Abandoned Sword Villa West Courtyard. Main Hall.

 

"Zhenyi has left his hill for good?” Shen Shou's tired face showed surprise. “I'm going to see him. We haven't seen each other for half a year.”

 

Shen Baihe stood at the bottom with a deadpan face, trying to look happy. Today's events had ruined his mood. He thought for a while before answering, "Father should know that the third brother is cold and arrogant. Today, he directly went back to the Dream Sword Manor. I don't think he's recovered yet, but I'm afraid he won't be happy to see you..."

 

Shen Shou angrily replied, "He appeared in public today. So many disciples from the villa have seen him. Why wouldn’t he see his father?"

 

Shen Baihe grinned bitterly and said, "Today, Chu Huoluo surprisingly beat Zhou Wenzi due to Third Brother’s training. That's why he was willing to show up. How could he have gone down the hill if it hadn't been for that reason?

 

Wherever Shen Zhenyi goes, he is the center of attention. Shen Baihe forgot that he himself wasn’t the main character.

 

The idea that Shen Zhenyi will not appear where he can't be the protagonist hurt Shen Baihe’s petty heart. Doesn’t he hide in the back hill because he didn’t want to be pitied? Over the past year, he has repeatedly said this to his father.

 

Shen Shou sighed dejectedly, "Is there really no possibility of reconnecting his meridians?”

 

Shen Baihe bowed his head. "Shen Zhenyi is still sitting in a wheelchair. The world's number one divine doctor, Fu Zitong was helpless. There really isn’t a way…”

 

It was because of Fu Zitong's assertion that he dared to look down upon the Third Prince.

 

When Shen Zhenyi came back from his last battle, injured, Shen Baihe began to aggressively move against him, but Shen Zhenyi's indifferent eyes made him have second thoughts.

 

It was not until he saw Fu Zitong’s face go white and heard the distressed announcement that the Third Prince Shen could not recover that Shen Baihe felt himself relax.

 

He was the eldest son of the owner of Abandoned Sword Villa and its rightful heir.

 

He was the first of the “Four Sons of Martial Arts” and was destined to rank in the top ten strongest in the realm. He didn't want to live in the shadow of his brother all his life.

 

Originally, Shen Baihe thought that since Shen Zhenyi had relegated to the back hill, the Abandoned Sword Villa would now become his territory. But he was wrong, the old man was always the fondest of his youngest son. It was like Shen Baihe was just a housekeeping dog.

 

And every time Shen Baihe visited his third brother in the back hill, his vigilance increased. In his view, Shen Zhenyi had not changed at all, even become more unpredictable, despite losing his known powers.

 

Shen Baihe was still afraid. He was afraid that with one wrong move everything he could one day grasp would be taken away from him.

 

Shen Baihe made it his aim to find someone to assassinate his brother, but to this day, the job had never been completed.

 

When Shen Zhenyi came down from the hill, Shen Baihe felt all of his hopes disappearing.

 

Meanwhile, Shen Shou was still chattering his thoughts and worries about his youngest son. “My fathers getting senile,” he thought to himself. His impatience was felt in his heart, but he didn’t dare let it show on his face. He perfunctorily said, "These days, I should visit my third brother more. If he is in a better mood, I will tell father."

 

Shen Shou nodded and sighed, "Now that I am old and my third child is like this, I still have to pay more attention to you. It will be the Ten Year Anniversary of the Martial Forest Alliance soon, and you must be sure to carry your burden.

 

When Shen Shou was young, he devoted himself to martial arts and only married and had children when he was out of his prime. Every day, he felt less and less energetic. Especially after Shen Zhenyi was injured, he became more and more weak. The things in the villa were not cared for, and gradually depreciated.

 

Shen Baihe said happily in his heart, "I must live up to father's trust if I want to accomplish my goals."

 

He laughed and added, "The Ten Year Anniversary of the Martial Forest Alliance coincides with father's sixtieth birthday. We must do something special."

 

At this moment, Shen Baihe made up his mind. As long as he settled the matter with Shen Zhenyi, he would surely become the master of the Villa and the leader of the Nine Hells Realms!

 

Shen Zhenyi lacked interest in the authority of the Martial Forest. In Shen Zhenyi's point-of-view, compared to the peach blossoms in the mountains, the so-called Martial Forest Congress was boring.

 

With the end of May, summer has entered its prime, and the peach blossoms have reached the stage of dying. The petals are fragmented and stained, but they are still beautiful and fragrant.

 

Perhaps because of Shen Baihe’s restraint, few people would come to the East Court to see the once proud son of heaven. This kept Shen Zhenyi happy. He liked the peace.

 

Only Chu Huoluo persevered, and from time to time came to the Dream Sword Manor to visit the Third Prince. Although he kept the door closed off, he was secretly amused at her efforts.

 

"Master, we heard a lot of the Top Ten Masters, like the Zen Master, Epilepsy Immortal, Swordmaniac Zuo Tianxing and my even grandmother, are coming. Maybe all ten will come together!" Chu Huoluo danced and screamed as soon as she came.

 

This was a rare martial arts event.

 

In the past, the Abandoned Sword Villa, as the backstage leader of the Martial Forest in the Nine Hells, organized alliances. Apart from belonging to the Abandoned Sword Villa family, the top ten masters mostly sent their disciples to participate in the meeting, with about 56 people personally attending the meeting.

 

The four people mentioned by Chu Huoluo just now are the names that usually wouldn’t have come.

 

If they all actually came, it would be one of the rare moments the Top Ten Masters were all present at a single location.

 

Shen Zhenyi frowned and did not respond much to the news. He only said lightly, "Don’t call me master. I've only taught you for three months, and helped you achieve a few breakthroughs."

 

Chu Huoluo stubbornly said, "A day as a teacher and a lifetime as a father, since you have taught me the Ten Thousand Sword Sutra, how can I not?"

 

"Ten Thousand Sword Sutra?" Shen Zhenyi sighed and shook his head. "You’re far from it."

 

He did not want to argue much. He said, "As expected, quite a few of them will come after all."

 

Of course, these people were the heroes of Nine Hells Realm, but unfortunately, they still couldn’t see Mount Tai. Even though they barely touched the top of the world, they were still 180,000 miles away from the other side.

 

"You know?" Chu Huoluo asked curiously, "I heard that because Zhuangzhong (Shen Shou) is having his sixtieth birthday, people like Zen Master have to give face."

 

Shen Zhenyi did not deny it. "This is one of the reasons."

 

"What are the other reasons?"

 

"You'll know soon."

 

Shen Zhenyi grasped a half-fallen peach blossom, gently waving in the spring breeze.

 

Blue:

 

I gave this story three months to be picked up by a better translator, but since it wasn't, I guess I'll just continue translating it.