Chapter 10 — Junior Brother, Have Another Piece

But Xiao Ji said nothing.

He merely lowered his eyes and pulled a sheepskin scroll from his sleeve, spreading it out in front of Wu Sect Master.

It was a blueprint.

Drawn in ink was an exquisitely crafted longevity lock.

Wu Sect Master’s Dao companion was one of the most accomplished artifact cultivators around, so he immediately understood what Xiao Ji meant.

He tapped the drawing with his finger, clicking his tongue.

“You aren’t planning to give this to your disciple, are you, my dear senior brother?”

Xiao Ji neither confirmed nor denied it.

His cold, rigid expression made Wu Sect Master laugh in exasperation.

“Do you think your disciple is still eight years old? This is something little children wear!”

If Wu Sect Master hadn’t shamelessly pestered Xiao Ji for information about Yu Jin, he would never have known that his dignified and mighty senior brother was capable of doing one bizarre thing after another.

Then his peripheral vision caught a certain detail on the blueprint.

His voice suddenly stopped.

He leaned down.

“This is…”

At that moment, Xiao Ji, who had been sitting calmly, suddenly looked toward the doorway.

“Who is there?”

“…”

The door opened a crack.

The figure of a young man slowly appeared.

It was Ping Shuo, his eyes lowered, carrying a tray in his hands.

Xiao Ji stared coldly at him.

His gaze was filled with heavy vigilance.

“Oh! Look at me, I completely forgot!”

Seeing this, Wu Sect Master immediately stood up and pulled Ping Shuo over to Xiao Ji.

“Senior brother, this is the fine wine I asked a wandering friend to bring back from the mortal imperial court before you entered seclusion.”

“Its elegant name is Fragrant Sophora Wine, and it’s exclusively brewed for the Human Emperor.”

“Come, senior brother, have a taste!”

As he spoke, he pressed Ping Shuo’s head down.

“Come greet your martial uncle.”

Ping Shuo lowered his head and bowed politely.

“Martial uncle.”

Xiao Ji withdrew his defensive stance, but his dark gaze remained fixed on the young man without moving an inch.

Wu Sect Master muttered inwardly.

Then he added,

“Senior brother, this is my disciple. It’s been many years since you’ve seen him, hasn’t it?”

“You should remember him.”

“He’s the child who climbed the mountain eight hundred years ago, taking one bow and one kowtow with every step.”

“His temperament was extremely steadfast.”

“Nowadays, everyone says that he has a little of your bearing from back then.”

Xiao Ji stared at Ping Shuo for a while.

Then said,

“Come here.”

His tone was hardly friendly.

Wu Sect Master’s head began to ache.

What on earth is happening?

Why has senior brother suddenly taken a dislike to my youngest disciple?

He had barely managed to say “Senior brother—” when Xiao Ji pressed one palm against Ping Shuo’s shoulder.

A surge of dark-blue spiritual power burst forth.

“Ah!”

Ping Shuo cried out and collapsed into a kneeling position.

Wu Sect Master immediately broke into a cold sweat.

But Xiao Ji withdrew his hand.

There were no injuries.

Not the person from that day.

Yet his build was somewhat similar.

Unless…

Xiao Ji frowned thoughtfully.

Coming back to himself, he saw the worried expression on Wu Sect Master’s face.

He used spiritual power to help Ping Shuo back up and calmly said,

“I was merely examining his cultivation.”

“You’ve taught your disciple well.”

Wu Sect Master breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest.

“That’s good. That’s good…”

“I thought…”

Before he could finish, Xiao Ji looked at Ping Shuo again.

“I heard that you have some history with Jin’er?”

Wu Sect Master nearly choked.

For a moment, he felt as though his disciple’s figure were flickering before his eyes.

Ping Shuo’s face went pale.

He forced out a smile.

“There were some misunderstandings, but they’ve already been resolved.”

“Is that so?”

Xiao Ji raised an eyebrow.

He lifted the cup and drained the strong Fragrant Sophora Wine in one gulp.

His aura immediately became much more imposing.

Wu Sect Master knew this senior brother far too well.

His eyelid twitched.

He gritted his teeth and stepped forward, grabbing Xiao Ji’s arm.

He gave him a meaningful look while transmitting his voice privately:

“Senior brother, my dear senior brother, I don’t know what my disciple did to offend you, but leave him to me.”

“I’ll deal with him.”

“I’ll deal with him, all right?”

Xiao Ji hadn’t actually intended to do anything.

Wu Sect Master was simply panicking out of concern.

With Xiao Ji’s status, picking a fight with a young man like Ping Shuo would be beneath his dignity.

This time was merely a warning.

Xiao Ji glanced at Wu Sect Master.

His thin lips moved.

“You’d better be able to control him.”

With that, he swept his sleeve and left.

The moment his figure disappeared, Wu Sect Master finally breathed freely.

He collapsed into his chair with a thump.

Then he pointed accusingly at Ping Shuo’s pale face.

“Look! Look at this!”

“I told you not to be prejudiced against Yu Jin!”

“Now Xiao Ji knows about it!”

“You’re going to suffer!”

“His disciple-protecting instincts are legendary!”

As he spoke, his expression actually became somewhat nostalgic, as though he were reminiscing about the past.

“Back when senior brother raised us junior brothers and sisters, he was exactly like this.”

“If anyone from another peak dared bully us…”

“Hmph.”

He glanced at his disappointing disciple.

“Anyway, from now on, treat Yu Jin better.”

“Don’t keep looking at him as though you’ve swallowed something unpleasant.”

“If you refuse to listen and make another mistake, your master won’t be able to protect you!”

“After all, Xiao Ji is my senior brother.”

“If he has to clean up my sect’s mess for me, that’s perfectly reasonable!”

“Master is right.”

Ping Shuo kept his head lowered.

His fingers gripping the tray had turned white.

Beneath his lowered lashes, intense unwillingness burned in his eyes.

Why?

Why has my respected master already become Sect Master, yet he still has to be restrained by that man?

Why does he have to act so cautiously around him?

Xuanzhen Hall

Inside Xuanzhen Hall, Elder Xuanzhen sat with his eyes closed, reciting scriptures.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him.

“You finally came.”

“I knew you would…”

“How did it go?”

“Thank you for the spiritual medicine, Elder.”

“The wounds Xiao Ji inflicted on me that day have completely healed. He didn’t discover anything.”

“And I also heard…”

“Heh.”

Xuanzhen couldn’t help recalling the day Xiao Ji emerged from seclusion.

The tribulation lightning of ascension had appeared for an instant—

and then vanished.

None of the elders knew what had happened.

Until Xiao Ji walked into the hall.

The pressure surrounding him was as terrifying as thunder.

No one spoke.

The elders silently yielded the central seat—the position representing the strongest cultivator—to him.

It was almost as though the seat had always belonged to him.

Xiao Ji, handsome and imposing, calmly sat down among a group of white-haired elders.

The elders announced the matters to be discussed that day.

Xiao Ji listened without the slightest change in expression.

He lifted his teacup.

And when he spoke, his tone was calm yet unmistakably mocking:

“So this is what we’re discussing.”

“I thought you were going to discuss my disciple—the evil demon with not even the slightest trace of spiritual power who supposedly intends to bring disaster upon the world.”

The expressions of every elder in the hall immediately turned unpleasant.

Everyone remembered the night Xiao Ji had brought that child back.

They had surrounded him, relying on their seniority to pressure him into eliminating his own disciple.

But no one spoke now.

The matter of Yu Jin was quietly swept aside.

“So he plans to raise his precious disciple into a useless cripple.”

“That way, no one can call him an evil demon anymore.”

“After all, how could a useless person possibly bring disaster upon the world?”

Xuanzhen’s voice was full of mockery.

“What a heartless Sword Venerable.”

“He treats even his own disciple so cruelly.”

“Heh.”

“Does he truly think he can protect that child for the rest of his life?”

“How arrogant.”

Xuanzhen shook his head.

Then stood and called Ping Shuo over.

“Come with me.”

“Let’s go see that wretched creature.”

“As for this trip to the Treasure Cavern…”

“I’ve already made arrangements.”

“Act according to the circumstances.”

“Make absolutely certain that he never returns.”

Ever since the root-cleansing, Lin Chun’s body had been experiencing problems every few days.

Sometimes diarrhea.

Sometimes a mild cold.

A medical cultivator had examined him several times, but nothing could be found.

They could only conclude that he had yet to adapt to the food and environment of the cultivation world.

Lin Chun sat on his bed, eating the pastries Yu Jin had brought him with a deeply troubled expression.

“Sigh…”

“What on earth is going on?”

Yu Jin thoughtfully massaged his shoulders.

When he saw that Lin Chun was about to finish the pastries, he immediately handed him another piece.

His eyes curved into a smile.

“It’s fine.”

“Just treat it as a chance to rest.”

“Junior brother, have another piece.”

Lin Chun accepted it, deeply moved.

“Waaah…”

“Senior brother, you’re so nice to me!”

Behind him, Yu Jin looked down at the top of his head.

He gave a proud, disdainful snort.

Give this idiot some food and he gets so happy he can’t even tell north from south.

He didn’t even realize I put something in the pastries.

What a hopeless fool.

And this idiot thinks he can steal my Master?

But then his expression suddenly changed.

He glared viciously at the little radish in front of him.

Seriously.

Why are his shoulders so damn hard?

My hands are getting sore!

As expected, everything about this bastard annoyed him!

Yu Jin angrily continued massaging Lin Chun’s shoulders.

Lin Chun, completely unaware of anything, couldn’t help reflecting on how Yu Jin had gradually stopped speaking harshly to him.

Perhaps it had begun that day when Yu Jin had made too many pastries and brought the leftovers to him.

The two of them had chatted beneath the moonlight afterward.

That night, Lin Chun had listened to Yu Jin talk about his past.

He had cried so hard that his eyes became swollen.

He had realized just how much his senior brother cared about their Master.

And the very next day—

he had caught a cold and developed diarrhea.

Sigh.

These past two months, he’d spent most of his time sick.

He hadn’t improved much in his cultivation.

But there was nothing he could do.

The Treasure Cavern expedition was about to begin.

The following day

Outside the gates of the Tiandao Sect, clouds floated like an endless sea.

A celestial vessel came riding through the vast heavenly waves.

Its hull was carved from warm jade.

Its railings were forged from rosy clouds.

Figures moved about the deck.

They were elite disciples from various sects, each possessing the otherworldly bearing expected of cultivators.

There were even all kinds of shops, scenic areas, restaurants, and taverns aboard.

From a distance, the vessel looked like a Peach Blossom Spring floating in the heavens.

Xiao Ji and Wu Sect Master boarded first.

Their two disciples followed behind.

One had a tightly drawn expression, clutching his sword with hands that trembled nervously.

The other kept poking his head around, fascinated by everything new and eager to explore.

Xiao Ji was famous throughout the cultivation world.

The moment he appeared, sect leaders and elders from the various sects swarmed over to greet him.

His brows subtly furrowed.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted Yu Jin and Lin Chun squeezed among the crowd.

He transmitted his voice:

“Stay close to your Master.”

“Do not wander off.”

With that, several refined-looking middle-aged cultivators approached.

One stroked his beard.

“Sect Master Wu, it has been five hundred years since we last met, hasn’t it?”

“The last time I saw you, you were still wandering the world and admiring its scenery.”

“And now you’ve become the Sect Master of the greatest sect beneath the heavens!”

“Young and promising indeed!”

Another looked toward Xiao Ji.

“And this must be your sect’s guardian elder, Xiao Ji?”

“It is better to meet someone once than hear about him a hundred times.”

“When might we have the honor of witnessing the legendary Heaven-Severing Sword that has slaughtered countless evil demons?”

Another enthusiastically added,

“When the Heaven-Severing Sword appears, the four seas are pacified.”

“We have long admired it.”

“Venerable Sword, you really should make more appearances!”

“Didn’t I hear that your sect has many talented young disciples?”

“Why don’t we have a friendly competition with the Hehuan Sect?”

“We could exchange pointers and learn from each other…”

After enduring all the social pleasantries, Wu Sect Master yawned.

“Dealing with these old foxes is exhausting.”

“Senior brother, I’ll go check on my disciple.”

Xiao Ji nodded.

Then turned around to look for his two disciples.

But he only saw Lin Chun.

His brows immediately knitted together.

Lin Chun came bouncing over.

Xiao Ji asked,

“Where is your senior brother?”

“Senior brother…?”

Lin Chun froze.

He looked around.

Then scratched his head.

“I don’t know.”

“He was just standing beside me…”

Xiao Ji’s expression instantly changed.

He sharply reprimanded him:

“Why weren’t you watching him?!”

長命鎖 (chángmìng suǒ) — a traditional Chinese “longevity lock,” usually a pendant worn by children as a blessing for health, longevity, and protection. The fact that Xiao Ji secretly designed one for Yu Jin is a surprisingly tender detail beneath his usual icy personality.