Chapter 207: Stay Away from Your Third Senior Sister
Cheng Lingshuang was exceptionally bright. Even when it came to the mundane task of learning to read and write, a single glance was all it took for the characters to imprint themselves in her memory. Watching this effortless display made Su Mei grind her teeth in sheer envy.
However, to maintain her dignified image as a senior sister, Su Mei swallowed her pride. She was far too embarrassed to ask Rovel to tutor them instead, leaving her to silently endure the grueling hardship of literacy on her own.
There was, at least, one silver lining to this arrangement: she wasn't being mercilessly hounded by Rovel to practice her Sword Forms.
Whether trading physical exhaustion for mental torment was a net gain remained up for debate, but for the moment, Su Mei relished the rare opportunity to slack off.
During the days Lin Chaoyu spent away from the mountain, the culinary duties fell squarely onto Rovel's shoulders. He handled the fire and the ingredients with practiced ease, producing meals that tasted remarkably similar to their eldest senior sister's cooking.
Truthfully, Rovel was far more accustomed to fiery, heavily spiced dishes that left the tongue numb. But considering Cheng Lingshuang's young age and delicate palate, he deliberately kept the menu light and mild.
Fortunately, the newly arrived sister duo, Jiang Wanxi and Jiang Wanru, were far from picky. Before their harrowing stint at the Holy Fire Cult, their living conditions had been less than stellar; warm, clean food was a luxury they deeply appreciated.
Su Mei, on the other hand, harbored a mountain of grievances. She possessed a heavy palate, craving rich, savory, and salty flavors. The bland, health-conscious meals Rovel served up over the past few days were driving her absolutely crazy.
Yet, lacking even the most basic culinary skills herself, she had no choice but to swallow whatever Rovel placed in her bowl.
If she dared to throw a tantrum and refuse to eat, the solution was brutally simple: Rovel would just cook one less portion the next day without batting an eye.
Sneaking down the mountain to buy snacks was entirely out of the question for Su Mei. A powerful illusion, woven through the deep power of Fenghuang Down, blanketed the entirety of Taixu Mountain.
Its primary purpose was to deter unwanted intruders from scaling the peaks, but it served a highly effective secondary function: keeping a certain restless junior sister from slipping away.
Given Su Mei's current level of strength, breaking through such a high-tier illusion was a pipe dream. And while Rovel certainly possessed the capability to bypass it, he flatly refused to aid and abet her mischief.
In Su Mei's disgruntled eyes, Rovel was nothing short of an old fogey trapped in a young boy's body. He did everything strictly by the book, followed Red Kite's instructions to the letter, and spent every spare second relentlessly practicing his swordplay.
Spitefully, she slapped him with the nickname 'Sword Nerd.'Rovel couldn't care less about the moniker. As long as she wasn't calling him'Second Senior Brother,' she could call him whatever she pleased.
After successfully memorizing the Sword Heart Mantra, Cheng Lingshuang essentially became Rovel's little shadow. Aside from her daily reading and writing lessons, she clung to him.
Wherever Rovel's footsteps led, she trailed quietly behind.
When she had no specific tasks, she would sit obediently on the sidelines, her dark eyes tracking Rovel's fluid movements as he practiced his swordplay, her small lips moving in a continuous, silent recitation of the Sword Heart Mantra.
By the time Lin Chaoyu and Red Kite finally returned to the mountain, five days had slipped by.
And within that incredibly brief span of five days, Cheng Lingshuang had completely formed her Sword Heart, stepping firmly into the world of Still Water.
This monstrous rate of progress nearly shattered Su Mei's Dao heart. Previously, she had been incredibly smug about forming her own Sword Heart in three months, constantly boasting that she was on the verge of breaking through to the Dustless realm. She had even flaunted her progress in front of Rovel on multiple occasions.
Now, an absolute freak of nature had arrived, condensing her Sword Heart in a mere five days.
'Is she even human?' Su Mei thought, staring at the young girl in despair.
Jiang Wanxi and Jiang Wanru were equally shell-shocked. 'We all joined at the exact same time, so why are you ascending to the heavens while we're still stuck in the mud?'
They hadn't even reached a proficient level of reciting the Sword Heart Mantra without stumbling over the words, yet this little girl had already formed the core itself?
Was there no justice in this world? No logic?
The only person capable of offering them a shred of comfort was Rovel.
Despite never having formed a Sword Heart himself, Rovel possessed an overwhelming, terrifying strength. He was the monster who had instantly obliterated Yan Shiluo, a man widely recognized as the 'Second Under Heaven.'
According to Su Mei's whispered gossip, Rovel's combat prowess had most likely eclipsed even Lin Chaoyu's.
And Lin Chaoyu's Sword Heart had already reached the Dustless stage.
From this, the sisters deduced a comforting theory: a high Sword Heart realm didn't automatically equate to absolute power.
Perhaps their innate talents simply weren't geared toward the Sword Heart. Maybe, like Rovel, their true potential lay hidden within Form Essence and Soul Essence?
However, the moment they actually began learning the Sword Forms, that comforting illusion shattered. Why were these movements so impossibly complex?
Forget mastering one Sword Form a day; even given a full month of grueling practice, they weren't confident they could perfect a single stance.
Then, Su Mei casually dropped another bombshell: Rovel routinely learned three or four distinct Sword Forms in a single afternoon. Instantly, the sisters' perception of Rovel shifted from comforting peer to inhuman monster.
What were they supposed to do? Looming ahead of them was an exceptionally talented senior brother whose shadow covered the entire mountain, and pressing closely from behind was a monstrously gifted junior sister with a crystal-clear Sword Heart.
It wasn't just Jiang Wanxi and Jiang Wanru feeling the heat. Even Su Mei felt an invisible mountain of pressure resting on her shoulders, prompting her to unconsciously extend her daily Sword Form practice by several hours.
For a brief period, the normally tranquil atmosphere atop Taixu Mountain transformed into a fiercely competitive training ground.
Rovel, of course, knew exactly why Cheng Lingshuang's Sword Heart realm advanced at such a terrifying pace. Beyond her innate, almost supernatural affinity for the sword, there was a far more critical factor at play.
She was a natural Stigmata Awakener.
Not only did she possess an astronomically high resistance to Honkai Energy, but her innate capacity to manipulate and channel that destructive force was practically unrivaled.
Because of this, the Sword Heart Mantra didn't need to painstakingly reconstruct her physical form. Her body was already a perfect vessel for Honkai Energy, rivaling the structural integrity of a Herrscher.
As long as her mental state aligned with the necessary philosophical heights, her Sword Heart would naturally shatter its bottlenecks and advance.
Rovel privately estimated that, at most, it would take Cheng Lingshuang another month to break through to the Dustless realm.
She was simply too pure. So utterly unblemished that she resembled a living blade.
She was a flawless sword embryo, merely waiting for the right hammer to forge her into a divine weapon.
Cheng Lingshuang's explosive progress naturally caught Red Kite's attention as well. But after carefully examining the young girl's body and finding no hidden dangers or unstable energy currents, the immortal master chose to remain silent.
As the population of Taixu Mountain slowly grew, the once-desolate peaks began to echo with the lively sounds of youth.
Through some unknown, insidious method, Su Mei successfully corrupted Jiang Wanxi and Jiang Wanru, leading them entirely astray. Soon enough, the twin sisters were also cheerfully addressing Rovel as 'Second Senior Brother.'
Rovel felt a deep sense of helplessness regarding this development. Aside from dragging them out to the courtyards for extra, grueling rounds of Sword Form practice, he couldn't think of any appropriate way to punish them.
Fortunately, Cheng Lingshuang remained untainted. Trailing faithfully behind him, she always looked up with her large, dark eyes and obediently called him 'Senior Brother.'
"Rovel, you will accompany me down the mountain this time," Red Kite instructed, her tone brooking no argument.
"Yes, Master." Rovel nodded, immediately accepting the assignment.
Beside him, Cheng Lingshuang's small hands tightly gripped the hem of his robes. She refused to let go, her dark, unblinking eyes staring up at him in silent protest.
"I need to go down the mountain with Master to eliminate some demons," Rovel said softly, gently prying her fingers loose. "For the next few days, you should focus on studying your Sword Forms with Senior Sister Chaoyu."
Even after saying this, a lingering sense of unease gnawed at him. He crouched down, bringing himself to eye level with the young girl, and leaned in close to whisper in her ear.
"Remember to stay far away from your Third Senior Sister. She loves to play tricks and mess around; she doesn't have a serious bone in her body. For a cultivator, the absolute worst taboo is becoming impetuous. You must never let her lead you astray."
He gripped her small shoulders, his expression turning entirely serious. "Did you remember all that?"
"...Mm!" Cheng Lingshuang nodded vigorously, her face a mask of solemn determination.
Rovel finally smiled, satisfied with her promise. "Go on, then. I'll be back in a few days."
Only then did Cheng Lingshuang reluctantly tear her gaze away from him, turning on her heel to jog off in search of Lin Chaoyu.
"Is your relationship with Su Mei truly that strained?" Red Kite asked, her voice carrying a casual, airy tone as they prepared to depart.
Clearly, the whisper Rovel had just directed at Cheng Lingshuang had not escaped his master's sharp ears.
"She's far too lively. Her personality still carries a heavy streak of childish mischief," Rovel replied, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Although she puts on a perfectly sensible and obedient act in front of you and Senior Sister Chaoyu, the moment you're out of sight, she turns into a genuine little demoness around me."
Red Kite glanced at him, a faint, almost imperceptible amusement in her eyes. "You are only eleven years old yourself," she reminded him mildly.
Rovel fell silent for a long moment, scrambling to find a suitable excuse for his old-soul demeanor.
"...I'm just a bit more precocious," he finally muttered.
"...Mm." Red Kite didn't bother to deny it, turning her gaze toward the path leading down the mountain.
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