Junior Disciple C

"Senior brother, hurry up!" Fang Yang was stepping on the spot, like an arrow that had been charged, and he was about to rush out with just one command.

Feng Ye helplessly accelerated the movement of putting on his boots, and said while putting on the boots, "The genius just dawned, and there is still a while before the ceremony begins."

"I know, I'm just... just... anxious." Fang Yang touched his head, bared his white teeth and smiled, with an undisguised expectation on his face.

The protagonist of today's trial ceremony was Cao Zirui, but Fang Yang was so excited that he jumped up from the bed before dawn, and ran over impatiently to urge Brother Waste Chai to go with him to the main hall square.

But Fang Yang can't be blamed for this, after all, this is a ceremony to select the next head, which is of great significance and rare in a hundred years.

Leaving aside the short-lived former head, generally speaking, the head of Lingxiao Sword Sect changes every three to four hundred years.

The life expectancy of monks is longer than that of ordinary people, and the higher the level of cultivation, the greater the gap.

And it is inevitable for those who can become the head to reach the Nascent Soul Stage, so compared to the human emperors who change every few decades, it is even rarer to see the head of the Xiuxian Sect change.

Although Cao Zirui will not become the head of the sect immediately after the ceremony, this ceremony is equivalent to the canonization of the prince, it is only pre-established, but it is also of great significance.

It is estimated that such a major event can only be caught up with once in a lifetime, and everyone naturally does not want to miss it.And this ceremony is not forbidden to watch, so no matter what is going on, how high or low the cultivation level is, everyone is ready to watch the excitement today, and take a look at the strength of the next master.

The trial ceremony was held on the thousand-level stone ladder leading to the top of the mountain in the main hall square, with ten steps and one level, a total of one hundred levels, and one hundred guarding disciples.

The list of these hundred guard disciples had been established two days ago, and all of them were above the Foundation Establishment level, and some of them even reached the Golden Core stage.

This challenge is actually very difficult for Cao Zirui, because he has only been a beginner for a year. Although he is a genius, the time is too short after all, and his current cultivation base is only in the early stage of foundation establishment.

Although Cao Zirui had already won the first place in the foundation-building competition when selecting the entry qualifications for the Floating Island Secret Realm, it was a one-on-one duel with rest periods between each round. This time he had to face A hundred times of wheel battles in a row, the difficulty is naturally not the same.

What's more, among the disciples guarding the pass, there is also the Golden Core Stage who is directly higher than Cao Zirui by a big realm. The Foundation Establishment Stage's delusional attempt to defeat the Golden Core Stage is generally impossible.

Of course, this is a ceremony to pre-appoint the head of the sect. Although it also means a trial, it is just a ceremony after all, and it cannot be a challenge that cannot be completed.

This trial does not allow the use of spiritual power, it is just a competition of sword moves.Comprehension of kendo depends more on one's own understanding, and has relatively little to do with practice time.

Although Feng Ye hadn't seen Cao Zirui's swordsmanship with his own eyes, and he didn't go to see Cao Zirui's swordplay last time, but thinking that Ji Chengyue dared to let Cao Zirui accept this challenge, he must have confidence in his apprentice's swordsmanship.

"Brother, are you alright? There are so many onlookers today, we won't be able to get a good seat if we go late!" Fang Yang urged again not long after he finished his last question.

"Okay, okay." Feng Ye stood up, straightened his robes, and raised his feet to follow Fang Yang.

As soon as he walked out of the room, he saw Hao Chen waiting outside as expected.

Hao Chen smiled at Feng Ye, then handed over the snacks he had prepared, and said courteously: "This ceremony is estimated to take a long time, and I probably won't be able to eat lunch. I was worried that Fellow Daoist Feng Ye was hungry, so I specially brought some snacks. Try it?"

Feng Ye glanced at Hao Chen's hand holding the snack, but didn't take it immediately.

Since this fish consciously irritated Feng Ye three days ago, he tried every means to serve tea and water to show his hospitality, just to use his own considerate care to defuse Feng Ye's anger.

Feng Ye wasn't angry at all, he maintained his indifference towards Hao Chen for three days, but in fact...it was all an act.

Why not just put on a cold face and have someone serve tea and water?

But there must be a limit to everything, it is easy to make mistakes if you pretend for too long, and then you will be found out that you have been pretending, so Feng Ye estimated the time, and it was almost three days, so he reached out and took the bag from Hao Chen's hand. After tasting a piece of dim sum, he commented: "Not bad."

For the first time in three days, Feng Ye sent a reconciliation signal to him. Hao Chen immediately hit the snake with a stick, squeezed a piece of dim sum with his fingers and put it on Feng Ye's mouth, and said with a smile, "Another piece?"

Although it felt weird to be fed a piece of snack, but it was already on the edge of his mouth, and it seemed a bit unnecessary to take it by himself, so Feng Ye simply took the piece of snack away with Hao Chen's hand.

While eating, he took another piece of snack from Hao Chen's hand and handed it to Fang Yang.

Fang Yang thanked his senior brother and the dim sum owner, and then started eating.

It's just that when eating, he always felt that something was wrong with the scene just now. Would normal male friends feed snacks to each other's mouths?

But...Senior Brother Waste Chai and Big Brother Hao have an exceptionally good relationship, they slept together as soon as they met, and feeding them snacks seemed like nothing compared to this incident.

Fang Yang let go of the strange feeling in his heart. After he swallowed the snack, he ran to the front alone to lead the way. Feng Ye and Hao Chen followed unhurriedly. The three of them walked to the main hall square together. I saw many fellow students who were also preparing to go to watch.

However, in the early morning when the sky was just bright, the mountain was already bustling because of this once-in-a-century trial ceremony.

And on the top of the mountain, inside the Zhenwu Hall.

This is the main hall used for general discussions. Three days ago, Ji Chengyue announced the news that shocked many people's jaws.

It is not too surprising to choose Cao Zirui as the next head, because from all aspects, Cao Zirui does have more potential than Xue Ren.

But this time is too surprising, how old is Cao Zirui?It's just a young man who is not as weak as the crown. It is a bit too hasty to choose him as the next head now.

The other stewards, including Elder Zhou, raised objections to Ji Chengyue's decision on the spot, but Ji Chengyue resisted all the arguments and chose Cao Zirui with determination, and set the ceremony time for today.

If it wasn't for the time required to prepare for the ceremony, judging by his eagerness, he probably wouldn't have waited for three days at all, and it would have to be held the next day.

But why is Ji Chengyue so anxious?No one knew, even Elder Zhou, whom Ji Chengyue respected the most, came to ask, but Ji Chengyue kept silent.

After all, he was the head of the sect, so although everyone was full of doubts about his decision, they still followed suit.

Today's Zhenwu Hall was empty, because most of the people were busy preparing for the ceremony, they hurried to finish the preparations within three days.

This empty hall was not completely empty. At this moment, there were two people sitting opposite each other.

"Master." Cao Zirui called out to Ji Chengyue in front of him.

Ji Chengyue sat cross-legged on the futon, closed his eyes to rest his mind, and when Cao Zirui called him, he opened his eyes and took a look.

He saw Cao Zirui's brows furrowed slightly. Compared to Cao Zirui's usual iceberg face, frowning was considered a big change in expression.

This unusual expression change, as well as Cao Zirui's occasional rustling sound of cloth rubbing as he adjusted his sitting posture when the two of them meditated and adjusted their breath just now, all revealed Cao Zirui's inner tension and uneasiness.

"Don't be nervous." Ji Chengyue reassured.

However, Cao Zirui was not appeased, he hadn't even gone out to practice a few times, and suddenly he was elected as the next head, it was impossible not to be nervous.

"Master, is this...too early?" Although many people have said this sentence to Ji Chengyue, Cao Zirui couldn't help but say it again at this moment.

He felt that he was not ready, he was not ready to take over the responsibility of running an entire sect like this.

"Not early." Compared with Cao Zirui's hesitation, Ji Chengyue's tone was very firm.

This was his deliberate decision that night.

The conflict between Xue Ren and Cao Zirui is actually very similar to the princes and grandsons of the emperor's family in the world who are fighting for the heir. In order to avoid such brotherhood, they came up with a way to establish the prince early and make other brothers give up.

So Ji Chengyue was going to emulate this, and he used this ceremony to make Xue Ren completely give up.

He chose Cao Zirui as the current head not because he favored Cao Zirui. In fact, Xue Ren, who has been with him for more than 20 years, is better than Cao Zirui in terms of relationship.

It's just... the selection of the head is not based on his personal likes and dislikes, he can't just choose whoever he likes as the head.

The head of the sect represents responsibility, the responsibility to lead Ling Xiao Jianzong back to Yun Xiao.

Xue Ren could not bear this responsibility.

Although Xue Ren didn't think so, Ji Chengyue stubbornly thought so.

Some things are not something you can do if you want to do it. It is important to work hard the day after tomorrow, but the three-point destiny is even more deadly.

Ji Chengyue also held his breath, just wanting to surpass his senior brother with the best single spiritual root. For this reason, he hardly gave up practicing day and night, but in the end he was still thrown further and further away.

So what if you are unwilling, it is the destiny.

He was born with dual spiritual roots, while his brother was born with a single spiritual root. The starting point is different, and the height of the future is also different.

No matter how hard Xue Ren tried, he was just the next one.So after meeting Cao Zirui of Shan Linggen, Ji Chengyue had already made a decision in his heart.

And this trip to the secret place of the floating island strengthened his mind even more.The Lingxiao Sword Sect has been at the bottom for a hundred years, and Cao Zirui has moved up one place when he participated this time. Although Cao Zirui's own results are not ideal, it also shows a certain kind of luck.

He saw the hope of Ling Xiao Jianzong's resurgence in Cao Zirui, so he was steadfast.

"If you're really nervous, go out for a walk first, and don't be late when the ceremony starts." Ji Chengyue suddenly slowed down his voice while being resolute.

If Xue Ren hadn't killed Cao Zirui, he actually didn't want Cao Zirui to undergo the trial ceremony so early, after all, Cao Zirui was still too young...

He also knew it would be difficult for such a half-grown boy to shoulder such a big responsibility, but he had no choice. This was the only way he could think of to protect the two disciples at the same time.

"Understood, Master." Cao Zirui's eyes lit up immediately when he heard Ji Chengyue's words, he stood up impatiently from the futon, then opened the door and walked out.

I was so anxious that I forgot to close the door.

Looking at Cao Zirui's hurried back, Ji Chengyue shook his head helplessly, no need to think, Cao Zirui must have gone to find his little friend.

Either way, encouragement from friends is sometimes more useful than persuasion from teachers, let Cao Zirui go to Fang Yang to relax.

Ji Chengyue moved his fingertips slightly, and was about to use his spiritual power to close the door that he had forgotten to close, but the sound of footsteps outside the door made his movements stop.

He faintly sensed the identity of the visitor, and felt mixed feelings for a moment.

Xue Ren walked in through the opened door, came to Ji Chengyue, saluted, and called: "Master."

Ji Chengyue nodded slightly, and Xue Ren sat cross-legged in front of Ji Chengyue, sitting on the futon that Cao Zirui had just placed.

Then no one spoke.

The room was silent, the master and the student faced each other, and they didn't know how to speak.

After a while, Ji Chengyue brought up a topic: "How is your luggage packed?"

Xue Ren smiled and said, "It's ready. After today's ceremony is over, the disciples will leave."

He spoke in a very relaxed tone, as if he was willing to be assigned by Ji Chengyue to the cold mountain secret realm.

However, three days ago, according to the report from the disciple who sent the letter, Xue Ren's face was clearly very terrifying, so ferocious that it was distorted.

Ji Chengyue also expected this, such a reaction is normal.

He was also ready to face Xue Ren's emotional out of control questioning, but waited and waited, Xue Ren never came to him.

And when he couldn't resist looking for Xue Ren, Xue Ren refused for various reasons and avoided seeing him.

In the past few days, today was the first time he saw Xue Ren after announcing that decision, but he had a peaceful face.

It seemed that he had already figured it out in the past three days, no longer obsessed with that narrow jealousy, but prepared to go to the cold mountain secret realm to temper himself.

If this is the case, then it is the best result, and it is also the result Ji Chengyue most expects to see.

Now that Xue Ren was ready to leave, Ji Chengyue couldn't help but reminded him: "It's bitterly cold in the cold mountain secret realm, you can prepare some warm wine in your storage bag, and if you can't stand it anymore, take a few sips to warm your body."

Xue Ren agreed.

Ji Chengyue said again: "Where's the ointment for frostbite? Remember to bring this too."

"Although you have already bigu, you can also bring some dried fruits that are convenient to store, so that you can satisfy your hunger after practicing."

"There are also pills to dispel the cold..."

Ji Chengyue subconsciously started rambling again. He was like this before Cao Zirui went to the secret place of the floating island last time. This time Xue Ren was leaving, and he was like this too.

The concern hidden under the usual stern expression is actually no less than that for Cao Zirui, it's just too subtle to be noticed.

But Xue Ren didn't care about all of these at the moment.

"By the way, bring some warm wine..." Ji Chengyue talked so much that he had already forgotten what he said before.

"Master, I've already said that." Xue Ren couldn't help but interrupted.

"I said it..." Ji Chengyue recalled it, and he really said it, and after thinking about it carefully, it seemed that there was nothing to tell him.

The room fell into silence again.

"Master." After a while, Xue Ren called softly.This time it was Xue Ren who broke the silence.

Ji Chengyue looked at Xue Ren.

Xue Ren slightly restrained the painted-on smile on his face, stared into Ji Chengyue's eyes, and asked seriously: "I chose my junior brother to be the next head today, did the master actually make a decision a long time ago? "

"So Ling Xiao's swordsmanship was only passed on to my junior brother, and never thought of passing it on to me." Xue Ren asked a question, but his tone was very firm.

Ji Chengyue remained silent.

He had indeed made a decision long ago, but the fact that Ling Xiao's swordsmanship was not passed on to Xue Ren was not because this swordsmanship could only be passed on to the next master, but because Xue Ren's talent could not cultivate this swordsmanship.

But it doesn't make sense to explain it now, the result is the same, he never thought of passing Ling Xiao swordsmanship to Xue Ren, so he didn't speak.

Xue Ren only regarded him as acquiescing, he smiled, stood up suddenly and said: "Then disciple will take his leave first, and he will have to observe the trial ceremony of junior brother later."

"Aren."

When Xue Ren walked to the door, Ji Chengyue suddenly stopped him behind him, calling him by a nickname he hadn't called in a long time.

Xue Ren stopped, Ji Chengyue hesitated for a long time, and finally couldn't help expressing his inner expectation: "Would you like to guard the hundredth checkpoint?"

A hundred years ago, when Ling Yun challenged the hundred levels, Ji Chengyue was the one who guarded the last level. This was not just a challenge, but also a kind of inheritance and recognition among the brothers.

Although Xue Ren and Cao Zirui were at odds, Ji Chengyue still hoped that the two brothers could reconcile.

"It doesn't matter if you don't want to, just pretend I didn't say it..." Ji Chengyue continued, although he expected so, he didn't want to force Xue Ren either.

After being silent for a long time, Xue Ren finally gave an answer.

"my pleasure."

His voice is relaxed and cheerful, without any embarrassment.

When Ji Chengyue heard this reply, he was relieved.

When Xue Ren left Zhenwu Hall, Ji Chengyue could only see his back just now, but couldn't see his expression, nor could he see the almost distorted smile on his face.