Don't Cause Trouble Chapter 70: Broken Sword

Whether it was his face or his tall figure, both were enough to captivate the mind. No wonder Xiyu covered her nose and fled in panic. But Senior Sister was already used to it.

"You’ve been asleep for days. It’s time to get up," Ye Su said calmly to You Fushi inside the room.

You Fushi barely listened to this mortal’s words, slowly standing up. Every move he made was lazy and unhurried.

Yi Xuan’s gaze passed over You Fushi and finally landed on Ye Su’s face. She didn’t seem even the slightest bit annoyed, as if it were completely normal for him not to reply.

In Qianji Sect, Yi Xuan had never once slept in. He was competitive and hated to lose, often pushing himself to train longer than Ye Su.

He never imagined one day there would be a new Little Junior Brother—not only did he not train, but he also slept in so shamelessly. And yet, Senior Sister allowed it without complaint.

"Since he’s a disciple of Qianji Sect, he should be getting up early to train," Yi Xuan said seriously to Ye Su. "Senior Sister, this is what you used to say."

Ye Su replied, "His… cultivation method is different from normal."

What expectations could she have for a demon?

At that moment, You Fushi had already walked over. His robe hung loosely around him. He didn’t even glance at Yi Xuan, acting as if he hadn’t heard a word of the conversation at the door earlier.

He walked straight up to Ye Su and reached out his pale, slender hand—he didn’t even need to say anything.

Senior Sister immediately took out a handful of spirit stones and stuffed them into Little Junior Brother’s hand. At the same time, she reached up to pull his slipping robe back over his shoulder.

—It was too unsightly otherwise.

Yi Xuan silently watched every move between the two of them, unable to ignore the rising irritation in his chest. The atmosphere between them seemed to allow no one else in.

So it was possible to gain Ye Su’s full attention without even training.

"This is for you," Ye Su said, handing Yi Xuan a qiankun bag of 5,000 top-grade spirit stones. "Keep it for your needs."

Yi Xuan snapped out of it, startled by the qiankun bag of spirit stones in front of him. After a moment, he turned his head toward the courtyard.

"I don’t need it."

"Even though there’s abundant spiritual energy here, things still cost money. I happened to earn some spirit stones recently," Ye Su said. "Before I came, I asked around. Sword Sect allows disciples to take on tasks to earn spirit stones, but for now you should focus on training and getting your pass token."

Five thousand top-grade spirit stones wasn’t a small amount. Every time she gave You Fushi spirit stones, it was usually just ten, and at most, a hundred. But considering Yi Xuan was now under Master Xin Shenzi’s tutelage, his expenses were higher than theirs, so she gave him more.

"I forgot about it the past few days and dragged it out until now," Ye Su said, tossing the qiankun bag into Yi Xuan’s arms. "Take it."

Yi Xuan almost said no, but when his gaze swept over You Fushi, he ended up keeping the qiankun bag. He even took a few extra glances at the spirit stones in You Fushi’s hand.

It was just a few stones, after all.

"Disciple!" Xin Shenzi suddenly appeared out of nowhere and complained, "You won’t accept spirit stones from your Second Master, but you’ll take them from your Senior Sister? Why the double standard?"

Just as Ye Su had expected, as a personal disciple of First Peak, Yi Xuan did have necessary expenses. Xin Shenzi had tried several times to give him spirit stones, but he never accepted them, choosing instead to earn spirit stones by doing tasks around Sword Sect.

Xin Shenzi pulled out several qiankun bags of spirit stones from his qiankun bag and shoved them all at Yi Xuan. "You must take mine today."

Yi Xuan: "…"

Xin Shenzi was clearly unwilling to back down. "It’s one thing to call me Second Master, but why can’t I even give my own disciple a little something? Now everyone in Sword Sect thinks I’m mistreating you."

"…Second Master." Yi Xuan looked at Xin Shenzi with clear frustration.

Xin Shenzi was always flamboyant in his actions, constantly dragging Yi Xuan around the sect to make a show of things. It took real effort for Yi Xuan to overcome his discomfort.

Ye Su glanced at Yi Xuan, a glint of interest in her eyes. In less than a year, he was finally starting to show emotion that was a good sign.

Yi Xuan was too rigid, too stubborn, and tended to keep all his emotions bottled up. It made him prone to overthinking and getting stuck in his own head.

Now, she hoped Xin Shenzi might help him loosen up.

"In any case, my disciple won’t go without good things. Keep them all," Xin Shenzi said, clapping Yi Xuan on the shoulder. "Xu Chengyu and the others are back too. Spend this time sparring with them—I’ve already made the arrangements."

The four from Qianji Sect had grown up in a sect with no spirit veins, so their cultivation levels had always been suppressed. But now, in the spiritual energy-rich Sword Sect, they were like seedlings watered for the first time, growing rapidly.

However, despite their progress, they still lacked experience.

Not long ago, Yi Xuan had challenged disciples across the sect, but the most skilled like Xu Chengyu had been away at the time.

"I’ll go today," Yi Xuan said, his gaze flicking briefly to You Fushi. "Senior Sister, you’re welcome to come and watch."

She could see how much he had improved and compare that with how utterly useless the new Little Junior Brother was.

Ye Su naturally agreed. As for the Little Junior Brother being clearly targeted, he didn’t notice the tension at all. In fact, he even looked a little sleepy.

……

In the afternoon, a large section of the Sword Sect’s sword training grounds was cleared out. In the center stood Xu Chengyu and Yi Xuan, while a crowd had gathered around to watch.

"Senior Brother, get him!"

"Senior Brother will definitely win!"

Shouts like these kept coming from the crowd.

Normally, the Sword Sect had a pretty harmonious atmosphere and wasn’t that exclusionary. So when Ye Su heard the unified cheering, she couldn’t help but frown.

"Senior Sister," Xia Er whispered, "while you were away, Fifth Senior Brother challenged disciples from every peak of Sword Sect."

"For every match he won, his master Xin Shenzi would go around bragging about it. Everyone’s holding in their frustration."

This was probably Xin Shenzi’s first time taking a disciple, and he never missed a single match Yi Xuan participated in. After each one, he insisted on giving a loud, detailed commentary.

The disciples of Sword Sect, having been beaten by someone who had only recently started sword training, and then critiqued by that person’s master, naturally felt stifled.

Ye Su’s brows relaxed slightly as she turned to look at the two on the platform.

Xu Chengyu wore a sky-blue "Sword Shadow" robe and held his sword hilt with a composed and heroic air, like a clear and shining day.

Yi Xuan, in contrast, wore a long black robe, with the words "Qianji Sect" simply embroidered on the front and back. His build was a bit lean, but he stood tall and steady at the center of the stage like a sword about to be unsheathed.

"Junior Brother Yi, please," Xu Chengyu said, giving a slight bow with his hands.

As soon as he finished speaking, the two suddenly drew their swords, and the presence of sword intent filled the field.

Sword intent flows from the heart; it can both attack and defend.

In the beginning, Yi Xuan couldn’t even form sword intent. His mind was too scattered, and he was stuck in his own world. Even with Xin Shenzi’s guidance, his sword intent never quite hit the mark.

From Xin Shenzi’s perspective, Yi Xuan’s sword intent lacked breadth and grace, it even leaned toward being cold and oppressive. But he liked the stubborn determination and hunger for improvement that Yi Xuan showed when facing life-and-death situations.

So he trained him repeatedly with the sword and had him spar with disciples from other peaks.

No one knew exactly when it happened, but Yi Xuan’s sword intent began to change.

Cold and intimidating were still the first impressions of it. But upon closer inspection, there was a subtle, almost imperceptible trace of vitality buried within it.

It was faint, but there.

Xin Shenzi crossed his arms and nodded inwardly, this was what a young person’s sword intent should feel like.

He then glanced at Xu Chengyu’s defense, which also seemed to have changed considerably from before.

When sharp and resolute, it seemed capable of cutting through anything. But when blocking Yi Xuan’s moves, it transformed into something steady and all-encompassing.

Xin Shenzi lowered his arms, thoughtful, and glanced over at Ye Su.

Having traveled together, Xu Chengyu must’ve gained quite a lot.

To be able to improve so much in terms of sword intent—so steady and firm—that kind of determination is truly rare.

On the stage, the two had already clashed again. Sparks flew as their swords met. Their sword techniques were nearly identical, but one was more skilled, the other bold and reckless.

Xin Shenzi watched for a while. Even though Xu Chengyu was still only at the late Golden Core stage, his sword intent alone was enough to win. Not to mention, he had now reached the early Nascent Soul stage.

"Zhou Yun, after three rounds, go up and spar with my disciple," he ordered.

"Oh," Zhou Yun responded after hearing Elder Xin’s instruction.

"Then Ma Congqiu, you’ll go up after that," Xin Shenzi added.

"A rotating battle like that doesn’t seem very fair…" Ma Congqiu hesitated.

Xin Shenzi looked at him. "You’re not going up?"

"I’ll go! I’ll go!" Ma Congqiu immediately raised his hand, afraid that if he delayed, Elder Xin would hold a grudge.

On stage, Xu Chengyu’s sword moved like flowing water. When it met Yi Xuan’s cold and aggressive sword intent, it either deflected or dissolved it.

Yi Xuan never gave up. He repeated his sword strikes again and again, but Xu Chengyu eventually found an opening and countered with a single thrust.

Clang—

Yi Xuan’s hand went numb from the impact, and he could no longer move. In the next moment, Xu Chengyu’s sword tip was already at his throat.

The crowd fell completely silent.

After a moment, Xu Chengyu lowered his sword, cupped his hands with a smile, and said, "Junior Brother Yi, your sword techniques still need some refinement."

Yi Xuan lowered his eyes to the ground. He hated losing. Hated failing. Especially with the people from Qianji Sect watching.

He hadn’t even managed to block more than one of Xu Chengyu’s attacks.

Out of the corner of his eye, Yi Xuan glanced toward Ye Su’s direction. Behind her, Senior Brother Ming and the others raised their thumbs in support.

What was there to praise? He had lost.

Still, even though that was what he thought, the frustration that had been piling up inside him quietly melted away.

"Next," Xin Shenzi signaled for Zhou Yun to take the stage.

After Xu Chengyu stepped down, Xin Shenzi looked at him and said, "That trip you took really helped. You’ve made a lot of progress."

"You flatter me, Elder Xin," Xu Chengyu smiled. "Junior Brother Yi has been improving quickly too."

"Of course my disciple is progressing fast," Xin Shenzi said proudly, then added, "Believe it or not, it won’t be long before he catches up to you."

"I believe it," Xu Chengyu replied, then turned to watch the stage from beside Ye Su.

Xin Shenzi looked at Ye Su. "I heard you all encountered Tu Shi in the Secret Realm of Desolate City?"

"You know Tu Shi?" Ye Su turned and asked.

"I met him a few times in the past," Xin Shenzi said with a hint of sorrow in his eyes. "Sometimes I wish I never heard what happened to him. After two hundred years, he still ended up staying behind in the Secret Realm."

"I heard Sect Master Zhou already sent someone to inform the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect," Ye Su asked, "Have they responded?"

Although Xu Chengyu had reported Tu Shi’s situation to the sect, he hadn’t mentioned the notebook. Since Senior Tu never explicitly said he wanted it returned to the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect, Xu Chengyu felt it was better for Ye Su to handle it.

"What kind of reaction could they have?" Xin Shenzi snorted. "Tu Shi didn’t come back alive. They’re already preparing to choose a new Buddha’s Successor."

Ye Su’s fingertips brushed against her qiankun bag. Inside, she still carried the notebook with Senior Tu’s formation diagrams.

"Does Senior Tu Shi have any family?" Ye Su asked.

Xin Shenzi’s gaze drifted toward the two on stage as he casually replied, "No. Tu Shi was born a refugee. He joined the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect by accident, just trying to get enough to eat."

The Ten Thousand Buddha Sect…

Ye Su was now holding onto two important items: one was the staff from before the Godfall Era, the other was the formation diagram notebook left by Senior Tu Shi.

She had to think carefully about how to handle both.

At that moment, a gasp spread through the crowd—Zhou Yun had just broken Yi Xuan’s sword.