Chapter 16: Studying

Identical talent—that was for the best.

Zora blinked and stuffed all the stones into his hands. Vane looked at the five stones in his palm, closed his hand in silence, and let his arm hang at his side. Having cleared up the matter of their talent, the two stood in place watching the commotion around them.

When the Sword Gate disciple came to collect the testing stones, he found they were not in the hands of the last person tested, but in the hands of the youth standing in the middle.

The Oracle in her mind stuttered for a moment before shouting: [The probability of survival just went up again! I knew it, Host is taking the 'Genius Route'!]

Irritated by the Oracle’s incessant chattering, Zora sent it back into hibernation.

[...Silence.]

The voices of the elders on the platform reached their ears as a blur of strange, indistinct language—the barrier was at work. Zora’s calm amber eyes gazed toward the stone platform.

According to the plot, Jin Chuyang should be proposing to take a disciple now. As one of the high-ranking Immortals of the Sword Gate who had contributed to the war against the Demon Realm, he was deeply respected. However, he was naturally indolent, and his decision to take a disciple this time astonished everyone.

"These are gifts from the elders; every new disciple of the Sword Gate receives one." The white-clad disciple handed embroidered pouches to the three of them.

Zora looked at the palm-sized pouch, which was embroidered with the emblem of the December Sect.

"This is a storage bag. You will learn how to use it during your first class tomorrow."

...Class? What class?

Zora was briefly dazed and searched the original text again. However, the original story had used a flashback technique for this part, only mentioning that Jin Chuyang took Vane as his disciple. The perspective then shifted to the female lead, focusing only on her interactions with her master, leaving Zora with only a partial understanding of the specific induction and cultivation processes of the sect.

The three expressed their thanks and introduced themselves one by one. Afterward, an elder spoke a few formal words.

"...Once you have spent a month in the Bamboo Resonance Courtyard, you may have the hope of becoming a disciple—or even a personal disciple—of one of the Immortals. I hope you do not disappoint, practice hard, and soon become sword cultivators who can stand on your own."

The other two responded with a bow and a coordinated acknowledgement; Zora followed a beat late with a salute. When she looked up, the Immortals had already vanished.

This meant that while Jin Chuyang had announced his intention to take Vane as a disciple on the platform in the original book, according to the sect's rules, they still had to study within the gate for a month. They needed to learn the basics of the Immortal Cultivation Realm and how to draw Qi into their bodies before the formal apprenticeship.

"Junior brothers and sister, please follow me," the white-clad disciple said with a smile, walking toward the edge.

"Senior Brother..." Zhang Mo, dressed in grey and clutching his sword in excitement, followed hesitantly.

"Junior Brother Zhang, you can just call me Senior Brother Cheng. My name is Cheng Yiyu."

Zhang Mo: "Senior Brother Cheng!"

Vane followed behind them unobtrusively. Only when Cheng Yiyu looked back did he show a slight, measured smile: "Senior Brother Cheng."

Cheng Yiyu showed the utmost kindness to the three new disciples. The shock of seeing Zora and Vane’s exceptional talent was still fresh in his heart; after all, Dual-Element Roots were rare in the world, and calling them geniuses among geniuses was no exaggeration. These two were destined for great futures, but also for great hardships.

He smiled at Vane. "Junior Brother Vane. If you need anything during this month, you can find me at the Qinling Terrace. I'm occasionally on duty there handling the repair of spiritual tools."

Zora glanced at Vane, who had instantly changed his expression, then at Cheng Yiyu. Imitating the behavior, she said: "Senior Brother Cheng."

"Any questions, Junior Sister Zora?"

"Where do we live?"

"Before the formal apprenticeship, you will live as regular inner disciples. Don't worry, the treatment for inner disciples is quite good."

Cheng Yiyu blew a short, sharp note on a flute. Suddenly, four white cranes burst through the bottomless clouds, their tail feathers trailing mist like white ribbons across the sky. Their feathers were flawless, and their dark red beaks gently pecked at Cheng Yiyu’s palm.

Zhang Mo marveled: "What huge cranes!"

Zora: "?" Having never seen a crane in her original world, she didn't know exactly how "huge" they were supposed to be.

"Alright. Since you haven't learned sword-kiting yet, and as for me..." Cheng Yiyu looked abashed. "Sword-kiting is my weak point, so I can't carry three people. I’ll have to trouble you to ride the cranes for now."

One crane for each person. The cranes lowered their heads, and Zora climbed on. Seeing its long neck curved, she touched it, and the crane’s wings twitched.

Cheng Yiyu: "Let's go."

The cranes cried out and beat their wings, suddenly lifting off. The wind brushed her face as they pierced the clouds. Gliding through the air was a different experience; this time she saw silhouettes—countless people walking or practicing with weapons below.

Suddenly, someone moved parallel to her. Zora turned her head; a man in white was standing on a massive gourd. He gave Zora a polite nod. Zora looked at his gourd and nodded back. The man accelerated and chatted with Cheng Yiyu up ahead.

"Where is He Songning?" "You know Senior Brother He doesn't like socializing or crowds. He didn't want to come, so he sent me as a substitute."

The man let out a cold snort, seemingly quite dissatisfied with He Songning. Having finished his question, he sped away, the long red ribbon tied to the gourd's mouth waving like a banner until he vanished.

The cranes landed in a clearing surrounded by beautiful mountains and waters. In a sect so full of spiritual energy, there wasn't a single place that wasn't stunning.

"Since Junior Sister Zora and Junior Brother Zhang's spiritual weapons are swords, according to the rules, you should live on Skysea Peak. Junior Brother Vane will be at Crowbend Pool. This is Skysea Peak; you two will stay there."

Cheng Yiyu pointed out two cottages. The living quarters for inner disciples were naturally high-quality and the area was vast. One could walk for half a day on Skysea Peak without encountering another house. Aside from the one directly in front of them, Cheng Yiyu pointed to a spot where only the tip of a roof peeked through the forest, looking quite far away.

"The cranes are lent to you for this month. They mostly eat things that fall under trees and green grass; it contains spiritual energy, which is good for their cultivation."

"Then... I’ll stay at the further one," Zhang Mo said in a low voice. He glanced at Zora, but the moment she turned her head, he immediately looked away, not daring to meet her eyes.

No wonder she could throw away a sword so casually. Dual-Element Roots are truly different; perhaps her state of mind is already many levels above mine,

Zhang Mo thought silently, recalling their forced duel in the Voidwave Realm.

Zora understood his words literally:

Oh, he wants to live far away.

Vane glanced at Zhang Mo, easily seeing through the other's timid thoughts. His eyes were indifferent, and he said nothing.

Except for Zora, the three boarded the cranes again. She suddenly remembered something and said to Vane: "You know where I live now."

Remember to come do your servant duties.

Cheng Yiyu looked puzzled but didn't say anything. Vane understood and nodded: "I know."

The three split into two groups and vanished into the distance. Zora entered her cottage; it came with its own front and back yards and was quite large. The interior was fresh, stocked with basic medicines like fasting pills.

As she entered, a carrier pigeon landed on the windowsill with a letter in its beak. Zora opened it; the content was the schedule for the month, including times and locations. Classes would start tomorrow.

...Classes. She had never attended a class; she had no idea how they worked. She looked at the pigeon and realized it wasn't a living thing, but a delicate mechanical tool.

As the pigeon flew away, Zora placed the letter on the table and walked out. The crane was pecking at the grass in the front yard. Zora walked over to look at it. Thinking she wanted a ride, the crane lowered its head. Zora stared at it.

"..."

The crane lifted its neck and tilted its head; despite being an animal, its eyes held a sense of human-like understanding. It stared at Zora for a while, then shook its wings, stood up, and went back to eating spiritual grass as if nothing had happened.

Reaching out, Zora touched its feathers; they were smooth and soft. Wherever the crane moved to eat, she followed, touching the same spot. The crane good-naturedly turned its body, indicating she should touch the other side so she wouldn't rub it bald.

After a long while, the sound of another crane landing came from outside. A youth with a spear stepped into the yard and looked up to see a person and a crane together in a harmonious scene.

Zora looked at him, her brow furrowed in confusion: "?"

Why are you here now?

Vane paused, instantly realizing he had overthought things, assuming her hint about servant duties included some tidying up. The two stood in a brief standoff. For a moment, he couldn't decide whether to leave or enter.

Zora: "What are you doing here? You should come tomorrow morning."

Vane: "I thought you meant for me to help tidy the house."

Zora pondered this for a moment and nodded, thinking she might have been too brief: "Then go ahead and tidy up."

Vane: "..." He entered the cottage. Zora went back to stroking the crane.

The house was already clean and tidy; there wasn't much to organize. She followed him inside and saw him arranging the various bottles on the shelf—one row of medicinal pills, another row behind it, clearly divided into two sections. One part was for wound treatment, and the other for different purposes. His spear was leaning against the corner wall; he didn't carry it with him.

Vane opened the wardrobe. He had brought the clothes from their previous stay before the secret realm, which was why it had taken him a bit longer. He folded them, placed them inside, and then neatly straightened the bedding.

He walked to the dressing table. He had intended to put the wooden comb into the jewelry box but found a delicate comb already inside. After a moment's hesitation, he closed the box; the wooden comb remained in his robes.

Zora sat at the table, and a few books were suddenly placed in front of her. She looked up in confusion.

Vane: "These are the books for tomorrow's class."

He saw a look of reluctance gradually appear on the girl's face. Her brow furrowed slightly, and her rounded amber eyes immediately showed a hint of resistance.

"..." Vane could only ignore it.

With everything done, he found himself with nothing to do. He stood by the table, his dark eyes turning toward her. There was no practiced smile, only a deep, calm gaze—no obvious hatred, just a normal look.

It was strange; in private, he felt frustrated and resentful about the servant’s bond, even harboring malicious thoughts. To avoid the backlash of the covenant, he had been controlling his mind, using the vague term "bond" to replace "Puppet Threads" or "covenant," and avoided thinking about their specific meanings. For him, this was simple. Aside from that one careless exposure, he hadn't triggered it again. He actively purged any thoughts of harming her, keeping them within a certain limit—this was his way of adapting to the status quo while lying low. At least for now, he lacked the power to defy the covenant repeatedly.

If he gained the power in the future, he might break the bonds—and then, as for how he would treat her—the youth naturally cut off the thought. Whatever the answer was, he never allowed himself to think it, lest he trigger the covenant.

But when he was actually in front of her doing those servant tasks, his thoughts would often be disrupted. She was so lacking in social graces that he always ended up doing a bit more and saying a bit more.

Zora flipped through the books briefly and felt her head swim. There were several large pages just for the sect rules, and the introductions to the powers of the Immortal Cultivation Realm were just clusters of black characters squeezed together.

She let out a tired sigh. Vane looked at her. "I'll take my leave then."

Zora: "Mhm."

The day grew late. Once he left, Zora thought for a moment, tossed the books aside, went to instruct the crane to let out a shout if anyone tried to harm her, and then dove into bed and fell asleep instantly.

The crane: "?" It went back to eating.

Early the next morning, as the sky was just turning grey, the crane began to cry out, one call after another.

Vane, carrying the morning chill, stepped into the yard. He gave the crane a look—there is a difference between a gaze that has killed and one that

likes

to kill. The crane instantly shut its beak.

When Vane entered the house, Zora was still putting on her shoes. She shuffled over to the dressing table. The youth's hands carried the chill of the morning dew, giving Zora a start after coming out of her warm bed and waking her up significantly.

Once she was ready, they boarded the crane to head to the Bamboo Resonance Courtyard.

The news that two Dual-Element Roots had joined the Sword Gate yesterday had already spread. Foundation classes like this were attended together by all the inner and outer disciples who had entered through the Cloud Stairway, as well as some cultivators who had been punished and forced to retake the class.

When Zora entered the room, it was almost full, with two people to a table. She paid no attention to the surreptitious glances and whispers. After waving to Yiling Ke in the first row, she walked straight to an empty spot in the back row and sat down. Vane naturally followed; he cared even less about the others, looking straight ahead.

After they were seated, a white-haired old man entered leisurely. "I am Xu Tan, the one who will be teaching you this month. You may call me Elder Xu."

He began teaching, but as he had taught this material hundreds of times, his voice followed habit while his eyes drifted toward the two in the back row, a smile on his face.

After all, they have the same talent as Lord Wanghua; they should be exceptionally bright.

...Wait? Why did Zora look like her brow was about to knot together?

...

"First, write down the four most important sect rules on the paper."

The room was filled with the rustling of paper, followed by silence as everyone focused on writing with their brushes. Zora looked extremely serious, staring at the blank paper, but her brush refused to land. Even her grip on the brush was something she had just learned by watching others; she had no idea how to write with a soft brush.

Vane, who had also just imitated the correct grip, was equally silent. "..." Though he had read books in the Demon Realm and traced characters with sticks and stones, he had never used a brush.

The two stared at the white paper together.

...

Elder Xu strolled around leisurely, nodding at the calligraphy of several students. Then he walked to the two who had caused such a stir yesterday, looking down at their papers with a smile.

His smile froze. "..."

What was this? The characters were hideously ugly—the work of absolute beginners. Vane was at least trying to imitate the characters in the book, his writing improving as he went. Zora was also progressing—but she wasn't imitating; she was just writing on her own, making her characters look... stiff and youthful? Like a child's handwriting.

"..." Elder Xu maintained a ghostly smile and wandered off elsewhere.

Vane's dark eyes shifted. He looked at Zora. She had accidentally pressed her left finger onto the wet ink, staining it black. Sensing his gaze, she looked up and met his eyes, her brow furrowed in annoyance—it was almost a glare.

Vane was momentarily stunned. She was clearly very unhappy. This was the first time he had seen such a distinct expression on her face, entirely different from her usual subtle reactions.

Seeing that Vane was seemingly lost in thought, Zora saw him offer a smile—not a practiced, faint smile, but a sharp one characteristic of a youth. In the quiet standoff, Vane felt he had to say something to end the silence: "You’ve got ink on your finger."

Zora gave him a strange look. "I know that. Don't look at me and distract me."

Vane suddenly felt his neck lose control, forced to turn back so he could no longer look at her.

"..."