Ch 65 – “I’m starting to like you more and more.”

The scoring was carried out in an orderly manner, with the achievements of each sect in line with the rules. There were no major changes in the rankings of the top ten sects. At most, there was an increase or decrease of one place. Apart from that, it was almost the same as previous years, with Wending Sect firmly at the top.

At last, it was Lingxiao Sword Sect and Tiangong Pavilion’s turn to take the stage. The two sects lined up on either side to hand in their harvests.

Because of Cao Zirui’s fame within his sect, the disciples of Lingxiao Sword Sect spontaneously treated him as the team leader, and waited for their sect leader’s personal disciple to make a splash with his achievements.

The judges counted the plants Cao Zirui produced, and reported a total score: “Six thousand.”

It was slightly higher than Cao Zirui’s own estimation, and could be considered quite good in terms of personal performance. But….Ji Chengyue frowned. This wasn’t enough…..it was far from what he had expected…..

He tried hard to hide it, but a hint of disappointment still leaked into his expression.

Wu Wenbo understood at a glance. He had put all his hopes on this one person, but the result was unsatisfactory. Although Cao Zirui’s personal performance was fine, it wasn’t enough to affect the sect’s ranking. He was relieved that Tiangong Pavilion wouldn’t be at the bottom.

Ji Chengyue was still unable to rid himself of the influence of the past. He heaved a deep sigh, just as he had done in previous years. Cao Zirui’s results were so-so, and his expectations for the others were even lower. It seemed that Lingxiao Sword Sect would place tenth once again.

However, the person up next surprised the two leaders. Fang Yang lifted his storage bag and poured it out. To the judges’ dismay, what he poured out was Yuanling Grass.

The other sects, who hadn’t left after their evaluations and were waiting for the final results, were silent. Everyone’s thoughts were in sync. This was the first time they had seen someone travel thousands of li to a secret realm, only to bring back a bag full of worthless Yuanling Grass. 

Wu Webo couldn’t help but laugh, though he did barely consider his old friend’s face and keep his volume down. 

Ji Chengyue held his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. He didn’t want to watch anymore, but Fang Yang’s next move gave him pause.

Fang Yang shook his storage bag until he saw that it was empty of Yuanling Grass. After a moment of thought, he then reached for his sleeve and took out the Ice Grass he had placed there.

The moment this crystal-clear herb appeared, it drew the attention of everyone in the audience.

The judges were also shocked, and gave Fang Yang reevaluating looks. They hadn’t expected a kid at the third level of Qi Refining to be so lucky as to obtain a treasure like Ice Grass.

As everyone knew, Ice Grass grew in the Floating Island Secret Realm, but ever since the secret realm crumbled one hundred years ago, no Nascent Soul cultivators had been able to enter it. So naturally, no one should have the ability to search for Ice Grass on the perilous seabed.

But Fang Yang had actually obtained it. This was definitely not due to his strength, but due to good luck.

Good luck to the envy of others.

Amidst the envious gazes of the crowd, the judges announced Fang Yang’s score: “1,161.”

A fraction was, of course, from the Yuanling Grass. Even though they held little value, the judges had still diligently counted them one by one.

“I can’t believe it, ah. Your trump card was actually this unassuming brat!” Wu Wenbo exclaimed.

Ji Chengyue said nothing. He just made an unfathomable expression – because he hadn’t expected this either.

The evaluation continued to proceed. Once Wu Wenbo finished marveling at the scores below, he inevitably began to feel a little anxious.

Because of Fang Yang’s unexpectedly high score, the scores between the two sects were very close. Lingxiao Sword Sect was even trending toward overtaking them, and the situation was not optimistic.

Under Wu Wenbo’s tense, anxious gaze, Lingxiao Sword Sect’s score continued to rise. Finally, when there was only one disciple left from each of the last two sects, Lingxiao Sword Sect’s score had passed that of Tiangong Pavilion by a slight margin.

The two sect leaders looked at each other, and the familiarity between old friends turned into a competitive spark in their eyes. The last place finisher would be decided in this battle.

Everyone stared at the final person who walked onto the stage. Although the last person’s score had yet to be announced, Ji Chengyue still felt a sensation of victorious joy in his chest. Because he had an impression of this final person – this was the junior disciple named Feng Ye, who had stood out to him during the competition.

Although Feng Ye’s cultivation level was not high, he possessed profound attainments in swordsmanship, and he had probably gained a lot from this trip.

Moreover, when Feng Ye came before the judges, his expression was very composed, as if he was confident in his actions.

As long as Feng Ye’s score was at least average, their sect would win.

They had been in tenth place for nearly a hundred years, and whether that changed depended on Feng Ye. Ji Chengyue and Wu Wenbo were both experienced Nascent Soul cultivators, but at this moment, they were as nervous as gamblers whose betting results were about to be announced.

They were anxious and eager to see who would be at the bottom.

With countless pairs of eyes fixed on him, Feng Ye stood motionless in front of the judges.

A judge raised his head to meet Feng Ye’s gaze. After staring at each other for a long moment, the judge asked doubtfully: “Where are your elixirs?”

Maintaining his confident expression, Feng Ye shook his head.

What did he mean by shaking his head?

Amidst the bewildered gazes of the crowd, Feng Ye explained calmly: “I didn’t pick any.”

Everyone: “……” You must be kidding.

Considering the abundance of spiritual elixirs in the Floating Island Secret Realm, one could at the very least pick a few Yuanling Grasses like Fang Yang had. How could he not have picked a single one?

The judge was also in disbelief, and looked Feng Ye up and down. The moment he noticed Feng Ye’s daoist robes, he knew that he must have experienced a dangerous battle.

And danger often meant opportunity. Feng Ye might have obtained some particularly precious herbs, but feared showing off his wealth and arousing the greed of others and didn’t dare take it out.

Many people thought the same as the judge, who said on behalf of everyone: “Whatever you have, feel free to take it out. The leaders of all ten major sects are here, so no one would dare rob you.”

Feng Ye glanced around at the aggressive looks around him and realized that no one would believe him if he didn’t take something out.

So he pulled out his storage bag, lifted it upside down by the corners, and shook it downward a few times.

With twin clangs, two spirit stones dropped out.

Beyond that, there was nothing else.

The area was completely silent.

Feng Ye tried very hard not to look awkward.

Feng Ye hadn’t heard what Fang Yang and Cao Zirui were saying while he gave Hao Chen his expressionless, perfunctory response. 

Fang Yang, having found a friend, had completely forgotten about his Useless Shixiong and only reminded Cao Zirui not to go onstage empty-handed. 

Because he had never expected that Feng Ye, who seemed to have been searching elsewhere for most of the day, hadn’t even found a single herb.

It wasn’t like Feng Ye hadn’t had the opportunity to pick them. He just…..forgot……

His only purpose in coming to the Floating Island Secret Realm had been obtaining a Jianmu seed. As for things like elixirs and spiritual stones, he cared little about them.

Therefore, he hadn’t taken a single spiritual stone away from the spirit stone mine in the underwater cave, nor had he picked up any herbs he passed by.

Apart from the Ice Grass he had secretly given to Fang Yang, he had nothing.

Feng Ye hadn’t intended to stand out so much, but after leaving the Floating Island Secret Realm, it was only when he caught sight of the judges that he remembered about the competition. Otherwise, he would have picked a few things to make himself look less conspicuous.

But now that he had come out, he couldn’t go back again and pick any. Even with nothing, he had no other choice but to proceed.

So what appeared to others as confidence was just Feng Ye forcing himself to look calm.

Feng Ye’s final score was zero.

No one had ever received a zero before, and it was likely that no one ever would again.

Ji Chengyue sighed deeply when he saw this result. Hope was followed by disappointment. He had originally hoped to move up one place, never expecting that Feng Ye wouldn’t get any points at all.

Wu Wenbo breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed he could finally lay his worries to rest.

Although Lingxiao Sword Sect was ahead, it was only a short lead. The gap between the two sects was only in the single digits. As long as Tiangong Pavilion’s last disciple took out a few herbs, they wouldn’t be in last place.

However, he laid his worries to rest too soon.

The last disciple arrived, waving a small fan.

The tall, slender man who looked like a handsome young master standing before the judges’ podium didn’t seem much like a disciple of Tiangong Pavilion.

Holding his mini fan, Hao Chen smiled at the judges in front of him. The judges returned his smile, waiting for him to present his findings, but Hao Chen didn’t move.

Under the judges’ somewhat uneasy gazes, Hao Chen spread his hands and said the same as Feng Ye: “I didn’t pick a single herb either.”

Complete silence.

Everyone looked at Hao Chen, and then at Feng Ye, who hadn’t had time to leave the stage yet.

Facing these looks from the crowd, Hao Chen was content and at ease, lightly waving his mini fan as he went on his way with no trace of shame. However, Feng Ye didn’t possess Hao Chen’s battle-tested skin. His feigned composure could no longer hold, and he held his forehead as if to hide, attempting to avoid everyone’s gazes.

The judges’ lips twitched, and one of them asked a soul-searching question on everyone’s behalf: “Did the two of you go on a spring outing?”

Feng Ye lowered his head even more. Hao Chen smiled back calmly, as if to ask, “So what?”

Faced with such provocation, the judge slammed the table and demanded: “How can there be such a coincidence? The Floating Island Secret Realm has opened for so many years, and I’ve never heard of anyone going in and leaving empty-handed. One person is bad enough, but why is there a pair of you? Tell me the truth, did you harvest anything? Share it now and stop wasting everyone’s time!”

Under the interrogative looks of the judges, Hao Chen shook his head helplessly and personally handed his open storage bag to the judges.

Feng Ye was so poor that his fellow Lingxiao Sword Sect disciples couldn’t help but want to organize a donation for him. His entire fortune was only two spirit stones, and Hao Chen might be even poorer.

There was not a single spirit stone in his storage bag, nor were there any hidden spiritual herbs or elixirs, only two pieces of clothing.

One was a spare Tiangong Pavilion uniform robe, and the other…..the judge shook out the black daoist robe and said hesitantly: “This looks like…..a Lingxiao Sword Sect uniform?”

In fact, there was no need for hesitation. Cultivators had good eyesight, and although they were some distance away from the judges’ podium, they could still see it clearly. The small sword pattern on the back clearly marked it as the uniform of Lingxiao Sword Sect.

So the question was, why did a disciple of Tiangong Pavilion have a Lingxiao Sword Sect uniform in his storage bag?

The two sect leaders standing side by side exchanged glances of abject confusion.

Only the two people standing on the stage understood the whole picture. When Feng Ye heard the judge’s words, he looked up and saw his familiar old uniform. The array pattern had vanished once it was damaged, and there was a gaping hole in the chest area.

Feng Ye: “…..”

His gaze shifted, tense and slow, from the clothing to Hao Chen’s face.

Their eyes met, and Hao Chen gave him a meaningful smile.

Feng Ye: “……” In fact, it wasn’t just the judges who wanted to ask. He would really  like to know as well.

Why had Hao Chen picked up his old clothes, folded them so neatly, and placed them in his storage bag?

But Feng Ye also had a feeling that he really didn’t want to know the answer. 

“Could you explain?” The judge said on behalf of the crowd, whose curiosity was like the claws of a cat scratching their hearts. He pointed at the clothes in his hands and then looked at Hao Chen again.

Hao Chen gave a slow, calm wave of his fan and replied without hesitation: “It’s not convenient to answer.”

He hadn’t said anything that could cause a misunderstanding, and Feng Ye breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there were no markings on the clothes, so nobody knew that they were his.

However, before he could relax, Hao Chen’s gaze drifted toward Feng Ye with a praise-seeking look that said: Did I do a good job?

The crowd, who originally didn’t know who the owner of the robes was, immediately shifted their gazes to Feng Ye.

Feng Ye: “…..” It’s over.

He could feel their gazes growing hotter and hotter. Clothing, such an intimate thing, had actually been given to another man, and he had even put them away properly. The stories being imagined here couldn’t be told even if they spoke for three days and three nights.

Feng Ye couldn’t just stand there and watch his innocence be destroyed. He couldn’t keep feigning ignorance.

He cleared his throat and took the initiative to admit to the judges: “The robes are mine.”

Amidst the sounds of “oh” and “as expected,” Feng Ye hastily explained: “This disciple of Tiangong Pavilion and I traveled together after entering the Floating Island Secret Realm. We unfortunately encountered a powerful monster and jumped off the shore in order to survive.”

The lie flowed increasingly smoothly, and Feng Ye’s expression was no longer as embarrassed as before: “The land-dwelling monster didn’t dare follow us into the sea, but it refused to give up and lingered along the coast.”

“He and I couldn’t swim back to shore, so we could only swim deeper into the sea in hopes that we could get back to the shore elsewhere. Unfortunately, we encountered an even more powerful monster in the water.”

Feng Ye recalled the fish Hao Chen had transformed into, and while speaking nonsense, he secretly belittled Hao Chen: “That monster was a huge, pitch-black fish like a fat ball, with an extremely bizarre and ugly appearance.”

Hao Chen’s expression was serene at the outset, as he knew that Feng Ye was only using him as a pretext for his lies. But after hearing the last few words, he could no longer remain calm.

He suddenly cut in before Feng Ye could continue, adding agreeably: “Indeed. Not only that, but we also encountered another monster under the sea. It had a hideous face, fangs, and extremely thick claws, and could hold me in the palm of one hand. The most terrifying thing was its cunning. It had plans to lure us into a trap step by step without us noticing. If I hadn’t been alert, Fellow Daoist Feng Ye and I might not have been able to make it back.” 

Hideous face and fangs? He’s talking about me, Feng Ye thought to himself. He sent an unobtrusive glare toward Hao Chen, who thought he had turned the tables, and decided to settle this account later.

He concluded to the judges: “In short, he and I had an extremely close call in the sea and made a very narrow escape back to shore. Afterward, we were exhausted and just wanted to rest. So because we wasted so much time until the secret realm closed, we were unable to pick up anything. As for the robes…..I asked him to wash them in the river for me, and he just forgot to return them.”

Feng Ye hadn’t even made a draft. He just improvised and told a story with just barely passable logic.

Although everyone still had doubts, they reluctantly accepted this.

Because the cultivation levels of these two – one at the third level of Qi Refining and one at the fourth – put them securely at the bottom of all the cultivators who qualified to enter the Floating Island Secret Realm.

By the looks of them, they didn’t have the ability to obtain any precious elixirs at all. Moreover, looking at their simple attire, they lacked any ornaments such as jade pendants. And aside from the storage bags, they didn’t have magic tools capable of hiding anything, so it seemed they had truly harvested nothing.

Thus, although these people belonged to two different sects, they left the stage with the same exact score – zero.

The final scores were announced. Lingxiao Sword Sect secured a narrow five-point win and came in ninth, while Tiangong Pavilion sank to the bottom.

The selection of the top ten sects was complete. As usual, the judges asked whether there were any other sects who wished to challenge the rankings of the top ten.

These ten sects had long histories and profound heritages. Although some of them were in steady decline, a lean camel was still bigger than a large horse, and it was still very difficult for the smaller sects to break into the top ten rankings.

As usual, no one spoke up.

After a short wait, the selection officially ended. Having watched a good show, the crowd gradually dispersed. Everyone returned to their respective sects, boarded their flying contraptions, and departed.

However, the people of Lingxiao Sword Sect and Tiangong Pavilion didn’t part ways. The sects’ two large ships flew side by side. Wu Wenbo was in Ji Chengyue’s cabin, drinking and throwing a tantrum. Unable to accept the fact that his sect was suddenly ranked last, he made trouble for his old friend.

Ji Chengyue was in a good mood, because his sect’s ranking, which had remained unchanged for a century, had finally moved up one place. Therefore, he didn’t pack up the other sect leader and toss him back onto his own ship. 

Since the sect leader of Tiangong Pavilion was staying on Lingxiao Sword Sect’s ship, Hao Chen naturally used it as an excuse to stay as well.

The four of them stood on deck together, leaning against the ship’s railing as they watched the huge ship sail through clouds that swirled before their eyes.

Although Cao Zirui wasn’t familiar with Feng Ye and Hao Chen, he became increasingly familiar with Fang Yang, and could be found wherever Fang Yang was.

“I never expected that Shixiong had encountered so many things, ah,” Fang Yang sighed as he looked at Feng Ye’s tattered daoist robes. He finally knew why his Useless Shixiong was such a mess. 

Feng Ye felt a little guilty that Fang Yang once again believed his lies, so he just gave an ambiguous “Hm.”

Fang Yang turned back toward the cabin where the sound of smashing wine bowls could be heard from time to time, and lamented to Cao Zirui: “When will Sect Leader Wu finish drinking? You haven’t even had a chance to go in and talk to the sect leader.”

Cao Zirui looked over as well and said comfortingly: “There’s no rush.”

Cao Zirui may not have been anxious, but Fang Yang was. He was an impatient person who didn’t like to drag things out, and wanted to solve problems as soon as he could.

So he pulled Cao Zirui along as he ran to the cabin door, intending to see how drunk Sect Leader Wu was.

As a result, only two people were left on deck, with most of the disciples resting in the cabins. They were different from these four. Most of them had searched day and night without sleep, but Feng Ye and the others had slept peacefully for a night in the Floating Island Secret Realm.

Seeing that no one else was around, Hao Chen couldn’t wait to start before Feng Ye could even settle accounts: “Is there something wrong with Fellow Daoist Feng Ye’s eyes? Why can you not tell fat from thin, and beautiful from ugly?”

How was he fat! Among fish, he was definitely a handsome, elegant, and suave individual. How could Feng Ye use that adjective to describe him?

Feng Ye replied: “Fellow Daoist Hao Chen’s eyesight is also poor. How can he describe an ordinary face as hideous and fanged?”

“Fellow Daoist Feng Ye, do you know that the wicked are the first to complain?”

“Of course I know. Don’t I have a ready-made example right here?” Feng Ye glanced at him, using his eyes to remind Hao Chen of his good deeds.

Hao Chen had clearly done it on purpose. He had looked at Feng Ye when everyone was suspicious about the origin of the daoist robes, successfully drawing everyone’s attention to him.

Hao Chen narrowed his eyes upon hearing this. When it came to the question of who was wicked first, it was difficult to tell. 

They began to count on their fingers all of the accounts they had to settle with each other, big and small. There were big ones like how they had battled in an underwater melee, and small ones like who swept fallen leaves over to the other’s side first when they were sweeping the floor at the sect. 

In the end, even ten fingers on both sides were not enough to figure out who had started it first.

As the two of them counted out grudges old and new, they realized that so much had happened between them, from their chance meeting when they were strangers to settling accounts on a ship together now.

Feng Ye couldn’t help but turn his head to look at Hao Chen. Although they had only known each other for a handful of days, they got along as if they were old friends.

Coincidentally, Hao Chen was also looking back at him.

When their eyes met, all resentment vanished. It was unknown who laughed first, but the other seemed to have been infected and began to chuckle as well. 

Feng Ye shook his head with a smile, lamenting how he was going backward as time went by. He had actually done so many childish things in his anger toward this person.

Before meeting Hao Chen, he had never imagined that after growing more and more stable in adulthood, he could still have a childish side.

But it had all happened so naturally.

Feng Ye turned from leaning his back against the railing to leaning on it with his arms, lying halfway over it. Wind blew across his forehead and filled the raised sail behind him.

He gazed out at the rolling sea of clouds, looking through the haze at the small but magnificent world under a thousand li of sky.

Looking down from the clouds, the mountains looked like a long dragon winding its way across the land, with occasional towns scattered across its body. Although no sound could be heard, one could sense the hustle and bustle of life by watching the rising trails of smoke.

The magnificent mountains and rivers of the mortal world shrunk by countless orders of magnitude to reflect in Feng Ye’s eyes. As he gazed at the peaceful, happy scene below, his expression gradually became very gentle and serene.

Feng Ye said nothing further, his thoughts unreadable, and Hao Chen said nothing either.

But as Feng Ye gazed out at the sea of clouds, Hao Chen turned his head toward him.

“Feng Ye.” For the first time, he addressed Feng Ye without a suffix, intimately calling him by name.

“En,” Feng Ye responded faintly, not turning his head.

With a hint of joy in his voice, Hao Chen said half-truthfully: “I seem…..to be liking you more and more.”

Feng Ye laughed again upon hearing this. He still didn’t turn his head, but he could probably imagine Hao Chen’s expression. 

What half-truth? To Feng Ye, it was all fake. This was just another one of Hao Chen’s habitual jokes, and as usual, Feng Ye didn’t take it seriously.

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Chapter 64 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 66