In the end, Second Senior Brother didn’t get to eat either, because all the food Mo Xuanli made for Gu Baiqing was portioned exactly to his appetite, with no extra.
Second Senior Brother said, “No brotherly love?”
Gu Baiqing shook his head, saying he wanted to eat it all himself.
Second Senior Brother resentfully started talking about his own great contributions again.
Gu Baiqing treated it like chanting sutras for background noise, calmly finishing his meal, waiting for the child attendant to come clear the dishes.
Second Senior Brother looked at the child attendant and couldn’t help saying, “I never knew this little one had such good skills. For future festival banquets, lend him to me?”
“Sure,” Gu Baiqing said casually.
The child attendant couldn’t help trembling—terrified of being exposed. All Young Master Mo’s fault.
Just as he was thinking this, Mo Xuanli’s voice came from behind.
“Master, I’m here. Second Senior Uncle is also here? Greetings to Second Senior Uncle.”
“Mm. Haven’t seen you in a few days—you’ve grown more upright. Looks like you’ve been cultivating the sword well,” Fu Zhiyi sized him up and suddenly felt Mo Xuanli’s temperament had changed a lot.
Before, his presence was low, his conduct cautious. Now… his already handsome features had grown more refined, like a pearl polished to a shine—unintentionally dazzling. Truly a piece of fine jade. But as for strength… according to Zhao An, he was still not as skilled.
“I heard you fought Zhao An. In the future, you two will meet again in the competition. Don’t embarrass your master, or others will laugh at him.”
Gu Baiqing frowned slightly when he heard this. He didn’t like that kind of talk—it sounded as if they were comparing children just for the sake of saving face. He had forgotten that back when he needed a reason to get Mo Xuanli to move out, he had said something similar himself.
Just as he was about to say something, he heard Mo Xuanli suddenly lower his tone, his gaze firm: “I will not let Master down.”
Gu Baiqing looked at Mo Xuanli with some surprise—it was rare to see him show such a competitive spirit. But remembering the recent demonization value, maybe letting him defeat Zhao An would help. Anyway, in the original plot, he was first place, so there was nothing to worry about.
Fu Zhiyi nodded in satisfaction and was about to stand up when something seemed to occur to him. He looked at Gu Baiqing and said: “How about you wear white during the competition? When you wear black and don’t speak, you really look more intimidating. I’m afraid the timid disciples will be so scared they can’t perform properly.”
Gu Baiqing almost rolled his eyes. This “attack-type” outfit of his was absolutely not to be changed.
“If they lose over something like that, they can’t complain.”
Fu Zhiyi switched tactics: “Little junior brother likes wearing black to increase his presence—you know he naturally lacks it. But you don’t need that. Honestly, you still look better in white—more like an enlightened immortal. If you don’t believe me, ask your disciple.”
Mo Xuanli was suddenly called on and didn’t know whether to nod or shake his head.
In his opinion, both looked very good—white like snow, black like the night. But if he really had to choose… White robes were loose and a bit lazy in style, while black robes tended to be more fitted. When Master wore black, his figure looked lean and tall, the thundercloud-patterned waist sash accentuating especially the waist—it was like a different kind of night altogether.
Mo Xuanli simply thought that Master’s waist was very slim. He often heard female disciples complain about their own waists, and he thought, if they had a waist like Master’s, they definitely wouldn’t complain.
Gu Baiqing, meanwhile, looked speechlessly at Fu Zhiyi. “You think I care?”
Alright, Fu Zhiyi was out of ideas.
After Fu Zhiyi left, Gu Baiqing went back to giving Mo Xuanli lessons as usual. But today, aside from the regular system lessons, there was also something called a health education class.
From “Victory and defeat are both common; failure is the mother of success,” to “One must take it as one’s duty to uphold the great Dao and righteousness; fame and fortune are fleeting clouds. A true cultivator never minds such trivial matters. To dispel inner demons, one must avoid obsession, maintain a calm mind, be Buddhist about it, and see gains and losses lightly.”
Mo Xuanli blinked his innocent eyes, as if he didn’t quite understand.
“As long as you remember it, that’s fine,” Gu Baiqing said, already feeling tired of his own words. To be honest, by this standard, not even the four Guardian Elders could live up to it.
Mo Xuanli nodded obediently and figured it out—Master had clearly wanted him to win in the competition before, but now suddenly changed attitude, probably worried he’d be upset if he lost to Zhao An.
Although it hurt a little that Master didn’t believe in him, being so cautiously cared for by Master made Mo Xuanli feel happy. He swore he would definitely take first place. He could be insulted, but he would never allow anyone to insult Master through him!
…
Three days later, the sect’s grand competition officially began.
The first match was for the Qi Refining group, to be completed in one day. All disciples in the Qi Refining stage could participate, because the power gap in that stage wasn’t huge, so even early-stage facing great perfection was normal. Disciples of other paths could also sign up if they had the confidence. In the end, almost five hundred signed up. Many matches would be held at the same time, and only when the top sixteen remained would they go to the main arena to compete in front of the elders.
In the morning, Gu Baiqing didn’t go at all. It wasn’t until a child attendant came to remind him in the evening that he went to watch the final matches.
The competition stage was set in the Zixiao Pavilion, the sect’s outward-facing building. It belonged to the sect leader, but was basically managed by Second Senior Brother now. At the foot of the mountain where the pavilion stood was the sect’s main gate.
The pavilion was arranged in tiers like heavenly steps. The competition took place at the square halfway up the mountain.
When Gu Baiqing arrived at the square, on the mountain-side stood a high platform paved with dark tiles, looking solemn and serious. This platform had two levels—on the lower sat the sect’s seven elders, and on the upper level were four seats, three occupied and one empty, left for him.
When he sat down, all four Guardian Elders were present.
Gu Baiqing, dressed in black, carried an unapproachable authority even without anger. The moment he arrived, he drew everyone’s gaze.
“You really know how to slack off. Your only disciple is competing and you come this late?” Luo Nianyi couldn’t help complaining.
“I think my disciple can at least make it into the top sixteen. No need to watch the earlier rounds.”
Gu Baiqing’s gaze swept the arena, and sure enough, Mo Xuanli was among the sixteen. From the distance he couldn’t see his expression clearly, but he could see Mo Xuanli looking this way.
“These on the stage are all at great perfection,” Fu Zhiyi said with a smile. “After such intense battles, I’m afraid they’ll soon make breakthroughs. I hope they can steady their minds during the fight and lay a solid foundation for Foundation Establishment.”
Fu Zhiyi still liked to say the proper, polite things, and the other elders echoed him.
Beside them, Chu Fei didn’t bother being polite—he yawned in boredom. “Hurry up and let them fight. I’m dying of boredom.”
Fu Zhiyi, annoyed, shook his fan and announced the start of the matches.
The sixteen were split into eight matches. Winners would go to the next round, and so on, so luck in the draw mattered.
A child attendant brought forward a box for them to draw lots. Once done, the eight matches began simultaneously.
Gu Baiqing quickly noticed that the largest crowd had gathered around Mo Xuanli’s match. The others didn’t even have half as many spectators.
“What’s going on?” Gu Baiqing frowned.
Fu Zhiyi smiled. “These sixteen are the best in Qi Refining in Zixiao Sect, but only your disciple switched to sword cultivation just a month ago. To make such progress in such a short time is truly impressive. I guess everyone wants to see how you’ve taught him to be this good.”
“Where is it that he’s so amazing? Clearly, it’s Mo Xuanli’s natural talent. Back when we were in Flying Crane Pavilion, his medical skills were already impressive. Then he went to your Qianren Pavilion to help out for a while and even got the hang of formation arrays and talismans. We used to think he wasn’t good at swordsmanship, so Fourth Junior Brother never taught him. But now it seems he’s an all-rounder. That Fourth Junior Brother is stingy—always hiding away the good stuff for himself,” Luo Nianyi complained.
“At the time, none of you thought much of him anyway, so saying this now is pointless.”
In truth, Mo Xuanli hadn’t shown any particular talent back then. After all, whether it was medicine, alchemy, or anything else, it all required spiritual power as a foundation. Mo Xuanli had shown himself to be lacking in spiritual power, so none of the elders took a fancy to him. But as he neared Foundation Establishment, the spiritual roots in his body gradually began to take effect, and naturally his brilliance could no longer be hidden.
Luo Nianyi rolled his eyes, pulled out a wine flask, and began drinking. Seeing the little junior brother next to him yawn, he tried to give him a drink to perk him up, but the little junior brother hurriedly refused and leaned toward Gu Baiqing instead—he didn’t like the spicy burn of wine.
“Honestly, Fourth Junior Brother, do you think your disciple can take first place?” Luo Nianyi asked.
Fu Zhiyi chuckled. “Of course he thinks so. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have changed the reward. Fourth Junior Brother’s the kind of person who won’t make a move unless he’s certain, and when he does, he’s nine times out of ten sure to win.”
The corners of Gu Baiqing’s mouth couldn’t help but curl upward. If not for the fact that his personality couldn’t change too suddenly, he would have started a betting pool right then and there. “I think he can.”
Just then, Elder Zhao’s voice came from below, dripping with sarcasm: “Not necessarily. Look at the matches—most other bouts have a clear winner, but it looks like Disciple Mo is struggling. Perhaps his strength will only take him this far, which is already very good. After all, he only just switched to the sword path; we can’t expect too much, can we?”
Gu Baiqing thought to himself that the old man was really petty, probably still holding a grudge over last time. While thinking this, he suddenly noticed that in the competition arena, Mo Xuanli was on the far left, while on the far right, one of the competitors turned out to be Zhao An.
He’d heard that Zhao An had joined Zixiao Sect just to become his disciple, so how come, after Gu Baiqing had firmly rejected him, he still hadn’t left? Given Zhao An’s status, he should have had better options—why was he still lingering here?
Gu Baiqing felt displeased, but it wasn’t convenient to tell the person to leave.
“It does seem like he’s having a hard time. He doesn’t look in great shape—could he be tired?” Chu Fei, beside him, suddenly frowned, then broke into a smile. “This disciple is not bad. Even knowing he’s going to lose, he refuses to surrender easily. Admirable courage.”
Only then did Gu Baiqing take a closer look. Sure enough, the other five matches had already ended. The first to finish had been Zhao An’s match, while Mo Xuanli’s was still dragging on. Even though the outcome was obvious and his opponent had clearly lost, the other side continued to doggedly drag Mo Xuanli into the fight. Since Mo Xuanli couldn’t use excessive force, he was forced into this drawn-out tangle.
It wasn’t until a small commotion broke out somewhere below that the opponent finally stopped resisting, and the match ended at last.
When Gu Baiqing looked over, he realized the source of the commotion was none other than Mo Xuanli’s current little group of friends.
“All right, it’s over. Now comes the most interesting part. Back in the day…” Fu Zhiyi suddenly spoke.
Gu Baiqing glanced over in confusion. “What?”
“Oh, that’s right—you’ve never participated in the sect tournament before, nor paid attention to these things.” Fu Zhiyi smiled. “Look—on the advancement tokens given to the disciples, isn’t there a plum blossom branch tucked into each one?”
“I thought that was just decoration,” Gu Baiqing said.
“It is decoration—but only for the final round’s tokens. Our annual sect tournament has an unspoken rule: the victor will, after receiving the token, present the plum branch to the most important person to them. So it often becomes a gift for someone they like or have feelings for—after all, it comes with the glory of victory.”
Looking over, Gu Baiqing saw that quite a few people had kept only the token and given the plum branch away, with the young ones naturally teasing and joking among themselves. Some even seemed to confess their feelings on the spot—full of youthful exuberance. Of course, some were disdainful of the whole thing, like Zhao An, who simply tossed his away—much to the displeasure of the girls waiting nearby.
“So, the three of you back then…”
Fu Zhiyi had a look full of untold stories. Luo Nianyi immediately pretended to be drunk, while Chu Fei’s cheeks quietly turned red—though hidden behind his mask, it wasn’t easy to see.
It seemed each of them had some grand, stirring story. Gu Baiqing felt a sudden pang of self-pity—whether before or after transmigrating, he’d always been alone, and now he also had to guard against a disciple who might mutate one day.
Fu Zhiyi grinned. “Especially giving it away on the spot—it’s a great boost to one’s vanity. The success rate for confessions goes up a lot. Why don’t you see who your disciple gives his to?”
Gu Baiqing grew curious. Right now, Mo Xuanli didn’t seem to feel much toward him—maybe a pure senior–junior romance could blossom, which would make things safer for him.
With that thought, Gu Baiqing fixed his gaze on the scene. Sure enough, Mo Xuanli had accepted the plum branch.
Quite a few young women had gathered around him—no surprise, given that he was the future top handsome brother of the cultivation world; the spectacle had to be worthy of him.
The only familiar faces to Gu Baiqing were Senior Sister Yun Yue and the troublemaking Lin Jiaying from last time—especially Lin Jiaying, who seemed to have gotten right up close to Mo Xuanli.
According to the original plot, Senior Sister Yun Yue had her own story and would rarely appear later—an elder-sister figure who offered warmth early on. Lin Jiaying, on the other hand, would indeed like Mo Xuanli, but in a trouble-causing way, and she also wouldn’t appear later. Neither was a suitable match.
At the edge of the arena, Tang Yu slung an arm around Mo Xuanli’s shoulder and said with a grin, “So, brother, what are you going to do with that plum branch?”
Mo Xuanli glanced at it, frowning slightly—it didn’t look very fresh, the petals already a bit wilted. Not worthy of being put in his master’s vase. He was about to toss it aside.
Tang Yu hurriedly stopped him. “You’re supposed to give this to the most important person to you—it’s a symbol of good fortune. It’s tradition.”
Tang Yu naturally couldn’t openly say he was giving something to a girl he liked, but he figured he had already hinted enough to Mo Xuanli before—surely he would understand, right?
Unfortunately, Mo Xuanli had been so absorbed in training lately, wholly focused on preparing for his match against Zhao An, that he had long forgotten about this matter. Besides, he had no one he liked, so he wouldn’t have remembered something like that anyway. The only thought he had related to plum branches was replacing the flowers in his master’s vase.
So when he heard Tang Yu say this, he didn’t think much of it, simply assuming it must be some kind of tradition. Without a second thought, and ignoring the eager looks of the nearby girls, he stuffed the plum branch straight into his storage pouch. After several matches in a row, Mo Xuanli felt utterly drained and exhausted, so he immediately went to find a place to rest.
Lin Jiaying was so irritated that she turned on her heel and left. Senior Sister Yun Yue, amused, comforted Lin Jiaying before reminding Tang Yu—who was about to go find Mo Xuanli—of some precautions to help him relax. After all, on the day of the competition, one couldn’t take any medicinal pills; that would be considered cheating. Everything had to be endured with one’s own strength.
Tang Yu nodded. “You know, Xuanli really is unlucky—why is it that every time, he runs into such troublesome opponents? If we hadn’t spoken up from below just now, who knows how long that person would have kept clinging on?”
Yun Yue sighed as well and urged Tang Yu to hurry along.
…
Seeing that nothing happened over there, Gu Baiqing was a little disappointed. Before long, the second round began.
Zhao An and Mo Xuanli still didn’t end up facing each other.
This time, Mo Xuanli’s opponent was even more difficult, and their match lasted twice as long as those in other groups. It only ended when his opponent was too exhausted to move. By then, Mo Xuanli’s face was pale, his breathing ragged, and his spiritual power seemed nearly depleted. He practically had to be supported off the stage by Tang Yu. Clearly, this round had taken a lot out of him—but he still secured a spot in the top four.
“If every match is this hard and he doesn’t end up taking first place in the end, no matter what rank he gets, people will probably say it’s undeserved,” Elder Zhao commented in a mocking tone.
“I don’t think so—he has the strength,” another elder said fairly. “It’s just that in other groups, the losers admitted defeat quickly, while his opponents refused to give in.”
“Probably no one wants to lose to someone like Mo Xuanli, who joined halfway through his training. They’re afraid of being ridiculed if they lose, so even knowing they’ll be defeated, they keep fighting stubbornly and push themselves to the limit. That’s just bad luck for Mo Xuanli,” someone else agreed.
Elder Zhao snorted coldly but said nothing more.
Gu Baiqing, however, still believed in Mo Xuanli. In the original text, he probably also won with difficulty. But thinking of other cultivation novels, where the protagonist usually makes dramatic comebacks, humiliates opponents, and sweeps through the competition, he couldn’t help noticing that although Mo Xuanli would ultimately succeed, his road was much tougher. Perhaps this wasn’t meant to be a “power fantasy” story.
Next came the draw—two people per group, with winners competing for first and second place, and losers for third and fourth.
Zhao An and Mo Xuanli still didn’t face each other.
This time, Mo Xuanli’s opponent fought as if his life depended on it. Even when it became clear he was losing, he refused to yield.
It was actually an unwise choice. If there were still a chance to win, one could fight to the end—but to keep going after it’s obvious you can’t win? It was hard to say whether that was admirable determination or reckless stubbornness.
Even if it was commendable to last until the end, it meant he’d be at a huge disadvantage in the third-place match. And the gap between third and fourth was huge—third place still received lavish rewards, while fourth got nothing. A top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill and the right to attempt Foundation Establishment in the Star Spirit Cave weren’t things one could obtain under normal circumstances.
Gu Baiqing couldn’t understand what the opponent was thinking.
Mo Xuanli’s victory this time was extremely rough—he even sustained injuries. Although he could be treated, he couldn’t take any spiritual-power-enhancing pills, so the healing effect was limited.
In the end, Tang Yu had to carry him off.
Meanwhile, Zhao An also finished his match, winning handily. Judging by his only slightly mussed hair, it had been an easy victory.
The elders present all nodded in approval at Zhao An, as if the final winner had already been decided.
“Zhao An’s strength is indeed impressive,” Chu Fei commented directly.
Gu Baiqing was about to bristle, but then Chu Fei added, “But he can’t beat Mo Xuanli.”
At this, Elder Zhao couldn’t help but glance up. “Elder Chunyang, you must be mistaken. We all just agreed that Zhao An would win.”
Chu Fei gave them a disdainful look and didn’t bother explaining. Turning his head, he caught his fourth senior brother smiling at him warmly, which made him shiver involuntarily.
“Junior brother, you have a good eye. Come, I’ll give you something nice to drink.”
So this was what it felt like to be proud when one’s disciple was praised and recognized.
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