Naked Sword Art

Shi Lan and Yao Wu spent the afternoon chatting over tea while watching Li Lian train. Eventually, the topic of Da Long was brought up.

"So, he goes by the name Long Wang now. Do you think that's his real name?" Shi Lan asked.

"Maybe, but if you ask me, the name Da Long suited him better," Yao Wu replied.

"Hm? What do you mean by that?" Shi Lan asked, but only a second later she gasped because realized what Yao Wu was implying. "Did you see it? How big was it?"

Yao Wu exaggerated the length, making the Matriarch's eyes widen the more she spread her hands apart. However, despite trying to exaggerate his size, she actually wasn't too far off from the real thing.

"That big?" Shi Lan asked in shock. "Then... did the two of you really-"

"No, definitely not. How could you even think that I would do something like that," Yao Wu immediately replied.

"Surely, you were tempted."

"I wasn't," Yao Wu instantly replied, but Shi Lan gave her a look as if she wasn't convinced. "I said I wasn't," Yao Wu said again, a bit annoyed.

"Whatever you say," Shi Lan smiled playfully before taking a sip of her tea.

Since she was in her 50s, Shi Lan always joked about finding Yao Wu a husband, but what Shi Lan didn't know was that Yao Wu admired Shi Lan way too much to even consider it yet. They had been close friends for the longest time, so it was hard for Yao Wu to imagine leaving her side. Shi Lan, on the other hand, was almost 60, so she was nearly at the age to start looking for a husband.

[ Non-cultivators generally give birth in their 20s-40s, cultivators usually give birth in their 40s-60s, and strong cultivators in their 60s-80s. Xiao Fang could be considered to be birthed early considering how strong his parents were, but since nothing was known about his mother, Yu An, he was considered to be an illegitimate bastard child of Xiao Jianhong ]

Yao Wu continued talking about Xiao Fang, telling Shi Lan all the things she learned about him over the past week. She told her about his new guild, the few girls she assumed he slept with, and even his score on the Trial Pod test. Even though he didn't put his name on the board, Yao Wu still had access to all the records.

"9th place, are you sure?"

"I am. I also couldn't believe it myself, but it's true," Yao Wu replied.

Shi Lan began to think.

"Could he be hiding his real age?" Yao Wu suggested.

"That shouldn't be the case, but even if he was, we wouldn't be able to verify it without exposing the fact that we've been stalking him."

Yao Wu was a bit disturbed by her choice of words. 'Monitoring' would've been a better word than 'stalking', but she didn't bother correcting her. Although it was true that she was keeping track of Xiao Fang's activities, it wasn't like she was always physically there watching him. She had many other responsibilities in the sect and to her own direct disciple, Xun Wei.

"Could he have come from the Royal Court?" Yao Wu gave another suggestion.

"No, if they sent another member of the Yu family here, I would've been informed."

Thinking about the Yu family, Shi Lan was reminded of the Royal Court disciple they currently had secretly studying in the sect (First mentioned in Chapter 97). It was at that moment that she had an idea.

"Speaking about the Yu family, Long Wang should be assigned to a mentor soon, right?"

Yao Wu's eyes widened when she realized what Shi Lan was thinking.

"Shi Lan, You can't."

"Why not?" Shi Lan asked.

"You said you were going to assign Zhao Pan and Bai Fan to Yu Qiuyan's team."

"Yes, but as you know, mentors are assigned three disciples each."

"But... they wouldn't be compatible," Yao Wu made a last desperate attempt to change the Matriarch's mind.

Shi Lan laughed elegantly. She assumed Yao Wu was worried that Xiao Fang would try to seduce Zhao Pan. What she didn't know was that Yao Wu was actually more concerned about what Zhao Pan would do to him if he did. She was like a mother to Zhao Pan, so she knew everything about her, especially how she felt about the men in the sect.

"I'm sorry, Yao Wu. But he's the best chance we have to keep Yu Qiuyan in the sect," Shi Lan replied.

Hearing her explanation, Yao Wu understood why she was doing it.

Yu Qiuyan came from the Royal Court. So ever since she joined the Black Paradise sect, the Royal Court had been sending them plenty of cultivation resources and raw materials. The longer Yu Qiuyan stayed in the sect the more the Black Paradise sect benefited from it. Unfortunately, Yu Qiuyan had already made it to the Core Court and became a mentor all in 3 years. If they did nothing, it was likely that she would leave the sect in the following year. She was the best thing that happened to the Black Paradise sect for nearly a decade, so the Matriarch was desperate to make her stay, even if it meant assigning Xiao Fang to her team to seduce her. The longer Xiao Fang could make her want to stay, the better.

"Long Wang could've come from another Major Sect, you know," Yao Wu suddenly said.

Shi Lan had already considered it, but since the Black Paradise sect was last on the country's Major Sect tier list, they were lenient towards other Patriarchs' children joining the guild. If they could leave a good impression on that disciple, they might even have an ally in the future. As long as Xiao Fang didn't come from the Divine Sword sect or Chaos sect, Shi Lan didn't think she had anything to worry about.

It was unlikely that Xiao Fang would come from the Divine Sword or Chaos sect because both sects practiced body cultivation methods. It wouldn't explain how Xiao Fang was able to reach the top 10 on the trail pod test after only a year of spirit cultivating. The Matriarch explained her thoughts to Yao Wu then she agreed.

"Perhaps we'll get a clue if he participates in the upcoming event. That reminds me, have any of the other major sects replied to our invitation yet?" Shi Lan asked.

"Not yet, but I expect that we'll receive word from them soon."

...

While the Matriarch and Yao Wu were talking, Li Lian had been eavesdropping on their conversation, especially when the topic of her fiancé was brought up. She didn't know why they were so interested in Xiao Fang, but it was making her feel a bit worried.

'I hope he's going to be alright,' Li Lian thought.

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Hello again, readers. I'm finally back! Thank so much for waiting all this time. I made a few changes and spent that past 2 weeks coming up with a pretty exciting story line, hope you enjoy :) 

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Changes:

" Changed Xie Li's age from 19 years old to 18 years old, making her only 1 year younger than Xiao Fang

" Changed the man named Yu Hai (only briefly mentioned once in the story - in chapter 97) to a young woman named Yu Qiuyan

" 4 Major Family sects in this province:

1.) Li

2.) Gao

3.) Song

4.) Yao (Changed Zhao into Yao)

" The silk ribbon dual cultivation appointment with Pan Xiu scheduled for tomorrow is now changed to next week. (Chapter 219)

" Divisional Class placements (Chapter 219)

- Yan Mei, 4th Division

- Pan Xiu, 4th Division

- Song Wen, 4th Division

- Shao Yu, 4th Division