All three divisions went through strict training on daily basis. In the morning the cultivators went to pluck golden feathers, during which they practiced light footwork, flying skills, and agility. After breakfast, each division meditated for four hours to refine their cultivation in separate places. The Peach Blossom Springs was naturally rich with natural qi. Those who came from poorer sects benefited a lot from the daily meditation sessions.
The Defense group continued after lunch with practicing defense spells and barrier-making, which was quickly followed by arena matches. At the arena, each of the cultivators was paired with a feathered cultivator. The job was simple : create a barrier to parry every each of the feathered tribe's attacks. This was not an easy feat because the feathered tribe was a lot stronger than the mortal cultivators.
It was thus quite surprising when one person managed to live up to the challenges on the very first day. It was a little boy whose height did not even reach his opponent's waist, too.
The feathered tribe was amazed. Even Miss Eighteen came by to express his admiration for this straight-A student.
Chu Wanning did not respond to the praises. He had worked with barriers for two lifetimes. Naturally, his skills were far above the other cultivators. What he wanted to improve was not barrier-making but barrier-mending. Miss Eighteen agreed to give Chu Wanning advanced lessons.
While the other cultivators in the Defense group carried on with the usual program, Chu Wanning was given preference and allowed to meditate and practice on a higher level. He still showed up to pluck golden feathers and attend the nightly lecture but other than that, he spent very little time with everyone else in the same group.
Time passed quickly. Without noticing it, six months had passed and Miss Eighteen announced that every each of them would be tested on their skills so far. For that purpose, training was momentarily suspended and the cultivators were scheduled for practical exams one by one or two by two.
There was no advanced exam, so Chu Wanning had to take the same exam as the other cultivators from the Defense group. Because he did not have to practice to excel in the exam, Chu Wanning decided to relax for a little while. On the first day off from the training, he went to the market to buy a lot of pastries to enjoy while feeding the fish by the lake.
Six months of tranquility was what he needed to soothe the pain in his heart. This second life was not easy to go through. Initially, Chu Wanning thought that he would be able to have an easier life by knowing many things that were yet to happen, but then more and more things did not happen according to his plans. Life was not as simple as he thought. One little change that he did in this life had led to many other changes. This second life was no longer the life that he knew about.
Nothing was predictable anymore.
And then there was the mystery in Jincheng Lake. Whatever Chu Wanning did in this life, it could not have caused the appearance of such a strong enemy.
Just who was that person?
Who was the other person who mastered Zhenlong Chess Formation?
Chu Wanning was lost in thought while he bit into a lotus pastry. He almost dropped the pastry into the lake when a warm body latched itself to him from behind. Two strong arms wrapped themselves around Chu Wanning's neck and a warm breath blew into his ear.
"Shidii..."
Mo Ran stuck to Chu Wanning like a big sticky rice.
"Mm. How is the training?"
Mo Ran simply sucked at making barriers. Chu Wanning knew it. He really should have joined the Attack group instead.
"Tough," the teenager complained. "Shidi, ah... You are so good. Why don't you give me some pointers?"
Chu Wanning softly answered, "Which part do you not understand?"
Mo Ran's eyes lit up in excitement.
"The part when..."
Chu Wanning tutored Mo Ran until late in the evening. They stopped when the sun set and the sky gradually darkened.
"Shidi, why don't we go to eat dinner together? My treat."
Chu Wanning frowned at the invitation. He did not have a good experience the last time he had dinner with Mo Ran. As if reading the little Shidi's mind, Mo Ran quickly exclaimed, "Oh come on. They do not sell anything spicy around here. In fact, I am suffering from withdrawal. The food is so bland without chili!"
Chu Wanning grinned.
"Alright," he agreed.
To compensate for the terrible dinner at Wuchang Town, Chu Wanning ordered a lot of his favorite dishes. He discovered that as a little child he was more unbridled and less concerned about what others thought of him. He did not have to play the role of the worshipped God up on a pedestal and constantly care about giving a good example for others.
Chu Wanning was enjoying the dinner a lot, until the time came to pay. With an embarrassed smile on his face, Mo Ran confessed, "Um, Shidi, can you lend me five golden feathers? I don't have enough hahaha..."
"..."
Chu Wanning gave him ten golden feathers and told him to keep the rest. Mo Ran chased him and stuffed the remaining five feathers into his tiny hand.
"Shidi, don't misunderstand me. I can harvest more tomorrow. I really wanted to treat you."
Chu Wanning threw Mo Ran a side glance as they walked from stall to stall to check out the night market.
"You work so hard to harvest golden feathers every morning. Where do they go?"
Although Mo Ran's skills were not as good as his, he should have kept an adequate stock of golden feathers at the rate he was going. So how did he not have enough?
Mo Ran smiled and answered, "I give Shi Mei half of my harvested golden feathers every day."
If Chu Wanning were his usual self, he would have admonished Mo Ran by saying, "Is Shi Mei unable to provide for himself that you have to do it for him?"
At that point, Chu Wanning was unable to say that kind of thing anymore. It was not a matter of being able or unable.
Mo Ran wanted to give Shi Mei golden feathers because he wanted him to be comfortable.
Mo Ran spoke up for Shi Mei because he liked Shi Mei.
Mo Ran named his saber after Shi Mei because he adored Shi Mei.
These were things that Mo Ran did out of love. The Mo Ran that tortured Chu Wanning in the past life with immense brutality was able to showcase such tender gestures to express his devotion and affection for another person.
Chu Wanning's soft eyelashes fluttered almost imperceptibly.
-This was love, he thought.
-This is what love is.
-To love someone so tenderly like the sun shining over a blooming flower, like wind blowing softly and causing the stem to sway.
-It has nothing to do with lust, with the dirty entanglements between two people between the sheets.
Although Chu Wanning had slept with Mo Ran hundreds of times in the past life, the physical acts were done without a single drop of love. Mo Ran's heart had long since been taken by Shi Mei, forever lost when the latter died.
Chu Wanning stopped in his track and gazed at some items in front of him with empty eyes.
There was an exquisite short dagger just in front of him. He took it and caressed the lining of its scabbard. The blade reflected the moonlight beautifully when taken out of its sheath. If only the blade was able to cut out the ugly emotion in his heart, he would have done so without hesitation. He hated himself in this second life more than in his first life.
The feathered shopkeep thought that Chu Wanning liked the blade, so she started advertising, "This is a good blade that was produced in Peach Blossom Springs' one and only workshop. You will not find it anywhere in the mortal realm!"
Chu Wanning remained silent, his eyes glued to the blade dumbly.
Mo Ran, "Shidi, do you like it? Now that I think about it, you don't have your own weapon, right? This could make a good first weapon indeed. Hey, shopkeep, how much is it?"
"Only a thousand golden feathers," she chirped cheerfully.
"..."
Chu Wanning, "I will buy it."
Mo Ran widened his eyes in disbelief.
"Shidi, ah... This weapon is unique but why would you buy such a costly weapon? Besides, how long did it take you to harvest a thousand golden feathers???"
"It is not for me," Chu Wanning said while taking out his feather pouch and counting a thousand feathers for the excited shopkeep.
Mo Ran furrowed his brows.
"Then for whom?"
Mo Ran prayed with every strand of his body that Chu Wanning said something like "For Shizun."
It better be Chu Wanning and no one else.
That was the only acceptable answer for Mo Ran. And yet the little shidi had to give him the worst answer possible, causing the blood inside his arteries to boil and drenching his heart in hot oil.
"For Sect Leader Jiang."