Chapter 33 Yanghua Cloud Sea (Part 20)
"What exactly does my master mean by 'get lost'?" Wei Feng twirled the book in his hand, looking at the groups of new disciples on the corridor not far away, and scratched his chin in distress.
Xuan Zhiyan leaned against a pillar with his arms crossed, "It probably just means you should get lost."
"Impossible." Just as the spinning book was about to fly away, Wei Feng leaped forward, hooked his arm around Xuan Zhiyan's shoulder, and grabbed it. He turned back and gave him a smug look. "My master has never scolded me. You have no idea how gentle he is."
Xuan Zhiyan thought about Jiang Gu's cold and aloof appearance and couldn't help but shiver. "Hiss."
“My master doesn’t want to live on Lianyun Peak, so as his disciple, I have to be sensible.” Wei Feng propped his head up and chuckled. “My master has come to Touchun Peak to teach me basic skills for a long time, so I have to repay him.”
“Then you probably can’t repay all these favors.” Xuan Zhiyan said, “When you were imprisoned in the Discipline Hall before, Elder Jiang even started killing people because of you.”
Wei Feng smiled to himself, thinking that this was nothing compared to what Jiang Gu had done back in the Jiang family. Jiang Gu had almost risked his life for him. Every time he thought of the scene of Jiang Gu holding him and protecting him with his sword, he felt his heart surge with emotion and wished he could spread the word so that everyone would know that he had a good master.
Unfortunately, he couldn't tell anyone and had to keep it to himself.
The bronze bell that signaled the start of class emitted a deep and resonant chime.
"Hurry up and get to class." Xuan Zhiyan pulled him up and said earnestly, "Never talk back to the elders, and don't fight with anyone."
"I know, I know, you really are like a nagging old woman." Wei Feng pushed him forward, "Hurry up and go help your master with his lesson."
Xuan Zhiyan sighed helplessly, took a few steps, then suddenly turned around and pointed at him, "You absolutely cannot sleep in class!"
Wei Feng gave him a determined look.
Half an hour later.
Wei Feng propped his head up, feeling drowsy, and the brush in his hand spread large patches of ink on the rice paper.
"Senior Brother Wei, Senior Brother Wei." Someone called him softly from behind.
Wei Feng opened his eyes wide and looked up at the white-bearded elder sitting above him, letting out a lazy yawn as the elder drew out his voice.
"...The cultivation world is vast. Besides the Pingze Continent where we are, there are also the Wangyue and Chenyao Continents. The spiritual veins of Wangyue and Chenyao are far more abundant than those of Pingze..."
"Senior Brother Wei, you can't sleep," someone behind him reminded him again.
Wei Feng had already circulated Yanghua Sect in his dream. Upon hearing this, he raised his hand to support his heavy head. He watched as several afterimages appeared on the elder's white beard. Finally, get out of class ended, and with a slip of his elbow, he collapsed onto the desk.
The younger disciples beside him were trembling with suppressed laughter.
"Senior Brother Wei," Liu Xian said helplessly, squatting down beside his desk, "you need to be on your best for the first day of class."
Wei Feng lifted his eyelids and glanced at him. "Xuan Zhiyan asked you to keep an eye on me?"
Liu Xian touched his nose sheepishly and laughed, "He said you hate cultivation history the most, and you've never passed the exam."
"Heh." Wei Feng drooped his eyes and yawned. "There's no use learning this stuff."
Liu Xiandao: "There's only this one class. The next class—"
"Wow, they've really changed!" A jeer suddenly erupted from the back row.
Wei Feng and Liu Xian turned around and saw a group of people gathered together. Wei Feng immediately perked up and said, "Let's go take a look."
"Hey, senior brother!" Liu Xian watched in disbelief as the man who had been half-dead just moments before suddenly became full of energy, thinking to himself that Xuan Zhiyan's words were indeed absolutely accurate.
This senior brother Wei loves watching the excitement.
No, he is the excitement itself.
In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Wei Feng had already become familiar with that group of people, calling each of them "senior brother" and "junior brother" with great affection.
"This is nothing. The sea of clouds behind Touchun Peak is the most interesting." Wei Feng spread out the picture book in his hand, and countless small clouds appeared on the table, with numerous pavilions and towers among them. "The mirages inside are the most interesting. Longyun City sells talismans that can turn illusions into reality, so you can go in and explore. If you're lucky, you might even see the true form of Chaolong..."
"The true form of Chaolong!?" A disciple nearby exclaimed in surprise.
"If you're lucky, you might find some, but most of the creatures inside are ancient mythical beasts, and it seems like the most numerous are merfolk," said one of the older disciples.
A black-haired boy sat upright beside the table, tilting his head and looking intently at Wei Feng. "Senior Brother Wei, have you ever seen a merman?"
"I have seen it before, of course." Wei Feng glanced at him, thinking to himself, "Not only have I seen it, I can also transform. So-so."
“Mermaids all look strange,” a little girl wrinkled her nose. “I once saw mermaids being sold in Longyun City. Their ear fins were terrifying, they had slippery webbed hands, their fangs were covered in fish meat, their cries were particularly awful, and their tails had a lot of bones and thorns.”
"Killing live merfolk?" someone laughed. "They must be killing the ones that aren't very good. The really beautiful ones have already been bought and kept as pets. The less attractive ones are used to produce luminous pearls and dragon silk. But it seems there aren't many merfolk left on our Pingze Continent."
The conversation among the group of teenagers quickly shifted to the topic of merfolk.
Wei Feng lazily crossed his arms. He didn't have much sympathy for the merfolk's plight, but he felt uneasy listening to others talk about how to kill merfolk and skin them. Just as he was about to walk away, the black-haired boy next to him suddenly grabbed his arm. "Senior Brother Wei, my name is Du Qing."
"Ah, let's hang out sometime." Wei Feng waved his hand dismissively.
Du Qing wanted to talk to him again, but soon a group of people surrounded Wei Feng, chattering about going to Touchun Peak Cloud Sea.
"Class is about to start!" Liu Xian called out from the front, "The elders will be here soon!"
Wei Feng was sitting by the door. He was about to get up and leave when he looked up and saw a familiar figure. He raised an eyebrow, leaned against the wall, and blocked the other person's way. He said with a grin, "Oh, Senior Brother Mo, what a coincidence."
Mo Daojin said with a straight face, "Unfortunately, I am the teaching assistant for this class."
"Oh—" Wei Feng dragged out his words, crossed his arms, and said gloatingly, "I've been kneeling at my master's foot for days and nights without even seeing him. Is Senior Brother Mo planning to find another way to become a disciple?"
At that time, he had become Jiang Gu's disciple, so Mo Daojin knelt down at the foot of Qingping Peak and asked to become an outer disciple. Unfortunately, Jiang Gu refused him directly, but Wei Feng still felt disgusted when he thought about it.
Mo Daojin remained silent.
Wei Feng made no attempt to conceal the malice in his eyes, and said arrogantly, "What a pity, Master only accepted me as his last disciple. Even if you become a teaching assistant, you can't get even half a step closer to Master. You're supposed to be a Golden Core disciple, how dare you have the nerve to be a teaching assistant for a course like History of Cultivation—"
"Elder Jiang." Mo Daojin looked behind him and respectfully performed a disciple's salute.
The noisy room suddenly fell silent, and the group of disciples hurriedly carried their books and returned to their respective places.
Wei Feng's smile froze. He slowly turned his head and met Jiang Gu's cold eyes. His mind went blank for a moment. "Master... Master?"
Jiang Gu gave him a lukewarm look, walked to the head of the class, and the bell rang just then.
“Junior Brother Wei, I forgot to tell you, I am the teaching assistant for the basic cultivation method class.” Mo Daojin looked at Wei Feng expressionlessly. “I will be assisting Elder Jiang with his classes for a year.”
After saying that, he glanced past Wei Feng without looking to the side, walked to the teaching assistant's seat next to Jiang Gu, knelt down, and opened the book and handed it to Jiang Gu.
Jiang Gu nodded slightly to him, and a gentle smile appeared on Mo Daojin's perpetually icy face.
Wei Feng sat behind the desk, staring at Jiang Gu and Mo Daojin, grinding his back teeth in annoyance.
The two were standing very close, their sleeves almost touching. Jiang Gu didn't flinch, and even whispered something to him. Mo Daojin smiled shyly, his eyes full of admiration and respect as he looked at Jiang Gu.
Wei Feng was so angry that he almost broke the brush in his hand.
Jiang Gu's teaching style was simple and direct, no different from when he taught Wei Feng. He taught these kids the same way he taught Wei Feng. Mo Daojin explained the most basic techniques in detail, while Jiang Gu only needed to point out and correct some key points. The two of them cooperated quite well.
"Elder Jiang, would you like a demonstration here?" Mo Daojin asked, pointing to the technique in front of him.
"This technique has different effects on people with different spiritual roots, so a demonstration won't be very useful. Let them figure it out on their own," Jiang Gu said.
Mo Daojin's eyes showed some excitement. "That's right. I have three spiritual roots: wind, thunder, and earth. At that time, I struggled to achieve the effects described in the book. Later, I broadened my spiritual roots a lot and finally found that the actual power was almost the same."
Jiang Gu nodded. He could sense the broad and powerful spiritual root within Mo Daojin's body. "Expanding the spiritual root is the right thing to do. The more spiritual roots you have, the better this technique will be."
Mo Daojin exclaimed with delight, "Yes, Elder Jiang!"
Sitting below, Wei Feng found Mo Daojin's smile extremely irritating. Jiang Gu had taught him this technique long ago, and he had already mastered it to perfection, but Jiang Gu had never mentioned anything about expanding his spiritual roots!
Wei Feng angrily bit down on the brush, leaving a deep teeth mark on it.
Jiang Gu seemed to sense something and looked up at him.
Wei Feng immediately straightened his back and sat up straight, deliberately amplifying the spiritual energy he was channeling through his cultivation technique, and looked at Jiang Gu with bright, sparkling eyes.
His face practically screamed, "Praise me!"
"..." Jiang Gu ignored it and said indifferently, "Next, you will be paired up for battles."
A group of junior disciples began to fight with great enthusiasm. These were just basic techniques, not very powerful. In Jiang Gu's eyes, they were like a few small ants fighting.
Wei Feng rolled his eyes, then raised his hand with a smile, "Master, no one is in my group."
Jiang Gu frowned slightly.
"How about I spar with Senior Brother Mo?" Wei Feng said with an innocent smile. "Senior Brother Mo, do you dare?"
Mo Daojin ignored him and looked at Jiang Gu instead.
Jiang Gu nodded.
A moment later, a huge explosion rang out in the room.
Mo Daojin slumped against the wall, covered in dust and dirt, staring at his palms in disbelief.
He was so much more powerful than Wei Feng, yet he was ambushed by Wei Feng with a mere basic technique? How is that possible?
"Senior Brother Mo, you flatter me." Wei Feng grinned, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"It's alright, I'm just not as skilled as you." Mo Daojin quickly accepted his defeat and looked at Wei Feng, "Your technique is very powerful."
"It's all thanks to my, my master's, and my father's excellent teaching." Wei Feng deliberately emphasized his words, staring at him with a forced smile.
Mo Daojin got up from the ground and said matter-of-factly, "Elder Jiang is naturally powerful."
"Keep practicing." Jiang Gu kept his head down reading and didn't even lift his eyelids at such a loud noise.
For some reason, Wei Feng suddenly felt extremely suffocated. He glared fiercely at Mo Daojin and returned to his seat.
When get out of class ended, Wei Feng didn't even pack his things before getting up and following Jiang Gu out the door.
The winding corridors were filled with students who had just finished class, creating a lively and bustling atmosphere.
"Master! Master, wait for me!" Wei Feng frowned, pushed aside the disciple next to him, and chased after him.
"What is it?" Jiang Gu asked without stopping.
Those disciples had probably all heard of his heinous deeds of killing people and devouring their souls. Before they even touched him, they kept their distance, looking at him with a mixture of fear and curiosity.
These scrutinizing gazes also irritated Wei Feng. He quickly took a few steps and stood in front of Jiang Gu, his voice a mix of complaint and questioning, "Master, why did you choose Mo Daojin as your teaching assistant?"
"It was an arrangement within the sect." Jiang Gu glanced at him. "Do you have a grudge against him?"
"Well, it's not exactly hatred, we just don't get along." Wei Feng touched his nose guiltily. "Master, did you know that he's always wanted to become your disciple?"
"Hmm?" Jiang Gu asked in confusion, "When did this happen?"
Wei Feng was stunned. It turned out that his master knew nothing about this. He immediately regretted saying it and stammered, "It was during the apprenticeship ceremony..."
Jiang Gu nodded and seriously considered it. "That's acceptable."
Wei Feng was instantly shocked. "Why!?"
“Mo Daojin has good aptitude, excellent comprehension, and is diligent in cultivation. He would be a good disciple,” Jiang Gu said.
This was exactly the same thing he had said to Wei Feng before. Wei Feng realized what he meant and said in disbelief, "Master, you... didn't you say you would only take me as your disciple?"
“I have too much free time, so taking on another apprentice to pass the time wouldn’t be bad,” Jiang Gu said unhurriedly. “After all, you’re busy going to Longyun City for drinks and to the Cloud Sea to see the dragons.”
"I didn't—Master, I was just joking!" Wei Feng panicked immediately, grabbed his sleeve, and said earnestly, "I won't go drinking, and I won't go see the dragon, I... I only need to see you!"
“…What did you say?” Jiang Gu looked down at him coldly.
“What I mean is that I only need to learn from my master!” Wei Feng gripped his sleeve tightly.
The thought that Jiang Gu would teach Mo Daojin as he would teach him, protect Mo Daojin as he would protect him, and even hold Mo Daojin in his arms as he would hold him... a sinister glint flashed in Wei Feng's eyes.
He waited seventeen years to finally find a master who truly loved and cared for him, and no one could take him away from him!
He would rather die than share his master with anyone else!
“Master, Mo Daojin bullied me and is not a good person at all. He became a teaching assistant because he had ulterior motives to get close to you.” Anger and jealousy swept over his body like flames, but were then suppressed. Wei Feng gripped Jiang Gu’s sleeve tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white.
He looked at Jiang Gu cautiously, his eyes slightly red, "Master, please just take me as your disciple, okay?"
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