Chapter 58 - A Silent Breakthrough (1/2)

Chapter 58: A Silent Breakthrough

At Gu Xichun’s words, the gates of Green Vine Sword School suddenly quieted.

Nearby, Xu Heshan, Xie Changsheng and the others stopped talking. Xu Heshan couldn’t help but shake his head. “Even if he has such ambition, he does not need to speak it in public just to flaunt his exceptional nature.” he said, with slight disdain.

Xu Heshan was slightly convinced and added softly. “At least he has such spirit.”

There were students from a dozen cultivation places gathered here. Yet of them, only three or four of these cultivation places qualified to join the Min Mountain Sword Trials. Of the handful that qualified, perhaps only Gu Xichun would dare to say such a thing. The others knew that they were not strong enough and would only be minor characters in the sword trials.

Obviously, Gu Xichun could not guarantee that he would secure a chance to join Min Mountain Sword Sect to study from the sword trials. Yet, this had been his goal. Compared to the people around, who would never associate themselves with such a sword trial, his words naturally implied that he was far more aspiring than these short-sighted ones.

Xu Heshan, Xie Changsheng and the others felt that Gu Xichun had the attributes to be proud so they could only speak in hushed tones and challenge Gu Xichun openly. But some students present were of high births and not as strong as Gu Xichun.

After a brief silence, someone could not resist. “Brother Gu has great aspirations, and we naturally cannot rival you. But if this Ding Ning of White Goat Cave is really like An Baoshi of Spirit Void Sword Sect and Jin Liuli of Min Mountain Sword Sect, and reaches Energy Refinement in a month, if he has cultivation speed similar to those two, perhaps when the Min Mountain Sword Trials is held, he will be a great opponent for you.” he said, lightly

“Really?”Gu Xichun looked at that person and smiled slightly. He said, “We are idle in our wait, how about we make a bet? Let’s see if Ding Ning can have a breakthrough and reach Energy Refinement in a month.”

Such words, a majority of people present found uninteresting.

Because up until yesterday, everyone was certain Ding Ning had not had a breakthrough. Using today as the deadline, the odds that Ding Ning could have a breakthrough were minuscule.

In reality, everyone present felt that the wine shop youth of White Goat Cave could not reach Energy Refinement in a month. ‘Energy Refinement in a month’, now a saying was thanks to the two eccentrics from Spirit Void Sword Sect and Min Mountain Sword Sect.

Could Ding Ning, perchance indeed reach Energy Refinement within a month?

Most people would bet against. Even if a minority bet for, the majority would not win much.

Out of nowhere, a slightly young albeit rebellious voice sounded. “Alright, if that’s so, I bet three mica knife money that Ding Ning could have a breakthrough today.”

Hiss…

Gasps sounded at the gates of Green Vine Sword School.

All the gazes converged on this person.

One mica knife money was worth five hundred gold. Three mica was a thousand and five hundred gold. Most of the students here most likely could not produce such a sum at once.

All the students took this person’s words in jest. But when they saw him retrieve three knife-shaped coins from his sleeve, reality proved otherwise.

This was Xie Changsheng of White Cloud Monastery. The Xie Family possessed enormous wealth. Other people could not gamble the thousand and five hundred gold, but he could.

“What are you doing?” Xu Heshan looked on in disbelief from next to Xie Changsheng..

“Money is just a material thing.” Xie Changsheng twisted his mouth and responded softly.

In reality, when Gu Xichun was ridiculing the crowd, he was slightly displeased. When he saw Gu Xichun make a wager out of pride, he could not hold himself back.

“Oh?” Gu Xichun saw it was Xie Changsheng and wanted to speak to the other.

Just as he was about to speak and agree to the wager, the sound of approaching horses sounded.

“Xie Changsheng!1 Is our family’s money not money? You think you can waste all you want when it reaches your hands?”

“Xie Changsheng!1 You think since Father named you so, you can indeed, always, win all your bets?” An irate female voice echoed along the mountain paths along the snap of reins.

Xie Changsheng shuddered and his face paled.

“What is this?” Xue Heshang looked along with the crowd. He saw a tall young woman with angry eyes flash out of a parked carriage.

This young woman had a beautiful face and a proportionate figure. Her hair was coiled up using a green jade hairpin making it appear even longer and thinner.

“Who is she?” Xu Heshang couldn’t help but ask Xie Changsheng next to him. “Great Sky”, two words were embroidered on this young woman’s blue robes. He knew this was a student of the Great Sky Palace. Historically, Great Sky Palace had been invited by Green Vine Sword School. But in the many previous years, Great Sky Palace had only a few students, and he had never seen this young woman before.

“She is my older sister, Xie Rou. Her name means gentle, but she is anything but.” Xie Changsheng whispered with a grimace.

Xu Heshan could not understand. He thought, even if this was his older sister, he did not have to fear her so.

“I cannot defeat her. Also, as we are studying, Father has her in charge of the money. I need to receive from her …” Xie Changsheng seemed to guess Xu Heshan’s thoughts and added softly.

Xu Heshan’s eyes turned to a gaze of understanding. He was filled with sympathy towards Xie Changsheng. He was used to see Xie Changsheng spend money like it were dirt. If Xie Changsheng, who was used to spending money casually, had no money to spend, then he would be in great discomfort. Perhaps, it would affect his cultivation progress.

“Then why does she call you Xie Changsheng?” Looking at the tall angry young woman coming closer, Xu Heshan lowered his voice.