Li Ao arrived at the Sun Clan in no time.

The first lights of the dawn painted the family’s courtyard in a pretty golden light, where a few young men and women were running laps. Li Ao watched them for a moment before being led into a corridor. The path was silent, and in no time they reached a gate where he went in.

Inside the bright hall he saw Fan Yueyin sitting on a high chair, resting her eyes. She wore the same, black and purple leather armor that made her seem ferocious. Down at her feet were two blue mattresses. A bald fellow with a shining head occupied one of them. Li Ao found the fellow a little familiar, then almost swallowed his tongue at a cry from his side.

Turning around, he saw a young man wiping his tears, sniffing, with a few pieces of ore on a table across his eyes. His hands moved back and forth between each ore, raising and shaking them, sometimes bringing them next to his reddened eyes to inspect. But each of these careful movements were accompanied by sobs.

‘’Sun Jian?’’

Hearing his voice, Sun Jian turned around with puffed up eyes.

‘’Xu Liao! AAAAAA!’’

Crying, the boy threw himself at his legs.

‘’Shit, don’t wipe your snot on my pants!’’

He tried to shake the boy a little while, then calmed him down.

‘’What’s wrong?’’

‘’She’s bullying me!’’

Sun Jian pointed at Fan Yueyin, who’s lips twitched.

‘’How’s she bullying you?’’

Sun Jian pointed back at the pieces of ore.

‘Are you a baby? Just say its name!’

‘Also, is she training him for something?’

Li Ao walked over and inspected the ores for a minute. All three seemed to be ordinary iron no matter where he looked at it. Then sending a sliver of Qi, Li Ao noticed an aura of Moonlight Qi in one of the pieces.

Except it was lesser than the one he found in the market.

‘’Did you find it?’’

Fan Yueyin snorted at his remark, but nodded still.

‘’What a luck...’’ Thinking so, he looked down at the clinging Sun Jian. ‘’Why are you acting like a monkey now?’’

Sun Jian shook his head and glared at Fan Yueyin.

Sighing, Li Ao gazed at her.‘’What did you do to him?’’

Fan Yueyin pried open one of her eyes. A dangerous glint caused Li Ao to shake down to his Sun Jian—down to his boots.‘’You?’’

‘’May you live through all nine bells of heaven, Grandmaster Fan!’’

Li Ao made a grandiose bow at her and pushed away Sun Jian. He only rose when Fan Yueyin nodded again.

‘’This little idiot can’t even pick apart their differences.’’

Fan Yueyin had an irritating look on her face as she glared at the table.

‘’But...’’

With a gaze, Li Ao observed Sun Jian’s cultivation. The fellow sat near his leg again.

He was at the seventh-level of Qi Condensation, which was around the level of a genius in the Bai Dynasty for people his age. Considering the boy was also pursuing forging and reached a respectable level of skill in it, he could be counted as a proper genius even in The Great Wei Dynasty. Here was the problem.

‘’Sun Jian can’t sense that little Qi with his cultivation.’’

‘’He can sense there is something wrong.’’ Fan Yueyin replied. ‘’The rest should come as easily.’’

‘’That’s a bit too much expectation for him.’’

Fan Yueyin let out a cold laugh. ‘’Now you are lecturing me?’’

‘’Which junior dares!?’’

Snorting at his movements, she motioned over. ‘’Come sit.’’

Li Ao didn’t know why she did so, hence he only nodded and went forward. Taking a seat on the empty mattress, he turned right and smiled at the bald fellow. He had popping muscular arms and a thin waist that didn’t seem to match. His side profile was also a tad bit beautiful.

‘Oh no, have I been corrupted?’

Shaking his head again, Li Ao cupped his hands.

‘’May I know your name, brother?’’

The face that greeted him turned ghastly, then tears formed around the dark pretty eyes.

‘’Brother? You called me brother?’’

Sweating, Li Ao realized a grave mistake.

‘’Who’s your brother!?’’ With a roar, the baldy threw herself over him.‘’Xu Liao! You are dead!’’

Li Ao leaped back without a scratch and let out a shriek.‘’Qi-Qing Yan? Wait, stop! Stop!’’

She didn’t seem to register his words. With another roar she shot forward with a punch at his face.‘’Who’s your brother!?’’

Li Ao dodged several blows while rolling on the ground, then heaving, out of breath, raised his arms.

‘’Sis Qing Yan! Senior Sister Qing Yan!’’

‘’Now I am your sister!?’’

‘’Fuck, what are you supposed to be then!?’’

Rolling again, Li Ao felt like he was moving at a snail’s speed. Right as he moved up, Qing Yan’s roaring punch came over his nose.

‘’Stop fooling around.’’

Fan Yueyin’s voice caused both of them to freeze. Li Ao tried to move once, but his Qi seemed to be locked away, and her fierce aura seemed to trigger a primal instinct to survive. Not only was he not moving, he didn’t seem to be breathing.

In essence, he was playing dead.

‘’Sun Jian!’’

‘’Yes?’’

Hearing the weak whisper, Li Ao overrode his instincts and looked down.

Sun Jian looked up at them with innocent eyes. His arms and legs bound around Li Ao’s thighs, the boy hanged there with a tight grip that refused to let go. His cheeks had shallow bruises on them from rolling around.

‘’Are you a real monkey!? Here I was wondering why I was so slow—’’

‘’Pipe down. Sit.’’

Now they could do nothing else.

Li Ao threw Sun Jian over to the table and sat down with the fuming Qing Yan, who cast hateful glances at him from the side. The back of his neck felt prickly.

‘’Do you know why I called you here?’’

Both of them nodded. Since Li Ao didn’t see anyone else, and the three here were the only people that lasted till the end, it was clear Fan Yueyin intended to accept them as her disciples.

Sun Jian cried over from the table. ‘’I don’t know!’’

‘’...’’

‘’Which one is the right ore?’’

Sighing, Fan Yueyin massaged her temples. ‘’First, let me tell you this.’’

‘’I am not someone who likes to act mysterious. I don’t like hidden things, and I don’t like stupid wordplays. I will be honest with you, and I expect you to be honest with me.’’

Saying so, she cast a glance at Li Ao.

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‘’I won’t probe your secrets or anything else, and anything we hear won’t get out of this room. Is that clear?’’

Watching everyone nod with seriousness, Fan Yueyin leaned forward and extended her hands towards them.

‘’Are you two willing to be my disciples?’’

Hearing her, Qing Yan couldn’t hold back her passion and hit her head on the ground with a yell. ‘’This poor disciple greets master!’’

Li Ao, however, remained silent. There were a lot of thoughts going around in his head, none of which he was able to voice in proper sentences. However, his hesitation told Fan Yueyin enough of the improvement he had from yesterday.

‘’Why are you unwilling?’’

Li Ao scratched his cheek, then looked back at her.

‘’May I ask something first?’’

‘’Go on.’’

‘’Why me?’’

‘’Why you indeed.’’ Fan Yueyin leaned back, crossed her legs, and put a finger under her chin. Each of her movements seemed to be practiced, rather than looking like a habit. ‘’Well, you are talented, for the first reason.’’

‘’Anyone would want to have a talented disciple to nurture. I am also not willing to leave my legacy to someone who can’t improve upon it.’’

Li Ao nodded. It was very reasonable, and her last comment was similar to something he had heard from his Grandfather.

Without enough water, could a tree still blossom flowers?

‘Is that even fitting?’

‘’For the second,’’ Fan Yueyin continued in a cold voice. ‘’You are ambitious. Do I need to repeat yesterday’s conversation?’’

Li Ao shook his head.

‘’Third...is there a third reason?’’

Scratching her head, Fan Yueyin shook her head.

‘’Looks like that’s it.’’

‘’...just that?’’

‘’Do I need another reason?’’

Li Ao waved his arms around the air, thinking of his boundless knowledge about tropes. ‘’I mean, isn’t there supposed to be something unique about me that made you interested or something. Like a hidden potential—’’

Fan Yueyin let out a snort. ‘’You think you are some hot stuff? I wanted a disciple, and you were passable enough at the moment. That’s it.’’

‘’Also, why should I care if you are some unique person or something? Your stupidity is just above my bottom line—if you had anymore ‘Uniqueness’, I would have crippled you on the competition stage.’’

Feeling sweat trickle down his neck, Li Ao hurriedly nodded his head. Now Fan Yueyin kept her gaze on him, as well as Qing Yan who seemed curious about his continued hesitance.

‘’I might not be here for long.’’ Li Ao said. Fan Yueyin frowned, but when she saw how resolute he seemed, she knew it probably wasn’t something in his control.

She still had her own thoughts about ‘Xu Liao’’s background, but Fan Yueyin was also someone with great vision. She had seen three or four times more than any other grandmaster in this world. She was, as she said before, also someone who saw a higher ceiling, a higher heavens.

Every person who had their sights too high had a few unspeakable secrets of their own.

So she didn’t question why.

‘’For how long?’’

Li Ao thought for a moment.

‘’At most fifteen years, probably no more than five.’’

Fan Yueyin nodded.

‘’So?’’

Li Ao was stumped by her reaction. He cast her a look, and she glared back at him.

‘’Gracious heavens, I am taking in a disciple, not a dog! Why do you care about shit like this? Am I going to parade you like a wonder beside my leg?’’

Her bellow caused Li Ao to come back to his senses. Feeling betrayed by his own thoughts, Li Ao slapped his thigh, then cast her one final look.

‘’...what else?’’ She seemed to be at her limit. Her eyes had a dangerous glint.

‘’Am I ever going to be beaten?’’

A fire overcame Fan Yueyin’s eyes. ‘’If you keep this up—’’

Li Ao threw himself down and kowtowed in front of her.

‘’This poor disciple greets master!’’

‘’Hmph!’’ Snorting, yet still nodding with a smile, Fan Yueyin raised him from the ground with a wave of Qi. ‘’Alright. Since we are done with this business, pay respects to your senior sister.’’

‘’...what?’’

Hearing their master’s words, Qing Yan suddenly bore a wide smile on her face. With a swish, she attempted to push her hair back over her ears. When she felt nothing, tears gathered near her eyes.

‘’I accepted her bows just before you. Technically, she is your senior sister.’’

Li Ao felt like swearing.

Because he was too stupid for his own good, he had just given Qing Yan a legitimate reason to bully him!

The Qing Yan whom he just offended...

Who didn’t know the bully senior disciple trope? Li Ao especially was on guard against them, hence he had once swore that he would always be the senior brother in any relationship.

However, thinking back, he seemed to be the junior of Zhu Qiu as well?

Was he the bullied junior character?

‘’Junior brother~’’

Hearing her sweet voice, Li Ao resigned himself and bowed to her.

‘’This poor junior brother greets senior sister!’’

‘’Mm!’’ Nodding to herself, Qing Yan smiled at his lowered back.

‘’Be sure to listen to your senior sister.’’ Fan Yueyin said. She had a smile as she spoke, then turned to Qing Yan. ‘’You two, now pay respects to your senior brother.’’

Both of their hearts froze at the words. Trembling, the duo cranked their heads towards the table, where a certain smug Sun Jian sat. His red, puffed eyes had a bright gleam that seemed to gush out with pride, and his crossed arms showed a very domineering intent to bully.

‘’Junior sister, junior brother~’’

Li Ao turned to Fan Yueyin.

‘’Can I still get out of this business?’’

*********

After giving Li Ao his first beating, Fan Yueyin led them to the smithy again.

The trio had goosebumps as they went inside, especially Sun Jian who was held up a long while more than them. Memories were especially fresh in the morning, and the recurring aches made them vigilant. Li Ao was even signaling his senior brother and sister with his eyes to find escape routes when Fan Yueyin stopped.

‘’Alright. I’ll cut to the case.’’

Hearing her somewhat warm voice, the trio stood upright and listened with focus.

‘’Old Sun did this when I became his disciple as well. Consider it a tradition of our lineage.’’

Taking out a silver and pink bracelet, Fan Yueyin caressed its surface.

‘’You can also consider it your first task.’’

Hearing tasks, their ears perked up.

Taking a deep breath, Fan Yueyin seemed to search for a word. She took a few steps around them, sighed, then once she began pacing again Sun Zhongyan’s voice echoed inside the smithy.

‘’Don’t be so reserved.’’ He walked on, his face a little better than before, and patted her shoulder. ‘’Did you not decide to be honest with them?’’

Fan Yueyin swept away his hand and snorted. Still, she let him walk over to the three and speak.

‘’When my old master took me in, we had an exchange ritual between me and my four fellow disciples. Each of us would make a gift with our own hands, one for each disciple, and one for our master. The price of materials or usage of the tools we made didn’t really matter, so long as it was pleasing for the other side.’’

‘’When I took little Fan and Pei in, we also had such an exchange. Now, I believe you are good friends, so it will be easier for you to procure suitable gifts for each other.’’ Saying so, Sun Zhongyan waved his fan in front of his short beard. ‘’As for your master, she likes purple accessories, and—’’

‘’Old Sun!’’

Sun Zhongyan grinned, then left without another word. He had only appeared to help his old disciple and nothing else. This didn’t mean he left, however.

Fan Yueyin could sense his presence. The old man was hiding a few hundred meters away, watching with bright eyes.

She could understand his excitement. Because she was away, searching for higher levels of Forging and cultivation, neither Sun Zhongyan nor her fellow disciple Pei Ling heard from her for years. The moment she arrived, as he requested her help, she arrived at the competition.

Back at the forging event, the old man was also a little restless, since he had to protect the aloof image of the Sun Family Patriarch and couldn’t receive his disciple with apparent enthusiasm.

Sighing, Fan Yueyin turned towards her new disciples. For a moment, she wondered if her master regarded her as she was doing now. It felt...surreal.

Swiping her gaze over the three of them, Fan Yueyin felt a little weird.

She was, honestly, only satisfied with Qing Yan.

The girl was hardworking, as the other two were of course, but she also had a...normal mind. If not for the hidden viciousness inside her heart, which only showed up in dire competition, she would be the perfect disciple.

Sun Jian was a little too childish. It wasn’t a bad thing for now, but his subconscious comments had the destructive effect of a bomb. Also, his simple-minded nature made it hard to teach him in a systematic way. She would have to find another path of learning for him.

As for Xu Liao...

Looking at the silly smile on the feminine boy, Fan Yueyin sighed.

At least he had his looks to be proud...

‘’Time limit is one month.’’ Fan Yueyin said. ‘’Whenever you are ready to forge something for your fellow disciples, come and inform me. I will watch your work and give you tips depending on your performance.’’

‘’Same day, evening of next month, we will have a private dinner to exchange the gifts.’’

‘’Other than that, free two days of your schedule for every week. I will be giving lessons and showing you different techniques of forging I found over the years.’’

‘’There are even ancient methods of enchanting, as well as body-forging manuals among them. Apart from them, here—’’

Flicking her hand, three spatial rings appeared in front of them. Li Ao took the one in front of him and swept his Divine Sense through it. He saw a small hill of notes and books, some ancient and some new, and a lot of blank documents, papers, and ink.

‘’These are copies of general educational texts, lecture transcriptions, diaries, memoirs, and anything related to art of Forging I gathered over the years. Read them in your freetime, then write down what you learned in a concise manner.’’

‘’I will give relevant tasks about them much later.’’

After saying so, Fan Yueyin crossed her arms, then smiled.

‘’Well, that’s it. We will begin our lessons the day after tomorrow, so you are free to go.’’

After asking a little more about some finer details and settling everyone’s schedule, Sun Jian dragged Li Ao and Qing Yan to Chiming Bell to eat cakes. On the way, they kidnapped the downcast Lei Jin from his house and settled down at a far away corner of the restaurant.

As usual, Li Ao cast out his formation flags and set up a sound blocking barrier around them. No one would be able to hear them unless they were inside the boundary.

Ever since he learned this formation, Li Ao had been urged to use it. After all, these youngsters were still...young. They had a lot of topics they wished to discuss, but neither the estates home nor the public here would allow them to speak frankly. With the comfort of such a formation, they acted a lot more honest and free.

After receiving their cakes and drinks, the trio inquired about Lei Jin's state.

‘’I’ve given up forging.’’

Lei Jin’s words made the three of them freeze.