CH 9

That night, Su Yang suffered from insomnia again.

Ever since he’d arrived in this world,—with the exception of the first three days where he had drowned his sorrows with liquor and fell quickly asleep each night—for the two nights after he’d set out from the Devil Sect, he would suffer from insomnia until the sky would start to lighten and then falling asleep in a daze.

Quiet nights made it easy for people’s thoughts to wander. Even Su Yang, who was a naturally anxious person, would inevitably be affected after experiencing such an unexplainable upheaval.

In addition, for the ancients, almost everyone rests at sunset and will fall asleep by 9pm latest. In the modern world, this was the time that nightlife was just starting, so it was normal for Su Yang to be unaccustomed.

He also knew that this kind of routine would need time getting used to.

Hearing Fan Xi’s snoring on the other side of the bed, Su Yang felt his way in the dark and got up, took out a thin book from his bag and walked with soundless footsteps out the door.

The farmhouse’s small courtyard was peaceful and quiet and the old man by the door had also returned to the house to rest. It seemed that he was the only one left in the world, with only the bright moon in the sky to keep him company.

There were no clouds that night, the moon was almost full and the illumination wasn’t too bad. Under the glow of the moon, Su Yang opened the ‘Blooming Lotus Sword Technique’ book, carefully discerning the writing and the illustrations.

Although he had transmigrated into the naturally talented and physically superior body of the Devil Sect’s Young Saint, it did not mean that he could sit back and relax from now on.

On the contrary, it’s precisely because he was now the Devil Sect’s Young Saint that he must work harder as he knew that there were many fighting scenes involving him in the following storyline. He had to master all the martial arts that the Devil Sect’s Young Saint should have mastered; to reach the height of martial arts he should have reached as soon as possible.

Otherwise, it was very likely that he would die in some strange place before the storyline was even halfway through.

There was no logic in this world. Others didn’t know his origins and wouldn’t always exercise restraint on him each time. He can only rely on his own efforts to survive in this world and do his best to maintain the plot.

Perhaps, through this way, he could finally complete this story and return to the real world.

Su Yang read the first few pages of the ‘Blooming Lotus Sword Technique’ several times and memorized the movement of internal force and the articulation of sword moves stated therein.

Then, he tucked the book at the back of his waist belt and unsheathed a flexible sword from his waist.

The blade of this sword was only about two centimeters wide, extremely thin, but very tough. The edge of the blade quivered, not like a sharp weapon, but like a pliable whip.

Su Yang had never practiced martial arts.

At most, he had demonstrated many showy-but-impractical martial arts moves under the guidance of the stunt crew.

But he had learned to dance.

The precise reason he was able to become an online celebrity was because he had participated in a dance talent show.

In the cast of ‘Arch-Rivals’, Su Yang was the only young actor who did not use a stunt double and it was also a blessing that he had dance skills. At the beginning, the crew used this as a selling point and it gave him a surge of positive publicity.

Fortunately, the Devil Sect’s martial arts moves were similar to elegant whirls and spins. Even if Su Yang had never practiced martial arts, he could still grasp some of it due to his dance skills.

Taking advantage of the moonlight, Su Yang successfully deployed the moves in the first few pages of the ‘Blooming Lotus Sword Technique’ in sequence and repeated them several times. After the exercises became systematic, he included a circulation of internal force attempting to combine the two.

Nonetheless, martial arts—especially martial arts in the fictional context, was still very different from dance.

Su Yang practiced for a long time, until he was dripping in sweat, until the moon was facing westwards, until the sky was darker than midnight, yet he still failed to grasp the coordination between internal force circulation and martial arts moves.

The extreme exhaustion of his body coupled with the severe depression of his mood struck Su Yang, making him feel extremely agitated and wanting to vent.

He stopped his moves and glanced down at the pliable sword in his hand. Suddenly, he remembered the song ‘Drunk Whip’ which he had danced to during a competition.

The tip of the sword pointed to the ground.

Suddenly, Su Yang abruptly sprang to hit feet. Following the melody in his heart, he swung the soft sword in his hand into a full arc.

He closed his eyes slightly, his feet were light, his waist was pliable and he danced in the empty farmhouse courtyard in the dark of night, under the brilliant starry sky.

He did not use internal force, relying only on the purest physical strength to interpret softness and rigidity with an ultimate explosive force.

This short dance started in the silence and stopped in the silence.

Su Yang panted slightly. He leaned over and picked up the ‘Blooming Lotus Sword Technique’ book that had fallen to the ground during the dance. After tucking it back at his waist, he combed a tuft of scattered hair and slowly walked back into his room with his sword.

The door closed noiselessly and silence returned to the farmhouse.

To the east, a faint hint of grayish blue appeared.

Behind a gap of an open window, Gu Feidi stared at the trampled dust in the courtyard for a long time before lowering his eyes and turning away.

After a while, he opened the door to the courtyard and began his mandatory morning practice.

On the bed in the other room, the old man slowly opened his eyes and sat up, mumbling to himself: “There are so many good seedlings among the youngsters this year…” 

The sky was getting brighter. Xu Yunzhan and Pu Lingyun also got up to join Gu Feidi and began practicing martial arts with him.

No doubt awakened by the voices of three people, many young martial artists staying in the farmhouse also got up one after another and went to the courtyard to perform some simple, daily drills.

When the sun rose, the old man from yesterday slowly came out of the house.

He didn’t greet any of the young martial artists in the courtyard but sat down outside on the deck chair again, leisurely closing his eyes and resting.

Eventually, when there were more than twenty people gathered in the yard, a gentle-faced, middle-aged man came down the mountain road and stood outside the farmhouse.

“Old Qi.” The middle-aged man bowed respectfully to the old man on the chair and said, “Did you come across any good seedlings among these youths last night?”

The old man didn’t even bother to open his eyes and said indifferently: “There are many diligent ones who have already come to the yard to perform exercises at this hour. Go ahead and take them.” 

The middle-aged man looked up into the yard and smiled: “Yo, there are so many good prospects this time.” 

As he finished speaking, he walked into the farmhouse courtyard and said loudly: “Those who started practicing martial arts before dawn today can go pack up your belongings and follow me up the mountain.” 

Earlier, the teenagers in the courtyard had already begun to chat with the middle-aged man like they had with the old man. They slowly stopped their exercises and listened carefully to the conversation between the two. When they heard what the middle-aged man had said, there were some who were less than thrilled and others went forward one by one to salute the middle-aged man, then returned to their rooms to pack their things.

All of a sudden, a young martial artist grinned, “Speaking of which, why hasn’t the Devil Sect’s demon spawn made an appearance?”

Someone immediately chimed in: “It is rumoured those from the Devil Sect are lazy. They’re probably used to spending their days in comfort, no doubt sleeping late into the afternoon before rising!”

Another person cracked up: “It’s a pity that the insufferably arrogant Devil Sect’s Young Saint is met with this misfortune. Who knew? Hahaha…”

“As I said, Lesser Jade House is not just looking at talent for their selection. If you are not hardworking, there is no need to come to Lesser Jade House and waste your time!”

“Bro speaks with reason!”

Pu Lingyun heard everyone’s condemnation of Su Yang and finally found a chance to speak. She sneered and turned to Gu Feidi: “Xiao shixiong, that Devil Sect demon is so lazy and wastes his talent. His future achievements will definitely not be as good as you! Hmph, to rely on him, he actually tried to…”

“Lingyun, don’t say anymore.” Gu Feidi lowered his eyelashes and could not help secretly clenching his hands at his side.

He pursed his mouth and said solemnly: “We are not qualified to judge someone that… we’re unable to keep an eye on them all the time.”

Pu Lingyun was taken aback: “Xiao shixiong?”

Gu Feidi said, “The more you say, the more you’ll err. Don’t speak about others behind their backs anymore. Let’s go.”

Pu Lingyun was a little reluctant but she obediently shut her mouth and followed Gu Feidi out of the farmhouse to stand beside the middle-aged man.

Gu Feidi stood beside the middle-aged man for a while refusing to look sideways. But ultimately, he couldn’t help but cast his gaze to the door of a side house in the courtyard.

Seeing that there was no movement from the door, his expression changed slightly and he turned around to look at the middle-aged man. His lips quivered slightly, as if he was hesitating to say something.

In the end, however, he still didn’t say anything, only tightened his fists.

Su Yang was awakened from his sleep by Fan Xi.

He opened his eyes and continued to be dazed for a while before he realised that the sky was already bright.

“Young Saint! I’m sorry!” Fan Xi looked at him with a discomfited face and couldn’t help but keep apologizing, “It’s all my fault! When I got up early to practice, I saw you sleeping soundly and couldn’t bear to wake you up. But who knew that… this… this turned out to be an assessment…”

Hearing Fan Xi’s words, Su Yang stood up from the bed with a start. Without arranging his clothes, he opened the door of the room and looked into the farmhouse.

At that moment, the middle-aged man had already ordered the youngsters who had started training early in the morning to prepare to set off.

In the yard, there were other young martial artists who had arisen late. They were kicking up a fuss with dejected expressions on their faces.

Strangely enough, when everyone noticed Su Yang leaning against the door frame, clothes unkempt and panic on his face, those who were initially in shock or sporting smug looks now all took pleasure at his misfortune.

“Young Saint…” Fan Xi said hesitantly.

Su Yang’s gaze swept across the faces of everyone in the courtyard and it finally fell on Gu Feidi, whose expression he couldn’t see from the distance.

Seeing this, the anxiety in his heart immediately lessened.

Well, anyway, as long as Gu Feidi can enter Lesser Jade House, the plot will not deviate too much. Besides, there weren’t any scenes between him and Gu Feidi in the subsequent storylines. Whether he was eliminated here or at the next assessment level, it made no difference.

Moreover, the morning’s occurrences were his own fault for not reminding Fan Xi the previous night.

With this thought, Su Yang leaned his body against the door frame, raised the corners of his mouth into a lazy smile. He asked Fan Xi: “Have you caught up with them?”

Fan Xi nodded awkwardly.

Su Yang raised his chin: “Why don’t you go now? I’m so tired, I’ll go back to the house and sleep for a while…”

After speaking, he actually turned around and entered the house without any sign of reluctance, causing everyone in and outside the yard to stare dumbfounded.