Chapter 44: The Person Seen in a Dream

After Meng Yingxing changed his clothes, he stretched his sore body.

Then, Xiu Qingcheng saw the stretched-out Meng Yingxing plop down on the edge of the bed, his eyes staring blankly out the open window.

He had a thoughtful look on his face.

“Why are you spacing out again?”

Xiu Qingcheng swayed twice behind Meng Yingxing.

“Although you said today is a rest day for the Divine Weapon Trial and there are no matches, we can’t just waste our time in bed.”

Reminded by Xiu Qingcheng’s words, Meng Yingxing snapped back to reality, yet he still wore a look of reminiscence.

Seeing him like this, Xiu Qingcheng thought that besides dreaming of his mother last night, Meng Yingxing must have also dreamed of some beautiful girl.

‘Well, for a boy his age, that’s pretty normal.’ Xiu Qingcheng expressed her understanding.

‘Which young boy isn’t sentimental, and which young girl doesn’t dream of love~’

“Master, actually, last night, I think I saw a fairy.”

Meng Yingxing scratched his head, finally speaking to Xiu Qingcheng with some shyness.

“Pfft! Ahem, ahem!”

Xiu Qingcheng suddenly choked on her own non-existent saliva and began to cough violently.

Luckily she wasn’t drinking water and couldn’t drink water; if she had been, she definitely would have sprayed it all over Meng Yingxing’s face.

He did indeed dream of a girl, it was true.
Unfortunately, the girl he dreamed of was her, Xiu Qingcheng.

‘This kid actually remembers what happened last night!’

‘He remembered from just a fleeting glimpse?’

For a moment, Xiu Qingcheng regretted her actions from the previous night.
It wasn’t a crisis of conscience, but rather the feeling that she should have hit him a little harder!

She should have upgraded the Coma Palm directly to an Amnesia Fist!

Xiu Qingcheng broke out in a cold sweat, feeling as if water droplets were about to form on the Ting Tian Sword’s blade.

“Wh-what fairy?”

Xiu Qingcheng asked, feigning casualness.

“Umm…”

Meng Yingxing sat cross-legged and began to think hard.

“Black hair… dressed a little scantily… very beautiful…”

Meng Yingxing struggled for a long time but couldn’t come up with many decent adjectives.
The phrase “dressed a little scantily,” however, almost made Xiu Qingcheng lose her composure.

‘I wasn’t scantily dressed at all! It’s just that the top half looked a bit sparse!’

‘Besides, this outfit came with the factory settings. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t want to dress like this either!’

‘My name is Xiu Qingcheng, and I will defend myself.’

“Never seen her.”

Xiu Qingcheng simply cut off Meng Yingxing’s train of thought.

“Disciple, you know me. I don’t usually sleep.”

“I was by your side all night last night, so this… beautiful woman with black hair and scanty clothes you’re talking about, I never saw anyone like that.”

What did it mean to abuse one’s position to hide in plain sight? This was a masterclass!

Xiu Qingcheng’s explanation was flawless, and Meng Yingxing deeply believed his master.

“Then I must have been dreaming while half-asleep…”

Xiu Qingcheng nodded.

‘What a sin, what a sin. Meng Yingxing trusts me so completely, yet he’s being tricked and led around by me.’

“It couldn’t possibly be you who transformed, right? Hahaha.”

Meng Yingxing suddenly made a joke.

“…”

Xiu Qingcheng was startled.
If she weren’t in her sword form right now, people would have definitely seen her slightly stiff face.

Hearing Meng Yingxing say that, Xiu Qingcheng couldn’t tell for a moment whether the boy was hinting at something or genuinely joking.

She weighed the possibilities.
Based on her understanding of Meng Yingxing over the past few days, he was definitely joking.

“Hahaha, that’s right. It couldn’t possibly be me who transformed.”

Xiu Qingcheng laughed along, but only she knew the awkwardness within.

“But I feel like that dream was a bit real…”

“It was fake.”

“Oh…”

Xiu Qingcheng hoped Meng Yingxing would understand that the people one sees in dreams are people one cannot see when awake.

She just didn’t expect this foolish disciple to inadvertently remember the events of last night; his senses seemed to be quite sharp in some ways.

Unfortunately, he was a bit silly.
A little bit of bluffing from her and it was all over.

She really didn’t know what would become of this foolish disciple if she weren’t around to be deceived by others.

Afterward, Xiu Qingcheng brought up a few random topics and easily diverted Meng Yingxing’s attention.

After resting for a while, Meng Yingxing slung the Ting Tian Sword over his back and left the room.

The side hall of Wuyun Peak, being a place designated for receiving the injured, was currently hosting many wounded disciples due to the Divine Weapon Trial.

Furthermore, as it was now the morning of the trial’s rest day, the previously empty square in front of the side hall was now filled with people.

The moment Meng Yingxing stepped out of his room and into the square, the gazes of everyone present immediately swiveled to him.

The news of Meng Yingxing defeating Mò Kǎimíng yesterday had fully fermented overnight and was now known throughout the entire Tianfeng Sect.

The Tianfeng Sect’s famous rising genius had been defeated by the Tianfeng Sect’s famous deadbeat good-for-nothing.

This was more than just a major upset; this was like the sun rising from the west!

A Sub-Star realm cultivator defeating a Faint Star realm cultivator—Meng Yingxing was without a doubt the first in the entire spiritual cultivation world to achieve this!

Now, when everyone looked at Meng Yingxing, their eyes held a hint of complexity.

They whispered among themselves, their words unheard.

Meng Yingxing kept his eyes forward, paying no mind to others’ opinions of him.

“Thirty years the river flows east, thirty years the river flows west, my dear disciple.”

Xiu Qingcheng naturally noticed that Meng Yingxing had become the center of attention and sighed with a thousand emotions on his behalf.

“I’m quite curious about what they’re all saying.”

“Probably about how someone at the Sub-Star realm like me defeated someone at the Faint Star realm. If it were me, I’d be curious too.”

Meng Yingxing said.

“But I’m more curious about why the cultivation realm levels in the Jintian Nine Prefectures are divided by names like Gazing Star and Sub-Star.”

Actually, ever since she reincarnated a long time ago, Xiu Qingcheng had been very interested in the naming conventions for cultivation levels in this world.

Unfortunately, there was no one for her to talk to back then, nor could she talk to anyone.

“I heard that the first spiritual cultivator in the Jintian Nine Prefectures comprehended the way of spiritual cultivation by gazing upon the myriad stars.”

Meng Yingxing happened to have heard something about this and recounted it to Xiu Qingcheng from memory.

“Some also say it’s because the world’s spiritual energy falls from stardust.”

“As the saying goes, the Jintian Nine Prefectures are blessed by the Star Immortals. From lowest to highest, the seven levels are Gazing Star, Sub-Star, Faint Star, Celestial Star, Myriad Stars, Star Cluster, and Star Shattering. In essence, they classify the concentration of spiritual energy using abstract units of measurement.”

“Gazing Star, to gaze upon the stars.”

“Sub-Star, to hope to be like a star.”

“Faint Star, to be like a tiny, faint star.”

“Celestial Star, to be like a slightly larger star.”

“Myriad Stars, to be like a multitude of stars.”

“Star Cluster, to be like a cluster of stars.”

“Star Shattering, to be able to crush the starry sky.”

“I don’t remember it very clearly, but that’s roughly how it’s divided. The main indicator is still the concentration of spiritual energy; it doesn’t mean you can actually crush the starry sky.”

After hearing Meng Yingxing’s explanation, Xiu Qingcheng nodded silently, though in reality, she couldn’t remember any of it.

If you asked her, if this were the realm setting in some novel, the author must have been delirious to come up with it.

“So Master, since we’re resting today, do you have any plans for me?”

As they walked, Meng Yingxing was like a model student in class, eagerly waiting for Xiu Qingcheng to assign him today’s tasks.

Xiu Qingcheng cleared her throat.

“If you ask me, let’s go back and get something to eat.”

“What?”

Meng Yingxing felt like he hadn’t heard clearly.

“I said, let’s go back and get something to eat!”