Chapter 560: Are You Still Recruiting Disciples Lately?

Fu Xinyi hurried off to catch up with her fellow disciples. After telling Lu Yibei to rest where he was and not to wander, she rushed away. Lu Yibei leaned against the corridor railing, watching her disappear without a change in expression; the moment her figure slipped out of sight, his eyes darted craftily. He looked around, recalling the “sesame flatbread” map Qing Ji had drawn, and began to scheme.

This was Zhen Ting Hall. If the Old Ancestor’s map was still valid, there wasn’t much here to worry about. Go through Zhen Ting Hall, then follow the mountain path about five hundred meters, and you reached Qinghui Hall. The disciples of the Great Pure Palace held morning and evening classes there and studied theory; most of the classics were stored there as well—the psychic artifact blueprints and the visualization diagrams were very likely there.

Compared with Zhen Ting Hall, Qinghui Hall was guarded far more tightly. Thirty-six clusters of complex solidified spell arrays were ingeniously inlaid into the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation—perfectly fused, yet circulating spiritual energy on their own. The floors holding important classics also had an elder on watch. Fortunately, the Old Ancestor had taught him how to disrupt or temporarily mask the effects of such solidified arrays, and the map marked several secret passages that could avoid the elders’ line of sight.

From Qinghui Hall to the northeast, climbing to the summit would take one to Zixiao Terrace—no need to go there. Due west was Qingnang Cottage, home to the herb garden and alchemy rooms; psychic artifact blueprints might also be there. Worth a look—and if convenient, he could quietly walk off with some materials and potions. To the north lay Chìlí Hall, where psychic artifacts were forged and stored. Beyond that, passing the disciples’ residences—Hongyan Villa and Qiaoyuan Villa—one would reach the Back Mountain. The question was whether the Pure Lotus Sword fragment was in the Back Mountain or in Chìlí Hall.

If it was in Chìlí Hall, that was manageable—much like Qinghui Hall: temporarily mask the arrays, avoid the elders’ sight, and he could obtain the fragment smoothly. But if it was in the Back Mountain, that would be troublesome. The Back Mountain was where the Sect Master and elders secluded themselves. There were many secret tunnels within the mountain’s belly left by predecessors, and the Old Ancestor had marked those he knew, but without an on-site survey, Lu Yibei didn’t dare wander those tunnels blindly.

If he merely blundered into some elder’s security setup, that would be fine—he could lie flat and call the Old Ancestor. Even running into a senior sister taking a bath would at most trigger a clichéd lucky-lecher episode. But with worse luck, he might end up face-to-face with the Black Emperor.

Turns out, breaking the rules is a technical craft—especially when a catastrophe-class psychic is on-site.

Still seated, Lu Yibei spent some time comparing Qing Ji’s wildly abstract map with the real layout, and his head began to ache. He liked to think his spatial imagination wasn’t bad and had mentally sketched a rough layout of the Great Pure Palace from the Old Ancestor’s map alone. But it had been over a hundred years since the Old Ancestor last appeared here; much may have changed. He absolutely couldn’t act rashly without first scouting!

But I’m an outsider—at best a friendly visitor from a sister organization. Lots of places aren’t convenient to enter…

Tsk. If only I could snag a little cutie to give me a tour, he thought.

Just then, a patter of light footsteps came from afar. Looking over, he saw a round-faced young Daoist of about fifteen or sixteen in a moon-white robe approach at a quick pace. The youth stopped before him, cupped his hands, and asked a bit shyly, “Excuse me, are you Mr. Lu Yibei?”

“And you are?” Lu Yibei tilted his head.

“I am Yi Sihan, a disciple under Bi Xuzi. Senior Sister Fu Xinyi asked me to take you to a guest room to rest,” the youth said with a smile. As he spoke, he was very respectful, with a hint of distance.

Going straight to a guest room? Not even a quick tour? Lu Yibei griped inwardly, but he returned the salute. “I’ll trouble you, then.”

Fine! If you won’t take the initiative to show me around, I can still make you do it passively, can’t I? Come to think of it, Bi Xuzi… where have I heard that? Seems like Li Xuan’s master? That’s something to work with! A sly glint flashed in Lu Yibei’s eyes.

“Please follow me, Mr. Lu,” Yi Sihan said, gesturing, then set off along the corridor.

Lu Yibei roughly judged the heading and frowned. Wrong direction—looked like a shortcut straight to a guest room at Hongyan Villa. That’d kill my chance to look around. No—find an in, get him talking, and coax him into a tour!

With that, he subtly slowed, falling half a step behind, and used both his eyes and his premonitory thoughts to surreptitiously observe Yi Sihan.

[His steps slowed for an instant]

[He opened his mouth, then quickly closed it]

[He snuck a sidelong glance backward]

…

Staring at Yi Sihan, sensing the flashes of premonition in his mind, Lu Yibei noticed the youth’s cheeks tinged pink—shy or excited—plainly someone with a question he was too embarrassed to ask.

What does he want to ask—about Fu Xinyi, or Li Xuan? Odds are Fu Xinyi; most Great Pure Palace disciples seem to like her, while that guy Li Xuan is widely disliked. Whatever—test the waters first.

After a quick read on Yi Sihan’s intent, Lu Yibei arched a brow and let his socially terrifying talent loose. “So, Yi Sihan, right? You said Senior Sister Fu Xinyi sent you. Are you one of her fans?”

“Mm—huh?” Yi Sihan had been mulling how to start. Caught off guard, he froze, then answered a bit bashfully, “N-no, we don’t have a Fu Xinyi fan club, b-but Senior Sister is indeed my idol…”

He paused, as if recalling something, turned back with open expectation, and asked, “Is Senior Sister also your idol, Mr. Lu?”

His clear eyes sparkled with anticipation and excitement. The respect remained, but the distance vanished—like a kid who hears the big brother next door mention his favorite cartoon and can’t wait to chat.

Lu Yibei: “…”

Jackpot. This kid is an open book. Little bro, are you really Li Xuan’s junior? Everything’s written on your face. If you’re this naive, you’ll get bullied when you join the Midnight Watchers, you know?

Grumbling inwardly, Lu Yibei shrugged. “No—my idols are Comrade Marx and Comrade Lenin.”

Yi Sihan: “…”

A bit deflated. He’d hoped to ride the topic and pry into how Senior Sister got the Mountain-Guarding Divine Beast to recognize a master. His senior brothers had drilled it into him to learn something, but now he couldn’t get a word in. He knew nothing about Lu Yibei’s idols and didn’t dare risk a wrong note.

In fact, precisely because she knew Yi Sihan was this shy and timid, Fu Xinyi had sent him to host Lu Yibei—so he wouldn’t ask too much. She overlooked one crucial point: as long as the other party could talk, Lu Yibei could make conversation.

Just as Yi Sihan was about to give up, Lu Yibei’s next words slipped into his ears and rekindled a spark of hope. “That said, I am quite familiar with your Senior Sister.”

“You know she previously went to support Tang City, right?”

“Mm, mm, I know, I know. I heard thousands of psychics and hauntings showed up, it was extremely dangerous. Everyone was worried about Senior Sister’s safety,” Yi Sihan nodded.

“Hmph!” Lu Yibei lifted his chin, smug. “I was in Tang City too—an operator sent to assist, same as her. You could say we’re comrades who’ve gone through life and death together.”

Yep—the kind of life-and-death where she misused a curse array and almost made me bleed out on the spot!

“Wow—!” Yi Sihan couldn’t help a soft gasp, starry-eyed at Lu Yibei. For “fans” like them, who wouldn’t want to leave the mountain for practical experience with Fu Xinyi? But such trips only happen twice a year, with one to three people per team—chances to travel with Fu Xinyi might not come even once a year. For a newcomer of two years like Yi Sihan, he hadn’t even had a single chance. Now hearing that Lu Yibei had not only joined an operation of The Midnight Watchers Society with Fu Xinyi but was also her life-and-death comrade, he immediately extended his adoration to Lu Yibei as well.

“And that’s not all!” Lu Yibei said. “I’m also colleagues—and close friends—with your senior brother Li Xuan. Besides missions, we often talk cars…”

Right—talk how to poke his tires, yank his bumper, and how he’s supposed to fix the mess!

“Could you tell me? Tell me about you and Senior Sister Fu Xinyi in Tang City,” Yi Sihan asked, excited. Up to now, because it involved matters around the catastrophe-class haunting Gou Meng and authority conversion, most Great Pure Palace disciples only knew the outline; details were a mystery. If he learned about Fu Xinyi’s Tang City trip, he could brag in the Fu Xinyi Fan Club for ages.

Lu Yibei: “ … “

Completely ignored Li Xuan’s existence, huh! Kid, I know Li Xuan’s not easy to deal with, but he’s still your senior brother—bit out of line, isn’t it?

“That’s a long story,” Lu Yibei mused for a few seconds. “It starts with how she broke through layers of encirclement to enter Tang City and made contact with the local branch of The Midnight Watchers Society.”

“At the time, a haunting leveraged its power to block all communications across the Eight-Hundred-Li Taoyuan region. To prevent The Midnight Watchers Society from interfering, they even sent eighteen contingents of Class-A psychics to ambush and kill Society members along the route—methods utterly ruthless.”

“We risked our lives and cut a bloody path to get into Tang City. We thought that was already the best outcome—who knew it was only the beginning of the horror…”

Mixing seven parts truth with three parts embellishment, Lu Yibei spun the tale of “Fu Xinyi’s Adventures” for Yi Sihan. After comparing it with what he and his peers had heard, Yi Sihan found no obvious falsehoods and sank unconsciously into the story’s details. Thus the two kept walking, and before they knew it, they’d passed Zhen Ting Hall and reached the fork toward Hongyan Annex.

“…Fu Xinyi and I were at the scenic gate, sensing a surge of psionic fluctuations closing in. We suddenly turned—and an army of illegal psychics and hauntings had arrived!”

Sensing the timing was right, Lu Yibei stopped at the story’s key point—perfectly cut. He glanced at Yi Sihan and changed tack: “Hey, Brother Yi, aren’t the guest rooms close? How about…”

“I’ll tell you the rest next time if there’s a chance. If not, forget it—not a big deal, right?”

Kid, seize the moment—miss this village and there’s no next inn!

“I’m an outsider; it’s not proper to wander your Great Pure Palace. I’ll take my leave and rest in the room.”

Unless you show me around! No—how can we just drop it?

Seeing Lu Yibei head down the small path toward Hongyan Annex, Yi Sihan grew anxious and blurted, “M-Mr. Lu, this is your first time at our Great Pure Palace, right?”

“That’s right. What about it?” Lu Yibei said, expressionless.

Biting his lip, Yi Sihan said, “If you don’t mind, I can show you around.”

“Well… I’m actually not interested in touring the Great Pure Palace,” Lu Yibei frowned. “Isn’t it just palaces and temples? What’s there to see? Let’s forget it.”

Hearing that, Yi Sihan actually laughed. “Heh, looks like it really is your first time here—you don’t know anything! Uh, s-sorry, I misspoke.”

“Anyway, let me be your guide? You can also keep telling me about Senior Sister Fu’s Tang City experiences. Mm, mm—consider it me begging you, okay?”

“ … “ After pretending to hesitate a few seconds, Lu Yibei sighed. “Fine. I’ll walk with you.”

“It’s only because I feel we hit it off that I’m thinking of finishing the Tang City story. Touring your Great Pure Palace doesn’t interest me.”

“Then… Mr. Lu, later could you also… tell me how Senior Sister Fu Xinyi got the divine beast to recognize her as master?” Yi Sihan probed.

“Of course!” Lu Yibei nodded. “Honestly, I was scared stiff just now—she used only three sentences to make the divine beast kneel and kowtow eighteen times.”

Yi Sihan’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, Mr. Lu! This way, please! I’ll take you to Zhen Ting Hall first.”

He pivoted and walked briskly back toward the hall. Watching his back, Lu Yibei shook his head helplessly.

Tsk—he’s even thanking me. Am I going to get smitten by heaven for fooling such an innocent kid?

—————

Though Zhen Ting Hall didn’t have what Lu Yibei wanted, he still followed Yi Sihan back to avoid exposing his aim. Five minutes later, after a long corridor, they finally entered the main area of Zhen Ting Hall. As soon as they stepped through the vermilion-lacquered doors, saw what lay beyond, and heard distant explosions, Lu Yibei froze.

Beyond was a platform as large as four or five football fields—far bigger than the exterior suggested. Lu Yibei guessed it leveraged a special-space construct. For the Dark Emperor, a catastrophe-class psychic, shaping such space wouldn’t be difficult.

Blue bricks engraved with sigils paved the platform; various covers were set up around. Through a pale-blue barrier woven of spell arrays, three groups could be seen in a chaotic melee.

In the southeast corner, a group had fallen back behind a redoubt, wielding firearms loaded with alchemical rounds and raking the front with fire at the group attempting a frontal breakthrough—the ones chanting spells. Just as the powerful rounds were about to pour over those disciples casting, their chanting finished: water curtains, earth and stone, giant timber—surged up, forming a “city wall” that blocked the barrage. Alchemical munitions slammed into spellwork with a deafening roar; harsh light flared, and a gust hurled gravel and splinters through the air. The scene turned into brief mayhem.

Meanwhile, in the northwest corner, another team of disciples with blades moved like the wind, maneuvering to flank the firearm-wielding lot. Along the platform’s edge, a group of disciples with medical kits waited quietly; whenever someone was injured in the melee, they were instantly transmitted to the perimeter, and the medics would surge in to treat them at once.

“Uh…” Lu Yibei looked at Yi Sihan beside him and said blankly, “Is this your version of Free-for-All Day, like that one place? You know, where everyone can attack each other freely within a set time limit?”

Yi Sihan said in surprise, “Huh! There’s a place like that?”

“Of course there is! How could there not be?” Lu Yibei said with a perfectly serious expression. “They even slay dragons there!”

“Dragons…” Yi Sihan seemed to believe his nonsense and nodded thoughtfully. “The books say that hauntings possessing draconic power are generally very high level. The place you’re talking about must be some department of The Midnight Watchers Society, right?”

No way, you actually believed that? Couldn’t you tell I was trash talking? Lu Yibei roasted him inwardly, then pressed, “So what exactly are they doing?”

“Practical combat training!” Yi Sihan explained. “Those are all senior brothers and sisters who have been initiated for more than three years. They’ll be going down the mountain for training very soon. Before that, the teachers will arrange sufficient practical combat training for them. Only once they’re at least capable of handling a Class C haunting will they be allowed to descend the mountain.”

After a pause, Yi Sihan continued, “The floors above are where the disciples practice various skills. The first floor is for sword technique and body technique, the second floor is for spell formation and talisman practice, and half of the third floor is used for practicing with psychic artifacts, while the other half is for relaxation after training…”

Lu Yibei looked in the direction Yi Sihan was pointing and only then noticed that around the huge platform, rows of three-story buildings formed a rectangular ring around it, like the Chinese character hui (回). Walls divided the floors into rooms about the size of dance studios, and almost every room had enormous floor-to-ceiling glass windows installed. Through them, he could vaguely see quite a few disciples practicing inside. But…

“What are those weird-looking devices strapped to them for?” Lu Yibei asked, pointing at one of the rooms. Inside that room, four or five disciples were practicing spell formations.

“Oh! Those are for monitoring the condition of their Spirit Pattern, heart rate, and water-salt balance, to prevent accidental harm to the body during practice. They’re mainly for protection,” Yi Sihan explained with a smile. “But even if someone does get injured, it’s fine. Over at Qingnang Cottage, the teachers will help condition their bodies through tuina massage, spell-formation medicinal baths, specially prepared meals, and so on, so that the disciples can recover as quickly as possible.”

“By the way, apparently all of this was part of a renovation plan proposed by an expert over a decade ago. It was only fully completed and put into use a couple of years ago. In the past two years, there have already been very few disciples who suffered untreatable injuries during their training. Everyone is very grateful to that expert!”

Lu Yibei: “…”

They’ve made it pretty scientific, huh? So why exactly are you people being so scientific for no reason? Which bastard expert came up with all this? Where are the palaces? Where are the deity statues? Where are the shabby old ancient buildings? Isn’t your Great Pure Palace supposed to be old-school? Why does this feel like the Eclipse Society’s ultimate warrior training center? You’re putting me in a really awkward position here, you know?

At that moment, Lu Yibei suddenly realized that with the passage of time, the “sesame flatbread” the Ancestors had given him had actually become a sesame flatbread. No, that wasn’t right. A sesame flatbread could still fill your stomach, while that map was completely useless.

Lu Yibei even suspected that if he were to wander around Great Pure Palace blindly right now, he might run into a psychic-energy-powered Gundam somewhere and get beaten up.

He suddenly understood why Huá Sāng started shutting herself away the moment she arrived in Hua City, and became cheerful again once she returned near Great Pure Palace. If it were him, after spending a long time in a place like this, then going to somewhere as harsh as Hua City, which even had hauntings causing trouble, he’d shut himself away too.

“Pardon me for asking, but are you still recruiting disciples here?” Lu Yibei asked.

“Huh? What did you say?” Yi Sihan froze for a moment, seemingly not having heard what Lu Yibei had said clearly.

“Nothing. Pretend I didn’t say anything…” Lu Yibei said calmly.

Although he was very envious of Great Pure Palace’s environment, at the instant the sun set every day, he would undergo haunting transformation. Staying in Great Pure Palace for a short while was fine, but if he stayed too long, sooner or later he would be dragged off to guard the gate.