Chapter 82: Are You Serious?!

"Disciple Qingran humbly prays to the heavens for mercy, to dispel calamities, and to bless my master with safety and peace."

At dawn the next day, Li Qingran followed her usual routine—bathing in incense and offering three bows to the sky, praying for her master’s well-being.

Afterward, she rode the celestial crane gifted by Senior Sister Zhaole and headed toward the sect’s Sword Pavilion plaza.

She had always been a punctual person, believing that arriving early was enough. But the moment she reached the plaza, she was stunned.

The entire plaza was already packed with people. The rooftops, the ancient pines, the very tips of the bamboo in the grove—wherever one could stand, sit, lie down, or meditate—were all occupied by disciples of the Sword Pavilion. The better the vantage point, the more crowded it was.

Clang!

A sudden sword cry pierced the air, and from the front of the crowd, a dazzling sword light shot skyward.

Then came the sounds of battle.

"You think just because you say so, it’s yours? I say it’s mine!"

"I left my flying sword here to claim this spot!"

"Like I care!"

The intense clashing of swords roared into the sky.

Yet, none of the surrounding disciples of the Sword Pavilion seemed inclined to intervene. Instead, they watched with great interest, even discussing who would win.

"You’ll have to come even earlier next time, Junior Sister."

A voice came from above, and a figure gracefully landed on the tip of a bamboo stalk beside her—it was Xu An, the same senior brother who had gifted her spirit wine the day before.

"Senior Brother Xu." Li Qingran quickly bowed in greeting.

"No need to be so formal." Xu An, holding a wine gourd, looked slightly intoxicated as he chuckled. "The sect’s morning lessons are extremely important. They’re when the elders answer cultivation questions and the direct disciples share their battle experiences. Only after this do the elders of each peak take their disciples back for specialized sword training."

"I see..." Li Qingran nodded, still somewhat confused.

Sword Pavilion’s teaching model was vastly different from Qingyun Sect’s—it even seemed quite eco-friendly.

"That’s why you need to arrive early and claim a good spot. Sometimes, the direct disciples will spar, and the closer you are to the front, the more details you can observe. It’s very beneficial for both cultivation and swordplay," Xu An explained. His intoxication seemed to swell as he swayed precariously atop the bamboo stalk. Yet, no matter how much he wobbled, his feet remained firmly planted on the tip.

"But Senior Brother, you arrived late too."

"Me?" Xu An waved dismissively. "No one dares take my spot. The very front is reserved for the top three direct disciples of each peak. If anyone wants my spot, they’ll have to beat me first."

At the front, the sword fight seemed to have reached its conclusion.

One disciple, cursing under his breath, leaped onto a nearby rooftop and promptly knocked down another disciple who had already secured a good spot, taking it for himself. ṙÀŊ?BÊＳ

Dong—Dong—Dong!

A distant, ethereal bell tolled from the mountains—nine chimes in total. Instantly, the entire plaza fell silent.

"Morning lessons are starting." Xu An’s expression turned serious, and his drunkenness vanished in an instant. "Junior Sister, I’ll be heading to the front. See you later~"

The moment he finished speaking, Li Qingran blinked, and Xu An was already gone, leaving only the swaying bamboo behind.

Li Qingran was completely absorbed in the morning lessons.

The elders of the Sword Pavilion didn’t just dump their own experiences onto the disciples and call it a day.

Because the gap in cultivation levels was too vast, much of their knowledge would be incomprehensible to lower-level disciples.

So, instead, they carefully deconstructed their insights, tailoring them for each cultivation stage so that all disciples could grasp them easily.

At the same time, they exposed disciples to knowledge above their current level without hindering their progress.

This reminded Li Qingran of her time in Qingyun Sect.

Back then, when Daoist Qingxuan taught her the Chiyun Technique, he simply recited the incantation and left her to figure it out on her own.

Translating the incantation into something she could actually understand had already taken her a ridiculous amount of effort.

After the morning lessons ended, the disciples left under the guidance of their respective elders.

But Li Qingran didn’t leave right away.

She wandered around the small plaza for a while.

Finally, she spotted the Sword Pavilion Master, Su Qinian, fast asleep on a towering ancient pine.

"Sect Master, this junior has something to report!"

Standing beneath the tree, she bowed respectfully.

No response.

She looked up and saw that this late-stage Nascent Soul powerhouse was sleeping soundly—completely unguarded!

"Sect Master?"

"Junior Sister, that won’t wake him up."

Out of nowhere, Yue Qianchi appeared, grinning mischievously as she draped an arm around Li Qingran’s shoulder.

"Master can sense killing intent from a hundred miles away, but within the Sword Pavilion, no matter how close a disciple gets to him, he’ll sleep right through it," Yue Qianchi explained while rummaging through her storage pouch. Soon, she pulled out a bronze gong and a wooden mallet.

She raised an eyebrow at Li Qingran. "Today, Senior Sister will teach you how to wake up a sleeping sect master."

Li Qingran’s face paled. "Senior Sister, this... this doesn’t seem appropriate..."

She could already guess what Yue Qianchi intended to do.

This was outright disrespect!

In Qingyun Sect, this kind of offense would get someone expelled!

"It’s fine." Yue Qianchi leaped onto the tree, positioned the gong right above Su Qinian’s head, and swung the mallet in a wide arc.

BOOOOM!!!

Li Qingran instinctively shut her eyes in terror.

When the echo finally faded, she cautiously opened them again—only to see Su Qinian now sitting cross-legged, his face dark as thunder, his jaw twitching.

The culprit, Yue Qianchi, was nowhere to be found.

Oh no.

Li Qingran hurriedly bowed. "Sect Master, that wasn’t me. It was—"

She bit her lip and ultimately decided not to rat out her senior sister.

Let the sect master figure it out himself.

She simply shut her eyes, resigned, and muttered, "Disciple got dust in her eyes. I didn’t see anything."

"Hah! You think I wouldn’t know it was that damn girl Yue Qianchi?" Su Qinian ground his teeth, his fists clenched inside his sleeves. "That brat is getting bolder! I’ll make her clean up after the sect’s guardian beast later!"

"Ah? That’s it?" Li Qingran let out a sigh of relief.

Cleaning up after the guardian beast wasn’t even a punishment.

She had done plenty of that before—it was just a little smelly.

But upon hearing her response, Su Qinian’s expression twisted. A sinister grin crept onto his face.

"Heh... So it was her, huh? Heh heh heh... Good! Well done! Heh heh heh..."

Li Qingran was dumbfounded.

She hadn’t expected the sect master to trick her into confessing!

Without realizing it, she had sold out her senior sister.

Lowering her head, she pressed her hands together in silent apology.

【Senior Sister, I’m so sorry QAQ. Sect Master is way too cunning!】

"Save your prayers. That brat is doomed." Su Qinian jumped down from the pine tree, straightened his robe, and asked in confusion, "Anyway, why were you looking for me?"

Li Qingran steadied herself and bowed deeply.

"Sect Master, my master—Senior Grand Elder Chen— is currently fighting a great demon. He said he has been poisoned and may not have much time left. Since he is a Senior Grand Elder of the Sword Pavilion, I thought I should inform you."

Master. Senior Grand Elder of the Sword Pavilion. Poisoned.

What?

Su Qinian’s eye twitched.

Wait... this is serious?!

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