Last Dragon Chapter 18: Teacher, You’re a Brilliant Ray of Wisdom

Translated by Aphelios of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: KarateChopMonkey

 

The unrivalled literary genius had newly emerged from the oven – a new phrase that Xiaoshen had just learned. Even though he just got the title, this did not prevent him from self-boasting.

Unfortunately, no one was able to rebuff him and the scene soon submerged into dead silence……

It was a rather awkward scene. Those who criticized Xiaoshen as an illiterate were the ones crying now.

Did they still have a chance to receive the teachings of this literary master?

Daomi breathed heavily, “Bro… Brother Xiaoshen, the Phoenix Flame technique that I cultivated before… was truly a technique of the phoenix? Don’t tell me…”

Nobody had a chance to recover from the discovery that Xiaoshen actually knew how to read the ancient texts before they were once again hit by Daomi’s words; the bird clan especially received heavy damage.

Suppose those texts were left behind from ancient times, then even if they weren’t really the relics of the phoenix race’s techniques, they still had a high possibility of containing the essence of the phoenix due to their old age. At the very least, it was surely much better than the various contemporary techniques overblown by the self-boasting from their creators and users!

“This was created by the fire phoenix.” Xiaoshen affirmed Daomi’s hypothesis.

That was why the fire Daomi had cultivated had such high destructive power. The ancient times were not as peaceful as now and when people fought, they fought putting their lives on the line.

“Ssss—”

The continuous sound of air being drawn in could be heard.

Daomi was close to tears, “Sniff… Brother Xiaoshen, you’re my ‘living treasure’!”

Xiaoshen, “……”

Xie Kurong had only now realized the wisdom of Grandmaster Fang Cun’s last words! Thank god he brought Xiaoshen back!

It was just that he felt a bit ashamed. When the ink essences had originally elected Xiaoshen as the Library Master, he was a bit doubtful of their choice. Martial Uncle was much wiser and strongly recommended Xiaoshen’s promotion. It truly was the Yuling Sect’s blessing.

The other deacons who had opposed Xiaoshen being the Library Master also stiffened in shame; however, no matter how ashamed they were, it couldn’t compare to those disciples who had heavily criticized Xiaoshen as an illiterate in private.

Shu Feng, Wei Yu, and the other newbies on the other hand were bubbling in ecstasy.

As expected, they were right! The Library Master held great wisdom and knowledge. Let’s see who dared to oppose them when they used colloquial speech now!

“How disrespectful of us.” Xie Kurong let out a long sigh and said, “As it turns out, we were truly the ignorant ones. Indeed, we should give Xiaoshen the honorific of Teacher.”

As the patriarch, he was the first to react.

A moment later, the others too recovered from their shock, and even if they were still red in the face, there was no time for embarrassment. Did they want to learn the ancient language? Did they want to learn the phoenix’s technique? If yes, then toot his horn!

Everyone knew what kind of person Brother Xiaoshen was! First, recite Daoist Master Yun Ziran’s poems and drop all those formalities! Even if they wanted to include these formalities, they would still have to hold it in when in front of the Library Master!

“The Daoist Master Yun Ziran had a poem that goes—”

“I still have a few Dadao Herbs…”

“I don’t know why, but when I first met Teacher, I felt rays of wisdom shining out from Teacher’s body.”

Xiaoshen unconsciously folded his hands around his arms and raised his chin. When he saw that Xie Kurong wanted to continue speaking, he stopped him. “Let them praise me some more. It sounds quite nice.”

Xie Kurong, “……”

……He was really straightforward.

However, since this came out of Xiaoshen’s mouth, it was probably now considered to be great wisdom in the guise of stupidity.

The only one not happy about all this was most likely Yu Yi. It could accept Xiaoshen speaking colloquially, however, it heavily disliked these people reciting Yun Ziran’s poems in unison.

Furthermore, these people were getting closer and closer to a point where Yu Yi suspected them of trying to take its position and thus Yu Yi stood even closer to Xiaoshen…

“May I ask what are the Library Master’s roots…” One deacon was stopped by Xie Kurong’s subtle warning mid-sentence.

Xiaoshen seemed to not want to talk about his own race.

However, Xie Kurong already had a hypothesis, “Just think about it. How many water clans are there in the mortal realm who not only have such a long life but also a chance to master the ancient and divine texts?”

Everyone knew that the dragon race ascended to the heavens and thus, because this concept had been drilled into them since childhood, were not considered along with other ancient clans.

All these erudite deacons present considered this carefully, completely bypassing the correct answer and ended up with an answer that more or less fit the mark.

“White sea turtle?!”

According to legends, the dragons and soft-shelled turtles gave birth to the original sea turtles, the original sea turtles then gave birth to the spirit turtles, then the spirit turtles went on to give birth to the common turtles. The other turtles all originated from the common turtles.

For example, Jin Qianzi was considered to be an ‘other turtle’, and many levels below a sea turtle.

Therefore, if you were to point to a sea turtle and said it was a common turtle, even though it did look similar, would the sea turtle be happy about it?

A white sea turtle was a rare entity even among sea turtles and was the most extraordinary. Their lives were extremely long and their shells were not only thick and heavy; it, according to legends, was even able to resist lightning. Since ancient times, there only existed one white sea turtle per generation and each generation was the dragon clan’s historian. They recorded the dragon clan’s history onto their shells and thus, one white sea turtle represented a period of the dragon clan’s history.

However, after the dragon race ascended to the heavens, the white sea turtle, like the rest of the turtle ministers, became unemployed. No one knew where they were. Perhaps they changed professions.

If one were to ask who in the current cultivation world had a possibility of understanding the ancient divine language and wasn’t a phoenix but rather a water race, then there was only the white sea turtle.

Ten thousand years to other clans was probably too long to pass down to future generations, however, to a white sea turtle, ten thousand years probably just equated to merely one generation and thus, they were able to retain a lot more.

Thus, if it was a white sea turtle, it wasn’t strange for them to be proficient in the clam clan’s illusion spells. Large clams were not mediators (they had shells), while the white sea turtle clan was the highest amongst those bearing shells. Xiaoshen had said there was only him left in his entire race. White sea turtles were known to have only one successor in their direct line of descendants. Perhaps he meant that his dad and grandfather both passed away? Ever since the dragon clan ascended, the white sea turtles had not shown their face. This fit with Xiaoshen who had previously lived in seclusion.

It fits, it completely fits!

Not only Xie Kurong, but other quick-witted disciples too thought of this point.

Furthermore, they surmised that the Library Master’s true cultivation was probably much higher.

After all, if he really was a white sea turtle, even if he fished three days in a row and dried nets for two days, he would still not be merely on just this level.

The gossip secretly spread far and wide.

“This… this really is an honor…” Those deacons who came back from their shock also joined in the flattery.

If he was the descendant of the sea turtle historian, then not knowing the human language doesn’t equate to him being an illiterate – it simply meant that he had no need for it. Didn’t they see how fast Teacher Xiaoshen learned? It was said that he even knew how to create poems now.

What did it mean for the Yuling Sect to have a white sea turtle be their Library Master? It meant they enjoyed the same treatment as the dragon race!

Xiaoshen was totally oblivious to the fact these people already placed him with the shell clans, but this time, the shell was much heavier and thicker.

“Are you guys going to continue competing?” They already sang his praises and frankly, in Xiaoshen’s opinion, this wasn’t a shocking revelation.

“Of… of course…” The deacon in charge of the competition replied in a daze, but woke himself up, “Everyone, keep up your spirits in the next match and let the Library Master see your battle styles!”

Everyone, “!!!”

That was right! The library’s last entry was still waiting for them!

It was unfortunate that Xiaoshen had only watched for a little bit longer outside the Hong Meng Hall before heading back. Daomi’s match was finished after all.

Daomi flushed red as he said, “Let me bring you back!”

Under everyone’s reluctant gaze, Xiaoshen left with Daomi and Yu Yi and returned to Biqiao Peak. Anyway, there wasn’t much work in the library today since nearly everyone went to see the competition. 

Xiaoshen himself didn’t realize the white sea turtle theory and Xie Kurong and the others didn’t secretly tell him about it either, so he was still pondering over the scene back there, “Brother Xiaoshen… you’re really amazing! How did you learn the ancient divine language? I heard that out of all the cultivators, there were only a handful that can recognize the language, much less know it. After all, the clans who are proficient in the ancient language were nearly all not in this world anymore, or like the phoenix clan, they’ve disappeared.” 

“Hmm? Really?” Xiaoshen had guessed that none of these people understood the divine texts, but he didn’t think it was like this. Would his identity be revealed because of this? But from Xie Kurong’s expression, that didn’t seem to be the case. Whatever. In any case, that spirit bracelet couldn’t suppress him for much longer. Xiaoshen ambiguously replied, “I learned it from my family. I’ve told you, I lived in a remote area before and this was passed down to me.”

“Ah, so it’s like that… Then you must have lived in seclusion for many years.” Daomi was deeply moved. “If you weren’t part of the water race, I would have suspected that you were a phoenix.”

Xiaoshen, “Hahaha…“

.

Biqiao Peak.

Daomi was flying when he started to shout ecstatically as soon as he caught sight of Shang Jiyu, “Martial Uncle, did you know—”

Shang Jiyu impatiently cut the starling off, “I know. He knows the ancient divine language. Xie Kurong already told me about it.”

Daomi, “……”

He restrained himself for a bit and said pitifully, “Also, I learned a phoenix technique.”

Shang Jiyu ignored Daomi and only stared at Xiaoshen.

Xiaoshen, “What~? Illiterate, you want to learn the ancient language?”

The current him could call anyone an illiterate now.

Shang Jiyu, “……”

Shang Jiyu, “Do you plan on calling ‘him’ an illiterate too when you see him?”

Xiaoshen said upright and vigorously, “I plan on calling him a little muddle-head!” And if he wants to learn, I’ll teach him patiently.

Shang Jiyu, “……”

Daomi didn’t understand. What ‘him’? Who’s ‘him’? Weren’t there just two people at the Biqiao Peak now?

Aye, did they mean Yu Yi?

Daomi asked Yu Yi, “Are you the little muddle-head?”

Yu Yi, “……”

Shang Jiyu slowly glanced at Daomi.

Daomi suddenly felt a chill in the air and a murderous gaze locking onto him, “……Your disciple shall take his leave first.”

Got to practice, got to practice. Daomi decided to add another classification to his rank and from now on, when he introduced himself, he would say: I ¹ am a (outer) disciple of the Yuling Sect and the heir of the phoenix clan – Daomi.

“Only you could think of something like this.” Shang Jiyu sized Xiaoshen up. He was speechless at being addressed like this and didn’t want it to be repeated a second time.

“What?” Xiaoshen asked, “You mean little muddle-head?”

Shang Jiyu, “……”

For the first time, Shang Jiyu didn’t envy his other self at all.

“Humph…” Shang Jiyu placed his hands behind him and said, “You’re really proficient in the divine language?”

Xiaoshen couldn’t hide his pride as he said, “Not only that, I know none of you guys know the divine language at all and still have the face to boast how you’re all erudite scholars. Psh, you’re all nothing special.”

Shang Jiyu narrowed his eyes. Xie Kurong not only told him that they discovered Xiaoshen was proficient in the divine language, but also told him they speculate that Xiaoshen was probably the descendant of the dragon clan’s historian, the white sea turtle.

This hypothesis was vastly different from Shang Jiyu’s, which was that Xiaoshen was a Jiao.

Jin Qianzi who was part of the turtle race would unconsciously obey a sea turtle. This seemed to make more sense, but then, how would one explain why Xiaoshen loved to coil around him? Did humans misunderstand sea turtles? Sea turtles liked to coil too?

Shang Jiyu thought that there was something off about it and examined Xiaoshen closely. Even though he was thinking about Xiaoshen, he was aware of his own oddities…

“Aye, what are you thinking about?” Xiaoshen waved his hand.

“I was thinking, what kind of books exist in the deepest ends of the library.” Shang Jiyu replied.

“There are numerous. There are really a lot of collectibles. It’s just that I don’t understand what’s wrong with you people. Do you all collect everything that contains words? I thought it was strange that you guys would even drag in a wall engraved with curse words.” Xiaoshen couldn’t help but be overjoyed at that particular memory.

“?” Shang Jiyu, “Curse words?”

Xiaoshen replied, “Yep. Just inside and to the left. The most prominent one, the huge one. It was probably written by an eccentric clan and when translated, it says: ‘So and so-so you son of a bitch, I curse your furnace to explode when you’re cultivating the pills of immortality, your cultivation to go downhill, to choke when you eat… and so on and so forth.”

Shang Jiyu, “……”

Shang Jiyu did indeed have an impression of it. Not only him, many Yuling Sect disciples probably had memories of it too. Even though nobody understood what it said, many would still admire the divine text carved there.

The words were extremely big, too big. Library Masters of the past all had an unexplainable feeling, probably one that was deep and unmeasurable, and thought the artifact was impressive as well and thus placed it in a very conspicuous location.

It was only today that Shang Jiyu finally heard of its meaning.

Shang Jiyu reflected on how weirded out Xiaoshen must have felt when he first entered the library. He probably thought the Yuling Sect was a very unique place…

Xiaoshen was in the middle of a good laugh when he suddenly felt a burning sensation on his leg. The spirit bracelet that was originally concealed behind an illusion suddenly emerged and he almost jumped in shock. “Ah!!”

The spirit bracelet on his leg gave off small vibrations and the color changed as well. Xiaoshen frowned. That bastard ex-wife probably found out we were trying to secretly remove the prohibition.

Yu Yi saw the change and immediately tried to cut off the spirit bracelet with its sword.

“Don’t move!” Shang Jiyu warned and reached out his hand to examine the spirit bracelet, however a huge wave of power rushed out from the ring and then in an instance, a sword as soft as silver appeared in Shang Jiyu’s hand. He blocked the attack, cancelling its power.  

The prohibition spell was originally incomplete therefore the caster of the spell was unable to control Xiaoshen, however, he had the spirit bracelet enter into a state of defense after discovering something was off.

A thought flashed through Shang Jiyu’s mind. The spirit bracelet relied on a reversal of power. It itself cannot create power and can only borrow power to strike the incoming attack, thus the power it emitted just now was in actuality Xiaoshen’s spiritual power. It was extremely strong and dense.

“Hot…” Xiaoshen murmured. He felt ill. No matter how tough his skin was, it still felt awful.

“It’s all right.” Shang Jiyu whispered to him. His flexible sword slowly flowed toward the spirit bracelet and cautiously wrapped itself around it without making direct contact.

The cold sword carried a mercury-like texture; its flexible nature made it easy to be shortened and lengthened without impediment to its movements as it stuck to both ankles.

Xiaoshen’s brows relaxed and had just noticed that this was probably the other half of the Shanhe sword and belonged to this Shang Jiyu.

“Is it easy to undo the spell now?” Xiaoshen couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m afraid it would now require the combined power of both ‘he’ and I. One side would control its powers while the other side continues to undo the restriction.” Shang Jiyu answered calmly, “You don’t have to worry. There are no prohibitions in the world that can’t be lifted.”

Xiaoshen looked at him twice. In spite of the spirit bracelet’s attack just now, Shang Jiyu had immediately gone to counter it and almost got injured. Xiaoshen knew his own cultivation level well… Furthermore, Shang Jiyu didn’t use this to claim credit and instead consoled him.

Xiaoshen had changed his opinion a little. Frankly, besides boasting about riding a dragon and how he inadvertently served as Xiaoshen’s dad, there didn’t seem to be anything else… Especially when compared to the rest of the cultivators.

It was only later that Xiaoshen found out that the human race liked to use dragons to boast and talk big. Others had even bragged about knowing the Dragon Massacre spell, thus Shang Jiyu wasn’t even the biggest boaster. He even gave Xiaoshen the stuff that his teacher left behind to eat. He was quite virtuous.

“Then, I’ll count on you.” Xiaoshen said.

Shang Jiyu looked at him without batting an eyelash. He sensed a subtle change in Xiaoshen. If it was in the past, Xiaoshen would have made it seem like Shang Jiyu owed him.

At this moment, Shang Jiyu seemed to have caught onto a train of thought, “It’s nothing. It’s much harder on you. The person that casted the prohibition does not have any shame.”

Xiaoshen had been internally cursing his ex-wife, thus as soon as he saw someone who shared a common distaste, he became momentarily excited and cursed, “That’s right! He’s completely shameless. I hope he gets beaten to death! How can there be this kind of human; he’s even more shameless than the other one. I saw him fall into the water, and here I thought he was my……”

“Hmm? Your what?” There was a flash of surprise in Shang Jiyu’s eyes.

Xiaoshen immediately quieted down and said as he sat up straight, “Nothing…”

Shang Jiyu didn’t persist and only replied, “While we’re on the topic of prohibitions, how come Xuan Wuzi’s still taking so long?”

He slanted his eyes at Yu Yi and said to himself, “I’ll go with you to the library tomorrow and beat…… question Xuan Wuzi.”

Yu Yi, “……”

Xiaoshen, “……”

Shang Jiyu kept his promise and sure enough, joined forces with the other one to do two things at the same time – one side suppressed the taming spirit bracelet while the other side changed tactics to help Xiaoshen lift the restriction.

This time around, he spent more energy than power and after a while, his forehead had a layer of sweat.

“Are you guys okay?” Xiaoshen asked.

Shang Jiyu shook his head, “He’s fine. I’m fine too. I just need to rest for a bit.” His eyes closed and calmly asked, “……Is it okay?”

He wasn’t transparent in his motives, yet Xiaoshen knew what he wanted; he probably wanted Xiaoshen to coil around him.

Xiaoshen immediately shook his head, “No.”

Even if he changed his opinion, there were still differences.

Shang Jiyu’s expression was one of disappointment and from his appearance, he seemed to look a bit similar to the other him. Xiaoshen felt vaguely embarrassed, then slowly held Shang Jiyu’s wrist and said, “You can rest.”

Shang Jiyu saw his evil plot was successful and ignored the other Jiyu’s displeasure from within. He took a look at Xiaoshen and felt the comfort from the cool fingers on his wrist. “Mmm.”

Xiaoshen was also tired and closed his eyes as he checked how much of his cultivation had returned.

It was night before he knew it and as he opened his eyes, he had already found Shang Jiyu awake without his knowledge and held his arms as he looked at Xiaoshen deeply.

“Weren’t you resting? What are you looking at?” Xiaoshen groaned.

“I rested.” Shang Jiyu replied.

“!”, Xiaoshen realized they switched as soon as Shang Jiyu opened his mouth, but at that moment, it was hard for Xiaoshen to differentiate the two from their auras.

“You…” Xiaoshen hesitantly began, but didn’t continue.

He was always able to differentiate the two before without a problem, but being together for a while, he sometimes felt that their boundaries became blurry…

Shang Jiyu didn’t speak. He reached out a hand to caress Xiaoshen’s cheeks and pulled Xiaoshen into his lap as he delicately kissed him.

…They were one entity after all. He would become unhappy as well when the other ‘him’ touched Xiaoshen and showed a similar aura as the other one.

He was not even sure whether this ‘him’ could be regarded as the person in Xiaoshen’s mind.

But even if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t let Xiaoshen discover it…

Xiaoshen on the other hand immediately forgot about his own train of thought after being kissed and instead, submerged himself in the elated feeling of human interactions.

……

The next day, at the library.

Sure enough, Shang Jiyu kept his word from yesterday and arrived at the library to make trouble for Xuan Wuzi.

As soon as Xiaoshen arrived, he was subjected to feverish and enthusiastic praises from the vast disciples at the library, who all rushed to welcome him. The corner of his mouth lifted upwards and with a pleased look, he said to Shang Jiyu, “You should hear how they praise me.”

Everyone had barely gotten close to Xiaoshen, yet they were all smiles and flattery and boot-licking praises could be heard from all corners.

Xiaoshen had left early yesterday, but after a day’s reflection, everyone already had a plan. It was definitely not enough to merely recite Yun Ziran’s poems. The Library Master had the best relationship with Martial Uncle and Daomi in the clan. Daomi even took advantage and learned the spell of the phoenix. 

If one thought deeply about it, what was so special about Daomi? Perhaps he had some aspects that the Library Master appreciates? 

Thus: 

“The Library Master arrived so early today! I hope you wouldn’t take it to heart if I offended you in the past. This useless me grew up eating red taros – I have a one track mind.” 

“Hehehe, I was a bit arrogant in the past. Talking big when I only know so much – using such a pompous tone. I hope Teacher was not bothered by it.” 

“Teacher really is making clothes in the clouds – such talent (cut) ² !” 

“It’s a dog’s fortune when a steamed bun lands on the floor. It’s our fortune that Teacher has blessed us with his arrival…”

“Who said this. Who compared us to dogs? In my opinion, I don’t think you can make honey from dung beetles.” 

Xiaoshen, “???” 

Some stood quite far away and cried out in a broken voice. 

“This is called the Dragon King moving to the lands – incredible (leave the sea)!!” ³  

……. 

Xiaoshen, “……” 

His sore spot was stepped on and Xiaoshen blew up in anger. 

It was only because of Daomi’s loyal and devoted care that Xiaoshen excused his garrulous default. What are these people doing? Did they lose their minds???

 

The author has something to say:

Xiaoshen: I put up with one Daomi and hundreds of Daomis appear??