For the next few days, the Radiant Sky Sect was unusually quiet.
Inner Sect disciples sharpened their swords. Core disciples refined their spells. Outer Sect disciples gathered in groups and whispered about who might rise, who might fall, and who might suddenly reveal hidden strength at the last mont.
Everyone was preparing.
Su Bai was also preparing. But aside from cultivating, he often went down to the Outer Sect to see Yan’er.
The little girl had already settled in better than he expected.
At first, Su Bai had considered bringing her to Clear Cloud Peak. But after thinking about it, he gave up on the idea.
Clear Cloud Peak was too quiet and empty.
For soone like him, that kind of silence was useful.
For Yan’er, it might beco another cage.
The Outer Sect was different.
There were people there. Junior disciples. Outer Sect instructors. Other new disciples who were also confused, nervous, and trying to find their place.
Yan’er needed that.
She needed to rember that the world did not only contain hunger, fear, and sickness.
So Su Bai only visited her from ti to ti.
Every ti he arrived, Yan’er would notice him first.
"Senior Brother Su!"
The first ti she called him that, she had been very serious as if afraid she would get it wrong.
Su Bai had smiled.
After that, she called him Senior Brother. But aside from the title, nothing changed.
She still ran over and stuck close to him. She still looked at him with the sa familiar trust.
To her, Su Bai was not a Core Disciple. He was simply the person she knew best in this unfamiliar mountain.
Whenever Su Bai visited, he would sit under a tree and speak with her for a while.
Sotis, he taught her. Sotis, he simply listened as she talked about the Outer Sect kitchens, the older sisters who gave her extra food, or the junior disciples who secretly practiced sword stances behind the dormitories.
At so point, several Outer Sect juniors began gathering nearby.
At first, they pretended to pass by. Then they pretended to rest. Then they simply sat down openly and listened.
Su Bai noticed, but did not drive them away.
If they wanted to listen, let them listen.
He was only explaining basic cultivation to a child.
If they managed to gain sothing from it, that was their own fortune.
Of course, to the Outer Sect disciples, this was not basic.
This was Senior Brother Su personally giving casual guidance beneath a tree.
The fact that he said it gently to Yan’er only made it feel even more profound.
Yan’er listened very seriously.
She never asked about her mother again.
Su Bai knew she had not forgotten. She was simply being considerate. This child was still too young, but she already knew how to hide sadness so she would not trouble others.
Su Bai looked at her small face and sighed softly.
"Yan’er."
The little girl looked up. "Senior Brother?"
Su Bai took out a small token and placed it in her hands.
"This is an access token for Clear Cloud Peak. If you ever feel lonely, or if soone bullies you, or if you simply want to see , you can co anyti."
Yan’er stared at the token.
Her fingers slowly tightened around it. Then she suddenly stepped forward and hugged him.
"Thank you, Senior Brother." Her voice was very small.
Su Bai paused, then he gently patted her head.
After staying with Yan’er for a while longer, Su Bai left the Outer Sect.
There were still things he needed to do.
After all, three days had passed since he reached Foundation Establishnt Sixth Stage.
And during those three days, Lu Canghai had begun training him properly.
...
The first day after his breakthrough at Clear Cloud Peak...
Su Bai stood with his sleeves rolled up slightly.
Across from him stood a person made entirely of white cloud.
The mont it moved, Su Bai’s back turned cold.
Pah!
Su Bai tripped.
He did not even know what had caught his foot.
Before he could recover, the cloud figure appeared in front of him and tapped his forehead with two fingers.
If it were a real fight, his skull would have been cracked.
Su Bai lay on the ground and stared at the sky.
Lu Canghai sat under the pine tree, drinking tea.
"Again," the old man said lazily.
Su Bai silently stood up.
He had once again been reminded of one thing.
His master was terrifying.
Even a cloud avatar casually ford by Lu Canghai was terrifying.
The cloud clone was not strong in the simple sense. It simply appeared where Su Bai did not expect it, stepped where Su Bai forgot to guard, and attacked from angles that made him wonder whether his own eyes had betrayed him.
The most humiliating ti, Su Bai prepared Falling Leaf Substitution perfectly.
The mont he vanished, he reappeared directly in front of the cloud clone’s raised palm.
And...
Pah!
A very light slap. A very deep lesson.
Su Bai slowly understood.
Against soone with real battle experience, having techniques was not enough.
A cultivator also needed to know when to use them, when to show them, when to hide them, when to pretend to fail... and when to let the enemy believe they had already won.
Lu Canghai did not explain much.
The cloud clone explained for him... by beating Su Bai repeatedly.
Su Bai fell, stood up, adjusted, and tried again.
By the end of the first day, he could at least survive thirty breaths against the cloud clone without being slapped.
By the second day, he began weaving Tang Clan needle routes into his footwork.
One dark needle was a threat.
Two needles were a distraction.
Three needles beca a pattern.
The fourth needle collected the debt.
But this ti, the fourth needle did not co from his hand.
It ca from the side of his knee.
The cloud clone tilted its head slightly.
Then it dispersed the needle with one finger.
It noticed. So he tried again.
This ti, Nether-Threads followed after the needles struck.
They did not drag the needles. They blood after impact.
A thread caught the cloud clone’s wrist.
Another wrapped around its ankle.
The third cut through the space it was about to step into.
Then Su Bai raised his hand.
A hollow dark needle ford silently. Inside it, a wisp of Ashen-Frost Blight Fla flickered.
Weeping Needle.
The needle vanished.
The cloud clone turned.
But it’s too late.
The Hollow Needle pierced its chest and released the Ashen-Frost Blight Fla from within.
The white cloud body froze for a breath.
Then scattered.
Su Bai stood in the courtyard, breathing lightly.
He had finally dispersed it.
Under the pine tree, Lu Canghai raised an eyebrow.
"Not bad."
Su Bai let out a breath.
Before he could feel proud, Lu Canghai waved his hand.
Then suddenly... there were two cloud clones.
Su Bai stared at them, then at his master.
Lu Canghai sipped his tea.
"What? Do you expect enemies to line up and fight you one by one?"
Su Bai had no answer.
So he was beaten by two cloud clones.
One clone attacked openly.
The other attacked from where his attention was weakest.
One clone copied palm techniques.
The other fired cloud needles.
The cloud needles were not real needles, but they moved exactly like hidden weapons.
Su Bai felt as if his own technique was being used to accuse him.
It was uncomfortable, but it was also useful.
Lu Canghai corrected him from the side.
"Do not look at the target you intend to strike."
"Your thread moved before your needle. That tells the enemy where the trap is."
"Do not retreat in a straight line. A straight line is an invitation."
"Again."
Su Bai listened, then failed, then listened again, then failed better.
By the ti the second day ended, Su Bai had "died" several tis.
Every failure showed him sothing.
...
Currently, Su Bai was waiting to challenge the clones again.
However, before Lu Canghai ford the clones, the old man suddenly looked at him with a grin.
It was not a training grin.
It was a gossip grin.
"Hear this, my disciple."
Su Bai looked up.
Lu Canghai stroked his beard. "Your reputation has already begun to spread."
Su Bai’s expression froze slightly.
That did not sound like good news.
Lu Canghai continued happily, "Many people are now speculating what Lu Canghai’s disciple looks like. So say you are a hidden genius I raised in secret. So say you are connected to the Tang Clan. So say you were injured for years because of an old enemy’s curse and only recently recovered."
Su Bai sighed softly.
He did not like attention, but he also knew he could not hide forever.
Perhaps this was better. At least the rumors were following the road Lu Canghai had prepared.
Lu Canghai’s grin widened.
"Right now, the two nas being discussed most often are yours and the Tang Clan’s new heir."
Su Bai looked up imdiately.
Lu Canghai narrowed his eyes.
"Oh?"
Su Bai coughed softly.
Lu Canghai looked as if he had caught a fish.
"Speaking of Wanyue’s daughter," the old man continued, "her progress does not lag behind yours too much."
Su Bai’s expression beca serious.
"She has reached Foundation Establishnt," Lu Canghai said. "The Purple Calamity Venom Body is extrely compatible with the Tang Clan’s poison manual. If she had cultivated from childhood, she might have beco one of the strongest geniuses of this generation."
Lu Canghai sighed softly. There was so regret in his voice.
Su Bai was silent for a mont, then he asked, "Did her poison beco stronger too?"
Lu Canghai paused, then laughed.
"Not just her poison. Her marriage proposals increased too."
Su Bai froze.
Lu Canghai looked very amused.
"Just recently, a few young masters were quite confident they would win her over."
Su Bai’s gaze moved.
Lu Canghai continued, "One young master was especially brave. He actually accepted her condition and drank a cup of her blood."
Su Bai beca interested.
"What happened?"
Lu Canghai burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! That junior ca prepared. Before drinking, he swallowed a Thousand-Poison Antidote Pill. He probably thought that would be enough."
The old man shook his head.
"But the Purple Calamity Venom Body has no known antidote. He nearly died on the spot. If Tang Yuyan had not expelled the poison in ti, that young master would have beco a morial tablet before the tea went cold."
Su Bai imagined the scene, and he could not help smiling.
"How did Tang Ziyan react?"
Lu Canghai shrugged.
"You will have to ask her yourself. The news I received only said that after that incident, the marriage proposals stopped for the ti being."
He stroked his beard, clearly amused.
"Now many young masters are afraid of her. I heard that so ancient clan juniors even said they would rather marry anyone else than Wanyue’s daughter."
Su Bai lowered his eyes.
For so reason, his smile beca very faint.
The more poisonous Tang Ziyan beca, the safer she was.
At least, ordinary fools would not dare approach her casually.
And when they t again...
Su Bai paused.
He absolutely wanted to taste that poison again.
A cup of blood might be too much. No. Actually, it might not be too much.
But her tears were better.
Su Bai silently corrected his thoughts. Then he shook his head.
He was here to train.
Lu Canghai watched his disciple’s expression change several tis and smiled without exposing him.
Then he waved his sleeve.
The cloud clones appeared in the courtyard.
Su Bai looked at them.
The old man smiled kindly.
"Since you are so spirited, let us continue."
Su Bai fell silent.
A mont later, he raised his hand.
Dark needles appeared around him.
The training continued.
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