The Scum Is A

Bamboo Pavilion.

Xie Lan was lying on Fan Wen's lap as he recuperated, healing his internal injuries after provoking the power sleeping inside Cheng Sheng's body. Suddenly, the two of them looked up at the sky and saw Cheng Sheng flying on his sword, looking handsome even though his clothes are torn. 

"Wen." Xie Lan called. "I have something to tell you." He said.

"Hm?" Fan Wen said and waited. However, Xie Lan turned and spat out a mouthful of blood on the floor. "Lan!" he called as he immediately feed his qi on Xie Lan's body. "Lan… what happened?" he asked, worry in his voice. He thought that Xie Lan was fine earlier when he didn't see any wound on Xie Lan's body. He should know better – it was an internal injury.

However, Xie Lan didn't answer. He wiped the blood off his lips. The bloodstains on his chest is scary to look at. "My vision before… it appeared again." He said.

"What vision?" Fan Wen asked, confused.

Xie Lan froze, then he turned to Fan Wen. He forgot that he didn't tell Fan Wen anything. It's better to come clean now. "Before I went into seclusion, I had a vision of Xiao Sheng." He said. "Xiao Sheng was surrounded by demonic qi while he stood alone in the middle of a corpse field."

Fan Wen's expression turned gray. "T-then… then what should we do?!" he asked, panic in his voice. "And you saw it again?" he added.

Xie Lan nodded, his expression heavy. "I don't know." He honestly answered. "This was the reason why I went to seclusion for 10 years. To find answers from that vision. But…" he shook his head. "Wen. We can only guide Xiao Sheng to the path of righteousness, and then hope for the best." He said.

Fan Wen closed his eyes and hugged Xie Lan tight, not minding the blood on Xie Lan's clothes. "As his shifu… I will do my best." He whispered.

The unaware he's a danger Cheng Sheng had a quick wash and then changed in clean robes. He was fixing his belt, along with the jade pendant on his waistband when he turned and looked at the peaceful Xinfaxian. He closed his eyes and felt the wind entered his window and blew coldly on his skin. The cut on his cheek and the wound on his forehead disappeared. It was due to the Spiritual Awakening Method that was healing his body.

He lightly tapped his foot on the ground. Suddenly, countless lights from all directions floated up the sky like fireflies. Then, it formed a giant barrier and enclosed the Xinfaxian. The Xinfaxian residents suddenly felt comfortable and paused for a moment, before they resumed their daily life with a smile on their face.

"Xiao Ling. Let's go." Cheng Sheng called to his sword spirit. The small sword spirit appeared, a sleepy look on its face. Its cheeks are round, and Cheng Sheng can't help but pinch them. "Wake up. Even your master doesn't dare to be lazy." He told it.

Xiao Ling came back to the jade pendant and the jade pendant glowed brightly. It turned into a sword and flew out of the window. Cheng Sheng smiled and jumped out of his window, which is a cliff below. Before he could fall in the air, he caught the hilt of his sword and laughed. He flipped his body in the air and his feet landed on the blade of his sword.

East Mountain.

"Hold the hilt of your sword tight." Fei Yin told them. "Hold it horizontally. Your free hand on the neck of the blade of your sword." He told them. "This stance is for defense. Our time is tight, and you are purely practicing alchemy, but founder is concerned for your safety when you reach the second and third stage." He explained. "Now, I'll hit you and you defend. Let's practice the speed of your reaction first – " he said and went to Lei Ling first. "Defend!" he said and swung his sword.

Lei Ling's face paled as he watched the sword descend on his head. If Fei Yin didn't stop, Lei Ling would have been cut into two. "D-d-d-d-da shixiong!" he cried and he fell on his knees.

Fei Yin wasn't moved as he withdrew his sword. "You didn't react at all." He said. "You-shimei." He called.

You Rou gulped and was scared. She almost knelt in fear when she saw Lei Ling almost died earlier. "H-here." She said.

Fei Yin turned to her. "Your enemy wouldn't hesitate to kill you, especially the brainless corpses." He said. "So, you should also not hesitate to defend!" he swung his blade at You Rou's head!

You Rou's pupils shrank and instinctively, she raised her sword. However, she didn't properly hold the neck of the blade of her sword and her palm was cut when her sword was struck by Fei Yin. "Nm." She cried as she bit her lip. Fortunately, Fei Yin didn't use much strength.

"Shimei!" Li Tian called.

You Rou sighed as she took out a healing ointment and applied it on her palm. "The wound is not that deep." She said. Even though she was spoiled, but she's not that delicate. Or else, she would've quit being a disciple. Like everyone, she also took water by herself to use for her bath. She washed her own clothes and cooked her own food. These menial tasks were done by servants, but she – a young miss, did all these.

Li Tian sighed in relief. He also knew not to pamper You Rou. Fei Yin didn't go easy on her since he knew she can take it. "Li-shidi." He called.

"Yes." Li Tian said and prepared himself.

Fei Yin nodded and swung his sword. Li Tian immediately raised his sword above his head, receiving the attack. However, Li Tian's arms are a bit weak and so he almost injured his palm. "Good." He heard Fei Yin said. "Lei-shidi." He called.

Lei Ling finally calmed down after watching You Rou and Li Tian. He can't be weaker than a girl!

South Mountain.

"Shijie. Feng-shixiong. Sorry for the wait." Cheng Sheng said as he landed in front of them, his sleeves billowing.

Lei Qing and Feng Mo stared at him for a while before they reacted. "No worries." They said.

Cheng Sheng nodded as his sword turned into a pendant. He knew Xiao Ling must have gone back to sleep again. "Shijie. Feng-shixiong." He called. "I reckon both of you also know that founder's concern is for your safety." He said. Seeing the two nodded, he continued. "Alchemy is usually used as a supplement when one's sword lacks. Take the potion and magic pill for example." He said. "The potion and magic pill can be used as a medicine to heal your injuries, or to enhance your strength." he explained. "However, alchemy can also be used as an offense." He took out a talisman and hit the dried branch on the ground. The branch burned along with the talisman. Next, he took out the Shapeshifting blanket and the blanket flew towards Lei Qing and Feng Mo, surrounding them. The two looked confused. He didn't wait for them to respond before he snapped his finger and an array appeared on the tree. An arrow was poking out of it and was pointing at them two! "The ground beneath you, transform." He calmly spoke.

"WAH!" Lei Qing and Feng Mo exclaimed when they felt something grabbed their leg. They looked down and saw two hands made of soil grabbing their leg! "Shidi! Stop! We understand now!" they immediately said and kicked the soil hands.

"The last one I did is Spell Casting." He told them.

"Eh? But that's too short!" the two said, patting the dirt off their shoes. Then, they froze. They looked at Cheng Sheng. Right. He's a genius.

Cheng Sheng could clearly read their expression. "It's not because of that." He said. "There's one thing that's common in the alchemy – " he told them. " – one's essence." He took out the Cleansing Talisman. "Feng-shixiong was with us when we went to the Xiwang before, so I'll explain to shijie." He said and told her about the essence of the talisman.

As expected, Lei Qing's face cracked. He's so shameless. She thought in her heart. "So, the essence of Spell Casting is understanding the things involved in casting the spell?" she said.

Cheng Sheng nodded. "Yes. An example of what I did earlier, I wanted to use the soil to grab your leg thus I took in consideration the amount of the soil to be used to create two hands. Then, I pour my qi to the soil for it to self-consciously shape itself into two hands, then gave them the order to move." He explained. "Once there was an understanding between you and the things to be used in the spell, then it'll become easier to cast the spell." He added.

The two looked at him in awe.

"Actually, you can cast a spell without saying it." Cheng Sheng smiled. "This one is used for sneak attacks." He told them.

Their eyes became round and they suddenly looked excited. "Oh oh! Tell us, shidi!" the two said. He's really a genius! They exclaimed in their mind.

"There are two kinds of Spell Casting – " Cheng Sheng said. " – the Voiced, and the Non-voiced or Silent." He raised his two fingers. "The Voiced Spell Casting is the one we are familiar of. On the other hand, the Non-voiced or the Silent Spell Casting is spoken in mind." He explained. "The two kinds of Spell Casting have the same principle to cast, however, if one is inarticulate, then it's convenient to use the Silent Spell Casting. However, this was seen as a sneak attack." He told them.

"Amazing! Amazing! Then, if Cheng-shidi wants to bully us, he will use the Silent Spell Casting!" Lei Qing said and looked at Cheng Sheng, her eyes are teasing.

Cheng Sheng smiled. "What does shijie mean? I'm not that sly~" he said and can't hold back a laughter.

Feng Mo has a big smile on his face. "Then I'd better not bully Cheng-shidi in the future." He said.

"You better not!" Cheng Sheng rolled his eyes before he continued. "The Shapeshifting Blanket is a refined device." He said and called back the blanket that was hovering above them. The blanket then flew back and went inside Cheng Sheng's qiankun pouch. "Refining treasures results to magic devices. The Shapeshifting Blanket is one. There are countless ways to refine a treasure." He said and took out the jade pendant on his waist. "Our jade pendant is one. Our jade pendant was refined by making a pact with the jade spirit. Then, using qi to feed the jade spirit, the jade spirit developed a spiritual consciousness and became more intelligent. Thus, they became our sword spirit." He explained. "Xiao Ling." He called.

The jade pendant glowed and a sleepy Xiao Ling came out. "So cute!" Lei Qing exclaimed.

"Bai Bai. Come out." Feng Mo called out his sword spirit. A small Wu Bai came out.

Cheng Sheng was surprised. "You refined your husband?" he asked.

Feng Mo's face reddened. "I didn't!" he said.

Cheng Sheng stopped teasing him. "Our sword spirit feeds on our qi as we use them. Thus, they would reflect our soul." He explained. This is why a small Wu Bai came out as Feng Mo's sword spirit. "Shijie. You try communicating with your sword. Your sword spirit will come out." he told Lei Qing. Lei Qing still hasn't awoken her sword spirit.

Lei Qing nodded as she walked towards an empty space and meditated. "If our sword spirit reflects us, then, Cheng-shidi is a sleepy and lazy person?" Feng Mo asked. He better had not said it when he saw Cheng Sheng's smile.

The next second and Feng Mo was pulled by the ground.