Chapter 76: You Can Only Like Me (2)
Although they were all her favorites, Song Jin’yue ate very reservedly, since she had initially said she wouldn’t eat. However, her restraint was only in her demeanor, she still ate her fill.
Before the Song family’s decline, Song Jin’yue used to eat like this. After their decline, she rarely ate; after all, she had reached the Fasting stage, where one abstains from food, and culinary desires had to give way to more important pursuits.
Seeing that Song Jin’yue had eaten her fill, Jiang Zhiyan handed her a pill: “This aids digestion, it’s inconvenient to practice swordsmanship when you’re full.”
Song Jin’yue wanted to say that she wasn’t full, but glancing at the food on the table, then at Jiang Zhiyan’s empty bowl, she suddenly felt a bit full.
She felt embarrassed inwardly, but maintained a calm facade, taking the pill. Just as she was about to put it in her mouth, she suddenly realized something and stopped.
Why did she trust Jiang Zhiyan so much? What if there was something wrong with the pill?
“The poison is in the food,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
Song Jin’yue was stunned for a second, looked up, met Jiang Zhiyan’s indifferent gaze, and suddenly realized that Jiang Zhiyan was probably mocking her. She put the pill in her mouth.
It was a high-grade pill. After taking it, her full stomach felt comfortable, and even the fatigue from practicing swordsmanship yesterday lessened considerably.
“Okay, you can go practice your swordsmanship now,” Jiang Zhiyan said, looking at Song Jin’yue’s expression, then paused. “You can rest for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, you just woke up, you shouldn’t be tired.”
“Nascent Soul cultivators in your Myriad Swords Sect can take disciples, right?” Song Jin’yue asked.
Jiang Zhiyan nodded.
“I wonder who will be lucky enough to have you as their master,” Song Jin’yue smiled.
“Hopefully, it’s a diligent disciple,” Jiang Zhiyan also looked at her with a smile. “Go practice your swordsmanship, the break time isn’t included in the eight hours. When your swordsmanship is up to par, I’ll remove the restriction.”
“What’s considered ‘up to par’?” Song Jin’yue asked. Jiang Zhiyan’s words sounded like empty promises from the current family head, who had told her that once her cultivation reached a certain level, they would gather materials to help her refine a celestial-grade sword. She had now reached Golden Core, but they hadn’t even started gathering the materials. Usually, a cultivator should choose their natal magic weapon by the Golden Core stage at the latest.
Jiang Zhiyan took Song Jin’yue’s sword and glanced at it. It was a very ordinary spiritual sword.
Song Jin’yue watched Jiang Zhiyan; she wanted to see what was so special about her. Jiang Zhiyan casually swung the sword at a nearby rockery. She frowned, then her eyes widened. A clear sword mark appeared on the rockery, which split in two along the mark, the upper half turning into dust, while the lower half seemed unaffected.
“No spiritual energy, yet there’s sword intent.” Jiang Zhiyan returned the sword to her. “Returning to the basics, it’s more difficult to sense sword intent, you practice first, I’ll create a training plan for you in the next few days.”
“But sword intent isn’t something you can grasp at Nascent Soul…”
Jiang Zhiyan looked at Song Jin’yue.
Song Jin’yue’s mind was in a mess.
Was Jiang Zhiyan the only absurd one in the entire Myriad Swords Sect, or was the entire sect absurd?
The most famous disciple of the Myriad Swords Sect was Wei Jingqian, who had caused a sensation in the cultivation world by comprehending sword intent at late Golden Core. And now Jiang Zhiyan, only at early Golden Core, had also done it. Jiang Zhiyan was famous, considered a genius, but she had never heard of Jiang Zhiyan having any other extraordinary abilities, she was mostly known for her bad temper.
Was she hiding her true abilities?
Judging by Jiang Zhiyan’s demeanor, she didn’t seem to think comprehending sword intent at Golden Core was anything special, perhaps it was common in the Myriad Swords Sect?
Song Jin’yue suddenly felt that the Song family’s revival was a distant dream, even the usually amiable disciples of the Myriad Swords Sect seemed mysterious now.
“What are you thinking about?” Jiang Zhiyan looked at Song Jin’yue’s expression.
Song Jin’yue shook her head: “Do you think I can comprehend sword intent at Golden Core?”
“Why not?”
Song Jin’yue: As expected.
“Very few people in the cultivation world can comprehend sword intent at Golden Core,” Song Jin’yue said tactfully.
“Do you think you can’t?” Jiang Zhiyan looked into Song Jin’yue’s eyes. “If you back down again, it’ll be nine hours a day.”
Song Jin’yue: !!!
“Begin,” Jiang Zhiyan put down her hand, sat on a stone stool, and took out a stack of paper and a bottle of ink.
Song Jin’yue looked at Jiang Zhiyan, holding back her anger, and at the sword in her hand.
She still had to practice hard, not for anything else, but so that one day she could beat Jiang Zhiyan up.
Once she had a goal, this tedious practice suddenly didn’t seem so difficult to accept.
“Are you sure this won’t make your relationship even more strained?” The System was a little worried.
“I’m not forcing her to do anything else,” Jiang Zhiyan looked at the paper on the table. “If anyone asks later, I’ll just say I was doing this for her own good.”
“Huh?” The System felt like that sounded a bit strange. “Then what’s the real reason you’re making her train?”
Jiang Zhiyan didn’t speak, took out a stack of paper, and only used three sheets in the end.
After writing, she glanced at Song Jin’yue in the distance and started meditating on a cushion in the courtyard, trying to communicate with the Demonic Sword in the System space.
“Enter my Sea of Consciousness,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
“Host, your communication is too forceful.” Was this considered communication? It was more like an order.
The Demonic Sword clearly wasn’t willing, it had high standards, someone who had just entered Golden Core like Jiang Zhiyan wasn’t even within its consideration for a contractor.
“I don’t want to form a contract with you, I just want you to stay in my Sea of Consciousness for a while, and I’ll release you when the time is right,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
“I advise you to make a choice while I’m still talking nicely, otherwise, I’ll melt you down,” Jiang Zhiyan said. The fan, which was in the same compartment as the Demonic Sword, transformed and started charging its laser cannon.
Demonic Sword: …
It finally compromised.
Because it could sense that the attack from that strange object could actually melt it down, and the Demonic Sword and its contractor mutually benefited each other. Without a contractor, it would become much weaker.
“Saved some spirit stones, no need to go to the Demon Realm,” Jiang Zhiyan directly transferred the Demonic Sword to her Sea of Consciousness.
The size of one’s Sea of Consciousness was related to their cultivation level. The Demonic Sword had been in a small compartment for several days, and now it had to be transferred to an even smaller place, it felt like its sword life was hopeless.
However, after entering, it was a bit shocked.
This was a Golden Core cultivator’s Sea of Consciousness?
The Demonic Sword suspected that Jiang Zhiyan was an old monster who had taken over a young girl’s body. It had originally wanted to cause some trouble, but now it became obedient, when under someone’s roof, one had to lower their head.
The first time Jiang Zhiyan looked inside her Sea of Consciousness, she was also a little surprised. It wasn’t the size of a Golden Core cultivator’s. Her Sea of Consciousness was like a vast starry sky, a Golden Core like a sun in the center, emitting a simple and unadorned light.
But she had read her character profile several times, extracting all the information related to herself, and hadn’t found any hidden identity.
The System didn’t know why either.
Jiang Zhiyan suspected that this was another merged world, but fortunately, she had never been to this world before, so there wouldn’t be a doomsday scenario.
Jiang Zhiyan also placed her commonly used weapons into her Sea of Consciousness. The Demonic Sword circled the fan twice; it had been observing this object for a long time and still couldn’t figure out what material it was made of, and it had lived for a very long time.
“Don’t release your demonic aura, if you expose us, we’ll die together,” Jiang Zhiyan warned. Hearing no response, she frowned. “Can’t you talk?”
“Yes.”
“Then why don’t you talk?” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
“Mm.”
Jiang Zhiyan: ?
“Can you only speak one word at a time?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
Jiang Zhiyan: …
She remembered that the book did mention that the Demon Lord didn’t like to talk, so did that make his sword’s speech also halting? It was absurd. Later, it followed the male lead, who wasn’t talkative either, no wonder she hadn’t seen the Demonic Sword speak much in the book. She flipped through the book, and it really was all single words.
The outside world was in chaos, while Jiang Zhiyan’s small courtyard was peaceful and quiet.
“The elders will be back the day after tomorrow, accompany me to class then.”
“Huh?” Song Jin’yue looked up. “Is that included in the eight hours?”
These past two days, her cultivation time had exceeded eight hours. She thought Jiang Zhiyan was joking, but she was serious, and she would even accompany her, but their cultivation progress was completely different.
She could sense that Jiang Zhiyan had already reached mid-Golden Core, her cultivation speed astonishing. Of course, she herself had also made progress. Although she still hadn’t comprehended sword intent, her control over the sword had clearly improved. Jiang Zhiyan rarely gave her guidance, occasionally saying a few words, but they were very effective.
“Yes, including break time,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
For the first time in days, Song Jin’yue gave a genuine smile.
Staying with Jiang Zhiyan was truly arduous, even her initial days of cultivation hadn’t been this hard.
“Then are you going to remove the restriction?” Song Jin’yue looked at Jiang Zhiyan expectantly.
“It’s a theory class,” Jiang Zhiyan looked at Song Jin’yue.
Song Jin’yue: …
She didn’t answer, but the implication was clear.
“Didn’t we already make the conditions for removing the restriction clear?” Jiang Zhiyan smiled. “If I remove it now, what if you go find Wei Jingqian?”
“I won’t go find him.” Song Jin’yue did want to run away, Jiang Zhiyan seemed too dangerous, although she hadn’t done anything yet, what about the future?
Jiang Zhiyan brushed a strand of hair from Song Jin’yue’s shoulder: “I don’t believe you, just stay with me, don’t think about running away.”
Song Jin’yue forced a smile.
After being confined in the courtyard for several days, Song Jin’yue felt like each day was a year. When she left the courtyard, she took a deep breath.
“Feels like being reborn?” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
Song Jin’yue was about to nod, then stopped herself: “Thanks to you.”
She followed Jiang Zhiyan. They walked to class. Along the way, Song Jin’yue looked for opportunities to ask for help, but several groups of people greeted Jiang Zhiyan, completely ignoring her. By the third group, she was certain, these people couldn’t see her.
“What did you do?” Song Jin’yue grabbed Jiang Zhiyan’s arm.
“We’re going to an inner sect class, outsiders aren’t usually allowed to audit inner sect classes,” Jiang Zhiyan looked at Song Jin’yue. “So I had to use this method.”
“Are you sure they won’t notice?”
“Do you really think no one knows that I confined you in the courtyard?” Jiang Zhiyan retorted. “They just don’t want to interfere.”
Those higher-ups didn’t really care about the affairs of those below them. As long as Jiang Zhiyan maintained appearances, they would pretend not to see. After all, they were too busy with their own cultivation, who had time to deal with such trivial matters, especially now with the Demonic Sword’s appearance, there were many things to be wary of.
Song Jin’yue’s smile instantly disappeared: “So you deliberately didn’t use your sword and walked here to tell me that any resistance is futile?”
“No, I’m just telling you that the only way to resist is to rely on yourself.”
Song Jin’yue: …
“Your way of showing affection is quite unique.” Song Jin’yue sighed softly, giving up, her posture slumping.
“What do you like about my brother?” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
“We’re engaged.”
“So you don’t like him?” Jiang Zhiyan looked over.
“I don’t know,” Song Jin’yue blinked. “He’s very capable, the Song family needs him.”
They had already arrived at the classroom. Many people were already there. Seeing Jiang Zhiyan enter, they were a little surprised, then stood up to greet her. Jiang Zhiyan nodded coldly, and those people, clearly used to it, didn’t mind, sitting down and continuing their previous conversations.
Jiang Zhiyan sat down in the first row.
“Where do I sit?”
Jiang Zhiyan tapped the seat to her left.
“Is no one sitting here?” Song Jin’yue was puzzled.
She quickly learned the answer, no one wanted to sit near Jiang Zhiyan, the area around her was a vacuum.
Every disciple who entered would greet her, those who were bolder would say a few more words, some would run away after greeting her, many seemed enthusiastic, but no one took the initiative to sit next to her.
She knew Jiang Zhiyan had a bad reputation, but she didn’t expect it to be this bad.
Song Jin’yue looked at Jiang Zhiyan, who didn’t seem to care at all.
“Why are you looking at me? Are there words on my face? Look at the front,” Jiang Zhiyan asked.
Song Jin’yue: …
As expected, there was a reason for her bad reputation.
“Always so irritable,” Song Jin’yue muttered.
“Don’t talk during class.”
Song Jin’yue took a deep breath.
“I’ll test you on the lesson after we get back, you don’t have paper or pen, I suggest you listen carefully and memorize everything.”
“How can I memorize all that?”
“I believe in your memory,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
Song Jin’yue didn’t even have that much faith in her own memory, she didn’t know where Jiang Zhiyan’s confidence came from.
“What is she planning to do in this world?” Jiang Zhiyan took a deep breath.
“The female lead’s persona is lovestruck, she’s currently in the lovestruck reserve,” the System said. “Calm down, it’s still the female lead’s persona acting up, it’ll be fine once she wakes up.”
Jiang Zhiyan also thought she wouldn’t care, but looking at Xie Liaoyi’s face, it was difficult not to care.
Perhaps because of Jiang Zhiyan’s “after-class test,” Song Jin’yue was very attentive afterwards, trying to memorize every word the elder teaching the class said.
The elder on the stage felt a strange gaze on her, but when she looked around, she didn’t see many particularly attentive students, but she did catch a few sleeping.
She usually didn’t pay attention to what the disciples were doing during class, but today, after taking a closer look, she found so many of them slacking off.
She decided to ignore it next class; it was too frustrating.
After a morning of classes, Song Jin’yue felt even more tired than after practicing her swordsmanship.
“Hungry and sleepy.”
On the way back, they flew on their swords. Song Jin’yue sat on Jiang Zhiyan’s sword, her eyes blank, as if her soul had been sucked out.
“Did you memorize everything?”
“Hm?” Song Jin’yue looked up.
“Summarize it,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
“Let me think about it.”
“You can also write it down for me, no more than one thousand words, it won’t be counted towards the eight hours.”
Song Jin’yue’s jaw dropped slightly.
“If I’m still weak after being oppressed… I mean, supervised by you like this, will you kill me?” Song Jin’yue looked up.
“I like you, how could I kill you?”
“Your words don’t sound very convincing.”
“Hold on tight,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
“Hm?”
The next second, the two plummeted from the sky, landing in the courtyard.
Song Jin’yue covered her mouth, stopping herself from screaming. The two landed perfectly; clearly, Jiang Zhiyan hadn’t lost control of her sword, she was just that good, and she did it on purpose.
Jiang Zhiyan looked at Song Jin’yue: “Was that fun?”
“It was fun, it would have been better if you had given me a warning.” Song Jin’yue patted her chest. “What are we eating for lunch?”
“I’ll go get it, you start on your homework.”
Song Jin’yue’s expression fell. She considered herself quite old, capable of handling things independently in the Song family, but in front of Jiang Zhiyan, she still seemed like a child, a child under strict control. She couldn’t resist, even though the other party kept encouraging her to.
She resignedly sat down at the table, glanced at the things Jiang Zhiyan had placed on the table, and was a little surprised. She flipped through them; they were cultivation records, although there was no name on them, she knew at a glance that they were Jiang Zhiyan’s records of her own progress.
Song Jin’yue bit her lip and sat down obediently.
She had originally wanted to slack off, but suddenly felt like she should do it properly. There was no point in opposing Jiang Zhiyan, it was better to take this opportunity to improve herself, a free master was not to be wasted.
She sighed; she had also overheard the disciples’ conversations earlier.
Wei Jingqian was back, but he hadn’t come looking for her, clearly he didn’t care.
Song Jin’yue shook her head, picked up the brush, and was about to start writing, but she remained motionless for a long time, not writing a single word.
If there was no word limit, she would know how to write this summary, but now with the word limit, she found it even more difficult. The elder had lectured on formations today, covering a lot of content, it was difficult to condense all the essence into a thousand words, it had to be the essence of the essence.
She rested her chin on her hand and yawned.
When Jiang Zhiyan returned, she saw Song Jin’yue asleep on the table, she didn’t know how she managed to fall asleep like that, the brush tip resting on her face, a large ink stain on half her cheek.
“Song Jin’yue.”
Hearing Jiang Zhiyan’s voice, Song Jin’yue immediately sat up straight: “What’s wrong?”
“Do you know that my ink normally doesn’t fade for a thousand years?”
Song Jin’yue realized something, took out a mirror, looked at her face, opened her mouth, and her face paled. She immediately took a handkerchief to wipe it off, originally, only a quarter of her face had ink on it, but after wiping, half her face was covered, and even her hand was stained.
Song Jin’yue asked Jiang Zhiyan to cast the Cleaning Spell several times, but even after dozens of times, it only faded slightly, and at first glance, there was no difference.
“What do we do?” Song Jin’yue suddenly wished she was a snake demon and could shed her skin, how could she face anyone with such a large ink stain on her face?
“Let’s eat first, I’ll think of a way,” Jiang Zhiyan glanced at Song Jin’yue’s face, couldn’t bear to look, turned away, covered her mouth, and laughed.
Song Jin’yue’s tears fell, she was very upset, but it didn’t affect her appetite, her life was already miserable, and having an ink stain on her face made it even more miserable, if she didn’t even eat, then there would be no joy left at all.
“I’m going to the library, you can cultivate on your own, don’t slack off, I’m watching,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
“I know, don’t suddenly transmit your voice to me, I’m scared.”
Jiang Zhiyan left. Actually, she already had a solution when she saw the ink on Song Jin’yue’s face.
It just so happened that Song Jin’yue was still too idle, so she planned to go to the library and find a suitable body refining technique for her. Body refining involved shedding a layer of skin each time, perfect for her situation. Song Jin’yue would probably have to refine her body five times to completely remove the ink.
Jiang Zhiyan swore she didn’t do it on purpose. The original owner was so rich that she only used high-quality items, who would have thought someone could sleep with a brush on their face?
“Jiang Zhiyan.”
Jiang Zhiyan had just reached the third floor of the library when she heard someone call her name. She looked over and saw Wei Jingqian walking towards her.
“Is she still with you?” Wei Jingqian asked, his expression troubled.
“Mm, she’s cultivating with me recently,” Jiang Zhiyan said with a smile. “Brother, you can focus on your important matters, just leave her to me.”
“This is my apology gift, please give it to her.” Although Wei Jingqian didn’t like Song Jin’yue, he felt embarrassed that he hadn’t fulfilled his promise. Judging by the current situation, it would probably be a while before they could hold the Dao Companion ceremony again.
“Okay, brother, it’s fine, Senior Sister Song said she understands, after all, the appearance of the Demonic Sword concerns the fate of the world,” Jiang Zhiyan took the gift and put it in her storage pouch. “What are the sect’s plans next?”
“The Tianyan Pavilion hasn’t been able to locate the Demonic Sword,” Wei Jingqian said, then used voice transmission, they had the highest cultivation level on this floor, so they didn’t have to worry about being overheard.
Jiang Zhiyan frowned, looking at Wei Jingqian: “What about the Demon Realm?”
“The Sect Master has contacted several Demon Kings, they suspect we’re hiding the Demonic Sword,” Wei Jingqian said.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Don’t leave the sect for now,” Wei Jingqian frowned. “Probably because of the Demonic Sword’s appearance, many demons have started infiltrating the cultivation world.”
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