33 Chapter 33: This Venerable One Is Off to Fetch His Weapon

Chu Wanning was so shocked by the sudden kiss that he couldn't even process what Mo Ran was saying. It all sounded like a distant murmur to him, as if a heavy rain had started to pour down on his head.

Mo Ran, on the other hand, obliviously muttered a few more words and fell back asleep.

Chu Wanning wanted to shake him awake.

However, there was a haitang tree swaying in full bloom outside the window. Just as Chu Wanning lifted his hand, a light pink flower petal landed delicately on the tip of Mo Ran's nose.

Mo Ran rubbed his nose a little in discomfort but was sleeping so sweetly that he didn't wake up. For no reason discernible to Chu Wanning himself, the arm he had stretched to shove Mo Ran away changed course and instead picked the flower petal between his fingers to examine it.

As he lost himself in thought, staring at the petal, some things slowly came back to him. He remembered that, the day before, Mo Ran had dressed his wounds and fed him medicine. Afterward, Mo Ran had cradled him in his arms, gently stroking his hair and back long into the night and whispering softly into his ear.

Chu Wanning was baffled. That had to have been a dream, right?

The tips of his ears went red, the bright color not unlike that of the haitang petal between his fingers. His reprimand died in his throat. He really…didn't even know where to begin.

"How did you end up in my bed?"

That sounded like a young maiden who had made a mistake.

"Get the hell out—who let you sleep here?!"

That sounded like a she-devil who had made a miscalculation.

"How dare you kiss me?!"

If one really thought about it, it had been nothing more than two lips touching. Compared to that incident in the illusory world, it could barely even be called a kiss. Making a fuss would only make it look like he really did have something to hide.

The Yuheng Elder, at a complete loss, could only roll over and bury his face in the quilt. His slender fingers clutched the corner of the cover in agitation and humiliated rage.

In the end, he decided to pry Mo Ran off of him, sit up, and get immaculately dressed, and only then did he shake the other man awake.

And so, when Mo Ran blearily opened his eyes, the sight that greeted him was that of the Yuheng Elder sitting on the edge of the bed with an unreadable, chilly look on his face.

Mo Ran broke into a cold sweat. "Shizun, I—"

"You broke past the boundary of my Flower Spirit Sacrifice technique yesterday?" Chu Wanning responded expressionlessly.

"I didn't mean to…"

"Forget it," Chu Wanning said curtly and waved his hand like it was nothing. "You should get up. Get to morning classes."

Mo Ran was about to lose it. He ran his hands through his hair fretfully. "How did I fall asleep here?"

"Exhaustion," Chu Wanning replied, perfectly calm. "From the look of you, it doesn't seem like you got much rest yesterday." He glanced at the medicine on the table. "In the future, don't barge into the Red Lotus Pavilion on your own. If you need something, notify me in advance."

"Yes, Shizun."

"You may leave."

Taxian-jun, feeling like he'd narrowly escaped death, hurried to run as far away as possible.

After he left, Chu Wanning lay back down on his bed and lifted his arm, hand outstretched. From the space between his fingers, he watched as the radiant blossoms outside his window drifted and fell like snow in the wind. The soft colors of the haitang petals were just like his hazy memories of the night before. Delicate, yet hard to distinguish as either truth or wishful thinking.

He decided that he'd rather die before ever bringing up what had happened. It was far too embarrassing.

The Yuheng Elder cared about his pride above all else and would rather save his face than his own life. And so, when Mo Ran next saw Chu Wanning a few days later, the Yuheng Elder was once again his usual self, elegant and composed, white robes billowing gracefully.

Neither of them brought up that night. But sometimes, when their eyes met, Mo Ran's gaze seemed to linger on Chu Wanning a bit longer before they habitually chased after Shi Mei.

And what of Chu Wanning? As soon as his gaze met Mo Ran's, he would immediately turn coldly away. But when he thought Mo Ran wasn't looking, he would, as if entirely by accident, steal a second glance.

Xue Zhengyong soon found out about Chu Wanning's punishment. As expected, the master of Sisheng Peak was protective to a fault, and he instantly threw a fit. However, he couldn't rightfully direct it at anyone in particular and could only close his door and sulk by himself.

If he had known this would happen when they first devised the rules, he would've added one more: The rules do not apply to the elders.

Madam Wang steeped a pot of tea and soothed Xue Zhengyong with gentle words for a long while before he finally calmed down.

"The Yuheng Elder is really too stubborn," he said. "If he tries to do this again in the future, please help me talk him out of it. He's such an eminent zongshi that the upper cultivation sects couldn't get him to join them no matter how they begged, yet here he is with us, suffering like so. How can I live with myself?"

"It's not that I didn't try," said Madam Wang. "You know how he is—stubborn to a fault."

"Ah, forget it, forget it. Wifey, give me some of those painkillers and regenerative medicines you made. I'm gonna go check on Yuheng."

"The white one is to be taken orally, the red one is for external application." Madam Wang gave him two small porcelain bottles. "Ran-er mentioned that the Yuheng Elder's been wiping down the lions at Naihe Bridge lately. You should be able to find him there."

Xue Zhengyong tucked the bottles into his pocket and rushed over to the jade bridge. Chu Wanning was indeed there. It was shortly past noon; the disciples were busy practicing their cultivation, and few people passed by Naihe Bridge. Chu Wanning stood alone on the gentle curve of the arc, his figure tall and straight. Leaves rustled softly on the nearby shores. As he stood there in his white robes amongst the graceful bamboo, he was the picture of refinement.

Xue Zhengyong walked over, grinning. "Watching the fish, Yuheng Elder?"

Chu Wanning's glanced over. "Sect Leader must be joking. This river connects to the yellow springs of the underworld; there are no fish."

"Ha ha, just pulling your leg. You're all elegance, no humor. I really worry over how you're gonna find a wife!"

Chu Wanning did not dignify that with a response.

"Here, some medicine. My wife made it. Take the white one orally, apply the red one externally. They're super effective, and they're for you."

At first, Chu Wanning didn't want the medicine, but seeing how proudly Xue Zhengyong offered them—as if his wife's medicine was a most precious treasure—he couldn't refuse. So, he accepted them with a mild, "Thanks."

Xue Zhengyong was an unrefined man, but in front of Chu Wanning, he was rather more reserved, and he refrained from simply blurting things out. He thought for a moment before settling on a topic. "Say, Yuheng, the Spiritual Mountain Competition is coming up in three years. The young and talented from every sect will gather to vie for the top spot. What do you think of Meng-er and Ran-er's odds?"

"Three years is a long time," Chu Wanning replied. "It's hard to say. But right now, Mo Ran lacks the drive to improve, while Xue Meng is overly conceited and prone to underestimating his opponents. Neither has the right attitude."

His words were blunt and cut straight to the heart of the matter.

"Aiya, they're just young…" Xue Zhengyong mumbled, a little embarrassed.

"They've already come of age and no longer count as such."

"You're not wrong. But still, they're not even twenty yet; I can't help being a little biased as their father and uncle, ha ha."

"An undisciplined child is the fault of a neglectful father and an irresponsible teacher," said Chu Wanning. "If the two of them end up walking the wrong path in the future, that blame will fall squarely on you and me. Can you really afford to be biased?"

Xue Zhengyong couldn't respond.

Chu Wanning continued, "Does the sect leader remember the two 'darlings of the heavens' from Linyi Rufeng Sect from some years back?"

Xue Zhengyong's heart dropped at the mere mention.

Twenty or so years ago, there had been a pair of brothers from Rufeng Sect, the foremost sect of the upper cultivation realm. From a young age, both had been immensely gifted and tremendously skilled. By the age of ten, they could each individually take down hundred-year-old demons, and by fifteen, they were capable of devising new spells, and either could have started his own sect if he so desired.

But the cultivation world wasn't big enough for the both of them. The brothers were each far too exceptional and had eventually ended up having a falling out. At that year's Spiritual Mountain Competition, the younger brother even stole the older brother's secretly developed technique. For this, he was censured by all the sects and scorned by every elder. As soon as the competition ended, the younger brother was promptly punished by their father. His pride was unable to bear it, and he henceforth bore a deep grudge that led him to turn to unscrupulous cultivation methods. Ultimately, he became a crazed monster.

By bringing this up now, Chu Wanning was undoubtedly trying to remind Xue Zhengyong that Xue Meng and Mo Ran might be exceptional, but that heart was far more important than skill.

Unfortunately, though Xue Zhengyong was hard on himself and serious with his disciples, he was hopelessly addled when it came to his son and his nephew, to the point that he spoiled them. So, he didn't really take Chu Wanning's words to heart, and he only laughed. "They won't end up like those brothers with the Yuheng Elder guiding their way."

Chu Wanning shook his head. "Human nature is set. It isn't so easily changed, not without tremendous resolve."

Xue Zhengyong couldn't help feeling a little uneasy at Chu Wanning's words, unsure if they had a hidden meaning. He hesitated for a while, but he ended up asking after all. "Yuheng, do you… Ay, don't get mad, but do you perhaps look down on that dumb nephew of mine?"

Chu Wanning hadn't meant that at all. The unexpected misunderstanding caught him so off guard that he choked on his own words.

"Actually, I don't really care whether or not they come out on top of some competition three years in the future," Xue Zhengyong continued worriedly. "Ran-er especially, he didn't exactly have an easy life growing up; it can't be helped if he's a little difficult or disobedient. I hope you don't dislike him for having been raised in an entertainment house. Ay, he's all I have left of my da-ge. I can't stop feeling guilty for not having been there for him all those years…"

"Sect Leader is mistaken," Chu Wanning interrupted. "I don't look down on him at all. If I minded his background, I wouldn't have accepted him as a disciple."

This direct and certain response relieved Xue Zhengyong. "That's good, then. That's good."

Chu Wanning's gaze fell back to the river currents coursing beneath the bridge as they surged and crashed, and he said no more.

Unfortunately, this conversation, and Chu Wanning's confession, were swallowed up by the swelling waters just like they had been in their previous lifetime. No other person ever heard him say that he neither disliked nor looked down on Mo Ran.

Chu Wanning's three months of confinement passed. One day, he called his three disciples to the Red Lotus Pavilion to say, "Since your spiritual cores have stabilized, I've called you here to take you to Dawning Peak, where you may attempt to summon your own weapons."

Xue Meng and Shi Mei's eyes widened, their faces ecstatic.

Dawning Peak was a sacred mountain located in the upper cultivation realm that stood thousands of feet tall, its cliffs steep and fathomless. According to legend, Dawning Peak was where Gouchen the Exalted had once forged weapons.

Gouchen the Exalted, the god of weaponry, oversaw the northernmost and southernmost ends of the heavens, and all the weapons in the world were part of his domain. During the Heavenly Emperor's war to rid the realm of demons, Gouchen the Exalted had devised the first true "sword" of the world using the mountains as the base material, the seas to quench the blade, and his own celestial blood as the forging flames. This sword had pierced the heavens and the earth alike, and with one strike, it had split the land into pieces and caused the seas to reverse their flow.

"Sword" in hand and using only two strikes, the Heavenly Emperor had forced the demon race beneath the earth, leaving them henceforth unable to rise up.

Those two strikes had cut horizontally across the mortal realm, rending a pair of deep gashes into the earth. After the war, the skies had wept and ghosts had howled through the night. Flooding and desolation plagued the realm as torrential rain poured down for a thousand years, until it filled the pair of gashes. There the waters had become the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, which now nurtured countless lives.

Dawning Peak, the birthplace of that holy sword, had thence become a sacred place, and many cultivators made pilgrimages there. Even now, the spiritual energy left behind by the ancient gods remained potent in its vicinity, and countless mysterious creatures roamed those peaks, where all manner of peculiar flora thrived. Dawning Peak was also the location where many cultivators achieved enlightenment and ascended to the heavens.

But to most people, the biggest appeal of this incredible mountain where the holy sword had been forged was Jincheng Lake. This icy lake sat at the summit of the peak and was frozen all year-round, glimmering as it reflected the light of the rising sun.

Legend had it that when Gouchen the Exalted had cut open his palm and used his own blood to forge the holy sword, a drop had fallen into the dent at the summit. That drop of blood, yet to be exhausted even after a thousand years, had become Jincheng Lake, its waters so clear that one could see to its very bottom.

Regardless of whether the legend was true, Jincheng Lake's wonders were real. Although it was covered by three feet of ice all year round, some few cultivators were able to use the power of their spiritual cores to temporarily thaw the surface. At this point, an ancient mythical beast would leap ashore holding a weapon in its mouth, and offer the weapon to that person.

"Shizun, what kind of mythical beast emerged when you went to get your holy weapon?" Xue Meng asked excitedly.

"A kunpeng," answered Chu Wanning.

Xue Meng's eyes sparkled. "Awesome! I can't wait to see a kunpeng!"

"Don't count your kunpengs before you thaw that lake," Mo Ran jeered.

"What's that supposed to mean? You think I can't thaw Jincheng Lake or something?"

Mo Ran laughed. "Aiya, don't get your feathers so ruffled. I said no such thing."

"It won't necessarily be a kunpeng," said Chu Wanning. "It is said that hundreds of mythical beasts live within the lake, guarding the holy weapons. Whichever one takes a fancy to you will be the one to offer you a weapon that it's acquired. Additionally, each mythical beast has its own unique temperament. It will make a request of you, and if you cannot complete its request, it will take the weapon back and return to the waters."

"So that's how it is?" Xue Meng asked, curious. "Then, Shizun, what did the kunpeng ask of you?"

"It said it wanted to eat a meat bun," Chu Wanning replied.

The three disciples were silent for a moment, and then broke out into laughter.

"You scared me—I almost thought it would be something challenging," Xue Meng laughed.

Chu Wanning also smiled a little. "I just got lucky. The mythical beasts make bizarre requests; they could ask for anything. I once heard of someone who summoned a xishu. That little rat asked him to give it his wife's hand in marriage. He refused, so the rat took back the weapon and left. In the end, that man never again got an opportunity to acquire a holy weapon."

"That's such a pity…" Shi Mei murmured.

Chu Wanning glanced at him. "What's there to pity? Honestly, I respect him for his noble character."

Shi Mei hurriedly corrected himself. "Shizun misunderstands; I didn't mean it that way. Of course one's wife can't be replaced with even the most powerful of weapons. I just think it's a pity that he missed out on such a godly weapon."

"It's just a rumor, anyway," Chu Wanning said. "Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to meet a man like that for myself. Rather, what I saw many years ago at Jincheng Lake was a repulsive display that dirtied my eyes."

He paused as if reminiscing, his expression darkening as his brow furrowed.

"Never mind, forget it. Who knows how many instances of unwavering loyalty this lake has borne witness to over these past thousand years, and how many instances of chilling heartlessness? How many people are genuinely capable of resisting the allure of a holy weapon—of abandoning their chance to grow stronger—just to stay true to their heart…? Heh."

Chu Wanning let out a grim chuckle, as if perturbed by something in his memories, before rearranging his features into their customary impassiveness. But his brow remained fractionally knitted as if in disgust, and he pressed his lips tightly together, speaking no more on the matter.

As Chu Wanning looked unhappy, Xue Meng tried to change the topic. "Shizun, it's said that all of Jincheng Lake's holy weapons have a temper of their own. Was it easy for you to get the hang of yours when you first got it?"

Chu Wanning raised his eyebrows. "This teacher has three holy weapons," he said tonelessly. "Which one are you asking about?"c