ดาวน์โหลดแอป
85.5% Serial Transmigrator / Chapter 171: Chapter 171

บท 171: Chapter 171

"I would like to take on these missions, please," said Tianlan as he placed the posters down onto the receptionist's desk.

She looked at the stack of missions, many of which ranked among the highest difficulty class, and was forced to shift her attention from the magazine she was wrapped up in.

"You want to accept all of these?" she said that as her gaze shifted upward.

When it reached Tianlan's face, her demeanour swiftly changed.

"That's really cool!"

"Ah. Is that so? I was worried there was going to be a one-mission-at-a-time rule."

"No. There's nothing like that. You can accept however many missions you want."

"Good."

***

Tianlan stood there for a while, waiting, but the young lady didn't say anything further. She just stared into his eyes with her head rested in her hand.

"So… Can I take the missions then?"

"Oh! Sure, sure. I just need your ID and your endorsement."

Tianlan handed her his identity jade. The second item, however, was something he was unfamiliar with.

"Endorsement?"

"Mm. Since you're an outer disciple, you need your master's endorsement to take on these kinds of missions. Didn't they tell you that?"

"I don't have a master."

"You don't? Then I'm afraid you can't accept these missions. There is, however, something else you can accept…"

The receptionist leaned over as she said those last few words.

"Why do I need a master's endorsement?"

The young receptionist's head slipped from her hand.

"Ahem. These missions are either high-profile, or they're deemed to be incredibly difficult. How they're handled has an impact on the sect's reputation, so we only give them out to core disciples or those whose capability has been confirmed by a senior member of the sect."

"I see. Well, if it's about capability, I assure you I am more than capable of handling these."

"I'm sorry, but that's not how it works."

"You can't budge a little?"

"I'm afraid not."

"I see."

Tianlan raised his hand to his chin and thought for a moment.

"Let's say I don't accept the missions formally, but complete them anyway. Will I still be able to claim the rewards?"

"Please don't attempt something like that. You may be confident in your own abilities, but things are the way they are for a reason. There have been countless others who thought they could handle anything and everything, only to never return to the sect. These rules aren't just for the sect's reputation, but for your own safety."

"But you haven't answered my question."

The young lady sighed.

"You won't get any rewards, and you might even be punished. Please follow procedure."

"But let's say I complete everything on the wall. Wouldn't it be obvious at that point that I'm qualified? It would only mean that my own evaluation of the dangers involved was accurate, wouldn't it? In that case, I can't see why they would withhold the rewards."

"Even if you're right, it would set a bad precedent if they allowed that. It would undo all of the efforts to protect those who would get in over their heads."

"There's no need to treat us like babies, right? If someone is overconfident and gets themselves killed, it's their own fault, no? The sect's reputation wouldn't be harmed either if the person doesn't openly affiliate themselves with the sect until the mission's done."

"Look. I'm just a receptionist. Please don't make things difficult for me."

Tianlan looked at the young lady's pleading expression and decided to drop the matter.

"Is there anything else I can do? I need to earn a lot of merit points."

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"There are two options available to you. Either you get a master's endorsement, or you start from the bottom and earn the right to take on the heavier missions."

She pulled out a thick book from underneath the desk and opened it.

"These are the lowest ranked missions which anyone can accept. If you complete enough of them and get good evaluations from the customers, then you'll be able to climb your way up in no time."

She had quite some enthusiasm as she flipped through the pages and gave light descriptions for some of her favourite recurring missions.

Tianlan interrupted her by placing a hand over the book. When she looked up with a questioning gaze, he asked her the question that had been on his mind.

"You said I have to get a master's endorsement. Does that mean that as long as someone is accepting disciples and I prove to them that I'm capable, I can get their endorsement and it would all be settled?"

"In theory, that's possible. They don't necessarily have to be your master for their endorsement to count."

"Ah. Thank you."

Tianlan bowed and was about to leave when the young lady grabbed onto his sleeve.

"Wait!"

Tianlan stopped and turned back around.

"What is it?"

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Well," she said, as she glanced at the book. "It's just that these missions are good for more than just merit points. They let you go to all sorts of places and see all sorts of things, all while having the stress-free experience of completing simple tasks and earning rewards for them. It's like a paid vacation. You can't get the same experience with the more intense missions because you'll be focused on the task the entire time."

"I don't really care about that though."

"Really? But there are so many wonderful spots to visit…"

She flipped through a few pages and placed her finger down on an image.

"Like here for example. You see this lake? It's beautiful, isn't it? It's right next to the city where this request comes from and they have a local legend there that says that if a couple rides a boat to the middle of it, then their bond will be unbreakable."

She went to another page.

"And the log cabins in this forest have their own legend that says spending the night in them will rejuvenate not only your body and mind, but your soul as well. There are so many hidden gems like this that you'll miss if you're trying to catch a serial killer or save a city from a beast tide."

She flipped all the way to the end of the book.

"This one just came in. It's to be a sword instructor for a merchant's daughter for a week. Pretty easy, right?"

"Right."

"But did you know that the city has a local legend too? Apparently, there's a legendary blacksmith living there."

"Is that so?"

"Mm. They say he's looking for rare materials to make a new masterpiece. If you can bring him something interesting, then you could be the next Mountain Splitting Sword Saint. At least, that's what they say."

"Interesting…"

Hearing of a blacksmith, Tianlan thought of the broken sword he had gotten from the Treasure Hall. According to Hei, it had a good chance of being something much greater than it appeared.

Perhaps taking it to the legendary blacksmith would bear some fruit.

Of course, it could also be a complete waste of time.

"I think I'll take it," he said.

"You will? That's great!"

She took his identification jade and registered him to the mission.

"The city's pretty far away, so you might want to arrange for some transportation. If you want to go on foot, make sure to bring enough supplies to last you."

She handed him back his jade, and he bowed.

"Thanks for your help."

"It was no trouble at all."

Tianlan bowed once more.

"Then I'll be going now."

"Oh. One more thing. I heard it can get pretty lonely on the road, so if you need someone to go with you, I'm available any time."

"Haha. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"Tch."

"Hm?"

"Nothing. Have a safe trip, and good luck on your mission."

She smiled and waved him goodbye.

After he left, one of the other receptionists came up to her and poked her arm.

"She rolled, but no dice."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"It was worth a shot."

——|——

"Uh, Tianlan… This is taking a bit… Hm…"

"What is it?"

"Ah, never mind. It's nothing. Continue."

"… Okay…"

Tianlan took a sip of his drink then resumed his story.

"After that, I went to a supply shop to prepare for the journey."

——|——

"Is there no way for me to borrow these items and pay you later?"

"Absolutely not. We don't do special transactions here. Pay the merit points upfront or sod off."

"Come on. You can trust me. I'm good for it."

"Said every untrustworthy person ever. Look, if you insist on wasting my time, I'll have no choice but to call the disciplinary committee. And let me tell you something, those guys aren't people you want to get acquainted with like that. Take my advice and come back when you can afford to do more than just gawk."

"���"

Tianlan turned away from the counter, leaving the items he had intended to purchase. He had completely forgotten that he had spent every last one of his merit points, and as such, found himself in this somewhat embarrassing situation.

"Thirty measly merit points," he muttered under his breath.

"Now you're sounding like Senior Sister Lanxiang."

Tianlan looked up, surprised to hear the voice.

"Tang Zen? What brings you here?"

"I could ask you the same. I'm here to purchase a few things for my training."

"I was buying supplies for the trip I'm about to take."

"You're going on a mission?"

"Mm."

"Oh? What kind?"

"A merchant wants someone to instruct his daughter in swordsmanship."

"Being a sword instructor? Doesn't that seem a little too easy for the number-one new disciple? Then again, for you, this mission might prove to be pretty difficult."

"You think?"

"Yeah. You're probably the last person who should be teaching someone else about the sword."

"Maybe you're right. I was actually going to teach her about breathing."

"The sword instructor who doesn't actually teach the sword… Well, if you're going to do it, you might as well look the part, right?"

Tianlan stretched his arms and examined his own appearance.

"Is there something wrong with how I look?"

"Well, yeah… You have no sword."

"Oh, right… I forgot about that. But I do have something that looks like a sword. At least from the outside."

Tang Zen shook her head.

"You can't go around parading your broken treasure as a sword. It would reflect poorly on the sect."

She walked past Tianlan and to the storekeeper who was grumpily gathering the items that were left on his counter.

"I'll buy those," she said as she placed her identity jade down.

She looked at the items Tianlan had intended to purchase. A backpack, a few food containers, a map, and a few sets of extra clothes. Fairly minimal.

The storekeeper blinked a few times before quickly completing the transaction.

"There you go, young lady."

"Thank you."

She bowed slightly and turned around to give Tianlan his things.

"What for?" he asked.

"Just take them."

"Thanks. I owe you one."

"Owe me… Do you know how much you… Sigh. Never mind."

Tang Zen watches as Tianlan placed the other items in his backpack and swung it over his shoulder.

"So, where's this mission of yours taking place?"

"Yueshin City. It's south-east of here."

"Yueshin? What a coincidence, that's my hometown."

"Oh. Really?"

"Yeah. And since you're going there, why don't you take this with you?"

She fished a token out of her inner pocket.

"Take this to Tang Smithy, tell them I sent you."

She handed him the token which had the character "Tang" written on it.

"If you show it to my father, he'll let you borrow a sword for your mission."

"Thanks. I owe you another… Wait a minute…"

Tianlan stepped forward and leaned into Tang Zen's shoulder.

"Uh… What's this about?" she asked, flustered.

Tianlan placed a hand beside his mouth and lowered his volume.

"Is… Is your dad the Legendary Blacksmith?"

"Legendary Black…" she couldn't help chuckling. "What?"

"You know. The guy who's looking for rare materials."

Tang Zen shook her head.

"I'm afraid someone told you a fairy tale. I've lived in Yueshin my whole life and I've never heard of a legendary blacksmith living there."

"Oh…"

"Did you want to get your treasure fixed?"

"Something like that."

"Then why not show it to my father? He doesn't work with treasure-grade items very often, but he might be able to do something about it. It won't be free though, so…"

"Thanks. I'll give it a shot."

——|——

Hei sighed and raised his hand.

"That's enough, Tianlan. I get the idea now."

"Hm?"

"Dearest brother of mine, your stories take forever. What's it been? Nine months? Can't you just tell the condensed version?"

"But you said you wanted the whole story."

"Yeah… I changed my mind."

"But-"

"You went on your little mission and it turns out Tang Zen's dad really is the Legendary Blacksmith, am I right?"

"Y-yeah, but that's not-"

"And while you were on the mission that seemed simple at first, something major happened, right?"

"Wait a min-"

"It was probably a bird-cage scenario, right? The merchant's daughter was a caged bird who couldn't leave the confines of her dwelling, and once she was given a chance at freedom, she eagerly grasped onto it, only to find out that the world is nowhere near as kind as to accommodate her flights of fancy. Does that about sum it up?"

"If you would just-"

"A merchant's daughter…"

Hei placed a hand on his chin.

"Did this circle back to the Merchant Guild? Are you aware of the situation surrounding the Yin Physiques?"

"What the…? How do you know all of this?"

"Come on, Tianlan. It was hardly difficult to deduce."

"No, that's the thing. You can't just deduce that, Hei. There was no leading information!"

"Yeah, yeah, Tianlan. Next you'll tell me that I was supposed to think the mention of a legendary blacksmith was just going to fizzle into nothing. Be serious."

"But that was just a rumour. Even Tang Zen, who lived there, and whose father is the blacksmith in question, didn't have any idea about his background."

Hei rolled his eyes.

"When fodder characters hear about something like that, then okay, maybe it's just a rumour. But if it's a main character like you or me, then it's pretty much fact. This phenomenon should have been clearly described in chapter nine of Rules to Live By."

"You mean the Reality-Warping Effect of Main-Character Perception? We all know that makes no sense, Hei. It doesn't matter who hears it, false information is false, and true information is true."

Hei shook his head.

"I see you aren't yet a true believer of Rules to Live By."

Hei reached into his sleeve and withdrew a sheet of paper.

He placed it on the table in front of him and used his qi to draw a map of the local area.

"You see this map?"

"I see it."

"Pick a spot."

"Hm?"

"Place your finger down on the map. Anywhere you want."

"What's the point of this?"

"Just put your finger down. Anywhere you want."

Tianlan raised an eyebrow and gave Hei a lingering look before standing up and walking toward the map.

He examined it carefully, failing to notice anything strange about it, and placed his finger down on it.

After raising it back up, he turned his attention to Hei.

"What now?"

"What happens now, my dear brother…" said Hei as he got up from his seat. "Is that we go to this spot."

Hei raised the map which now had a mark where Tianlan had placed his finger and rolled it up before placing it back into his sleeve.

"We're going there? Why?"

"Well, if my theory holds true, then we'll see something interesting there, right?"

"Because we both became aware of it?"

"Sono Toori."

"You realize how crazy this sounds, right?"

"And yet you're supremely curious."

Tianlan sighed but then shook his head with a smile.

He dismissed his staff for the evening and joined Hei as the two left the abode.


ความคิดของผู้สร้าง
Shixuan Shixuan

Meanwhile, in the outer world, Shixuan had been away from his readers for a while and was sweating profusely.

"Tianlan and his nine-month-long stories, am I right?"

He saw himself out.

บท 172: Chapter 172

Upon exiting Tianlan's abode, Hei found himself facing an interesting sight.

"Tianlan…" he said with a sigh, "What's up with the sword maidens?"

On either side of Tianlan's walkway, there were two rows of young ladies who all sat cross-legged with swords resting on their laps. They all had their eyes closed and were seemingly in a meditative state.

Tianlan gave them a glance, causing him to remember a sequence of events that left even him lost for words.

"It started after I came back from my mission," he said. "You see, shortly after re-entering the sect, I came across a-"

"Tianlan…"

"Hm?"

"Condensed version."

"…"

Tianlan thought for a while, trying to find a way to summarise the story.

"They just kind of showed up one day, I guess."

"You could say a little more than that…"

"That's pretty much the whole story. I don't really know why they're here."

"Then… Why don't you just ask them?"

"As if I didn't think of that. I tried talking to them, but they don't say anything."

"Are you serious?"

"Why would I make it up?"

Hei looked again at the young ladies, this time with an odd expression on his face.

He walked up to one of them and crouched down, reaching her eye level.

"Hello?"

She briefly opened her eyes, causing Hei to feel a sharp aura emanating from them, then closed them again, ultimately failing to respond.

"This is pretty weird, dude."

"I know."

"Then why don't you kick them out? How did they even get here in the first place? Isn't this place under lock and key?"

"Yeah, but I gave them entry permission."

"So you just woke up one day, saw a bunch of girls practicing breathing techniques outside of your house, and decided it would be a good idea to give them all keys?"

"Mm."

Hei spread his arms open and looked to the sky before shaking his head in bemusement.

"Why would you do that?"

"Having them around is actually pretty nice."

"Tianlan… I knew you were a creep, but not to this extent. Why have I been cursed with such a strange brother?"

Hei wiped his eyes with his sleeves as he made sobbing sounds.

"It's not like that, Hei! They're-"

"I get it. You're using them as qi sponges, right?"

"Mm. They make the environment much more comfortable."

"I see. I guess that could be kind of useful. But it's still creepy beyond compare."

"Eh. It's not that bad once you get used to it."

***

After amusing himself with the strangeness of the sword maidens, Hei made his way out of Tianlan's territory, only to be greeted by a group of youths.

""Welcome to the Shimmering Sword Sect, Sage Hei!""

"H-Hey! Keep it down! Don't you know how inconsiderate you're being?"

Hei hurriedly quieted the Fang Clan juniors who were making an inappropriate amount of noise.

They returned his chastising tone with looks of confusion.

Wasn't he the same Sage Hei who had sent his voice rumbling throughout the sect a few hours ago?

""Greetings, Sage Hei,"" they said as they cupped their fists and bowed.

"It's good to see you all," Hei replied. "It looks like you've grown a little."

The juniors smiled and then the scene became awkwardly silent.

"… Okay then… We've got somewhere to be so…"

Hei tried to walk past the juniors, but one of them, Fang Yijun, called out to him.

"Wait, Sage Hei."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Um… We just…"

"Spit it out."

"We've missed the lessons you used to teach us!"

"Eh?"

"Mm," added Fang Hua. "There's no one else who can teach like you!"

"But you've had Tianlan here this whole time."

"Um… Sage Tianlan is a gentle instructor, and while his lessons are invaluable to us, we find that he can be a bit too lenient at times. It causes some sloppiness to remain in our techniques," said Yijun.

The other juniors nodded in agreement as they stared at Hei with sparkly eyes.

Hei stepped back in fright.

"Y-You're asking me to abuse you?"

"Please!"

Hei watched as the Fang Clan's juniors bowed in front of him.

He turned to Tianlan; his face drained of colour.

"What kind of weirdos have we raised?"

"Don't look at me. This is all you."

"All me?! Didn't you just hear them say you're too gentle?!"

"That's because you're too harsh."

"Harsh my left foot! I just tell it how it is!"

"Then tell it how it is, Onii-chan."

Tianlan stepped back and watched the proceedings with a smile on his face, all the while waving his fingers at Hei.

"…"

Hei was lost for words. When did he become the source of people's pleasurable pain?

Shaking his head, he cleared his thoughts. He then placed his hands behind his back and raised his head to the sky. As he lowered it back to a normal level, the Fang Clan Juniors felt as if the sky itself had lowered with it.

This caused them to tremble with excitement, and the realisation of that nearly caused Hei to break character.

He slowly turned around, his eyes sharp and void of emotion.

"If you truly seek suffering, then who am I to deny you?"

He withdrew his left arm from behind his back and held it out in front of him, his fingers curled naturally and his palm facing the sky.

"Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu."

***

'Hm?'

Hei stood still as everything around him slowed to a crawl.

'They're actually able to trigger this?'

He was surrounded on all sides by a group of five of the Fang Clan juniors, three boys and two girls. They each used different techniques and launched their attacks with near perfect synchronicity, closing every path of escape.

Hei smiled.

"This is far from enough to deal with me!"

He spread his arms, manifesting a sphere of chains which protected his body from every angle, easily blocking the combined assault of those five juniors.

But he wasn't facing just five opponents.

As soon as the initial attack was blocked, another wave of juniors came in with their own attacks, this time, all with the intent of breaking Hei's defence.

They launched piercing attacks, one at a time, alternating between the boys' fire techniques and the girls' ice techniques, and were able to crack the sphere after the sixth wave.

After that vulnerability was created, ten juniors stabbed through the sphere simultaneously from several angles, including three who attacked from above.

Their attack kicked up a cloud of dust, and when once of them used their qi to clear it, they were able to see the result.

Hei wasn't there!

The ten juniors immediately stood in formation, covering each other's backs, and were able to observe the area in all directions.

"Watch out, Little Wu! He's right behind you!"

Fang Wu, the youngest of the juniors, heard his cousins' warning and immediately lowered his stance, standing on all fours like a spirit beast.

Doing so allowed him to narrowly avoid the sweep of Hei's hand, and seeing that Hei was in a vulnerable position after his attack failed, Fang Wu immediately dug his nails into the ground and scraped up a pile of dirt which he used to obscure his opponent's vision.

"Agh!"

With the dirt covering his eyes, Hei was left open to an attack, and Fang Wu didn't allow the opportunity to slip from his hands.

He rotated his body, still maintaining that low stance, and used all four of his limbs to launch himself up to Hei's side where he swiped at Hei's ribs with his extended nails which now resembled the claws of a wolf.

Clang!

Fang Wu felt massive resistance as his claws screeched across Hei's heavily guarded torso, and as soon as his hands and feet met the ground once more, he felt a chill run down his spine.

Not even bothering to look up, he immediately retreated, joining up with his cousins.

Because of that, he narrowly avoided a web of chains which slammed into the ground where he had just been standing.

"Good job, Little Wu! We won't let this opening go to waste!"

Fang Hua patted Fang Wu's shoulder as she and two other girls ran toward Hei at full speed.

Just as Hei finished rubbing the dirt out of his eyes, his senses were overtaken by a freezing cold and his vision was clouded in white.

This was the work of the three girls' combination of techniques.

One had used Tundra to cause the ground beneath them to freeze over, another had used Blizzard to kick up a snowstorm, and the last had used Frigid North to lower the surrounding air temperature.

This created an ideal environment for the other young ladies to make use of Frost Steps to traverse the icy surface at tremendous speed.

Before Hei could even blink, all of the young ladies were upon him, launching a myriad of Yin-based techniques.

"This is a little juvenile, don't you think?"

Hei sighed in disappointment as he snapped his fingers.

That small action caused the ground to shake, and in an instant, dozens of thick chains erupted from the earth, shooting straight toward the young ladies.

"We really have grown, Sage Hei," said Fang Hua as all of the young ladies retreated in unison.

"Hm?"

Hei watched as the chains failed to grasp their targets, and it was only then that he was able to see the meaning behind Fang Hua's words.

Behind the retreating forms of the young ladies, the young men were all dashing forward, wielding their ordinary-looking swords.

Hei's eyebrows twitched, and as he attempted to turn to face those young men, he realised that his feet had been frozen to the ground.

Looking up, he saw the smiling faces of the young ladies and the serious expressions of the young men.

'Not good!'

Hei looked around him and immediately realized what was happening.

However, it was already too late.

The young men released the tightly constrained thermal energy within their swords, causing the ice surrounding Hei to melt with astonishing speed, instantly transitioning from solid, to liquid, and finally, to gas.

BOOOOM!!!!

A huge white cloud erupted from where Hei stood, causing the area to be filled with burning-hot steam.

***

"Did we get him?"

"I think we did."

"We did?"

"We did!"

The Fang Clan juniors could hardly contain their excitement. This was the best display they had ever put on in front of Sage Hei and they couldn't wait to hear his feedback.

"Good… Very good…"

"!"

From the cloud of steam, the Fang Clan juniors could hear Sage Hei's hoarse voice.

"To think you could push me this far…"

They started to hear footsteps and the sounds of falling metal.

"You should be proud…"

At that point, a dark silhouette could be seen from beyond the white veil.

"However…"

It continued to walk forward, and the sounds of falling metal grew more numerous.

As the silhouette reached the edge of the steam and stepped into view, it collapsed, crumbling to pieces right before them.

The juniors stepped back in shock.

Just as they had figured out what was happening, the ground beneath them transformed into a sea of squirming chains which pulled them in, leaving only their upper bodies above the surface.

In front of them, a mound formed in the sea of chains which soon split open to reveal Sage Hei's form, completely unharmed.

"You still have a ways to go."

***

"Were we fighting a clone the whole time?"

"It looks like it."

"But when did he switch?"

"I think it was after he made that sphere defence. He disappeared for a moment after that."

"That's right! That would have been the best time to sneak underground."

"But that means he was planning ahead the whole time… That's terrifying."

"Hold on. It might not be that Sage Hei predicted the flow of the battle. I think he saw that our ability level was too low to have a real fight with him, so he decided to use a clone instead. He isn't Sage Bai, after all."

"You're right. That does seem to be more in Sage Bai's domain. But still, it means Sage Hei's control of his chains has improved to such an extent that we can't tell between a chain clone and his true self. That's frightening in and of itself."

"It really is."

***

Hei and Tianlan stood some distance away as the Fang Clan juniors reflected on the battle.

"You really have gotten better at manipulating your puppets. They move just like real people now."

"Yeah. I recently got a chance to practice manipulating actual people. It really improved my control over my chains."

"Oh? How did that come about?"

"It's a long story."

"Oh? Then I don't want to hear it."

"Don't be salty, Tianlan."

"Anyway, isn't it about time you corrected their mistakes?"

"Sigh. So you could see them too?"

"Of course?"

"Then why didn't you tell them?!"

Hei pulled a paper fan from his sleeve and used it to slap Tianlan's head.

"It's not a big deal, is it? For the most part, they're pretty solid. Making them think about every little detail may be pushing into the realm of diminishing returns."

"You heard their complaints yourself. They want someone to point those things out for them."

"Yeah, but that also means they're aware of their own issues. At least somewhat. You and I won't always be available for them to ask questions to, right? At some point, if they want to improve further, they'll have to recognise those areas of potential improvement on their own."

"So you want to get them used to self-reflection?"

"Mm. They are already able to critique each other and give quality advice. It's just that they fail to see the flaws in themselves. I've been thinking of a way to help them in that regard, but I haven't found a solution yet."

"It seems you've also grown a little, Tianlan."

"Of course I have. If you would let me finish my story, you could find out just how much it is that I've grown."

"Maybe later. Right now, I have some spirits to crush. Ah, speaking of, shouldn't this commotion have triggered an investigation of some sort? Will the Disciplinary Committee be showing up soon?"

Tianlan smiled.

"Don't worry about them. They've learnt not to get involved in my business."

"Low-key, huh?"

"A…"

***

"Alright, you miserable little side-characters! In formation!"

The Fang Clan juniors quickly formed a semi-circle around Hei and stood straight as they avoided lowering their gazes to meet Hei's. In Fang Wu's case, he had to look up to achieve the same result.

"Let me start off by saying you've all gotten a lot stronger. You should be proud of yourselves."

""Th- Thank you, Sage Hei!""

"However!"

"!"

"Fang Hua."

"Yes, Sir!"

"Step forward."

Fang Hua wrestled with her shaking legs, bringing them back under control and took two steps forward, leaving herself only a metre in front of Hei.

Hei stepped away and pinched a piece of soil from the ground before returning.

"Do you care to explain what this is?"

"It's soil, Sir!"

"More specifically?"

"Um…" Fang Hua's jaw quivered. "It's… frozen soil…"

"What was that?"

"It's frozen soil, Sir!"

"Frozen soil…"

Hei turned to another of the young ladies.

"Fang Li."

"Y-Yes, Sir!"

"Where do you suppose this frozen soil came from?"

"I believe it is a result of Cousin Hua's Frost Steps, Sir!"

"Hua's Frost Steps. Now, why does that sound familiar?"

There was a lingering silence before Hei spoke again.

"Someone remind me. Where have I heard that before?"

Fang Li immediately spoke up.

"You've told her about this before, Sir! Multiple times!"

Hei dropped his fist into his palm.

"Ah. That's it. I've told you about this before, haven't I, Hua? And multiple times at that."

"Y… Yes, sir…"

Fang Hua made herself small as anticipated the consequences.

"THEN WHY AM I SAYING IT AGAIN?!"

She jolted.

"Sir, I… I just think it looks cooler when the footsteps are visible! It doesn't use up much qi or mental energy to leave them there either!"

"Sage Hei!" shouted Fang Yijun, "I tried to tell her about this, we all did, but she wouldn't listen!"

"Ah. So the doorman wants to speak up?"

"N… No, sir…"

"Now, Hua, you know what this means, don't you?"

Fang Hua dropped her head down in shame.

"I know…"

"Then…"

Hei raised his right arm and reached into his left sleeve, removing a blunt weapon from his storage space. He then brought his right arm up high and held it there for a moment.

"Fool!"

He swung it down viciously, landing a devastating blow on Fang Hua's head.

Fang Hua tried her best to hold back her tears as she covered the impact area with her hands.

"Back in formation!"

"Y…yes, sir," she said with a pout.

"Doorman Yijun, since you're so eager to speak, why don't you come next?"

***

"So being the Fang Clan's doorman has gotten to your head, has it? You think of yourself as some kind of leader? Do you know that you don't even qualify to sweep the floors of my Shao Clan?!"

***

"You call that swordsmanship? How shameless can you get? You can see sharper strokes when my mother combs her hair!"

***

"If you had only turned your foot in a little further, couldn't you have increased your striking force by another two percent? What? Do you think these are trivial gains? That's why you'll never achieve greatness!"

***

"Li, Li, Li. Is ratting out your family all you're good for? To think you dare to call yourself the most perceptive. If anyone, it should have been you who saw through my ruse. You disappoint me, Li!"

***

These rounds of punishment continued one after another until there was only one junior remaining: the youngest among them, Fang Wu.

"Step forward, Wu."

"Sir!"

Hei looked down at Fang Wu. The intensity of his glare caused young Wu to fidget.

He raised his right arm up, shocking the others.

"He's not even giving any criticism? Was Little Wu's performance that bad?"

"I thought he did pretty well, myself…"

When he saw Hei's arm go up, Fang Wu tightly closed his eyes and prepared for the impact.

When he felt the gentle touch atop his head, he cautiously opened his eyes and raised his head to see a smiling Sage Hei.

"You've improved a lot, Wu. Well done."

Wu's eyes sparkled.

"Do you mean it?"

"Mm. You did good, kid."

Hei gave Wu a smile and a thumbs up.

***

""What?!?!""

"That's… Is that praise…?"

"Impossible!"

"No, seriously. Is Wu getting praised?"

"I... I think he is..."

"Heavens! Wu's getting praised!"

"How is that fair?!"

"I thought he did pretty well, myself..."

"You already said that."

"Praise, huh… I didn't think it was possible, coming from Sage Hei…"

"I wonder how it feels…"

The other juniors all let out sighs.

They rubbed the tops of their heads and looked at Hei as if he had wronged them in some way.

***

After things were settled, the Fang Clan juniors accompanied Hei and Tianlan to the sect's entrance.

""Have a safe trip,"" they said as they waved goodbye.

As Hei and Tianlan stepped on top of one of Hei's chain dragons which began to flap its wings, taking to the sunset sky, Hei turned back to the Fang Clan juniors.

"Before we go, there's something else that I need to check, don't you think?"

"?"

Hei looked down to the bright-eyed youths, bathed in the golden rays of the sun, and raised his voice.

"To seek glory!"

It took a moment for them to catch on, but when they did, they all raised their smiling faces to the sky and shouted in unison.

"IS FOR FOOLS!"

Those words brought a smile to Hei's face.

He nodded his head and continued.

"To seek honour!"

"IS FOR FOOLS!"

"To seek treasure!"

"IS FOR FOOLS!"

"What are we?"

"WE ARE WISE!"

Hei took a moment to observe the juniors who were all waving goodbye. At this moment, he was experiencing something new. A feeling he had never felt before.

"You all make me very proud."

He said it quietly, so quietly that even Tianlan standing next to him didn't hear it. But to the juniors who looked up to the fading figures of their childish sages, the message was heard loud and clear.


ความคิดของผู้สร้าง
Shixuan Shixuan

Look at those Fang Clan juniors, worming their way into one's heart like maggots in the bones.

Load failed, please RETRY

สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์

ป้ายปลดล็อกตอน

สารบัญ

ตัวเลือกแสดง

พื้นหลัง

แบบอักษร

ขนาด

ความคิดเห็นต่อตอน

เขียนรีวิว สถานะการอ่าน: C171
ไม่สามารถโพสต์ได้ กรุณาลองใหม่อีกครั้ง
  • คุณภาพงานเขียน
  • ความเสถียรของการอัปเดต
  • การดำเนินเรื่อง
  • กาสร้างตัวละคร
  • พื้นหลังโลก

คะแนนรวม 0.0

รีวิวโพสต์สําเร็จ! อ่านรีวิวเพิ่มเติม
โหวตด้วย Power Stone
Rank 200+ การจัดอันดับพลัง
Stone 0 หินพลัง
รายงานเนื้อหาที่ไม่เหมาะสม
เคล็ดลับข้อผิดพลาด

รายงานการล่วงละเมิด

ความคิดเห็นย่อหน้า

เข้า สู่ ระบบ

tip ความคิดเห็นย่อย

คุณลักษณะความคิดเห็นย่อหน้าอยู่ในขณะนี้บนเว็บ! เลื่อนเมาส์ไปที่ย่อหน้าใดก็ได้แล้วคลิกไอคอนเพื่อเพิ่มความคิดเห็นของคุณ

นอกจากนี้คุณสามารถปิด / เปิดได้ตลอดเวลาในการตั้งค่า

เข้าใจแล้ว