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[fic] A fish of a small stream leaping out, seeing countless branches (Part 3)
Fandom: Cultivation Chat Group (novel)
Characters: White Two, Senior White, Song Shuhang, Lady Onion
Rating: T
White Two has a few interesting dreams. Set during some vague time after chapter 1535.
A fish of a small stream leaping out, seeing countless branches
Part 3: The very tired Senior White Two
“What’s done is done,” the other ‘White’ said. “He can fight me for it again next time.”
“That’s if there is a next time,” White Two said. He smiled and lightly patted Lady Onion on the shoulder. “My new little sister here just said she’s going to be the Wielder for the next trillion years.”
“???” Lady Onion.
“???” the other ‘White’.
“???!” Song Shuhang.
For a moment, they were all dumbfounded.
It was extremely satisfying.
“Little sister? Me?” Lady Onion said.
White Two said, “Sure. We were both born from the essence of the Netherworld Realm itself. At the very least, you’re my junior, but it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say you’re my little sister.”
“Wahhh, Senior White Rabbit, you’re actually really nice,” Lady Onion said, and she burst into tears.
“...” White Two.
This was the strangest cultivation technique.
“So does that make the fat metal ball your little brother?” Song Shuhang said thoughtfully.
“...” White Two.
“Little friend Shuhang, if you don’t say that again, I’ll ensure your death is a painless one,” White Two said, flexing his fingers.
“Wait, Senior White, I’m your guest. You wouldn’t hurt a guest, right?” Song Shuhang said.
“An uninvited guest, as my darling little sister so kindly pointed out,” White Two said with a smile. “Now stay still while I kill you. I promise I’ll revive you again right after.”
Song Shuhang yelped and ducked behind the other ‘White’. “Senior White, I was wrong! Let’s just be happy for Lady Onion, okay? Senior White, save meeee!”
“You brought this on yourself,” the other ‘White’ said mildly.
“Hahaha, my big brother is the best! Let’s kill Song Shuhang!” Lady Onion cheered through her tears.
“Senior White, don’t be like this!” Song Shuhang cried, still hiding behind the other ‘White’, who, despite his seeming indifference, hadn’t yet moved out of the way.
White Two’s smile softened a bit in spite of himself.
Sure, Daozi becoming the next Wielder would have been interesting too, but...
This wasn’t so bad, actually.
“Senior White! Senior White, wake up!”
Along with this voice calling to him, someone was shaking his shoulder.
The shaking was very comfortable and relaxing, but the loud voice was not. Senior White Two frowned a little and slowly opened his eyes.
Squatting down next to him was Song Shuhang. Beyond him was a familiar stretch of pasture near the ‘living spring’ that sat at the heart of Song Shuhang’s Inner World. The entrance of the tunnel that connected his own world of the black lotus to Song Shuhang’s Inner World wasn’t far from here.
As soon as he saw that Senior White Two was awake, Song Shuhang stopped shaking him. “Senior White, you’re awake! Are you okay? Did something happen?”
To tell the truth, when Song Shuhang had first noticed Senior White Two sleeping in his Inner World, he hadn’t thought much of it. After all, Senior White Two really liked sleeping! Maybe he’d just felt like taking a nap somewhere different today, and the Inner World was a better place than most to do it.
If it was Senior White, Song Shuhang wouldn’t be surprised by anything he decided to do.
But after taking a second look, he’d felt like maybe something else had happened instead. For one thing, Senior White Two was lying in a crater (luckily, it was a very shallow one!), and he did look much more like someone who had just fallen over where he’d been standing than someone who had deliberately picked this spot to take a nap.
Not to mention, wasn’t Senior White Two’s main body already asleep? So why would he want to also come here to sleep? Surely even he didn’t love sleeping that much.
Now that he was awake, Song Shuhang felt a a sense of relief, but he also had a niggling feeling that it might have been his fault.
Senior White Two slowly sat up, his hand pressed against his forehead. He felt groggy and very disoriented, like he still had one foot stuck in the dreamworld.
“I fell asleep...?” he murmured.
Earlier, he’d been planning to head out into the main world to play around for a bit, but he’d decided to take a short stroll through Shuhang’s Inner World first. The Inner World was regularly evolving and being added to, so it was always very interesting to see what might have changed since the last time he’d passed through.
But he’d only been here for a few minutes when he’d suddenly felt a wave of sleepiness crash down on him. It was like being swept up by a tsunami; there had been no stopping it. The most he could do was restrain his strength before falling over, so as not to damage the Inner World too much, and then he fell unconscious.
He hadn’t even known his projections could fall asleep!
“Huh? Senior White, you don’t know either?” At this time, Song Shuhang was looking very concerned. But after he thought about it for a moment, he scratched the back of his head and said sheepishly, “Ahaha, then maybe it was that. I got pulled into the dreamland earlier, so maybe when you came by, you were also affected by it?”
Senior White Two eyed him curiously. “Into the dreamland?”
“Ah, it has to do with an innate skill I have.”
“Oh, that dreamland. Right, I know about that innate skill of yours.”
That innate skill allowed Song Shuhang to experience the lives and memories of other people in his dreams. Senior White Two had noticed it the first time they had spoken—maybe because that had also been in a dreamland.
It was a skill that unnerved him a bit, if he was being honest. He had no idea what, exactly, set it off, so he had no idea how to keep that innate skill from locking on to him next.
It was probably only because of the main world White’s heavens-defying luck that Song Shuhang hadn’t ended up dreaming about his life yet, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was only a matter of time.
“Does that innate skill of yours usually affect the person you’re dreaming about?” Senior White Two asked.
“I don’t think so?” Song Shuhang said. “Sometimes if there’s a powerful big shot involved, they’ll notice that I’m there, but it’s while they’re still in that time. I haven’t noticed it affecting anyone otherwise...but most of the people I’ve dreamed about were already dead, too.”
Senior White Two sent him a sharp glance. He had been able to discern the basic structure of Song Shuhang’s innate skill, but he hadn’t realized it had something to do with time...
“But Senior White, my dream didn’t have anything to do with you, anyway,” Song Shuhang said.
“Then what were you dreaming about?” Senior White Two asked.
“Oh, it was a continuation of one I had a while ago...to be honest, it wasn’t very interesting. But I got a good technique out of it,” Song Shuhang said with a smile.
Senior White Two nodded silently and continued rubbing his forehead. The feeling of grogginess had mostly faded by now, but the disorientation was still somewhat there.
Song Shuhang asked curiously, “Senior White, what were you dreaming about?”
Senior White Two smiled faintly. “Heh.”
Song Shuhang really had no fear toward him whatsoever, did he? Although that was something he didn’t dislike...most of the time.
He lowered his hand and stared at it. “The eyes of God, gazing into the future...”
Song Shuhang: “?”
But Senior White Two just shook his head. “Never mind.”
Even if that technique did produce an effect similar to what he’d just experienced—and he didn’t know if it did—he didn’t have the qualifications to activate it. Probably, no one currently existing in the universe did. His dreams had probably just been normal dreams.
Even though he couldn’t shake the feeling that there had been more to them than that...but maybe they really had just been influenced by Song Shuhang’s dreamland skill.
“Shuhang, have you ever thought about whether that little monster pet of yours could become the Wielder of the Will?” Senior White Two said suddenly.
The Inner World seemed to be a place even the Wielder of the Will couldn’t access easily, so they could safely talk about it here.
“You mean Lady Onion?” Song Shuhang eyed him curiously. Was that was Senior White Two had been dreaming about...? “I haven’t thought about it much. Why?”
Senior White Two shrugged and said, “Since she’s with you most of the time, she’s probably seen and heard and experienced a lot of the same things you have. And she was chosen by the Nine Virtues Phoenix Saber. Even though her cultivation has been slow, she seems to have potential.”
“Haha, her cultivation has been slow mostly because she had a couple of very unfortuitous encounters early on,” Song Shuhang said. “Since she’s been with me, it’s been much faster than average.”
“Naturally,” Senior White Two said.
Song Shuhang himself seemed to be a walking ‘fortuitous encounter’. Anyone who got caught in his orbit should naturally be able to advance very quickly, though perhaps not as quickly as he was.
No, not “perhaps.”
Definitely not.
Literally no one had ever advanced as quickly as Song Shuhang.
His speed of advancement even put the super-cool and ultra-amazing Scholarly Sage to shame.
“Anyway, it’s funny you singled out Lady Onion,” Song Shuhang said thoughtfully. “The person who planted that green onion and gave it the opportunity to become a monster onion did so because he had a sudden feeling that it could become the Wielder of the Will someday. So maybe she will. But if she does, I feel like it won’t be until next time,” he added with a laugh. “Even if she has sped up, Lady Onion still has a long way to go before she can become Immortal.”
Senior White Two reached out and poked him in the forehead. “Don’t let your speed get to your head. You’ve still got a long way to go, too.”
Song Shuhang fell back on his butt and rubbed at his forehead, bewildered. “I didn’t say anything about me, though? I know I have a long way to go. I don’t even know where to start in figuring out a ‘path’, much less how to do it. It’s way too early for me to worry about that, anyway.”
“I don’t think any time is ‘too early’ when it comes to you,” Senior White Two said.
However, with Song Shuhang’s luck, he’d have some kind of near-death experience that would give him an epiphany right when he needed it. If he managed to survive long enough to reach Ninth Stage, Senior White Two wasn’t all that worried about him being able to step onto his ‘path’ when the time was right.
And if he kept advancing at this ludicrous pace, he might even have a chance to fight for the position of Wielder of the Will this time around.
I hope it’s you... Senior White Two thought suddenly.
Even though it would be very interesting for another ‘White’ to appear in the Netherworld Realm, or for that little monster onion to become his ‘little sister’, when Senior White Two really thought about having to put up with someone new for the next thousands of years...
It would be great if it was Song Shuhang.
Things were always interesting when Song Shuhang was around. He had a knack for ending up in interesting places and finding new, even more interesting ways to get himself into trouble. If that hadn’t been the case, Senior White Two would have stopped listening to his pleas for help a long time ago.
And if Song Shuhang made him angry, it would definitely be fun to beat him into the ground, too.
It might be nice to have a substitute for that fat ball that he didn’t actually hate. Someone he could fight with one day and go exploring with the next. Senior White Two had his pets, but it wasn’t really the same.
Song Shuhang paused and glanced up at him. “Senior White, did you say something just now?”
Ah, careless. He was entirely too used to talking to Shuhang through his mind, it would seem.
Senior White Two stood up, casually brushing nonexistent dirt from his pants. “Nope. Anyway, Shuhang, what do you have planned for today? Anything fun?”
“I don’t really have anything planned for today,” Song Shuhang said apologetically as he also got to his feet. “I still need to do my morning exercises, and I need to try out the technique I got in the dreamland, but after that I was hoping it might be a quiet day today.”
He sighed a little as he said it. It had been a while since he could count on having a quiet day.
“Hmm, all right. In that case, I’ll accompany you for a bit while you practice,” Senior White Two said.
“Eh? Senior White, you want to come with me?” Song Shuhang said in shock.
Senior White Two pulled out his special presence-concealing sheet and slung it over his shoulders. “Mm-hm. I’m in a pretty good mood today, so maybe I’ll even give you a few tips, too.”
Song Shuhang was easy to read as ever; while he was clearly surprised by this turn of events, he was also thrilled. After all, even if it was only one or two little tips, if they were from someone as experienced as Senior White Two, he’d still benefit greatly! Even if all Senior White Two decided to do was just stand there, that would be fine too!
He’d also learned well from their previous encounters. He left his Inner World right away before Senior White Two could even think of complaining about him being slow or changing his mind, and even sent him a message that no one else was around just before bringing Senior White Two out as well.
Truly, he was the kind of thoughtful junior that would make other seniors weep with envy.
Senior White Two used the power of space to directly take them a nearby forest, where Song Shuhang often came to practice. It was fairly secluded, so it was unlikely for anyone to accidentally come across them.
Song Shuhang immediately started going through the routine of a fist technique. They were both very aware that Senior White Two ‘s time in the main world might be limited, and it was best to do things as quickly as possible.
Senior White Two hugged the sheet a bit tighter around his shoulders as he watched Song Shuhang moving around.
So far, he hadn’t had any problems using this sheet to sneak an avatar back into the main world. Just as he hadn’t been able to sense the position of someone wearing it, it would seem the Wielder itself couldn’t either.
However, he wasn’t so stupid as to believe it would work forever. Moreover, the more times he used this trick, the more likely it was that it would be seen through.
For now, he should be fine as long as he didn’t actively seek death, but he knew that could change at any moment.
Being on the blacklist of the [Heaven’s Will] was truly exhausting!
Senior White Two had nothing to say about his fist techniques, so Song Shuhang moved on to saber techniques next.
He thought about it for a moment, then pulled out his treasured saber Broken Tyrant to start working through some very basic saber techniques. It would be a good warm-up, then he could move on to the handful of actual techniques that he knew.
This wasn’t always the order he did things in...but maybe because Senior White Two was here, he was inspired to do things in this order today.
Indeed, as Song Shuhang moved through the basic forms, Senior White Two suddenly frowned and pinched his chin in thought.
He had watched Song Shuhang wield a saber a few times, but usually it was to use that special flaming saber technique of his, or that defensive one. Normally, it would be boring to watch him practice basic forms instead, but something about it caught his eye.
“This saber technique...” Senior White Two muttered.
It felt very familiar.
Song Shuhang paused and laughed awkwardly. “Ahaha, Senior White, you were actually able to tell...”
“Did that other ‘White’ teach you?” Senior White Two guessed.
This seemed like a perfectly reasonable explanation. Song Shuhang was around that other ‘White’ so much that he probably knew a lot of things that Senior White Two would find familiar.
But the look that crossed Song Shuhang’s face suggested there was more to it than that. That conflicted look was very easy to read; he wanted to explain a little more about it, because he knew Senior White Two was curious, but talking about it would mean seeking death big time...
Senior White Two sighed and looked up at the sky.
He suddenly felt very tired.
“Just say what you want to say. I’ll give you one free pass. I’m sure you know where the line is by now,” Senior White Two said.
This time, the look that crossed Song Shuhang’s face was full of doubt. But knowing that Senior White Two might strike him down anyway had never stopped Song Shuhang from seeking death before, and it didn’t now.
“Well, it’s like this,” Song Shuhang said carefully. “When Senior White first came out of seclusion as a Venerable, he didn’t have full control over his illusory reality yet. It would often come out while he was meditating and everyone around him would get caught up in it. And his illusory reality is that desert with the young man in green robes leading a white horse and constantly practicing martial arts. Cough, so I learned the basics from him...”
“...” Senior White Two.
Song Shuhang laughed hollowly and added, “Ah, but later while we were filming ❮Apocalypse War❯, Senior White gave me a personal lesson too so I could keep up with him during fight scenes. So I guess it’s not surprising you would think it’s familiar...”
“...” Senior White Two.
Sure enough, it had to do with his black history!
As soon as Song Shuhang started getting nervous, Senior White Two had known it must have something to do with that. Even though he had promised to give him a free pass and Song Shuhang had been very careful not to say anything particularly dangerous, Senior White Two still felt a strong urge to throw him directly into space.
But this was a matter had had actually been curious about for a while: how did Song Shuhang even know about his black history?
Getting an answer to that question was the only reason he’d allowed Song Shuhang to say anything about it.
Senior White Two was somewhat relieved to learn that it hadn’t been that innate skill of his. That had been his suspicion, because Song Shuhang only ever sought death with that one particular event, but it was good to get confirmation of it.
Unfortunately, he was still left with another mystery he had yet to solve: how that other ‘White’ knew about his black history.
The other ‘White’ was considerably younger than he was. The two of them should have lived completely different lives. Both of them having that kind of history was too much of a coincidence.
Senior White Two had a suspicion about this, too, but he still hadn’t been able to confirm it.
“Hmm. Well, in that case, allow me to continue where he left off,” said Senior White Two.
He carefully adjusted the sheet to ensure it would stay wrapped around him through all the movement. Then, he pulled out his copy of the Tyrant Cuttlefish’s Twin Blades.
“Ah...?” said Song Shuhang.
“It’s pathetic that you’re already this strong, and you still only know some basic moves. That reflects poorly on me as your senior, too, you know,” said Senior White Two. “Come, take out another saber and let’s get started. We’re running out of time. If you keep staring at me like an idiot, don’t blame me if I kill you by accident.”
With that completely adequate warning out of the way, Senior White Two darted forward to begin his assault.
“Senior White, don’t be like this!” Song Shuhang sputtered, but luckily, he was able to pull out his own pair of Tyrant Cuttlefish’s Twin Blades just in time to stop Senior White Two from slicing him in half.
Senior White Two was careful to control his strength so Song Shuhang could still have some hope of keeping up with him, and he had to admit, Song Shuhang was a natural talent with the saber. Even though he clearly had little experience with dual sabers, he quickly picked up on what Senior White Two was showing him and started applying—and even modifying—that knowledge immediately.
It was just too bad that no matter how talented Song Shuhang was at sabers, no matter how much Senior White Two controlled his strength, Song Shuhang actually had no chance of keeping up with him at all.
What a pity that Senior White Two mostly just ended up beating Song Shuhang to the ground.
Yep, it really was just such a shame.
◁◁ Part 2: The Ninth Cultivator of True Virtue
Characters: White Two, Senior White, Song Shuhang, Lady Onion
Rating: T
White Two has a few interesting dreams. Set during some vague time after chapter 1535.
Part 3: The very tired Senior White Two
“What’s done is done,” the other ‘White’ said. “He can fight me for it again next time.”
“That’s if there is a next time,” White Two said. He smiled and lightly patted Lady Onion on the shoulder. “My new little sister here just said she’s going to be the Wielder for the next trillion years.”
“???” Lady Onion.
“???” the other ‘White’.
“???!” Song Shuhang.
For a moment, they were all dumbfounded.
It was extremely satisfying.
“Little sister? Me?” Lady Onion said.
White Two said, “Sure. We were both born from the essence of the Netherworld Realm itself. At the very least, you’re my junior, but it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say you’re my little sister.”
“Wahhh, Senior White Rabbit, you’re actually really nice,” Lady Onion said, and she burst into tears.
“...” White Two.
This was the strangest cultivation technique.
“So does that make the fat metal ball your little brother?” Song Shuhang said thoughtfully.
“...” White Two.
“Little friend Shuhang, if you don’t say that again, I’ll ensure your death is a painless one,” White Two said, flexing his fingers.
“Wait, Senior White, I’m your guest. You wouldn’t hurt a guest, right?” Song Shuhang said.
“An uninvited guest, as my darling little sister so kindly pointed out,” White Two said with a smile. “Now stay still while I kill you. I promise I’ll revive you again right after.”
Song Shuhang yelped and ducked behind the other ‘White’. “Senior White, I was wrong! Let’s just be happy for Lady Onion, okay? Senior White, save meeee!”
“You brought this on yourself,” the other ‘White’ said mildly.
“Hahaha, my big brother is the best! Let’s kill Song Shuhang!” Lady Onion cheered through her tears.
“Senior White, don’t be like this!” Song Shuhang cried, still hiding behind the other ‘White’, who, despite his seeming indifference, hadn’t yet moved out of the way.
White Two’s smile softened a bit in spite of himself.
Sure, Daozi becoming the next Wielder would have been interesting too, but...
This wasn’t so bad, actually.
“Senior White! Senior White, wake up!”
Along with this voice calling to him, someone was shaking his shoulder.
The shaking was very comfortable and relaxing, but the loud voice was not. Senior White Two frowned a little and slowly opened his eyes.
Squatting down next to him was Song Shuhang. Beyond him was a familiar stretch of pasture near the ‘living spring’ that sat at the heart of Song Shuhang’s Inner World. The entrance of the tunnel that connected his own world of the black lotus to Song Shuhang’s Inner World wasn’t far from here.
As soon as he saw that Senior White Two was awake, Song Shuhang stopped shaking him. “Senior White, you’re awake! Are you okay? Did something happen?”
To tell the truth, when Song Shuhang had first noticed Senior White Two sleeping in his Inner World, he hadn’t thought much of it. After all, Senior White Two really liked sleeping! Maybe he’d just felt like taking a nap somewhere different today, and the Inner World was a better place than most to do it.
If it was Senior White, Song Shuhang wouldn’t be surprised by anything he decided to do.
But after taking a second look, he’d felt like maybe something else had happened instead. For one thing, Senior White Two was lying in a crater (luckily, it was a very shallow one!), and he did look much more like someone who had just fallen over where he’d been standing than someone who had deliberately picked this spot to take a nap.
Not to mention, wasn’t Senior White Two’s main body already asleep? So why would he want to also come here to sleep? Surely even he didn’t love sleeping that much.
Now that he was awake, Song Shuhang felt a a sense of relief, but he also had a niggling feeling that it might have been his fault.
Senior White Two slowly sat up, his hand pressed against his forehead. He felt groggy and very disoriented, like he still had one foot stuck in the dreamworld.
“I fell asleep...?” he murmured.
Earlier, he’d been planning to head out into the main world to play around for a bit, but he’d decided to take a short stroll through Shuhang’s Inner World first. The Inner World was regularly evolving and being added to, so it was always very interesting to see what might have changed since the last time he’d passed through.
But he’d only been here for a few minutes when he’d suddenly felt a wave of sleepiness crash down on him. It was like being swept up by a tsunami; there had been no stopping it. The most he could do was restrain his strength before falling over, so as not to damage the Inner World too much, and then he fell unconscious.
He hadn’t even known his projections could fall asleep!
“Huh? Senior White, you don’t know either?” At this time, Song Shuhang was looking very concerned. But after he thought about it for a moment, he scratched the back of his head and said sheepishly, “Ahaha, then maybe it was that. I got pulled into the dreamland earlier, so maybe when you came by, you were also affected by it?”
Senior White Two eyed him curiously. “Into the dreamland?”
“Ah, it has to do with an innate skill I have.”
“Oh, that dreamland. Right, I know about that innate skill of yours.”
That innate skill allowed Song Shuhang to experience the lives and memories of other people in his dreams. Senior White Two had noticed it the first time they had spoken—maybe because that had also been in a dreamland.
It was a skill that unnerved him a bit, if he was being honest. He had no idea what, exactly, set it off, so he had no idea how to keep that innate skill from locking on to him next.
It was probably only because of the main world White’s heavens-defying luck that Song Shuhang hadn’t ended up dreaming about his life yet, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was only a matter of time.
“Does that innate skill of yours usually affect the person you’re dreaming about?” Senior White Two asked.
“I don’t think so?” Song Shuhang said. “Sometimes if there’s a powerful big shot involved, they’ll notice that I’m there, but it’s while they’re still in that time. I haven’t noticed it affecting anyone otherwise...but most of the people I’ve dreamed about were already dead, too.”
Senior White Two sent him a sharp glance. He had been able to discern the basic structure of Song Shuhang’s innate skill, but he hadn’t realized it had something to do with time...
“But Senior White, my dream didn’t have anything to do with you, anyway,” Song Shuhang said.
“Then what were you dreaming about?” Senior White Two asked.
“Oh, it was a continuation of one I had a while ago...to be honest, it wasn’t very interesting. But I got a good technique out of it,” Song Shuhang said with a smile.
Senior White Two nodded silently and continued rubbing his forehead. The feeling of grogginess had mostly faded by now, but the disorientation was still somewhat there.
Song Shuhang asked curiously, “Senior White, what were you dreaming about?”
Senior White Two smiled faintly. “Heh.”
Song Shuhang really had no fear toward him whatsoever, did he? Although that was something he didn’t dislike...most of the time.
He lowered his hand and stared at it. “The eyes of God, gazing into the future...”
Song Shuhang: “?”
But Senior White Two just shook his head. “Never mind.”
Even if that technique did produce an effect similar to what he’d just experienced—and he didn’t know if it did—he didn’t have the qualifications to activate it. Probably, no one currently existing in the universe did. His dreams had probably just been normal dreams.
Even though he couldn’t shake the feeling that there had been more to them than that...but maybe they really had just been influenced by Song Shuhang’s dreamland skill.
“Shuhang, have you ever thought about whether that little monster pet of yours could become the Wielder of the Will?” Senior White Two said suddenly.
The Inner World seemed to be a place even the Wielder of the Will couldn’t access easily, so they could safely talk about it here.
“You mean Lady Onion?” Song Shuhang eyed him curiously. Was that was Senior White Two had been dreaming about...? “I haven’t thought about it much. Why?”
Senior White Two shrugged and said, “Since she’s with you most of the time, she’s probably seen and heard and experienced a lot of the same things you have. And she was chosen by the Nine Virtues Phoenix Saber. Even though her cultivation has been slow, she seems to have potential.”
“Haha, her cultivation has been slow mostly because she had a couple of very unfortuitous encounters early on,” Song Shuhang said. “Since she’s been with me, it’s been much faster than average.”
“Naturally,” Senior White Two said.
Song Shuhang himself seemed to be a walking ‘fortuitous encounter’. Anyone who got caught in his orbit should naturally be able to advance very quickly, though perhaps not as quickly as he was.
No, not “perhaps.”
Definitely not.
Literally no one had ever advanced as quickly as Song Shuhang.
His speed of advancement even put the super-cool and ultra-amazing Scholarly Sage to shame.
“Anyway, it’s funny you singled out Lady Onion,” Song Shuhang said thoughtfully. “The person who planted that green onion and gave it the opportunity to become a monster onion did so because he had a sudden feeling that it could become the Wielder of the Will someday. So maybe she will. But if she does, I feel like it won’t be until next time,” he added with a laugh. “Even if she has sped up, Lady Onion still has a long way to go before she can become Immortal.”
Senior White Two reached out and poked him in the forehead. “Don’t let your speed get to your head. You’ve still got a long way to go, too.”
Song Shuhang fell back on his butt and rubbed at his forehead, bewildered. “I didn’t say anything about me, though? I know I have a long way to go. I don’t even know where to start in figuring out a ‘path’, much less how to do it. It’s way too early for me to worry about that, anyway.”
“I don’t think any time is ‘too early’ when it comes to you,” Senior White Two said.
However, with Song Shuhang’s luck, he’d have some kind of near-death experience that would give him an epiphany right when he needed it. If he managed to survive long enough to reach Ninth Stage, Senior White Two wasn’t all that worried about him being able to step onto his ‘path’ when the time was right.
And if he kept advancing at this ludicrous pace, he might even have a chance to fight for the position of Wielder of the Will this time around.
I hope it’s you... Senior White Two thought suddenly.
Even though it would be very interesting for another ‘White’ to appear in the Netherworld Realm, or for that little monster onion to become his ‘little sister’, when Senior White Two really thought about having to put up with someone new for the next thousands of years...
It would be great if it was Song Shuhang.
Things were always interesting when Song Shuhang was around. He had a knack for ending up in interesting places and finding new, even more interesting ways to get himself into trouble. If that hadn’t been the case, Senior White Two would have stopped listening to his pleas for help a long time ago.
And if Song Shuhang made him angry, it would definitely be fun to beat him into the ground, too.
It might be nice to have a substitute for that fat ball that he didn’t actually hate. Someone he could fight with one day and go exploring with the next. Senior White Two had his pets, but it wasn’t really the same.
Song Shuhang paused and glanced up at him. “Senior White, did you say something just now?”
Ah, careless. He was entirely too used to talking to Shuhang through his mind, it would seem.
Senior White Two stood up, casually brushing nonexistent dirt from his pants. “Nope. Anyway, Shuhang, what do you have planned for today? Anything fun?”
“I don’t really have anything planned for today,” Song Shuhang said apologetically as he also got to his feet. “I still need to do my morning exercises, and I need to try out the technique I got in the dreamland, but after that I was hoping it might be a quiet day today.”
He sighed a little as he said it. It had been a while since he could count on having a quiet day.
“Hmm, all right. In that case, I’ll accompany you for a bit while you practice,” Senior White Two said.
“Eh? Senior White, you want to come with me?” Song Shuhang said in shock.
Senior White Two pulled out his special presence-concealing sheet and slung it over his shoulders. “Mm-hm. I’m in a pretty good mood today, so maybe I’ll even give you a few tips, too.”
Song Shuhang was easy to read as ever; while he was clearly surprised by this turn of events, he was also thrilled. After all, even if it was only one or two little tips, if they were from someone as experienced as Senior White Two, he’d still benefit greatly! Even if all Senior White Two decided to do was just stand there, that would be fine too!
He’d also learned well from their previous encounters. He left his Inner World right away before Senior White Two could even think of complaining about him being slow or changing his mind, and even sent him a message that no one else was around just before bringing Senior White Two out as well.
Truly, he was the kind of thoughtful junior that would make other seniors weep with envy.
Senior White Two used the power of space to directly take them a nearby forest, where Song Shuhang often came to practice. It was fairly secluded, so it was unlikely for anyone to accidentally come across them.
Song Shuhang immediately started going through the routine of a fist technique. They were both very aware that Senior White Two ‘s time in the main world might be limited, and it was best to do things as quickly as possible.
Senior White Two hugged the sheet a bit tighter around his shoulders as he watched Song Shuhang moving around.
So far, he hadn’t had any problems using this sheet to sneak an avatar back into the main world. Just as he hadn’t been able to sense the position of someone wearing it, it would seem the Wielder itself couldn’t either.
However, he wasn’t so stupid as to believe it would work forever. Moreover, the more times he used this trick, the more likely it was that it would be seen through.
For now, he should be fine as long as he didn’t actively seek death, but he knew that could change at any moment.
Being on the blacklist of the [Heaven’s Will] was truly exhausting!
Senior White Two had nothing to say about his fist techniques, so Song Shuhang moved on to saber techniques next.
He thought about it for a moment, then pulled out his treasured saber Broken Tyrant to start working through some very basic saber techniques. It would be a good warm-up, then he could move on to the handful of actual techniques that he knew.
This wasn’t always the order he did things in...but maybe because Senior White Two was here, he was inspired to do things in this order today.
Indeed, as Song Shuhang moved through the basic forms, Senior White Two suddenly frowned and pinched his chin in thought.
He had watched Song Shuhang wield a saber a few times, but usually it was to use that special flaming saber technique of his, or that defensive one. Normally, it would be boring to watch him practice basic forms instead, but something about it caught his eye.
“This saber technique...” Senior White Two muttered.
It felt very familiar.
Song Shuhang paused and laughed awkwardly. “Ahaha, Senior White, you were actually able to tell...”
“Did that other ‘White’ teach you?” Senior White Two guessed.
This seemed like a perfectly reasonable explanation. Song Shuhang was around that other ‘White’ so much that he probably knew a lot of things that Senior White Two would find familiar.
But the look that crossed Song Shuhang’s face suggested there was more to it than that. That conflicted look was very easy to read; he wanted to explain a little more about it, because he knew Senior White Two was curious, but talking about it would mean seeking death big time...
Senior White Two sighed and looked up at the sky.
He suddenly felt very tired.
“Just say what you want to say. I’ll give you one free pass. I’m sure you know where the line is by now,” Senior White Two said.
This time, the look that crossed Song Shuhang’s face was full of doubt. But knowing that Senior White Two might strike him down anyway had never stopped Song Shuhang from seeking death before, and it didn’t now.
“Well, it’s like this,” Song Shuhang said carefully. “When Senior White first came out of seclusion as a Venerable, he didn’t have full control over his illusory reality yet. It would often come out while he was meditating and everyone around him would get caught up in it. And his illusory reality is that desert with the young man in green robes leading a white horse and constantly practicing martial arts. Cough, so I learned the basics from him...”
“...” Senior White Two.
Song Shuhang laughed hollowly and added, “Ah, but later while we were filming ❮Apocalypse War❯, Senior White gave me a personal lesson too so I could keep up with him during fight scenes. So I guess it’s not surprising you would think it’s familiar...”
“...” Senior White Two.
Sure enough, it had to do with his black history!
As soon as Song Shuhang started getting nervous, Senior White Two had known it must have something to do with that. Even though he had promised to give him a free pass and Song Shuhang had been very careful not to say anything particularly dangerous, Senior White Two still felt a strong urge to throw him directly into space.
But this was a matter had had actually been curious about for a while: how did Song Shuhang even know about his black history?
Getting an answer to that question was the only reason he’d allowed Song Shuhang to say anything about it.
Senior White Two was somewhat relieved to learn that it hadn’t been that innate skill of his. That had been his suspicion, because Song Shuhang only ever sought death with that one particular event, but it was good to get confirmation of it.
Unfortunately, he was still left with another mystery he had yet to solve: how that other ‘White’ knew about his black history.
The other ‘White’ was considerably younger than he was. The two of them should have lived completely different lives. Both of them having that kind of history was too much of a coincidence.
Senior White Two had a suspicion about this, too, but he still hadn’t been able to confirm it.
“Hmm. Well, in that case, allow me to continue where he left off,” said Senior White Two.
He carefully adjusted the sheet to ensure it would stay wrapped around him through all the movement. Then, he pulled out his copy of the Tyrant Cuttlefish’s Twin Blades.
“Ah...?” said Song Shuhang.
“It’s pathetic that you’re already this strong, and you still only know some basic moves. That reflects poorly on me as your senior, too, you know,” said Senior White Two. “Come, take out another saber and let’s get started. We’re running out of time. If you keep staring at me like an idiot, don’t blame me if I kill you by accident.”
With that completely adequate warning out of the way, Senior White Two darted forward to begin his assault.
“Senior White, don’t be like this!” Song Shuhang sputtered, but luckily, he was able to pull out his own pair of Tyrant Cuttlefish’s Twin Blades just in time to stop Senior White Two from slicing him in half.
Senior White Two was careful to control his strength so Song Shuhang could still have some hope of keeping up with him, and he had to admit, Song Shuhang was a natural talent with the saber. Even though he clearly had little experience with dual sabers, he quickly picked up on what Senior White Two was showing him and started applying—and even modifying—that knowledge immediately.
It was just too bad that no matter how talented Song Shuhang was at sabers, no matter how much Senior White Two controlled his strength, Song Shuhang actually had no chance of keeping up with him at all.
What a pity that Senior White Two mostly just ended up beating Song Shuhang to the ground.
Yep, it really was just such a shame.