Volume 2, Chapter 30 – Persuasion

At Shenming Dojo, after Hu Hu helped Chen Jing sort out the luggage she’d brought, she took her to the front hall for dinner.

Bai Shengju, as usual, ate in his own quarters, and Bai Lianzhou didn’t come either. That made the atmosphere at the table much livelier. The disciples who lived at the dojo were all trying to make small talk, closing the distance between one another.

“Senior Sister ranks first, Little Senior Sister second.”

Hu Hu’s eyes were round as saucers. Cheeks puffed with food, she mumbled, “So who’s third? Is it Senior Brother Xu?”

“That’s not how you rank us.” Bai Zhuqing was speechless. “I’m not that far up.”

If every Bai junior counted automatically, then where would that put Bai Leying? And Bai Maoxu?

“Strictly speaking, I’m only third.” Bai Zhuqing did a little mental math. “Xu Shu formally entered the sect before me, so Xu Shu is Second Senior Brother.”

Huh?

Xu Shu had been keeping his head down, focused on shoveling food into his mouth. At that, he raised his head in surprise—just in time to show everyone his cheeks bulging with rice. The sight drew muffled laughter all around.

Only Bai Xiang gave him a second look or two, noticing that for once he hadn’t spilled his food.

“Xu Shu is number two, I’m number three.” Bai Zhuqing laughed as well, continuing to work the topic. “Then Fifth Junior Brother should be Ma Yue, Sixth Junior Brother is Chen Shi, Hu Hu is Seventh Junior Sister, Lian Feng is eighth, and Jingjing is ninth.”

People had been calling Lian Feng “Little Junior Brother,” but now that Chen Jing had joined, she was clearly the youngest.

“Come on.” Bai Zhuqing lifted a cup of soda. “The dojo’s basically at capacity now, so we’re definitely not taking more disciples for a while. Out of this batch, only us few are living-in. Let’s drink water instead of wine and celebrate it properly!”

She said it because everyone she’d named was here.

Including Chen Shi—after checking into his room and finding nowhere to eat, he’d wandered back over. Bai Lianzhou couldn’t exactly throw him out.

“Woohoo!” Hu Hu was the happiest. Hugging a big bottle of soda, she filled everyone’s cups to the brim, cheering, “Celebrate! Celebrate!”

They all raised their cups together first, clinking them with great ceremony, and then each of them drained their soda in one go.

Even Bai Xiang. As she drank, she kept her eyes on Bai Zhuqing, looking at her as if they’d met for the first time today.

This little one—facing so many people, she didn’t get stage fright at all, and even took the lead.

Didn’t expect her to have a talent for socializing.

With a big cup of soda in them, whether psychological or not, everyone at the table felt a bit more warmth when they looked at one another.

Chen Shi, shameless as ever, had already started calling everyone “Senior Brother” and “Junior Sister,” and at first people laughed and answered him. Then he turned around and started digging in his bag for money to give them, which made Ma Yue and Hu Hu tackle him from both sides. “Who gives people money at a time like this?”

No money? Then what am I supposed to give?

Reаԁ οn КatReαⅾiոgСаfe

Chen Shi froze, his brain failing to catch up for a moment.

“Sixth Junior Brother.” Ma Yue told him sternly, “You and I aren’t that kind of superficial relationship. If anyone’s giving gifts, it ought to be me as your senior.”

Really?

Still, this was the first time in his life he’d had people treat him kindly without him paying.

“But I don’t have anything prepared yet,” Ma Yue added, a little embarrassed now. “You, Hu Hu, Junior Brother Lian, and Junior Sister Chen—”

(“Why’d you switch to using my full name when it got to me?”)

“—I’ll get something ready and give it to all of you together.”

Chen Shi pressed his lips together, his eyes slowly changing. He stared seriously at Ma Yue and nodded. “Okay, Senior Brother.”

“I’ll go back and prepare three gifts too!”

“Let’s do another round?” Hu Hu pouted and grabbed a bottle of orange soda. “We haven’t even welcomed Jingjing yet!”

Oh, right.

Only now did they realize that the biggest thing to celebrate today was gaining a new little junior sister.

They all lived at the dojo, so news traveled fast. One way or another, everyone present had heard something about Chen Jing—that something had happened to her family.

Naturally, they weren’t stingy about working up a cheerful atmosphere to comfort her.

“Thank you…” Chen Jing’s head was spinning. Faced with all that enthusiasm, she flusteredly lifted her cup.

She’d already received the news that her mother was safe and had finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Mother and daughter had just spoken on the phone before dinner. After learning what had happened, Chen’s mother had been terrified too, and told Chen Jing to stay at Shenming Sword Dao and focus on learning the sword. She herself would go to the Inspectorate to make a statement and then come find her in the morning.

After the toasts, the mood quieted a little.

Bai Zhuqing was still wracking her brains for topics when she saw Bai Xiang calmly raise her cup. “One more.”

“Congratulations to Second Senior Brother and Third Junior Sister on Entering the Dao at Know the Self.”

Boom.

After a moment of stunned silence, the atmosphere at the table practically exploded.

Rеаԁ οո ΚαtReaⅾіոɡCαfе

Hu Hu and Chen Shi whooped, and Ma Yue and the others all stared.

Entering the Dao!

The first step into the extraordinary—also the most crucial threshold.

Bai Shengju had told them when he’d tested them that, as long as their sword hearts were firm, they’d all be able to Enter the Dao. But there was no timetable for it. Sooner or later—the waiting, the longing, the pressure—those were things only teenagers at this stage could taste for themselves.

“Xu Shu Entered the Dao too?”

Bai Zhuqing turned to him in surprise.

“Yeah…” Xu Shu scratched his cheek, flustered. “After what happened last time, I thought some things through and then I just… just…”

“Cut the threads of affection?” Bai Zhuqing laughed, finishing it for him. “‘In a single day, forget all entanglements; from flat ground, rise straight into the clouds’?”

“No, no…” Xu Shu waved his hands in a panic. But of course Hu Hu wasn’t going to let him off, immediately sending over a “request for details,” grilling him on what affection he’d cut.

“It was just that…”

Honest as ever, Xu Shu answered when people asked—actually confessing the whole story with Jiang Haojing. Even Chen Jing listened intently.

After all, she genuinely wanted to learn the sword now. Having someone dissect their own experience of Entering the Dao was a valuable treasure.

But the most focused of all was Lian Feng.

The youngest disciple here had always felt a bit inferior after joining the dojo. Even when they’d raised their cups earlier, his smile had looked forced. Only now did he stare wide-eyed, forgetting to breathe or blink as he listened.

“I’m not that mystical.”

When Xu Shu finished, everyone turned to her expectantly, and Bai Zhuqing had to give them an awkward smile.

“Uh… I was unconscious when I Entered the Dao. When I woke up, it was just… done…”

As she spoke, she glanced at Bai Xiang.

“You guys go on.” Bai Xiang set her cup down. “I’m going to check on the Dao Lord.”

She left the table without hesitation, and the mood dipped for a heartbeat.

Then Hu Hu, resident fangirl, hauled it back up. “Senior Sister’s obviously eager to get back to cultivating!”

“As expected of Senior Sister!”

“Right, right!” Chen Shi clapped. “Hurry up and eat! I’m going to practice after this too!”

Rеαd οո ΚαtRеаⅾinɡСаfе

“Once we’ve made a name for ourselves, we’ll be known in the jianghu as the ‘Shenming Seven Slaughters’!”

“What a trash name…”

“Who wants to be one of your Seven Idiots!”

“I’m Six-Slaughter, you’re Seven-Slaughter.”

“Get lost! You’re the worst!”

“Hahahaha!”

With clowns like Chen Shi and Hu Hu around, the air was never going to stay cold.

Bai Zhuqing quietly savored the prickling waves running through her body, her eyes a little hazy; her thoughts, though, had already drifted after Bai Xiang.

Later, Bai Xiang found Bai Shengju and started by using the Vibrating Formula to nourish his body.

“Ahh, it’s already so much better…”

Reclining in his chair, Bai Shengju sounded thoroughly content.

“Xiang Xian’s already treated me with Jade Phoenix Sword. Didn’t you see? I don’t even cough anymore. Stop fussing over me and go do your own thing, hmm?”

So, she had cured him.

Bai Xiang wasn’t surprised that Xiang Xian would do that.

That cut-rate master of hers did care about her. Healing Bai Shengju was the perfect way to get closer to her; there was no way Xiang Xian wouldn’t see that.

Whatever.

Bai Xiang still methodically finished her checkup.

That, too, was part of her own calculations.

“Grandpa, right now—” She paused, then asked, “Are you still taking that medicine?”

“You mean the anti-inflammatory?” Bai Shengju waved both hands. “No more, no more.”

“Doesn’t Grandpa find that odd?”

What was odd about that…

Reаⅾ оn ΚatRеаԁіngСаfе

He was baffled. He’d taken anti-inflammatories to reduce inflammation and pain, because he was suffering.

He wasn’t suffering now. If he wasn’t suffering, he didn’t take them. Wasn’t that perfectly reasonable?

Without a word, Bai Xiang took out the bottle of Aolikon, opened it, and held it up in front of him.

Smell this.

That was obviously what she meant.

Suspicious, Bai Shengju leaned over. One sniff, and he realized something was wrong.

The pills had a sharp, pungent odor. Before, when he’d needed them, he’d eaten them despite finding it unpleasant. Why was it that now that he’d recovered, the smell seemed… almost pleasant? He even felt a faint urge to take another one.

“Addictive?”

He saw it instantly, his expression turning grave. “Who else have you told?”

Bai Xiang shook her head. “Only you, Grandpa.”

“You did the right thing.” Bai Shengju nodded. After a moment’s thought, he said, “For cultivators, the effect isn’t that strong. That might be why it hasn’t blown up.”

“I’m about to break through.”

He looked up and gave her a serious reminder.

“Promise me you’ll leave this alone for now.”

Bai Xiang narrowed her eyes. “That doesn’t sound like Grandpa.”

“What’s there to ‘sound like’ or not…” Bai Shengju gave a rueful chuckle and sighed up at the night sky.

“Back in the day, I was all about slaying demons and upholding the Dao. If I saw injustice, I’d step in. I made plenty of friends that way—but I also ended up with a body full of injuries.”

He’d been stuck at Divine Union for years, unable to break through. Apart from issues with his state of mind, his body had to be part of the problem.

“Thinking back on it now, if I’d chosen a different road—focused on cultivation first, then entered the mundane world later—maybe I could’ve helped more people. Maybe I could’ve helped myself better too.”

“So I’m not telling you you’re wrong.”

“I’m telling you that sharpening the sword doesn’t delay its killing stroke.”

“When the day comes that you stand on equal footing with the Nine Dao Lords, whatever you want to pursue—there’ll be plenty of people to help you take care of it.”