Chapter 45: Are You Accepting Disciples Recently?
Fu Xinyi hurried to find her senior brothers and sisters, instructing Lu Yibei to rest in place and not to move around casually before she quickly ran off.
Lu Yibei leaned against the railing of the long corridor, expressionless as he watched Fu Xinyi walk away, until her figure disappeared from sight, at which point his eyes immediately darted around.
He glanced left and right, reminiscing about Qing Ji’s abstract “sesame cake” drawing while craftily contemplating his next move.
This was Zhen Ting Hall, and if the map given by the Ancestor was still valid, there was almost nothing to be cautious about.
Crossing Zhen Ting Hall and following the mountain path for about five hundred meters would lead to Qing Hui Hall.
Disciples of Dachunyang Palace conducted their morning and evening classes and studied theoretical knowledge there; it was also where most of the classic texts were stored. The blueprints for spirit energy items and visualization diagrams were highly likely to be there.
In comparison to Zhen Ting Hall, the defenses of Qing Hui Hall were much tighter.
Thirty-six complex solidified spell formulas intricately embedded within the protective mountain formation, perfectly integrated with the formation, and the spirit energy circulation was self-contained. Furthermore, the important texts were kept on a floor that was monitored by elders.
Fortunately, there were methods the Ancestor had taught for disrupting and temporarily shielding the effects of solidified spell formulas, and the map also marked some secret passages to avoid the elders’ line of sight.
Northeast of Qing Hui Hall, climbing to the mountain peak led to Zixiao Terrace, a place that didn’t seem necessary to visit.
Directly to the west was Qing Nang Herb Cottage, where the herb garden and alchemy room were located, and there was a possibility of finding blueprints for spirit energy items that could be explored. If convenient, he might even be able to swindle some materials and potions.
To the north was Chi Li Hall, which housed the forging and storage of spirit energy items. Beyond that lay the Hongyan and Qiaoyuan retreats where the disciples lived, leading to the back mountain.
He just didn’t know if the fragments of Ling Tai Purification were stored in the back mountain or Chi Li Hall.
If it was in Chi Li Hall, it would be manageable; the situation was similar to Qing Hui Hall, requiring only the temporary shielding of solidified spell formulas and avoiding the elders’ gaze to smoothly obtain the fragments. But if it was in the back mountain, that would be troublesome.
The back mountain was where the Chief Priest and elders went into seclusion.
Although there were many secret passages left behind by predecessors in the mountain’s belly, and the Ancestor had marked routes he knew, Lu Yibei dared not wander through the back mountain’s secret passages without having done an actual survey beforehand.
It would be fine if he merely stumbled into some security measures set up by an elder; he could just lie down on the spot and call for the Ancestor. Even if he encountered some senior sister taking a bath, it would only trigger a cliché scenario of a lucky lecher. But if luck were to run out, he could inadvertently face the Black Emperor.
It turned out that committing crimes was a technical skill.
Especially when there was a disaster-class spiritual ability user present at the crime scene.
Lu Yibei sat in place, spending some time comparing the abstract exaggerated map drawn by Qing Ji with the actual situation, and started to feel a headache.
Although he believed his spatial imagination was not poor, relying solely on the Ancestor’s drawn map, he had mentally visualized the general layout of Dachunyang Palace.
However, it had been over a hundred years since the last time the Ancestor appeared in Dachunyang Palace, and many places might have changed.
He absolutely could not act recklessly without prior reconnaissance!
But as an outsider, he was at most a friendly visitor from a brother unit, and many places were not convenient to enter…
Tsk, it would be great if he could catch a cute one to give him a tour, Lu Yibei thought.
At that moment, a series of light footsteps came from afar.
Looking toward the sound, he saw a round-faced young Taoist, around fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a moon-white robe, walking briskly toward him.
The young Taoist stopped in front of him, cupped his hands, and with a somewhat shy expression asked, “Excuse me, are you Mr. Lu Yibei?”
“Who are you?” Lu Yibei tilted his head.
“My name is Yi Sihan, a disciple of Bi Xuzi. Senior Sister Fu Xinyi sent me to take you to the guest room to rest,” the young Taoist said with a smile.
While speaking, the young Taoist’s demeanor was very respectful, with a hint of aloofness.
Just going to the guest room to rest? Not even showing the guest around a bit? Lu Yibei inwardly grumbled but cupped his hands in return and said, “Then I’ll trouble you.”
Alright then! If you’re not going to actively show me around, I can’t let you passively show me around, can I?
By the way, I feel like I’ve heard that name Bi Xuzi somewhere before? Isn’t he Li Xuan’s master?
Now that’s something to work with! Lu Yibei thought, his eyes flashing with crafty light.
“Well then, please follow me, Mr. Lu,” Yi Sihan said, making a gesture for Lu Yibei to follow, and began to walk along the corridor.
Lu Yibei roughly discerned their direction of travel and couldn’t help but frown.
This direction isn’t right! It seems like he’s planning to take me on a shortcut directly to the Hongyan Retreat’s guest room!
That means no chance to explore around!
No, I need to quickly find an angle to strike up a conversation with this guy, to convince him to take me for a stroll!
As Lu Yibei thought this, he subtly slowed his pace, allowing himself to fall half a step behind Yi Sihan, simultaneously using his n*ked eyes and predictive thoughts to secretly observe Yi Sihan.
[His footsteps slowed for a moment.]
[He opened his mouth, but quickly closed it again.]
[He stole a glance back.]
……
Lu Yibei stared at Yi Sihan, sensing the constant flickering predictive thoughts in his mind, while also noticing that Yi Sihan’s cheeks were slightly flushed, perhaps from shyness or excitement. It was evident he had something he wanted to ask but was too shy to speak up.
“……”
What could he want to ask me? Is it about Fu Xinyi, or about Li Xuan?
I guess it’s probably about Fu Xinyi, as most of the disciples of Dachunyang Palace seem to really like her, while that guy Li Xuan dislikes her intensely.
Enough of that, let’s test the waters!
After pondering Yi Sihan’s intentions a bit, Lu Yibei slightly raised an eyebrow and began to show off his talent as a socialite.
“Uh, Yi Sihan, right? Earlier you said you were sent by Fu Xinyi, does that mean you’re also her fan?”
“Um, ah?” Yi Sihan, who was contemplating how to strike up a conversation with Lu Yibei, was startled by the sudden question and shyly replied, “No, we don’t have a fan club for Fu Xinyi. But, she is indeed my idol…”
After a pause, as if remembering something, he turned around with an eager expression and asked, “Is she also an idol for you, Mr. Lu?”
While speaking, his clear eyes sparkled with anticipation and excitement, the respect in his demeanor unabated, while the previous sense of distance had completely disappeared.
He looked like a child eager to discuss their favorite animated character after hearing the big neighbor brother mention it.
Lu Yibei, “……”
Wow, I hit the jackpot! This kid’s thoughts are easy to read!
Little brother, are you really Li Xuan’s junior? Why is everything written all over your face?
You’re so innocent; you’ll be bullied by colleagues if you join the Siye Society in the future, you know?
Lu Yibei inwardly scoffed, shrugging, “No, my idols are Comrade Marx and Comrade Lenin.”
Yi Sihan, “……”
He seemed a bit disappointed, as he had thought he could use this topic to continue the conversation and learn about the details of Fu Xinyi getting the mountain guardian beast to recognize her as its master.
Before arriving, several senior brothers had specifically instructed him to ask for details, but now he couldn’t find the words.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t very familiar with Lu Yibei’s idols and didn’t know what to say, fearing he would say something wrong and upset Lu Yibei.
In fact, it was precisely because Fu Xinyi knew Yi Sihan had this shy and timid personality that she deliberately sent him to host Lu Yibei, to prevent him from asking too many questions.
However, she overlooked something very important: as long as someone could speak, Lu Yibei could find a way to chat them up.
So, just when Yi Sihan was about to give up, Lu Yibei’s words caught his attention, reigniting the spark of hope.
“However, I am quite familiar with your senior sister. Do you know about her earlier support operations in Tangcheng?”
“Yeah, yeah, I know! I heard that there were thousands of spirit ability users and urban legends, and the situation was very dangerous. At that time, everyone was quite worried about senior sister’s safety,” Yi Sihan nodded.
“Hmm!” Lu Yibei raised his chin slightly, smugly proclaiming, “I was also in Tangcheng at the time, just like her, as an operational personnel for support; we can say we are sworn friends.”
That’s right, it’s because she carelessly used a spell and almost caused me to lose too much bl**d and d*e!
“Wow—!” Yi Sihan couldn’t help but let out a soft exclamation, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Lu Yibei.
Who among these “fans” wouldn’t want to go down the mountain for training together with Fu Xinyi?
But going down for training only happened twice a year, with a small group of one to three people, and the chance to travel with Fu Xinyi in a group could be almost nonexistent each year.
As for someone like Yi Sihan, who had just joined for two years, he didn’t even have the chance to travel with Fu Xinyi.
Now that he heard Lu Yibei say that he not only participated in an operation with Fu Xinyi for the Siye Society but was also sworn friends, Yi Sihan suddenly felt admiration for Lu Yibei.
“Not only that!” Lu Yibei continued, “I’m also colleagues and close friends with your senior brother Li Xuan. Besides executing tasks together, we often discuss cars…”
That’s right, discussing how to puncture his tires, remove his bumpers, and how he should repair his car!
“Could you tell me about it? Tell me about your experiences with Senior Sister Fu Xinyi in Tangcheng,” Yi Sihan urged excitedly.
Up until now, due to the related circumstances regarding the disaster-class urban legend Jumeng’s power transfer, most disciples of Dachunyang Palace only knew a rough outline of what happened in Tangcheng; the specific details remained a mystery for them.
If he could know about Fu Xinyi’s experiences in Tangcheng, he could brag about it for a long time to the members of the Fu Xinyi fan club.
Lu Yibei, “……”
It seemed he completely ignored Li Xuan’s presence!
Little brother, I know that guy Li Xuan is not easy to get along with, but he’s still your senior brother; isn’t it a bit inappropriate for you to be like this?
“This is a long story,” Lu Yibei pondered for a few seconds, “This probably starts from how she broke through layers of encirclements to enter the Tangcheng area and get in touch with everyone from the Tangcheng Siye Society.”
“At the time, an urban legend exhibited its ability to block all communication methods within an eight-hundred-mile radius of Peach Spring. To prevent the Siye Society from interfering with their plans, they even sent out eighteen A-Class spiritual ability users to intercept Siye Society members along the way, using extremely brutal methods.”
“We fought our way through, risking our lives, just to enter the Tangcheng area. We thought that was the best outcome, but who knew it was just the terrifying beginning…”
Drawing on his own experiences, Lu Yibei told the story of “Fu Xinyi’s Adventure” to Yi Sihan, mixing seven parts truth with three parts deception. After comparing with what he and his brothers knew approximately, Yi Sihan realized Lu Yibei’s words were not false and suddenly believed him, becoming unknowingly engrossed in the details of the story.
Thus, the two continued walking, and before they knew it, they passed through Zhen Ting Hall and arrived at the fork leading to the Hongyan Retreat.
“…I and Fu Xinyi stood in front of the scenic area’s entrance and vaguely felt a large number of spirit energy fluctuations approaching. Suddenly turning back, we realized an army composed of illegal spiritual ability users and urban legends was arriving!”
At this point, Lu Yibei thought the timing was right and purposely paused at a critical point in the story.
He cast a furtive glance at Yi Sihan and changed the subject, “Hey Yi, isn’t the guest room almost here? If not…”
“The rest of the story can wait for another time! If there’s no chance, then forget it; after all, it’s not a big deal, right?”
Little brother, you better seize this moment; if you miss this village, there won’t be this store!
“I’m an outsider, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to roam around your Dachunyang Palace aimlessly, so I’ll take my leave first and return to the guest room to rest.”
Unless you take me around!
Wait! How could that be a dismissal? Yi Sihan saw Lu Yibei heading along the small path towards the Hongyan Retreat and felt anxious, thinking too fast, he blurted out, “Lu, Mr. Lu, if this is your first time here in our Dachunyang Palace, right?”
“Yeah, what about it?” Lu Yibei replied expressionlessly.
Yi Sihan bit his lip and said, “If you don’t mind, I could show you around a bit.”
“This… I actually have no interest in touring Dachunyang Palace.” Lu Yibei frowned, “Aren’t they just some palaces and temples? What’s so interesting? Let’s forget the idea?”
Upon hearing Lu Yibei say that, Yi Sihan actually smiled, “Hehe, it looks like this is indeed your first time at our Dachunyang Palace; you don’t know anything! Uh, sorry, I misspoke.”
“Anyway, let me show you around! It would also be good for you to continue telling me about Senior Sister Fu’s experiences in Tangcheng. Um, um, I beg you, how about that?”
“……” Lu Yibei pretended to hesitate for a few seconds, sighed, “Oh! Fine, I’ll accompany you for a walk then.”
“I just thought we hit it off, that’s why I wanted to finish telling you about Tangcheng’s experiences. To be honest, I really have no interest in touring your Dachunyang Palace.”
“Well… Mr. Lu, could you tell me again later about how Senior Sister Fu made the guardian beast recognize her as its master?” Yi Sihan cautiously probed.
“Of course, no problem!” Lu Yibei nodded, “Honestly, I was scared earlier; she actually made the guardian beast kneel and bow to her eighteen times with just three sentences.”
Upon hearing this, Yi Sihan’s eyes lit up, excitedly exclaiming, “Thank you, Mr. Lu! This way please! I’ll first take you to have a look at Zhen Ting Hall.”
As he spoke, he turned around, stepping lightly towards Zhen Ting Hall behind them.
Looking at Yi Sihan’s retreating figure, Lu Yibei shook his head helplessly.
Tsk, he even thanked me!
Am I going to incur heavenly wrath for deceiving such an innocent child?
—————
Although there was nothing Lu Yibei wanted inside Zhen Ting Hall, to avoid exposing his intentions, he still walked back with Yi Sihan, slowly retracing his steps to Zhen Ting Hall.
Five minutes later, after passing through a long corridor, the two finally entered the main area of Zhen Ting Hall.
Just after passing through the vermilion door and seeing the scene behind it, along with the distant sound of explosions, Lu Yibei froze in place.
Behind the door was a platform as large as four or five football fields, much larger than the space visible from outside Zhen Ting Hall.
Lu Yibei guessed this probably utilized technology similar to constructing a special space. For the Black Emperor, a disaster-class spirit ability user, creating a special space wasn’t hard.
The ground of the platform was paved with blue bricks inscribed with spell texts, with various cover points set up around it. Through the faint blue light curtain formed by intertwined spell formulas, one could clearly see three groups of people engaged in a melee on the platform.
In the southeastern corner of the platform, behind a fortress, one group held weapons loaded with alchemical ammunition, chanting spells towards the front, while another group directly breached the line with a barrage of fire.
Just as the powerful ammunition was about to rain down on those disciples casting spells, their incantations finished, summoning water curtains, stones, and gigantic trees… rising from the ground to form a “wall” blocking the incoming fire.
The alchemical ammunition collided with the spells, and an earth-shaking roar erupted, brilliant light radiated, and a storm of stone shards and wood chips flew all around.
The scene was immensely chaotic.
At the same time, in the northwest corner, another group of disciples wielding weapons moved swiftly like the wind, encircling those using firearms.
Along the platform’s edge, there was also a group of disciples carrying medicinal boxes quietly waiting. Whenever a disciple was injured in the melee, they would be immediately teleported to the edge of the platform, and those with medicinal boxes would rush in at once to provide treatment.
“This…” Lu Yibei turned to Yi Sihan beside him, stunned, “You’re doing something like that free-for-all training, right? Like that place, ‘One Day of Freedom’? Just attacking each other within a limited time?”
Yi Sihan was surprised, “Hey! Is there such a place?”
“There is! How could there not be?” Lu Yibei replied seriously, “They even hunt dragons!”
“Dragons…” Yi Sihan seemed to believe his nonsense, pondering deeply and nodding.
“The books say that urban legends with dragon-like abilities typically rank quite high. What you mentioned must be from a specific department of the Siye Society, right?”
No, you really believed it? Didn’t you catch on that I was just joking? Lu Yibei mentally complained, then asked, “So what are they doing?”
“Practical training!” Yi Sihan explained. “Those are senior brothers and sisters who have been in training for over three years, and soon they’ll be going down the mountain for practice. Before that, the instructors will arrange for them to have ample practical training; they must at least reach a standard capable of handling C-Class urban legends before they are allowed down the mountain.”
After a pause, Yi Sihan continued to introduce, “The upper floors are where the disciples practice various skills. The first floor is for swordsmanship and physical techniques, the second floor is for spells and talismans, and the third floor is half for practicing using spirit energy items and half for relaxation after practice…”
Lu Yibei followed the direction Yi Sihan pointed and noticed that around the enormous platform, there were three tiers of buildings lined up in a “回” shape, encircling the platform.
Walls divided the floors into rooms the size of dance studios, with almost every room installed with large floor-to-ceiling glass windows, faintly visible were many disciples practicing inside.
But…
“What are those strange-looking instruments on them for?” Lu Yibei pointed at a room where four or five disciples were practicing spells.
“Oh! That’s to monitor the status of spirit patterns, heart rates, and salt-water balance to prevent physical harm while practicing, mainly for protective purposes,” Yi Sihan explained with a smile.
“However, even if someone gets injured, it’s no big deal; at Qing Nang Herb Cottage, instructors will help adjust the body through massages, spell baths, and specially prepared meals, so disciples can recover as quickly as possible.”
“By the way, it is said that this was a reform plan suggested by a high person more than a decade ago, and it was only fully realized and utilized in the last two years. This last two years, very few disciples have gotten injured during practice without recovery. Everyone is very grateful to that high person!”
Lu Yibei, “……”
So you’re doing it pretty scientifically? Why are you all so scientific for no reason?
Who on earth is that b*stard high person who’s got you all doing this?
Where are the palaces? The idols? The dilapidated ancient buildings? Didn’t you Dachunyang Palace promote classicism? Why does it feel like a training center for the Ultimate Warriors of the Solar Eclipse Society?
You’re making it very passive for me, you know?
At that moment, Lu Yibei suddenly realized that times had changed; the “sesame cake” the Ancestor had given him had indeed turned into a sesame cake.
Wait, sesame cakes can at least fill one’s stomach, but that map is completely useless.
Lu Yibei even suspected that if he wandered around Dachunyang Palace blindly, he might end up encountering a spirit energy-powered robot and get beaten up.
He suddenly understood why Huasang would become withdrawn as soon as she arrived in Huacheng but became lively again upon returning near Dachunyang Palace.
If it were him, staying in such a place for too long and then going to a place like Huacheng, which had harsh conditions and urban legends, he’d also become withdrawn.
“I’m sorry to ask, but are you still accepting disciples here?” Lu Yibei inquired.
“Eh? What did you say?” Yi Sihan paused, seeming not to have heard Lu Yibei clearly.
“It’s nothing; just forget what I said…” Lu Yibei replied calmly.
Although he envied the environment of Dachunyang Palace, he knew that every sunset would trigger an urban legend. Staying in Dachunyang Palace for a temporary period was okay, but over time, he would surely be caught and sent to guard the gates.
