Chapter 81: A Grudge Rekindled and New Beginnings

Of course, the “pink fist” that Meng Yingxing fully believed in never arrived.

‘Huh? You really think I’d hit you?’

Seeing Meng Yingxing with an expression of self-sacrifice, ready to be dealt with by Xiu Qingcheng, she immediately laughed.

‘Disciple, are you perhaps expecting me to hit you?’

Xiu Qingcheng paced back and forth in front of Meng Yingxing, one hand cupping her chin, her face full of inquiry.

‘”No, not at all.”’

Meng Yingxing maintained a taut expression.

Xiu Qingcheng smiled, flicking her sleeve.

“Practicing sword arts is certainly not an overnight matter. If you were to instantly comprehend this Enemy Slaying Sword, I would actually suspect if you were a normal person.”

“Although this Enemy Slaying Sword emphasizes drawing strength from surprising places, it also has its subtle intricacies.”

“Only with murderous intent can your sword break through ten thousand armies.”

“You have a lot of practice ahead with this set of sword techniques.”

Xiu Qingcheng said, pulling a spirit fruit from her sleeve and popping it into her mouth.

“Master, when did you steal the Azure Spirit Fruit?”

Meng Yingxing looked at Xiu Qingcheng; he hadn’t seen her go to the kitchen to get anything.

‘Taking things from her own home, could that be called stealing?!’

Xiu Qingcheng took the Azure Spirit Fruit out of her mouth, righteously correcting Meng Yingxing’s words.

“Just grabbed it casually a moment ago.”

“It’s not stealing, it’s not stealing. Master can take whatever she wants.”

Meng Yingxing’s change of words was remarkably quick; a faint trace of happiness even seemed to appear on his face.

‘Master treated this place as her own home.’

‘Meng Yingxing himself didn’t know why he felt happy; perhaps he was glad because he felt his relationship with Master had grown closer.’

“Alright, alright, go practice your sword now.”

Xiu Qingcheng shooed Meng Yingxing away and habitually sat cross-legged on the long bench under the eaves.

The night breeze was quite cool, caressing the beauty’s cheek.

Xiu Qingcheng looked up at the night sky; it was cloudy tonight, with no moon or stars.

“Female general.”

“Which female general was it again?”

Xiu Qingcheng suddenly began to care about her memory.

She gnawed at the Azure Spirit Fruit in her hand, but her convoluted, stone-like memories didn’t reveal themselves piece by piece like the fruit.

“How strange, recalling past events, it’s all so hazy.”

“I only remember those people’s sword moves… but I can’t recall a single person or name.”

“It seems I really was driven silly from being confined in the Divine Weapon Pavilion. Who was that guy who locked me in the Divine Weapon Pavilion anyway… can’t remember the name…”

The more Xiu Qingcheng thought, the more depressed she became, swallowing the rest of the Azure Spirit Fruit in large bites.

While all the events of her previous life were still clear as yesterday, everything from becoming a sword until her time in the Divine Weapon Pavilion was as blurry as a low-pixel video.

Xiu Qingcheng could only attribute it to her becoming an unfree sword at that time, and then being too depressed to perk up.

A faint coolness fell on her nose.

The bewildered sword spirit snapped back to reality, seeing Meng Yingxing’s sword parry the misty drizzle that had begun to fall at some unknown point in the night wind and rain.

Meng Yingxing had already grasped the form of the Enemy Slaying Sword, looking quite authentic.

The details and power, however, were still far off.

“This set of sword techniques isn’t as easy to master as the Four Clouds Come Swords.”

“Guess when my disciple will fully learn it?”

“I guess… one year, or two years.”

“Although it’s a bit long, it’s worth it. When I teach him other sword techniques in between, he’ll also have a deeper understanding.”

Xiu Qingcheng muttered to herself, amused.

That night, Meng Yingxing and Xiu Qingcheng did not “Nourish a Sword.”

Xiu Qingcheng said that after all this time, he was finally about to touch the peak of the low-grade Star realm.

So she urged Meng Yingxing to cultivate his spiritual energy quickly, so that he could break through to the mid-grade realm soon.

Thus, under Xiu Qingcheng’s supervision, Meng Yingxing once again practiced the circulation of spiritual energy all night long, in place of studying.

Unfortunately, his cultivation still showed no significant breakthrough.

While Meng Yingxing was cultivating with his eyes closed, Xiu Qingcheng took out the jar of rouge he had given her not long ago, and like Meng Yingxing, opened the lid and sniffed it.

“So this is what rouge smells like? It’s strange and nice, but I don’t need it.”

However, remembering that it was her disciple’s filial offering, Xiu Qingcheng still hid the jar of rouge in a corner of the storage cabinet in the room.

‘She was a sword; she usually had no place to put things on her person, so she’d hide it for now.’

‘As for when she would use it… Xiu Qingcheng felt she would never use it in her lifetime.’

The next day, Meng Yingxing went to Daiheng Peak to attend the sword-riding course offered by the Daiheng Peak Sword Cultivation Steward.

On the way, he also encountered disciples from other peaks who were also going to Daiheng Peak, their purpose the same as his.

However, they all traveled in groups of a few disciples from the same peak, while Meng Yingxing was alone.

Because in the vast Wuyun Peak, Meng Yingxing was the only one who used a sword.

“Actually, after learning sword-riding, you don’t necessarily have to ride a sword later.”

Xiu Qingcheng said from behind Meng Yingxing, “You can ride a saber, ride a carpet, ride a pillar. It’s all just a form of spiritual energy application.”

“Then someone like Mo Kaiming… would that count as someone very skilled in spiritual energy application?”

When it came to sword-riding, Meng Yingxing thought of Mo Kaiming, who could ride several spirit swords simultaneously.

“Yes, Mo Kaiming is very proficient in the use of spiritual energy, and he probably doesn’t cultivate pure swordsmanship; it leans more towards techniques that use the sword as a medium.”

Xiu Qingcheng dismissed this with disdain.

‘Could a beam sword be more effective than a physical sword? A formation that suppresses spiritual energy flow would just cut them all down like vegetables!’

‘Besides, a physical sword was a man’s romance!’

‘She praised all sword users: good taste!’

After a night of light rain, the mountains were misty, and the sky was clear and bright.

Scattered figures ascended the stone steps in the Tianfeng Sect mountains.

Just as Meng Yingxing was mentally communicating with Xiu Qingcheng while looking ahead towards Daiheng Peak along the stone path, someone came up from behind and roughly bumped into Meng Yingxing’s shoulder.

Meng Yingxing’s body swayed, and he subconsciously frowned.

He looked up ahead and saw Ye Bo, who turned back to him with a cold smirk.

Ye Bo had been lucky, admitted into the sect as the last-ranked in the Divine Weapon Trial.

If not for bumping into Ye Bo today, Meng Yingxing would have almost forgotten him.

However, seeing him again with such aggressive provocation, Meng Yingxing knew he still harbored resentment towards him.

“Yo, Meng Good-for-nothing, oh, Meng Yingxing, you’re also going to Daiheng Peak to learn sword-riding? What a coincidence, so am I!”

Ye Bo smiled like that, as if he was merely exchanging pleasantries.

After the pleasantries, he quickly walked away.

“Hey! What does that guy mean?! I’m going to go up there right now and poke his butt!”

Xiu Qingcheng was already displeased with Ye Bo, and now that Meng Yingxing had shed his ‘good-for-nothing’ title, this guy still came to pick a fight.

Xiu Qingcheng even suspected there was a bubble in his brain!

‘What, can’t he stand to see someone he used to bully now doing better than him?’

“From his words, he’s also going to Daiheng Peak to learn sword-riding. Why is he learning that? Is he going to ride an axe?”

Meng Yingxing shook his head, not taking such a clown to heart.

However, he forgot that his Master held grudges.

Xiu Qingcheng thought of the upcoming sword-riding lesson and felt there was an opportunity to teach that annoying Ye Bo a small lesson.

‘Meng can tolerate it, but Xiu cannot!’