Chapter 73: It’s good to be young on New Year’s Eve, and do everything with gusto.
As autumn turns to winter, the entire Tianyan, with Fu Ri Peak as its center, is gradually shrouded in the bleak and cold frost and snow.
Several months passed, and the inner sect had already gained a new group of disciples. Unlike the previous year's glorious Tianzi class, where all fifteen disciples were admitted into the inner sect, this year the elders selected only two new disciples: one at Dongxian Peak and one at Ziyun Peak.
Everyone then realized that the number of disciples who entered the sect that year was the largest in recent decades, and that the cultivation levels of the disciples when they first entered were also slightly higher than those of the disciples who had entered the sect in previous years.
According to the rules of the immortal cultivation world for hundreds and thousands of years, among these dozen disciples, there may be one or two legendary masters who will be recorded in history.
The grand competition among the three major sects after the beginning of spring may be an opportunity to witness them coming into the public eye.
As the end of the year approaches, the entire Tianyan, apart from lamenting the rare heavy snow weather in the past few days, is discussing the upcoming Dharma Assembly.
After the New Year, the sect will first conduct a round of selection to determine the top three in each realm, who will represent the sect in the next Dharma Assembly.
Among the new disciples, Zhan Yao and Mu Fuyun are already Jindan-stage cultivators and are automatically included in the list of those who will soon participate in the sect selection.
Zhan Yao was just like before, focused on his practice, getting up early and staying up late every day to practice sword skills. He ignored what others said, and only focused on what he wanted, without any relaxation.
Mu Fuyun couldn't help but look at her with admiration again.
A few months ago, just after returning from the Xisha Polar Region, Zhan Yao took the initiative to go to the Punishment Hall to accept the punishment, which caused the news to spread. Many disciples knew that when she was on a mission outside, "she almost harmed her fellow disciples because of a momentary lapse of judgment."
They didn't show it on their faces, but they had some doubts in their hearts, and even discussed it privately, suspecting that Zhan Yao's past arrogance and uprightness were all an act.
Faced with these rumors that dared not be made public, Zhan Yao always turned a deaf ear to them and continued to be herself.
Mu Fuyun knew the truth and realized that she had been blamed for no reason. Once, he couldn't help but ask her if she regretted her decision.
Unexpectedly, Zhan Yao gave her a puzzled look and asked, "Why do you regret it? Wasn't that how you got through the rumors back then? Is it that difficult?"
Mu Fuyun: "...It's really not difficult."
No matter what, she felt relieved when she saw that Zhan Yao didn't take other people's words to heart at all.
Fortunately, after all, they had been classmates for several years, and everyone understood Zhan Yao's temperament to some extent. In addition, after discovering the rift between her and Xu Lian and Zhou Su, they all made guesses belatedly.
Over time, naturally no one mentioned this matter anymore.
The New Year is coming to an end in the blink of an eye.
As the monks cultivated for longer and higher levels, the mortal aura left on their bodies became weaker and weaker. They never paid much attention to such mortal festivals.
However, perhaps because there have been so many new disciples in the past two years, the most lively and grand festival for ordinary people in the mortal world seems to have infected the world of immortal cultivation as well.
A dozen young new disciples from the inner sect discussed and decided to stay up together on New Year's Eve.
However, the other elders and senior brothers and sisters in the sect did not celebrate New Year's Eve, and the dozen or so of them could not think of a suitable place to celebrate it.
Finally, after much thought, I thought of Lingshanze.
There are many people on other peaks, and the senior brothers and sisters need to practice and fight, but Lingshanze is different.
There, apart from Xie Hanyi, there was only Mu Fuyun. Compared with other peaks, it was indeed a good place with "vast area and sparse population".
In addition, no one knew where Lingshanze was, and no one had ever been there, so they always felt it was a bit mysterious. Therefore, as soon as the idea came to their mind, they became very curious.
"Junior Sister Mu, could you please go back and ask Uncle Xie what he meant?"
Xiao Yan usually talks the most and has the least amount of words, so he represented everyone and tentatively asked Mu Fuyun.
Faced with the expectant eyes of his classmates, Mu Fuyun hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
She knew that these classmates, when they were in the outer sect, had the custom of gathering together on New Year's Eve. They had not been familiar with each other before, let alone close, so no one invited her to join them on New Year's Eve last year.
She didn't mind. In fact, when she was on Yuya Mountain, she had long been accustomed to loneliness. It was just New Year's Eve, no different from any other day and night when she was alone.
But this year, everything seems a little different.
She became close to everyone. Although she still went alone, she was no longer alone. She had companions and a master.
In the evening, when I returned to Lingshanze, it happened to be the time when Xie Hanyi came out of seclusion to rest.
He was dressed in a white robe and walked out of the cave. He stood on the stone surface by the lake. When he looked up, he saw her coming on a sword.
“Master!”
Mu Fuyun jumped down from the sword with a smile, landed in front of him, saluted him first, and then mentioned that he wanted to invite a dozen classmates to Lingshanze to stay up together on New Year's Eve.
Somehow, as soon as I finished speaking, I had an illusion, as if I had suddenly become a ten-year-old child, returning from school, and looking forward to asking the elders to allow me to invite my classmates and friends to visit my home.
Her face felt strangely hot.
"I just didn't want to offend Xiao Yan and the others, so I agreed to come back and ask Master. If it disturbs Master's meditation, I will ask them to find another place tomorrow."
Subconsciously, she always felt that Xie Hanyi was so extraordinary, as if he was born to be away from the mundane world, and could not blend in with such a lively scene on New Year's Eve.
Xie Hanyi didn't expect her to make such a request, and looked at her in a daze for a moment.
After spending so many years in Lingshanze, accompanied by loneliness day and night, he really couldn't imagine what it would be like to let those disciples, who he thought were just half-grown children, come here.
He really liked quietness and didn't want to be disturbed. Even many years ago, when he was still a child and had just entered the sect, he had never participated in such a lively atmosphere.
However, faced with his disciple's request, he couldn't bear to refuse.
Knowing that she was just like himself in the past, who was not accepted by her fellow students from the beginning, and finally became more and more harmonious with everyone, he felt quite relieved that "my daughter has grown up".
"That's fine." Meeting her rare, somewhat uneasy look, his eyes curved slightly. "Let them come over, just don't let them go into the lake; it's too dangerous there."
After receiving the permission, Mu Fuyun's eyes lit up, a smile appeared on his face, and he nodded seriously: "Master, don't worry, I will definitely tell everyone well."
New Year's Eve will soon be here.
The classes for that day were not cancelled because of this. Everyone still went to Fu Ri Peak early in the morning to attend classes and practice sword skills.
However, they spent the day's classes in excitement and anticipation.
During the last break before school was over in the evening, Xiao Yan took Xu Huaiyan and others down the mountain to the canteen of Qinglu, and took out the rice wine and snacks that the chefs had prepared in advance, waiting to bring them over later.
As soon as the last class was over, a group of more than ten people followed Mu Fuyun in a mighty procession, and under her leadership, they headed towards Lingshanze.
There were several senior brothers and sisters around who happened to be here to watch the new disciples' lessons. They stood by the road and looked at the dozen or so young children who passed by them, the "adults", and couldn't help but sigh.
"These kids—they're really full of youthful energy."
"It's good to be young. You can do everything in a hurry."
When leaving, Mu Fuyun looked around and saw that except for Xu Lian and Zhou Su who did not follow him, Zhan Yao was also standing alone, with his head down, wiping his sword, and planning to leave soon.
She couldn't help but pause, realizing that Xiao Yan and the others seemed to have forgotten to invite Zhan Yao.
In the past, Zhan Yao was always with Xu Lian and the others. Whenever Xu Lian and the others came, they would bring her along. Therefore, everyone had formed a habit of only asking Xu Lian and Zhou Su about everything, and not asking Zhan Yao.
When the others saw Mu Fuyun stop, they also looked in the direction she was looking. When they saw Zhan Yao, they realized what was happening belatedly and felt awkward and embarrassed. They wanted to invite her along, but were too embarrassed to speak up.
After wiping his sword, Zhan Yao also noticed the movement here. After sheathing his sword, he looked up.
Everyone just stared at each other blankly from a distance.
Zhan Yao pursed the corners of his lips, and tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword. After a moment of silence, he looked away expressionlessly and turned to leave.
"Zhan Yao!" Mu Fuyun called her over, "What are you still standing there for? You won't be able to find a place by yourself later."
This sentence is quite similar to Zhan Yao's previous style.
Zhan Yao paused and turned around to look at her.
Others also reacted quickly.
Xiao Yan was the first to say carelessly, "Yes, that's Lingshanze. We haven't been there before."
Hongying's eyes rolled, and he walked forward with a smile, took Zhan Yao's arm, and led her to the team.
"Ayao, don't put away your sword. I still want to watch you fly it. It's been so long, and I still haven't learned it well. Are you too stingy to teach me?"
Zhao Yueyue nodded repeatedly, his expression eager to learn. Xu Huaiyan and Yu Cen automatically stepped aside, leaving a gap between them just big enough for one person.
Zhan Yao looked at everyone's performance with a complicated expression, not knowing how to react for a moment.
A senior sister from Luoxia Peak was watching and couldn't help but smile at her: "Ayao, go ahead. It's a rare day of relaxation, and it's a good thing. Master and Senior Sister Yun won't object."
She was helping Zhan Yao out.
Zhan Yao looked at the pairs of smiling eyes around her, her throat choked up, and her tense face slowly relaxed.
"Okay," she untied her sword again, and without Hongying pulling her, she took the initiative to follow her and stood in the gap left by Xu Huaiyan and Yu Cen. "I'll be right there."
"All set," Qi Man looked around and nodded with satisfaction, "Let's go!"
More than a dozen people flew into the air from Fu Ri Peak on their swords and headed towards Lingshan Lake in the west.
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