After a while, Su Su gradually realized the benefit of sword polishing.
Hengyang’s sword technique emphasized bold and broad strokes, valuing courage, while Penglai’s Qinghong Sword Technique emphasized understanding the sword’s intent. The sword, as thin as a cicada’s wing, trembled slightly in her hand, and an intriguing sensation washed over her.
Is this the sword’s intent?
It was said that at the peak of mastering the Qinghong Sword Technique, the cultivator would be able to establish a mental connection with their sword. Given time, perhaps a sword spirit might be formed.
Su Su had always been eager to learn, and after discovering the benefit of sword polishing, she no longer rejected it. Without needing guidance from Cāng Jiǔmín, she seriously dedicated herself to the task.
As she polished swords by the pool, Cang Jiumin sat cross-legged under a tree, watching her.
Su Su thought that she would be confined in the Sword Cleansing Pool for a long time, but unexpectedly, after just over a month, Cang Jiumin released her from the Sword Cleansing Pool.
Once released, Su Su learned that Cai Shuang had nearly died from the cold Qi of the Tranquil Frost Pool and had been taken away by the East Wing Master a few days ago. In comparison, Su Su was well without any issues.
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Ebld pbl byrrldle vs xllv vbl ekpnkrzl, obs bye okvdlpple vbl kdnkeldv yde clld aktbvlswpzu kdektdydv1义愤填膺 (uìqèd-vkáduīdt) – aktbvlswp kdektdyvksd qkzzp sdl’p calypv (keksx); vs qllz kdektdydv yv kdfwpvknl, bkp lmralppksd qzknjlale. Brsd pllkdt Fw Fw, bl nwrrle bkp qkpv, ynvkdt yp kq dsvbkdt bye byrrldle.&dcpr;
Twb? Elal Vldtzyk ekpnkrzlp yzoyup vbkp qakldezu?
G qlo eyup zyvla, kd vbl yraknsv qsalpv, y xyzl ekpnkrzl kdhkvle Fw Fw vs oyvnb vbl Vldtzyk ekpnkrzlp prya okvb y qzwpble qynl.
Fw Fw vbswtbv vs blaplzq vbyv kq pbl pwnnllele kd clnsxkdt yd yrraldvknl, pbl oswze kdlhkvyczu byhl vs pvyu yv Vldtzyk qsa y zsdt vkxl, ps kv oyp dlnlppyau vs lpvyczkpb tsse alzyvksdp okvb bla qlzzso ekpnkrzlp. Mbwp, pbl tzyezu ynnlrvle bkp kdhkvyvksd.
Mbl ekpnkrzl oyp xselpv yde rszkvl, okvb y bkdv sq pbudlpp. Gzsdt vbl oyu, bl nbyvvle yde zywtble okvb Fw Fw. Tsolhla, fwpv yp vblu olal ycswv vs zlyhl vbl yraknsv qsalpv, vblu vwadle y nsadla yde ldnswdvlale Uydt Kkwxkd, obs bye y nsze lmralppksd.
Mbl xyzl ekpnkrzl kdpvydvzu clnyxl alpvaykdle yde tallvle Uydt Kkwxkd alprlnvqwzzu, “Qallvkdtp, Yyavkyz Bdnzl Kkwxkd.”
Uydt Kkwxkd’p tygl polrv shla Fw Fw yde zydele sd vbl xyzl ekpnkrzl.
“Ze2择 (zé or zhái) – select; choose; pick; differentiate; extricate Duan3端 (duān) – start/origin; end/extremity/item/port, while the other disciples are practicing their swordsmanship for the assessment, is this how you behave?”
Hearing his cold tone, Ze Duan knew that Martial Uncle Jiumin was angry.
The once-in-a-decade assessment of Penglai required every disciple to participate, with the winner then battling the previous Sword Master.
If one were to lose face in the assessment, it would not only dishonor their Master but also lead to punishment for slacking.
Ze Duan hurriedly explained, “Reporting to Martial Uncle Jiumin, I’ve been practicing my swordsmanship diligently these days.”
In Penglai, everyone feared the unpredictable Martial Uncle Jiumin, and Ze Duan was no exception.
Seeing this, Su Su hurriedly nodded in agreement and spoke up for Ze Duan, “He’s right. He hasn’t been slacking off!”
Originally, Ze Duan had kindly invited her out, thinking that she might be bored in Penglai while waiting for Immortal Senior Rong Kui to come out of seclusion. Now that his face had turned pale, he looked genuinely pitiful.
As soon as she spoke, Cang Jiumin’s expression darkened even more.
His dark eyes shifted from Ze Duan to Su Su, and he coldly said, “I’m disciplining the Penglai disciples, what right do you have to interject?”
Su Su couldn’t help but retort, “I might become a Penglai disciple in the future.”
Cang Jiumin sneered sarcastically, “Immortal Li’s aspirations don’t lie in the immortal sword. Penglai cannot tolerate someone as slow-witted as you. Even after polishing countless swords, you still failed to grasp the sword’s intent. Instead, you’re disrupting the progress of Penglai disciples. Immortal Li might as well return to Hengyang.”
Su Su looked at him, puzzled.
She wasn’t particularly angry. After all, Cang Jiumin was known to be easily angered and eccentric.
Previously, at the Sword Cleansing Pool, he wasn’t so sharp-tongued. When Su Su had mentioned she only felt the sword intent without fully comprehending it, he’d said it was fine.
She thought their relationship had improved, but unexpectedly, when they met today, Cang Jiumin had reverted back to his previous aloof demeanor; even his gaze was prickly.
Their eyes met.
Seeing that his matter had implicated Immortal Li, Ze Duan was already anxious and quickly said, “It’s Ze Duan’s fault, I’ll go back and prepare for the assessment now.”
After speaking, he bowed to Cang Jiumin and dared not look back at Su Su as he hastily left.
Su Su chased after Cang Jiumin, asking, “Why are you angry?”
He looked at the apricot trees, his gaze indifferent as he continued walking, ignoring her.
Su Su walked behind him with her hands behind her back. She imitated him and coldly criticized, “Penglai disciples are truly unfortunate to have such a fierce senior brother. I suggest Senior Brother Cang learn from my Senior Brother what it means to be an upright gentleman, as such individuals are admired by all.”
Cang Jiumin stopped and glanced at her with a sneer.
“Why am I angry?”
He took a step forward, and as Su Su met his stormy gaze, she instinctively took a step back.
She felt inexplicably nervous.
Cang Jiumin paused, his expression cold. “Ze Duan is the most outstanding disciple of Penglai in nearly a hundred years. Immortal Li, it’s fine if you don’t cultivate, but don’t go causing trouble for him.”
“I didn’t cause trouble for him!” She raised her head. “Don’t falsely accuse me.”
He glanced at her face, as beautiful as a peach blossom, and just turned away without a word.
After that day, she never saw Cang Jiumin again.
Su Su thought to herself, what an annoying jerk. Wasn’t he starting to teach me the Qinghong Sword Technique? Why did he suddenly ignore me?
If it weren’t for Cang Jiumin’s words at the Sword Cleansing Pool earlier, about dealing with Cai Shuang without shedding blood4兵不血刃 (bīngbùxuèrèn) – lit. no blood on the men’s swords (idiom); fig. an effortless victory, Su Su would have thought he was deliberately ignoring her because of his foster sister, Cai Shuang.
Over the past few days, the green fruits on Penglai Fairy Island had ripened, and every morning, there were a few fresh green fruits placed in Su Su’s hall.
She simply thought they were gifts from the little immortals of Penglai and didn’t pay much attention to them.
Today was Penglai’s final assessment round, where the winner was decided. She happily went to watch the match, biting into a green fruit.
The cultivation realm had always admired the strong since ancient times.
She’d heard that Ze Duan had passed all of his assessment rounds, and today was the last day, so Su Su planned to go and watch.
As soon as she appeared, Ze Duan spotted her from the crowd.
The disciples of Penglai were all dressed in elegant green robes. The male disciples’ ink-black hair was tied with jade crowns, while the female disciples wore carved jade hairpins. Su Su wasn’t from Penglai, so she wore crimson clothing with silver bells tied to her waist, which was different from the fashion of Penglai. She looked like the blooming peach blossoms from the mortal realm.
Ze Duan’s face turned slightly red, and he nodded to her from afar.
Su Su hadn’t come to watch him specifically, but seeing Ze Duan being so polite, she waved back and gestured a cheer.
A cold, sharp gaze fell upon her, and Su Su raised her eyes to see Cang Jiumin sitting in the main seat.
The match began shortly after. As Cang Jiumin had said, Ze Duan truly proved to be the most outstanding new disciple in Penglai for centuries. He defeated many seniors, brilliantly wielding his immortal sword.
In the end, the winner was still Ze Duan.
An excited Penglai disciple beside her said, “Doesn’t that mean Senior Brother Ze Duan will have to fight with Martial Uncle Jiumin?”
The winner could challenge the previous Sword Master, and Cang Jiumin had been the Sword Master for a hundred years. This moment was also what the Penglai disciples had been most looking forward to.
The eccentric and stoic Martial Uncle facing off against Ze Duan was surely worth watching.
Immortal Senior Rong Kui had even previously said that if anyone could defeat his disciple Cang Jiumin, even if he was no longer accepting new disciples, he would still impart the Qinghong Sword Technique to them. Everyone knew that Immortal Senior Rong Kui was just doing this to train his most outstanding disciple. However, even so, for the past one hundred years, everyone still aspired to defeat Cang Jiumin.
The promise of the Qinghong Sword Technique was a great temptation. One had a chance to learn this supreme sword technique of the Six Realms without even becoming a disciple.
Su Su seemed lost in thought while Cang Jiu Min and Ze Duan began their battle on stage.
Ze Duan saluted, but Cang Jiumin didn’t react. The audience was accustomed5司空见惯 (sīkōng-jiànguàn) – a common occurrence (idiom) to his indifference, and few dared to comment.
However, even after dozens of moves from Ze Duan, Cang Jiumin only defended and didn’t counterattack.
“As always, Martial Uncle Jiumin is still letting Ze Duan…… huh?”
Usually, in such assessments, he would let the disciples make fifty moves, but today, he allowed Ze Duan eighty moves.
Cang Jiumin’s sword reflected his personality— cold, tricky angles combined with brutal simplicity, often ending the match abruptly.
However, today, his swordplay was graceful and magnificent. His immortal sword emitted a faint hum, and white spiritual Qi flowed like wings, almost dazzling everyone present.
“Martial Uncle Jiumin……” a female stammered, her cheeks flushing as she looked at the man on the stage.
How had she never noticed that the distant and terrifying ‘great Demon King’6just a metaphor for saying someone is scary Cang Jiumin, was actually so good-looking?
Su Su was also momentarily stunned by the overwhelming sword intent. She vaguely understood why, even though the sword techniques from Hengyang were already strong, her father still insisted on her coming to Penglai to learn.
Not long after, Cang Jiumin’s sword was pointed at Ze Duan’s chest. Ze Duan, somewhat reluctantly and frustratingly, conceded defeat.
Cang Jiumin sheathed his sword and returned to his immortal hall without glancing at Su Su or the other disciples.
A thought suddenly struck Su Su, and her eyes lit up.
If I defeat Cang Jiumin, I’ll get to learn the entire Qinghong Sword Technique, right?
*****
Cang Jiumin hadn’t walked far when a slight movement of the wind caught his ear, and the leaves under his feet were blown a few steps away.
He squinted his eyes slightly but didn’t look back.
A figure came stabbing through the air with a sword.
His immortal sword remained sheathed, but the sheath met the attacker’s sword.
The girl in crimson was pushed several steps back. The tip of her feet tapped a branch of an apricot tree as she held her sword and charged at him again.
Currently, although she had learned many spells, she had never practiced swordsmanship. Her swordplay, learnt from watching and listening7耳濡目染 (ěrrú-mùrǎn) – an idiom; be imperceptibly influenced by what one sees and hears, lacked any actual structure. Her approach was nothing but a bold, direct charge.
“Li Su Su.” Cang Jiumin’s mouth twitched, “What are you doing?”
The young girl’s eyes shone bright, “I heard them say, if anyone can beat you, Immortal Senior Rong Kui will teach them the Qinghong Sword Technique. Watch out!”
He sneered, “By yourself? You can try.”
His words were indeed true. He was significantly older than Su Su, and as the son of the powerful East Wing Master and the only direct disciple of Rong Kui, Cang Jiumin’s cultivation was unfathomably deep.
However, his words irritated Su Su, who was stubborn by nature.
She had intended to exchange a few moves with him, knowing that she couldn’t win, but she could always try again another time. However, Cang Jiumin’s comments made the little phoenix so angry that her tail feathers were about to explode.
Looking down on her, huh?
She immediately stopped using her sword and simply fought him with spells.
Su Su was born with a heavenly spiritual root, so with the true fire in her hands shining brilliantly, the temperature of the entire region of Penglai Island was raised for a moment.
The true fire spread all the way to Cang Jiumin’s feet.
He raised his hand, and wind moved with his fingers, extinguishing all the true fire.
Su Su thought to herself, I’m done for. This can’t beat him either?
Suddenly, she had an idea and said, “Watch out!”
She threw a bright pearl at Cang Jiumin.
Learning from the last lesson with the itching powder, he dodged to the side instead of smashing it.
Su Su rummaged through her Qiankun pouch and continued to throw……
An oil-paper umbrella, sugar-coated haws, spirit stones—
Cang Jiumin’s face darkened.
Suddenly, she threw a pill that exploded into a cloud of white fog, from which numerous sharp-toothed rabbits emerged and lunged at him.
It was unclear what kind of escape weapon Li Su Su had used, but Cang Jiumin was momentarily blinded by the fog.
He knew that Li Su Su was mischievous, so he didn’t dare to truly crush the transformed creatures. Instead, he could only coldly stand in place. He was an immortal being, and a few bites from these useless creatures were like tickles to him.
Just as he finished that thought, someone broke through the mist and struck towards him. Although temporarily blinded, Cang Jiumin still had very sharp hearing. Intending to end this ridiculous duel, he pretended not to notice until she was close, and then finally made a move.
Cang Jiumin caught Su Su’s wrist, but she feigned a stumble, as if she was about to fall.
A pale, cold hand instantly reached out and caught her.
She was stunned.
Actually, this was just…… a tactic to make the opponent underestimate her, but since Cang Jiumin had fallen for it, why not go along with it? Su Su lunged at him, then pinned him firmly to the ground while snapping a blue Body Immobilising Talisman on his forehead.
“You lost!”
She held down his shoulders, picked up his sword lying nearby, and positioned the sheath at his neck, declaring, “Senior Brother Jiumin, do you admit defeat!”
As the fog dispersed, the sharp-toothed rabbits had long since vanished like bubbles.
The unchanging, dull scenery of Penglai unfolded before him, with the girl straddling his waist, eagerly urging him to concede.
His body stiffened, “Get off.”
Su Su grinned and said, “Hurry up and admit defeat! You’re under the effect of the Body Immobilising Talisman, you can’t move anyway. If you don’t admit defeat, we can’t end this today.”
Perhaps it was this “despicable” tactic that infuriated him; as a faint blush tinged the corners of his eyes, and he remained silent, not uttering a word.
She inevitably grew anxious, and nudged him, “Hey, Immortal Senior Rong Kui never said what method had to be used to defeat you. You yourself said at the Sword Cleansing Pool that all is fair in war8兵不厌诈 (bīngbùyànzhà) – an idiom; there can never be too much deception in war.”
The “immobilized” person below her slightly curled his fingers and vaguely muttered, “Mmm.”
Edited by: Gaze
Translator’s Note: Wishing a Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful women who brought us into this world 💐💐💐
Maybe all TTJ’s relationship problems lie in the fact that he can speak…
I love when TTJ is angry with jealousy and doesn’t even realize it.
My goodness! Can’t wait for the next chapter. Thanks Miss Bee!
This was rather kind of hot haha. Li Su Su straddling Cang Jiu Min’s waist made him blush😁
Su Su was so mischievous for her own good. It was part of CJM’s move to deliberately fall to end the ridiculous fight 😆
Thanks for the update!
Very good indeed! This chapter was amazing!!
I’m looking forward to the next one~
Thank you for you hard work!!
This novel is so much more fun than I expected!!
I loved all the Easter egg memories in here! The two women falling in the water, the itching powder, the tiger…the biting bunnies and the immobilizing spell (that has got to unlock some subconscious hotness lol). Very clever and interesting.