Chapter 26: Accidentally Wounding the Master

After Tanlang’s poisonous wounds had healed, three people would stay behind each day after completing their routine practice. One was the studious Dongfang Mo, another was me, still serving my punishment, and the third was our master.

Dongfang Mo always had countless questions for our master, probing into the most profound matters, and master would patiently and meticulously explain everything. He treated Dongfang Mo with the kindness of a loving father.

Meanwhile, I was left to endure my punishment alone, practicing the most basic spells... He said my defensive barriers were too weak and ordered me to cast them ten thousand times... ten thousand times...

Such was the difference between favoritism and neglect...

Even with these grueling practices, starting so late meant I was still far behind my senior brothers.

While they practiced sword-flying, I was working on barriers and trying to control twigs.

While they studied advanced attack spells, I was still stuck on barriers and twigs.

While they learned to wield various magical artifacts, I remained with barriers and twigs.

He never directly told me I was wrong, nor did he ever call me dull. He always remained cool and aloof—never giving much praise when I succeeded, and when I failed, a simple, “It’s all right.”

But the more indifferent his manner, the more ashamed I felt, convinced he found me so hopeless he could barely bring himself to pay me any mind.

My brothers teased me, saying that since I’d come to the Jade Purity Realm, not only had Lady Lu Xue’s memorial mound been flattened, but even the trees had suffered, and our thirteenth brother no longer had to chop firewood…

Honestly, I felt my only real contribution in the Jade Purity Realm was cooking and eating.

That day, we finally began learning the archery I dreaded most. Master raised his hand, and an ancient, plain bow flew into his grasp. Though it looked unremarkable, it seemed to come alive in his hands, radiating a brilliant, awe-inspiring light, carrying the momentum to chase the sun and moon.

“Little brother, this is the Sun-shooting Bow—master’s own bow. Divine artifacts respond to their master’s will,” explained Eleventh Brother, acting as our teaching assistant.

“Oh, I haven’t seen many real divine weapons… but I’ve seen plenty of those ‘Chaos Artifacts’ at the market—buy one, get one free for a silver leaf,” I joked with Eleventh Brother.

“Where could you find such cheap trinkets? Can any of them pickle vegetables? Fourteenth said he wanted to make some pickled snow greens for master to whet his appetite. Master has been busy in the alchemical chamber lately—soon it’ll be another spell of days when he neither eats nor drinks,” whispered Thirteenth Brother, who was in charge of supplies.

“There’s something called the ‘Limitless Cauldron’—it can cook porridge, so I suppose it could pickle vegetables too,” I whispered back.

“Thirteen! You keep bringing in these cheap things—I can’t even cook with them! How could master possibly like them?” Fourteenth Brother, who managed the kitchen, complained in hushed tones.

“Why does master lose his appetite?” I asked, curious.

“It’s Lady’s birthday soon. Master finds it hard to bear—he’s lonely, cold…” Eleventh Brother replied.

“Cold?”

“Cold in his heart. Master doesn’t even have a place to hold the ritual anymore... He promised Lady Lu Xue he would take on new disciples in her stead, and every year on her birthday, he would take everyone to pay respects. Who would have thought you’d split open her grave. You cried so terribly back then, none of us dared tell you the truth,” said Eleventh Brother.

I fell silent. So that day had been Lady Lu Xue’s birthday. I had narrowly escaped death, her grave shielding me from lightning. How much must master hate me...

“Fei’er!” Master called.

“Yes!” I straightened at once at his summons.

“What did I just say?” he asked.

“Uh?” I was stunned. I’d just been gossiping with my brothers about chaos artifacts, limitlessness cauldrons, pickling vegetables, and Lady’s birthday... I hadn’t heard a single word master had said.

“Watch my movements closely, and remember the essentials.”

“Yes…” I responded quickly.

Master moved with composed grace, his gaze cold and piercing. He picked up the bow and nocked an arrow, and though he had yet to let fly, his presence felt as thunderous as a lightning bolt.

The arrow flashed like lightning and struck the bullseye.

Eleventh and Fifteenth Brothers broke down the movements, and one by one, the new disciples took turns practicing.

Dongfang Mo and Brother Kunpeng both hit the target. Brother Shijun, with his great strength, insisted on using the heaviest bows, but his grasp of the technique was slower—his first few arrows missed the mark entirely, shattering stones behind the target instead. Master gave him individual guidance. At this rate, Shijun would flatten all the mountains of the Jade Purity Realm.

As for me… I pulled with my hands, braced with my arms, pushed with my feet—yet I couldn’t even draw the bowstring. Struggling with a heavy bow, I was red-faced and sweating by the time it was my turn.

“Fei’er, I said you only need to remember the method and the essentials, no need to try shooting,” master said to me.

“Oh.” Embarrassed, I put down the bow and stepped aside to watch.

Master continued instructing the others. I watched for a while, committing the essentials to memory, then sat down on a stone bench, pouting and tugging idly at my sleeve.

Seeing my glum mood, Eleventh Brother whispered in my ear, “Little brother, you should really eat better. You can’t live on fruit and porridge forever—you don’t even have the strength to truss a chicken. If it comes to it, I have a way; once you’re stronger, we can go hunting together.”

Listlessly, I replied, “Eleventh Brother, my true form isn’t even as big as a chicken—if I hadn’t gained a human shape through cultivation, I probably wouldn’t even be able to truss one. If you have a good method, just use it.”

“Don’t listen to Eleventh Brother,” Fifteenth Brother warned me quietly. “His method will give you nosebleeds.”

“Why?” I asked.

“It’s too fiery—it’ll upset your balance.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Eleventh Brother retorted. “Have you tried it? Some nourishing food therapy would be good for little brother.”

“Oh, even if I ate enough to spit blood, it wouldn’t help. Those bows are as thick as my arms—I can’t budge them, let alone practice archery. If we went hunting, I’d probably be the one getting hunted.” I glanced at the heavy divine bows on the rack and sighed.

Eleventh Brother brightened. “Little brother, how about this—every day you carry dung, water the fields, and clean the toilets. After a thousand years, you’ll be able to lift any of these bows.”

I stared and, then crestfallen, said, “If master sends me, I’ll go.” I thought, punish me if you must—even if I have to haul dung and scrub toilets, I can’t complain. After all, I’m so useless, yet I chose such a lofty master.

Master was explaining how to hit moving targets at the training ground nearby. Brother Baize brought over the “moving target” for practice, glancing at me with a contemptuous, wary look, as if guarding against a thief.

Baize was master’s most trusted aide, following him for sixty thousand years with unwavering loyalty. He was always stern and exacting. He, too, was a divine beast whom master had taken in—an orphan of war, left only with his younger sister Bairu. Master had rescued the siblings, and they had followed him ever since. Later, Bairu was driven mad by the plotting of Princess Changyang, who was envious of Lady Lu Xue, and she spent years bedridden. When peace returned, Baize brought Bairu home to recover.

Master had wanted to take Baize as his first disciple, but Baize always said he owed master—he’d been entrusted with Lady Lu Xue’s safety and failed her, so he refused to become a formal disciple, insisting on remaining master’s attendant for life. Master had invited Baize to bring his sister to the Jade Purity Realm for her health, but Baize declined, saying the realm wasn’t convenient for women and he didn’t wish to trouble master.

Master let things be.

Though Baize refused to be a disciple, his status in the Jade Purity Realm was second only to master himself. When master was away, Baize ran all affairs, so everyone called him “Senior Brother” and treated him as both eldest brother and half a master.

Since master had been forced to take me as a disciple, Baize resented me on his behalf, and I had also offended the Lady Lu Xue he still deeply mourned. So his gaze was always harsher, more disdainful toward me than any other brother’s—sometimes even more so than master’s.

While everyone practiced with fiery enthusiasm, I was left cold and idle on the sidelines. Alone, I wandered to the bow rack, running my hands over the bows—each touch making my heart itch more and more.

I was ordinary, insignificant, yet I, too, longed for a chance to strive.

So I searched the rack for the lightest, weakest divine bow and managed to lift it with effort. Drawing an arrow, I nocked it as master had taught, gritted my teeth and used all my strength—rocking left and right—to pull the string and aim at the stationary target ahead.

“Yu Fei! What do you think you’re doing? Put that down!” Baize’s harsh voice rang out behind me.

“Ah!” Startled, I was jolted by the bow’s recoil, my arm flung out, and I loosed my grip—the arrow shot off to the side, flying straight toward master, who was explaining something to Brother Shijun!

“Master! Look out!” I jumped up in fright and shouted.

Master looked at me—just as the arrow struck him squarely in the chest!