9 years passed in a flash. Hui descended her mountain after exiting her cave. Gu Feng greeted her at the bottom, bowing extremely low, despite that his cultivation was still one stage above her own. She'd finally made it to Early Stage foundation building, but Gu Feng, who was Middle Stage foundation building didn't dare to cross her at all.
"Welcome back from seclusion, junior sister."
She nodded to him, happy with his performance. He'd grown up so much since she first came to live at this mountain. He was now a polite, gentle boy, albeit a little too shy, much better than the rowdy bully he'd been before.
She walked forward, each step light and graceful. She'd learnt a fun qinggong from one of the manuals in a spacial ring, to replace the one Li Haoli used, and it made it look like she was walking on the air and made it seem like she were walking slowly, although her pace was extremely fast. It was called something like illusory footsteps, something or other, Hui didn't bother to memorize the title, just thought it made her look cool. And cool did she look. Currently clothed in a pristine sky-blue woman's robe, half of her black hair was up in a loose bun, and she had side-bangs covering most of her face, that only heightened the ever growing beauty of it. Any man or woman, regardless of station or class, couldn't help but take a second glance, when she passed by, her appearance like that of a heavenly fairy.
"Any news in the last three years?"
Yes, she'd found a way to escape to seclusion three years ago and hadn't come out since. It had definitely been worth it though, her cultivation much higher, with greater depth than before.
Gu Feng, following behind her, was quick to answer. "Not a lot has changed since you left, only the top disciples on the sect are now Min Fengmei, Cu Tongli, and Lin Su, since Hao Guifeng fell into qi deviation a couple months ago."
"And what about you?"
Gu Feng blushed. "I haven't fought any of them yet, but I should be able to beat everyone but Lin Su."
"Oh? Interesting, and what about Brother Binggong?"
Why did his junior sister always want to know about Luo Binggong? He was the least remarkable amongst all the peak lords! And why did she call him 'brother'? Wasn't he 'martial uncle'? However, he responded anyway, careful to be respectful. "Martial Uncle Luo Binggong is still in good health and has recently taken in a few more disciples, causing his funds to grow a little tight. He also recently crafted a magnificent blade called the 'ink blade.' it will be one of the three prizes for the upcoming competition."
"Upcoming competition?" Hui turned back to look at him. Her mouth unmoving, she had yet to break her mute curse.
Gu Feng immediately realized his mistake. "Ah, yes, the number one sect, Jianlingzong, has sent out a message recently, that every first class sect has the opportunity to send 2 or three disciples to their mountain to study for 3 years! Our Qingcao sect has decided that the disciples that are to go to Jianling sect to study will be decided by a competition that will take place in a couple weeks. The top three competitors will be given the opportunity, along with one of three prizes!"
"Oh? And what are the prizes?"
Gu Feng rubbed his nose, proud of his knowledge, "From the best information I could find (Tu Tao), one of the prizes will be the 'ink blade' sword I mentioned earlier, then Lord Fong Xianyu will contribute a golden core formation pill, and Lord Sung Mu will also contribute a Qilin mount!"
These were some impressive prizes. Even Hui kind of felt like joining in.
She grabbed his ear, pulling him down to her level. "Why didn't you start with this?"
Gu Feng protested. "I didn't think you'd be interested!"
Interested? Anything to do with Luo Binggong; I'm interested!
They finally made it to the residences and hearing her voice from afar, Li Yueming immediately left the master who was currently instructing him, to hurry over to where Hui was walking over.
"Junior sister!" A man who hated speaking exclaimed, as he ran over to stand in front of her and bowed a little, a smile crowding his normally straight face. "I missed you."
Hui smiled back, reaching up to rub his head. He gladly leaned in to make it easier. "Thank you, I missed you too, you're looking well!"
However, as much as she wanted to hang out with her senior brother for the rest of the day, she couldn't keep ignoring the man glaring at her from across the way.
She made sure to bow her greetings. "It's been a long time." She'd only called him master once, and after he'd rejected the title, she no longer felt it was worth giving it to him again.
"I see you've grown quite a bit." commented Lu Biming. He didn't seem to look down on her quite as much as he once had.
She stayed bowing. Since she'd broken into foundation building, she wanted to know her new limits. Plus, she still had some bones to pick with this 'master' of hers.
"Requesting the elder for a duel."
Lu Biming stared down at the girl. No, she was a young woman now, most girls her age were getting ready for marriage, not pursuing cultivation like this one was. He'd once felt it was a waste of time for her to try, after all, there was only so far a girl could go, especially with her meridians. But over and over, Hui had broken his expectations. However, this didn't mean he was happy with her confidence to challenge him. How dare some weakling at only the foundation building challenge him? And a woman at that? Lu Biming huffed. "Fine, but don't leave crying for your little babysitter, Binggong." He'd teach this girl a lesson she'd never forget! Since she'd given him the opportunity, he might as well beat her back into her place, he'd already gone easy on her in the last few years, due to what happened when she was six, but to think she'd use it to escape into seclusion!
Without waiting for her to raise her head, his sword had already appeared in his hand, and his blade was racing toward her, the entire blade was coated with a gust of wind that could push over trees with grounded roots.
However, unlike what he expected, the little girl didn't go flying, or have her head lopped off. She didn't even take a step back. But before his sword had even taken shape, she'd already started moving; toward him!!!