chapter 25
25. Master Sees Through It All?
“You defeated a late Core Formation demonic cultivator? Pretty impressive, aren’t you?” After hearing Lin Dongming’s report, Sword Immortal Zhaoyue stared at Lin Dongming with keen interest.
“Only because disciples from Wenxin Heavenly Sect helped me. In a one-on-one fight, I definitely wouldn’t have won.” Lin Dongming lowered his head, avoiding eye contact with his master. He felt his master would see through him to some extent.
“I see.” Zhaoyue smiled lightly, bringing that excessively refined face close to Lin Dongming’s ear and whispering, “The other elders aren’t here right now. Why don’t you quietly tell your master—if you faced Yuan Jianyi, what would your chances be?”
Lin Dongming’s heart skipped a beat. “Master, you jest. With my meager cultivation, I probably wouldn’t even qualify to participate in the competition.”
Zhaoyue’s expression remained unchanged. “Do you know why I let little junior sister observe the matches but not you?”
Lin Dongming rolled his eyes internally.
—Isn’t it because you favor little junior sister the most?
“Because little junior sister is naturally gifted and has excellent comprehension, so observing the matches would be very beneficial for her.” Lin Dongming offered an official excuse.
“Because for you, observing this match wouldn’t mean much.” Zhaoyue said, “You wouldn’t gain anything from watching their fight. If you really wanted to watch something worthwhile, you’d need to see Yuan Jianyi face an opponent of equal strength—that might be interesting. Su Li is quite far behind Yuan Jianyi, so he can’t bring out his true power.”
“Master overpraises me.” Lin Dongming bowed his head deeply. “This disciple acknowledges that my natural talent is inferior to little junior sister’s, and I wouldn’t gain anything from it.”
“In terms of sword cultivation talent, you are indeed inferior to her.” Zhaoyue remained noncommittal. “But you do have areas where you surpass her. Otherwise, why do you think I would take you as a disciple?”
Lin Dongming was speechless. He had thought of his master too simply—he just didn’t know how much she had seen through.
“How about I arrange for you to duel Yuan Jianyi today?” Zhaoyue smiled mysteriously. “If you win, there’ll be a special reward. You can make any request you want.”
Zhaoyue’s mischievous smile was too alluring, reminding Lin Dongming of various inappropriate anime from his previous life.
“First of all, I absolutely can’t win!” Lin Dongming finally couldn’t hold back. “And this ‘special reward’ doesn’t sound proper at all! I actually admired you a little just now!”
“Oh? You can’t hold back anymore?” Knowing Lin Dongming wouldn’t actually fight, Zhaoyue simply gave up and leaned back in her chair. “What a pity. I thought I might get to see something interesting.”
“Is watching your disciple get beaten up that interesting?” Lin Dongming rolled his eyes.
For now, Lin Dongming couldn’t reveal his true strength to anyone—not even to Tuoba Wanyu, not even to Zhaoyue. This could bring him mortal danger.
“Very interesting.” Zhaoyue said playfully, “Isn’t watching an arrogant fool get beaten up quite entertaining?”
“The arrogant fool isn’t me.” Lin Dongming said meaningfully, “That would be someone else.”
“No,” Zhaoyue’s smile didn’t fade, “though you can’t compare to him, you’re quite arrogant too.”
“Why do you say that?” Lin Dongming asked, puzzled.
“Because this foolish disciple thinks he can deceive his master, who is unparalleled in beauty, wisdom, and swordmanship.” Zhaoyue said smugly.
“…” Lin Dongming rolled his eyes again. “I’ll skip the middle part for now, but yes, your swordmanship is indeed unparalleled.”
While there were some who could match Zhaoyue in overall strength, in pure swordsmanship, probably even the sect master wouldn’t dare claim to be stronger than Zhaoyue.
“Oh? So you’re acknowledging your master’s beauty?” Zhaoyue was good-natured. “But what do you mean by skipping the middle part? You think your master isn’t smart?”
“This disciple wouldn’t dare.” Lin Dongming cupped his hands.
“You’ve already argued so many times and still say you wouldn’t dare,” Zhaoyue mimicked Lin Dongming’s eye roll. “Too late! Next time you can’t block three moves, I’ll spank you!”
Lin Dongming: “…Please show mercy, Master.”
He actually wanted to ask if he could spank his master if he won, but thinking seriously about it, he probably couldn’t win in any aspect, so he gave up entirely.
“Come on, let’s go to the room at the end of the corridor.” Zhaoyue patted Lin Dongming’s shoulder. “Everyone’s already there.”
So Lin Dongming followed behind Zhaoyue to the room prepared for the competition.
—Such powerful sword qi.
As soon as Lin Dongming entered, he felt very obvious sword qi. The source was naturally the number one sword user of the younger generation—Yuan Jianyi.
Back when Sword Immortal Zhaoyue decided not to take Yuan Jianyi as a disciple, Yuan Jianyi learned the Seven Absolute Heaven Sword techniques from the sect master. Unlike the Heavenly Mirror Heart Technique, the Seven Absolute Heaven Sword pursued the momentum of “sword destroys all laws,” so practitioners’ sword qi would be very obvious.
Especially since Yuan Jianyi not only had a pure sword heart but was also born with a natural dao body, making this tendency even more pronounced.
—But showing no restraint even in front of the sect master and elders, Senior Brother Yuan Jianyi is a bit too arrogant.
People from Wenxin Heavenly Sect and Tianji Sword Sect sat in separate rows. Apart from exchanges between sect masters and elders, the disciples only occasionally mingled with each other.
Lin Dongming avoided the gazes of Yuan Jianyi and Han Xiangjun, walking over to chat with little junior sister.
Yuan Jianyi naturally paid him no mind, only slightly surprised that he wasn’t intimidated by his sword qi—a common reaction among peers.
But as soon as Han Xiangjun saw Lin Dongming, her whole body radiated an aura of “please notice me,” frequently glancing toward Lin Dongming with very piercing looks.
However, Lin Dongming couldn’t talk to Han Xiangjun in this setting, at least not initiate conversation! After all, the Grand Elder had paid so much money, so he had to at least put on an act.
“Um… little senior brother, did something happen between you and Senior Sister Han?” Little junior sister couldn’t stand it and whispered in Lin Dongming’s ear.
Seeing this, Han Xiangjun’s anger flared even more: You bastard, ignoring me is one thing, but you were being lovey-dovey with Bai Zhiqing yesterday, and today you’re flirting with little junior sister? You scumbag!
Originally, Han Xiangjun thought she had no right to interfere—Lin Dongming had stopped fawning over her, and she wasn’t anything to him, so theoretically he could do whatever he wanted. But in her rage, Han Xiangjun didn’t care about any of that and strode over directly:
“Well, Junior Brother Lin certainly has refined tastes. Yesterday you were having such a pleasant chat with Junior Sister Bai, and today you’re being intimate with little junior sister.”
Lin Dongming rolled his eyes, with ten thousand stampeding alpacas running through his mind:
—I don’t want to be here either! Isn’t it my master who dragged me here? I don’t know anyone else to talk to except little junior sister, okay? You want me to chat with you and get stabbed through the heart by the Grand Elder?