Vol.2-Chapter 197 – The Second Layer of the Sword Art

At this moment, it was exactly like when Fu Hongling had saved Zhao Jiuge and brought him back to Lotus Peak. Only their roles had been reversed. It was Zhao Jiuge’s turn to say few words and remain silent.

Seeing that Zhao Jiuge’s expression had changed, Fu Hongling revealed a fox-like smile and suddenly said, “How about I take you to the Hundred Flower Valley to find Bo Re once you finish cultivating?”

Zhao Jiuge suddenly began to laugh, and his sullen expression disappeared, “Senior Sister, you are teasing me again.”

Fu Hongling smiled silently. It was fine as long as her little junior brother was smiling.

A moment later, Zhao Jiuge looked at Fu Hongling and asked, “Are you still going to agree to three requests from me?”

“Of course.” Fu Hongling nodded calmly.

Zhao Jiuge was satisfied and then the two of them looked into the distant sunrise. The early morning sun shined down upon this senior sister and junior brother.

……..

Mysterious Heaven Temple.

Generally, only the Head Teacher was here, and Jian Wuxian’s cultivation room was in the deepest part of the temple. Ordinary people would not be able to enter.

Today, Jian Wuxian had stopped cultivating early in the morning and stood outside the main hall. He stood next to the red fences with his hands behind his back and looked into the distance.

At this moment, a ray of red light flew across the sky. There were two figures on the red light—it was Fu Hongling and Zhao Jiuge.

After the conversation in the morning and playing for a while, Fu Hongling brought Zhao Jiuge here.

After they landed, Zhao Jiuge and Fu Hongling quickly arrived before Jian Wuxian.

“Greetings, Teacher.” Both of them said this at the same time and bowed to show respect.

Seeing the two of them, Jian Wuxian still had the same expression, but there was a faint smile on his face. His gaze swept back and forth across Zhao Jiuge, making him a bit uncomfortable.

After thinking for a moment, Jian Wuxian asked, “Jiuge, how much knowledge did you learn from your senior sister in the last month?”

After hesitating a bit, Zhao Jiuge respectfully said, “I have finished learning most of it. I have a certain understanding of most things; however, this disciple is a bit slow and there are still a few things I don’t understand.”

“Okay…” He was very satisfied with Zhao Jiuge’s honest answer, and he gently nodded. He left this matter for now and turned toward Fu Hongling. “Hongling, leave your little junior brother here with me for a while. I’ll teach him the sword art. You should go out more. You have remained at the late stage of the Soul Formation Realm for a long time. You have everything you need except for the opportunity to reach the Spirit Sea Realm. This opportunity can be a word, a scene, or an idea. It’s no good for you to stay inside the sect.”

“Disciple understands, I’ll head out tomorrow.” Fu Hongling nodded gently, but there was a hint of worry in her eyes. She was worried that Zhao Jiuge might have trouble adapting to Jian Wuxian’s teaching method.

“When you come back, if Jiuge has already formed his spirit core, you can take him out to complete missions. Then it will be his turn to experience the world on his own. After all, my Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect disciples are not pampered flowers. They must be able to survive on their own.” Jian Wuxian’s expression became stern while he looked at Zhao Jiuge, but there was a hint of worry.

“Okay.” Even before her teacher, she was still cold and barely said any words. After answering, she looked back at Zhao Jiuge a bit reluctantly.

“Little Junior Brother, during this time, you must listen to Teacher and practice the sword art well. Senior Sister will go out for a while, and when I come back, we’ll go refine your life flying sword.”

A smile appeared on her face and she continued, “In addition, the inner sect is not as small as the outer sect, where there aren't many people. You have just become an inner sect disciple, and Teacher’s disciple. Many people are now jealous of you or don’t like you. Right now, you are still weak, so many of them will come looking for trouble. If anyone comes to bully you, remember not to lose face for our Mysterious Heaven Peak. Once I'm back, I’ll get justice for you.”

Fu Hongling seemed to have changed into a different person. She was not cold and began nagging Zhao Jiuge about various things, big or small. It was as if Fu Hongling's heart was overflowing with care.

Jian Wuxian’s eyes were filled with joy when he saw this. He liked to see his disciples treating each other well. His most beloved disciples were Ceng Qingniue, Fu Hongling, and Sha Sha.

Then Jian Wuxian’s brows locked because he thought about Ceng Qingniu. So what if he was the Head Teacher of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect? So what if his cultivation was powerful? He was helpless when his own disciple disappeared.

“Little Junior Brother, this is something I made for you. Although the material isn’t good, I stitched it myself while you were cultivating at night. See if you like it.” Fu Hongling took out a neatly folded set of black clothes.

Zhao Jiuge was surprised by this and felt a bit shocked by the gift. He could have never guessed that his senior sister would make him a set of clothes. He hadn’t noticed this at all over the past month. Now that he was an inner disciple, he no longer had to wear the blue sword robe that represented the Mysterious Heaven Peak, he could wear what he wanted. His attentive senior sister had already prepared clothes for him.

He somewhat excitedly opened the folded clothes and looked at them.

The clothes were close-fitting and seemed to be made of material that contained spirit force. It was a simple set of clothes, and at the center of the shirt was the Cloud Sea Green Pine Painting. The pattern on the robe was the same as the painting in the temple. There was a sea of clouds with a single green pine in the middle.

The faint, white clouds were mixed with the green pine. These clothes were indeed not very precious, but they were made by Fu Hongling. This reminded Zhao Jiuge about the clothes his grandfather had made him, the black clothes he wore when he first began cultivation. Those clothes were even more common, but wearing them felt different.

“Thank you, Senior Sister.” Zhao Jiuge’s tone changed slightly due to being a bit emotional and excited.

Fu Hongling shook her head and smiled. “They are made from Heavenly Silkworm Earth King’s silk, which is not that precious. Listen to Teacher. I’ll take my leave now.” She took a close look at Zhao Jiuge before nodding at Jian Wuxian and leaving.

The ray of red light flew off into the distance. Fu Hongling seemed to be unable to bear this parting.

Zhao Jiuge looked at his senior sister leave in a daze and gently caressed the black clothes. He could picture how his senior sister had sewn the clothes while he cultivated at night.

“It’s rare to see Hongling like this. For so many years, she was cold and never talked much with anyone. Even with us, she only said a few words. If not for that, she could have long broken into the Spirit Sea Realm. It's rare to see her be so good to someone. It’s a good thing. This way, her mental state can slowly recover.” Jian Wuxian softly revealed his thoughts.

Zhao Jiuge carefully put away the black clothes and put on a respectful expression like he was ready to learn. However, in his heart, he was thinking,?“Spirit Sea Realm! It’s still so far away!”

After a long time, Jian Wuxian slowly said, “Come and follow me inside. Today, I’ll teach you the second layer of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Art, Autumn Wind. When I’m satisfied, you can go out; otherwise, obediently stay here and practice.” At the end, his voice became stern.

Zhao Jiuge’s expression changed slightly and he revealed a bitter smile. He had simply left one cage and entered another. However, he didn’t complain, as he had been hoping to learn the next layer of the sword art. At least it wouldn’t be so boring.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Seeing Zhao Jiuge’s expression, Jian Wuxian expressionlessly continued, “These few years will be key. Once your second layer of the sword art has reached a certain degree, I’ll naturally take you to a place to cultivate to condense your spirit core. After all, having a spirit core is fundamental, and the rank of your spirit core will determine how far you will go in the future. I hope you won’t disappoint me. Although you are the last to join, I have the greatest expectation for you. Your goal is to reach the Spirit Core Realm in two years and learn the third layer of the sword art. Then earn the representative spot for the competition between the seven holy lands, and show yourself to the world. Then, during the Battle Competition, win glory for my Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect.”

In truth, there were a lot of things Jian Wuxian hadn't said, as he was really out of options. The gaps between the generations in the sect had become too obvious. Wu Tianshan, Fu Hongling, and Ceng Qingniu were all very powerful, but they were too old. The only genius they had was Sha Sha, but she was far too young, so the heavy burden had fallen on Zhao Jiuge. He had heard that in several of the other holy lands, some of their disciples for this generation had already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm.

Hearing this, Zhao Jiuge was stunned. This requirement was simply too high. He looked at Jian Wuxian in shock.