Chun Yunyun

Chu Xisheng quickly withdrew his attention from the system. He held up his long sword and bowed to Hall Master Lei Yuan and the opposite Long Sheng, saying, "As a disciple, I am not proficient in my skills and failed to restrain myself in time. Please forgive me, Hall Master, and also forgive me, Brother Long."

However, Long Sheng across from him clearly did not forgive him. He looked at Chu Xisheng with a mixture of shock and anger, his eyes seemingly containing flames of venom."This guy wields his blade so ruthlessly, what's he pretending for?""While it's not right for you to injure someone, there were reasons for what happened today. You can't be blamed," Lei Yuan said, somewhat disapprovingly. At the same time, he cast a gaze at Chu Xisheng's hands, tinged with a hint of surprise and admiration. "What nimble hands! And your swordsmanship isn't bad either. This 'Empty Wind' technique is concise and refined, deeply immersed in the essence of swift swordsmanship. No wonder Master Ye recommended you so highly. Judging solely by your talent with the blade, you might even surpass Li Fenglai, the current top disciple of this generation."

As Lei Yuan spoke, the hall was instantly filled with another round of astonished murmurs.Shao Lingshan's face turned ashen. Li Fenglai, mentioned by Lei Yuan, had become the top disciple of Zhengyang Martial Hall three months ago. He was also a master of the sword, proficient in the delicate and gentle Rainstorm Blade technique. His martial prowess was close to the seventh rank, making him renowned in the martial hall as a genius of the blade.But Shao Lingshan didn't find Lei Yuan's words exaggerated at all. Chu Xisheng's swift swordplay just now was truly stunning.

Ye Zhichun's mouth fell open, feeling like her jaw was about to dislocate.All the things she said before were just to mollify Lei Yuan with a passable excuse.This guy, Chu Xisheng, when did he reach the ninth-rank level in swordsmanship? No, that's talent. He actually possesses such an outstanding talent for swift swordplay!"Should have said it earlier!"If she had known that Chu Xisheng's knife skills had reached the current level, she would have pushed him up even without money.

It wasn't until Lei Yuan's admiring gaze fell upon him that Ye Zhichun snapped out of it. She quickly closed her mouth, putting on a look of anticipation, and let out a cold laugh, her face cool, her words frosty: "While this child's talent in knife skills is indeed remarkable, my recommendation is nothing compared to the Ling Clan's Spirit Gathering Array, nothing compared to Instructor Shao's words, right?"Lei Yuan couldn't help but feel ashamed. He had originally thought that Instructor Ye was acting out of personal feelings, recommending a sickly child.

But now it seemed he had misjudged, letting his own biases cloud his judgment. Despite the child's frail body, his talent in the way of the knife was indeed outstanding.Lei Yuan immediately signaled to a seventh-rank civil official sitting beside him, "Minister Wen, when Instructor Shao delivers the 'Gathering Yuan Array' later, arrange for it to be placed in the East Courtyard. Additionally, allocate eighty taels of demon silver this month to add more dishes to the East Courtyard's cafeteria. Also, allocate five Primordial Pill Pills and a Hundred-Fold Refined Light Steel Knife to this child."

Ye Zhichun's complexion immediately improved significantly."A Gathering Yuan Array is worth five hundred taels of demon silver and can only sustain for three months, accommodating up to ten people practicing elemental cultivation within it.Ye Zhichun's concern was not the value of the Gathering Yuan Array itself, but rather her reputation.As long as this Gathering Yuan Array remained in the East Courtyard for a day, Shao Lingshan's reputation would be trampled under her feet. This was the kind of satisfaction and joy that money couldn't buy.

Chu Xisheng's expression was overwhelmed with gratitude, "Thank you, Manager Ye, for nurturing me!"It's said that one Primordial Pill is equivalent to ten days of cultivation.As for the Hundred-Fold Refined Light Steel Knife, not only was its blade tough, but its weight was also a quarter lighter than a normal steel knife, making it particularly suitable for his swift knife techniques. It was a good item that couldn't be bought even if one wanted to.

These two items together were worth more than fifty taels of demon silver. In terms of compensation, it was quite sincere.Shao Lingshan's expression grew even uglier. With a cold snort, he turned and walked away, dragging Long Sheng along.Long Sheng was unwilling to leave just like that and had to be pulled several times by Shao Lingshan before he budged. His gaze remained fixed on Chu Xisheng, as if trying to etch his appearance into the depths of his memory."

When Chu Xisheng descended from the stone platform, he saw Ye Zhichun standing with her arms crossed, looking at him with great astonishment.Astonishment was just the right word.

Chu Xisheng hadn't expected the 'Wind-chasing Lightning Hand' given by the system to be so powerful, capable of doubling his knife speed, especially in the eyes of Ye Zhichun."Incredible," Ye Zhichun deliberately pinched Chu Xisheng's arm muscles and then felt his bones. "To release such speed when wielding the knife, I never realized you had such talent before."Since Chu Xisheng joined the Zhengyang Martial Hall, she had helped him twice, so she believed she knew him quite well.

At that time, Chu Xisheng's hand speed was only slightly faster than average, nothing too outstanding."I felt like I was dreaming too. I didn't think about anything at the time, but suddenly my movements became faster when I wielded the knife."

Chu Xisheng didn't know how to explain, so he made up a story on the spot.Surprisingly, Ye Zhichun believed him. She nodded thoughtfully and let go of Chu Xisheng's arm."This should be the awakening of your bloodline. We humans are descendants of Pangu, but for some reason, our bloodline was sealed, and we lost our innate divine power. So your situation is quite common. Many people will awaken talents they didn't have before when faced with danger or crisis.""However, you still need to put effort into practicing your knife skills. How can someone who wields a knife not control their own blade? Even with your current talent at ten, you're only utilizing about seventy percent of it," Ye Zhichun said, glancing at Chu Xisheng's face before quickly averting her eyes. "This guy's face is too deceptive."

"Let's go, I'll take you to the storage room to get some Qi Nourishing Pills and a Hundred Refinements Light Steel Knife. With a light steel knife in your hand, your knife speed can increase by another twenty percent. By the way, are you and your sister still renting a place outside the martial hall?"

"We've rented a small attic not far from the south gate of the martial hall," Chu Xisheng replied, looking at Ye Zhichun with a hint of confusion, wondering why she suddenly brought up the topic of renting.The Zhengyang Martial Hall provides accommodation and meals for all disciples, even for external disciples like them, who are provided with barracks for eight people.However, they couldn't accept it.

It wasn't that they couldn't adapt to living there, but rather that they had too many secrets and didn't feel comfortable squeezing in with others, so they preferred to spend money renting a place outside."I really don't understand. When you and your sister first came to Xiushui, you were willing to do any hard work and spend money as if it were water, yet you'd rather spend silver renting a place than share a barracks with others."

Ye Zhichun took a long key from her waist and tossed it to Chu Xisheng. "There are two vacant rooms in the storage courtyard on the right side of the east courtyard. You can move in there."Chu Xisheng's eyebrows lifted slightly, revealing a hint of joy.The storage courtyard was ostensibly used for storing miscellaneous items, but in reality, it housed mostly wood, steel ingots, and other rarely used materials, making it relatively secluded. There was also a vacant space of about fifteen feet square behind the courtyard, suitable for practicing martial arts and knife skills.

"How can I accept this? Wouldn't it be against the rules?" Chu Xisheng said as he stuffed the key into his sleeve."If you feel uncomfortable, just give it back to me," Ye Zhichun sneered, glancing disdainfully at Chu Xisheng's hand before smiling. "This is what you deserve. You've made me proud today. You didn't see Shao Lingshan's expression just now, it was indescribable."Chu Xisheng wasn't paying attention. He was thinking about his younger sister, Chu Yunyun. Chu Yunyun should have returned from her escort mission by noon today. If everything went smoothly, they would be able to move into the martial hall in the afternoon.

After parting ways with Ye Zhichun, Chu Xisheng went to the nearby pharmacy and bought four bottles of medicine called "Yanghe Powder". This medicine not only prolonged Chu Xisheng's life by two days when consumed, but also expelled the accumulated cold and poisonous energy from his body, alleviating symptoms caused by exposure to sunlight.

This medicine was very expensive, costing three taels of demon silver at cost price.

Chu Xisheng risked his life in the wilderness to complete a three-day escort mission, only earning enough to buy two bottles of "Yanghe Powder".At this moment, he had less than half a tael of demon silver left in his pocket, almost penniless.After hesitating for a while, Chu Xisheng went to the market and bought a two-pound sea bass to take home.

He thought that entering the inner gate of the martial hall was a happy occasion and deserved to be celebrated.Chu Xisheng returned to the attic they rented, first lit a fire in the stove, cooked rice, and then began to prepare the sea bass.He skillfully cut off the fish fins, scraped off the scales, and opened the fish belly.When handling the internal organs, Chu Xisheng deliberately kept the fish intestines and fish roe.

People in this world despised eating these parts, finding them fishy, but Chu Xisheng couldn't bear to throw them away.He and his sister rarely had the chance to see meat, so they cherished any kind of meat they could eat.

Just as Chu Xisheng sprinkled ginger and garlic and steamed the sea bass shortly after putting it in the pot, there was a 'creak' sound at the door of the attic.Chu Xisheng turned around, only to see the door pushed open, and a young girl in a white dress stood at the door, with a large patch of sunlight shining in, casting her expression into shadow.This was his 'sister,' Chu Yunyun.

Well, strictly speaking, she was also his cheap wife.