“Starting today, all of your cultivation progress will be under my arrangement. Do you understand?”
Thank goodness, the young girl Xia Xia finally reacted.
Right now, she was listening to Nan Xi’s instructions, her head nodding as fast as a pounding pestle.
“Also, tomorrow at the Chen Hour, come to my residence and wait for me. I will have your cultivation plan ready. If you don’t know the specific address, you can find Granny Ji; she will lead you there.”
Nan Xi gave his final instructions word by word.
Judging by how Xia Xia was intently taking notes in a small notebook, she was indeed listening seriously.
At least her attitude was correct. He just didn’t know where she had pulled that notebook from.
Nan Xi pursed his lips, a wry smile appearing on his face.
Argh—
Another scream echoed from upstairs. Nan Xi looked up and glanced.
Calculating the time, it was almost over. He lowered his gaze and met Xia Xia’s eyes again.
“I have important matters to handle. You should head back for today.”
“Mm-hmm!”
Xia Xia stuffed the notebook back into her sleeve, picked up her broom again, and bowed to bid Nan Xi farewell.
Calling it a farewell didn’t seem quite right.
After all, Xia Xia still had her cleaning duties in the Sword Repository today.
After bowing to Nan Xi, she clutched her broom and continued sweeping, remaining only ten steps or so away from him.
From time to time, those emerald-green eyes would look up to steal a glance at Nan Xi.
She was a bit of a ditz, but quite cute.
Nan Xi gave a light chuckle and turned toward the stairs leading to the third floor of the Sword Repository. He was here today to act as the Sword Bestower.
However…
Before Nan Xi reached the stairs, a voice so sycophantic it was almost nauseating suddenly rang out.
“Master Nan Xi, so you were here! We thought you had gone somewhere else!”
Nan Xi furrowed his brows and looked toward the sound. Just as he expected, the person walking down the stairs right now was none other than Elder Song Er.
However, Elder Song Er’s expression was far from good; it was practically filled with regret.
Judging by the miserable expressions of the nine Inner Sect Disciples behind him, they had likely taken quite a fall.
Nan Xi clicked his tongue and sighed inwardly.
While he was lamenting, Elder Song Er had already led the Inner Sect Disciples before Nan Xi and cupped his hands in greeting.
“This humble subordinate greets Master Nan Xi.”
“It seems it’s not yet time for me to be needed.”
Nan Xi scanned the disheveled disciples behind him. A few of them couldn’t even stand steady and had to rely on others’ support just to stay upright.
“I have let Master Nan Xi see something embarrassing,” Elder Song Er sighed and looked at the disciples with great regret.
“As you can see, this batch of disciples failed to gain the recognition of the [Nine Swords of Tianquan].”
“I could hear that,” Nan Xi dryly commented.
If he hadn’t miscounted, since the start of the Sword Selection Ceremony, eighty-one sounds of bodies being blown backward had echoed from upstairs.
Not one more, not one less—exactly nine disciples and nine Spirit Swords. Every single one had failed.
“This… sigh,” Elder Song Er said helplessly.
“If this continues, the gap between us and the other Ling Peaks will likely grow wider and wider. I recently heard that an Elder from Tianxuan Peak created a new Sword Art and has begun teaching it to the disciples. With things going like this, where is our Tianquan Peak headed?”
The look on his face was so pained, full of distress and lamentation. Truly, it was enough to make anyone who saw him weep.
As he spoke, Elder Song Er cast a sorrowful gaze toward Nan Xi and reached out, seemingly about to grab the hem of Nan Xi’s robes.
But Nan Xi had, after all, undergone professional training. Back then, he could dodge rolling stones on a hanging waterfall; could he not dodge this grab?
With a flash, Nan Xi’s feet silently shifted three inches, perfectly evading Elder Song Er’s move.
Elder Song Er, unable to react in time, stumbled and took several steps forward.
Fortunately, he eventually caught himself on a Spirit Sword display case, or he would have taken a nasty fall.
Elder Song Er struggled to stand up and gave an embarrassed cough. But since the words were on the tip of his tongue, he had to say them.
“Master Nan Xi, tell me, what should our Tianquan Peak do…?”
‘You’re asking me? Who should I ask?’
Nan Xi rolled his eyes at Elder Song Er in his heart. He was here to destroy Tianquan Peak, not to restore its glory.
If it were the latter, he might have thought of ways to promote the peak’s development.
As for now… forget it. He had just come up with a brilliant plan to destroy Tianquan Peak.
But it seemed wrong not to respond to Elder Song Er. Nan Xi thought it over and decided to give them a word of encouragement.
“Do your best.”
“But…”
“You came downstairs to continue challenging the Spirit Swords on the second floor, right? Continue the ceremony; don’t mind me.”
Nan Xi’s gaze swept calmly across the disciples. From beginning to end, he showed no surprise or regret regarding the disciples’ failure.
It was as if everything had been within his expectations all along.
“Wait until someone gains the recognition of a Spirit Sword, then I will personally bestow it.”
With that, Nan Xi turned and left again, leaving everyone staring at one another in stunned silence.
“Master Nan Xi… won’t you say a few more words?”
Elder Song Er was still trying to call Nan Xi back.
Nan Xi’s footsteps paused. He turned to look back at Elder Song Er and then glanced at the silent disciples behind him.
“Act within your capabilities.”
He spoke flatly, then turned to go downstairs to clear his head.
Elder Song Er looked in the direction Nan Xi had gone, then turned back to the bewildered disciples.
……
At the very last moment before he disappeared around the staircase, Nan Xi heard Elder Song Er’s final words.
“This… well… er, just as Master Nan Xi said, I hope everyone acts within their capabilities in the upcoming selection. Do not take on challenges that are too dangerous.”
At least he hadn’t misinterpreted his words. Nan Xi walked slowly out of the Sword Repository.
As for those “few more words” Elder Song Er had hoped for, forget about it.
Did he really expect Nan Xi to encourage the Tianquan Peak disciples to work hard, telling them not to lose heart if they didn’t get the [Nine Swords of Tianquan] and that many other Spirit Swords were available because where there’s a will, there’s a way?
Wouldn’t that be shooting himself in the foot? Having Tianquan Peak produce more outstanding disciples was not good news for his plan.
However…
[Disciples] were indeed something he could manipulate in the future.
If he could strike at Tianquan Peak’s disciple training system, it would greatly benefit his plan.
Nan Xi silently noted this keyword in his heart, then strolled toward the main hall of Tianquan Peak.
Compared to that, he had an even more important plan right now.
And that was to waste every single resource he had on the useless girl he had chosen—Xia Xia!
Before that, he should go ask Granny Ji how many pills and treasures he could get.
At that thought, his pace quickened significantly.