Xue Cuo leapt down from the sword and gave Gu Ruhui a once-over.
Gu Ruhui sheathed his sword and returned the gaze. He was twelve or thirteen but already tall as a lad of fifteen or sixteen; Xue Cuo had to look up to meet his eyes.
Barefoot, Xue Cuo peered at the thatched hut with his hands behind his back. “Gu-gege, are you going to live here now too?”
Gu Ruhui nodded faintly, his expression unreadable. He’d assumed Xue Cuo might be annoyed. This was his turf, after all. Rumour had it he’d lived here alone until now.
So young, and yet the peak richest in spiritual energy on Liuyun Peak was his to enjoy.
Was this what it meant to be an elder’s child?
Yet his cultivation was low, merely at the Foundation Building Stage. Sword Immortal had said it had taken Xue Cuo three years to reach it. Gu Ruhui didn’t understand since drawing in qi had been as easy for him as drinking water.
He had reached Foundation Building Stage the moment he entered the immortal sect.
Perhaps Xue Cuo was just too fond of playing around. Despite his formidable parents, he remained unserious.
Gu Ruhui cupped his fists and bowed. Since Xue Cuo was a disciple of Tianyi Pavilion, his seniority was higher. He said: “Little shixiong.”
Xue Cuo hastily waved his hands and backed away. “You’re my dad’s disciple, so we’re in the same boat! No need to call me shixiong, just call me Ah Cuo.”
Gu Ruhui’s mouth tugged slightly, but he became even more respectful. “Shixiong, etiquette must not be neglected.”
Xue Cuo didn’t mind in the least and tried to drag him off to play. Gu Ruhui carried his sword, and Xue Cuo tugged his free hand.
He found it odd, yet accepted it. Xue Cuo smiled so sweetly, but all Gu Ruhui felt inside was bitterness. Same people, different lives.
He shook his head and gently pulled his hand away. “Shifu just taught me the Twelve Heavenly Sword Forms. I want to practise a bit more.”
Xue Cuo looked disappointed, but the moment he heard “Twelve Heavenly Sword Forms”, his eyes lit up. “Really! Can you show it to me? I’ve been practising for four years, and my mother only ever taught me to swing the sword. I’ve never seen Father’s swordplay.”
Gu Ruhui was mildly surprised. After a pause, he raised his sword. “Then watch closely, Shixiong. The first strike is called ‘The Rising Wind’…”
His expression turned austere. With a single slash, the blade cut through the air, summoning a blast of sword wind. The branches of the ageless pines rustled as needles fluttered down.
Without realising it, Gu Ruhui completed all twelve styles. With one final motion, he sheathed his sword.
“Shixiong……”
He turned round to find Xue Cuo already fast asleep on the grass, limbs sprawled, belly rising and falling softly, utterly at ease.
Gu Ruhui frowned. How could anyone be so utterly defenceless before a stranger?
He approached, casting a long shadow. Suddenly, a snow-white sword zipped past his ear, narrowly missing it.
Snow Sword hovered above Xue Cuo, buzzing threateningly.
Startled, Gu Ruhui stepped back two paces and cupped his fists. “Qianbei*, please don’t misunderstand. I only meant to carry Shixiong back to rest.”
(*TN: means “senior”, but one from an older generation.)
The dark green hand lazily tapped the hilt in response, ignoring him. It grabbed Xue Cuo and lifted him up. He was sleeping like a piglet, swaying with no sign of waking.
Gu Ruhui watched the pair leave, sighed, then practised all the moves with his sword beneath the moonlight.
—
The next morning, the sounds outside woke Xue Cuo.
He sat up to find Gu Ruhui already practising sword, executing the Twelve Heavenly Sword Forms with Jun Wuwei observing, arms folded.
Once Gu Ruhui finished, Jun Wuwei clapped and smiled. “Not bad.”
Gu Ruhui pursed his lips and glanced at his blade. “Still not good enough. I’m far inferior compared to Shifu.”
Jun Wuwei nodded approvingly. “Good mindset.”
Xue Cuo rubbed his eyes and ran out with his sword. “Dad, I want to learn the Twelve Heavenly Forms too!”
Jun Wuwei considered for a moment, then turned seriously to Gu Ruhui. “But you lack the heart power for one of the moves. A swordsman moves qi with the heart, and the heart follows will. One sword can birth myriad methods, and one sword can destroy them all. To break all laws with the sword, you must possess the courage to face them.”
Xue Cuo: “Dad.”
Gu Ruhui thought Xue Cuo had risen too late. So terribly lazy. As such, he didn’t respond. “I’ve never seen ‘myriad methods’.”
Jun Wuwei chuckled. “Come. I’ll show you.”
Xue Cuo tugged at Gu Ruhui’s sleeve. “Xiao Gu-gege.”
Jun Wuwei ascended the clouds, taking Gu Ruhui with him. Gu Ruhui looked down but followed quietly.
“Dad!”
Xue Cuo was left standing all alone.
Sword Uncle emerged from the lake and floated over. He gently patted Xue Cuo’s head, thought for a bit, then pulled out a comb and began tying his hair.
Xue Cuo hugged his knees miserably. “Sword Uncle, what do I do? My dad and Xiao Gu-gege have gone deaf or something.”
Sword Uncle: ……
Xue Cuo fretted. “They must’ve trained too hard and gone into qi deviation.”
The dark green hand held the red ribbon wordlessly, then gripped the sword hilt firmly. Best to give the child some fringe. It would make him look cleverer.
Gu Ruhui never returned. Two days later, Xue Cuo was practising talisman drawing.
Talismans came in five grades: white, blue, green, red and purple.
He could draw white talismans with ease. But limited by his cultivation, he couldn’t move on to blue. So Xue Cuo began come up his own drawing methods, having a great time.
Xu Youyu arrived on his sword. “Little Shixiong.”
Xue Cuo hurriedly packed up his tables and stools. “Eh, Shidi-gege, what brings you here? That fox didn’t come with you?”
Fox? Did he mean Youxia?
Xu Youyu nearly laughed. He descended from the cloud, crouched down, and found that Little Shixiong now had a fringe and two little buns, making him even more adorable. He couldn’t resist giving one a gentle pinch.
“Little Shixiong, Elder Xue is currently purging evil at Qianlong Abyss. She won’t be back for a while. I’ve come to take you to Wendao Palace.”
Xue Cuo held his hand without the slightest trace of disappointment. “Let’s go, then.”
Xu Youyu smiled and carried him onto the drifting cloud. The younger disciple flew slowly on purpose, letting Xue Cuo properly take in the scenery of Tianyi Sect from above.
Wendao Palace wasn’t located within the sect’s inner gates, but at the place where the mountain range met the Great Loch. It was a lone peak shaped like an ox’s horn.
The summit was wreathed in ten thousand strands of radiant light, clouds drifting idly around a plain bronze bell that now tolled faintly. Clang, clang.
Midway up the mountain, pavilions and chambers clustered in perfect harmony.
A colossal sky-whale swam slowly past, sheathed in cloud mist, gliding a wide arc around Oxhorn Peak.
Trailing in its wake were all manner of celestial birds and mythical beasts. Fairies with fluttering sashes flew out from Wendao palace; cultivators hovered in midair to greet arrivals and departures.
Though Xue Cuo’s cultivation was modest, even he could sense the profound aura of Oxhorn Peak. He couldn’t help but ask, “Shidi-gege, what sort of place is Wendao Palace?”
Xu Youyu replied, “Disciples from the Three Mountains and Five Seas all come here to study the Dao and ask questions of the Way. Our Tianyi Sect also maintains a hall inside, where our disciples can train.”
By now, the skies were dotted with floating clouds ferrying students to their studies. Beyond the colourful mist and a dense forest of pines, bamboos, and jagged stone, they finally reached the mountain gate to Wendao Palace. The gate was ancient and unadorned, its long staircase of blue stone stretching up and up. Xue Cuo looked up and couldn’t see the end.
Xu Youyu said, “Little Shixiong, it’s tradition to climb these steps on your first visit to the palace. It’s a sign of respect for the teachers here.”
Xue Cuo leapt down from the cloud without hesitation. “Then I’ll walk on my own.”
Disciples wearing robes from different sects alighted one after another. Xue Cuo was the youngest of them all. Seeing no familiar faces among the crowd, he lifted his robes and began the ascent on his own, step by step.
Just then, a voice rang out from higher up the steps.
“All disciples, halt.”
The cultivators stopped in unison.
“Direct disciples of the immortal sects, step forward thirty paces and take the Path of True Immortality.”
Xue Cuo blinked in confusion as a group of disciples flew forward and alighted on a broad stone avenue.
“Registered disciples of the elders, step forward twenty paces and take the Path of Ascent.”
Another cohort came forward and took to a narrower path on the right-hand side. Fewer and fewer people remained around Xue Cuo. He looked up toward the clouds where Xu Youyu hovered, gesturing at him anxiously.
Xue Cuo gave an “oh,” shuffled two steps backward, and obediently stood amongst the rest. Youyu-shidi clearly didn’t want him standing out.
Xu Youyu gave a long-suffering sigh.
“The remaining disciples, step forward ten paces and take the Path of Seeking.”
A few more stepped forward. Now only a dozen or so remained. Xue Cuo glanced around and noticed a peculiar child beside him—plump, dazzlingly dressed, and radiating golden light. He was around Xue Cuo’s age, had sharply defined brows and slender, aloof eyes, his features oddly elegant. Neither clothing nor face gave any clue as to gender.
“Fellow Daoist?” Xue Cuo offered.
The little fatty snorted and pinched his nose disdainfully. “Keep your distance, you ugly wretch.”
Xue Cuo was incensed. How dare he insult Sword Uncle’s lovingly carved heart-shaped fringe? “Ugly? Says the fatty one!”
The little fatty flushed with rage and gave Xue Cuo a firm belly-bump. “You’re the fatty! And without manners!”
Knocked back a few steps, Xue Cuo wasn’t about to take that lying down. He charged forward and rammed him right back. Before round two could begin, the majestic voice resounded once more.
“Spirits, beasts, and common-born disciples take the Path of Gazing Immortality.”
The remaining disciples made haste to step onto the stone stairway. At once, an immense pressure descended. Xue Cuo and the little fatty were slammed flat against the steps, unable to move.
It felt as though a great mountain had landed on his back. Gritting his teeth, Xue Cuo forced himself to kneel upright. Around him, disciples were sprawled in awkward positions. Some had sprouted feathers, tails, even claws and fangs.
Tails?
He glanced over at the little fatty. Brilliant feathers had sprouted from his temples.
The boy glared at him. “Chirp!”
Xue Cuo thought he was mocking him. “Pei!” he retorted.
All around, disciples struggled to rise, their postures twisted and hunched as they began the long crawl up the steps.
Xue Cuo looked higher and saw that the first group of direct disciples were moving effortlessly, robes billowing as they chatted among themselves.
Those on the Path of Ascent looked a little strained but managed a steady pace. The Path of Seeking was much harder: the disciples there moved as if mountains pressed down on their feet, unable to catch up to those ahead.
As for the Path of Gazing Immortality… most couldn’t even stand. Every step was agony.
Then , Xue Cuo heard a shout.
Xue Cuo turned in time to see the little fatty on his feet, his temple-feathers bristling. With a thunderous yell, he heaved himself forward, step by brutal step, face set like stone beneath the crushing weight.
He was walking… upright.
Not just Xue Cuo—every cultivator nearby turned to stare in disbelief.
