Free Web NovelChapter 26: Chapter 26: Seeing Li Yu Again
Southern Cang City.
In an ordinary apartment building, a yellowish-orange light flickered. A man with a scruffy beard, dressed in oil-stained clothes, sat on a bed with his eyes shut tight. From time to time, a heart-pounding aura pulsed from his body.
One thing was certain: he was a third-rank Sequencer.
Moreover, he was a third-rank Sequencer who needed to cultivate, which at least meant his sequence was self-born and not forcibly bestowed by Him.
A soul drifted beside him, seemingly anxious and constantly muttering things like, "Why?" The spirit couldn’t help but look at the seated Lord Priest before finally speaking up:
"Lord Priest, the new Tower Assistant Priest who replaced me also died at the hands of that mysterious expert. Why... why aren’t we playing our trump card, Su Xing?"
"Heh, don’t be hasty."
The Lord Priest’s eyes fluttered open. Glancing at the drifting Li Kong, he gestured with his right hand for him to calm down. The Priest thought for a moment, took out a special phone issued internally by the Spiritual Sect, and said:
"Ah, Li Kong, there are some things that you Assistant Priests aren’t privy to."
"While we did order you to kill Su Yu, it wasn’t for the sake of a contribution. Killing Su Yu was merely to facilitate the success of a certain matter. Su Xing is our second trump card; there’s no need to play him so early."
"Besides... given that mysterious expert’s growth rate, I’d really rather not antagonize him any further."
Hearing the Lord Priest’s words, Li Kong was momentarily at a loss for what to say.
Just as the Lord Priest had said, there were things that Assistant Priests like him were not privy to. ’If I don’t even know what we’re doing, what right do I have to comment?’
Seeing the dissatisfaction on Li Kong’s face, the Lord Priest chuckled softly and said,
"If you’re still not satisfied with my answer, I can call the High Priest. Coincidentally, I’d also like to ask him what he thinks about this matter."
At the mention of the High Priest, Li Kong immediately lowered his head.
Although he wished the High Priest would back him up or rebut the Priest’s ideas, he couldn’t possibly say so out loud. The Lord Priest was only one rank above him, so he could still complain a little. But the High Priest was a figure he couldn’t even dream of meeting on a normal day. Toward such a person, he had to maintain proper respect.
The Lord Priest saw Li Kong’s reaction, shook his head with a smile, and pressed a button on his phone. A faint BEEP, BEEP, BEEP could be heard.
Before long, a voice responded from the other end.
"Zha Cheng, why the sudden call?"
The person’s voice was deep and hoarse, grating uncomfortably on the ear, but Zha Cheng paid it no mind. He simply spoke in an apologetic tone:
"My sincerest apologies, Lord High Priest. It’s just that we’ve had a situation arise in the south."
Zha Cheng then recounted everything that had happened recently to the High Priest in full detail. After a long silence, the High Priest finally let out a TSK TSK and said,
"The other High Priests don’t know about this, I assume?"
"They don’t. After Assistant Priest Li Kong told me about it, I immediately concealed the matter."
"Heh heh, well done. You did the right thing. I will definitely apply to the Vice Bishop for a blessing for you from Him!"
"Since the others don’t know, you should prioritize your own safety. The other High Priests will surely continue sending people to kill Su Yu. When they do, we’ll see what that mysterious expert is truly made of. As for you, stay out of it. When the time is right, just bring Su Xing back to the Spiritual Sect."
"Yes, sir."
Li Kong, listening to their conversation from the side, was completely bewildered.
But he did understand two things.
First, the High Priest approved of the Priest’s actions. Just as the Priest had said before, they were trying to kill Su Yu only because he would affect one of their plans, not because Su Yu himself had to die. Now that they had Su Xing as a puppet, they had a trump card, so there was no need to hunt Su Yu to the last man.
Second, the Spiritual Sect he served was not a monolith. In fact, it was riddled with an absurd number of factions. If not for this incident, Li Kong would never have known that there were open and secret struggles even among the High Priests.
Having understood these two things,
he kept his mouth shut. ’Once the High Priest makes a decision, I’m not even allowed to voice any doubt,’ he thought. ’Besides... the High Priest’s temper isn’t nearly as friendly as the Lord Priest’s.’
...
「The next morning.」
Su Xing groggily climbed out of bed. He yawned as he walked into the bathroom to wash up. In the mirror, Su Xing’s face was bleary-eyed, the very picture of someone who hadn’t slept well.
Last night,
after he returned from the killing,
he still felt he had too much energy to vent. He ended up practicing with his sword outside until the wee hours of the morning, almost until dawn, before he groggily fell asleep. He’d only slept for two or three hours before waking up again.
It couldn’t be helped. His long-standing habit of sleeping and waking early had forged an unbreakable internal clock.
Su Xing finished washing up, hung his towel on the rack, and walked out of his room to check his class schedule for the day. ’Not bad,’ he thought, ’four classes today.’ freēwēbnovel.com
Four classes meant four Sword Dao Points. Combined with the two points he had left over, that would be a total of six points. It was enough to raise his [Breath of the Sword] by two levels, but Su Xing didn’t plan on it. He intended to save up for another two days to raise [Breath of the Sword] to Lv. 6, or perhaps even advance it to the next stage altogether.
’That would be more time-efficient than leveling up one by one.’
Su Xing rubbed his eyes, feeling much more awake. He then grabbed a piece of bread, tore open the wrapper, and started eating as he walked toward the Sword Hall’s training hall.
However,
when Su Xing was only halfway there,
he suddenly heard voices conversing in the training hall. It sounded like two women, two men, and an old man. Two of them seemed to be outsiders. One of the voices was familiar to Su Xing, though he couldn’t place it, while the other female voice was one he had never heard before.
Su Xing paused for a moment, then stepped forward with his right foot and entered the training hall.
Sunlight streamed through the window, bathing Su Xing in warmth and chasing away the last vestiges of his sleepiness. The people sitting cross-legged in the training hall noticed his arrival, and all eyes turned to him.
Su Xing scanned his surroundings.
Only then did he see the two outsiders, in addition to Su Yu, Director Li, and Shen Ruyun.
One was Teacher Li, Li Yu. The other was a petite woman, no more than 1.6 meters tall, wearing a pink dress. She held a blue booklet that looked like a roll-call register. She was probably a teacher too, at least on the surface.
The moment this woman heard the footsteps, her gaze shot to Su Xing, meticulously scanning his handsome face and every muscle on his body.
Su Xing, however, didn’t spare her more than a glance, his gaze instead fixed on Li Yu.
’Honestly,’ he thought, ’the first time I met Li Yu, I didn’t sense anything off about him. But this time, I can clearly feel his eyes locked onto me, and it’s stirring a strange feeling deep inside me.’
’So, Teacher Li is part of the organization after all.’
A smile touched Su Xing’s lips as he strode forward and said,
"Teacher Li, isn’t there still some time before the two months are up?"
"Why are you here again? And without having Yu let me know in advance."
