Chapter 2 – Ashamed
Book 10: Chapter 2 – Ashamed
Xue Ying looked up towards the distant sky. Soon enough, a crack in space appeared a few hundred kilometers away, and a figure stepped out of it. This figure looked back towards Xue Ying, and as soon as their sights matched, they both grinned.
The figure then immediately disappeared, teleporting away.
Xue Ying opened the northern doors, and upon passing through them, he could see a black-haired old man standing before him.
“Xue Ying.” The black-haired old man laughed.
“Palace Head Chen. On what occasion are you visiting today?” Xue Ying turned sideways as he invited the guest to enter. Shoulder to shoulder, they walked inside.
“Of course I’m here for a reason. But on a side note, this is my first time visiting White River Town. It’s not bad, quite beautiful.” Between praise, Palace Head Chen released a laugh. “Xue Ying, you sure know how to choose a good location. I think when we last met, around 30 years ago, it was on the beach of an island. The scenery there was truly beautiful as well, so much so that it stunned even me. Honestly, you two, as husband and wife, are truly capable when it comes to choosing places to live. Even I had not ever visited many of these locations before, despite having lived for almost 2000 years.”
“That’s exactly why, Palace Head Chen, you should also try doing a tour of our entire Xia Clan World once, visiting every spot there is,” Xue Ying replied. “I had to search the entire world back when I sought to find the Demon Generals, and that is why I knew where to bring Jing Qiu. If you plan on doing this trip, I could give you an itinerary. Though, honestly speaking, it would be better for you to slowly enjoy seeing the entire world; the different peoples with different cultures from the various regions are all truly interesting.”
Palace Head Chen shook his head. “Haha. I’m too busy for that.”
At that moment, two figures came walking over from a distant corridor of the mansion. One was Jing Qiu, dressed in midnight-blue robes. Following behind her was the white-haired Wu Lei.
The white-haired old man came over and whispered to Xue Ying, “Everything’s ready, master.” Xue Ying nodded in return.
“Mage Jing Qiu, it has been a while.” Palace Head Chen smiled. He had great expectations for Jing Qiu. Back then, she became a Transcendent later than Xue Ying, but she was still a mage! Mages were known to cultivate rather slowly during the early realms, while most of them only began cultivating magic after becoming adults. Knowledge and experience were important factors for being a mage.
And for that reason, Jing Qiu having become a Transcendent at that age meant she was also outstanding! The only problem was that back then, her glory had been outshadowed by Xue Ying. Other than her, Yuan Qing had also received a similar treatment! Yuan Qing had become a Transcendent at a mere 30 years old, which was two years later than Xue Ying, but still earlier than Chi Qiu Bai. Furthermore, he comprehended the grade three True Meaning of Light and Dark the moment he stepped into the realm of Transcendents. That meant he had great innate talent.
Regardless, Xue Ying had remained the most dazzling figure of that time, so bright that his light blocked all others! He was publicly acknowledged as the Transcendent with the greatest innate talent in the entire history of the Xia Clan, and even the Sorcerer God and the Great Demonic God had been willing to pay any price to deal with him!
A hundred years passed since then, and Jing Qiu and Yuan Qing were now starting to release a dazzling light of their own.
Because of the Deity weapon Ancestor Snow, Jing Qiu was being heavily groomed by the Xia Clan, while Xue Ying was also doing his best to help her, which allowed her to become a peak stage Saint Mage with ease. She was now ranked 9th on the Saint lists!
Yuan Qing was even more dazzling! Thirty years after the assault on the Demonic Faction Headquarters, Yuan Qing grasped hold of the complete grade three True Meaning of Light and Dark, and not much later, he even achieved the stage two realm in it! Although his cultivation speed was not as fast as Xue Ying’s, it was still much faster than Chi Qiu Bai’s from back then. He was now the third-ranked Saint!
As for the first? Naturally, it was Xue Ying. He had once requested to be removed from the list, since he had no reason to be there… but that had to be done by someone with a higher authority. It was not something which could be done just because he wished for it to happen. Nobody doubted Xue Ying’s power! Even with the combat power displayed 100 years before, only a Demigod ranked among the top 10 might have been able to suppress Xue Ying alone.
“Indeed, it’s been a while. Palace Head Chen, you should have let us know beforehand that you would be coming over,” Jing Qiu said.
……
The group chatted among themselves by the side of the training grounds. The disciples learning spear techniques under Xue Ying did not dare relax as they all shouted and trained. They were unable to hear what Xue Ying’s group was discussing; although they were quite a fair distance away, their shouts were relatively loud when heard together.
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
“Mn?” Xue Ying and the rest turned towards the northern doors.
Beyond these doors, a group of knights appeared by the alley. Riding their strong horses, they soon crowded around a gold-robed muscular man who came walking over, his group of subordinates following behind.
“Are they looking for you, Xue Ying?” Palace Head Chen laughed.
“Mn.” Xue Ying nodded. His vision was turned to a silver-robed teenager standing by the side of the muscular man. This teenager was carrying a spear case on his back, inside of which was a spear split into two. A slight air of arrogance could be noticed in the teenager’s expression.
Seeing this teenager, Xue Ying could not help but feel inwardly indignant, and he showed a frown.
“Senior brother!”
“Senior brother!”
The disciples who had previously been training their spear techniques all shouted out in excitement, regardless of their age.
The silver-robed teenager said, “This is my current teacher. He is a Legend-ranked knight.”
“Legend rank?”
“Oh heavens.”
“This, this…”
The teenagers who came from various ordinary clans were all startled upon hearing the words ‘Legend-ranked’. To them, the rank of Legend might was well have been a myth.
“Woah, Senior Brother, you’ve actually paid respect to a Legend-ranked knight as a teacher. Truly amazing.” The teenagers were all excited. In the Xia Clan, paying respect to multiple teachers was something frequently encountered.
The silver-robed teenager looked towards Xue Ying with raised eyebrows and arrogantly said, “Brother Dong Bo, why are you not greeting my teacher after seeing him?”
“Long Tian Yun!” A red-robed youth, 20 years old and the currently oldest disciple among those training their spear techniques there, shouted angrily, “How could you treat our teacher this way! You’ve actually followed him and learned spear techniques from him for a total of twelve years. Your clan owed a huge debt, and it was our teacher who helped them repay it. You’ve always love fighting, and whenever you got heavily injured, our teacher was the one who treated you. He fed you, watched you grow, and treated you as a loved one…”
“You shut up!” the silver-robed teenager shouted in fury.
“You even have the gall to ask me to shut up!” the red-robed teenager angrily retorted.
“He is the one who was heartless!” the silver-robed teenager yelled back. “Back then, I was supposed to be his disciple, not a domestic animal! Beating, scolding, punishing me…he was practically not even treating me as a human being. If that was the case, I decided to just make a clean break with him! Nevertheless, I, Long Tian Yun, will remember him for his past benevolence and will naturally repay him.”
“You actually think teacher shouldn’t have punished you? You took the money which you should have given to disciple sister for her dowry and instead went to the Blossom House and spent it all on wine and prostitutes! That money was disciple sister’s dowry! Do you still think punishing you was wrong?”
“What is that small amount of money to teacher? He punished me for just a bit of money?” the silver-robed teenager sneered.
……
“I’m ashamed, ashamed.” Xue Ying shook his head.
Back then, he had opened a restaurant, and since he was training his spear techniques, he was also willing to teach some of the children living nearby for free. Due to his sickly look, however, barely anybody came to learn from him—three children in total. The silver-robed teenager, Long Tian Yun, was the oldest disciple brother. Other than him was Chen Qin, a girl who got married—she was the second disciple sister. The one currently arguing with Long Tian Yun was the third disciple brother, Ye Qing.
Xue Ying looked towards the silver-robed teenager, inwardly disapproving.
He watched him gradually grow from a thin and weak youth. His character was disagreeable, and though Xue Ying had often guided him, his overly kind personality ended up begetting animosity instead.
If together for twelve years, one would gather affection even towards a cat or a dog, so what about a person? Furthermore, with the current state of Xue Ying’s heart, he was not angered at all by this brat. He just ‘hated iron for not becoming steel.’
Who would have thought that this brat would refer to him as ‘Brother Dong Bo’ upon seeing him.
Indeed…he was no longer treating him as a teacher in any way. Twelve years of kindness had now turned to ashes.
“Alright!” Xue Ying hollered.
The moment he spoke, the third disciple brother, Ye Qing, and Long Tian Yun immediately stopped.
“Brother Dong Bo? Truly a good Brother Dong Bo!” Xue Ying looked towards Long Tian Yun. “Dare I ask what you, Long Tian Yun, now a disciple of a Legend-ranked knight, are doing here?”
“My calling you Brother Dong Bo is merely a token of our old affection!” The silver-robed teenager, Long Tian Yun, snorted. “As for why I’m here, it is actually for a good reason, something truly pleasant for you!”