25. The Duel 1
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Meanwhile, Luoyin and an invisible Yinying were somewhere else in the Xu household, and he met Xu Min, one of Weiyan's cousins.
Xu Min was dressed in the light blue robes of all Yueyan Sect disciples, but since he was from the internal clan, his robes were held together with a silver satin belt, and he wore a matching blue headband with the Sect's emblem in the middle.
"2nd Young Master Zhang!" Xu Min cupped his hand and greeted with a polite bow.
Luoyin cupped his hand and returned his bow. "We're the same age, so how about we skip these formalities from now on?"
Yinying smirked. "Heh! More like you're getting tired of bowing to so many humans!" He said, knowing only Luoyin could hear him!
Luoyin resisted the urge to glare in his direction.
"Er.... I came today for-."
"Ah, Sect Leader Xu said to expect you." Xu Min said, gesturing towards the inner gate. "The Light Tiger is resting in one of the inner courtyards. Please come with me."
Luoyin and Yinying followed Xu Min to an inner courtyard.
The Xu disciples had outdone themselves preparing a room, comfortable bedding, and as much raw meat as possible, but the tiger preferred to stay out in the courtyard, and had barely touched the food.
"We're not sure what to do." Xu Min confessed. "She won't take on human form, and she's barely eating.
"You've tried your best." Luoyin told him, and dared to pat Xu Min's shoulder.
Xu Min seemed surprised at the contact, but didn't pull away, and Luoyin continued.
"It's not that she won't take on human form. She can't do so without her master's permission."
When they reached the courtyard, Yinying froze, but Luoyin didn't notice, as his own attention was now on Yi Guang, the Light Tiger.
~"You were careless."~ He informed her through telepathy. ~"The seal is too advanced and too dangerous for something like this!"~
~"I was desperate."~ She simply replied.
Yinying suddenly hurried to the Light Tiger. "It was you!" He said, making Luoyin turn to them in surprise. "You're the person I met in my dream state!"
Luoyin nearly staggered backwards.
A dream state was when a powerful being could leave their bodies and roam in spirit form. With Beasts, no one could see, hear, or touch them in that state, but there were rare instances where that was possible, especially if both beasts resonated with each other.
Divine tigers were extremely rare, and Bailong only knew Yinying and Yiguang, so if Yinying really met Yiguang anytime recently...
'Could Yiguang be pregnant for Yinying?!!'
Luoyin caught himself, and after making sure that Yiguang was comfortable, he broke the Seal she had cast on her unborn child, which made her feel even better, and she purred contentedly, allowing Luoyin pet her glorious white fur and scratch behind her ears.
Soon after, Luoyin wrote down a prescription and gave it to Xu Min. "She should drink this twice daily, and her water should be fresh from a river or spring.
"Also, cook her meat properly from now on, with fine spices, if possible! This is someone who lives in Sky Palace... Raw meat won't entice her in the least!"
"U- understood!" Xu Min almost bowed, but caught himself.
Luoyin turned to go.
"Er, 2nd Young Master Zhang!" Xu Min stopped him. "Can I call you 'Zhang Yin'?"
It was a bold offer of friendship.
Luoyin, or rather Bailong, had not dared call anyone 'friend' since his fallout with the Sky Emperor and the Fate Immortal.
Yet...
"Hao! Xu Min." Luoyin responded in kind.
He could not judge everyone based on his own past!
"Thank you for your help with the Light tiger, and er-." Xu Min was saying, though he suddenly seemed hesitant. "Er... Thank you for not letting my little Sister marry Zhang Cheng!" And he turned and ran away after that.
Luoyin drew in a breath. "How unexpected!"
"Heh! What an interesting friendship!" Yinying teased.
"You're one to talk!" Luoyin retorted. "I've not asked about your 'friendship' with Yiguang?!" It had taken everything in his power to act like Yinying hadn't been there in Xu Min's presence.
Yinying's face fell. "I'm still coming to terms with it... Please don't ask me anything for now."
And the two walked quietly back.
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That afternoon, Luoyin opened up the dusty and abandoned house by the Yan River.
"Not bad." An invisible Yinying said beside him, eyeing their dust and cobweb coated surroundings. "It's grand enough for a fresh start!"
Despite all the dust, debris and cobwebs, the house had a good structure.
"Let's get started!" Luoyin said.
...
But after an hour, the two sat forlornly on the inner front steps; The only part they had managed to clean!
"Laoying, I just realized I haven't cleaned anything in ages."
"Heh! Didn't you say you were a young man? Clean and let the elderly rest!"
"Hmph! I'm a young man with ancient memories! I haven't needed to clean since I was being punished as a youth! That is easily almost fifty thousand years ago!"
"Hahaha, you're finally admitting your age? My age is three times that, but as a member of the beast Clan, I have no experience that can help. Why not solve it the way you used to, when your father wasn't looking?"
Back then, he would have bribed the maids, and Luoyin looked at his hand, specifically at the Spatial Ring.
He did have three chests of Gold from Lord Xu, and though cleaning was the least of things they would need, it was a necessary start!
By the next day, the 'Yan House', as people now called it, was blossoming under Luoyin's instructions.
He had no experience in cleaning, but he had a little too much experience in 'Nest Building'!
As Bailong, he had left home early, and had built a humble home elsewhere, and then another, and another, before the heart of Caoyang.
He started from scratch each time, turning a dusty and abandoned shell, into an enviable abode.
An invisible Yinying watched as numerous men and women streamed in, carrying furniture, decorations, ornaments, flowers, and even soil to set up interior gardens!
"How do you do it each time?!"
"I can't help it! I'm always challenged to make my current home better than the previous one!"
Yinying started at him incredulously.
Bailong had been born into the wealth of the Eastern Sea Palace, and had had three homes since then!
If each one was progressively better than the previous one, then...
"ARE YOU INTENDING TO MAKE THIS PLACE A PALACE?!" Yinying breathed in and out. "Will you spend all your gold on the house?!"
"Laoying, you underestimate me! Gold can always be earned!"
But as the two discussed, a surprising guest arrived.
It was Xu Min.
"Zhang Yin! That Scumbag has challenged Little Sister to a duel, and they're already at Huochen Dais! Zhang Cheng is an entire level above her! Isn't this bullying?!"
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Meanwhile, the Yueyan disciples had gathered around Huochen Dais, the central platform in the Yueyan Sect's Arena, and Xu Weiyan and Zhang Cheng already stood in the center.
They all wore the general light blue and silver robes, a few with headbands identifying them as Xu Clan disciples.
"Surely, we'll see something great!" A disciple said.
"Yes yes yes! I'm sure *3rd Disciple Xu has cultivated the items she received from Sky Realm!"
(*There are two other Xu Clan disciples older than Weiyan, including Xu Min and Xu Haoyuan)
"I wonder what Level she has reached now!"
On Mid Realm, there were just four major Tiers of cultivation:
Foundation Tier, Profound Tier, Astral Tier, and Divine Tier.
Foundation Tier was the least level, usually for children from ages three to twelve. It was for beginners in cultivation, and had ten levels which got increasingly difficult as the cultivator climbed.
The next was Profound Tier, which had the widest range of cultivators!
This was because anyone from thirteen to forty could be in the Profound Tier, depending on how talented or diligent they were.
But their power was determined by what level in the Profound Tier they had attained.
The Profound Tier had ten levels as well, but each level had ten stages, and the gap between levels was like night and day.
Zhang Cheng was Profound Tier, Level Six, and Xu Weiyan was Profound Tier, Level Five.
They were practically worlds apart!
"But why are they dueling?" Another disciple asked. "The Sect Competition is around the corner, so they could've waited till then!"
"Heh! Isn't it obvious? After 3rd Disciple Xu's scandal with Zhang Luoyin?"
"Hmph! I bet Disciple Zhang challenged Luoyin, but that fellow's hiding behind Xu Weiyan!"
"Ha! Can that trash dare face Disciple Zhang? He regressed back to Foundation Tier Six... A ten year old might defeat him!"
"Compared to Disciple Zhang, who we all know would've been Head Disciple, if he was a member of the Xu Clan!"
A short distance from them, Xu Haoyuan stood with a few of his friends, and he heard what the disciples were saying.
A sour look crossed his face, but he couldn't deny their words.
The 'Head Disciple' was always a member of a Sect's Central Clan, which was the 'Xu' Clan in this case.
Sect Disciples were divided between 'Senior' and 'Junior', with the Juniors being those below age twenty-five.
Once a Disciple became twenty-five, they were named 'Senior', and they began more streamlined cultivation before their graduation as Sect Warriors, with most of their missions directly handled by Sect Elders, or Senior Sect Warriors.
But for the Junior Disciples, a 'Head Disciple' was chosen from amongst them to coordinate the daily basic trainings, or to Head certain missions for all Disciples under age twenty-five.
Technically, it should be the strongest Junior Disciple, but as they must also be a member of the Sect's internal Clan, this was often not the case.
Like now...
Zhang Cheng was the strongest Junior, but wasn't from the Xu Clan. Weiyan was the second strongest, but though she was a Clan member, she was adopted.
Which left Xu Haoyuan, the third strongest, and it annoyed him to no end, especially with Weiyan, who was five years his junior and already surpassed him!
But all he could do was force a smile as he leapt onto the platform.
"Two Disciples have chosen to duel!" He announced, and there were loud cheers.
"As per the rules, no one can do any lasting damage, or play dirty and harm their opponent's cultivation! Apart from these, may the stronger disciple win!"
There was thunderous cheer as he leapt off the platform, and Zhang Cheng and Weiyan approached the center.
They both bowed to each other...
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