Who taught him to practice swordsmanship like this?

Chapter 172 Senior Brother Xingyuan's Troubles

At the foot of Nanshan Mountain, in the mountain stream outside Changchun Palace, a large water ball suddenly shot out from the stream.

Then the water sphere shattered, and more than two hundred Yin Sect disciples fell out.

What a chaotic scene! A group of people were leaning against the rocks and trees, spitting out water.

Some people were lying motionless on the ground.

Su Baichen quickly walked over, scanned the area with his divine sense, and then punched the unlucky senior brother in the chest.

The shockwave of his inner energy forced the water that had been choking him to be expelled from his lungs.

"Pfft~"

A stream of water shot into the sky.

"Cough cough cough————"

This senior student struggled to cough up the water and managed to survive.

Su Baichen looked at Xuan Yin Zhenren with a resentful expression: "Master, don't we have a more impressive, normal way of moving around?"

Master Xuan Yin's lips twitched. Looking at the disheveled appearance of the more than two hundred disciples in front of him, he chuckled dryly: "The young people these days are really—each generation is worse than the last."

Good grief, so these disciples have such poor reflexes, can't hold their breath, and can't swim, huh?

"Alright, hurry up and get yourselves ready. We're going into Changchun Palace, and we can't afford to be laughed at."

Mizukage quickly changed the subject.

Honestly, now everyone in the Yin Sect is increasingly convinced that this is clearly the Sect Master's wife!

Wash 1JJA

Su Baichen was sixteen years old at this time, and in a few more months he would be fifteen.

He's grown quite a bit taller recently, and is now about 180cm tall.

Su Baichen was quite disappointed that his growth rate had slowed down. He felt that if he hadn't rushed to build muscle when he was younger, he might have grown to over 200cm. Now, it seemed he could only grow to 185cm to 190cm.

Su Baichen felt a little regretful about this, but to others, his height was just right.

Especially now that he has been baptized by the two innate powers of Taiyin and the Ten Elements, his temperament has undergone a very obvious change.

His innate earth element was incredibly stable, giving him a sense of profound stillness and imposing presence.

The cool and serene nature of the yin energy gave him an incomparably noble and ethereal air.

To be more precise, he gave off the feeling of a misty, ethereal mountain.

A quarter of an hour later, everyone tidied themselves up and then entered Changchun Palace under the guidance of Master Xuanyin.

They weren't the first to arrive; the Sword Sect, though the furthest away, had arrived first.

Then the Five Elements Sect arrived.

Upon arriving at this place, Su Baichen led his junior brothers and sisters to find Lin Zhaodi.

"Bai Chen, it's been a long time."

Lin Zhaodi greeted him with a light smile, but her eyes couldn't help but linger on Su Baichen, looking him up and down.

It's not that I'm craving anything from him, but I feel that this young man has changed so much in the past two years.

Su Baichen led his junior brothers and sisters and introduced them, saying, "Come here, this is your senior sister Fang Baishu. Quickly say hello to her."

The two children quickly and politely greeted each other.

That cautious and timid manner of hers made her seem so mature and endearing, it was heartbreaking.

Lin Zhaodi took the two children's hands, and said as if she understood, "You want me to take care of them for a while?"

Su Baichen nodded: "Does Senior Sister know the rules for this disciple competition?"

Lin Zhaodi shook her head: "I don't know much, but my master won't let me participate."

Su Baichen understood: "It seems that Uncle Kaiyang also intends to keep Senior Sister in Changchun Palace, which is not unexpected."

He knew that Lin Zhaodi wasn't the type of person who could fight, so she definitely wouldn't be required to participate in this kind of disciple competition.

Don't be fooled by Lin Zhaodi's lack of practical combat skills; such a person might seem useless to the sect. On the contrary, for the sake of a sect's inheritance, someone like Su Baichen can only be considered a protector, while someone like Lin Zhaodi, or rather, "Little Fairy Doctor Fang Baishu," is the one who can be respected by the world and make Changchun Palace famous.

Lin Zhaodi asked in surprise, "Could it be that the disciples will be leaving the mountain for this competition?"

Su Baichen nodded and said, "Yes, we will activate all the grand formations of Changchun Palace and temporarily put the mountain into a closed mode."

"So you see, we brought everyone from Yinfeng Gorge with us. These little guys will stay here until we return victorious and take them away."

Lin Zhaodi understood: "Alright, then leave them with me."

"By the way, what are the two little ones' names?"

Su Baichen pointed to the two children and said, "This is Gouwa. After this matter is over, he should be able to formally enter the sect and receive a Daoist title. He's my junior brother. This is Erya. She'll have to wait until she's a bit older. She's my Uncle Shuiyin's disciple, but she's also my junior sister."

Lin Zhaodi greeted the two children gently.

She seemed very happy; it appeared she genuinely enjoyed interacting with children.

Gouwa and Erya also liked this older sister very much, and they were quickly amused.

"By the way, where's Brother Wang?"

Su Baichen looked around.

At this time, Changchun Palace was extremely lively, with disciples from various sects crowding around, but Wang Xingyuan was nowhere to be seen.

To be honest, although Changchun Palace is dilapidated and large, it is still not enough for so many people to live and cultivate there for a long time.

In order to continue to grow and expand, the predecessors of Changchun Palace chose suitable places to spread their influence, which is also a development direction that many cultivation sects choose.

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhaodi said, "I saw him come, but it seems he went to the back mountain. He didn't seem to be in a good mood."

"Why don't you go and ask him what's wrong? I'm not capable and I'm bad at talking, but you're more reliable, Brother Bai Chen."

Su Baichen nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go take a look—but Sister Zhaodi, you're not incompetent!"

"Did you know? The fertilizer formula you invented has already been promoted in Liang Kingdom, and many families are already seeing signs of a bumper harvest."

"If the Liang Kingdom can achieve an unprecedented harvest as a result, that would be an immense merit."

Lin Zhaodi said somewhat shyly, "I'm not as good as you say—"

Su Baichen smiled and waved to her before heading to the back of the mountain.

He, Lin Zhaodi, and Wang Xingyuan were not only from the same hometown but also his earliest friends. Their relationship was ultimately different from that of ordinary fellow students.

Su Baichen arrived at the back mountain —

Quite unexpectedly, this is the very place where he created the "Nanshan Unquenchable Flame".

He found Wang Xingyuan here.

"Brother Xingyuan, have you run into some trouble?"

Su Baichen asked with a smile.

Wang Xingyuan was standing halfway up the mountain looking down when he heard Su Baichen's words. He turned around and said with a helpless expression, "Baichen, it's you. I have indeed encountered some problems, but these are my own troubles, and no one else can help me."

Seeing the distress and frustration in his expression, Su Baichen guessed and asked, "Is something wrong at home?"

Wang Xingyuan asked in surprise, "How did you know?"

Su Baichen chuckled: "We cultivators can naturally ask our elders and predecessors about cultivation issues. It's only family matters that have trapped us to this extent."

"Oh, I forgot to mention, matters of love between men and women can also be confusing—could it be that Brother Xingyuan has found a senior sister he likes?"

Wang Xingyuan quickly looked away and said, "Don't joke around. I'm just having some troubles at home."

Su Baichen:

No, who would believe such a low-level attempt to change the subject?

Goodness, it turns out Wang Xingyuan's problems aren't just limited to his family; he also has relationship issues!

He has quite a few problems.

Okay, we need to solve the problems one by one.

Su Baichen sighed inwardly, then asked, "Would it be convenient for you to tell me?"

Wang Xingyuan hesitated for a moment, then sighed and said, "Bai Chen, you are one of us. Back then, it was thanks to you that our family was spared a major disaster—it's alright to tell you about this."

"—I went down the mountain to sever my worldly ties a few days ago, only to find out when I got home that my younger brother had already died of illness."

"Um?!"

Su Baichen realized what was happening.

He carefully considered his words before saying, "We haven't been greatly affected by the plague here. People like Brother Wang, who have been staying at home all this time, shouldn't theoretically get sick—unless, it was the second wave of the plague released by Master Xuanding?"

Wang Xingyuan hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly: "That should be it. As far as I know, my younger brother suddenly went mad before he died. For some reason, he ran around in a panic and accidentally fell into the pond at home. Although he was pulled out in time, he was frightened and caught a cold, and died not long after."

Upon hearing this, Su Baichen nodded silently. These symptoms were indeed those of a person without form.

He said, "We can only say that this is fortunate. If that formless one had grown up, my senior brother's house would probably have been torn to shreds."

He tried to persuade them from this perspective.

However, Wang Xingyuan shook his head and said, "I'm not worried about this. After all, I don't have any feelings for that younger brother, and when I left the Wang family back then, it meant I had given up everything from the Wang family—so, Bai Chen, from now on you only need to call me by my Daoist name, Wang Xingyuan. I'm prepared to completely abandon this name."

Well, it seems there's not much difference for him; they're all Senior Brother Xingyuan.

"Then what is it that puzzles Senior Brother Xingyuan so much?"

Feng Xingyuan sighed, "Isn't it because the Wang family has no heir? I was raised as the heir in my early years, and my father wanted me to stay at home to inherit the family business and carry on the family line?"

Su Baichen exclaimed, "Oh, so that's what it is!"

He said, "Senior brother, is there anything difficult about handling this?"

Feng Xingyuan said, "It's difficult for me because I'm now focused on spiritual cultivation and don't want to return to the secular world. But I can't refuse my father's expectations. After all, although my mother was just a concubine, she was quite favored and protected by the Wang family."

Upon hearing this, Su Baichen retorted, "Just because of that?"

Feng Xingyuan nodded: "This is it."

Su Baichen said, somewhat puzzled, "Why don't you just let Uncle have another child? That way, the Wang family will have an heir again, and as a cultivator, you can protect the family for a long time. Wouldn't that be the best solution for Uncle?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Xingyuan paused for a moment, then said with a wry smile, "Father is already fifty years old this year. He already had difficulty conceiving, and now this incident has dealt him another blow. I'm afraid it will be very difficult for him to have children—"

What's so difficult about it?

Su Baichen still didn't understand.

He said, "Is Uncle not feeling well? That's alright. When you have time, have Sister Zhao Di take his pulse. It should be resolved quickly."

"If that doesn't work, ask Sister Zhaodi if she has any medicine that's good for sex without harming the body—I think if Uncle suffers a little longer, Brother Xingyuan might have several more younger brothers and sisters in a few years."

Feng Xingyuan: "————"

He looked at Su Baichen with a strange expression, as if something was very wrong.

Su Baichen looked down at himself and asked, "What's wrong with me?"

Feng Xingyuan sighed, "Well, now that you mention it, it seems like the problem I was worried about doesn't exist at all."

"Why didn't I think of solving the problem by making my father suffer a little?"

He paused, then said, "And Bai Chen, you should call her 'Fang Baishu' or 'Senior Sister Baishu' from now on—she has severed ties with the world and is quite disappointed in her family."

Su Baichen was taken aback: "But Zhao Di—Senior Sister Bai Shu didn't mention that?"

"That's always been her way; she'd never tell us her complaints."

"However, we just need to be careful once we discover these things ourselves."

Su Baichen quickly agreed. He was quite surprised, not expecting that Senior Brother Xingyuan's observation was so meticulous—no wonder he was a sword cultivator with a clear sword heart.