Chapter 268: Qiu Ran

Translated by Kollumceti of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

A few days ago, as You XiaoMo continually mused over the old geezer, the more he felt that the geezer was very strange. Thus, he asked BaiLi XiaoYu to look into the old geezer’s identity.

The BaiLi Family had a large influence in the academy. Having them help with the investigation would be faster than investigating it himself.

But as the old geezer’s identity was quite unusual, the BaiLi Family had to investigate for a few days before they got accurate information. If not for the old geezer notifying him today, he would have nearly forgotten about this matter.

On the way there, You XiaoMo looked at the information in the jade drive as he walked, and then he immediately frowned.

Ling Xiao took the jade drive from his hand and briefly read it. He let out an involuntary smile, “As expected, that old geezer is not that simple.”

“He is certainly not simple, but to have such a master like him is really troublesome.”

After reading the data on the old man, You XiaoMo did not feel any optimism. Instead, he felt that the old geezer was akin to a calamity.

The old geezer’s name was Duan QiTian. He was old as dirt, though no one knew exactly how old he was.

He was one of DaoXin Academy’s Eight Giants. The other seven were the principal, the vice-principal and the Five Elders. But Duan QiTian was the type who was outside all year round, and only when he occasionally remembers will he wander back. In addition, every time he came back, he would bring chaos to the whole academy.

For example, the first day Duan QiTian came back, You XiaoMo met him on the way to class while he was collecting tolls.

At that time, many people had not known that he was back. Thus Ning Jing-daoshi had paled when she heard of his encounter with the old geezer, and advised him not to offend Duan QiTian. That old geezer was really too difficult. He was short-tempered, easily offended, and especially unreasonable. Therefore, many people were very afraid of him.

Duan QiTian had only accepted two disciples in his lifetime, one of which was the previously mentioned Qiu Ran.

As Duan QiTian’s disciple, Qiu Ran brought credit to Duan QiTian’s name, and was currently a level ten mage like his master.

As for the other disciple, there were rumors that his talent was higher than Qiu Ran. But as no one had seen him before, and Duan QiTian rarely brought him up, none knew of his current whereabouts.

However, one thing was certain – it was a great honor to be Duan QiTian’s apprentice.

Ling Xiao patted You XiaoMo’s head, and smirked, “Since that old geezer is a level ten mage, his collection must be big.”

You XiaoMo looked at him in astonishment, “Are you thinking of stealing his things?”

Ling Xiao changed his pat into a swat, and sharply replied, “You’ve already become his disciple and you still need me to steal things for you? Furthermore, that old geezer’s soul perception is quite strong. To secretly steal something from him is a bit difficult.”

You XiaoMo was instantly happy, “Haha, there’s finally something you cannot accomplish!”

Hearing this, Ling Xiao calmly gave his head a knock, “I didn’t hear what you said just now. Repeat what you just said.”

You XiaoMo held his head and shamefully surrendered, “You’ve heard it wrong. I said that you possess remarkable abilities, and no enemy is a match for you.”

Ling Xiao narrowed his eyes, as if to say, if we were not outside now, I would have executed you on the spot. When You XiaoMo saw this, he felt a burst of fear, and immediately did not dare to rejoice in other people’s misfortunes.

But it was undeniably that You XiaoMo had an interest in the old man’s collection.

He was now a level five mage. All the magic pill recipes he used were from the TianXin Sect’s library.

Although the TianXin Sect was a powerful force on the south side, when compared to Yan City’s Four Big Clans on the north, it was not even worth mentioning. Therefore, even though the collection seemed like a lot, it was actually very small and there was a lot of common pill recipes.

Taking the TianLing pill and the Mental Purification pill as an example, many mages had the recipes for these pills, and it could be easily found in the markets. Thus, they were not very valuable.

Therefore, if he wanted to get his hands on other pill recipes, unless he earned points to exchange it with the academy, he could only rely on the old geezer to pass the recipes to him.

After walking for half an hour, the two finally reached their destination.

Guarding the door was a man wearing blue-colored robes. He saw them immediately walking over and asked with slight hesitation, “May I know who is You XiaoMo?”

You XiaoMo nodded and replied, “I am You XiaoMo.”

The man said, “I have received orders from Master Duan to wait for your arrival, please follow me in.” Having said that, he turned around and prepared to walk off.

“Wait a minute.” You XiaoMo quickly called out, and waited for the man to turn his head before asking, “My companion here is together with me. Can he enter?”

The man replied, “Master Duan only told me to bring you in.”

So this means that Ling Xiao can’t enter. You XiaoMo was a little disappointed.

Ling Xiao patted his shoulder, and whispered in his ear, “Go in, ba. I will wait for you outside. Be careful, besides the old geezer, there are two other people inside. They’re very strong.”

You XiaoMo looked at him in surprise, and just when he opened his mouth to reply, he was pushed in by Ling Xiao.

You XiaoMo could only turn back to look at Ling Xiao before he followed the man in. his heart was beating non-stop. That shitty old geezer told him to come over, but didn’t tell him what it was about. If it’s like this, he wouldn’t have any mental preparation at all. He was most afraid of being subjected to provocation from bigwigs. If that happened, he wouldn’t know if he should retaliate or suffer in silence. Arghhhhh, that shitty geezer is such a bastard!

You XiaoMo was roaring in anger on the inside, but there was no expression on his face at all.

He nervously followed the man, and they finally reached their destination.

It was an extremely majestic meeting room. But it may be because it was a little remote, the majesty carried a hint of gloominess, and the atmosphere of the place was a little cold.
The man only escorted him to the entrance. As You XiaoMo walked in, he experienced a little stage fright. However, the first thing that met his eyes was the back of his cheap master, Duan QiTian. In a moment of agitation, he dashed over and shouted, “Shitty old geezer, you’re finally willing to show yourself!”

Duan QiTian was in the midst of talking to some people. When he heard this shout, he was momentarily stunned. Turning around, he discovered his newest disciple had arrived, and was glaring at him with a wrathful expression. Remembering that this disciple was one he had begged to take in, he started to subconsciously explain his actions, “Apprentice ah, master had some secret troubles.”

When the two in the meeting room heard this sentence, they could only stand there staring in astonishment.

This Duan QiTian, famous for his irascible temperament, who only did things his own way, actually took the initiative to explain himself to his disciple!

Of the two people, one person’s eyes were bulging in shock, and there was a look of disbelief on his face.

“Old Duan, is this your new disciple You XiaoMo?” A middle-aged man with dignified features and a mustache walked out of the shadows. He was already over the surprise, and was looking at You XiaoMo with a smile.

Duan QiTian immediately stuck his chest out and said with a proud tone, “That’s correct, he is the third disciple that I’ve taken in. How is he, not bad right?”

Duan QiTian had been back at the academy for more than a month.

As one of the Eight Giants, he had naturally heard of You XiaoMo.

Regarding this apprentice, he was very satisfied. He was extremely pleased and proud of You XiaoMo. This was because when he just returned to the academy, the disciple that he randomly took a fancy to had a higher potential than the baby girl from the Teng Family. Thus, he could not resist a bit of narcissism, and boasted of him in front of a few old friends.

The few old friends had also heard of You XiaoMo, but they would have never thought that the day Duan QiTian came back, he would have managed to take in You XiaoMo as an apprentice due to a freak combination of factors. Whether their encounter was fate or fortune, no one could have prevented it.

There were many teachers in the academy who were interested in You XiaoMo. Some had even prepared to look for You XiaoMo personally, but they were beaten to it by Duan QiTian. One should not mention how deep their regret was.

“Not bad, not bad. No wonder the whole academy was in an uproar. To have cultivated to a high level at such a young age, he is definitely not to be outdone by the baby girl from the Teng Family.”

Duan QiTian proudly smiled, “Of course, how can he be lousier than that girl if he’s my disciple? Tu Er, come over here and greet Vice-Principal Yan.”
(t/n: Tu Er: affectionate way of addressing your disciple)

You XiaoMo was dragged over by Duan QiTian, and when he heard this, he raised his head and curiously looked at Yan Fa. So, this middle-aged man was Elder Brother Gao’s teacher. He really looked very powerful.

You XiaoMo let out a shy smile, “Greetings to Vice-Principal, I am You XiaoMo.”

Yan Fa laughed loudly, “Good, good, good. I have long heard from Gao Yang that he made a friend at the new student admissions, and always wanted to see the person who could make Gao Yang praise them.”

You XiaoMo did not think that Elder Brother Gao would have mentioned him to his teacher, thus he was a little embarrassed. The one standing in front of him was the Vice-Principal of the academy, a very thick and solid thigh ah!
(t/n: Thick and solid thigh: somebody very influential or famous)

“Vice-Principal, may I know how Elder Brother Gao has been doing?” You XiaoMo asked.

Since he was trying to worm his way into being friends with Yan Fa, naturally he would start with the person they were both familiar with. Gao Yang was undoubtedly the best conversation point. Furthermore, ever since You XiaoMo entered the academy, he had not caught a single glimpse of Gao Yang and seldom heard about him.

“He is doing well. When you enter Ward A, you’ll be able to see him.”

When Yan Fa heard him mention Gao Yang, his smile widened. With his insight, he only needed to meet You XiaoMo face-to-face to take a measure of his character. With the fact that he was now Duan QiTian’s apprentice, he would naturally wish for You XiaoMo and Gao Yang to make friends with each other.

Although it was expected, it was a shock to hear it with one’s own ears.

Elder Brother Gao was indeed a student from Ward A. No wonder he not heard of news about him in Ward B.

After that, Yan Fa passed him something.

Yan Fa smiled, “This is a ‘meeting for the first time’ gift!”

You XiaoMo promptly replied with joy, “Thank you, Vice-Principal.” The things that the Vice-Principal gave absolutely would not be something ordinary. He would definitely not hold back.

Duan QiTian seemed to be very satisfied, and kept nodding his head. Then he introduced You XiaoMo to the other man, who was the one had stared at him with bulging eyes.

“Tu Er, this is your Da Shi Xiong, Qiu Ran.”

You XiaoMo nearly did a spit-take. The original owner of the Heavenly Soul Scripture actually appeared in front of him without any warning. He did not have time to mentally prepare himself for this ah!