SQLJBFDTW Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Complete – Somewhat Hypocritical Towards Junior Brother

The inner room was simply furnished, with only a small couch for disciples who became absorbed in their studies and stayed overnight. But clearly, it wasn’t used much; everything was brand new.

Chao Jianxue estimated the size of the small couch. It looked like it could only fit one person.

However, before he could speak, Yu Wei had already taken a cushion and leaned against the wall, sitting down on his own to close his eyes and meditate.

Perfect.

Chao Jianxue felt no burden, extinguished the candle, and fell asleep fully clothed.

During the day, they each studied separately. Occasionally, Lord Mu Yuan would come to check on them, or Nan Shan and Qiu Shui would come to talk to Yu Wei. At night, the two of them were in the same room, but Yu Wei was too quiet. Chao Jianxue never saw him after waking up.

Over the past few days of reciting, he had become more and more fluent, and even Lord Mu Yuan exclaimed, “It’s as if your brain is much sharper after being resurrected!”

Whether it was because he was exhausted every day from using up his brain cells, or because he felt oppressed being with Yu Wei, Chao Jianxue couldn’t last even a month. After about ten days, Chao Jianxue became dizzy and faint, finding it difficult to continue.

Early one morning, Yu Wei returned from his morning sword practice, and Chao Jianxue was still asleep in the inner room.

He untied his sleeves and called “Senior Brother” twice from the doorway, hearing Chao Jianxue’s uncomfortable groan.

Pushing the door open and walking closer, he saw Chao Jianxue lying face down on the small couch, his face flushed red and his breathing heavy. He had a fever.

How could a proper immortal cultivator develop a fever for no reason?

It could only be attributed to Chao Jianxue’s constitution being too weak.

When Lord Mu Yuan arrived and saw him, the originally agreed-upon month of confinement was ended early, and he was taken back to Qingxue Pavilion to recuperate.

Elder Lin from Wenyao Hall examined him and said, “He must have suffered internal injuries during the previous Immortal Sect Competition. Activating those spiritual artifacts requires a lot of spiritual power. His dantian is now depleted, and he should have been experiencing dizziness these past few days. Did he not complain?”

Chao Jianxue had always been weak and sickly in the past, crying at every illness and pain. The elders were used to it.

Lord Mu Yuan frowned and said, “Not at all. This is my fault; I didn’t notice anything was wrong with him.”

Yu Wei, listening from the side, thought of the scene at dusk that day. Chao Jianxue had indeed looked particularly frail, but he hadn’t paid much attention.

Why hadn’t he noticed?

These past few days, Chao Jianxue had been listless. He had assumed it was because he disliked cultivating.

On the couch, Chao Jianxue was buried in the soft quilt, his eyes closed tightly. Whether he was having a nightmare or just feeling uncomfortable from the illness, his eyelashes trembled constantly.

Yu Wei averted his gaze.

“It was my lack of attention. Please punish me, Master,” he said.

Lord Mu Yuan waved his hand. “It has nothing to do with you. Go back.”

The next day, the disciples were still together for morning lessons, but one seat on the other side was empty.

Nan Shan tentatively asked, “Is he faking his illness, or is he really sick?”

It was a habitual guess, after all, Chao Jianxue had been fine when he came to the library a few days ago. How could he suddenly be ill?

Yu Wei felt a sudden dislike. He couldn’t explain where these emotions came from. The warm, spring-like smile vanished, leaving only a sharp coldness. “Senior Brother can go see for himself to find out.”

Nan Shan scratched the back of his head. “Hey… just asking…”

Junior Brother seemed to have never been angry before. Was this reaction anger? It was a little scary.

After lying around in a daze for two days, Chao Jianxue’s spiritual power slowly recovered, and the dizziness faded. He jumped out of bed, feeling like a new man!

He knew that this was a blessing in disguise, and he didn’t have to be confined in the small library with Yu Wei anymore.

So, taking advantage of the fact that the Sect Leader and Lord Mu Yuan hadn’t mentioned the confinement again, he left Qingxue Pavilion as soon as he felt better, full of energy.

First, he went to Wenyao Hall.

Seeking medical help was important. He needed to know why his body was so weak and whether there was any possibility of becoming stronger.

Wenyao Hall was on the adjacent mountain peak, with a waterfall cascading down the cliff beside it. Chao Jianxue stood by the cliff and looked down, and his fear of heights almost flared up.

It turned out that the peaks of the Wuwu Sect were suspended in the air, with the deep blue sea below, shimmering with countless waves.

Chao Jianxue looked again and again, wondering where the water for the waterfall came from. Could it be celestial water?

He looked up, but only saw the bright daylight, and the glare hurt his eyes.

“Boy, be careful!”

Suddenly, a sharp shout startled Chao Jianxue. Someone grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him back three steps.

It was Elder Lin from Wenyao Hall.

On the ground nearby was a basket of spiritual herbs he had just collected, many of which had fallen out and shriveled up, dying as soon as they touched the ground.

Elder Lin said angrily, “Chao Jianxue, are you trying to die standing there?”

Chao Jianxue was stunned and shook his head. “I, I was just looking…”

“Looking? Is that how you look? Your head was practically sticking out! Your spiritual power is depleted, you can’t fly if you fall, and you’ll be smashed to pieces if you fall into the sea!”

Being misunderstood and scolded like this, Chao Jianxue said sheepishly, “Elder Lin, I was wrong, I was wrong.”

Only then did Elder Lin stop, picking up the spiritual herbs from the ground with a pained expression. His two white whiskers curled up.

Chao Jianxue helped him pick them up. “Elder, I came to see you.”

After explaining his purpose, Elder Lin sized him up for a long time, then snatched his hand and placed it on his spiritual acupoints. After a long while, he smiled in relief. “Good, good. I almost thought you had been possessed. It turns out your three souls and six spirits are complete.”

After his explanation, Chao Jianxue learned that the original owner’s previous dullness and inhumanity were due to incomplete souls.

No one in the Wuwu Sect knew about this except for a few masters. When Lord Qishan brought Chao Jianxue back, Chao Jianxue was still an infant. Lord Qishan snatched him from the mouth of a demon in the Fumo Pass. It was probably due to the influence of demonic energy that his souls were incomplete.

The incompleteness of souls was an unsolvable mystery. In Elder Lin’s view, Chao Jianxue had regained his souls by chance after being resurrected, a great fortune after misfortune.

Only Chao Jianxue knew the truth: it was because he had taken over the original owner’s body.

He asked, “Is there still hope for my body to cultivate? It’s too difficult to be sick all the time.”

Elder Lin said earnestly to him, “Everyone’s cultivation has its own fate. Just cultivate diligently when you’re not sick, and listen to my medical advice when you are. However, now that your souls have been restored, perhaps what was previously difficult to understand will gradually become clear.”

In short, there was hope.

Chao Jianxue felt relieved.

He couldn’t have transmigrated for nothing.

Chao Jianxue vowed to make a name for himself in the Xuanzhen Realm, so he came to the top of Fuxian Mountain with great enthusiasm to watch his three junior brothers and sisters practice swordsmanship.

Qiu Shui was the first to notice him and stopped her sword practice, looking quite wary. “What is Senior Brother here for?”

Chao Jianxue, upholding the pragmatic spirit of seeking knowledge and progress, said, “To observe.”

Qiu Shui was taken aback by this answer. Two sword sounds like dragon roars flashed in mid-air, and Nan Shan and Yu Wei landed. The former, seeing Chao Jianxue, said in surprise, “Aren’t you sick?”

Chao Jianxue nodded. “I’m better.”

He didn’t greet Yu Wei, only saying, “You guys practice, I’ll just watch.”

However, with him there, they all felt somewhat restrained. It was the first time Chao Jianxue had come to watch them practice swordsmanship. The sun must be rising in the west.

In the corner of his eye, Yu Wei felt that Chao Jianxue was a little thinner than before. Not practicing body training, and having fasted and been bedridden for a few days, he would naturally be thinner. Standing there, his slender waist was eye-catching, and the belt around his waist was wrapped much more than others.

“Junior Brother!” Nan Shan shouted, crossing swords with him. Yu Wei leaned back to dodge his sword.

Nan Shan said regretfully, “I finally caught your weakness, but you dodged it again.”

But seeing that Yu Wei’s breathing was more unstable than before, he said smugly, “Not bad, I’m also improving!”

He wanted to strike while the iron was hot, but Yu Wei hesitated for a moment, then stood firm, sheathed his sword, and shook his head. “I’m not practicing anymore.”

Except for him, the other two were getting into the swing of things, so they exchanged glances as they watched Yu Wei leave.

Qiu Shui said, “Is Junior Brother a little distracted? Could it be that he’s encountered a bottleneck in his cultivation?”

Nan Shan said, “He was fine before…”

As he brushed past Chao Jianxue, Yu Wei paused slightly and gave him a ritual greeting between fellow disciples. Chao Jianxue crossed his arms and sized him up, scoffing, “Bye-bye.”

His tone was light and slow, with an upward inflection at the end, as if he was certain that Yu Wei didn’t want him to see his sword techniques.

Although the sect’s sword techniques were inherited from the same lineage, each person’s swordsmanship had its own merits. Sparring between fellow disciples was also to expose each other’s shortcomings for improvement.

What if he stole some techniques? Why be so stingy?

Hearing his strange wording, Yu Wei showed a rare expression of confusion. “Bye…bye?”

Chao Jianxue said seriously, “I’m just saying, it means goodbye.”

So Yu Wei was silent for a moment, then said seriously, “Senior Brother, see you again.”

“Are you really leaving?” Nan Shan watched Yu Wei’s back reluctantly.

Chao Jianxue walked to a pavilion nearby and sat down. “He’s gone. You guys can continue.”

That was true.

Nan Shan and Qiu Shui continued to spar, resting after a fierce battle. Chao Jianxue asked, “Junior Brothers and Sisters, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask for a long time. Were those your original names?”

The way he spoke was inexplicably affectionate, and his expression was even gentler, as if he was deliberately trying to strike up a conversation with them.

Qiu Shui said frankly, “When Senior Brother and I were still infants, we lost our village due to the chaos of demons. We were rescued by Master, and he gave us our names.”

Chao Jianxue didn’t expect this to happen. Demonic things were still far from him, and he found it hard to imagine.

But knowing that this question might have touched on their sadness, he sincerely said, “I’m sorry.”

Qiu Shui was stunned and quickly waved her hand. “It’s nothing! Senior Brother and I are already lucky. It’s just a pity that we don’t have Junior Brother’s talent, otherwise we would have wanted to go down the mountain to slay demons and eliminate evil long ago.”

Chao Jianxue looked at them and said firmly, “You will be able to.”

He now looked like an approachable and righteous Senior Brother, and Nan Shan and Qiu Shui were speechless for a moment, unsure what to say.

Why did they feel a little touched?

Seeing that it was almost noon, Chao Jianxue made another kind invitation. “I want to go to the cafeteria to eat. Do you want to come with me?”

They both felt that it would be weird to eat with him, so they declined. “We’re currently fasting…”

“Oh,” Chao Jianxue nodded in understanding. “Then see you later.”

Those who fasted were used to using spiritual energy as nourishment and no longer needed to eat ordinary food, only breaking the rules when they were feeling greedy.

After a short while, Qiu Shui thought for a long time and said, “I think Chao Jianxue’s attitude towards saying goodbye to us is different from his attitude towards Junior Brother.”

Nan Shan didn’t react. “How is it different?”

Qiu Shui said, “How should I put it? It’s somewhat hypocritical towards Junior Brother.”