health was the most important thing in the world.

This was the kind concern from the kind-hearted Lin, and he could only leave, finally exiting through the front door instead of climbing out the window.

As the door closed behind him, a figure left the path, and Lin Zhusheng leaned against the windowsill, giving a light wave goodbye.

As night deepened, the lights on the mountains gradually extinguished, with the last dim yellow light in the corner shining until dawn. The figure swayed and finally disappeared into the quiet.

After staying up late to make boxes, it was no surprise that Lin Zhusheng couldn’t get up the next day.

As the morning sun rose, filling the room with warmth, he was directly pulled out of bed by Zhang Jing, who had climbed in through the window.

The grand competition had ended, and the training grounds were back to normal use. They were supposed to resume their regular sword practice, and unsurprisingly, he and Zhang Jing arrived just in time.

After the previous experience of being late, the disciplined Zhang Jing firmly refused to allow any tardiness. Unexpectedly, in this urgent moment, he still remembered to wake Lin up. Lin Zhusheng stood in the chaotic morning wind on the training ground, his hair a complete mess, gaining a deeper understanding of their profound friendship.

Fortunately, they arrived just in time. Many others had indulged for a few days, sleeping as if they didn’t know what day it was. When they finally reached the training ground, it was just as the sword practice was about to end, and they were rewarded with a small punishment set from the Quiet Reflection Hall.

The punishment wasn’t severe; at most, they had to sweep half the training ground or pull some weeds. The key point was having to face the Elder’s sour face and disdainful gaze, which would leave both body and mind severely impacted.

On the first day back to sword practice after a few days of rest, although each disciple had their own way of being late, at least everyone was present.

During the grand competition, Lin Zhusheng had already learned about the promotion to the inner sect from the Sect Master’s mouth. This time, he heard the official arrangements from the Elder.

The way outer sect disciples were promoted to the inner sect was through a competition, where disciples of the same cohort would compete against each other. The rules stated that the first to win three out of five matches would qualify for the inner sect competition, and those who qualified would then need to win two out of three matches to become inner sect disciples.

The Elder spoke lightly, but upon reflection, there was nothing easy about it.

For outer sect disciples to be promoted to the inner sect, the number of slots allocated varied each time, with fewer slots as time went on. Statistically speaking, this was the easiest time for them to enter the inner sect.

The competition rules were somewhat complex when broken down, but essentially, it all came down to strength.

Lin Zhusheng hadn’t really competed with disciples from other Elders besides the second Elder of their outer sect, so he had no understanding of their strength. Finally, the drowsy disciples practicing their swords began to wake up, starting to worry about their futures.

Amidst the anxious voices, standing at the back of the crowd, Lin quietly fiddled with his messy hair after finishing his sword practice. After that, he started adjusting his clothes, tugging here and there.

Having never learned a proper way to dress, his outfit changed every day, like opening a blind box. The probability of getting a comfortable outfit versus an uncomfortable one was four to six, and today he ended up with the latter, making sword practice feel quite off.

He looked so casual, as if he had nothing to do with the competition. Zhang Jing, standing beside him, watched his futile struggles for a while before finally speaking up, “Don’t you have any thoughts about going to the inner sect?”

The Elder had been talking for quite a while, and this person had been fiddling around the whole time, not lifting his head at all, making it hard to see any interest in the matter.

“Hmm?” Lin Zhusheng, still focused on adjusting his clothes, replied, “I do.”

Rather than saying he had thoughts, it was more accurate to say he had to go. If he couldn’t enter the inner sect, it would be difficult to interact with inner sect disciples and Elders. For his overall achievements, he needed to go in and build up his favorability.

He had to go, and he answered with such conviction. Without further ado, Zhang Jing directly tapped his head, urging him to at least pay attention to what the Elder was saying.

The force was just right, waking him up without hurting his brain. Rubbing the back of his head where he was tapped, Lin Zhusheng turned his head and finally glanced at his increasingly irritable friend, who preferred to act rather than talk.

The way this person used to blush when speaking seemed like a thing of the past.

Time was truly frightening.

The Elder spoke about the arrangements for the next month, which roughly included halving the daily sword practice time, with the remaining half used for free sparring among all disciples under the Elders, allowing them to realize their shortcomings and understand their own strength, thus grasping the true situation during the competition.

With the introduction of sparring time, Lin Zhusheng inexplicably became busy.

During the free sparring, well-known strong individuals like Song Ming didn’t have many people stepping up to spar with them. Instead, someone like him, who was rated by Gao Yu as having “a face that belongs to someone of absolutely average strength,” often had people approaching him to request sparring.

The six friends who had reviewed together gathered to chat, and he was always the one called away the most, followed by Gao Yu, who also had an average-looking face.

Based on the principle of equality and mutual assistance, sparring requests couldn’t be refused. After accepting, facing the anxious expressions of those opposite him, his conscience pricked, and he couldn’t bring himself to end the sparring quickly with a single strike. In the end, it turned into a serious engagement.

Serious engagement meant acting seriously.

At a glance, it was clear to see the levels of everyone present. He was probably the one who understood where most people’s average strength lay the best, so he could act convincingly.

The downside of continuous sparring was that it not only wasted energy but also brainpower. The upside was that his recently learned ability to control his strength had been significantly honed, leading to remarkable progress.

Others watched as he was constantly called away, sparring back and forth with everyone, returning after narrowly winning, and then sitting down heavily on the ground.

After being called away again and returning, he propped himself up with his little wooden sword, immediately stuffing a pill into his mouth to regain energy, his cheeks puffing up instantly.

Just a few days ago, he had switched to a real sword, and now he was back to this familiar wooden sword. Zhang Jing, sitting beside him, asked, “Why did you switch back to this sword?”

“Hmm, for various reasons,” he chewed on the dumpling in his mouth, and after swallowing, he casually twirled the wooden sword in his hand, saying, “In short, it’s just more convenient to use.”

Weapons had a default setting to automatically use higher-level weapons. Just like that time with Chen Jinghao, once he had a higher-priority long sword, it automatically replaced the wooden sword in his bag. The long sword was generally better than the wooden sword, but the little wooden sword had its own advantages. Simply put, the wooden sword was lighter, which saved him a lot of energy.

Continuing to practice with the long sword at such high intensity, he felt that one day he would be able to lift the original version of the Wuqi with one hand.

At such times, still opting for the easy route with the wooden sword, Gao Yu, who was always worried, voiced his concerns: “You should practice more.”

Although he often won, he was indeed barely winning each time. If his condition was off or luck was against him during the formal competition, the matter of going to the inner sect would become quite uncertain.

Now that they were in the outer sect, they were expected to continue moving up. If he fell behind, one in the outer sect and one in the inner sect, they wouldn’t be able to chat and fish around like this anymore, and the consequences would be quite serious.

Concerning their team’s fishing endeavors, the others were also somewhat concerned about this issue. Glancing at the nearby people, one finally lowered his voice to ask, “Do you have confidence in the competition?”

After speaking, he glanced at Song Ming, who had been fiddling with the jade pendant in his hand, adding, “Except for Brother Song.”

With parents and siblings who were all exceptionally talented, his own talent and strength were not lacking either. Previously, when someone bravely proposed sparring, he had knocked them down with two strikes, so his strength was beyond doubt. Thus, no one dared to challenge him easily since then; he was the one they didn’t need to worry about.

The others all said they were uncertain. Luck was also a part of strength; the competition relied on strength, but it also depended on fate. If one kept drawing difficult opponents, even having confidence would turn into uncertainty.

Lin Zhusheng took a sip from the water he always carried, mumbling a vague response amidst the others’ voices.

Great, no one had any confidence. A few people worried about their futures stood up to spar with each other, and as they got up, they waited for Lin, who was still drinking, to finish before heading to practice together.

While drinking, Lin Zhusheng made a gesture to hurry up, gulping down the water.