The water of the Sword Washing Pond was cold, but Lin Yue felt heat steaming from the very marrow of his bones.
With a splash, he surfaced from the bottom.
Before he could even take a breath of fresh air, he was nearly knocked back under by an indescribable stench.
It was a smell that mixed stale dead fish, sour rags, and decades’ worth of impurities accumulated within a cultivator’s body.
Lin Yue looked down to see the originally clear pond water rapidly turning a thick, murky black-gray, spreading outward from him as the center.
“Holy crap, is this the legendary Marrow Cleansing and Bone Forging?”
Lin Yue wiped his face, feeling his skin as slick as a peeled hard-boiled egg.
But that smell… it made him want to perish together with his creditors from his past life.
“Brother Yue! You’re not dead!”
Wang Pangzi scrambled to the edge of the pond.
Just as he reached out to pull Lin Yue up, he slammed on the brakes, covering his nose and staggering back three meters.
His voice was muffled as he yelled, “You… did you fall into the sect’s cesspool? Did Elder Martial Sister’s palm strike force out all the ancient shit stored in your guts?”
“Get lost!”
Lin Yue spat out a mouthful of filthy water irritably, hauling himself onto the bank.
His body felt unnervingly light.
His limbs, once heavy as lead, now seemed brimming with explosive power.
Most importantly, that warm current in his dantian—that was genuine spiritual energy.
Like a small snake, it was happily darting through his newly unblocked meridians.
Qi Refining, third layer.
Stable.
“Is that all it takes to satisfy you?”
A derisive snort echoed in his sea of consciousness.
It came from that book of ill-fated karma.
“Back when your demonic body reached its peak, a single fart could blast a Nascent Soul cultivator to death. And here you are, delighted over unclogging some plumbing. Pathetic. Truly pathetic.”
“You do it if you’re so capable. If not, shut up.”
Lin Yue retorted inwardly.
“And who came up with that line earlier? That bullshit ‘woman, you have successfully caught my attention’? Do you have any idea how much more damage the sheer cringe did than that palm strike?”
“This is the will of Heaven.”
The ledger flipped over, its tone turning gleeful.
“Only this kind of contrast and shame can stimulate that girl’s Dao Heart to the greatest extent. See? Didn’t it just repay one ten-thousandth of the debt?”
Lin Yue couldn’t be bothered with this old rogue of a book.
Right now, he just wanted to find a secluded spot and wash himself clean.
However, reality did not permit him to lay low.
The outer sect disciples who hadn’t yet dispersed from the square were now staring at him with a mix of awe and disgust, as if looking at a hero and a pervert simultaneously.
“Look! Lin Yue actually crawled out alive!”
“What kind of medicine did this guy take? He stole Elder Martial Sister’s sword, touched Elder Martial Sister’s face, and all he got was covered in stinky mud?”
“Stinky mud? Isn’t this… Elder Martial Sister’s mark on him?”
“Brother, your XP system needs a reinstall. You can call this smell a mark?”
Under the pointing and whispering, Lin Yue grabbed the still-dazed Wang Pangzi and fled the scene like a gust of wind.
Back in their cramped, four-person shared dormitory, Lin Yue used three full buckets of cold water before finally washing off that layer of black sludge.
When he changed into a clean gray cloth robe and examined himself in the blurry bronze mirror, even he was taken aback for a moment.
The youth in the mirror still had that delicate, handsome appearance, but his eyes had grown much deeper.
Between his brows, a hint of sharpness not belonging to this age vaguely emanated—a change brought by that sliver of foundational sword intent.
“Brother Yue, confess honestly.”
Wang Pangzi squatted by the door, still trying to wave away the lingering odor.
“Did you take some kind of ‘Strength Brings Miracles’ pill today? You dared to snatch Elder Martial Sister Chu’s sword! That could really get you killed!”
Lin Yue sat on the edge of his bed, spinning a tale.
“I just… saw through life and death. Think about it. If I fail tomorrow’s assessment, I’ll have to go down the mountain and sell sweet potatoes. I figured dying at Elder Martial Sister’s hands is better than growing old and dying at a sweet potato stall. Who knew Elder Martial Sister would go easy on me.”
“Easy on you?” Wang Pangzi’s eyes widened in terror.
“Sending you flying thirty meters is going easy? But seriously, Brother Yue, that line of yours… which master taught it to you? After hearing it, I think I’ve used up a lifetime’s supply of goosebumps.”
“Self-taught. Keep it low-key, low-key.”
Lin Yue’s old face flushed red.
Just as the two were bantering, the dormitory door was kicked open with a bang.
A youth dressed in luxurious silk robes entered, followed by two sharp-featured, weaselly-looking lackeys.
This was Zhao Hu, a small-time boss among the outer sect disciples.
Relying on his family’s minor connections within the Nine Heavens Sect, he often bullied “trash” like Lin Yue.
“Lin Yue, you’ve grown some backbone, huh?”
Zhao Hu fanned his nose with a look of disdain, his gaze cold.
“I heard you got handsy with Elder Martial Sister Chu on the square today?”
Lin Yue didn’t even lift his eyelids.
“Senior Brother Zhao, Elder Martial Sister Chu herself hasn’t said anything about it. Why are you in such a hurry?”
“Me? In a hurry?” Zhao Hu, like a cat whose tail was stepped on, raised his voice sharply.
“Elder Martial Sister Chu is the light of us outer sect disciples! A worm in the mud like you, daring to touch her with your filthy hands? You’re insulting the faith of all of us!”
What Zhao Hu really thought was: I’ve been sending gifts to Elder Martial Sister for three years and haven’t even earned a proper glance.
What gives you the right to touch her chin?
“So what do you want?”
Lin Yue stood up, patting the wrinkles on his clothes.
If this were yesterday, he would definitely choose to admit defeat and accept punishment.
But now, he could feel that sharp sword intent within him stirring restlessly, like a fierce beast trapped for three years, urgently needing an outlet.
“Kneel. Face the direction of the Inner Sect Main Peak, kowtow three times loudly, slap yourself fifty times, then get the hell out of the Nine Heavens Sect.”
Zhao Hu sneered, a faint ripple of spiritual energy moving around him, showcasing his Qi Refining, fourth layer cultivation.
“Otherwise, for tomorrow’s assessment, I’ll make sure you go down the mountain horizontally.”
Lin Yue was amused.
This plot was so cliché it made him nostalgic.
He did not kneel.
Instead, he extended his right hand, making a grasping motion in the air as if holding an invisible long sword.
“Senior Brother Zhao, I just exchanged a move with Elder Martial Sister earlier and gained some insights.”
A hint of mockery played at the corner of Lin Yue’s mouth.
“How about you help me practice a bit?”
“Exchange moves? You think you’re worthy of saying ‘exchange moves’?”
Furious, Zhao Hu took a sudden step forward, throwing a heavy punch with a whistling wind straight at Lin Yue’s face.
He used eighty percent of his strength, intending to shatter Lin Yue’s nose bridge in one blow.
At the moment the fist was about to connect, Lin Yue moved.
He did not retreat.
He didn’t even make any superfluous movements.
He simply formed his fingers into a sword and, following the trajectory of Zhao Hu’s punch, made an extremely natural upward flick.
In that instant, an extremely faint sound of a sword cry seemed to ring in the air.
Swish!
Zhao Hu only felt a chill on his fist, then his entire body went numb as if electrocuted.
His powerful, heavy punch was effortlessly deflected by Lin Yue’s two fingers, sliding past Lin Yue’s shoulder.
And Lin Yue’s finger was now pressed against Zhao Hu’s throat.
The fingertip was slightly cool, yet it carried a sharpness that made Zhao Hu’s blood run cold.
It felt as if, should that finger advance just one more inch, an invisible sword qi would directly slit his windpipe.
“You…” Cold sweat instantly beaded on Zhao Hu’s forehead.
He felt the Lin Yue before him had changed.
He was no longer the soft persimmon to be casually squeezed, but more like a blunt sword just dug out of the earth.
Though not yet honed, the heavy, murderous aura it exuded was already suffocating.
“Qi Refining, third layer?”
Zhao Hu realized in horror that Lin Yue’s cultivation had somehow broken through.
“Impossible! Your blocked meridians…”
“Elder Martial Sister’s palm strike cleared my Ren and Du meridians. Got a problem with that?”
Lin Yue leaned closer to Zhao Hu, speaking softly.
“Still want me to kowtow?”
“N-no… no need.”
Zhao Hu’s voice was dry as he slowly backed away.
“Get lost. And by the way, tell anyone else thinking of causing trouble: if they want to avenge Elder Martial Sister, they should go ask Elder Martial Sister herself first. As long as she nods, I, Lin Yue, offer my life anytime.”
Lin Yue snorted coldly and withdrew his finger.
Zhao Hu, as if granted amnesty, scrambled out of the dormitory with his two lackeys, not even daring to leave a threatening word behind.
“Holy crap! Brother Yue! You’re a god!”
Wang Pangzi jumped up, grabbing Lin Yue’s leg.
“That finger of yours just now was downright cool! Tell me, did Elder Martial Sister secretly pass you some secret manual?”
Lin Yue rubbed his slightly sore fingers and gave a bitter smile.
“What secret manual? It’s just… the debt is too heavy, had to learn some skills to stay alive.”
“This is what they call pressure breeds motivation.”
The ledger bubbled up again in his sea of consciousness.
“A small fry like Zhao Hu doesn’t even count as a creditor. But that girl Chu Wanning… she’s probably been practicing her sword on her Ice Blossom Platform for three hours straight by now.”
Lin Yue’s heart stirred.
“Is she still angry?”
“Angry? That’s called humiliated fury.”
The ledger said meaningfully.
“Your ‘One-Finger Zen’ not only broke her momentum, it also stirred up a sliver of subconsciousness she’s sealed away for five hundred years. Right now, her mind is filled with that line, ‘Woman, you have caught my attention.’ If she doesn’t capture you and chop you to pieces, she’ll never achieve meditative stillness in this lifetime.”
Lin Yue shuddered.
“So what about tomorrow’s assessment…”
“Tomorrow’s assessment, she will definitely attend.”
The ledger chuckled.
“And she’ll bring her Frost Chill Sword, personally sitting in the judge’s seat. Lin Yue, good luck. I hope tomorrow’s you can still successfully catch her attention.”
Lin Yue looked at the moonlight outside the window and sighed silently.
On this path of immortal cultivation, others defied the heavens, while he was running naked against the romantic debts of his past life.
“Since I can’t avoid it…” Lin Yue clenched his fist, his gaze gradually clearing.
“Then let this debt be repaid even more fiercely!”
…
Early the next morning, at the Nine Heavens Sect’s training grounds.
The atmosphere was a hundred times more tense than the day before.
Because Chu Wanning, a core inner sect disciple who never participated in outer sect assessments, was now seated in the very center of the viewing platform.
She had changed into a deep blue sword robe, her long hair tied high, appearing efficient and severe.
The Frost Chill Sword lay across her knees, emitting waves of cold air potent enough to freeze the disciples in the front rows.
Her gaze slowly swept across the crowd like a search radar.
Until she spotted that gray figure hiding behind the fatty, trying to bury his head in his chest.
Chu Wanning’s finger lightly tapped her sword scabbard.
Clang…
A clear, crisp sword cry exploded directly in Lin Yue’s ear.
Lin Yue’s whole body stiffened.
He stiffly raised his head, meeting Chu Wanning’s eyes that burned with icy flames.
“It’s over.”
Lin Yue swallowed hard.
“This time, she brought her sword.”