Chapter 32: Do You Want Me to Lull You to Sleep?

The moonlight was silent, the stars wordless.

It was another gentle and quiet, fine night.

As the closest and also the shortest peak to the main mountain gate, from Welcoming Guest Peak, one could see the lights shining from the other peaks.

But tonight, only the candlelight on Tianchu Peak, where the disciples who had not yet been formally initiated resided, was the most dazzling.

Because tomorrow, the Divine Weapon Trial would begin.

This meant that after tonight, the competition for the qualifications to become an official disciple was right before their eyes.

Whether all their past efforts would bear fruit or go down the drain all depended on this Divine Weapon Trial. Therefore, most of the uninitiated disciples participating in the trial, whether they were cultivating all night to strengthen themselves or tossing and turning, pondering the future, found it difficult to sleep.

Meng Yingxing was no exception.

As the weakest among all the participants of the Divine Weapon Trial, Meng Yingxing naturally did not allow himself to slack off at this critical juncture.

He was currently holding the Ting Tian Sword, performing the sword techniques he had already practiced hundreds of times over the past few days.

According to what Xiu Qingcheng had said, he needed to comprehend the weight of the sword, to merge with it as much as possible. Only in this way could the sword and its techniques unleash their greatest power in his hands.

“Control the heart with the sword, not… the sword with the heart.”

“Let the sword do what you want it to do for you…”

Xiu Qingcheng was actually not very good at teaching. The secrets she told Meng Yingxing were obscure and difficult to understand. He could only rely on his own understanding and imagination to comprehend these two sentences.

Perhaps Xiu Qingcheng also knew that her teaching of these two profound sentences was terrible, so she didn’t dare to make a single sound while Meng Yingxing was practicing his sword.

Besides having a wealth of experience as a sword, Xiu Qingcheng’s experience in other areas was basically zero or a first-time thing.

It was even her first time encountering a sword master as weak as Meng Yingxing.

Her greatest strength was still killing enemies on behalf of others. So, much of what she was teaching Meng Yingxing now was based on her past journeys with other sword masters and her super-strong memory.

As a master, she was being serious and responsible based purely on her feelings.

Although the now-silent Xiu Qingcheng wasn’t saying anything, her mouth, which could never stay idle, was already having a fierce monologue in her mind.

‘Tomorrow is the Divine Weapon Trial. It feels like I just got out of the Divine Weapon Pavilion yesterday.’

‘Can this kid, Meng Yingxing, actually do it?’

‘With my excellent teaching, of course he can!’

‘Or should I help him cheat? What do you mean I won’t interfere, of course I’ll interfere!’

‘This is all for freedom! Sacrificing one’s heart for freedom is worth it!’

Just as Xiu Qingcheng was having this frantic monologue in her mind, Meng Yingxing seemed to have found a bit of the meaning behind her profound sayings.

His crimson pupils closed lightly, and he gently took a breath—this breath seemed to drive the circulation of the surrounding spiritual energy, drawing it all into his body through his mouth and nose.

Following that, Meng Yingxing moved, performing the Four Swords of Cloud’s Arrival in succession.

The light of the Ting Tian Sword flickered. Between each move, the sword’s momentum was like the wind, like a hawk spreading its wings.

Occasionally, a ray of sword light would break through the air, and even the surrounding air would vibrate faintly.

If one listened closely to the small space around him, one could even hear the faint humming of the sword, like a mournful song.

‘This kid Meng Yingxing… actually had an epiphany?’ Xiu Qingcheng noticed the subtle changes around him and was secretly surprised.

An epiphany, a method of greatly increasing one’s spiritual power by comprehending the myriad things of the world, was not something one could encounter just by chance. Some people never had a single epiphany in their entire lives, and instead fell into a bottleneck, their cultivation stagnating.

Even among the Ting Tian Sword’s many masters, Meng Yingxing was the only one Xiu Qingcheng had seen achieve an epiphany.

Moreover, by comprehending the Dao through the sword, Meng Yingxing should have a much deeper understanding of the path of the sword.

“As expected of my disciple, truly a genius! Those guys at the Tianfeng Sect are just blind!”

Xiu Qingcheng was the first to feel happy for Meng Yingxing’s epiphany. And this feeling was like…

Like her own dog suddenly bringing back a lot of money one day. It was something that made her feel proud.

Unfortunately, no matter how powerful Meng Yingxing’s talent was, it was ultimately dragged down by his strange constitution.

It was normal for an ordinary person to advance half a grade or even a full grade in spiritual power after a single epiphany. But when Xiu Qingcheng checked the spiritual power in Meng Yingxing’s body again, it had only increased by a pitifully small amount. She had no idea who had consumed the majority of it!

It couldn’t really be her, could it!

Impossible! Absolutely, impossible!

If there really was a hidden, incredibly deep Personal Old Grandpa in Meng Yingxing’s body, Xiu Qingcheng really wanted to drag him out for a one-on-one real man’s battle right now!

She’d take him down with a ruthless iron hand into a crippling strike into a sweeping cleave into a guillotine combo!

As Xiu Qingcheng was fantasizing about throwing punches, Meng Yingxing slowly lowered the Ting Tian Sword.

He opened his eyes, looked down at himself, and was pleasantly surprised.

“Master… what a wonderful feeling. I feel like… I’ve gotten stronger.”

Whenever something happened, he would look for his master, especially when it was something that felt so good. The first person he had to find was his master.

Xiu Qingcheng squinted and congratulated Meng Yingxing, “Congratulations, congratulations, my dear disciple. You had an epiphany! Your spiritual power has gained zero increase. Keep up the good work next time~”

“Just kidding. Your spiritual power did indeed increase by a day’s worth of your cultivation. It’s better than nothing.”

“An epiphany? I don’t understand.” Because very few people could achieve an epiphany, Meng Yingxing had never heard the word from others.

“It’s very complicated. Simply put, you’re a genius,” Xiu Qingcheng explained to Meng Yingxing in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

“No, I’m not.”

Meng Yingxing had previously thought Xiu Qingcheng was comforting him. Now, he felt she was teasing him.

“No, you are.”

“I’m not.”

“Fine, you’re not.”

Respect the fate of others, let go of the urge to help!

Xiu Qingcheng felt that Meng Yingxing should have a little more confidence in himself.

The days ahead were long. She would slowly help him change that.

Xiu Qingcheng’s KPI had just gained another item—a master, what a great and selfless profession!

“Xiu-men!” Xiu Qingcheng shamelessly praised herself.

Thinking this, she felt a little pleased and flew up, tapping Meng Yingxing’s forehead, “To reward you for this epiphany, I have decided to let you, my dear disciple…”

“Go back to sleep.”

A reward with no sincerity, but Xiu Qingcheng felt she was being very sincere.

“Master, I don’t need it,” Meng Yingxing shook his head, rejecting Xiu Qingcheng’s so-called reward. “There’s still time. I can continue to cultivate.”

“No, no, no!”

Xiu Qingcheng stopped him from doing so. “Continuing to cultivate might allow you to improve, but the improvement won’t be significant. What’s more important about resting is the mental replenishment that comes with it. Do you understand? Mental?”

“Perhaps cultivation can strengthen your body, prolong your life, and let you beat up divine beasts and kick immortals, but in terms of your mind, a realm like yours still needs the most simple and unadorned rest to replenish.”

“And sometimes, mental completeness and strength can often decide the outcome of a battle.”

“…I understand! Master is indeed Master!” After listening to Xiu Qingcheng’s glib speech, the deeply influenced Meng Yingxing immediately and obediently went back to his room and lay down on his bed.

However, after he closed his eyes, he remained wide awake for a long time, tossing and turning restlessly.

“Can’t sleep?”

Xiu Qingcheng, who had laid herself flat next to Meng Yingxing, could hear him tossing and turning.

“Yes,” Meng Yingxing replied with a heavy tone. “I’m still a little worried… about the Divine Weapon Trial.”

“Don’t think too much,” Xiu Qingcheng consoled.

For Meng Yingxing, who had grown up in an environment where he felt he was never good enough, it was only normal for him to have such anxiety.

Xiu Qingcheng felt it was necessary to give him a wave of mental support before the battle to boost morale! Thus, she made up her mind and made a decision that went against her ancestors.

“If you can’t sleep, would you like me to tell you a bedtime story?”

She had said before that she would tell him the story of The Little Mermaid, but she still hadn’t. Now was the perfect time to make up for it.

“Or I can sing you a lullaby to help you sleep.”

In order to let Meng Yingxing rest well, Xiu Qingcheng was going all out.

This was for Meng Yingxing, and also for herself!

But Xiu Qingcheng’s sacrifice sounded extremely embarrassing to Meng Yingxing, causing his face to turn red even in the darkness of the night.

“Master, I’m not a child anymore!” Meng Yingxing said urgently.

The implication was that he didn’t need to be lulled to sleep with these things.

Xiu Qingcheng, who originally felt she was making a sacrifice, felt a strange sense of regret upon hearing Meng Yingxing’s refusal. She actually quite wanted to try telling someone a story.

‘My dear disciple is really mature.’

“Alright,” Xiu Qingcheng said dryly and then fell silent, leaving the complex-minded Meng Yingxing to yearn infinitely in the darkness of the night—

“What would it be like to have someone tell you a story before bed?”

Meng Yingxing’s feigned maturity faded away in the silent night.

The next day, with the resounding clang of a bronze bell, daylight fell from the misty mountains, and immortal cranes lined up against the blue sky. The Divine Weapon Trial had officially begun.