Supreme Swordsman of the Nine Heavens

Chapter 38

Village Con-chief

Mu Yu tucked Village Chief Bu into bed. Village Chief Bu held onto Mu Yu’s hand and slept with a big smile on his face. Mu Yu kept the elder company whilst relishing moments of nostalgia. Mu Yu hoped he was finally able to return the favour and reassure Village Chief Bu with his presence.

Mu Yu leapt onto the rooftop later that night. As he gazed at the blanket of twinkly pearls, he delved into his thoughts to analyse what Sha Yan told him. He always thought his cultivation progress was the norm and a concerted effort between his purple aptitude, shifu’s mentoring and Uncle An’s supervision. Sha Yan’s progress came off as a surprise, especially when considering the sect he studied under. Li Yuan and Tang Yang were over thirty years of age. It wasn’t surprising Sha Yan reached Foundation Establishment Realm after ten years. Therein was the astonishing realisation. Lan Ling’er was only two years older than Mu Yu. Xiang Nan was three years older. Yet, both of them had reached Foundation Establishment Realm’s Ninth Layer!

Mu Yu always assumed his seniors were more advanced since they had been cultivating for longer. It turned out Lan Ling’er and Xiang Nan’s potential didn’t pale in comparison to his own. He started to wonder if any other sect had disciples that could match them. Cheng Yan was only twenty, yet he already ascended to Golden Core Realm. Bai Lang had five years on Cheng Yan, yet Cheng Yan was confident he could fight Bai Lang to a draw.

Mu Yu still remembered being told aptitude didn’t earn him preferential treatment at Dustfallen Sect. He thought his shifu implied he shouldn’t treat his aptitude with too much significance, shouldn’t let it get to his head and all disciples were treated with equality. Looking back on it, perhaps he meant, “Nobody’s potential in Dustfallen Sect loses out to yours. Don’t put yourself on a pedestal.”  Literally everybody on the mountain was a monster cultivator. Well, he forgot he was part of them.

Mu Yu thought his so-called affinity for cultivation was a reference to his aptitude. He was so proud of it that it was one of his most used counters when bickering with Lan Ling’er. After descending the mountain and running into other talented disciples from other sects, he finally realised he wasn’t special compared to his fellow disciples. That being the case, it called into question his so-called affinity for cultivation.

Given the skill of everyone on the mountain, Mu Yu was confident Dustfallen Sect could rival the top sects if they wanted to expand. Mu Yu had yet to comprehend Feng Haochen’s purpose in being selective with his disciples, choosing few but extremely talented ones.

Feng Haochen never mentioned his past or the reason the other sects tolerated Dustfallen Sect’s existence despite them consisting of less than ten members. Mu Yu never saw his shifu as a cultivator. He pondered if Lie Shang’s departure had something to do with it.

***

In the end, Waterstream Village didn’t hold a merry celebration. They decided to delay it until tomorrow out of concern for Village Chief Bu. That being said, villagers were busy, but Uncle Sun had to take the helm.

“I went to Raindrop Village yesterday and fought their immortal master man to man, face to face! Immortal masters sure are tough. He managed to capture me in the end…”

Village Chief Bu set up a small bench and recounted yesterday’s epic for the children in the village late at night. Meanwhile, the adults were busy setting up for the celebration. The children eating melons and candy were completely absorbed in the story. The elder’s battle wounds turned him into the hero they admired.

Ermao wiped his nose. “And then? And then?”

“Mu Yu made it in the nick of time and engaged the immortal master in three hundred epic rounds! It was so intense that the world was plunged into darkness! Like judges of good and evil, Mu Yu’s two flying swords emerged in a flash. With a single strike, sand and stones whipped into the air, thunder boomed and lightning flashed! With a single strike, the clouds immediately churned and the ground cracked.  Mu Yu beat the immortal master from Raindrop Village to a pulp! Like a geyser, the immortal master’s mystified the sky, dying the sand scarlet…”

The children gasped in amazement; Mu Yu thought the Mu Yu in Village Chief Bu’s story was amazing, too. Village Chief Bu, once again, proved he was an expert at fooling children. Mu Yu awkwardly chuckled as he watched Ya Dan’s look of admiration.

“Grandpa Village Chief, what’s the immortal master kneeling before you all about?” A child put his hand up and asked.

Village Chief Bu stroked his long, white beard. “Ahem, I’ll talk about the most important volume two of the story, ‘An Immortal Master Kneels for the Village Elder’ next! As I was saying, Mu Yu, furious, punished evil with his swords, pulverising Raindrop Village’s immortal master. The immortal master knew he could not defeat Mu Yu. Nevertheless, he didn’t want to admit defeat, either. As such, he ran over to me, intending to use me against Mu Yu. Unfortunately, he miscalculated. Am I someone who fears death? Look, this scar came from the fight…”

Village Chief Bu pointed at the scar on his face and, in a proud tone, resumed, “The immortal master from Raindrop Village was lightning fast, but Mu Yu was faster. Mu Yu thrust his two swords through the immortal master’s shoulders. Critically injured and realising he was doomed to lose, the immortal master surrendered.

“It’s an issue of pride for an immortal master to kneel to a mortal for forgiveness. However, my sense of righteousness swayed him. He understood that, while I was just a mere mortal, I had the spirit of a sage. That was why he dropped to his knees.

“In was an unprecedented and historic moment, thus stirring the world’s views, representing the end of evil from those who stand above us. That kneel allowed us mortals to hold our heads high. Justice has always existed; justice will be served one day or another. That kneel will spark a new age for humanity…”

The kids didn’t realise the last part was totally fabricated. Of course, Village Chief Bu only went there because they were children.

The kids excitedly asked to touch Village Chief Bu’s wounds.

The elder inflated his chest. “You can look, but you can’t touch. There is an immortal’s qi inside right now. Be sure to learn from Mu Yu and become a good immortal master, all right?”

The children ran over to Mu Yu bombard him with their questions. Mu Yu understood lying wasn’t good. Village Chief Bu sent him eye signals from afar, begging him not to expose the lies. Mu Yu sighed. “Well, umm, something to that effect. By the way, these are the two swords.”

Mu Yu didn’t want to spout nothing but lies. That was why he summoned his flying sword and split it into two to dodge the topic.

“A celestial sword!”

“Wow, that’s sick!”

“Celestial sword! Celestial sword! Celestial sword!”

The kids were literally bouncing off walls, trying to touch Shadow Splitter Sword. The sword was their idea of evidence of the story’s authenticity.

Mu Yu whispered to Village Chief Bu, “Grandpa, you told them the hatchet story yesterday and told them to be honest!”

Village Chief Bu smugly replied, “Children need examples to follow. This will give them encouragement. I’m willing to carry the burden of the story and retell it until I’m cold in the ground.”

Mu Yu dryly chuckled, aware Village Chief Bu was the one who actually benefited most from the fib. The children were sure to believe him more henceforth. Nonetheless, seeing the proud smile on the elder’s lips, Mu Yu still thought of Waterstream Village as a village of tranquillity.