SQLJBFDTW Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Grand Competition (1) – The Beloved Junior Disciple

The Immortal Sect Grand Competition occurs once every fifty years, lasting for seven days each time. Disciples in the Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul stages compete for the top three spots, emphasizing friendly competition to add some fun to the otherwise monotonous cultivation life.

The three stages above Nascent Soul don’t bother participating; otherwise, they’d tear the place apart.

There’s always plenty of fun every year, but this year seems to have even more.

On the mountain path, five or six disciples from other sects were chattering away, gossiping about the latest news they’d heard.

“They say Chao Jianxue was the one who initiated it, and Mo Zezhi didn’t mean to…”

“Don’t listen to the Tianyao Sect’s bullshit. I’ve long heard that Mo Zezhi has character issues. How could that idiot Chao Jianxue possibly outsmart him?”

“But on the first day, I did see Chao Jianxue talking to him, smiling quite happily.”

“The Wuwu Sect is also to blame; why didn’t they have disciples keeping an eye on him…”

Just as they were about to say more, one of them was tugged on the sleeve by another, who gestured for him to look ahead.

Above the winding stone steps, a person was slowly walking in front of them. In the morning light, he carried a silver sword. The patterns on the scabbard were indistinct, but the jade lotus tassel hanging from the hilt was eye-catching.

He seemed to have just returned from the foot of the mountain, not wearing the Immortal Sect uniform, but a sleeveless, sky-blue silk outer robe with a light-colored, narrow-sleeved inner garment, like washed sky light, connecting with the cloudless sky.

Just seeing him, the few people felt an invisible pressure from the rear, and they couldn’t help but fall silent.

They had all seen the Immortal Sect’s Rising Star roster, and based on the sword with the jade lotus flower tassel, they recognized him as Yu Wei.

People placed bets on the champion of each stage, and this time, half the people bet on this closed-door junior disciple of Fuxian Mountain, of the Wuwu Immortal Sect, in the Nascent Soul stage.

In any case, it wasn’t a good idea to discuss his senior brother in front of Yu Wei.

Cultivators have good hearing, and Yu Wei must have heard everything.

The few people were embarrassed and quickened their pace, bowing their heads and cupping their hands as they hurried past him.

“Fellow cultivators, please wait.”

A clear and gentle voice came, and they had to stop and look back awkwardly.

Yu Wei maintained a peaceful and gentle demeanor, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes, and his tone was indifferent.

“I heard that the Susin Sect values mind cultivation the most. I have a question I’d like to ask you to answer. Should mouth cultivation be the first thing to cultivate in mind cultivation?”

The few people were all Foundation Establishment disciples of the Susin Sect, and at this moment, their faces were devoid of light, and they stammered out a sect precept: “Do not speak idle words, do not disturb idle minds…”

Yu Wei nodded kindly: “I am grateful for your teachings.”

The few people dared not look any longer and quickly slipped away.

Arriving at Fuxian Mountain, Nan Shan and Qiu Shui, his senior siblings, approached him.

“Junior brother, you’re finally back! Was subduing the demons successful? Do you know what a big thing happened last night!”

Upon seeing them, Yu Wei remained polite and nodded slightly: “I’ve heard something about it.”

“Oh, the thing is like this—” Nan Shan explained the matter in detail.

After listening, Yu Wei pondered for a moment and said, “Senior brother has suffered.”

Nan Shan waved his hand: “He actually dared to let outsiders in in the middle of the night. What if a demon had come in? Then all of us would have suffered!”

There was a strong sense of dislike and blame in his words; Chao Jianxue had indeed caused them a lot of trouble.

Senior sister Qiu Shui said: “It’s good that nothing happened this time. Not to mention Chao Jianxue’s mistakes, that Mo Zezhi really deserves to die. Did you hear people gossiping when you came up the mountain? He spread it himself, the scum!”

Yu Wei lowered his eyes slightly, his gaze falling on the bamboo basket in his senior brother’s hand.

“What is this?”

Nan Shan grinned and handed the bamboo basket to him. Yu Wei lifted the cotton cloth covering it and saw medicinal oranges cultivated by the Wenyao Hall, but they were not yet fully ripe.

“Chao Jianxue’s spiritual veins and lungs are damaged this time, and these are the medicinal fruits recently picked for testing. These oranges are best when they’re half-ripe. You’re just going to report back to the master, so take them over for us.”

Was this kindness?

Judging from Nan Shan’s mischievous face, it didn’t seem like it.

Yu Wei picked one up and smelled it. Sure enough, the medicinal orange had a bitter taste and would definitely make one’s teeth ache when eaten.

He said, “Senior brother is always picky about food; he definitely won’t be able to eat them. Are you sure you want to send this?”

Nan Shan folded his arms and said, “With the master around, does he dare not eat them? He puts on airs of a senior brother in front of us, but in front of the master, he’s just an obedient and timid cat! I just want to get revenge for him putting stones in my food last month! You just say that we sent them together to help him recover. What if they’re a little sour? The master used to hate him being picky about food the most!”

Yu Wei, facing this second senior brother’s childish behavior, disagreed: “Senior brother was already wrong to eat secretly during his fasting period.”

Nan Shan pushed him from behind, muttering with a smile, “Yes, yes, yes, junior brother is rigorous, junior brother is strict with himself, junior brother, go quickly!”

Yu Wei was pushed forward a few steps by him, silently closed the cotton cloth, and walked on the small path leading to Qingxue House.

He had never taken the initiative to come here. Thinking of the oranges in his hand, which were bound to be sour enough to make one’s teeth ache, he thought his second senior brother was truly childish.

But Yu Wei had no intention of exchanging the gifts. Whether Chao Jianxue ate them or not, whether he was made to ache by the sourness, was of no concern to him.

His impression of this senior brother wasn’t good. Whenever he saw him, the other party always had a resentful expression. He didn’t know what he had done wrong to provoke him, but he would just ignore him.

Just an insignificant person.

–

When he could see Qingxue House, he saw that the gate was not closed, and a person was lazily lying on a rocking chair in the courtyard, sunbathing.

He was wearing loose clothes, looking like a leisurely young master. His pale face from yesterday had become much rosier, with a hint of liveliness.

From early morning to noon, Chao Jianxue’s bones were sun-drenched, and the pain and numbness throughout his body had finally eased. His body finally felt a strange flow of power.

Was this cultivation?

Was this the world of cultivation?

Chao Jianxue had great expectations for his future.

Taking advantage of the time to recuperate, he sorted out his current situation. The most important people to cling to right now were undoubtedly his teacher, Lord Mu Yuan, and his adoptive father, Lord Qishan.

The latter was rarely seen, but every time he appeared, he would shower him with countless spiritual tools and medicines, making Chao Jianxue willingly call him “Dad.”

“Jianxue,” Mu Yuan finally finished his official business and called him from inside the house, “Come in, I’ll check your spiritual veins again.”

Chao Jianxue responded with an “Eh” and stood up quickly, but he stood up too fast, his vision went black, and he staggered a few steps to the side. Before he could steady himself, his arm was suddenly supported.

“Thank—” He looked up and saw a pair of bright eyes with sharp corners, and his expression froze slightly.

The person who supported him was Yu Wei.

If there was anyone the original owner hated the most, it would definitely be this face.

The lovable and popular junior disciple, Yu Wei.

Logically speaking, Yu Wei was always emotionally stable and smiled at everyone, so the original owner shouldn’t have hated him so much. But everyone always compared Chao Jianxue to Yu Wei, comparing a good-for-nothing to a genius, and the good-for-nothing could only be trampled on.

Having heard too many comparisons, the original owner’s simple mind wanted to vent, but Yu Wei’s emotions were so stable that it was as if he deliberately couldn’t see the original owner’s intentional antagonism, and the original owner hated him more and more.

It was the same as when you always heard your parents praising the neighbor’s child when you were young, and you were the only one who thought the neighbor’s child was a fraud, that same kind of hatred.

Chao Jianxue, who inherited the original owner’s memories, naturally didn’t have a good impression of Yu Wei either.

He instinctively avoided Yu Wei’s hand and cautiously called out, “Junior brother.”

Fortunately, Mu Yuan heard the commotion and came out of the house in time, asking Yu Wei, “You’re here. Was there something that delayed you on the way? Why are you only arriving now?”

Yu Wei lowered his gaze and said, “The original clothes were stained with demon blood, and it wouldn’t be appropriate to meet the master wearing something dirty, so I went to change.”

Chao Jianxue looked him up and down. Sure enough, he was wearing the cobalt and moon-white uniform of the Wuwu Sect, with sword shadow embroidery on the hem. He tightened his collar and straightened his sleeves. Why didn’t he look like a cultivator when he wore it like Yu Wei?

Speaking of which, the cultivating sects really liked to wear these light-colored clothes to appear righteous, relying on the convenience of cleansing spells.

Mu Yuan said kindly, “These are trivial matters. You don’t have to be so formal in the future.”

Chao Jianxue slandered in his heart, “Exactly. It’s not like you don’t know how to use cleansing spells. Why bother going back to change clothes just to deliberately show respect for your teacher?”

Yu Wei continued, “Reporting to the master, I have properly disposed of the demon corpse, and everything is in order.”

Mu Yuan nodded: “I have always been reassured by your work. The disciples’ competition in the Nascent Soul stage will begin tomorrow. You should go back and rest well. What’s in your hand?”

Yu Wei paused, glanced at Chao Jianxue, who was puzzled by his look, and then said, “I heard that senior brother’s spiritual power is damaged, so I brought some medicinal fruits along the way to help him recover.”

The basket of medicinal fruits was delivered into Qingxue House.

After Mu Yuan finished re-examining Chao Jianxue’s spiritual veins, he sighed, “It’s nothing serious, but in the future, never trust anyone outside the Wuwu Sect, understand?”

Chao Jianxue nodded obediently.

Before Mu Yuan left, he added, “As for the Tianyao Sect, I will fight for justice for you and at least make Mo Zezhi apologize to you.”

Chao Jianxue still nodded.

At first glance, he seemed no different from before, but Mu Yuan inexplicably felt that his expression looked smarter than before. Was it because he tied up his ponytail?

As soon as Mu Yuan left, Chao Jianxue immediately fell on the bed and rolled around twice.

Although he still had a weak body, this was the world of cultivation, and nothing was impossible. Chao Jianxue patted his face and silently calculated how to make Mo Zezhi pay the price.

He raised his hand, pulled up his sleeve, revealing the three golden armlets on his upper arm.

This was a top-grade spiritual tool given by Lord Qishan, which could be used as a weapon or as a storage tool.

Chao Jianxue waved his finger, and the various magical artifacts and treasures in the storage space fell all over the bed with a crash, shining with dazzling light and fluctuating spiritual power.

He rummaged through them and actually found a few magical artifacts that could be used to fight against higher-level opponents.

Mo Zezhi was in the Nascent Soul stage. He remembered the draw sheet; Yu Wei would be facing him the day after tomorrow. He wondered who was stronger between the two.

Thinking of Yu Wei, his gaze fell on the basket of medicinal fruits on the table.

He even specially sent him medicinal fruits. Was he being petty?

Chao Jianxue curiously opened it and saw some things that looked like figs, reddish-brown in color. He picked one up, peeled off the skin, and chewed it in his mouth.

Bah—

It was incredibly sweet, sweet enough to sting his throat, sweet enough to make him cough violently!

He gulped down several mouthfuls of water.

Putting down the water jug, he threw away the remaining fruits.

The original owner had indeed done some foolish things because his brain wasn’t clear.

Like snatching his junior brother’s spiritual tools to get the master’s attention, like breaking into the cultivation secret realm to prove himself, causing their cultivation to be ruined…

The Wenyao Hall naturally had other delicious medicinal fruits. Sure enough, these junior siblings were not kind people and were happy to seize the opportunity to make him uncomfortable.

Chao Jianxue thought of Yu Wei’s clear and cold face.

He knew that this person was putting on an act.

On the other side, Yu Wei returned to his elegant residence. A small, emerald-colored bird lightly landed from the roof, chirped at him several times, and curiously hopped around the bamboo basket placed on the table.

Yu Wei restrained himself and touched its feathers, saying, “I took away the original sweet fruits. If your injuries are healed, fly away quickly.”

The small bird looked at him with its round, beady eyes and tried to jump onto his finger, but Yu Wei brushed it off.

“I only let you in to heal your injuries. Leave quickly.”

All the birds and beasts here had spirituality. The small bird no longer lingered, flapped its wings, and flew out the window.

Yu Wei sat down to wipe his sword, the tassel in his palm, the soft silk cord.

He suddenly thought of Chao Jianxue, whom he had seen when he went up the mountain that morning.

He seemed different from before. He smiled with his eyes closed, his smile relaxed, and his drooping, slightly curled black hair was mixed with the messy, piled-up silver-white sleeves.

Like the whiteness and purity of falling snow.

On a whim, he didn’t go forward. Instead, he returned to retrieve the sweet fruits that he had left in the house earlier.

The sweet medicinal fruits he had picked before going down the mountain to subdue demons were also effective and should be better than these sour oranges.