-Hey guys, some news! Sooo, my computer just crash erasing everything I’d ever written *cue internal screams.* Anyway, here’s your daily chapter! Sorry it couldn’t be two that starts tomorrow! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go finish banging my head against my concrete wall(O_o)- ps: I have backups so no worries ;)
At the entrance of the Celestial Academy Mu Fan finally came to a stop to Xi Shen's relief.
Looking around for a moment, Mu Fan then turned to Xi Shen and said, “Alright take out one of your treasures and let’s go to my Clan, come-on come-on there’s no time to waste.”
Mu Fan said urgingly to Xi Shen.
Xi Shen looked at him and asked, “Where's yours?”
“Huh? Mine? I don’t have one, do you think I could afford one when I could barely clothe myself.”
Mu Fan pointed at his tattered red robes as he said that.
“So how do go on missions? Don’t you need a Flying Spirit Artifact to travel to most places?”
“Nope, I don’t go on missions. As a Chosen I’m exempt from completing mandatory assignments from the Academy.”
Mandatory assignments, for example, was where disciples were supposed to accept a certain amount of missions per year, and a few other things that the Academy deemed necessary for its disciples to complete.
Xi Shen wasn’t surprised that Mu Fan was a Chosen, it would be weird if he wasn’t given his talent.
‘Comprehending Blade Intent while in the Physical Realms. I have never seen Blade or Sword Intent, aside from sensing Sword Intent a bit when that Ling Tian had appeared, so I’m only familiar with it from reading about it in books. It says after one transforms their Spiritual Qi into Sword or Blade Qi, to take a step further on the path of becoming a Blade/Sword Master they have to manifest Sword/Blade Intent. The process of transforming Spiritual Qi to Blade Qi was relatively easy when compared with manifesting Blade Intent. The first could be done after learning a Blade technique to a high level, but for comprehending Blade Intent one has to rely on themselves without any guidance, it’s completely up to that person’s talent. And Blade/Sword Intent was so abstruse in nature that even geniuses of the blade or sword would pull out their hair in frustration at its difficulty. Hmm, now that I think about it, I think Fei Yin had used a bit of Sword Intent when he was battling Bai Lu.’
Xi Shen's thoughts were fast and only a split second had gone by when he was in contemplation.
“Okay, I just so happen to receive a larger Flying Vessel so we can all travel together.”
This was gifted to him by Li Minhua and the Weasel Gang when they met up a few weeks ago to discuss the Divine Fire Spirit Stone Vein.
However, Xi Shen suddenly looked down at his hand that was still being held by Mu Fan and said, “I’ll need my hand back though.”
Hearing that, Mu Fan looked down to see he was still holding Xi Shen’s hand and quickly let go.
“Ahh, don’t get any ideas buddy, I just forgot I was holding your hand.”
Hearing that, Xi Shen gave him a strange look before he shook his head.
Xi Shen waved his hand at an open space nearby and his storage ring lit up.
While he was taking out the item, Mu Fan said, “But to think your physique was so robust. Are you cultivating a Fleshly Body Technique? Even as I sped here you didn’t seem to be in any discomfort. Normally, cultivators would need a strong physique to match their speed. I was only using a bit of my speed but your body was still unaffected.”
*Swoosh!*
A twenty-meter boat appeared out of Xi Shen’s storage ring before he turned to Mu Fan, who was staring gobsmacked at the fancy-looking boat and said, “So you were trying to test me. Have you found what you were looking for?”
This Mu Fan was really sneaky. Xi Shen had realized while coming here that Mu Fan was trying to gauge his abilities.
Upon hearing Xi Shen’s words, Mu Fan came out of his surprised from seeing the boat, and after turning to Xi Shen, he said, “Hey, you’re actually really too observant… Ahh, wait, no, what do mean? Testing you? I wasn’t trying to do something like that. Anyway, let’s go quickly, come-on come-on.”
Mu Fan expertly changed the subject and went climbing onto the boat.
Xi Shen said, “Let’s wait for the others, you were too fast for them to catch up.”
Turning his head to the Celestial Academy’s entrance, he saw Yang Su and the others approaching.
“Those subordinates of yours are way too slow, I barely used any speed while running here. Just forget them and let’s go, I only need you, come-on come-on, I don’t know what those Ming Clan bastards are trying to do with my sister and father. I’ll kill them if they ever hurt them, especially that bastard of an uncle. He’s always looking for ways to scheme against my father and I. This time he has gone too far!… But jeez what’s up with this material!”
Mu Fan suddenly got a bit distracted as he looked down at the edge of the boat his foot were propped up on.
“This material would make a good saber. Tsk! Such a waste using it to build an entire ship.”
Xi Shen‘s head began to hurt a little.
‘This Mu Fan can’t keep a conversation straight. His brain and thoughts seemed all over the place.’
Fei Yin and the rest finally reached Xi Shen and looking at their chest rising and falling along with their slightly pale faces, they seemed extremely exhausted.
The only one who look remotely relaxed was Fei Yin.
It wasn’t that they were quick to tire, after all, they were all cultivators with an abundance of stamina that normal people could never have. It was just that Mu Fan had run all the way here from the Sword Pavilion mountain.
The Celestial Academy was huge, that’s already established, so to run from the Inner Academy all the way to its entrance was a distance of several kilometers. With them going at full speed, no, they were even going beyond their full speed so as to not lose sight of Mu Fan. Because of this, they reached the point of being exhausted, something that was rare for cultivators of their level.
Fei Yin in particular was staring at Mu Fan with shock because even with his speed he couldn’t catch up to him. He could only eat his dust.
‘Such speed for a Sea Expansion Realm cultivator, how is that even possible?’
Was Fei Yin and the rest thoughts.
“Alright let’s go.”
With that, Xi Shen and the rest climbed on board with Mu Fan before Xi Shen followed Mu Fan’s directions and stirred the boat to his Clan.
By the time they reached the City his Clan was in, the sun was beginning to set over the horizon.
As they passed above the town, lanterns lighting up the streets could be seen.
From where they were, Yang Su and the rest could see that the condition of the outer City was rather poor. The homes and important buildings they passed over looked decrepit as if they could fall over at any moment. It only got better as they reach the center of the City.
“In that direction, my Clan is on the northeast side of the City.”
As Xi Shen followed Mu Fan’s instructions and stirred the boat in that direction. He couldn’t help but ponder the circumstances of his home. It was between the mortal world and the cultivation world. It seemed as if the resources for cultivation here were limited, and the cultivators here still lived by mortal standards.
‘How did a place like this produce a talent such as Mu Fan? This is really a surprise, the chances of someone like Mu Fan being born here is astronomically low.’
After a few minutes, Mu Fan’s Clan came into view. It wasn’t large but it wasn’t small either. Its building looked a lot more furnished than the ones in the City, showing they had quite a bit of wealth.
Xi Shen landed the boat just outside of the Mu Clan. The boat drew a few people’s attention and soon a crowd gathered in the area to see which important figure was visiting their city.
When they saw Xi Shen and the others step off they were confused as to who these people were.
However, upon seeing Mu Fan's face their eyes lit up in shock before a clamor of noise resounded in the night.
“That’s Mu Fan!! Genius Mu Fan from the Mu Clan has returned! Quick tell everyone!”
Xi Shen was taken aback by the sudden commotion and people frantically running away to spread the word of Mu Fan’s return.
‘It seems Mu Fan’s reputation is high, well this is normal given his talent and position of a Celestial Academy disciple.’
Mu Fan didn’t hesitate and instantly leap off the boat before rushing towards his Clan’s double gates.
His expression was frosty and he lifted his foot to kick down the gates, but seeming to have remembered something, he paused his actions while saying, “Oh right I’m not supposed to kick down the Clan gates again.”
With a frantic expression on his face, he instead yelled at the gate, “Opened the gate!! Come-on come-on, your Young Master has returned, hurry up already!!”
His shout blasted through the gate and spread to the various buildings in the Clan.
The gate soon opened to reveal several pale face guards.
Without waiting for the gate to open fully, Mu Fan barged in and disappeared inside.
Xi Shen thought for a moment and decided to enter.
The guards upon seeing Xi Shen in his plain clothes and spotless bare feet were about to stop him but they then saw Yang Su and the rest clothes and recognized it as Celestial Academy's robes. They hesitated a bit before letting them in.
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Word Count: 1701