"You seriously can't lift it?" Brother Gong asked, his hand covering his mouth to hide his smile.
"You have failed to remember that I am very weak," Zhou said, struggling to carry the object that Brother Gong was referring to.
"Liuxian, I never expected you wouldn't be able to carry a sword," Ye said, his voice thin from holding back laughter.
"I know you're both laughing at me, no need to hold it in," Zhou grumbled, finally getting the sword up after its humiliating plummet to the ground. Brother Gong burst into laughter, holding his sides that were splitting apart. Ye turned his head as his body shook aggressively.
"You're both so rude," Zhou said. Zhou exerted much effort into lifting the sword. He went to rest it on top of his shoulders before Ye flashed in front of him grabbing his hand.
"Woah, you don't wanna do that," Brother Gong said, forcing Zhou's arm down.
"That's a double-edged sword, and you don't have a spirit shield. You're going to cut yourself if you rest it on your shoulder," Brother Gong warned.
"Well, I didn't know it was a double-edged sword," Zhou replied.
"Don't bother with expecting him to know what things are. He's never paid attention in class and would rather play than study," Ye said, inspecting the weapons on the weapons rack.
"It's very interesting, Zhou doesn't seem to know anything, yet you are very knowledgable despite you two growing up together. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're the son of a noble," Brother Gong commented, grabbing another practice sword from the rack.
"I am a noble," Ye said. Brother Gong gaped at him like a koi fish.
"You are?" Brother Gong asked. He brought his hand to his chin and thought about it, a lightbulb lighting up above his head.
"Oh, yeah. That makes sense," Brother Gong said.
"No it doesn't," Zhou butted in. Brother Gong sighed.
"No, it doesn't. But I'm sure you'll tell me when you're ready," Brother Gong replied.
"Alright, let me teach you the way of the weapon," Brother Gong said, standing in front of a training dummy.
"Stop trying to sound cool," Zhou said. Brother Gong glared at Zhou.
"Fine, you try first. Just start swinging," Brother Gong said, stepping aside for Zhou.
"Maybe I will," Zhou replied. He lifted the sword and swung it like a bat at the dummy, the dummy vibrating at the impact. Zhou kept on swinging at it, his wrist aching.
"Stop," Ye demanded, taking the sword away.
"You're bones and muscles aren't conditioned to carry a sword. You will hurt yourself if you use a sword in battle," Ye said, putting the sword back onto the rack. He picked up a wooden pole and handed it to Zhou.
"Here, use this instead. It's lightweight so you can put more momentum into it and swing faster," Ye said.
"Hey, I thought we agreed that I would be the one teaching because I'm the one with the benefactor for it," Brother Gong complained, swinging the sword that was in his hands.
"Then do a better job at teaching," Ye shot back, frowning at the sword in his hands.
"What, too barbaric for noble hands like yours?" Brother Gong teased.
"Yes, too barbaric for me," Ye replied, going over the weapons.
"Here, try this one," Brother Gong said, handing him a weapon.
"A club?" Ye asked with a horrified face. Zhou grinned, catching onto what Brother Gong was doing.
"Er gege, you're so strong, a club would be the best weapon for you," Zhou teased. Ye dropped the club and held his hand like it was burning.
"Do you think of me as a brute?" Ye cried out, Zhou chuckling as Ye's more posh speech slipped out.
"So our Genius Ye dislikes things that are 'barbaric' or 'brutish,'" Brother Gong said thoughtfully.
"I am not some brute without elegance," Ye said, going over to the special weapons rack. He picked up a weapon, testing it in his hands.
"A trident?" Zhou asked, walking over to him and looking at the weapon with interest.
"Yes, a trident," Ye said, swinging it around.
"Honestly, Ye didn't really strike me as a trident user. He seemed like he would use the classic weapons, like swords, bows, and spears," Brother Gong commented.
"I've already reached Mastery Rank 3 in all those weapons. They're quite boring," Ye said. He walked over to a training dummy and jabbed at it, the trident cutting straight into its wooden body.
"Mastery Rank 3? At 13?" Brother Gong asked. There was truly an unlimited amount of surprises hidden within Ye.
"Another thing I know nothing of. I feel so left out," Zhou said, fake crying.
"Like cultivation ranks, weapon ranks work in the same way. But instead of 5 categories, there are 3. Apprentice, Mastery, and Advanced, each separated into 9 ranks," Brother Gong explained, a soft golden light pulsing from his eyes.
"What's that?" Zhou asked, pointing at them. Brother Gong reached up and touched the corner of his eye.
"Oh, it's my passive skill as someone claimed by The God of The Way of the Teacher, Cetia. I can easily explain concepts to people and it makes the student understand faster," Brother Gong explained.
"If there's a passive skill, is there an active skill?" Zhou asked, poking Brother Gong's face. Ye grabbed his wrist and forced it back to his side, shaking his head.
"I'm sure there is, but I only have a rough idea of what it does," Brother Gong replied.
"Does every benefactor have a passive and active skill?"
"Yes, they all do,"
"Hey, are they any other training dummies?" Ye called out. Brother Gong and Ye looked over to see that all the training dummies had been destroyed to smithereens.
"Ye, what in Chilous name did you do?" Brother Gong asked, walking to him.
"I destroyed them?" Ye stated. He handed Brother Gong the now worn out trident.
"Ye, you're not supposed to destroy the dummies. How did you even know how to use a trident? It's not even taught in our classes,"
"I read. A lot," Ye replied. Brother Gong felt like throwing up blood at how insufferable Ye was.
"Well, how about you be Zhou's training dummy since you destroyed the actual training dummies?" Brother Gong suggested, ushering them to an empty area.
"Using er gege as a training dummy? Is that even safe?" Zhou asked, holding the pole gingerly.
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Brother Gong said dismissively.
"Go ahead," Ye said. Zhou nodded and started swinging with the pole. Ye didn't break a sweat from dodging each strike. After a couple of minutes, Zhou stopped, out of breath.
"You suck," Brother Gong said bluntly.
"Shut up," Zhou and Ye said in unison. Brother Gong looked at the two and laughed.
"Alright, I have to go take care of Mo since he was complaining when I left him this morning," Brother Gong said. He tossed the sword back onto the rack and started leaving.
"Wait, why did we even come here?" Zhou called out to him. Brother Gong turned around and walked backward.
"To find which weapon would suit you two. Ye seems to like the trident and you seem to like the pole. Whatever you do now, whether going to the library or training more, that's up to you! See ya!" Brother Gong slipped out of the weapons building, leaving the two right there.
"The God of The Way of the Teacher, Cetia, frowns upon your lackluster lesson,"
"Oh, shut up,"
~~ 1 Week Later
"First Master Feng Huan, the mistress has been located," a soldier said. Feng Huan stood up, his chair falling to the ground.
"Bring her here," Feng Huan ordered.
"First Master, she is dead," the soldier said. Feng Huan stumbled back in shock, tripping over his chair.
"This can't be," Feng Huan said, his chin quivering. The soldier hurried over and lifted up Feng Huan, leading him over to the couch.
"Her head has been turned 180 degrees and her bones have been heavily broken. A couple of fingers are also missing," the soldier reported. Feng Huan rubbed his forehead, a heavy sigh escaping his lips.
"What about Xinya? Has she been located yet?" Feng Huan asked, his voice strained and tired.
"We've traced her spirit to the river that the mistress was left, but her spirit disappears there," the soldier said.
"Also, the river that her spirit leads to is no ordinary river. It is a river with a very strong spirit. Even our strongest soldier who is at Human late-stage rank 7 nearly lost their life as they got closer to the edge. From our observations, only people who are Ghost stage can enter the river without repercussion," the soldier said. Feng Huan gripped the sachet tied to his robe, his face pale.
"And you said her spirit disappeared into the river?" Feng Huan asked.
"Yes, First Master," the soldier confirmed.
"Thank you. You may go now," Feng Huan said. The soldier nodded and left the room, leaving a very distressed Feng Huan behind.
Knock, knock.
The door opened softly and in came Sister Rong. She went to sit next to her husband, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Honey, is something wrong?" she asked. Feng Huan smiled at her, placing a sweet kiss on her forehead.
"Everything is finished," Feng Huan muttered. Sister Rong grinned wickedly, her eyes sharp.
"Yes, everything is finished,"