The Chase and the Battle Arts Hall

Huu~ huu~ huu~

Feiluo, having hidden herself behind a row of weapon racks, patted her small, flat chest and smoothed out her disheveled breathing.

“I never imagined I’d be chased one day, and by my own senior and junior sisters at that! This experience is truly one of a kind.”

“After all, Junior Sister Feiluo, your popularity among the new generation of the Blazing Spirit Sect is incredibly high; many senior and junior sisters are quite smitten with you.” Yiwu moved several rows of weapon racks, placing them behind the one Feiluo was hiding behind, allowing it to further obscure the line of sight.

Hearing Feiluo’s lament, she playfully teased her with a smile.

“Grumble~ I’d rather not have this kind of popularity.” Feiluo pouted her lips.

“Alright, mission accomplished!” Yiwu clapped her hands, as if dusting off non-existent grime, and proudly puffed out her chest, surveying the ‘wall of weapon racks’ that now completely concealed Feiluo.

“You’ve worked hard. Come, sit here for a while.” Feiluo patted the two cushions she had just retrieved from her spatial bracelet, placing one beneath herself and another beside her.

“Sigh~ Why isn’t class over yet?” This battle arts space would only dissipate once class ended or the teacher actively closed it, a measure specifically implemented to prevent disciples from secretly slipping out to skip lessons.

“Class will be dismissed very soon.” Yiwu settled onto a cushion and glanced at her small alarm clock. “By the way, Junior Sister Feiluo, I haven’t asked you yet: how did you manage to become so strong in just a few days?”

Yiwu put away her alarm clock and looked at Feiluo. “I’d already ordered a strawberry cake, preparing to console you.”

“Grumble~ I told you I was strong, Senior Sister Yiwu, yet you didn’t believe me!” Feiluo puffed out her cheeks.

“Well, you always used to slack off and fail your exams, so it was hard to believe, wasn’t it?” Yiwu scratched her head. “But now I believe it. Junior Sister Feiluo, you truly are very strong.”

“Of course!” Feiluo proudly puffed out her small chest. “As the saying goes, ‘when a scholar has been away for three days, one should look at him with new eyes.’ I am no longer the person I once was!”

“Hmm…” Observing Feiluo, so confident and proud, Yiwu mused, “Could it be that you underwent special training for the Saintess Selection?! Is that why you suddenly became so formidable?”

Feiluo: ?

Feiluo was somewhat speechless. Why did everyone assume she was going to participate in the Saintess Selection? What exactly had she done to make them think that way? Couldn’t she just change?

“I’m absolutely not participating in the Saintess Selection! And I certainly didn’t undergo special training for it!” Feiluo quickly shook her head, refuting Yiwu’s conjecture. “Besides, special training is exhausting. With the effort I’d put into that, I’d much rather spend it eating delicious food!”

“Then how did you suddenly become so formidable?” Yiwu asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Hmm, couldn’t it be that I was just hiding my true abilities before, and now I’m simply revealing my real strength?” Feiluo replied.

Upon hearing this, Yiwu couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. “Junior Sister Feiluo, only those who don’t know you would believe that. I certainly won’t.”

“Grumble~ Why not?”

“I know your personality,” Yiwu said with a smile. “If you were truly hiding your abilities, you definitely wouldn’t hide them during exams, especially since the Sect Master would punish you for failing.”

“Grumble~”

Indeed, Yiwu’s insight was remarkably sharp. Given Feiluo’s personality, if she were truly concealing her strength, she certainly wouldn’t do so during exams. Failing meant being punished by Moxi!

Recalling her last experience of Moxi tickling the soles of her feet, Feiluo shivered involuntarily.

“Moreover, if you really were hiding your abilities, what would be the reason?” Yiwu continued. “You don’t even want to participate in the Saintess Selection.”

“Speaking of which, Senior Sister Yiwu, why do so many of you believe I’ll participate in the Saintess Selection?” A sudden doubt surfaced in Feiluo’s mind.

“Because you’re the Sect Master’s disciple,” Yiwu replied, giving her a strange look, as if Feiluo’s question had taken her by surprise.

‘Because I’m Moxi’s disciple?’

‘What does that have to do with everyone assuming I’m going to participate in the Saintess Selection?’

Feiluo tilted her head, about to inquire further, when she heard the ‘dong dong dong’ of the class-ending chime.

The next moment, the battle arts space shattered like a mirror, then dissolved into the air like ice crystals.

“Mmm~” Yiwu stretched, then pulled Feiluo’s arm. “Time to bolt, Junior Sister Feiluo.”

Feeling the ‘wolf-like’ gazes of her surrounding senior and junior sisters, Feiluo’s body trembled. She quickly rose and swiftly fled the classroom with Yiwu.

“By the way, Junior Sister Feiluo, do you have any urgent matters later?” The two had already shaken off their ‘pursuers’ and were now walking back to their dwelling.

“Hmm… no.” Feiluo pondered for a moment, thinking only of the important matter of the dragon banquet she would be enjoying that evening. The dragon banquet would take quite some time to prepare, so if she went home now, Moxi surely wouldn’t have finished cooking yet.

“Then, would you like to come play at the Battle Arts Hall?” Yiwu suggested. “I’m going there later to see a friend.”

“Sure.” Feiluo nodded. It would serve as a way to pass the time while awaiting the dragon banquet.

Feiluo and Yiwu arrived at the location of the Battle Arts Hall. It was a complex of buildings nestled halfway up a mountain. One shouldn’t ask why it wasn’t built at the peak, for this particular mountain had been sliced clean in half, leaving only an enormous mid-mountain platform upon which the structures were erected.

The moment they reached the entrance of the Battle Arts Hall, Feiluo heard women’s delicate gasps and moans emanating from within.

Feiluo halted, gazing at the Battle Arts Hall’s doors with a mixture of shock and uncertainty.

‘What’s going on?’

‘Public indecency in broad daylight?’

‘Are the senior and junior sisters of the Battle Arts Hall really playing such… intense games?’

“Senior Sister Yiwu, perhaps we should wait…” Feiluo was about to call out to Yiwu, intending to ask her to wait until the sounds from within ceased before entering. However, Yiwu, seemingly accustomed to such sounds, paid them no mind and simply pushed open the door.

The moment the door swung open, those evocative sounds became even clearer. Feiluo instinctively followed the sounds with her gaze, and upon seeing their source, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Before her, a group of disciples, clad in close-fitting training attire, were fiercely punching and kicking practice dummies or wooden stakes, or else hacking and slashing with swords and sabers; all were practicing battle arts.

‘Thank goodness, it wasn’t public indecency.’ Feiluo patted her slightly startled heart and let out a breath.

“Oh, Yiwu, you’re here? Didn’t you say you weren’t training with us?” A familiar fellow disciple approached Yiwu and struck up a conversation.

“Of course, I came to see all of you looking breathless and exhausted from your special training for the Selection,” Yiwu said with a mischievous grin.

“Darn it, you came just to watch the show! Take this, a Bear-Shattering Punch!”

“Hey, slowpoke, slowpoke! You’re this slow and still want to compete in the Saintess Selection?!”

Ignoring Yiwu and her friend’s ‘merry banter’ over there, Feiluo wandered around the Battle Arts Hall on her own.

Along the way, Feiluo observed many senior and junior sisters practicing battle arts. Some were familiarizing themselves with and practicing moves against training dummies and wooden stakes, while others engaged in one-on-one combat with companions or strangers.

The beautiful spectacle created by their clashing bodies made Feiluo’s cheeks flush involuntarily. She quickly averted her gaze and moved elsewhere.

Just as she paused to watch two senior sisters spar with swords, their blades flashed sharply around them, leaving small, bleeding nicks on their faces or bodies. Their agile and elegant sword moves were continuously unleashed, drawing gasps of admiration from the onlookers nearby.

Just as even Feiluo couldn’t help but cheer for their splendid sparring, a slightly childish voice reached her ears.

“Huh? Feiluo?”

Immediately after, a petite figure rushed towards her.