Master once said that people are complex, and one should never judge solely by appearances. Sometimes, those who smile at you warmly may harbor ill intentions, while those who are less expressive might have warm hearts and become true friends.
Li Fei had memorized these words but hadn’t grasped their deeper meaning. She always thought that after years of traveling with her master, she had seen it all. In reality, she was still just a ten-year-old girl who didn’t quite understand human nature, which was why Lei Xiuyuan had been able to deceive her so thoroughly.
It was late into the night, and Li Fei was still tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep. She had ultimately refused Bai Gelin’s offer to share a room. Moving now would feel like admitting defeat. Whether it was Ji Tongzhou or Lei Xiuyuan, she had a clear conscience and was in the right. Why should she move? If anyone should move, it should be those two.
She hadn’t slept for two full days and nights. Her arms were so tired she could barely lift them, yet sleep eluded her. Her thoughts kept circling back to Lei Xiuyuan. Was it simply a cruel prank? Or had he harbored malicious intent from the beginning, intending to frame her? If Chang Yue hadn’t discovered his little trick, she would probably still be naively considering him a friend, trusting him without reservation.
Sighing, Li Fei sat up and poured herself a glass of water. Unable to sleep and with nothing to do, she knew Ri Yan wouldn’t wake for several more days. It was too late to find someone to talk to.
She sat idly on the edge of the bed, lost in thought. Time passed, and moonlight gradually crept up the window frame, spilling onto the bedside. Tonight, the moonlight was crystal clear, illuminating the room as bright as day. In the moonlight, she suddenly noticed what seemed to be a small cut on her wrist, probably from sword practice earlier. She paid it no mind, casually rubbing it, and to her surprise, a thin layer of skin came off under her fingertips.
Li Fei was startled. Just two days without sleep, and her skin was peeling?!
She quickly rolled up her sleeve, only to find her arm perfectly intact. The skin was smooth and firm, without a single scratch, let alone peeling. Was the skin she had just rubbed off an illusion?
Li Fei stood dumbfounded for a while, then hastily lit an oil lamp and searched the bed and floor thoroughly, but couldn’t find the skin she had rubbed off—could it have been her imagination? It seemed she should get to sleep soon; exhaustion was causing such frightening hallucinations!
The next day, she was awakened by a series of knocks on the door. Bai Gelin was shouting outside, “Li Fei! Aren’t you up yet?! You’re going to be late!”
Li Fei opened her eyes groggily, still not fully rested. She stumbled to open the door for Bai Gelin, rubbing her eyes and mumbling, “I’ll… I’ll be ready soon, just wait a moment.”
Bai Gelin hadn’t planned to enter the Thousand Fragrances Chamber, but as soon as the door opened, the morning breeze carried an extremely warm and fresh fragrance that was intoxicating. She couldn’t help but walk in, sniffing around curiously. “Li Fei, what incense did you burn? It smells so good!”
Li Fei was washing her face with cold water and replied, “Where would I get incensed? It must be the flower fragrance from outside the window.”
“It’s different from flower fragrance! Come to think of it, it doesn’t smell like incense either…”
Bai Gelin followed the scent to the bedside. The most intense fragrance seemed to be coming from Li Fei’s bedding. She grabbed the blanket and took a deep sniff, exclaiming, “You still say you didn’t use incense! It’s coming from your blanket!”
“That must be the incense the academy uses. Do I look like someone who would use fragrances?” Li Fei retorted.
Bai Gelin leaned in to sniff Li Fei’s neck, curious. “Huh, that’s strange. You don’t have that scent on you… How odd, what kind of fragrance is it that smells so good?”
“It’s just flower fragrance. This room is called the Thousand Fragrances Chamber; how could it not be fragrant to live up to its name?” Li Fei quickly changed into her disciple’s robes and furiously brushed her messy hair in front of the mirror.
Seeing Li Fei mercilessly yanking at her hair as if she had a grudge against it, Bai Gelin quickly snatched the brush away. “Let me do it! If you keep pulling like that, you’ll have no hair left.”
She skillfully braided Li Fei’s hair into a plait. Gazing at Li Fei’s face reflected in the bronze mirror, Bai Gelin stared for a while before suddenly exclaiming, “Did you get even paler? How do you whiten so quickly? And your hair is darker too! Li Fei, be honest, did you secretly use some beauty products? If you have something good and don’t share, you’ll be struck by lightning!”
Li Fei simply rolled her eyes at her. “Do I look like someone who would use such things?”
But she had become much paler… Bai Gelin stared at the face in the bronze mirror. It was as if some change had occurred overnight. Yesterday, she didn’t seem this fair. When Bai Gelin first met Li Fei, she was practically like a little lump of coal, dark as could be. After two months of recuperation in Huaguang County and on the Rainbow Deer Carriage, she had lightened somewhat but was still on the darker side. Yet today, looking at her, she was almost as fair as Bai Gelin herself. Dressed in white robes and a red skirt, her plain features now had a fresh, lively quality. If she went out now, no one would mistake her for a boy anymore.
“All done.” After braiding a thick plait, Bai Gelin stepped back to admire her work. Noticing Li Fei’s prominent eyebrows, she pushed her back down to sit. “Don’t move, I’m going to trim your eyebrows today.”
Would they still make it to the disciples’ courtyard before the Mao hour? Li Fei resigned herself to sitting stiffly, allowing Bai Gelin to scrape and trim her eyebrows with a small knife.
“Li Fei, let me tell you, that Zhao boy insisted I watch the moon with him last night. He’s so inconsiderate and domineering. I don’t think he has any real knowledge; he’s just a brute. I certainly don’t like that type of uncouth person. But that Wu boy who lives in the same courtyard seems quite refined. He speaks well too, and even gave me a flower. He’s just a bit short; I hope he grows taller in the future.”
As she trimmed Li Fei’s eyebrows, Bai Gelin muttered about her complex, winding, and rapidly changing love life. Yesterday, she seemed to think that Zhao Boy wasn’t bad, but today it had changed to Wu boy. Li Fei could only laugh dryly, “Gelin, you’re really… um… emotionally rich.”
“That’s not true,” Bai Gelin pouted. “I’ll only like one person. Once I truly fall for someone, it’ll be for life.”
But with you constantly changing like this, when will you truly fall for someone? Li Fei didn’t voice this thought. She felt that Bai Gelin’s feelings for both the Zhao and Wu boys couldn’t be called “liking.” She seemed to be eagerly searching and selecting, as if in a rush to find someone to like. Li Fei couldn’t quite understand this mindset, but she wouldn’t comment on it.
“Hmm, your eyebrows have a good natural shape. We don’t need to trim them too thin; just removing the stray hairs will do. Take a look.”
Bai Gelin pushed the bronze mirror in front of her. Li Fei glanced briefly; the mirror still showed that familiar face with unremarkable features, but she did seem much fairer. With her eyebrows groomed, her whole face looked cleaner and much prettier than before.
“You’re amazing,” she praised. It was the first time she had seen herself looking so much like a girl.
“Of course!” Bai Gelin put away the small knife proudly. “When I used to perform with my sister, I was the one who did our makeup and hairstyles!”
Suddenly, Ye Xie’s voice came from outside the window: “You two, it’s almost the Mao hour. Are you planning to be late and pay the fine?”
“Ye Xie is here!” Bai Gelin cheerfully pulled Li Fei out the door, making a face at him. “We’re coming, aren’t we? Look at Li Fei, isn’t she much prettier now?”
Ye Xie smiled wryly. “You’re always up to mischief. Let’s hurry; the teacher will be here soon.”
Bai Gelin walked alongside him, chatting and laughing all the way. This kind of smile, this voice, this attitude—she never showed it to any other boy, only to Ye Xie. Although Li Fei wasn’t yet at an age to fully appreciate aesthetics, she still felt that Bai Gelin was most beautiful when she was with Ye Xie.
Perhaps it was because they were as close as family… Li Fei sighed, thinking of her master.
Outside the disciples’ quarters, most of the children had already arrived. Now that they had learned to ride swords, today would likely mark the beginning of formal cultivation. Everyone was excited and full of anticipation. The cultivation course syllabus mentioned that the first step of formal cultivation was “crucible cultivation.” What did that mean? Would they be confined in a crucible to circulate their internal energy? Wouldn’t they suffocate?
As they were all lost in their imaginations, the teacher arrived. Today, Hu Jiaping was dressed properly in white robes, his hair neatly tied. From head to toe, he finally had some semblance of an elite disciple from an immortal sect. It seemed that with the start of formal cultivation, this carefree teacher was finally going to show some teacherly demeanor.
“Today, we begin crucible cultivation in groups of three,” Hu Jiaping said, pulling out a stack of papers and flipping through them. For once, he spoke seriously, “Originally, I wanted to group you according to your potential and elemental affinities, but that would be too troublesome, and the teacher who tests elemental affinities hasn’t arrived at the academy yet… Conveniently, you’re currently living three to a courtyard, and eighteen people divide perfectly into six groups, so we’ll go with that. Come on, those living in the same courtyard, stand together in a group, quickly.”
Grouping according to living arrangements… Li Fei’s heart sank immediately. Did this mean she would be in a group with Ji Tongzhou and Lei Xiuyuan? This was surely the worst possible group… She instinctively looked back, her first glance falling on Ji Tongzhou’s face, still sickly green despite being covered in bandages. Lei Xiuyuan stood far in the back, his expression unclear.
“Teacher!” Ji Tongzhou suddenly interrupted Hu Jiaping loudly. “I object to this grouping method!”
Hu Jiaping didn’t even look up, saying flatly, “Objection denied. Either join your group or leave. Your choice.”
Ji Tongzhou had no choice but to shut up. He glared hatefully at Li Fei, then at Lei Xiuyuan, snorted, and stood in place with his arms crossed, waiting for them to come over.
“You three, what’s the hold-up?” Hu Jiaping noticed that while everyone else had grouped up in threes, Li Fei’s group was still standing separately, not moving. He seemed to be in a bad mood today and frowned, “If you don’t get in formation now, you can all leave!”
Li Fei had no choice but to shuffle a few steps towards Ji Tongzhou, standing far apart from him but technically together. Lei Xiuyuan, on the other hand, came over quite generously. Like Ji Tongzhou, his face was covered in bandages, making his expression unreadable.
“Although each of you has excellent aptitude and deep elemental roots, your so-called strength is only relative to ordinary mortals. Any random disciple from an immortal sect would be stronger than you. The root cause isn’t that their aptitude is better than yours, but that your spiritual energy capacity is insufficient. Your internal crucibles have not yet been developed,” Hu Jiaping continued.
He went on, “Immortals draw celestial and earthly spiritual energy into their bodies, circulating their internal energy. It’s as if there’s a crucible inside them. The larger the crucible, the more spiritual energy they can draw in. If your current crucibles are the size of a teacup, then mine is… hmm, about the size of that island.”
He pointed to the largest floating island to the west. The children immediately let out surprised gasps. He smiled and continued, “And for those truly earth-shattering, formidable immortals, their crucibles would be several times larger than this entire academy.”
Larger than the academy! While their crucibles were only the size of teacups… The children fell into an awed silence.
“Knowing the gap gives you motivation,” Hu Jiaping said. Suddenly, a small white cloud formed under his feet, lifting him gently into the air. “Follow me. We’re going to the Western arena now. Formal cultivation begins.”
The western island was the largest of the five floating islands. Various buildings crisscrossed its surface, with arenas in all four directions. Hu Jiaping led them towards the smallest one. The arena was paved with large white bricks in a square shape. On the eastern side, a line of several dozen stone puppets stood, about half the height of a person. The puppets were pitted and scarred, with several large cracks, presumably damaged by previous academy disciples during their training.
Hu Jiaping found a corner and with a sweep of his long sleeve, five small bamboo baskets appeared on the ground. The baskets seemed to contain thick stacks of talismans. These talismans were said to be quite troublesome to make, but in the academy, they were treated like worthless paper, free for the taking.
“Now, in groups of three, each person come up and take one hundred talismans each of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.”
The bamboo baskets floated up lightly, turning around to reveal that each basket was indeed labeled with one of the five elements.
Finally, it felt like real cultivation was beginning! The children excitedly came forward, each taking five thick stacks of talismans. What next? Where was the crucible?
Seeing that the talismans had been distributed, Hu Jiaping pointed to the row of puppets on the eastern side of the arena and said calmly, “In groups of three, choose one puppet. By nightfall today, you must use up all five hundred talismans, not one can be left. For each talisman left unused, that’s one day you’re not allowed to eat at the northern dining hall.”
Five hundred! Everyone exclaimed in surprise, suddenly understanding the meaning of “crucible cultivation” he had mentioned. It wasn’t an external crucible, but the invisible one within their bodies. Using up five hundred talismans would put an enormous strain on their internal meridians. Whether they could successfully circulate their internal energy the next day was questionable. This kind of cultivation was undoubtedly cruel.
On the fourth day at Zhufeng Academy, formal cultivation began, and the children finally experienced for the first time the academy’s rigor and brutality.