Shen Yuheng was a disciple Elder Shen had taken in several years ago.
He shared the surname Shen with Elder Shen, but he was not one of Elder Shen’s descendants. Rather, because he was exceptionally gifted, pure-hearted, and deeply filial, Elder Shen had taken an immense liking to him, accepted him as his final disciple, and even given him his own surname.
Shen Yuheng possessed outstanding talent. Many of the sect’s elders believed he was one of the candidates for the Ziwei Star.
That was until he came into conflict with Yu Zhizhi and the Young Lord of the Demon Clan and killed dozens of innocent disciples.
His future was ruined.
He was stripped of his qualification to become the Ziwei Star.
“To think that he was once a junior disciple you and I both had such high hopes for,” the Sect Master said with a sigh.
Elder Ling Heng recalled that kind and filial young man from years ago, and his heart grew heavy as well. “He simply had no luck.”
For cultivators, that was how it was. Talent, diligence, and fortune—none could be missing.
Shen Yuheng had been excellent in every way, but his fortune was poor. Without it, everything else counted for nothing.
“Shen Yuheng isn’t the Ziwei Star, but Yu Zhizhi may not be one either.” Elder Ling Heng spoke indifferently as he brought up the events of several years ago.
Yu Zhizhi’s talent was slightly inferior to Shen Yuheng’s.
But her fortune was far greater than his. Every time she went out to gain experience, her cultivation would rise by another step, and she would return to amaze the entire sect.
Not only that, she had also befriended the Young Lord of the Demon Clan, and the two were extremely close.
At present, the human and demon races were deeply estranged and had no dealings with one another. Her ability to form a good relationship with the Young Lord of the Demon Clan was especially important.
That incident had been caused by a clash between Shen Yuheng and the Young Lord of the Demon Clan; in truth, it had nothing to do with her.
Yet the Sect Master and Elder Ling Heng still felt that she was cold-hearted and unfeeling. No matter what, Shen Yuheng had been her fellow disciple, and it was because of her that he had committed such a grave mistake and been imprisoned in Profound Ice Cliff.
She had never pleaded for mercy on his behalf. Before leaving the sect, she had not even gone to see him at Profound Ice Cliff. She was clever and understood how to protect herself, but her actions still left people feeling cold.
“She won’t be the one,” the Sect Master said flatly.
The spiritual-energy vortices in the four directions gradually converged before dispersing with the wind.
Zhao Ziyun had broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining. With only one step left, she could establish her Foundation.
What astonishing talent!
Mo Jiuyou and Xiao Junlin were slightly inferior, but they had both entered the late stage of Qi Refining.
Their masters could no longer suppress their pride. They began boasting to old friends they were close to—and to the peak masters they disliked.
Zhou Wan was doing the same.
Across the thousands of beautiful peaks of the Ziyang Sect, countless gazes fell upon the four verdant mountains. Nangong Yu, who had broken through only a few days earlier, had instead lost everyone’s attention.
This allowed the Sect Master and Elder Ling Heng to breathe a sigh of relief—
Since no one was paying attention to her, there was naturally no need to go to such lengths to hide things for her.
But then—
“What a hopeless child!”
Just look at the others! One moment of sudden enlightenment, and they had directly reached the late stage of Qi Refining!
And then look at her. She had experienced sudden enlightenment twice! Elder Ling Heng had even spent a huge amount of spirit stones on her, yet what had happened to her cultivation?!
“Good-for-nothing!”
As a Soul Formation cultivator, Elder Ling Heng could hardly seek out his youngest disciple every few days to lecture her.
He had many grand-disciples. After thinking it over, he remembered that one of them was quite familiar with his youngest disciple and had even sent him a voice transmission last time.
“Keep an eye on your junior grand-aunt,” Elder Ling Heng transmitted. “Make sure she attends class every day.”
Chen Zhi was completely dumbfounded when he received the message.
“What’s wrong?” True Person Qinghong, who had been speaking with her disciple, asked.
Chen Zhi opened and closed his mouth several times before saying uncertainly, “My grand-grandmaster sent me a voice transmission and told me to keep an eye on Junior Grand-Aunt and make sure she attends class.”
“Hmm?” True Person Qinghong was surprised. “The junior grand-aunt your grand-grandmaster took in—the one named Nangong Yu?”
She was puzzled. “Why does she need you to keep an eye on her while she attends class?”
Chen Zhi had no idea how to explain it.
His master had only just returned and was still unaware of everything that had happened in the sect recently.
Chen Zhi had only had time to tell her that Elder Xuanqing had struck him three times because recruitment had gone poorly, and that Xu Wanzhong had seen through it and stood up for him.
He had not had time to explain anything else.
A few words could not possibly make the whole situation clear.
“She’s probably young,” Chen Zhi could only guess.
True Person Qinghong shook her head. “Who enters the sect at an old age? Besides, are you very old yourself?”
A disciple was every master’s cherished treasure.
To True Person Qinghong, Chen Zhi was a treasure as well. She therefore said, “I have nothing else to do. You focus on your cultivation. I’ll go keep an eye on your junior grand-aunt while she attends class.”
With that, she flew away.
“Master—” Chen Zhi tried to stop her, but she moved so quickly that he failed to catch her.
All he heard was her final instruction:
“Cultivate properly. You must break through to the late Core Formation stage before heading to seal the Demon Abyss.”
The seal on the Demon Abyss was growing looser by the day, and the demons escaping from it were becoming increasingly powerful. The air in that area was terribly polluted, making it extremely hostile to cultivators.
True Person Qinghong had just returned from there, so naturally she could not bear to let her disciple go there only to be ravaged by demonic energy.
She casually left behind a seal. Unless Chen Zhi broke through to the late Core Formation stage, he would be unable to leave seclusion.
After doing all this, True Person Qinghong flew toward Hengxu Peak.
At that moment, Nangong Yu was inside her cave dwelling, studying her acupoints.
She had told Luo Qingyuan that her one hundred and eight acupoints had been cultivated until each was as large as the mouth of a bowl.
But upon closer inspection, that did not seem to be the case.
She placed the Universal Key into one of the acupoints. The Universal Key immediately transformed into a mass of multicolored flames, flowing and burning as it occupied the entire space within.
But when she put a spirit stone into the acupoint, that spirit stone became as tiny as dust. She tossed in spirit stone after spirit stone—one hundred thousand of them in all—yet the acupoint, supposedly the size of a bowl, remained completely empty.
That was why, when Luo Qingyuan asked how large she had cultivated her acupoints, Nangong Yu had been rather unsure.
“About the size of a bowl.”
She had one hundred and eight acupoints like that.
How could this not count as expanding her storage space?
Nangong Yu happily began transferring important tools and supplies from the system’s space into her acupoints.
That stupid system had thrown away her Universal Key. Who knew what else it might have thrown away before? What if it secretly stole her things again in the future? Nangong Yu no longer trusted the space provided by the game.
“Qinghong pays her respects to Junior Grand-Aunt.”
A young woman’s voice came from outside the cave dwelling.
Nangong Yu was slightly surprised. She stopped organizing her belongings and rose to her feet. “You’re Chen Zhi’s master? What brings you here?”
In any case, she was part of the Hengxu Peak lineage. Nangong Yu had compiled a list of all the cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage and above.
True Person Qinghong was Jiang Yingxue’s disciple and the master of her eldest grand-disciple, Chen Zhi.
“On Grand-Grandmaster’s orders, I’ve come to escort Junior Grand-Aunt to the Disciple Peak for class,” True Person Qinghong replied.
Her title was Qinghong, but her clothing was extremely plain and elegant, with a faint softness reminiscent of a bowl of cream soup.
“I’m not going to class.” Nangong Yu shook her head, then glanced at the sunlight outside. “I have something to do. I’m leaving the sect for Cloudfall City.”
True Person Qinghong was surprised. “What is Junior Grand-Aunt going to Cloudfall City for?”
“I have a friend who asked to meet me,” Nangong Yu replied. “Would you come with me?”
After all, she was a Nascent Soul cultivator. She would make an excellent bodyguard.
Nangong Yu had already been planning to hire one. “I won’t make you come for nothing. You can choose either spirit stones or a magical treasure. Contribution points are also fine.”
She was only a little girl, yet she spoke with such worldly confidence, even offering to reward a Nascent Soul cultivator. True Person Qinghong could not help laughing.
“It is only right that this disciple accompany Junior Grand-Aunt,” she said gently. “There is no need for payment.”
Nangong Yu looked her over twice, then nodded. “All right. If we run into any trouble along the way and your magical treasure gets damaged, I’ll cover the repair costs.”
Every word was spoken in a way that made it clear she wouldn’t let anyone suffer a loss. True Person Qinghong couldn’t help smiling inwardly. “Yes. Thank you, Little Martial Uncle.”
Nangong Yu wore the sect’s disciple robes on the outside, with her disciple token hanging from her waist. Luo Qingyuan’s strongest strike and the Sect Master’s sword technique were all strung together there.
They clinked and jingled whenever she walked.
“Put this in your hair.” After looking at them for a moment, True Person Qinghong removed the round bead containing the sword technique from Nangong Yu’s waist. Using her magic, she embedded it in a piece of green jade and fashioned it into a hairpin.
Once she had pinned it into Nangong Yu’s hair, it looked both magnificent and intimidating. “For us cultivators, the primordial spirit is the most important thing. As long as the primordial spirit remains intact, everything else can be restored.”
That was why the most powerful magical treasure on her person—the sword technique of a Soul Formation cultivator—was best worn in her hair, ensuring that her primordial spirit would remain completely safe.
“I haven’t started cultivating my primordial spirit yet,” Nangong Yu asked. “Do I have one too?”
“Of course you do,” True Person Qinghong replied gently. “Do mortals not have primordial spirits? It’s simply that their primordial spirits are weak and can easily dissipate.”
She began explaining to Nangong Yu what Qi Refining was, what divine sense was, what a primordial spirit was, what meridians were, what body tempering involved, what heart refinement meant, what it meant to establish one’s Dao foundation…
As an esteemed Nascent Soul cultivator, teaching a little disciple in the Qi Refining stage was effortless for her.
Although she had less teaching experience than Elder Fuyun, one-on-one instruction was well within her abilities.
Nangong Yu was bombarded with a stream of knowledge about the cultivation world. Because True Person Qinghong was so gentle, explaining everything at an unhurried pace, answering every question, and guiding her patiently, Nangong Yu was still reluctant to stop when they reached Yunchui City.
She had never imagined that attending a lesson could be so fascinating.
“Yunchui City is just ahead.” True Person Qinghong pointed toward the immortal city before them, drawing her attention to it.
It was a magnificent city. Even from a distance, it appeared several times larger than Luoxia City, which Nangong Yu had seen before.
“This is the city beneath our Ziyang Sect, so naturally it’s more prosperous.” Seeing the astonishment on her face, True Person Qinghong’s eyes filled with an even deeper smile as she remembered her own reaction back then.
Nangong Yu pointed above the city. “What’s that? A formation?”
Above the city, streams of light descended like drifting smoke and mist, brimming with an immortal air and making the entire place look even more like a city of immortals.
“That’s right.” True Person Qinghong nodded. “That is the City Lord of Yunchui, the natal magical artifact of one of the grand elders of our Ziyang Sect.”
“What is it used for?” Nangong Yu asked curiously.
A Nascent Soul cultivator traveled incredibly quickly. As they spoke, the two of them rapidly drew closer.
Taking advantage of True Person Qinghong’s status, they didn’t have to queue at the city gate. Instead, they flew in from above.
“It protects Yunchui City’s safety.” True Person Qinghong looked upward. “It repels outside enemies and suppresses conflicts within the city.”
Nangong Yu was filled with awe. “That’s amazing!”
A boss capable of protecting an entire city like this had to be a major boss—one of the biggest around.
Once they entered the city, True Person Qinghong, who was very familiar with Yunchui City, took her straight to the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.
“Go on.” True Person Qinghong set her down at the entrance. “If there’s a magical treasure you like, pick one. Consider it my congratulatory gift for my Little Martial Uncle.”
Nangong Yu nodded at once. “All right!”
She cheerfully climbed the steps, holding the white jade flute, and walked inside.
“Where’s Zhegu?” Once she entered, she stood in the main hall and looked around. “I’m here to see Zhegu.”
