Chapter 311

Chapter 311: You Have Offended Too Many People
“Senior Sister Yu Zhao.”

“Junior Sister Wei, Junior Sister Ning, Junior Brother Sha…”

Outside Tai Bai Academy.

Yu Zhao exchanged greetings with Wei Ying and the others one by one.

After everyone finished their formal greetings, Wei Ying introduced the other disciples to Yu Zhao, and then everyone began exchanging polite compliments.

Yu Zhao raised her eyebrows.

[Why do I feel like Wei Ying is stalling for time?]

Just as she thought that, a familiar aura rushed toward them as fast as lightning.

A trace of surprise flashed through Yu Zhao’s eyes, followed by a faint smile.

She turned toward the newcomer and said: “Junior Brother Ji, long time no see.”

“Yu… Senior Sister Yu, I am late.”

When Ji Han Zhou saw Yu Zhao, his heart pounded like a drum, thumping non-stop.

He clenched his fingers and tried hard to keep a calm expression on his face.

Yu Zhao smiled at him: “You are not late. You came at just the right time.”

Perhaps because he was a guest at Tai Bai Academy, Ji Han Zhou was not wearing the robes of a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect. He wore a robe in dark teal instead, which softened the sharpness between his brows and made him look steady and restrained.

[Time really passes quietly. The rash, impulsive boy from back then now looks like he has the strength to stand on his own.]

After the group finished their small talk, they walked into Tai Bai Academy.

Because Wei Ying and the others had been spreading the word with all their might, everyone from top to bottom in Tai Bai Academy already knew that Yu Zhao would be visiting.

As soon as Yu Zhao stepped into Tai Bai Academy, she felt gazes from all directions fall on her.

Some people marveled at Yu Zhao’s cultivation level, some marveled at how young she was, and some had their attention elsewhere, noticing with surprise that Ji Han Zhou was mixed into the group as well.

Yu Zhao naturally did not care about their stares. Led by Wei Ying, she went to a row of bamboo cottages at the back of the academy.

In one of the cottages, she paid respects to Dean Mo Xin of Tai Bai Academy and a group of elders.

Dean Mo Xin and the elders who had taken part in the Cultivation World Grand Tournament also had many feelings when they saw Yu Zhao again.

Among the disciples who had joined the grand tournament, Yu Zhao was the first and only one to form a Nascent Soul.

And she was still this young.

She was so young that the elders could not help feeling jealous.

They had seen countless geniuses.

But no one had ever put such pressure on them the way Yu Zhao did.

She even made them feel a sense of crisis, as if it would not be long before she surpassed them.

Dean Mo Xin was jealous too, but the person he envied was not Yu Zhao, it was Sect Master Ji Yuan.

He envied that the Five Elements Dao Sect had produced yet another peerless talent, and that the glory of the Five Elements Dao Sect could be extended for at least a few more hundred years.

Still, no matter how outstanding Yu Zhao was now, she was still an Outer Sect disciple. After she exchanged a few words with Dean Mo Xin and received some encouragement, she politely withdrew.

Since she was already at Tai Bai Academy, she could go ask Dean Mo Xin for guidance any time. There was no need to rush.

Naturally, Wei Ying and the others did not know Yu Zhao’s true reason for coming. They only thought she was traveling outside for experience, so they led her around Tai Bai Academy for a tour and then sent her to a guest room.

Yu Zhao did not know whether Wei Ying had done it on purpose or if it was because Tai Bai Academy only had Yu Zhao and Ji Han Zhou as Outer Sect disciples, but Yu Zhao’s room and Ji Han Zhou’s room ended up right next to each other, with only a wall between them.

Ji Han Zhou now deeply respected Wei Ying and seriously reflected on how wrong he had been to take his anger over Li Jingrang out on the disciples of Tai Bai Academy back then.

After Wei Ying and the others left reluctantly, Ji Han Zhou was still hesitating about whether to go knock on the door next door when someone knocked on his own door first.

Ji Han Zhou took two quick steps and pulled the door open.

Sure enough, the person outside was the one he had been thinking about day and night.

He said excitedly: “Senior Sister Yu!”

Yu Zhao smiled: “Is it convenient for me to come in?”

“Of course.”

Ji Han Zhou stepped aside to let Yu Zhao into the room.

Yu Zhao did not act distant with Ji Han Zhou. She sat down directly, took a small jar of fruit wine out from her Storage Space, and tossed it onto the table.

She smiled and said: “Meeting an old friend in a foreign place, we should drink a big cup.”

Ji Han Zhou laughed: “What Senior Sister Yu says makes perfect sense.”

He sat down opposite Yu Zhao and took out cups on his own to pour the wine.

After a few cups of wine, the two of them began to talk more and more.

Yu Zhao learned that Ji Han Zhou had been practicing his sword bitterly after returning to his sect, and Ji Han Zhou heard about the troubles Yu Zhao had faced when she broke through.

As their talk went deeper, Ji Han Zhou began to feel down.

He had thought he had been diligent enough lately, so diligent that even his mother could not stand watching anymore and insisted on throwing him into the exchange team.

However, compared with Yu Zhao’s experiences, his hard training seemed nothing special and rather ordinary.

He wondered if he had been wrong from the start. Training hard in the sword might improve his Sword Arts, but it could not give him the boldness and spirit to fight against people and even the heavens.

While Ji Han Zhou was lost in thought, he suddenly heard Yu Zhao ask about Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua’s recent situation.

He was a little surprised but still smiled and said: “Mo… Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua is doing well. She has recently come up with a new sword technique and spends all day looking for the Sect Master and the others to spar. She is incredibly busy.”

Yu Zhao began to laugh.

When Ji Han Zhou saw her heartfelt smile, he felt even stranger inside.

His mother really did like Yu Zhao, but she had never had the chance to meet Yu Zhao alone. In theory, the two of them did not know each other.

But Yu Zhao behaved as if she cared about her very much, as if they had already known each other for a long time.

And he did not know why, but just now for a moment, he had even felt that the way Yu Zhao looked at him was not like looking at a friend, but like a senior looking at a junior with gentle affection.

Ji Han Zhou could not help shivering.

[My dear mother, just what have you been doing behind my back out there!]

Far away, at the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua had her hands on her hips and was laughing loudly when her nose suddenly started to itch. Her laughter stopped short, and she could not help frowning.

She looked suspiciously at Sect Master Chong Yang, who sat across from her with a gloomy look on his face.

She said: “Sect Master, losing is losing. It is no big deal. But to curse me in your heart, and in such dirty words too, really makes your Senior Sister disappointed.”

Sect Master Chong Yang had already been in a bad mood after losing in a sword match. Hearing Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua throw such mud on him, he jumped to his feet at once and shouted: “Jiu Hua, when did I ever curse you? You are slandering me! You are trampling on my dignity! Insulting my noble character! Apologize, you must apologize!”

When Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua saw that he seemed truly angry, she asked: “So it really was not you cursing me?”

Master Chong Yang almost wanted to swear to the heavens to prove it was not him.

The most he had done was secretly complain in his heart that Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua’s sword techniques were as overbearing and fierce as she was.

That could not count as cursing. That was just stating a fact.

She nodded: “All right, then I misunderstood you. I apologize.”

Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua admitted her mistake in a straightforward way, then touched her chin and thought: “Then who is cursing me?”

Sect Master Chong Yang let out a strange, mocking hum at the side and said: “Who knows? You have offended so many people they could line up from the top of the Heavenly Sword Sect’s mountain all the way down to the foot.”

She thought about it and said: “That is true.”

Back in the day, Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua had been famous for loving to fight.

Whether it was the Elite Disciples of the One Sect, Two Schools, Four Clans, or the famous Rogue Cultivators of the Cultivation World, she had challenged them all. Sometimes she won and sometimes she lost, though of course wins made up the majority.

During that time, she felt her nose itch and her ears burn every day. She did not know how many people were lining up to curse her.

But as time went by, she had not felt anything like that for a long time.

Today, it was probably some old opponent she had beaten before, who had suddenly thought of her again for some reason and dragged her out in his mind for a passionate round of scolding.

[Tsk, it has been so many years, and they still care so much. How petty.]