When Gu Baiqing arrived at Flying Crane Pavilion, he saw Yun Yue and, upon asking, learned that Mo Xuanli had already woken up. Luo Nianyi and Chu Fei were both there, which immediately eased the pressure of visiting his disciple.
But just as he reached the door, Luo Nianyi grabbed his wrist and dragged him inside.
Gu Baiqing realized what was happening but didn’t resist. He had already prepared an explanation. “These past few days, I’ve figured out some methods. Occasionally, I can store up a bit of spiritual power and release it in a burst, but I haven’t found a pattern yet. I can at least confirm it’s harmless to my body.”
“Whether it’s harmless or not—leave that to me to decide,” Luo Nianyi said with an eye roll.
Gu Baiqing didn’t mind. He looked toward the bed and saw Mo Xuanli trying to get up upon hearing he had arrived.
“Lie down,” Gu Baiqing ordered coldly.
Mo Xuanli tilted his head to look at him. His eyes were clear and bright, full of concern, but in the end, he obeyed and lay back down. His voice was hoarse. “Master.”
He called out once, but said nothing more.
“Strange. I really can’t see anything unusual,” Luo Nianyi murmured in puzzlement.
Gu Baiqing withdrew his hand, stepped forward, and glanced at Mo Xuanli. “How are your injuries?”
Mo Xuanli seemed slightly agitated at the sight of him. “Master… sorry for troubling you. My injury isn’t serious.”
“Not serious? You need to stay in bed for at least two days,” Luo Nianyi interjected.
Gu Baiqing’s expression didn’t change, but in his heart he made a mental note to settle accounts with Zhao An. He nodded. “You’ve probably heard—Zhao An cheated, so his qualification has been revoked. Your first-place result stands again. Your Second Senior Uncle has already announced the updated ranking. The first-place prize, the supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, will go to you.”
At this, Chu Fei gave Gu Baiqing a strange look. He remembered that when Zhao An got the supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, he swallowed it right away. The sect should only have had one…
“All thanks to Master—” Mo Xuanli began to say in gratitude.
But Gu Baiqing waved him off. “I exposed it by chance. No need to thank me. Your performance in the competition was decent, but even as the first-place winner, you must guard against arrogance and impatience. Rest well, then go to Star Spirit Cave. Come back to continue cultivating once you succeed in your Foundation Establishment.”
First place restored, truth revealed, Mo Xuanli’s reputation mended—the plot was back on track. With a steady mindset, the protagonist should be able to form his foundation.
Having said what needed to be said, Gu Baiqing added, “Alright, rest and recover. I’m leaving.”
The look on Mo Xuanli’s face instantly dimmed. Almost unconsciously, he lifted his hand, as if to reach for Gu Baiqing.
There was still so much he wanted to say to his master, and also…
Luo Nianyi, on the other hand, stepped in to block him. “What’s that supposed to mean? You’re just going to leave him like this?”
“Isn’t he staying here to recover?” Gu Baiqing replied, not noticing Mo Xuanli’s small gesture.
“But you—” As a master, shouldn’t he show some care? Luo Nianyi saw Gu Baiqing looking like his task was done and he could leave, and they were furious. “You just come by for a formality and then go? You might as well not have come at all. Why did you even bother showing up?”
Gu Baiqing thought for a moment. “To check on my disciple. And to find my junior brother about something.”
Chu Fei, unexpectedly dragged into this, pointed at himself in confusion.
Gu Baiqing tossed him a storage pouch. “Come out with me. This is for you.”
Chu Fei probed it with magic. Inside, the pouch was full of porcelain bottles. His eyes lit up instantly. He gave a strategic cough and was ready to follow.
Luo Nianyi almost rolled her eyes out of her head. Turning back to the bed, she saw Mo Xuanli gazing longingly at the receding figure in the doorway—like a little dog watching its owner go out to play while it was left tied up at home. It went straight for her soft spot.
“Forget about your cold-hearted master. Just focus on recovering. I’ve got all the best medicines here, and you can use them all.”
Mo Xuanli pulled his gaze back, his mood low. “Thank you, Senior Uncle*.”
* used masculine title but still using female pronouns; will just continue following what author uses
He knew full well that whether it was Luo Nianyi or Chu Fei showing him more care, it all stemmed from his master starting to care for him a little more. So whatever he had now, he still owed to his master.
“Master’s health really isn’t a problem?” he asked immediately.
Luo Nianyi almost held her forehead. Why did she feel like she was looking at a lovesick young lady who refused to regret her misplaced devotion, paired with a cold-blooded, blind-hearted scoundrel?
“Your master’s in better shape than you are,” she said. Unable to bear this disciple’s mindless reverence for his teacher, which made her seriously uncomfortable, she hurried away.
…
“Senior Brother, what exactly are we doing?” Chu Fei asked, following Gu Baiqing outside in confusion.
Gu Baiqing gave a cold snort. “Getting you to be my muscle. We’re going to catch Zhao An and beat him up. My disciple was hurt—he’s going to pay double. And he made me lose a supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pill. Even if Second Brother says he’ll make them compensate us, who knows when we’d get something that rare again. We’re collecting interest.”
This kind of thing, Second Senior Brother would definitely not allow—but knowing Chu Fei’s temperament, if there’s a fight to be had, especially with someone who really annoys him, then no problem at all.
Still, Fourth Senior Brother’s way of handling people seems kind of strange lately. Forget it—he’s still Fourth Senior Brother anyway.
“Should we also get a lightning-attribute spiritual sword?” Chu Fei suddenly asked.
“Huh?” Gu Baiqing didn’t understand.
Chu Fei explained, “Earlier, I heard Third Senior Sister say that when Zhao An used his lightning-attribute spiritual sword, all the sword energy entered Mo Xuanli’s body and will last for two days.”
Gu Baiqing was startled. So that means right now Mo Xuanli’s body must have lightning rampaging inside it. That kind of torment… Just now, when speaking to Mo Xuanli, he didn’t seem like he was suffering at all.
“How about you lend me Morning Snow and I give it a try?” Chu Fei said as he walked forward. Suddenly, he noticed Gu Baiqing had stopped and was looking back at him in puzzlement.
“Junior Brother, you go ahead first—keep an eye on them, and then use a communication talisman to tell me their location. I’ll catch up in a bit…”
Chu Fei didn’t understand, but followed the instructions anyway.
So when Luo Nianyi came out, she saw Gu Baiqing alone outside. “Huh? Didn’t you leave?”
Gu Baiqing asked about Mo Xuanli’s condition. Luo Nianyi said with some disdain, “Only now you care? If you hadn’t lost your spiritual power, you could have helped ease his pain.”
Gu Baiqing’s gaze flickered. “Is Mo Xuanli asleep?”
Luo Nianyi nodded. “Mm. Sleeping means less pain.”
Gu Baiqing nodded, turned, and walked toward the inside.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to take a look. You don’t need to come.”
Luo Nianyi had been about to step forward, but stopped when she heard that, muttering, “So awkward,” before leaving.
Gu Baiqing entered again. Sure enough, Mo Xuanli had fallen into a deep sleep, but his face was completely bloodless, his brows furrowed tightly, and his muscles would occasionally twitch on their own.
Gu Baiqing felt heavy-hearted. Taking a deep breath, he murmured, “This is all for you.”
Then he slowly leaned down and gathered the sleeping Mo Xuanli into his arms.
【Spiritual Power +1 +1…】
This was the first time Gu Baiqing truly felt the sensation of spiritual power flowing into him—his body gradually storing it, like a hungry person slowly becoming full and satisfied.
He could also clearly feel his lightning spiritual root heating up. Soon, he easily drew out the lightning element from Mo Xuanli’s body. Mo Xuanli’s muscles gradually relaxed, as if he had finally entered a peaceful dream.
Suddenly, a murmur escaped Mo Xuanli’s lips.
“Master… I didn’t lose… I didn’t shame you… so… please don’t be angry with me, okay?”
At first, Gu Baiqing was startled. When he understood the words, his heart clenched hard, and he silently added another grudge to the account. Looks like doubling wasn’t enough—triple it!
He continued holding Mo Xuanli until his spiritual power reached one hundred points—about one second per point—though he didn’t know how long it would last.
Gu Baiqing gently laid Mo Xuanli back down and tucked in the quilt. “Heal well—your master will avenge you!”
Knowing the suffering Mo Xuanli had endured, he felt it was only right to take action himself, as a proper master should.
With his spiritual power restored, and after receiving Chu Fei’s message talisman, Gu Baiqing immediately drew Morning Snow and took to the skies on his sword.
Morning Snow hummed excitedly, as if glad to finally fight alongside its master instead of being a useless hairpin.
Morning Snow was incredibly fast—within ten seconds, Gu Baiqing spotted Chu Fei in the distance, standing on a black sword, eyes fixed ahead.
There was a flying boat up ahead—rather fancy.
Gu Baiqing leapt into the air, caught Morning Snow, and swung it toward the sky.
A pale blue bolt of lightning descended, nearly akin to heavenly lightning, shattering the flying boat into pieces. Several figures scrambled out in disarray.
Gu Baiqing and Chu Fei used disguise talismans to conceal their true forms.
Still, with lightning strikes like these, the enemy could probably guess who it was. They cursed even as they dodged.
But as long as they didn’t show their faces or admit it, even a recording talisman wouldn’t prove anything.
Seeing Zhao An being protected by several people, untouched, Gu Baiqing grew irritated. Fine, let’s see how long they can keep that up.
He raised his sword again. Morning Snow glowed blue, and with a loud shout—“Thunder’s Might!”—lightning and thunder enveloped a mile radius centered on Zhao An. Hundreds of lightning bolts struck continuously, some inevitably hitting Zhao An, impossible to block them all.
One strike, two strikes… Zhao An’s hair puffed into an explosion, his whole body convulsed, smoke rose from his mouth, and he collapsed in disgrace, shielded by others who were equally battered.
From above, Chu Fei was stunned. Part of him thought his senior’s cultivation seemed stronger; part thought the attack had wide range but low killing power—easy enough to defend against; and part wondered how his senior even had spiritual power again. He also worried—what if this killed someone? If that happened, Second Senior Brother would explode.
Just as he was getting anxious, the lightning vanished. Ahead, Gu Baiqing suddenly plummeted, Morning Snow shrinking back into a hairpin.
Chu Fei sucked in a breath and hurried over to catch him.
He heard Gu Baiqing mutter, “Scared me to death!”
Who’s scaring who here?!
Chu Fei wanted to punch someone. “Senior Brother, what are you doing?”
“Nothing—just ran out of spiritual power,” Gu Baiqing said, exasperated at the lack of a warning countdown. If Chu Fei hadn’t been there, he might have fallen to his death. Next time, he’d plan an escape route first.
“You should really have Third Senior Sister take a good look at you.”
Gu Baiqing glanced at the wreckage below, patted Chu Fei with satisfaction, and said, “Mission accomplished—let’s go! Head east!”
“Ah? Isn’t going back supposed to be south?” Chu Fei pushed Gu Baiqing behind him, then flew eastward on his sword.
“We’re going shopping.”
Half an hour later, Elder Zhao angrily reported the matter directly to Zixiao Sect, but without evidence, Fu Zhiyi found an excuse to send him down the mountain.
When Fu Zhiyi came to inspect, he saw the two troublemakers who had caused him problems return.
“You two…”
“I didn’t do anything. It was all Fourth Senior Brother’s fault.” Though usually reckless, Chu Fei still knew better than to offend Second Senior Brother.
Fu Zhiyi narrowed his eyes at Gu Baiqing, who could only confidently explain himself. After all, someone as powerful as him doesn’t need reasons to do as he pleases; being unreasonable is reasonable.
Sure enough, after he spoke, Fu Zhiyi said no more, only: “Ahem, this matter stays between the three of us. Nothing happened, and you never even left the sect. Understand?”
Gu Baiqing and Chu Fei nodded in agreement, but Fu Zhiyi still grumbled that they’d caused trouble for him. If the Zhao family pressed the issue, it would be a headache—he wasn’t even sure they’d get the Foundation Establishment Pill back.
Listening to Second Senior Brother’s endless complaints, Gu Baiqing hurriedly offered a golden top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill.
“Hm?” Fu Zhiyi’s eyes brightened. “You bought this? That’s no ordinary amount.”
Good Foundation Establishment Pills were common enough, but top-grade ones were rare treasures.
“Second Senior Brother, consider this as compensation for the one that was consumed. When it’s reclaimed from the Zhao family, it can be confiscated, alright?” Gu Baiqing said.
Fu Zhiyi instantly smiled broadly. “That’s good, that’s good. You really spoil…”
“Ahem, ahem,” Gu Baiqing quickly interrupted. “I didn’t buy this for Mo Xuanli. It’s just compensation for the trouble I caused you. Don’t say things like that in front of Mo Xuanli—lest he mistakenly think I’m some protective master, which would harm my future teaching. I don’t want to raise a disciple like Zhao An.”
Fu Zhiyi nodded with a smile but didn’t take it seriously. Given Mo Xuanli’s personality, there was no way he’d become like Zhao An. Knowing his master cared for him, he’d be willing to sacrifice everything to repay the kindness. He didn’t understand what his junior brother was thinking.
“Alright, I’ll go deliver the reward. Want to come?” Fu Zhiyi asked, in a good mood.
“No thanks, I’ve done what I needed to. I’m going back.” Gu Baiqing thought of the recent embrace and oddly caught a faint scent of plum blossoms at his nose tip, making him wrinkle it awkwardly.
Gu Baiqing didn’t ride an immortal crane—he was tired and didn’t want to run around, so he let Junior Brother escort him.
After Chu Fei sent him off, he thought for a moment, then returned to Flying Crane Pavilion. Upon arrival, he saw Mo Xuanli awake, with Luo Nianyi checking his condition and frowning strangely.
Fu Zhiyi brought the top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill and praised Mo Xuanli heartily.
Mo Xuanli shyly smiled, “Thank you, Second Senior Uncle.”
“No need to thank me, it’s all your master’s care.” Fu Zhiyi said with a smile.
Luo Nianyi wanted to complain but noticed Chu Fei had arrived without Gu Baiqing and couldn’t help but ask, “All three senior uncles are here, but the master isn’t. Where is he?”
Chu Fei said, “He went back to rest.”
Luo Nianyi rolled her eyes dramatically. “That’s what you call caring?”
“Tired, I guess.” Fu Zhiyi saw Mo Xuanli’s disappointed expression upon seeing Chu Fei, and not wanting the disciple to resent his master, he rattled off, “Just now, Fourth Junior Brother dragged Fifth Junior Brother to get revenge for Mo Xuanli. They really beat them up badly. Elder Zhao even angrily came to complain. I saw Zhao An’s injuries—they were definitely several times worse than Mo Xuanli’s.”
The three were stunned by Fu Zhiyi’s words.
Mo Xuanli and Luo Nianyi were naturally shocked, while Chu Fei looked amazed: “Who said a fourth person wasn’t supposed to know?”
“Master, you did all this for me…” Mo Xuanli was at a loss for words, feeling both grateful and regretful. He had been disappointed his master didn’t stay to talk more, but now he realized the master had protected him in another way…
“If someone bullies his disciple, wouldn’t he care?” Fu Zhiyi laughed.
Luo Nianyi suddenly realized, “So he got Fifth Junior Brother as a bodyguard?”
“Wrong, he did it himself!” Chu Fei said as he walked over.
“What? Spiritual power again?” Luo Nianyi suddenly seemed to understand something and exclaimed, “Ah! I get it.”
Luo Nianyi looked at Mo Xuanli. “The lightning element inside your body…”
Before Luo Nianyi finished explaining, Mo Xuanli understood. Knowing medicine, he realized that to ease his pain, someone must have drawn out the lightning element—a difficult task. Probably only Gu Baiqing in the entire Zixiao Sect could do it accurately without harming either party.
“When did Master…” Mo Xuanli touched his body in disbelief.
“He came back to help you after you fell asleep.”
Mo Xuanli’s eyes widened with deep regret and sorrow. Why had he slept? His master saved him, but he hadn’t seen it?
Though painful lightning was rampaging inside him, he could endure that kind of pain, so he didn’t care. But now that it was removed, he couldn’t say whether his body or his heart felt better.
His master silently did so much for him…
“Spiritual power recovered so quickly—does that mean he’ll heal soon?” Fu Zhiyi, understanding Gu Baiqing’s treatment of Mo Xuanli, asked curiously.
“My examination shows no change in his body. I don’t understand either,” Luo Nianyi said, frustrated, scratching her head.
They both looked to Chu Fei, who had witnessed it firsthand.
Chu Fei wanted to ask privately but Second Senior Brother had blurted it out in front of Mo Xuanli, so he didn’t care anymore and said, “I saw his recovery only took less than the time of half a tea cup, and it came without warning. If I hadn’t been there…”
Chu Fei described the situation, “I thought it was dangerous, so I asked Third Senior Sister. But Fourth Senior Brother doesn’t seem to care much.”
After Chu Fei finished speaking, Fu Zhiyi and Luo Nianyi’s expressions both turned serious. “This situation is even more dangerous than having no spiritual power at all, because Fourth Junior Brother will do reckless things.”
Chu Fei nodded.
But after discussing for quite a while, the three still couldn’t come up with a solution, and could only remind each other to watch Gu Baiqing closely and prevent him from acting impulsively again.
Mo Xuanli sat there dazed and clueless, still trying to process the fact that his master almost got into danger because of his messy troubles. His happiness instantly turned into guilt.
At that moment, Fu Zhiyi stepped forward and patted Mo Xuanli’s shoulder, saying, “Child, rest well. Actually, the top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill was already eaten by Zhao An. This one, I won’t hide it from you, was bought by your master out of his own pocket. Everything was done so you wouldn’t be disappointed.”
Chu Fei pretended not to hear, while Luo Nianyi frowned.
Mo Xuanli, already emotionally fragile, was even more shaken by this.
“Master spent so much on me… How could I let Master waste like this, I…”
“Your master told us to keep it a secret. Just pretend we never told you. Now I’ve completely seen through my junior brother—he’s a stubborn guy with a soft heart, awkward and not used to having disciples. He doesn’t really know how to get along with you. But deep down, he cares for you like family. So you have to behave well in the future, and don’t disappoint your master’s expectations.” Fu Zhiyi finished and left.
The other two also left, leaving Mo Xuanli alone, unable to sleep.
Later, Gu Baiqing, after a relaxed bath at Luofeng Pavilion, was ready to sleep beautifully. Before sleeping, he reviewed the day’s events, thinking he hadn’t done anything to make Mo Xuanli develop attachments. The closer to certain emotional plot points for the male lead, the more nervous he felt. But after careful reflection…
Hmm, the cold, strict master image was perfectly portrayed, basically Oscar-worthy. Definitely no problem.
Just as he was happily preparing to sleep, suddenly there was a knock at the door.
Gu Baiqing was stunned. Who disturbs people in the middle of the night?
Wearing a moon-white robe and his black hair loose, he went to the door under the moonlight.
Opening the door, a clear plum blossom fragrance wafted out, and two plum branches appeared before him.
The person holding the branches was kneeling on one knee.
It was none other than his disciple! Mo Xuanli!
The ungrateful disciple… what are you doing! Master got a fright attack!
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