Chapter 21
Mu Lan Rou, an Inner Disciple with long, raven black hair that cascaded down her back like spilled silk, stood before Ji Wuye.
Her deep crimson eyes, normally vibrant gems, were narrowed in displeasure as she appraised him.
A pronounced crease marred her normally smooth forehead, and her full lips were pursed in a deep frown. With her arms crossed tightly over her chest, she impatiently tapped one delicate foot clad in soft shoes, the rhythmic sound echoing through the hushed training courtyard.
"You..." she uttered finally, her melodious voice carrying a biting edge. The entire audience seemed to hold their collective breath, the air thick with tension. "Your footwork is downright sloppy, and your posture, not to mention your abysmal grip on the sword, is painfully lacking."
Mu Lan Rou's reprimands lashed out like a whip's sting. Several disciples winced openly at her harsh criticism. She radiated displeasure like scorching heat from a blazing forge.
"I can't believe I'm actually engaged to someone as inept as you," she whispered the last words, a venomous hush that barely reached the ears of the assembled audience.
Only the intended recipient, Ji Wuye, caught the essence of her disdain-laden proclamation.
With a slow inhalation, he offered a small, remorseful nod of acknowledgment. "You're right, Senior Sister Mu. I still have much to learn. Thank you for your candid guidance."
Maintaining an outward expression of calm humility despite the lashing her words had dealt his pride, Ji Wuye turned and strode away, leaving a frowning Mu Lan Rou and a courtyard thick with unresolved tension in his wake.
...
Time passed, and in the wake of recent unsettling events, the morning group exercises were canceled outright. Now, in the abandoned eastern courtyard where the brisk winds carried the astringent scent of cold damp stone, Ji Wuye could be seen diligently training alone as usual.
His tanned, muscular back glistened with exertion as he performed punishing repetitions of rock squats. He carried hefty boulders on his back, stabilizing them with both hands to prevent them from falling.
Yet Ji Wuye's mind was clearly elsewhere, his brow furrowed in consternation despite his arduous efforts.
'She never spoke to me directly before all this...' he pondered, recalling the jarring deviations from the timeline he had previously experienced.
In that existence, the aloof beauty Mu Lan Rou had never addressed him, neither accepting nor declining their arranged engagement.
He had blindly assumed her silence was equal to tacit acceptance, perhaps even an indication she was inwardly attracted to his appearance and his undying effort courting her up.
But events had taken a strange turn when her formidable father, the Sect Elder abruptly canceled their betrothal pact without explanation.
Mu Lan Rou had simply...left.
Slipped away without a single word. Remaining as frostily untouchable as ever in her silence, only to later inexplicably fall for his hated rival, Du Chen, despite Ji Wuye's earnest efforts to improve himself and please her.
"How utterly foolish I was!" Ji Wuye growled suddenly, carelessly shrugging off the massive boulder on his back. It crashed to the paved ground with a jaw-jarring thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Sinking to the ground, he rested his back against the callous stone as he gazed up at the brilliant azure sky through the gently swaying aspen boughs. The crisp, damp scent of loam and moldering leaves filled his nostrils.
Mu Lan Rou, one of Du Chen's romantic companions, had been the object of his ill-fated infatuation in that former existence.
But his affections had been spurned, or rather, he realized now with bitter clarity, he had failed to accurately assess her mindset and inclinations.
How could someone as exceptionally talented as Mu Lan Rou not have her pick of attractive, powerful suitors from across the Jianghu?
The pangs of that canceled engagement had filled his heart with envy, hatred, and scornful resentment toward Du Chen - the rakish genius who Ji Wuye had assumed stole his beloved from his naive grasp.
"I was simply pathetic. Truly and utterly pathetic," he admitted aloud, an uncomfortable admission he would never have uttered against his swollen pride in the past.
Shaking off the distracting memories, Ji Wuye refocused his mind and returned to his training, rising lithely to his feet.
His calloused hands gripped the thick, roughly-barked logs tightly, the coarse surfaces rasping against his calloused palms as he lifted the immense weights. A full-body tremor ran through his straining muscles as he took a measured step forward, the weights bowing his frame.
Yet Ji Wuye's eyes remained calm and composed, unwavering in his determination - a marked contrast to the mooning distraction his former self would have displayed. "The path behind has been swept clear," he intoned with finality. "The current me walks a different road entirely."
Gone were the trivialities of romantic folly that had once dominated his mindset. Round and round the courtyard Ji Wuye plodded, his movements confined to a tight, repetitive cycle as he powered through the grueling regimen.
"This focused repetition is more than enough to stimulate…"
...
Time languished as Ji Wuye's grueling training regimen continued unabated. The vibrant azure of the mid-day sky gradually darkened to indigo, the brilliant yellow sunlight transmuting through shades of molten amber and fiery crimson before dipping below the distant mountain peaks.
As before, Ji Wuye's sweat-slicked form lay in an ungraceful sprawl upon the paved courtyard, his chiseled torso rising and falling with each deep, ragged inhalation.
Calloused hands clenched and unclenched slowly as he recovered his depleted strength. After several moments, his half-lidded crimson eyes flicked upward, scrutinizing the wispy clouds drifting across the dimming heavens.
"Status," he murmured tonelessly, triggering the manifested spiritual display only he could perceive.
STATUS SCREEN
[->] Name: Ji Wuye
[->] Level: 13
[->] Strength: 42(+1)
[->] Agility: 41
[->] Qi: 36
[*] Skills:
- Quick Adaptation(F)
- Healing Art Primer(1st)(E)
- Cloudsoaring Steps(1st)(E)
A faint glow flickered in Ji Wuye's crimson eyes as he registered the marginal increase to his strength attribute. A wry smile ghosted across his lips as he remarked, "Slow, but steady progress. At least there is some improvement."
An inward comparison to the stats he had trained by this point in the now-altered timeline brought a sense of grim satisfaction.
There was no way his complacent former self would have maintained such punishing diligence in training.
No, he would have still been reveling in the pursuit of idle pleasures - carousing with beautiful woman and indulging in long bouts of languid slumber, secure in the arrogant assumption that his innate talents and striking looks would ensure success regardless of the effort expended.
A fleeting sense of self-satisfaction washed over Ji Wuye as he reflected on the steady results of his arduous work.
But the subtle sound of approaching footsteps instantly put him back on alert. Instinctively, his body tensed, coiled like a venomous serpent prepared to strike at any threat.
Only after a steadying breath did he recognize the familiar setting of the abandoned courtyard rather than the confines of the Tower.
Shaking his head at his ingrained wariness, Ji Wuye smoothed his expression and rose fluidly to his feet, turning to face the newly arrived figure.
An expression of genuine surprise lit his features as a familiar face appeared in the courtyard gate.
"Hmm? Brother Ji?"
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