2 Master Pingyang

As the number one God in the world, his martial path had long since reached the acme.

If he was willing to provide guidance to a mortal, no matter how mediocre they were, they could be guided into a supreme heavenly genius.

It was a pity that these people didn't know what a heavenly opportunity they just missed!

Shaking his head, Xia Qingchen exited the Shrine.

Xia Yuan was waiting here and had already heard the conversations inside the Shrine. Upon knowing that Xia Qingchen rejected the offer to enter the Shrine because his heart was set on the martial path, Xia Yuan felt a piercing pain in his heart. "Father is useless, I can't provide a good environment for you to pursue the martial path."

If one wanted to improve on the martial path, they needed the guidance of powerful masters as well as the assistance of valuable medicinal herbs.

For these items, Xia Yuan didn't even have a single one of them.

Due to his inferior cultivation base, Xia Qingchen had fainted in the martial pavilion's examination and became a joke of the entire city.

Xia Qingchen glanced at the middle-aged man before him who was filled with guilt. He sighed in his heart, parents would always worry about their children.

If he knew that the son he loved so much had already passed away, this middle-aged man would definitely feel even more sorrow and despair, right?

"Father, gold would shine out sooner or later. There's no need to be bothered about the winning and losing of a moment." Now that Xia Qingchen had taken over this body, his heart was naturally filled with gratitude toward Xia Yuan.

He had no way to repay Xia Qingchen who was already dead, but he could represent the real Xia Qingchen and be filial to Xia Qingchen's father all the way until his last years.

Xia Yuan tousled Xia Qingchen's hair and spoke hoarsely, "My son's ambition soars up the cloud. But for the martial path, it's useless just to have ambition alone. If you wish to become an expert, entering the martial pavilion is an inevitable path you have to take."

"Three months later, there will be a second recruitment competition organized by the martial pavilion. If your performance is good then, you would still have a chance to enter there."

During the first recruitment, there would inevitably be some youngsters with high potentials that failed to make the cut due to a variety of reasons.

Hence, the martial pavilion would organize a second competition.

"This is why father went to Godking Dustless's shrine. I wanted to pray to the gods so that you can pass the second competition three months later." Xia Yuan patted him on his shoulders and smiled. "At the same time, I also hired a martial tutor for you. Swordsman Pingyang will personally guide your cultivation."

Swordsman Pingyang was an extremely famous martial tutor in Lone Cloud City. Once, he was even worshipped by the martial pavilion and he had an extremely respectable and lofty status.

After that, he left the martial pavilion and specially tutored the youngsters of wealthy families in cultivation.

In his life, he had taught and guided many young geniuses who rose to fame.

Xia Qingchen's cousin, Xia Qilin, was one of those geniuses.

In the examination held by the martial pavilion three days ago, his cousin had managed to get third place and successfully enter the upper court of the martial pavilion.

The one with the most credit was naturally none other than Swordsman Pingyang who had provided Xia Qilin with three years of guidance.

Naturally, one needed to pay a shocking price before they could hire him.

In order to help his son achieve his dreams, it could be said that Xia Yuan gave it his all!

"Father!" Xia Qingchen felt moved in his heart. "I will not disappoint your hope in me."

"Hehe, let's return home now. He is already waiting in our manor."

After returning to the manor.

In the backyard.

An old man in green, about seventy years of age with a purple seven-star sword strapped on his back, was quietly meditating.

"Master Pingyang!" Xia Yuan increased his speed and walked over. After that, he bowed in greeting.

Swordsman Pingyang smiled. "Manor Lord Xia, there's no need to be so courteous."

Xia Yuan smiled and pulled Xia Qingchen over as he spoke, "This is my son, Xia Qingchen. I would have to trouble Master Pingyang to guide him."

The latter's aged eyes surveyed Xia Qingchen. After that, the old man nodded. "Ah, this youngster appeared to be a man of talent."

Who didn't know that Xia Qingchen was the joke of the entire city? The word 'talent' was completely not relevant to him.

Swordsman Pingyang's words were merely spoken out of politeness.

"Manor Lord Xia, I will guide your son starting from now. Could Manor Lord return to your manor first?" Swordsman Pingyang stroked his beard as he spoke.

Xia Yuan also looked forward to this. He hurriedly gave the order for all the servants in the backyard to leave as well. "During the times when Master Pingyang is tutoring and providing guidance, no one is allowed to enter the backyard."

When everyone left, there was no one else left in the backyard.

The smile on Swordsman Pingyang's face gradually disappeared, and his expression became cold and arrogant. He stared at Xia Qingchen and spoke without bothering to mask his true intentions, "If it wasn't for the fact that this old man is in need of money, I would truly not be willing to come here and tutor a worthless piece of rotten wood like you. If you show no improvement, you would surely implicate this old man's reputation." 

When facing Xia Yuan, he would still act politely on the surface.

But when facing Xia Qingchen, he spoke the true thoughts in his heart.

From now on, he would be the one guiding Xia Qingchen on his cultivation. How could Xia Qingchen dare to retell this old man's words to his father?

Hence, this Master Pingyang was sure that he was bulletproof.

Xia Qingchen remained indifferent. He calmly replied, "Master Pingyang, please do not hesitate to guide me. This student will do his best to learn."

Although he didn't really need Master Pingyang's guidance, he couldn't waste his father's good intentions.

Swordsman Pingyang coldly instructed, "Release your inner force. Let me take a look at your basic situation first."

Xia Qingchen clenched his fists after he heard the instructions. After that, he ruthlessly launched an attack in the air.

"Plop, plop." Two light sounds echoed out, and a thin layer of shimmering white airflow flashed past his fists.

Upon seeing this, Swordsman Pingyang shook his head. "Rotten wood! Truly a piece of rotten wood! Your inner force is weak and unstable, barely reaching the third radiance-level of the minor constellation stage. You are already seventeen years old, but your cultivation base is only at this level? Truly a piece of rotten wood that's unfit for carving!"

His evaluation of Xia Qingchen was truly merciless, not giving a damn about people's feelings.

"It's said that dragons would give birth to dragons and phoenixes would give birth to phoenixes. The children of rats would even know how to make a hole! Your second uncle Xia Xun is an outstanding talent; thus, his son Xia Qilin is also a genius. As for you, your father is trash. As a result, you are naturally the same too. Sigh, how do you want me to teach garbage like you?" Swordsman Pingyang shook his head.

Xia Xun was Xia Qingchen's second uncle. His cultivation base was extremely powerful and he built the Northern Xia Manor, which was on par with aristocrat clans of the martial path.

Comparatively, Xia Yuan's cultivation base was weaker by a few levels, making him far inferior to Xia Qingchen's second uncle, Xia Xun. He could only build the Southern Xia Manor, which was equivalent to normal aristocratic clans.

"Your father is an idiot. He is like you, a piece of rotten wood. No matter how high the price he paid, I would never be able to guide you to the point where you become outstanding. So, what's the point of him spending money?" Swordsman Pingyang spoke in disapproval.

When Xia Qingchen heard this, his gaze gradually turned cold.

It was fine no matter how this person wanted to belittle him.

However, the only thing he couldn't endure was the fact that this man disparaged the sincere love of a father toward his child.

Originally, if Swordsman Pingyang properly provided guidance, he could still put up an act and go along with it, pretending to accept the guidance.

But now, there was completely no need for him to do so.

"Master Pingyang, instead of talking so much, why don't you display your skill and allow this student to broaden his horizons?" Xia Qingchen indifferently spoke.

Swordsman Pingyang snorted through his nose. "This old man's name alone is already sufficient for you to broaden your horizons. Do I still need to display my sword skill?"

But upon facing Xia Qingchen's pair of calm eyes that held absolutely no respect for him, he spoke arrogantly again, "Alright then. It's a good idea to let you broaden your horizons or you might not accept it willingly!"

He flicked his sleeves and stretched out his five fingers. "In this life, this old man is proficient in five areas. The five areas respectively are fist techniques, finger arts, judgment… What do you want to see?"

He listed out the five specialties he was proud of.

Xia Qingchen patiently listened to everything before unenthusiastically commenting, "The one you are best at."

Swordsman Pingyan failed to discern the true intention in Xia Qingchen's words. He sneered. "This old man is the most proficient in sword arts. However, it is way too profound and you wouldn't understand even if I displayed it. Change your request."

A brilliant sword art contained profoundness in all its sword moves. It would be extremely difficult for those who were not proficient in the sword path to understand where the brilliance lay.

"Don't worry about it. Master Pingyang, please go ahead and display it," Xia Qingchen spoke.

Swordsman Pingyang had an indignant look on his face. "You are a piece of rotten wood, yet you absolutely insist on watching a brilliant sword art you would never be able to grasp. Fine then, this old man will expend some effort to display it for you, allowing you to broaden your horizons!"

He placed his hand behind his back and drew out the purple seven-star sword.

The five fingers of his right hand grabbed the sword hilt while the index and middle finger of his left hand pointed into the distance.

His inner force surged, causing his green robes to flutter.

"Look carefully!" Swordsman Pingyang shouted. His demeanor suddenly changed, becoming as sharp as a sword.

His feet rapidly stepped onto the ground. His figure was as fast and graceful as a goose.

The purple seven-star sword was like purple lightning. The slashes lingered in the air, presenting a stunning sight that arched through the sky.

Peals of sword hums rippled outward like waves, so loud that even the deaf could hear them.

After ten breaths, he finished displaying his sword technique. The sound of the sword hums still lingered in the air.

If an expert of the Lone Cloud City was present, that person would definitely marvel at Swordsman Pingyang's superb sword art.

But in Xia Qingchen's eyes, this was something completely insignificant.

"How about it? Can you see where the essence of this old man's sword art lies?" Swordsman Pingyang spoke in a displeased tone.

As an expert on sword techniques, the thing they loathed most was to display their sword arts to people who couldn't understand them.

Sword arts needed to be admired by people who understood them. If one were to display them to plebeians, it would be like playing the lute to a cow.

"I can't see any essence at all." Xia Qingchen shook his head.

Swordsman Pingyang snorted coldly. He had long expected that this would be the case.

"However, I saw countless flaws." What made Swordsman Pingyang startle was that Xia Qingchen actually said something so incomprehensible.

Swordsman Pingyang asked in uncertainty, "Are you talking about my sword art?"

"If not?"

Swordsman Pingyang laughed angrily. "You are a piece of rotten wood, ridiculous and pitiful, pretending to know something when you know nothing at all. You couldn't see where the essence lies and is firmly insisting that this old man's sword art can't make it. Hahaha!"

He truly started to feel regret about why he agreed to tutor Xia Qingchen.

For such a student, no matter how great the effort he expended, it was impossible for there to be any improvements.

"I don't really know the [Peacock Sword Canon] in-depth. But from what I know, you didn't even manage to properly learn a hair of this sword art," Xia Qingchen calmly spoke.