The Seventh Elder craned his neck and shouted, “Study hard! Remember to buy some steamed buns when you have time!!”
Song Yao nodded at him, then turned her head to steal a glance at Zhu Zhao.
How rare.
She and her Second Senior Sister could actually sit together quietly like this. However, her Second Senior Sister seemed a bit thinner than before.
She only took a brief look before turning back, gripping the Black Bird's feathers tightly. Right now, she had almost no spiritual energy, so even sitting on the bird's back felt exhausting.
The wind was strong, whipping her hair wildly, with a few strands falling across her face, tickling her. Song Yao freed up a hand to brush them away, but they were blown right back the moment she let go.
After a few attempts, she simply gave up, but then a hand suddenly reached over from the side.
The hand was fair and slender, with distinct knuckles. Carrying a hint of coolness, the fingertips gently brushed the messy hair from her face, tucking those disobedient stray strands behind her ear.
The movement was incredibly gentle and very swift. It was so swift that before Song Yao could even react, the hand had already been withdrawn.
Song Yao froze for a moment, blinking blankly.
It seemed her Second Senior Sister wasn't this short-tempered with everyone. She was actually quite gentle with her junior brothers and sisters.
It was only to her that she was always shouting and wanting to kill in her past life.
She looked up and smiled at Zhu Zhao. “Thank you, Second Senior Sister.”
...
Arriving on the Black Bird was indeed a bit too grand of an entrance. To make matters worse, Zhu Zhao dropped her off and immediately left, leaving all the curious, gossiping gazes to lock squarely onto Song Yao.
“Is that... the Black Bird? Why is the Black Bird so ugly?”
“Shh, do you have a death wish? Don't let Second Senior Sister hear you, she's extremely protective!”
“How does this person have so much clout to get Second Senior Sister to escort her personally?”
“And she's so late too.”
“Did you forget? She's the one with the Heaven-grade spiritual root.”
“None of the other Heaven-grade spiritual root disciples got an escort though.”
“...”
Whispers rose from all around, and Song Yao sighed softly. She clearly wanted to keep a low profile. Why was she getting more and more high-profile by the day?
The Teaching Elder couldn't care less about who had brought her. His face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and he smacked his wooden ruler loudly against his palm. “I have warned everyone repeatedly not to be late! Not to be late! Did you treat my words as wind passing through your ears?!”
Song Yao apologized very sincerely, “I'm sorry.”
“Is a simple 'I'm sorry' enough? Look at the time yourself! Today's study of the sect rules is almost over, and you're only just arriving!”
The Teaching Elder sneered. “The very first rule of the Nine Saints Hall is to strictly adhere to the schedule and not be late or leave early. You, on the other hand, broke it on your very first day.”
He took a deep breath, pulled a thick booklet from his sleeve, and slapped it into Song Yao's arms. “Your punishment is to copy the entire text of the sect rules once. Hand it to me in three days.”
Song Yao: “...”
Maybe she should just run away tonight?
“What are you standing there for? Go back and sit down, and catch up on what you missed today.”
Clutching the booklet, Song Yao silently walked to the very back of the crowd. Ning Zhou waved at her and whispered, “Quick, come here. I saved a seat for you.”
The moment they sat down, they began whispering in each other's ears. “This Teaching Elder is super fierce. He's snapped at everyone here! He's not targeting you specifically!”
“It's fine, I don't mind.”
Although she had no spiritual energy right now, she had learned plenty of unorthodox tricks in her past life. Casting a simple spell to finish copying the rules was nothing to her.
Ning Zhou pouted. “Really? Two disciples were just lectured to tears. I thought you were going to cry too. This elder is too terrifying.”
“What's there to be afraid of?” Song Yao leaned in and whispered in his ear. “He has such a terrible temper because he's actually balding. No pill works for him. The balder he gets, the angrier he becomes, and the angrier he becomes, the faster his hair falls out. That's why one must never get angry often, otherwise...”
Ning Zhou was shocked. “Is that true...”
Before he could finish, the wooden ruler slammed heavily onto a stone tablet, sending a tremor through the entire Fuguang Platform.
The Teaching Elder pointed toward the back corner and roared, “What are you two whispering about over there?! Stand up and let everyone hear what you're talking about!”
Song Yao and Ning Zhou gasped in fright and jumped to their feet, hanging their heads in silence.
Fuguang Platform fell so silent that one could hear a pin drop. The disciples in the front rows craned their necks, their eyes sparkling with excitement as they watched the drama unfold.
The Teaching Elder marched over to the two of them, swept his gaze over them, and finally locked onto Ning Zhou. “You. Speak. What did she just say to you?”
Ning Zhou opened his mouth, his face flushing bright red, but not a single word came out.
“Speak!” Another loud smack of the ruler on the desk.
Ning Zhou shivered in fear. Before his brain could even process, his mouth blurted out, “P-people... people can't go bald!”
His voice was incredibly loud and clear, echoing three times over Fuguang Platform.
Fuguang Platform fell dead silent for a brief moment. And then...
“Pfft—”
Someone couldn't hold it in and snorted with laughter.
The wig on the Teaching Elder's head trembled. His face turned from black to red, then from red to purple, before he finally slammed his ruler down and roared, “Both of you, get the hell out of here and copy the rules!!”
...
Song Yao didn't know how things had escalated to this point. She clearly only wanted to save up five thousand six hundred spirit stones and then leave the Nine Saints Hall to live an ordinary life. Why did it feel like she was stepping right back onto her old path of becoming a major villain?
If she had known, she wouldn't have gossiped about the Teaching Elder's secret. If she had known, she wouldn't have discussed hair with Ning Zhou.
She had brought this upon herself.
Lying flat on her back amidst the piles of books in the Library Pavilion, she accepted her fate and cast a spell. Two writing brushes stood upright in midair. Their tips dipped into ink and hovered over the spread-out scrolls, automatically writing away with a rapid rustling sound.
The speed was astonishingly fast, the handwriting exceptionally neat, and page after page was filled in a dizzying display.
The brush in Ning Zhou's hand froze midair, his mouth hanging open so wide it could swallow an egg. “H-how do you even know this kind of spell?”
Resting her head on her arms, Song Yao casually made up a lie. “When I was wandering outside as a child, I specifically learned it to help others copy books for a living.”
Ning Zhou's face softened with sympathy. “It seems your past was just as miserable as mine. But why were you inside a grave back then?”
“Maybe I was buried alive.”
“Ah, how tragic.”
The more Ning Zhou looked at her, the more pitiable he found her. He leaned a bit closer. “But it's fine. As long as we stay in the Nine Saints Hall and cultivate diligently, we will definitely live a good life in the future...”
Saying this, he added, “You arrived late this morning. The elder taught us how to meditate and absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Since we have nothing to do right now, how about I teach you?”
Song Yao was completely uninterested. Since when did absorbing spiritual energy require meditation? She felt an inexplicable sensation of being thrown back into the starting village to do tutorial quests.
But after a moment's thought, she didn't refuse and sat up. “Sure.”
The two of them shifted around and sat cross-legged.
Ning Zhou closed his eyes and began speaking with absolute gravity, “When it comes to cultivation, one must first sense the circulation of the five elements of heaven and earth.
“The five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—are the foundation of heaven and earth, the root of all things. Metal governs slaughter, wood governs vitality, water governs downward flow, and fire governs tempering, with the five elements generating and overcoming each other in an endless cycle.
“For us cultivators, the very first step is to open our spiritual apertures and sense the laws of the five elements' circulation. You must calm your mind, empty your thoughts, and feel the unseen...”
As Ning Zhou spoke, he suddenly felt something was slightly off beside him.
He couldn't help but stop talking, opening his eyes to look, and then froze.
Rate on N.U.
