Chapter 230: Elder Cousin?
Chapter 230: Elder Cousin?
Bai Yunfei stored away the Cataclysmic Seal with some joy.
“In its normal mode, we’ll call it the brick. In its special mode, we’ll call it the Cataclysmic Seal.”
Noticing that it was noon when he raised his head to the sky, Bai Yunfei leapt down from the tree to return back home.
At some point when he was running through the forests, an idea hit him out of nowhere.
The brick could easily be manipulated into flying and could also be made bigger.
Wouldn’t this mean that he could stand on it?
Wouldn’t this mean that the brick was essentially a tool he could use for flight?
But no sooner did the thought come to mind did he dismiss it, “Forget it….people can ride a sword, a blade, or a shield for flight. What use is there standing on a brick?
“I wonder how strong of a soul armament I can make now that I’m a Soul Ancestor. I have to try it out when I get the chance!”
……
Whilst in the middle of his thoughts, Bai Yunfei detected the presence of another person, prompting him to look over to their direction with a raised eyebrow.
“Eh? Junior Bai, what brings you here?”
Just as he raised his head, Bai Yunfei could see the figure of another person. Judging from the voice of the person, it was his senior, Song Lin.
Pausing in his footsteps, Bai Yunfei answered to him, “I just finished my training and was returning to my room. What brings senior to this place?”
“I felt an unusually large amount of soulforce in that direction a while ago, so I decided to come check it out.” Song Lin pointed in the direction behind Bai Yunfei before a surprised look overcame his face, “Wait a moment….was that you who did that, brother Bai?!”
“Uh…” Bai Yunfei chuckled in embarrassment. “If senior Song is talking about the area three thousand meters that way, then yes, that was me….”
A skeptical look shot across Song Lin’s eyes, “Were you perhaps testing out the strength of a soul armament, junior Bai?”
“Eh? You were able to tell? That’s amazing!”
“Haha, it’s nothing special. Having people come out this far to test their soul armaments are a rather common affair for our Crafting School.” Song Lin laughed.
But then he asked, “But…the noise that came with this disturbance this time was out of the norms. It’s no wonder you came out this far, even the students back on the Western Point were startled by it. Was the soul armament you were testing out your ‘lifebound armament’?”
As the eldest disciple of the Crafting School, Song Lin was naturally privy to the details of several things, such as the fact that Bai Yunfei had managed to craft a lifebound armament.
Bai Yunfei nodded, “Yes.”
Song Lin sighed in response, “Ah, that’s no wonder then….Junior Bai, you’ve only been in the school for three months, but the achievements you made so far has made me feel inferior by far!!”
It was perhaps just a trick of the mind, but Bai Yunfei could feel that there was a little bit of envy in Song Lin’s eyes?
Modestly, Bai Yunfei said, “Senior, you praise me too much. I was only able to enter Anima Realm by luck, nothing more….”
“Luck….” Song Lin shook his head, “This ‘luck’ isn’t something everyone has. Only you were able to accomplish this, that alone should say how special you are. There’s no need to be modest.”
If Song Lin was going to continue to act in such a manner, Bai Yunfei wouldn’t want to bother with arguing anymore. Changing the topic, he said, “Senior, since you don’t need to go investigate the area anymore, why not come back with me?”
“Alright then.” Song Lin nodded. Turning to walk shoulder to shoulder with Bai Yunfei, he took a few steps forward before thinking about something, “Ah, junior Bai. There was something I needed to tell you. In two days, there’ll be an assembly for the entire school. Don’t forget about it if you’re training.”
“An assembly?” Bai Yunfei quirked his eyebrows, “What is it about?”
Song Lin nodded his head in response to the first question, “The master said he had an announcement to make, but he didn’t say about what. We’ll find out when the time is right.”
“Oh, alright then. I’ll take note of it.”
But Bai Yunfei was still skeptical inside. “In two days….that’s exactly when I’ll have passed three months of stay here. Is he going to announce my formal induction as a disciple? I don’t think that’d warrant an announcement though….what else could it be?”
…………
For two days, Bai Yunfei didn’t step out from his room and instead spent his time trying to understand the new level of strength he had.
The morning after those two days, Bai Yunfei finished up his training and went off to the main point with Si Kongxian.
On the way, they came across many other students of the school. Each time they saw Bai Yunfei, the students would call out in greeting, “Senior Bai!”
Many of them admired Bai Yunfei greatly now. What he did five days ago astounded everyone and earned him respect from all around.
Being able to destroy half the cliffs where the crafting caves were was a feat that required strength none of them had. And when they were all told that Bai Yunfei had broken the bottleneck to become a Soul Ancestor, even more rumors started to circulate before people could confirm this fact to be true.
And with this announcement coincidentally being on the same day as when Bai Yunfei would reach his three-month deadline, many of the students started to connect the dots between the two….
Other than those students, Bai Yunfei was able to come across Mo Xiaoxuan, Xi Yan, Zhang Sanxian, and the other fellow students to accompany him and Si Kongxian towards the assembly.
“Eh?
“Oh look! It’s my cousin! My cousin’s over there!”
Just as the group crossed over from the Western Point to the main point, Mo Xiaoxuan suddenly called out in a pleasantly surprised voice.
“Cousin?” Bai Yunfei repeated in confusion.
Looking up to see who he was talking to, Bai Yunfei was then even more confused, “Isn’t that….Xinyun?”
Just a few hundred meters ahead of him was a white-robed young woman currently speaking with another student.
Indeed, it was Tang Xinyun.
“Xiaoxuan, Xinyun is your cousin?” Bai Yunfei asked in confusion, “I’ve never heard about this before.”
“Eh? I didn’t tell you before, brother Bai?” Mo Xiaoxuan asked in surprise. But then he remembered something, “Oh, I remember now. Because of all the chaos, I completely forgot to tell you about it.”
He paused here to take a breath. “I found out that same day actually. I never thought that I’d be able to come across my cousin here. My mom and her mom were actually cousins; that makes the relationship between us a little wide, but she is still my older cousin. In any case, our families are actually quite good friends, and I’ve been over to the Tangs several times now. Aunty Chu and cousin Xinyun were always the best to talk to, and they’ve always treated me well….
“Ah, right. Aunty Chu is cousin Xinyun’s mom.”
“I see now.” Bai Yunfei nodded his head. By now, Tang Xinyun had noticed the group approaching her, “Why don’t we all walk towards the assembly together then?”
……
“Senior Tang, have you ever been to Mt. Maple just west of Mt. Crimson? The maple trees there are a beautiful sight. Each season, the leaves there are said to be beautiful when they fall and blow in the wind. Beautiful and serene; if you’ve interest, I can take you there to look. I’m sure you’ll love it…..Or maybe we can go to Redfire City. There’s a great restaurant there with the most delicious cloudspring cod in the entire Great Plains Province….Oh. If not that, I also know a place in the city with the best shows….”
“Se–senior Chen….thank you for your thoughts, but I really have to focus on my training, so I can’t go anywhere right now.” Helpless against the ingratiating male in front of her, Tang Xinyun tried her best to decline his nearly-endless advances.
“Senior Tang, there’s no need to be so polite. You’ve just joined the school, so there’s plenty of things I’m sure you don’t understand. Feel free to ask me any questions whenever you want. Though I have to address you as ‘senior’, as the rules dictate, I know a lot of things you might not. As disciples of the Crafting School, helping each other out should be expected. If there’s any difficulties you might come across while training, please come find me. I became a Soul Ancestor just two days ago, so I’m sure I can teach you a few things or two from experience.” The male laughed.
Though he was trying to act casual, the very last part of his sentence had been very obviously a humble brag.
This person was in fact none other than the person who was initially beaten by Bai Yunfei back on the Western Point, Chen Huanghua!
It was quite confusing at first why he was suddenly so ‘close’ with Tang Xinyun, but judging from what he said, Chen Huanghua was a Soul Ancestor as of two days ago!
“I don’t think there’ll be a need for that….I’ve not any problems so far in my training, and my senior is there to help me already. There’s no need to trouble you, junior Chen.” Her eyebrows were already furrowed together with impatience, but thanks to her gentle nature, she didn’t want to outright refuse him out of fear of embarrassing him.
“It won’t be any trouble at all! I—” Chen Huanghua didn’t look as if he was getting the hint. But just as he was about to say something more, Tang Xinyun’s eyes looked behind him and lit up when she saw several familiar faces.
“Junior Chen, I’ve a few friends waiting for me over there, maybe we can talk another time.” Tang Xinyun cut into Chen Huanghua’s words before walking past him to greet Bai Yunfei and the others.
“Yunfei, Xiaoxuan, you’re here now too I see.”
“Cousin!” Mo Xiaoxuan smiled in greeting. “Why are you alone? Where’s everyone else?”
“I was delayed a bit, so the other seniors went up first.” She nodded.
Then she turned to Bai Yunfei with a smile. “Yunfei, you’re alright now hopefully?”
“I’m doing fine. Thanks for your concern, Xinyun.” Bai Yunfei nodded his head in affirmation before looking around. “Junior Rui isn’t with you?” He smiled.
“Xiao Rui went with master up the mountain first. She must be at the halls already, we should hurry.”
“Yes, let’s go on th—”
“Senior Bai, we meet again.” A peculiar voice suddenly cut into Bai Yunfei’s sentence.
Surprised, Bai Yunfei turned his head back just to see Chen Huanghua’s face scrunched together in a grotesque expression. There was a look of ill-will in his eyes.
“Oh, junior Chen, it was you….” Due to his positioning, Bai Yunfei hadn’t realized that the person Tang Xinyun was talking to was actually him. Surreptitiously, Bai Yunfei turned his head to Tang Xinyun as if to ask, “Is he coming with us?”
A nearly unnoticeable shake of the head answered his silent question. Understanding her response, Bai Yunfei turned back to Chen Huanghua, “The assembly’s about to start, so there’s not much time to chat. We’ll be heading up first, junior Chen. Another time, hopefully, haha.”
And with that, Bai Yunfei and the rest of the group walked past Chen Huanghua up the mountain.
Moving to Tang Xinyun’s side, Mo Xiaoxuan whispered, “Cousin, I’m about to go to Redfire City to relax for a few days, do you want to go together?”
Though surprised by the question, Tang Xinyun agreed after thinking about it. “Alright. I was planning on buying a few things anyways.”
“Do you want to come too, brother Bai?” Mo Xiaoxuan asked right after. “I already promised Zhong Xuhao and the others. Senior Ye is coming too, why don’t we all go together?”
“Why not?” Bai Yunfei agreed after careful consideration. “I’ll be more than happy to go.”
And so the group continued on the rest of the way with a merry laugh….