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Chapter 17: I Have Always Been Here

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When the Scarlet Clouds Sword was handed over to Mu Chen, this issue had created a huge sensation throughout the Immortal Realm. Everyone had felt that giving a divine tool to a pill cultivator was a dreadful thing. This would undermine the tool’s value. Ji Qingyuan had heard of this news before. No one believed that Mu Chen could show the true power of the sword. However, the reality showed something different. Mu Chen’s swordplay looked sharp, and his movements were firm. Only those who have personally fought against Mu Chen would be able to feel that fierceness.

Ji Qingyuan suddenly thought about the “relationship” between Mu Chen and Yu Tianyi. He secretly felt fear. Perhaps Yu Tianyi himself wanted to probe? Suppressing the killing intent that he felt, he started to speak on the spot. “This one does not know how Ten Thousand Sword Sect has offended Elder Mu. Is this the way that Lofty Cloudy Sect greets guests?”

Mu Chen asked back in return, “The one that I’m beating up is you! What does that have to do with the Sect? Get over here now! Let’s continue!”

This type of attitude provoked the anger of Ji Qingyuan more. It incited his desire to kill. Ji Qingyuan did not have talent that made people hate from jealousy. He also did not have an opportunity that people sought but could not obtain, nor did he have an identity that people could not even hope to reach. Ji Qingyuan carefully observed people to get information, and he made plans step by step. He even compromised with others to make his way up till now. However, this event right now might change everything. Thus, he started to hate. He hated Yu Tianyi, and he also started to hate Mu Chen. He hated everyone that had more than him!

Mu Chen looked at him with a cold expression in his eyes. He knew what the other wanted. The kick that he had given him before had broken the fake mask of the other. He had to say that the true Ji Qingyuan was really disgusting.

He slightly waved his sword around in his hand and gave the person below his feet an indifferent look, not disturbed in the slightest. The hatred that Mu Chen felt for this two-faced thing was for his sneak attack on his disciple in the past. If he killed him now, then he could prevent Ji Qingyuan from coming back to cause trouble again.

Right at this moment, the magical spell boundary suddenly swayed and the mist faded away along with the spell. Mu Chen stopped midair. He heard the crisp sound of a child’s voice added with the spiritual power shouting, “Stop!”

Mu Chen’s hand stopped, and he turned around in surprise to look at the people that had come. Gu Yunjue sat on top on Chu Qianshuang’s shoulders. In his hand, there was a spirit stone that he had taken out of the spell. Gu Yunjue was glaring at him.

How could this trash be dealt with by his Master personally? What if he dirties his Master’s hand? His little Master should stay by his side, doing the things that he liked everyday. As for the killing, his Master should just leave it to him.

Gu Yunjue jumped off of Chu Qianshuang’s shoulders and ran over two steps. Ever since the small child wearing a smile had spoken, the entire surrounding area had become quiet. Everyone had their sights on him, like there was some kind of a mystical aura that came from him. It was some kind of an innate intimidating aura. In other words, it was the pressuring might of a leader.

Gu Yunjue ignored the people’s sighs and their startled, probing gazes. Gu Yunjue’s mouth quirked up and he made his way towards Mu Chen. The moonlight made Gu Yunjue’s shadow look longer. It momentarily gave Mu Chen the misconception that his disciple could control all three realms with just his hands. All of that looked hidden in this little guy’s shadow. It showed that he was always there.

Finally, Gu Yunjue stood underneath Mu Chen. He raised his arms up to him. His tone was gentle as he coaxed him, “Master, come down.”

Mu Chen suddenly felt that there was nothing as attractive as the small hands below him.

Mu Chen was reminded that his disciple was still here. He was right here.

The battle was interrupted by this single line from Gu Yunjue’s mouth. Ji Qingyuan’s face looked ashen. All he could do was glare at Mu Chen once he withdrew. If he dared to do something to Mu Chen or to Lofty Cloudy Sect, even Yu Tianyi would not agree. The only thing that he could do was break his fangs and swallow his anger down. The hatred that he was unable to suppress casted a dull grey sheen on his face. The slight twitching of his face and the malice on it proved that he had not resigned from this. Tomorrow, they had to visit Lofty Cloudy Sect and request for Mu Chen to treat Elder Xing Xuan. That meant that he still had to stretch his face out for Mu Chen to beat it again. How could he bear this anger?!

Ji Qingyuan then thought of the timing that Yu Tianyi had used to send him here. Thus, getting him involved with Mu Chen whom he had never met before and had no reason to fight against. Ji Qingyuan’s mind was deep and calculating. He naturally started to overthink about it. Perhaps Yu Tianyi sensed his bad deeds and wanted to use Mu Chen to kill him?!

Ji Qingyuan had lived under Yu Tianyi’s famous reputation for the past hundreds of years. He was good at observing others and establishing social relations. Fifty years ago, he had planned the death of Yu Tianyi’s sole disciple by borrowing the devil realm. Thus, he was able to gain the opportunity of being in charge of Ten Thousand Sword Sect. If the other knew that he was the one who harmed his disciple…. Ji Qingyuan felt a flicker of fear at this moment.

Right at this moment, Gu Yunjue hooked his finger and some devil qi quietly attached to Ji Qingyuan’s body. It was like he was laying a devil seed. As long as the seed had enough nutrients, then it will break out of its shell and grow. He believed that someone like Ji Qingyuan did not lack the potential to enter into devil cultivation. If Master were to kill him now, then he would end up attracting trouble to himself. This was also something that Ten Thousand Sword Sect would not allow to happen. His little Master was too kind. Sometimes killing others did not need to be done through your own hands. When you want to take revenge, sometimes killing someone on the spot was the kindest way of handling it. Therefore, his Master should leave these kinds of matters for him to handle.

It was obvious that Mu Chen did not know what his clever little disciple was doing under everyone’s noses. Mu Chen felt regretful that he was unable to kill others in front of his little disciple. He couldn’t chop Ji Qingyuan down. Mu Chen felt very sullen about this fact.

Mu Chen floated down towards Gu Yunjue. His black hair freely flowed and created an arc due to the fact that he wasn’t wearing a crest in his hair. Mu Chen lowered his head and held onto Gu Yunjue’s hand. Mu Chen did not speak, nor did he feel any desire to explain himself. He merely raised his feet and walked away.

Ji Qingyuan used his sword to separate the two. He coldly smiled, “Elder Mu comes as he pleases and leaves as he pleases. Did you just come here to humiliate this one?”

Mu Chen nodded his head, “Yes.”

There was a small number of people that stayed behind to watch the whole spectacle. They all had spiritual power and did not fear getting injured. They all felt that things took an interesting turn once they heard Mu Chen’s honesty.

“Pfft!” A young man dressed in a magnificent purple robe laughed out loud from inside of a teahouse across from them. The man had a handsome face with thin lips, and curved peach blossom eyes. Gu Yunjue raised his head to give that man a glance. Gu Yunjue noticed the man wave at him before speaking in a coquettish voice, “Your Master is interesting. Make sure to watch over him and don’t lose him.  

Gu Yunjue held onto Mu Chen’s hand as if he hadn’t heard him. The Master and Disciple pair both left as if they were out taking a stroll. The small back of Gu Yunjue looked indescribably calm.

Ji Qingyuan stared at Mu Chen’s departing figure. He silently stood there with an expression in his eyes that looked as deep as the night sky. The three youngsters were comparably keen towards recognizing the good and bad intentions of other people. If the three of them fought together, perhaps they can fight him off together.

The three youngsters all glanced at each other. Should they beat him up?

The hands of Jing Ting and Chi Qingshuang were already on the hilts of their swords. ‘Let’s beat him’, were the thoughts of the Chu Qingshuang and Jing Ting.

Jing Ming took the bone pendant off his bamboo flute. He then pushed it into the groove on the back of the flute. The flute buzzed and turned into a snow white color. If one listened carefully to the buzzing sound of the flute, it was enough to make the listener feel impatient and agitated.

It was right at this moment that a cold wind suddenly appeared behind their heads. The three youngsters felt as if something bad was going to happen. They immediately ran away in mutual understanding.

Yue Mingze clenched his teeth together as he landed. He angrily stomped at the ground. With a wave of his sleeve, he caught the three troublemakers. With a pat, he sent Jing Ming flying. Why did they have to tell Martial Uncle about that letter?! If they hadn’t told him about it, then none of this would have transpired tonight!

He then raised his hand to smack Chu Qianshuang hard enough to send him flying. Why are you out so late? Why didn’t you just hug your fellow disciple and go to sleep?!

Finally, he looked at Jing Ting standing there with a cold expression on his face. He also sent him flying with a swat. Scaring people everyday with that cold face of yours, can you cause less troubles for your juniors!

Yue Mingze did not know who he was imagining those three as, but he felt much better after sending those three flying. However, Sect Master Yue still had to deal with all of this mess. Cupping his hands together, he said with a reserved expression on his face, “It looks like this place is not safe to live in. This friend has come from afar, and is also an important guest. If there is some type of misunderstanding, then let’s take it to Lofty Cloudy Sect first.”

Without any doubt, those words offered Ji Qingyuan some face. If Ji Qingyuan did not go when a Sect Master came out to personally welcome him, then he would be the one that did not appreciate favors. However, Mu Chen’s appearance earlier, he did not understand how that could have been some type of misunderstanding.

Despite being “invited” to Lofty Cloudy Sect, the expression on Ji Qingyuan’s face still did not return back to normal. Once he thought about how he had to report this event to Yu Tianyi, he felt even more hatred towards Mu Chen. A thought suddenly rose in his mind that his hatred would only be appeased once he killed both Yu Tianyi and Mu Chen.

Ji Qingyuan himself was unaware that a black devil qi flashed through his eyes. It carried a faint bloody color, and quietly it entered his meridians. It followed his spiritual qi all over before landing on his dantian. It then silently slept.

Gu Yunjue, who followed Mu Chen back to Yanyang Palace, seemed to have sensed something. His lips curved. He felt that he was in a good mood.

Mu Chen unhappily jabbed his finger at Gu Yunjue’s forehead. He coldly scolded him, “Go to sleep, or you won’t grow.”

Gu Yunjue raised his eyebrow and lifted up his finger to jab at Mu Chen’s waist. While jabbing Mu Chen’s waist, he asked, “Master, that person who caused you to throw aside even your disciple. Do you have hatred with him?”

Mu Chen sighed and nodded his head. He felt a lot of hatred towards Ji Qingyuan. In the past, Ji Qingyuan had used his sword to stab his disciple. He also stole all of Mu Chen’s money that was left for Gu Yunjue to find himself a wife. Mu Chen once again threw Gu Yunjue onto the bed before falling down on the bed. Mu Chen could feel his mood getting better after looking at Gu Yunjue’s steamed bun shaped face. He pinched Gu Yunjue’s cheeks and worriedly educated him. “If someone ever bullies you in the future, remember to fight back viciously until you completely destroy them. Thus, you can prevent any problems from coming back in the future.” Mu Chen’s tone sounded regretful. He had really wanted to hack Ji Qingyuan to death earlier, but he was interrupted from doing so by this child. Gu Yunjue was too young to be seeing blood.

Gu Yunjue took off all his clothes until there was only a thin inner robe left. He happily narrowed his eyes and threw himself onto Mu Chen’s body. He snuggled against Mu Chen, using this opportunity to use Mu Chen’s stomach as a pillow. He appeared to be naive when he asked, “What if I can’t defeat them?”

Mu Chen rubbed Gu Yunjue’s tiny head and scoffed. “If you can’t win, then come back and find Master.”

Gu Yunjue happily turned himself over. He laid on top of Mu Chen’s body and propped his chin up. He then asked with a big smile on his face, “What if Master also can’t beat them?”

Mu Chen didn’t even think before he answered, “Then you should run away. For a nobleman to take revenge, it’s never too late.”

Both the Master and the Disciple talked for a while longer until Gu Yunjue fell asleep on top of Mu Chen’s chest. Mu Chen sighed and held onto the other. He pulled up the blankets while quietly looking at his sleeping disciple. His heart became calmer by the minute. His disciple was still here with him, and he was cute and sensible. This calmed Mu Chen’s mind down. Suddenly, Mu Chen lost his interest in cultivating for tonight. Mu Chen laid down on his side and watched Gu Yunjue before gradually closing his eyes.

Without any interruptions, Gu Yunjue once again woke up at midnight.

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