“Senior Sister said that if I’m firm in my resolve, I’ll be able to receive her,” Elder Zhoushan said to himself. “If I hesitate even a little, I won’t.”
He looked down below. “This child is rather interesting. Can’t the Ziyang Sect really part with her?”
For a moment, the Sect Master felt a chill in his heart.
If he said no, would Zhoushan try to seize her?
“She is Junior Brother Ling Heng’s disciple.” The Sect Master maintained a calm expression. “I’m not getting involved in something so troublesome.”
He would let Ling Heng charge ahead first. If Ling Heng couldn’t handle it, then he would step in.
He sighed inwardly at the twists and turns awaiting this disciple. Whether Nangong Yu was the Purple Star or not, she had to remain in the Ziyang Sect.
And even if she wasn’t, her exceptional qualities alone were enough reason to keep her in the Ziyang Sect.
“She may have somewhat better talent, but what matters most in cultivation is hardly talent alone.” The Sect Master tried to persuade him. “Temperament, willpower, opportunities, and fortune—which of these is unimportant?”
Zhoushan pondered this. “You’re trying to persuade me. It seems Senior Sister was right. If I’m not resolute, this disciple will be gone.”
The Sect Master: “…………”
Since when was she your disciple?!
And your Senior Sister isn’t exactly innocent either, snatching someone else’s disciple while making it sound so refined and respectable!
At the thought that Zhoushan might actually succeed in snatching her away, the Sect Master’s heart tightened. Yet his expression remained indifferent. “Martial Brother, don’t joke around. She’s only a minor disciple.”
Zhoushan said, “If she’s only a minor disciple, why won’t the Ziyang Sect let her go? Could it be that the bond between our two sects isn’t even worth this small favor?”
“!!”
The Sect Master felt his chest tighten. He promptly sent a message to Elder Ling Heng. “Come quickly. Zhoushan has taken a liking to your disciple.”
Before long, Elder Ling Heng flew over.
Both of his disciples were currently breaking through. His younger disciple was a slow one, taking ten days to half a month every time, so he had been focusing his attention on his third disciple, whose aura was unstable.
Still, he came by to check on his youngest disciple every day. Upon receiving the Sect Master’s message today, his heart clenched.
“My youngest disciple is such a slowpoke!” he complained to the Sect Master, pretending not to know what was going on. “Last time, she took seven or eight days just to advance from the fourth level of Qi Refining to the sixth. Who knows how long she’ll take this time!”
He sounded deeply dissatisfied. “Her talent is nothing special. She’s all bluster!”
Zhoushan’s eyes lit up. “Last time? This isn’t her first epiphany?”
Elder Ling Heng froze.
The Sect Master froze as well. He turned to look at Elder Ling Heng, wishing he could slap him across the face. If you don’t know how to speak, then don’t say anything!
“Of course it isn’t.” Seeing that things had backfired, Elder Ling Heng was also annoyed. But he immediately continued, “She experienced an epiphany during her very first lesson. It took her half a month to draw qi into her body and advance to the fourth level of Qi Refining.”
He had said it!
So what? She was his disciple!
The first time they had met on the main peak, they had formed a master-disciple bond. They were destined to become master and disciple!
“Hmph. Useless.” Elder Ling Heng not only continued speaking, but even began to criticize her. “If she were someone else, three epiphanies would have been enough to form a golden core.”
Elder Zhoushan smiled amiably. “Since she’s so useless, why not give her to me?”
Elder Ling Heng replied coolly, “The leftovers from my table are only fit to be thrown away.”
Take his disciple? Not a chance!
He was furious that one person after another had come to covet his disciple, and his words became rather impolite.
But at that moment, Elder Zhoushan’s desire to take the disciple was stronger than ever. “Magical treasures depend on fate, and so do disciples. What you don’t cherish will naturally leave you.”
“Martial Brother Zhoushan, there’s something you don’t know,” the Sect Master interjected. “Junior Brother Ling Heng treasures this youngest disciple of his very much. He even went so far as to antagonize three elders of the sect for her sake.”
First Xuanqing and Fuyun, and then Shen Fuyu.
“No wonder Junior Brother Ling Heng dislikes this youngest disciple,” Elder Zhoushan said in sudden realization.
The Sect Master: “……”
Why was nothing getting through to him?
Unable to contain himself, he glared at Elder Ling Heng. Why did you say that?!
Elder Ling Heng felt displeased after receiving the glare. She was his disciple. He could say whatever he wanted about her.
Anyone else who wanted to snatch her away? Not a chance!
“Yingxue, come out of seclusion.” Elder Ling Heng sent a message to his eldest disciple, Jiang Yingxue.
His eldest disciple was a Daoist Lord at the Deity Transformation stage and could serve as a useful ally in a fight. If Zhoushan had no shame and tried to force the matter, the master and disciples would deal with him together.
Jiang Yingxue was an obedient disciple. As Elder Ling Heng’s first disciple, she had been raised by him without any prior experience, and the two had experienced quite a bit of friction.
But friction was one thing. Elder Ling Heng truly doted on her, and she was genuinely filial toward him.
Upon receiving his message, Jiang Yingxue emerged from her years of seclusion and flew out from Luowu Peak not long afterward.
“Master.”
The female cultivator wore blue robes, with an icy-blue butterfly hairpin adorning her dark hair. She landed beside Elder Ling Heng.
She cultivated ice-type spiritual energy and had just been forcibly awakened from meditation. Frost covered her robes, and the aura surrounding her was cold and wintry.
“You’ve come out of seclusion?” Elder Ling Heng looked at his eldest disciple, his expression softening unconsciously.
Jiang Yingxue nodded and turned toward the person beside him. “Sect Master Martial Uncle.”
The Sect Master smiled and nodded. “Yingxue.”
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Ling Heng might be stubborn, but at least he knew when to ask for help.
“This is Daoist Lord Zhoushan of the Lingxiao Sect,” the Sect Master introduced. “Address him as Martial Uncle.”
Jiang Yingxue cupped her hands and bowed. “Greetings, Martial Uncle Zhoushan.”
“Good child.” Daoist Lord Zhoushan looked at her, unable to suppress his envy. “Ling Heng is very good at taking in disciples.”
Nangong Yu was one example.
That Xu Wanzhong, who was currently breaking through, was another.
And now, even his eldest disciple had already reached the Deity Transformation stage. He truly had remarkable fortune when it came to master-disciple relationships.
This made Daoist Lord Zhoushan, who had so few disciples, even more determined in his purpose for coming here.
He wanted a disciple too—someone he could raise himself, personally teach in cultivation, and eventually watch ascend to the Deity Transformation stage alongside him as master and disciple.
With that thought, his gaze shifted and fell beneath the vortex of spiritual energy.
This child was still young, having only just entered the cultivation world. Everything was perfectly timed.
Jiang Yingxue also looked down below and asked, “Who is breaking through?”
What? Did this eldest senior sister not even know she had a junior sister?
Upon hearing this, Zhoushan raised his brows at the Sect Master.
He had claimed that Ling Heng doted on his youngest disciple, yet was this how he showed it? Her senior brothers and sisters had never even met her?
The Sect Master smiled. “Martial Brother, is there something you need?”
He pretended not to understand, so Zhoushan ignored him and turned his gaze away. In a gentle tone, he said, “This is my future disciple.”
At that very moment, Jiang Yingxue heard her master’s voice transmitted directly to her mind.
“This is your little junior sister. I only took her in two months ago. That old bastard Zhoushan saw that she has good talent and wants to snatch her away.”
“Martial Uncle Zhoushan must be joking.” Jiang Yingxue turned to Zhoushan. “She is a disciple of Hengxu Peak. How could she possibly become your future disciple?”
Zhoushan smiled. “Your master dislikes her. He thinks she attracts trouble, and he even complains that her talent is poor and that she takes too long to break through. I don’t mind any of that. I’ll teach her properly.”
This was something Jiang Yingxue had never known. She glanced sideways at her master.
“Nonsense!” Elder Ling Heng immediately denied it. “I was merely being modest, yet you twisted my words into saying that I dislike her in every possible way. You’re quite skilled at sowing discord!”
Jiang Yingxue found the exchange amusing. She had never seen her usually arrogant master fight so openly over someone before. This little junior sister seemed rather interesting.
“What spiritual root does my little junior sister have?” Jiang Yingxue had developed an interest in her and asked, “I’ll prepare a congratulatory gift for her and give it to her once she wakes up.”
This topic was rather awkward, because Nangong Yu’s spiritual roots were somewhat difficult to explain.
But after steeling his heart, Elder Ling Heng said, “Your junior sister has earth, wood, and water spiritual roots. You may decide whether to take her.”
“What?” Elder Zhoushan was astonished. “She has three spiritual roots?”
A look of disappointment immediately crossed his face.
People claimed that talent was unimportant, but that was merely something they said to comfort disciples with poor aptitude. Given the choice, every one of a hundred—or ten thousand—cultivators would choose a single spiritual root.
“Yes.” Elder Ling Heng shot him a glance. “Only someone with truly discerning eyes is qualified to become her master.”
Otherwise, how could he say that he and his little disciple were fated to meet?
That day atop the main peak, everyone had looked down on her. He alone had softened and given her a chance!
“I see…” Elder Zhoushan lowered his eyes and murmured to himself. His senior sister had told him that the chances of him taking a disciple on this trip were about even, but he had never understood why.
Now, however, he somewhat understood. With spiritual roots like these, she was far from qualified to become the disciple of a Daoist Lord at the Divine Transformation stage.
It was not as though he would take in a child simply because he found her amusing, then raise her perfunctorily.
He would have to like her, appreciate her, and feel a connection with her. Only if he was willing to devote himself to teaching her could he take her as his disciple.
Seeing that he had fallen silent, Elder Ling Heng breathed a sigh of relief, though he also felt inexplicably stifled.
He had taken in an exceptionally talented disciple—an extraordinarily special one, at that. Who would understand?
He wanted to boast about her, yet he was afraid that if others heard, they would all come vying to snatch her away. He was practically bursting with frustration, sighing deeply again and again.
“Master?” Jiang Yingxue asked, puzzled.
Elder Ling Heng shook his head. “It’s nothing. I was merely wondering when your junior sister will finally succeed in breaking through.”
That was not a lie. He was genuinely somewhat worried about his little disciple. Breaking through every few days was normally a good thing, but she had only just embarked on the path of cultivation, and her foundation was unstable. He was deeply concerned that she might stray onto the wrong path, creating trouble that would be difficult to clean up later.
Yet she had never discussed the Dao with him. She always cultivated on her own, and Elder Ling Heng did not even know how she practiced…
Disciple Peak.
Class A had grown to forty-nine disciples.
Yet only forty-eight of them were present.
“Has she succeeded in breaking through?”
“It doesn’t seem so.”
Silence spread throughout the great hall.
No one had expected Nangong Yu to exchange a few words with them, return home, and then break through again.
Again.
She had broken through again!
And again!
That very night, after hearing the news, Mo Jiuyou threw himself onto the ground atop Blazing Sun Peak, rolling around and wailing. His master, Master Lieyang, held him and comforted him again and again.
“Good disciple, you’re a genius too!”
“Why compare yourself to her? Your foundation is stable, while no one knows what condition hers is in!”
“That sanctimonious Ling Heng must have given her something. We won’t compete with them. We’ll just cultivate steadily!”
Even after a whole night of soothing, Mo Jiuyou could not be consoled. This time, he had truly broken down.
He worked tirelessly, cultivating day and night. At last, he experienced a moment of sudden enlightenment and surpassed her in cultivation.
But that had only been a few days ago!
“Heh.” In the great hall, the little boy no longer wore his usual proud, smug expression. He looked like a wilted sapling.
He had nothing left to say about it.
It was not only him who had been shaken. Zhao Ziyun, Xiao Junlin, and the others had also been dealt a heavy blow. At that moment, they all sat in silence, not saying a word.
One day passed, then another.
Finally, while class was in session one day, someone suddenly exclaimed, “She succeeded in breaking through!”
