The senior disciple guarding the second checkpoint had been waiting for them early, smiling and congratulating them before instructing them to cross the Five Elements Bridge.

The bridge was extremely dangerous, with elements appearing that opposed the disciples’ attributes. For example, a water-attribute disciple crossing the Five Elements Bridge would constantly face fireballs. Those with cultivation talent would likely have their innate abilities awakened under such conditions, taking their first step on the path of immortality and passing the test with ease.

The Second Prince had a metal attribute. Metal overcomes wood, and his basic magic skills were decent. He quickly cut through the wooden vines on the bridge.

After he crossed triumphantly, the children gained confidence and tried one by one.

If they couldn’t awaken their talents, they could still cross by enduring the fear and pain with sufficient determination. Yan Chaosheng belonged to the latter category. With the experience from the first test, even though it hurt, the children were unwilling to give up.

As a result, by the third checkpoint, only thirty-some people remained.

Within the ranks appeared a young girl no one had noticed before. Liu Shuang crossed the Five Elements Bridge lightly, disguised as one of the testing children. She joined the middle of the group, nodding quietly to her senior sister.

The senior sister smiled and said, “For the final test, those who find the Purple Spirit Fruit may enter the Azure Feather Pavilion. There are only twenty fruits. Begin!”

Liu Shuang’s appearance naturally attracted the children’s attention. She was beautiful and hadn’t deliberately concealed her appearance. Everyone couldn’t help wondering if there had been such a person among the children before—how had they not noticed her?

However, with only twenty fruits available, their attention was diverted.

Vitality flourished everywhere, with green grass like a carpet. The Second Prince’s eyes gleamed: “Who wants to join this prince?”

Everyone’s eyes lit up. With so many people and so few fruits, forming alliances was the best strategy. Many who had flattered him before naturally went to his side immediately.

A few others who had witnessed him stepping on others to climb the tree were unwilling to join him and formed their team.

Yan Chaosheng’s gaze fell on Liu Shuang. He didn’t look long and didn’t join any group.

The Second Prince stared at Liu Shuang. Although he was just a half-grown child, what half-grown boy doesn’t like a pretty girl?

He immediately declared that if Liu Shuang joined them, he would share a fruit with her if they found any.

Liu Shuang thought seriously. Her task was to create obstacles for them. Since the Second Prince was willing to increase the difficulty, she naturally wouldn’t refuse. As for the other team, her senior sister would follow them. She accepted the Second Prince’s invitation.

After walking a few steps, the Second Prince turned back impatiently: “Stinking boy, why are you following us?”

Their group consisted either of the children of high officials or those with a cultivation foundation. The only one who didn’t fit their style was Liu Shuang, the fresh-faced girl. But her beauty was like a budding flower in the spring-like painting, and these sons of nobility couldn’t outshine her colors.

Hearing this, Liu Shuang also curiously looked at the person silently trailing behind.

His eyes showed not a ripple of emotion. He pressed his lips together, neither speaking nor making a sound, glancing at her as he passed the crowd.

Someone said, “Your Highness, from the beginning, no one has seen him speak. Lin Yao and the others say they’ve tested him—this boy is deaf and mute.”

“So he’s an idiot. I was wondering why he never reacted to anything.”

The Second Prince lifted his chin, ordering people to drive Yan Chaosheng away. However, although Yan Chaosheng hadn’t displayed any Five Elements magic, his physical skills were excellent. Several children combined were no match for him.

The Second Prince’s face darkened.

“Your Highness, forget about him. What if others get to the Spirit Fruits first?”

Only then did the Second Prince let go of the idea, hurrying to find the fruits. The fruits were in a cave guarded by a sleeping spirit beast.

The spirit beast could spew scorching magma. When everyone found this place, Liu Shuang quietly woke it up.

The children fled in chaos, screaming. After tremendous effort and cooperation, they barely managed to restrain the spirit beast.

Meanwhile, the Second Prince and several cunning children, seeing the situation, abandoned the others and rushed straight into the cave to retrieve the fruits.

Liu Shuang, who had been helping restrain the spirit beast, became angry at this. Although these children had good talent, their hearts were too wicked.

The children realized they had been tricked and were furious.

At this moment, Yan Chaosheng appeared. He moved with extraordinary speed, rolling on the ground and stabbing the spirit beast to death with his dagger. He emerged from the beast’s belly, wordlessly entering the cave.

Soon, he came out alone.

The Second Prince and others were chasing behind, cursing. Yan Chaosheng, with a face full of injuries and lingering ferocity, walked straight to Liu Shuang, looked at her, his lips pressed tightly together, and extended his hand to her.

Liu Shuang was startled. In his palm was a bright red Spirit Fruit.

“Is this for me?” she asked softly.

He stared at her lips, as if trying to discern something. After a long while, he nodded silently. Seeing she didn’t take it, he thought she disdained his offering, and his eyes darkened.

Liu Shuang quickly took it then, saying, “Thank you.”

Looking at his behavior, she guessed the children were right—he seemed truly unable to hear or speak.

Yan Chaosheng lowered his gaze, not daring to look at her anymore. Having given Liu Shuang the fruit, he took the remaining handful from his bosom and tossed them into the air. Instantly, the group of half-grown children fought desperately for them, with no one paying him any further attention.

Many years later, when Liu Shuang recalled this scene of Yan Chaosheng entering the sect, she still thought him brave and clever. Even though he was deaf and mute then, fierce and solitary.

She curved her eyes, unable to help smiling.

Before long, Yan Chaosheng was accepted into the Azure Feather Sect.

Looking at that miniature version of the Demon Lord’s face, Shao You had a fellow disciple take Yan Chaosheng under his wing to teach and care for him properly.

This fellow disciple had once been a standout at Kun Lun, righteous. Teaching a young man was not a difficult task.

Learning of the events before the test, Shao You secretly thought Ji Xianghan and her husband unreliable. They had sent Yan Chaosheng, but forgotten he had a mortal body, not prepared food for the young man. Yan Chaosheng couldn’t hunt for himself either, as there were rules against killing at the foot of the Azure Feather Sect mountain. By the time he participated in the test, he had been hungry for several days.

With new disciples, Liu Shuang was no longer the youngest sister. She was responsible for teaching meditation techniques to the new disciples in the sect.

Meditation classes were the most boring. The senior brothers and sisters relied on the little sister’s patience to manage these classes. Meditation required a quiet mind and wasn’t as interesting or useful as cultivation practice, so disciples didn’t like studying it.

When Liu Shuang first taught meditation, the disciples attended nervously. Later, knowing Liu Shuang’s good temper and that she wouldn’t report them, they stopped coming.

Only Yan Chaosheng arrived at Chen hour each time, never absent. Each time, his gaze was fixed on her, wordless but completely focused.

She somehow didn’t dare meet his gaze.

Liu Shuang had thought Yan Chaosheng was a good disciple who loved learning, but unexpectedly, while passing by Morning Dew Hall one day, she overheard disciples discussing:

“What’s with that Yan Chaosheng? Wasn’t he supposed to have mixed spiritual roots? How is he cultivating faster than Xiao Lan?”

Xiao Lan was the Second Prince.

His aren’t mixed spiritual roots. My master says they’re the rare complete spiritual roots—he can use every type of technique.”

“A genius?”

“Indeed. Last month in a competition, he even defeated our senior brother.”

The disciples didn’t quite believe it: “Senior brother has cultivated for over thirty years. If he defeated his senior brother so quickly, why does he still attend meditation classes?”

Those were basic courses for disciples. It was known that Yan Chaosheng didn’t even attend basic sword technique classes anymore.

After hearing their words, Liu Shuang learned how formidable Yan Chaosheng was. She couldn’t help feeling awkward. If he already knew everything, why did he still come?

So, after the next meditation class ended, she stopped Yan Chaosheng.

He followed her into the inner hall, silent the whole way, not letting his eyes wander, very proper.

She said, “You’re already learning very well. You don’t need to come anymore.”

He recognized what she said, his lips paling, but he didn’t say much.

Liu Shuang had intended to he could learn more advanced techniques without wasting time on basic meditation classes. Seeing his silent, low-pressure demeanor, she had a flash of insight and quickly waved her hands: “I’m not driving you away. It’s just that I have nothing more to teach you. You’ve already learned the Qi-gathering technique three times.”

He lowered his head and naturally didn’t hear her words, turning to leave.

She blinked, picking up a small notebook of her own and chasing after him. Since he couldn’t hear, Liu Shuang could only tug at the hem of his robe to stop him.

He raised his head, his eyes somewhat cold and distant, appearing quite aloof, yet he didn’t pull away from her.

Liu Shuang said, “This is a small notebook I used when cultivating before. I’m giving it to you—it’s much more useful than meditation techniques.”

He took the notebook and belatedly understood her meaning. His lips twitched, and the gloom in his eyes dispersed.

Yan Chaosheng’s gaze moved downward, and Liu Shuang quickly let go of his hand.

Having heard that he disliked being touched by others, the young girl was afraid of angering him and hastily said, “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

He did not react and left.

A few days later, Liu Shuang received an Eastern Pearl as large as a fist. Her uncle-master said helplessly, “My little disciple earned it on a mission and insisted on giving it to you, saying it was to thank you for your notebook. Shuang’er, please accept it.”

Eastern Pearls were precious—even Liu Shuang rarely saw one so large. This gift was far too valuable. Liu Shuang wanted to return it to Yan Chaosheng, but he was cultivating in his room. When he heard her intention, he simply closed the door, seeming angry instead.

Liu Shuang noticed the wound on his cheek. Had it been inflicted while looking for the pearl?

She hadn’t fully awakened to matters of the heart and couldn’t see the young man’s unspoken thoughts. Even if Yan Chaosheng could speak, he wouldn’t tell her these things.

She remembered how he had gone hungry for days yet still fought for a Spirit Fruit for her, and instinctively wanted to treat him better. “Sister Caiyi, is there any way to help someone who can’t hear to hear again?”

“You want to help Chaosheng, don’t you?”

Feng Caiyi smiled, “Shao You says his soul was injured. After a few years, when his soul stabilizes, he’ll naturally be able to see and hear.”

Each young lord of ancient bloodlines had their unique abilities. Ji Xianghan could forcibly open the path of reincarnation, which she had used on Yan Chaosheng before the spiritual veins disappeared. Unfortunately, although Yan Chaosheng had been reborn, his soul remained unstable, requiring more time.

“Is there any method we can use now?”

“Hmm, no way. We have to wait for it to stabilize on its own.”

If there truly were a method, Shao You and the others would have used it long ago. Ji Xianghan and Zhan Xueyang wouldn’t have waited until now either.

Liu Shuang kept this matter in her thoughts. She couldn’t explain why, but she wanted to see him smile.

The disciples of their generation had quarters not far from each other. At their age of awakening romantic feelings, some disciples were beginning to show interest in love. Shao You never suppressed his disciples’ natural tendencies as long as they didn’t go too far.

The Second Prince was no exception. Recently, he seemed possessed, writing sentimental poems every night, transforming them into spirit butterflies that delivered messages to Liu Shuang’s room.

His affection for Liu Shuang was no secret among the disciples. Yan Chaosheng knew it too. At night, he opened his door, tilted his head, and watched the swarms of butterflies flying toward Liu Shuang’s room.

Yan Chaosheng reached out and intercepted them. The butterflies transformed into poems in his hand. Without even raising his eyelids, he summoned netherfire, reducing all the butterflies to ashes.

After this happened three times, the Second Prince finally sensed something amiss. Following the butterflies, he discovered what Yan Chaosheng was doing.

The two immediately began fighting. Yan Chaosheng, with cold eyes, stared at the Second Prince’s face and pummeled it with all his might.

Internal fighting among disciples was punishable. However, the Second Prince looked so pitiful, like a blood-filled pig’s head, that everyone was speechless. The punishment fell solely on Yan Chaosheng.

His master said, “If you just tell me the reason for the fight, I can plead for leniency on your behalf.”

Yan Chaosheng shook his head.

“You won’t say?”

His master sighed, “Fine, go wash the swords then.”

Sword energy could harm people, painfully so. Yan Chaosheng went to wash the swords without a word. When Liu Shuang heard about this, she was also very concerned. She found her way to the sword-washing pool and asked him, “Why did you hit him?”

Yan Chaosheng didn’t seem like such a foolish person. He should have handled matters outside the sect. Disciples often went on missions outside.

He glanced at Liu Shuang, dipped his finger in the sword-washing pool’s water, and wrote on a nearby bluestone slab.

“None of your business. Go away.”

She murmured, “What a foul temper.”

However, she looked at him, she didn’t find him unlikable.

He pressed his lips together, not speaking anymore, stubbornly returning to washing swords.

She had no way with him and could only squat nearby, helping him wash the swords.

He caught her wrist, frowning, and wrote on the bluestone slab: “Leave.”

“I won’t. You’re my little junior brother. When I was small, senior brothers would take punishments for me too.”

What she said was true. Yan Chaosheng’s master and Shao You were fellow disciples, so they were indeed related as senior and junior.

Yan Chaosheng: “I’m not small anymore, I don’t need…”

He hadn’t finished writing, staring at the words “not small anymore,” then forcefully erased them, his ears turning a bit red. He looked up at her, relieved to see she hadn’t noticed anything unusual, still pure.

Under her puzzled gaze, Yan Chaosheng finished writing: “I can withstand the sword energy. I don’t need your help.”

She felt somewhat dejected at being rejected and fell silent.

Yan Chaosheng’s heart also began to ache. He buried his head in washing swords, knowing clearly that compared to Xiao Lan, he was even less worthy.

He was born into a farming family. Due to his unstable soul, he hadn’t cried at birth and was abandoned on a mountain by his parents, nearly carried off by wolves. Ji Xianghan and her husband had picked him up, letting him grow in a soul-gathering device. Later, when he was a bit older, he occasionally played with small demons.

Unable to hear, he naturally couldn’t speak either.

No one wanted him, so he certainly didn’t expect Liu Shuang to want him. It was just that… Xiao Lan wasn’t a good person and didn’t deserve her.

In the future, if a truly good person appeared, he would not obstruct her match. As this thought arose, his heart clenched painfully.

Liu Shuang, rejected by him, rose and left.

Yan Chaosheng lowered his head and continued washing the swords. The sword energy cut his hands, but he seemed unable to feel the pain, numbly scrubbing the swords with force. He had driven her away after all, and she wouldn’t return.

Just as he was feeling most miserable, Liu Shuang happily ran back: “If you won’t let me help, then wear this! This immortal robe can protect against sword energy!”

So she had left not because she disliked him, but to get him an immortal robe. Yan Chaosheng had to press his lips tightly together to not reveal the joy that welled up in his heart at that moment.

Liu Shuang accompanied Yan Chaosheng as he washed the swords, a mechanical task that he performed with exceptional diligence.

As she watched, Liu Shuang fell asleep.

Yan Chaosheng dried his hands and looked at her for a good while before bending down to pick her up. The young girl’s body was soft, and as she entered his arms, she felt so warm that he wanted to let go. He resisted the turmoil in his heart and carried her out.

She seemed to sense something, her eyelids fluttering. Yan Chaosheng’s mind hummed, and he instinctively sent a stream of spiritual energy into her, causing her to fall into a deep sleep from which she wouldn’t awaken.

He breathed a sigh of relief, his arms holding her tighter. Taking advantage of the perfect moonlight, he would send her back without being discovered.

Just as he thought this, his master caught sight of him, mouth agape.

Yan Chaosheng met his master’s gaze, panicking for a moment, but still didn’t put Liu Shuang down. After a while, he calmed himself and looked at his master placidly.

His master, an eternal bachelor, said knowingly, “During your entrance trial that year, the master saw everything. She saved you, which is why you’re so good to her, right?”

Over the years, this boy had saved up spirit stones from missions, using them in various ways to buy things for his Niece Liu Shuang.

Some he delivered himself, some through senior sisters. The pretty little skirts Liu Shuang wore, the styles most beloved by young ladies of the capital, were all bought by this boy. Tsk, like a lovestruck fool.

Yan Chaosheng: “…”

He didn’t tell his master that gratitude meant nothing to him. Ji Xianghan and Zhan Xueyang had saved him and raised him for years, yet he hadn’t given them a single spirit stone. When those two tricked him, he would even chase after them in fury, though whether he could catch them or not was another matter.

From the moment the young girl first peeked her face out from the leaves, his gaze couldn’t move away. Even if Liu Shuang hadn’t reached out to pull him, he wouldn’t have fallen.

Since his master tacitly approved, he didn’t bother to deny it. He went around his master and brought Liu Shuang back to her room.

This was Yan Chaosheng’s first time in the young girl’s fragrant chamber.

He wasn’t naturally a person of rigid self-discipline; he was just a bit insecure in front of her, which made him appear silent and reserved. In the monthly competitions, his attacks were fierce, and most of the time, the senior brothers feared him.

Now, as she slept soundly, he took a cursory glance at the items in her room, unable to help feeling somewhat happy.

Were many things he had secretly bought for her. He took on more missions than any fellow disciple, saving spirit stones to buy her whatever he saw. He had never known if she liked them, but now it seemed she liked most of them.

That night, the young man’s heart was joyful. Having held her, he had his first dream that profaned her.

When he awoke, his body trembled, and his gaze was somewhat dazed. Though he restrained himself from savoring the lingering sensations of the dream, he couldn’t help thinking, pressing his lips together, if only… if only it were real.

He lay for a while, his young body tense. Such dreams easily stirred a young man’s desire to conquer and ambitions he had never dared to contemplate before.

His master had said that when his soul stabilized in the future, he would be like a normal person. He had an extraordinary talent, being outstanding among his peers. He… he was very capable, not inferior to others.

Yan Chaosheng’s eyes darkened somewhat. If so, he wanted to try.

Just try quietly. If she showed the slightest dislike, he would immediately withdraw, obediently being an ordinary disciple of the Azure Feather Sect.