As Chen Wuyou passed the martial arts training ground outside the main hall of the Xuanyang Sect, he happened to catch the outer disciples' daily drill.
Perhaps his method of appearance was too conspicuous, for several disciples quickly spotted Chen Wuyou suspended in mid-air.
"It's Senior Brother Wuyou!" a few disciples cried out in unison.
The crowd of disciples, drenched in sweat, halted their movements and stopped to watch.
"Noisy!" Beside the training ground, a distinguished-looking middle-aged man stood with his hands behind his back atop a coiled-dragon pillar that shot straight up into the clouds, shouting sternly at the disciples below. "Do you not know what time it is? Half-hearted and unfocused, what kind of behavior is this?"
His broad and majestic voice echoed back and forth across the spacious training ground, instantly startling those few disciples into silence.
"Uncle-Master!"
Hearing the call, the man turned his head and spotted Chen Wuyou approaching through the air, his tense expression instantly softening a fraction.
"Wuyou? You brat, didn't you go to participate in the Nine Yang Imperial Tournament? It's only been three days, and it's already over?"
"Uh, no."
Chen Wuyou flew closer to the man, his expression somewhat awkward. "Actually... there was an accident."
"Ah? Did you lose?" The man looked somewhat incredulous, followed immediately by the nagging of an old mother: "No, no, it must be because you've grown too used to idling about these past few years and your skills have grown rusty... That makes no sense! How could a brat like you lose? ...Quick, quick, hurry down and practice with them. Your Uncle-Master will help you figure out what went wrong."
"That's not it, Uncle-Master." Chen Wuyou waved his hand awkwardly. "Let me finish. I didn't lose. I actually..."
"Didn't go."
"...Fun as in fun?"
"Go as in going..."
"What the hell..."
The next moment, a roar of remarkably complex emotional composition reverberated across the martial arts training ground.
Chen Wuyou nearly lost his footing and tumbled off his Spirit Sword.
"You little punk, are you trying to turn the world upside down?!" The man pointed at Chen Wuyou, his fingers trembling with rage. "The Nine Yang Imperial Tournament! That's held by the imperial family, a grand event once every decade!"
"All the favored sons of heaven throughout the dynasty go to participate! If you hadn't arrived just as it ended ten years ago, Master would have wanted you to go back then. We finally waited until today, and you little brat actually withdrew?!"
"Who told you the girls at Tianxiang Pavilion dance so well... I got a little carried away..." Chen Wuyou pouted and muttered softly.
"What did you say?!!"
"Uh, nothing." Chen Wuyou put on a ingratiating smile. "Uncle-Master, actually this wasn't my intention either. An accident really did happen."
"Besides, didn't Junior Brother Chen Long go along? He'll definitely be fine!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire courtyard fell silent.
Not far away, a yellow-robed disciple holding a broom to sweep the training ground slowly raised his hand, then said weakly, "Senior Brother, I'm right here."
Chen Wuyou: "......"
"You, oh you!" The man said with a look of utter disappointment, "If his old master finds out, he'll skin you alive!"
"He already knows..."
"...All disciples, starting now, take a day off!"
The next moment, the training ground that had been bustling with people suddenly became completely empty amidst a rustling commotion.
"That~ Wuyou, my boy." The man patted Chen Wuyou on the shoulder. "Your Uncle-Master knows you didn't have it easy, so... I won't scold you. Anyway... you're on your own."
"Wait, Uncle-Master..."
Before Chen Wuyou could say anything more, the man vanished in a flash.
"What is this? Making it look like they rehearsed it." Chen Wuyou muttered speechlessly.
Immediately afterward, he suddenly felt a very familiar vibration ripple through the surrounding space.
Chen Wuyou narrowed his eyes, then said gloomily, "If I'm not mistaken..."
Before he could finish, he felt a chill down his spine and reflexively ducked his head.
Swish!
"Hmm..." Looking at several neatly cut, pitch-black, glossy strands of hair slowly drifting down, Chen Wuyou fell silent.
Based on his experience.
"Damn it!!!"
Chen Wuyou abruptly pulled a crimson Spirit Sword that looked as though it were tempered in raging flames from his Storage Bag and slashed downward with all his might toward his back.
The next moment, a tide-like sword qi rushed toward him, colliding fiercely with Chen Wuyou's Spirit Sword.
Bang! Boom!
Blazing flames erupted from the sword body, forcibly melting the incoming sword qi, but Chen Wuyou was still instantly blown backward by the immense recoil.
"No way, old man, are you playing for keeps?!" Chen Wuyou complained loudly while tumbling continuously in mid-air.
It wasn't until he almost flew out of the training ground's perimeter that Chen Wuyou managed to steady his stance by a hair's breadth.
Rumble.
Distant thunder rumbled, and the previously peaceful sky instantly turned gloomy.
Looking from afar, Chen Wuyou saw a silver-bearded, white-haired elder glowing with vigor and vitality, wielding a long sword and charging straight toward him amidst sparks and lightning.
"Hey, hey, old man, calm down! Don't execute justice by killing your own kin!" Chen Wuyou waved his hands frantically, trying to stop the elder.
"You brat, you actually dare to come back! If this old man doesn't split you in half today, I'll take your family name!!!" The elder's eyes bulged with rage, and mustering all his strength, he slashed directly toward Chen Wuyou's head.
With no other choice, Chen Wuyou could only raise his sword to block.
In an instant, a terrifying force spread from the sword blade through Chen Wuyou's entire arm, not only causing him to instantly lose control of his Spirit Sword, but also smashing his entire body toward the ground.
Clearly, the elder had no intention of letting him off just like that. Seeing his first move fail, he gathered spiritual power into the Spirit Sword in his hand, flicking his wrist to unleash two successive waves of destructive sword qi.
"Come on, I just stood you up, and you're really trying to take my life?!"
"Hmph, since you're so capable, can't you even take two bolts of sword qi?"
"Damn it, easier said than done!"
Plummeting rapidly, Chen Wuyou stared at the sword qi close at hand, biting his teeth hard as spiritual power condensed in his palms. He then poured it frantically into the flying Spirit Sword.
The next moment, the Spirit Sword burst with brilliant golden light, flying up to encircle him. Centered on Chen Wuyou, man and sword began to spin like a hurricane.
"This brat..." The elder slowly narrowed his eyes.
"Go!"
Seizing the opportunity, Chen Wuyou leveraged the dual momentum of spinning and falling to hurl the flying sword that encircled him, crashing it head-on into the two streams of sword qi.
Thus, a terrifying shockwave erupted in mid-air.
And then, a human-shaped deep crater was added to the ground.
"Cough, cough."
A moment later, Chen Wuyou crawled out of the crater covered in dirt and dust. Looking at his own Spirit Sword, which was on the verge of breaking, he felt like crying without tears.
"Seriously, old man, do you have to be this ruthless?!"
"No matter how ruthless I am, I'm not as ruthless as you!" The elder landed slowly beside Chen Wuyou with his hands behind his back and gave him a hard knock on the head. "I knew back then that letting you go alone wasn't safe, and sure enough!"
"I placed a bet with the master of the Tingyue Dao Sect, swearing you would take first place! But look at you—you've lost every bit of savings this old man scraped together!"
At this, the elder almost wanted to skin Chen Wuyou and sell it just to recoup some of his losses.
"What you're saying is flawed." Chen Wuyou straightened his body and retorted righteously, "Some of the people participating in the competition were already at the first or second layer of the Xuanling Realm. I couldn't beat them anyway, so you would have lost either way!"
"Bunk! You reached the Spirit Entering Ninth Layer the day you arrived here at age eight! In ten years, even a pig would have reached the Xuanling Realm!"
"Bah~~ I'm not a pig..."
"Hmm~?!"
"Uh, fine, my bad. Actually, I went to Tianxiang Pavilion."
Chen Wuyou chose to raise his hands in surrender.
"You stayed three days?"
"Not quite, there were some other activities."
Like visiting the Mu Estate seven times or something.
"I knew you brat wouldn't be up to any good."
"Fine, it's my fault this time. I'll definitely participate next time."
Seeing Chen Wuyou admit his mistake, the elder's boiling anger instantly dissipated quite a bit—evidently quite familiar with this routine, or more accurately, with Chen Wuyou's excuses.
Yet on the surface, he still didn't give Chen Wuyou a pleasant look, grabbing him by the collar. "Come back with me. If I don't punish you by making you spend ten days or half a month at the Cliff of Repentance, my name isn't Shangguan Danqing!"
Mentioning the Cliff of Repentance instantly displeased Chen Wuyou, who immediately began to struggle and shout, "Hey, hey, old man, that Cliff of Repentance is a barren wasteland where even birds don't lay eggs! Is that any place for a human to live?!"
"You're not going?"
"I'd rather die than go!" Chen Wuyou replied with backbone.
"Then tell this old man your true cultivation level."
"I think the Cliff of Repentance is a wonderful place, primarily for character building."
"I knew you brat would say that. Let's go."
Shangguan Danqing snorted, hoisted Chen Wuyou up, and flew toward the highest peak within the Xuanyang Sect.
"Later when you see your Grand-Aunt-Master, don't mention that I roughed you up."
"Why the hell not? You beat me up and won't even let me tell the truth!"
"Then you compensate this old man with three Purple Iris Immortal Herbs."
"Tsk... if I can't say it, I won't say it. Don't even think about scamming me out of my spirit stones!" Chen Wuyou grunted.