Chapter 12 – Jade Pendant and Bamboo Slip

Although Feng Ye was full of questions, this group of people simply looked at him with mystical expressions, not offering a reason for their behavior.

After all, how could one gossip in the presence of the subject of that gossip? Therefore, Feng Ye remained completely confused.

Very soon, he couldn’t bear the pressure of so many stares on him and quickly slipped away from the crowd with Fang Yang.

As a well-qualified sticky person, Hao Chen naturally followed close behind Feng Ye.

The three of them returned to the messy martial arts training square. The meeting was over, but they still had work to do.

Feng Ye and Hao Chen also realized the childishness of their previous behavior. The two of them didn’t continue to make trouble, and honestly swept their respective sides.

Fang Yang enthusiastically joined the cleaning team. As he swept, he told Feng Ye about his decision: “Shixiong, I’m going to go!”

Feng Ye was unsurprised, as if he’d already seen through Fang Yang’s thoughts.

He was not going to dissuade him. No matter how difficult and dangerous the path of cultivation was, it was destined to be walked by each person alone.

He only warned: “You must make preparations before you go. Healing pills, for example, and herbs to dispel miasma.”

Fang Yang thought for a moment, then said: “I still have some healing medicine, and I think there are some herbs for dispelling miasma in the back mountain. I’ll go up the mountain to look for them tomorrow.”

The founder of Lingxiao Sword Sect had chosen this location as the sect’s base, a decision that had certainly not been made lightly. This mountain range was vast, with strong spiritual energy. This made it a rare and treasured place for cultivation.

Although disciples of past generations had built many houses and palaces on the mountain, there was still a considerable area of deep, old forest that was entirely undeveloped.

This was what Lingxiao Sword Sect called the ‘back mountain.’ The spiritual energy in the back mountain nourished all kinds of spiritual medicines, plants, and monsters.

Naturally, in order to ensure the safety of the disciples, Lingxiao Sword Sect would periodically organize disciples above the Foundation Establishment stage to clear out the monsters there.

But there would always be some fish that slipped through the net. Although it wouldn’t be a big problem with Fang Yang’s cultivation, when he thought about Fang Yang leaving soon, it seemed that he, as a shixiong, had never done anything for Fang Yang.

Feeling a little guilty, Feng Ye said: “I’ll go with you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Hao Chen jumped on the opportunity and said: “I’ll go too.”

Feng Ye looked at Hao Chen and thought, Sticky candy.

Hao Chen smiled back, pretending not to understand Feng Ye’s look of contempt.

Although Fang Yang didn’t believe his Useless Shixiong would be of any help, he was considerate enough to not reject his kindness.

Once the three of them finished cleaning, they agreed to meet again in the morning and went back to their respective rooms.

Having finally gotten rid of Hao Chen, Feng Ye breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the door closed. It felt as if he had unshouldered a huge burden.

He searched around his room and finally found the book “Legend of Li Aotian’s Cultivation” that had been tossed under the bed.

Feng Ye wiped the book and blew the dust from it before opening it and flipping through a couple of pages.

He had not suddenly sought out this book because his tastes had changed. He still thought the book was complete nonsense.

Feng Ye had been itching to give Fang Yang pointers while sword training in the early morning, but was unable to speak up with Hao Chen present.

But then he came up with a great idea. And that idea was inspired by…..

Feng Ye flipped through about ten pages before he found what he was looking for.

The protagonist Li Aotian was looked down on because of his mediocre talent. Just as he had given up on himself, he happened to pick up a jade pendant.

He thought it was just an ordinary jade pendant, but by an unexpected coincidence, blood dripped from Li Aotian’s fingertips onto the jade pendant, awakening the old grandfather slumbering within it.

The old grandfather was certainly not an ordinary old man. He was the remnant soul of a powerful being who had been stranded there due to happenstance.

It didn’t matter how he ended up there, nor why he had found the mediocre Li Aotian.

In any case, they were together.

The old grandfather guided Li Aotian’s cultivation and growth the entire way, and successfully aided him in reaching the pinnacle of his life.

This was not the point. The point was that the words of the old grandfather inside the pendant could only be heard by Li Aotian, after his blood dripped on it and the jade pendant recognized him as its master.

What a great idea. If he could just replicate a jade pendant like this, he could avoid Hao Chen and talk to Fang Yang directly.

Flipping through the book, Feng Ye marveled at his own cleverness.

When he was finished admiring himself, Feng Ye stroked his non-existent beard. He had already placed himself into the role of the old grandfather.

Feng Ye jumped up from the bamboo couch, ready to get to work.

And then……and then, he encountered a problem.

Where was he going to get a jade pendant?

Feng Ye looked through all of the drawers in his house and came to a conclusion: 

Oh. It turns out I’m a pauper.

Although he had been impersonating someone for a month, Feng Ye, who had never cared about money, only discovered this fact today.

But as the old saying went, as long as your thinking doesn’t slip, there are always more solutions than problems.

There was no jade pendant, so he would make one out of wood.

Feng Ye used local materials, cutting some bamboo directly from the bamboo forest outside his house. He polished the bamboo into a slip two fingers wide, then picked up a brush and drew an array onto it.

He, a counterfeit grandfather, wasn’t actually going to place a wisp of his soul into the bamboo. He simply drew a communication array onto the slip, through which he could talk directly to the person on the other side in his sea of consciousness.

And in addition to the communication array, Feng Ye added a stealth array to prevent the special nature of the bamboo slip from being exposed due to spiritual energy leaking out when the array was activated.

These two arrays were simple on their own, but when drawn together, the difficulty level was completely different.

The two arrays must be linked and integrated with each other. If a mistake was made, the array would be worthless. This type of combined array that required personal modification could only be done by a master-level figure who was extremely proficient in the principals of arrays.

And Feng Ye drew very quickly, taking even less time than it took to polish the bamboo.

When the last stroke of the array was completed, it flashed briefly before sinking into the bamboo piece and vanishing.

It was done. Feng Ye looked at his masterpiece with satisfaction.

There was only one step left – getting this bamboo slip to Fang Yang. Feng Ye planned to copy the plot in the book and let Fang Yang pick it up.

It was currently near evening, and Fang Yang would be coming back from sword practice.

Thus, Feng Ye stealthily went to Fang Yang’s residence. When he saw his figure from a distance, he immediately tossed the bamboo slip to the ground.

Then he hid in the bamboo forest and waited for Fang Yang to pick it up.

Fang Yang got closer…..and closer…..and then he walked right over the bamboo slip.

Walked over it?

Feng Ye watched him walk over the bamboo slip without a passing glance.

Feng Ye: “……”

He suddenly realized his mistake. Most people would pick up a jade pendant on the ground, but wouldn’t even notice an ordinary piece of bamboo. 

Feng Ye covered his face, regretting his stupid mistake. However, he still had a chance.

Fang Yang came out soon after entering the room, holding clean clothes in preparation to bathe.

Seizing the opportunity, Feng Ye activated the array when Fang Yang walked near the bamboo slip again, and the flashing light finally drew his attention.

Fang Yang squatted down and picked up the bamboo slip, frowning slightly. He seemed to have seen the slip flash a second ago, but now it had stopped.

Fang Yang studied it for a while, but couldn’t figure it out, so he put it into his pocket and planned to study it further after he bathed.

Hiding in the bamboo forest, Feng Ye breathed a sigh of relief. Success at last.

It had gotten darker. Fang Yang had just returned from bathing, and took a seat on the bamboo couch, looking at the bamboo slip he had picked up over and over again.

He didn’t think he had just been seeing things. This bamboo slip had indeed flashed back then, but it had stopped now, and there was nothing unusual about it.

Just as Fang Yang was about to set it aside…..

“Cough…..”

Out of nowhere, a dull cough sounded. Fang Yang jumped up from the couch in shock. He asked while looking around: “Who is it?”

A hoarse, elderly voice spoke in his ear: “Young man, is it you who woke me?”

In his room nearby, Feng Ye pinched his throat and spoke the lines in the book out loud.

Fang Yang stared blankly. Why did this line sound so familiar? As a die-hard fan of the book, he very quickly remembered where this line came from, and his expression transformed into astonishment: “Are you an old grandfather mentor?”

Old grandfather mentor?

Feng Ye’s mouth twitched.

“Cough, cough, cough.” The old voice coughed violently for a moment, then denied: “No, but you and I were destined to meet. I see that you’re also a swordsman. I can teach you a thing or two.”

According to the plot of the book, the old grandfather still had another paragraph to say about wanting to test the protagonist. But Feng Ye felt that it was too tiring to speak with a pinched throat, so he got straight to the point.

Fang Yang had no suspicions about this old grandfather who had appeared out of nowhere, and just put on his shoes excitedly: “Wait a minute, I’ll go tell my shixiong!”

Feng Ye: “……”

As Fang Yang walked farther away, he called out in a panic: “Wait!”

The receding footsteps paused, and then slowly returned.

Fang Yang’s tone was puzzled: “Why did your voice change?”

Feng Ye: “……” Oops. He’d misspoken just now due to anxiety.

But Feng Ye adjusted his thinking. It was tiring to talk with a pinched throat, and who stipulated that the jade pendant or bamboo slip must contain an old man?

He had already replaced the jade pendant with bamboo, so it was fine if the old man became a little younger.

Feng Ye returned to his senses and used his original voice instead of the voice of the body he was using. He was communicating via his spiritual consciousness, so his real voice was naturally what Fang Yang heard.

A deep male voice sounded inside the room. It was as clear as a spring valley, as firm and powerful as a ray of sunlight breaking through the overlapping shadows of the trees.

Because of this voice, Fang Yang didn’t focus on why the grandfather who’d appeared inexplicably had become a big brother inexplicably. Instead, he couldn’t help but sigh: “Big Brother, you have a really nice voice.”

The man with the really nice voice chuckled, replying with a smile: “I will teach you swordsmanship, but there is a condition. You cannot tell anyone about me.”

“Not even Useless Shixiong?”

Useless Shixiong?

Feng Ye: “……” Although he was roughly aware of his image in Fang Yang’s mind, hearing this title in person still felt like getting shot in the knee.

The pleasant voice disappeared for a moment, and when it came again, it carried an unquestionable denial: “No.”

“Aw,” Fang Yang replied with some disappointment.

“By the way.” Fang Yang suddenly remembered: “You haven’t told me who you are yet.”

The voice chuckled again, with a hint of encouragement and unconcealed haughtiness: “When you can truly stand at the top of the world, you will know my name.”

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T/N: Feng Ye is such a clown! Haha.

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Chapter 11 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 13