CH 14

“….”

Chu Qi didn’t know how to answer for a while.

On the other hand, it was Liu Weiming who overheard Yan Jiuge’s words that spoke with a little surprise, “Yan-shidi, you’re coming to Zhongling Peak so soon after passing your tribulation, don’t you need to rest for a day or two to adjust your state?”

“Liu-shixiong is also at Zhongling Peak?”

“I was ordered by the Sect Head to bring over some disciples to Zhongling Peak to help reclaim the medicinal fields. Yan-shidi, I thought that since you were still going through your tribulation this morning, it would be better not to invite you.”

Liu Weiming explained.

“So that’s the case. Then, I’ll be coming by Zhongling Peak just in time to help.” Yan Jiuge chuckled, then called out to Chu Qi, “Ah-Qi, will you come down to pick me up?”

It took half an hour for cultivators in the Foundation Building stage to fly with their swords from Zaohua Peak to Zhongling Peak, plus however long it took him to pass his tribulation…

Yan Jiuge really didn’t delay for a moment, rushing to Zhongling Peak right after his foundation was established.

Chu Qi opened his lips. The enthusiasm he had just built up for cultivation had been stifled by news of Yan Jiuge’s advancement.

Even so, Chu Qi finally responded, “….I’ll come right away.”

No matter what, he still needed to congratulate Yan Jiuge.

After summoning the white Luan, Chu Qi sat on its back and went down the mountain.

—

Yan Jiuge had already arrived at the foot of Zhongling Peak, and was currently standing alone in front of the restriction formation while he waited for Chu Qi to come down.

The call of a Luan came from the sky, making Yan Jiuge raise his eyes involuntarily.

The mountain breeze blew through Chu Qi’s clothes, the dark green robes embroidered with leaves that matched the scenery of Zhongling Peak. The sun was shining brightly, catching on the silver leaf hair ornaments above his ears. Against the backdrop of Chu Qi’s childishly handsome face, he looked like a fairy running down the mountain.

The medical cultivator’s robes really suited Ah-Qi very well.

Thinking to himself, Yan Jiuge walked towards where the white Luan landed.

“Yan… Yan Jiuge, congratulations on successfully reaching Foundation Establishment.”

The first words of their meeting was Chu Qi congratulating Yan Jiuge.

Probably due to a lack of confidence, Chu Qi avoided looking at Yan Jiuge’s eyes. His gaze lingered on the grass and dirt on the ground.

Yan Jiuge had kept in mind all this time when Chu Qi called him ‘elder brother’ at the top of the immortal mountain. Now, he had already established his foundation, but Chu Qi still called him by his name. It was impossible for Yan Jiuge to be satisfied with this.

Yan Jiuge raised his brows, and there was a bit of condemnation in his eyes, “Chu-shidi, I’ve built my foundation now, and my cultivation level is higher than yours. You should call me shixiong.”

Chu Qi: “…”

He had escaped the first day, but failed on the fifteenth day.

He really didn’t expect that Yan Jiuge would build his foundation ahead of time, and that he wouldn’t drop the matter of him calling him ‘shixiong’.

In the span of just three breaths, Yan Jiuge caught a glimpse of the tips of the ears under those silver leaf ornaments turning bright red.

Chu Qi had thin skin. Yan Jiuge knew this.

But not only was he three years older than Chu Qi, but his cultivation base was also higher than his now. Wasn’t it just a matter of course to be called ‘elder brother’ or ‘shixiong’?

“If you’re too embarrassed…” Yan Jiuge was lost in thought for a moment as he tried to come up with a way to get what he wanted while accounting for Chu Qi’s thin skin—

“You can just call me shixiong in private. When there’s other people around, you don’t have to. How’s that?”

Chu Qi: “…”

Originally, he still had a little hope that he could get away with it, but that seems to have been in vain. In the end, Yan Jiuge still waited for him to call him shixiong.

Bah!

Anyway, it was just ‘shixiong’.

It would be alright to call him that.

Chu Qi mentally prepared himself, but as the words came to his lips, he caught a glimpse of the expectant look in Yan Jiuge’s eyes, and suddenly couldn’t speak.

Obviously, Yan Jiuge is only thirteen years old now! How embarrassing was it for his 20-year-old soul!

“Ah……”

Seeing Chu Qi faltering, intending to renege on the debt, Yan Jiuge sighed. His eyes drooped, and he felt a little regretful in his heart.

If it really doesn’t work, he won’t call if he won’t call.

“Yan… Yan-shixiong.”

A voice that was as thin as a mosquito’s whine passed by Yan Jiuge’s ears in a hurry, like a fresh breeze, quickly disappearing before he could regain his composure.

“En?” Yan Jiuge’s eyes lit up, “What did you say just now?”

Chu Qi was angry from embarrassment, “It’s fine if you didn’t hear it!”

You didn’t even need to touch Chu Qi to know that his cheeks were hot now, and that they likely couldn’t be any hotter.

“Good shidi, I want to hear it again. Please?”

Yan Jiuge’s wide grin made him look happier than when he had his epiphany of sword intent.

Chu Qi shook his head like a rattle-drum, “No way!”

Just one little sound, but it was still progress.

“Okay, ba.” Yan Jiuge stopped pushing for it, and took the initiative to change the subject, “Then you take me up to Zhongling Peak so I can help you reclaim the medicinal fields.”

The matter of calling him shixiong was finally shelved.

The heat on Chu Qi’s face eased a little. He took out a talisman from his qiankun bag and handed it to Yan Jiuge, “Put this on.”

The evil qi on a sword cultivator’s body needed to be blocked before he could enter Zhongling Peak.

Yan Jiuge took it. He actually already had several restrictions on him to isolate his qi, so it didn’t really matter whether he wore the talisman or not. However, these things couldn’t be revealed to Chu Qi.

“Let’s go up the mountain on xiao-Bai’s back. Put away your spiritual sword and don’t use it recklessly on Zhongling Peak.” Chu Qi told him.

The white Luan’s back was very broad, there was more than enough room for two people to sit down.

When Chu Qi rode with Bia Xuan-shijie before, he didn’t feel crowded at all since they kept a certain distance between them.

But it was different with Yan Jiuge.

The boy in sword cultivator’s robes sat down right next to Chu Qi, his black and white hem overlapping with Chu Qi’s green one. The two were very close.

Chu Qi found that his attention fell on Yan Jiuge for no particular reason.

He saw that Yan Jiuge was sitting cross-legged, with one hand on his knee and the other supporting his chin as he stared off into the distance. He wondered what he was thinking about.

At this moment, the white Luan spread its wings and took off towards the top of Zhongling Peak.

The sky and the earth were clear and bright, which could wipe away the impetuousness in people’s hearts.

“Ah-Qi, I was just thinking about it seriously. You really address me too unfamiliarly. Even when you called me ‘Yan-shixiong’, it doesn’t sound like we’re close at all.”

Yan Jiuge’s voice relaxedly came to Chu Qi’s ears along with the breeze.

This matter was brought up again, and he asked vigilantly, “Then, what do you want me to call you?”

“Just the same as how I call you.” Yan Jiuge said tactfully.

In fact, Yan Jiuge had already planned this out carefully. He called Chu Qi based on the last character in his name, if Chu Qi followed suit, he would still call him ‘Ge1’ in the end.

For the first time in his life, Yan Jiuge was pleased with his name.

Chu Qi: “…”

He quickly repeated Yan Jiuge’s name in his heart a few times, but no matter how he said it, it was a bit awkward.

Finally, Chu Qi closed his eyes and said, “Then, I’ll just call you ‘Ah-Yan’.” Chu Qi chose to call him by his surname instead.

Yan Jiuge, who’s plan failed: “…”

He wasn’t sure if there was something wrong with his memory. Even since Chu Qi stopped bickering with him and became more obedient, it became harder to deceive him with just a word or two.

“Okay.”

But ‘Ah-Yan’ still sounded better than ‘Yan Jiuge’, so he was still satisfied in the end.

During their conversation, the white Luan landed. They had arrived at the summit of Zhongling Peak.

—

While Chu Qi went down the mountain to pick up Yan Jiuge, the rest of the sword cultivators had already started working on reclaiming the medicinal fields under the direction of Elder Qingyue.

Due to the growth of the spiritual plants, no sword energy or sword intent could be used on Zhongling Peak. If the sword cultivators couldn’t use their swords, they were ultimately just ordinary cultivators with slightly better physical fitness.

If they could just split this wasteland of rocks and dirt with a single slash of their swords, not to mention reclaiming ten mu, even reclaiming a hundred mu wouldn’t take more effort than drinking a cup of tea.

But they couldn’t.

Each worked with only an iron hoe, sweating profusely on Zhongling Peak.

Spiritual power could make them swing their hoes faster, but they still felt like something was missing. Unconsciously, they would reach down to touch the spiritual swords hanging at their waists.

Elder Qingyue was well aware of the bad habits of these sword cultivators, so he had all of them place their spiritual swords into his qiankun bag, so that they could avoid the temptation of drawing their swords.

Seeing Chu Qi approaching, Elder Qingyue said, “Little apprentice, here you are. You should go back to your yard to rest. It will take at least half a day for the fields to be reclaimed.”

These years, the sword cultivator disciples seemed to come from noble backgrounds. They weren’t very good at doing rough work and they couldn’t even dig correctly.

“I’ll go and see if I can help.” Chu Qi didn’t want to rest just yet.

Yan Jiuge had already built his foundation, and he even called him ‘shixiong’. His enthusiasm for cultivation had returned to normal.

Yan Jiuge stood beside Chu Qi. Hearing what he said, he couldn’t help saying, “With your thin arms and legs? Don’t even think about being any help down there.”

Chu Qi: “…”

He didn’t have the words to describe Yan Jiuge, but at least he had now mastered the technique that could make him stop talking.

“Then you should go and help first. The sword cultivator-shixiong and fellow disciples seem to be working hard.” Chu Qi went along with Yan Jiuge’s words.

“Okay.” Yan Jiuge responded, but didn’t pick up the iron hoe that was placed beside him.

Just as Chu Qi was about to urge him, Yan Jiuge asked Elder Qingyue, “Elder, where is the next mu of field to be reclaimed?”

“After this mu is dug out, the next one will have to be separated from it by twenty chi.” After Elder Qingyue answered, his expression was slightly puzzled. The first mu hadn’t been dug yet, but this disciple was asking about the next one. Could it be that he planned to dig out the next mu first?

Seeing that he was brought here by his little apprentice, Elder Qingyue only narrowed his eyes without saying anything.

After getting an answer, Yan Jiuge walked in the direction Elder Qingyue pointed out without picking up the hoe. Based on his posture, it didn’t look like he was going to dig up the ground, but rather going out to patrol it.

Chu Qi: “…”

Sure enough, a rich young master like Yan Jiuge had no sense of doing farm work either.

Meeting his shifu’s suspicious eyes, Chu Qi took a deep breath and picked up the hoe from the side. 

Elder Qingyue was dissatisfied, “You don’t need to go down to work the ground. With your strength, it’s better for you to go take care of the spiritual plants.” His apprentice’s spiritual power was too precious!

Chu Qi explained, “Shifu, I’ll just help bring the tools over there! It’s his first time doing this sort of work, he probably doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Elder Qingyue: “…”

He looked over at his little apprentice as he chased after that sword cultivator from just now. Elder Qingyue frowned, but didn’t say anything.

Chu Qi hadn’t yet caught up when Yan Jiuge had arrived at the place that Elder Qingyue pointed out.

Without stopping for a moment, Yan Jiuge squatted down, pressed his palms against the ground, and directed the flow of his spiritual energy to his palms. Yan Jiuge clenched his hands tightly, as if he was grabbing something, then raised his hands, pulling them back violently.

Boom!!

The movement of rocks was like the crashing of thunder, and a big wave was set off in the perennially tranquil Zhongling Peak. Birds flew out of their nests in fright, and animals ran away from the top of the mountain.

And the person who caused this commotion calmly took back the iron claw-like spiritual tool in his hand.

“Alright.” Yan Jiuge’s words fell lightly.

In front of him, an entire mu of land had been reclaimed. The soil and rocks were turned up in a perfectly square piece of land.

Clang!

The iron hoe in Chu Qi’s hands fell to the ground. He looked at the field reclaimed by Yan Jiuge, and turned his head to look at the boy who had just done this. He was stunned.

Chu Qi asked with a complicated mood, “How did you do that?”

“I used this.”

Yan Jiuge opened his hand and showed him the claw-like black iron spiritual tool in his palm, “You put it in the ground, input spiritual power, then pull it back. That’s it.”

It sounded very convenient.

Chu Qi swallowed, wondering where Yan Jiuge bought such a thing. He also wanted to get one for digging. After all, medical cultivation involved planting a lot of spiritual plants. There would certainly be times in the future where they would need to reclaim more fields.

Seemingly seeing through Chu Qi’s thoughts, Yan Jiuge said, “If you want, I can buy one for you next time. This sort of spiritual tool is one that’s bound to a master.” It couldn’t be transferred as a gift.

“Okay, how much is it?” He hoped it wasn’t too expensive.

Chu Qi remembered that he didn’t have many spiritual stones, and he still needed to train during the week.

“For free.”

“Is there such a good thing in the world? You don’t want to buy it for me, do you? The money will still be given to you.” Chu Qi didn’t want to take advantage of Yan Jiuge.

“Then just exchange it for the medicine you refine.” Yan Jiuge said.

“Okay!” Chu Qi’s eyes lit up.

Now, with Yan Jiuge’s help in reclaiming the medicinal fields, let alone twenty mu, even forty mu wouldn’t be a problem.

His little apprentice’s vision was really good. This sword cultivator was really capable.

Elder Qingyue loosened his brows, a look of satisfaction appearing on his face.

As for the other sword cultivators, they didn’t have any spiritual tools like Yan Jiuge that could be used to ‘dig the ground’. They all focused on the sword. Aside from their spiritual swords, they only had a few auxiliary spiritual tools, none of which were suitable for digging up the ground.

There was no other way. The rest of the disciples continued to swing their hoes hard, envy towards Yan Jiuge fermenting in their hearts.

At this moment, a gentle green light suddenly gathered above their heads. Runes for a spiritual healing technique appeared in mid-air, and a refreshing spiritual power fell on them, instantly sweeping away their fatigue, making their bodies feel incomparably relaxed.

—Was this the rumored healing technique?

The eyes of the sword cultivators lit up, and they thanked the medical cultivator-shidi that was standing by the field, forming a hand seal, “Thanking this medical cultivator-shidi for the help.”

“You’re welcome. It’s good for me to practice my spiritual techniques as well.” Chu Qi waved his hand. Helping them reclaim the medicinal fields was hard work. It was only a spiritual buff. It wasn’t hard to do.

“Ah-Qi.”

Suddenly, Yan Jiuge’s voice came from the side.

“En?” Chu Qi raised his eyes and asked, “What’s the matter?”

Didn’t Yan Jiuge go to reclaim the next medicinal field just now? Chu Qi thought he was gone already, he didn’t expect that he hadn’t left yet.

Yan Jiuge glanced at his fellow sword cultivators with deep eyes, burning their faces into his memory.

Yan Jiuge, who didn’t have a drop of sweat on his forehead, said, “I’m tired too.”

[1] Yan Jiuge’s name is ‘晏久歌’. The last character, ‘歌’, is pronounced exactly the same as ‘哥’(older brother, informal).