Chapter 85

Chapter 85: He Deserved It

Ling Bu Fei got his first true taste of how brutal martial training could be.

“Your form is wrong,” Venerable Ku Mu snapped. “Raise your arm higher.”

Ling Bu Fei fought through the ache and lifted his arm until his shoulder trembled.

“Put force into it!” Venerable Ku Mu barked. “What are you, limp because you didn’t eat?”

Ling Bu Fei grit his teeth and tightened his grip.

“Good.” Venerable Ku Mu nodded once, then leaned back as if granting mercy. “Now swing it a hundred times.”

With that, he turned and strode back into the pavilion.

Bai Li Xu appeared at the edge of the open space carrying a melon. With a sweep of sword qi, he cut it into neat slices. Juice sprayed, bright and sweet in the air.

“Come, come!” Bai Li Xu called, cheerful as if this were a picnic. “Granduncle Master, Grandmaster, Miss Bai—have some melon!”

“Oh, this one’s sweet.” Hua Wu Sheng sounded delighted.

“Girl Bai, take the middle piece.”

“Song Zi, Tao Jiao! You two stop fooling around and come eat first.”

Laughter rippled through the pavilion.

Out in the open, Ling Bu Fei was drenched in sweat, swinging the bamboo sword again and again. His wrists burned. His arms felt like they belonged to someone else.

If he loosened even a fraction—if his movement slipped out of place—Venerable Ku Mu’s voice snapped like a whip.

“Focus. You can’t handle a hundred swings?”

“Why are you so stiff? I’ve seen you climb trees and jump into rivers just fine.”

“Your balance is off. You haven’t done enough horse stance.”

Then, to Bai Li Xu, “How did you teach him before?”

Bai Li Xu protested, innocent-faced. “Back then I mainly taught myself. I only dragged Young Master along for fun. Who knew one day he’d actually learn for real?”

He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Keep it up, Young Master! I saved you a slice of melon!”

Ling Bu Fei wanted to throw the bamboo sword at his head. He kept swinging anyway.

By the end of the day, Venerable Ku Mu finally allowed himself a small smile. “Not bad. You already had a foundation. At this pace, train three to five years and you’ll catch up to Bai Li Xu.”

“Three to five years?” Ling Bu Fei looked ready to collapse. “That long?”

“What?” Venerable Ku Mu stared. “You’re not satisfied? Do you even know what level Bai Li Xu is at? You don’t really think he’s weak, do you?”

Ling Bu Fei didn’t answer.

Bai Li Xu grinned as he handed him a bowl of tea. “Don’t rush, Young Master. Think about how you used to watch me practice…”

Ling Bu Fei took a mouthful and snapped, “So this is your revenge, huh?”

“How would I dare!” Bai Li Xu squeezed his arm, tone bright and infuriating. “It’s just that no one can dodge the hardships they’re meant to endure. Doesn’t it feel better if you think of it that way, Young Master?”

“Exactly.” Bai Meng Jin brought over tonic soup, unbothered by Ling Bu Fei’s glare. “I used to train day and night at home too, and I didn’t even have someone to teach me.”

Ling Bu Fei fell silent for a moment, the bitterness easing. “I’ll train properly.”

Hua Wu Sheng shot the two young people a reproachful look. Her face was gentle; her words were not. “Enough. Go clean up. At six, we start body tempering.”

Ling Bu Fei jolted upright. “There’s only half an hour left! Granduncle Master, aren’t you cutting it too close?”

In that time, he had to bathe, change, eat something—he wasn’t a machine.

“Time is exactly what you lack,” Hua Wu Sheng replied blandly. “So of course it’s tight. Move.”

Ling Bu Fei fled, resigned. Luckily, everything had been prepared for him.

If he didn’t succeed at body tempering soon, he wouldn’t even be able to use the Dust-Cleansing Art. The thought of being unable to clean himself with one simple spell felt humiliating all on its own.

After he left, Venerable Ku Mu watched the direction he’d gone with quiet satisfaction. “I said it from the start—he’s talented at martial training. Look at him. In just one day, he already has the shape.”

Hua Wu Sheng’s voice softened. “It’s not too late. Eighteen years have already passed. A few more years are nothing. We can wait.”

Venerable Ku Mu nodded. “Yes. For cultivators, it’s a blink. If there’s hope, we don’t fear waiting.”

That night, the lake water lapped gently against the shore rocks as Hua Wu Sheng began teaching body tempering.

“When a devil cultivator tempers the body,” she explained, “they press devil qi into the flesh bit by bit. The body is damaged, then repairs itself.”

Her voice stayed calm, careful. “When you temper the body with spiritual qi, it won’t corrode you. But because you’re forcing it in, your blood vessels will still rupture. Only then will you trigger the body’s healing…”

At first, Ling Bu Fei held steady. Slowly, sweat beaded at his temples. His face twisted with pain as if his bones were being pulled apart from the inside.

“Hold on,” Hua Wu Sheng said softly. “Heaven has been unfair to you, filling your road with hardship.”

Her gaze didn’t waver. “But if you endure it, you’ll become a true cultivator. You won’t have to depend on others.”

Ling Bu Fei’s breathing shook. Then, gradually, his expression steadied.

He remembered Flowing Moon City—how the disciples told him to hide in the back. They meant well. But they also believed he was in the way.

Bai Meng Jin, Bai Li Xu, and Ying Shao Guang went inside to purge the devils. He had stayed outside, useless as a broken tool.

He didn’t want to live like that forever. He didn’t want to be the person everyone protected.

He wanted to be like his parents—to become someone else’s shelter.

When Hua Wu Sheng finally stepped out, Bai Meng Jin was sitting in the pavilion, listening to the waves.

“Senior,” Bai Meng Jin said, rising.

Hua Wu Sheng waved her back down and sat across from her. “We tried it. This method works.”

Her eyes were bright with fierce relief. “As long as his body grows strong enough, Bu Fei may be different from ordinary sword cultivators, but his strength won’t be any worse.”

Bai Meng Jin smiled. “Of course. He promised me he’d become the World’s Number One Sword Cultivator.”

The pride in her tone was unmistakable. Hua Wu Sheng’s heart softened further. “Is there anything you want? Granduncle Master can make it happen.”

Bai Meng Jin thought carefully. “If he’s going to become the World’s Number One Sword Cultivator, then of course I’m going to become the number one devil cultivator in the world.”

Her gaze sharpened. “But Limitless Mountain’s spiritual qi is rich, and my cultivation is still too slow. Granduncle Master… can you help me get a few devil hearts?”

Hua Wu Sheng blinked, surprised, then laughed.

Asking for devil hearts sounded terrifying—like keeping a devil fiend at home. And that wasn’t wrong. They were, in fact, raising a devil fiend.

“Fine.” Hua Wu Sheng leaned back, amused. “I haven’t spent much of the merit I earned back then. I’ll trade for some devil hearts for you. If that’s not enough, your Martial Uncle has some too.”

Bai Meng Jin nodded. “Thank you, Granduncle Master.”

Hua Wu Sheng waved it away. “No need to be so polite.”

She paused, then said quietly, “Actually, you didn’t have to tell us this method.”

Bai Meng Jin looked at her.

“Your power gave Bu Fei a way to put his cultivation to use,” Hua Wu Sheng continued. “For that alone, we’d give you our whole hearts.”

But Bai Meng Jin had told them anyway. Once Ling Bu Fei could rely on himself, she would be throwing away her greatest support.

At first, Hua Wu Sheng had suspected this young girl was too clever—clever enough to tighten a leash without anyone noticing. She’d worried Ling Bu Fei would end up trapped.

Tonight, those doubts finally loosened.

Bai Meng Jin nodded, gaze steady. “If what we had was only a trade of interests, of course I’d want the upper hand.”

She softened. “But… he’s too good. I want us to be partners. To be family. He deserves to be treated with that kind of sincerity.”

Hua Wu Sheng’s voice warmed. “You’re a good child too.”