Both inner- and outer-door disciples alike all received a considerable sum of money from the Peak Master to celebrate this special occasion. Their faces were brimming with smiles. They naturally welcomed Lin Xuanzhi’s arrival — if Lin Xuanzhi had not been a closed-door disciple whom Esteemed Lan Yue personally recognized in front of everyone, they surely would have been happier.

　　However, few people were actually jealous of Lin Xuanzhi. After all, according to their understanding of Esteemed Lan Yue, even if Esteemed Lan Yue didn’t take Lin Xuanzhi in as a disciple, it would still not be their turn to be accepted as his disciple.

　　With the moon high in the night sky, Lin Xuanzhi held a wine glass, muttering to himself irresolutely about whether or not Yan Tianhen had already seen Esteemed Huai Yu, when someone behind him suddenly hugged his neck, and he felt the pressure of a heavy person pressing down on him.

　　Lin Xuanzhi fought back the urge to simply send the person flying with a direct backhand. A cold glass touched his mouth.

　　“Little Martial Brother, today Gege I…hic, I’m so happy!” Wan Yitong clung to Lin Xuanzhi’s shoulder and insisted on stuffing the wine into his mouth, even muttering, “Damn, brat, you’re actually a craftsman as well, shameless, how the fuck do you want others to live now? I heard that you became very famous in Sky Peak City, and now everyone in the Five Continents knows your name…Tsk, next time there’s a good thing like this, remember to take me with you. Oh…but this wine cup is really good. One of these days, accompany Gege in drinking another round!”

　　Lin Xuanzhi had no choice but to drink the wine Wan Yitong stuffed into his mouth. Wan Yitong’s mind wasn’t quite so sober anymore. Seeing him drink it, he immediately broke into rambunctious laughter and insisted on pouring him another glass of wine.

　　Lin Xuanzhi’s face was full of helplessness. He cast his eyes for help toward Hai Kuanglang, who was watching nearby.

　　Hai Kuanglang leaned against a pillar in the main hall, waving the crystal glass in his hand thoughtfully. He smiled, “Old Five is always like this whenever he gets drunk. There’s nothing that can be done, and I can’t help either.”

　　Taking advantage of this occasion, Lin Xuanzhi was once again forced to down a glass of wine by the clingy Wan Yitong.

　　Zhan Fengting was still considered sober and kind-hearted. When he saw that Lin Xuanzhi’s clothes were about to be stripped by Wan Yitong, he hurried over and pulled Wan Yitong’s arm, trying to pull him up from Lin Xuanzhi’s back. However, Wan Yitong still clung to Lin Xuanzhi’s neck and muttered, “I don’t want to, I want to have a heart-to-heart chat with my good Junior Martial Brother. I also have a Junior Martial Brother now; this is my Junior Martial Brother! In the future, Gege will protect you, hic…”

　　Wan Yitong hiccuped. Although the spiritual wine had no unpleasant smell and instead had a kind of fragrant scent, when the sound rushed into Lin Xuanzhi’s ear, he almost jumped up.

　　“All right, all right, one of these days, your Junior Martial Brother will have a psychological shadow because of you.” Nursing a headache, Zhan Fengting put his hands under Wan Yitong’s armpits, wanting to lift him up, but Wan Yitong suddenly acted as though his laughing acupoint had been pressed, roaring with laughter, his body twisting and writhing while rubbing on Lin Xuanzhi.

　　Lin Xuanzhi was finally unable to bear it and was about to get up and pull the person aside when he saw Bei Shitian walking over expressionlessly. Bei Shitian had only shown his face for a little while during the start of the banquet; afterward, he secretly went off to who-knows-where to practice his sword.

　　Bei Shitian directly drew his sword and stabbed towards Wan Yitong’s neck.

　　Wan Yitong was like an arrow that had been launched from the bow. With a clang, he suddenly turned and pulled out the sword that he always kept by his side. He pressed down Bei Shitian’s sword. They coldly stared at each other for a moment. Bei Shitian wanted to withdraw his sword, only to find that it was pressed down by a strong force and couldn’t move an inch.

　　“You dare to draw your sword against me; do you think I’ll let it pass?” Wan Yitong’s pair of peach blossom eyes, which didn’t look very intoxicated, squinted at Bei Shitian. Coldly curling his lips, he stood up straight and increased his strength a little, pressing the light-red sword that was held underneath his own sword down a little further.

　　The atmosphere in the room became tense, and Zhan Fengting’s slight intoxication also disappeared. He quickly came over. “What are you doing? Yitong, put your Beixi away, Xiao Tian, how can you level Lianlian at your own Junior Martial Brother?”

　　“You still fucking dare to use Lianlian?” Wan Yitong’s eyes suddenly became bloodshot and he immediately stabbed towards Bei Shitian’s wrist. Although he was drunk, the hand holding the sword didn’t shake a bit. It looked like he was about to pierce Bei Shitian’s wrist.

　　However, Bei Shitian didn’t just stand there to be beaten or scolded. He suddenly pulled Lianlian back, his figure quickly retreating. At the same time, his sword drew a flower-like pattern in midair, and he leveled Lianlian horizontally in front of him, receiving several blows from Wan Yitong. Wan Yitong was not to be outdone and leaned forward, exchanging several blows with Bei Shitian with loud clangs.

　　Zhan Fengting’s face instantly darkened and he angrily said, “You guys are simply willfully making trouble! Both of you, stop it!”

　　However, Wan Yitong was half drunk and half awake and did not listen to anything at all, while Bei Shitian didn’t want to die or get hurt. Naturally, they wouldn’t stop, so the two fought in this spacious semi-enclosed room.

　　It was obvious that Bei Shitian only defended against Wan Yitong’s attacks, not wanting to prolong this entanglement with Wan Yitong, but it was as if Wan Yitong was a little too worked up. Unexpectedly, he also threw out some killing moves.

　　This escalated matters.

　　Just when Zhan Fengting was about to draw his sword, Hai Kuanglang, who was originally watching from the side, rejoicing in others’ misfortune while wishing for the entire world to descend into chaos, saw Zhan Fengting’s action and quickly pressed down the hand Zhan Fengting used to hold his sword. “Senior Martial Brother, just rest; let me do it.”

　　With that, Hai Kuanglang took a silver-blue multi-jointed whip out of thin air and joined the battle.

　　Even though Lin Xuanzhi was experienced and knowledgeable, he was also a little dazed right now.

　　Inexplicably starting a fight just over a few words, like they saw the enemy who killed their fathers, earnestly wishing to put each other to death. It was said that the relationship between Sinking Sword Peak’s disciples was very strong — in reality, was all that just a pretense?

　　Hai Kuanglang entered the fray. Bei Shitian immediately pulled back his attacks, but Wan Yitong was already overtaken by a battle frenzy, his eyes red, as if he wanted to cripple Bei Shitian’s cultivation. Hai Kuanglang clicked his tongue when he saw that it would no longer do to leave some leeway in his attacks, so he started using some spiritual Qi.

　　His whip danced about like a snake and hooked the hilt of Wan Yitong’s sword. Wan Yitong still wanted to exert his power; only when he heard Hai Kuanglang roar “Enough” did Wan Yitong freeze, like his acupoints had been pressed.

　　The Beixi in his hand was caught by the whip.

　　With a sonorous clang, Beixi fell on the floor. The sound wasn’t originally loud, but in a silent room where no one else was talking, it really seemed particularly abrupt.

　　Wan Yitong silently looked at the sword on the ground, paused for a moment, then wobbled a few times from side to side. Soon after, his eyes closed and he fainted, falling down.

　　However, he did not land on the ground.

　　He fell into Bei Shitian’s arms, or more precisely, it was Bei Shitian’s outstretched hand that propped up Wan Yitong’s back with his palm. As for the other parts…Bei Shitian did not even touch the sleeve of this crazy drunkard.

　　Hai Kuanglang breathed a sigh of relief and put away his whip, standing by with no intention of coming forward to help. “These two little bastards really know how to find trouble. If Master saw this, they would surely be punished to death.”

　　Zhan Fengting frowned as he came over to Bei Shitian, “What in the world is the matter with you two?”

　　Usually, it was just a matter of badmouthing each other. If they really drew their swords at each other, then Zhan Fengting couldn’t treat it like usual.

　　Wan Yitong was as soft as a puddle of mud. Although he didn’t feel much when he drank those glasses of wine, the aftereffects were very strong. Right now, the aftereffects hit him, and Wan Yitong’s crazy drunk phase was over, so he immediately closed his eyes and fell asleep.

　　Bei Shitian revealed a rare helpless expression, looking towards Zhan Fengting and Hai Kuanglang.

　　Hai Kuanglang sneered, “You can solve the trouble you’ve made for yourself.”

　　Bei Shitian could only carry the soft puddle of mud horizontally, but just when he was about to leave, Zhan Fengting stopped him.

　　“Wait.” Zhan Fengting frowned, looking displeased. “What exactly happened? Tell me clearly before you go.”

　　Bei Shitian looked at Zhan Fengting and remained silent for a moment before answering, “He probably doesn’t find me pleasing to the eye.”

　　“What rubbish.” Hai Kuanglang rolled his eyes. “Do you think that your Eldest Martial Brother and I are blind or foolish? Although Laozi doesn’t find you pleasing to the eye either, that’s just because I don’t like how you only have sword cultivation in your mind all day long and don’t put any humans in your heart. But when Wan Yitong saw you, he acted like he saw the enemy who killed his father.”

　　Hai Kuanglang suddenly narrowed his eyes and stared dangerously at Bei Shitian. “Could it be that you’ve done something you shouldn’t have to Wan Yitong?”

　　Consternation flashed across Bei Shitian’s face. “What can I do to him? Even if his skill with the sword is not higher than mine, it’s still equal to mine.”

　　Hai Kuanglang looked at Bei Shitian’s slightly bewildered face and felt that his head was about to explode. He waved his hand, “Fine, fine. You can deal with this brat; just throw him down somewhere. I’m too lazy to care about him.”

　　After cursing two more sentences, Hai Kuanglang turned to Zhan Fengting. “Senior Martial Brother, let’s disperse as well.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi, who had been watching this whole time, finally got up and walked over. “The night is already deep. The two senior brothers might as well go back to rest first.”

　　Zhan Fengting was somewhat helpless. “I let you see a joke. This is only your first day here; I hope it didn’t frighten you?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi gave a slight smile, “My courage is not that small.”

　　Hai Kuanglang glanced at him, “If it’s not that small, then why did you hide so far just now? In my opinion, the two of them are sword cultivators and you are also a sword cultivator. You should have been the one to stop them before.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi leisurely explained, “Of the two of them, one had the intent to kill while the other had no will to fight. The one with killing intent also happened to be drunk, while the one who had no will to fight was as sober as one can be. Fundamentally, this fight wouldn’t escalate further.”

　　What’s more, he had no sword in his hand.

　　Lin Xuanzhi naturally had other ways to stop the two without using a sword, but he couldn’t guarantee that the two would not be injured.

　　So Lin Xuanzhi would rather not move.

　　Bei Shitian had already walked to the door, carrying Wan Yitong.

　　Suddenly, his body froze.

　　Lin Xuanzhi looked at the door and knew the reason.

　　“Master.” Bei Shitian greeted.

　　He held Wan Yitong in his arms, so it was not convenient to salute. Thus, he directly put Wan Yitong on the ground.

　　Wan Yitong, who was supposed to be drunk and lethargic, unexpectedly flipped himself up the instant he touched the ground, almost like a carp. He rigidly saluted Esteemed Lan Yue, who was standing in front of him, “Master.”

　　Esteemed Lan Yue just looked at the two of them coldly, obviously having witnessed the earlier scene.

　　Wan Yitong thickened his skin, “Master, it’s so late, why are you still here?”

　　Esteemed Lan Yue ignored him and walked past the two people, entering the room.

　　A few other people also saluted in succession, but when Lin Xuanzhi saluted, Esteemed Lan Yue deliberately avoided his salute.

　　Esteemed Lan Yue looked around, “It just so happens that we are all here today.”

　　Zhan Fengting said, “What teaching does Master have?”

　　“Today I accepted Huarong as my disciple, but I haven’t given him a first-time meeting gift yet. That won’t do.”

　　The gifts Master gave disciples upon first meeting were just like the gifts disciples gave to their Master once they formally accepted that person as their teacher — they were all customs and traditions. Some families’ disciples even gave priceless treasures as gifts in order to become accepted as disciples by certain people. However, Esteemed Lan Yue didn’t have so many rules. He only received a magic weapon for self-defense from Lin Xuanzhi. Although it was not too rare an item for Esteemed Lan Yue, the most important thing was the disciple’s kind intentions.

　　“I originally intended to find Zhige for you as a meeting gift, but now that I think about it, I’m afraid that that sword holds special meaning for you, and you would rather find it yourself.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi was slightly shocked, then nodded, “Yes, I must find the Zhige sword myself.”