“Qi Refining Stage, Sixth Layer!”
The Elder of Spirit Testing announced loudly.
A stir rippled through the crowd below the Spirit Testing Platform, and mocking laughter could easily be heard among the whispers.
Jiang Tong’s expression remained calm as he withdrew his hand from the Spirit Testing Stone, his gaze sweeping across the gathered Disciples who waited to see him make a fool of himself…until it finally landed on the white-robed woman at the very back of the viewing stand.
She stood with her sword in her arms, her demeanor indifferent. Across the distance of the platform, the two met each other’s gaze.
Even separated by such a distance, Jiang Tong saw her raise an eyebrow at him.
It seemed to ask: Are you alright?
Jiang Tong gave her a slight smile, letting her know that he was perfectly fine.
“Silence!”
The Testing Elder shouted harshly, turning as if to say something to Jiang Tong, but in the end, all that came out was a sigh full of regret.
“You… go down.”
Anyone could see the disappointment in his eyes—it would have been a heavy blow to any Disciple.
But Jiang Tong acted as if nothing had happened. He leisurely leapt down from the Spirit Testing Platform, his back straight as if he had just won first place, and headed towards his Immortal Master.
The Testing Elder shook his head in frustration and sighed, “Next!”
“Qi Refining Sixth Layer…he was ten years old then…now eighteen and still…”
“Shh…keep your voice down…Immortal Master Jiang is still here…”
“…always covering for him…”
Jiang Tong heard the faint whispering but neither grew angry nor annoyed; instead, his lips curved up ever so slightly.
It wasn’t that he had gotten used to these rumors and slanders—he simply never cared for them from the start.
In the eyes of these people, he had indeed wasted eight years. At ten, being at the sixth layer of Qi Refining Stage was a peerless prodigy; after eight years without any progress, he had become the textbook example of “bright in youth, but not necessarily so in adulthood.”
However.
His Master never despised him; her protectiveness was genuine. Living such a life of ease under her wing suited him just fine.
As the distance shrank, Jiang Yueliu’s features grew clearer.
Her white Daoist robe covered her long legs and slender waist. Standing with her sword by the pillar of the viewing stand, her elegant and pure face showed no trace of anger as she gave Jiang Tong a thorough, careful look.
In his memory, Jiang Yueliu had always been like this—still and calm, like the surface of a deep pond. Only now, perhaps, a trace of worry could be seen in her serene eyes.
Jiang Tong knew that what she worried about wasn’t his cultivation, but his state of mind.
“All done with the testing?”
“All done.”
“Any problems?”
“Sixth layer of Qi Refining, still haven’t regressed.” Jiang Tong smiled. “No regression is the best progress.”
Jiang Yueliu said nothing. She stared at Jiang Tong for a long time, as if searching for any hint of disappointment.
But Jiang Tong’s easy manner didn’t seem feigned, and her cool gaze swept over him several times before finally returning to its usual calm.
“If there’s no problem, let’s return to the mountain.”
“Alright.”
Jiang Tong responded promptly, following Jiang Yueliu obediently like a well-behaved disciple.
They had only taken a few steps when, behind them, the Spirit Testing Platform suddenly glowed with golden light and a wave of exclamations erupted.
“Golden Core Realm, middle stage!”
The old man who had just looked at Jiang Tong with such disappointment was now trembling with excitement, his voice shaking as though he might fall to his knees.
Jiang Yueliu didn’t turn back, continuing forward at her own pace.
Jiang Tong, however, paused and glanced back. Though he couldn’t clearly see what was happening on the Spirit Testing Platform, he had a pretty good idea who was up there.
Jinian Xue, the Sect Leader’s Direct Disciple—back when Jiang Tong was ten, she had been a whole head shorter than him, but now her cultivation had left him thousands of miles behind.
He imagined the female Sect Leader must be quite pleased. After all, Jiang Yueliu was her arch-rival, and her rival’s disciple was far inferior to her own… Anyone would feel proud in that situation.
With all the Disciples behind him in awe, Jiang Tong turned back, feeling a warmth in his heart.
Jiang Yueliu had not gone far. She stood just a few meters ahead, holding her sword and waiting for him calmly.
“Are you envious?”
“Not really.” Jiang Tong quickly caught up, then after a moment of thought, asked, “Master, are you envious?”
“What would I envy?” Jiang Yueliu looked puzzled.
“Envy that someone else’s disciple is more outstanding than your own.”
“Such envy would be rather meaningless.”
Jiang Tong laughed, knowing Jiang Yueliu’s character well. For her, a disciple’s lack of cultivation was never a flaw; she simply advocated for free-spirited cultivation.
In these eight years of stagnation, he had asked her this question more than a dozen times, and each time Jiang Yueliu had handled it with ease, never giving him a chance to feel sad.
“But Master, you’re a Grandmaster of the Merging Stage.” Jiang Tong blinked. “Why do you never set any expectations for your disciple?”
The female Sect Leader was notoriously strict with Jinian Xue. Jiang Tong had no doubt that if he were the Sect Leader’s disciple, he would have been cast aside the moment his cultivation stalled.
Yet his Master’s cultivation was even higher than the Sect Leader’s, and her requirements for him were so low that he could remain a Direct Disciple even at the Qi Refining Stage… The reason behind this was a mystery.
At the question, Jiang Yueliu seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.
“Who said I have no expectations?” she said to herself. “A normal disciple can’t wash clothes or cook, but you’re different.”
“Mm.” Jiang Tong was stunned for a moment, but nodded in full agreement.
“With such pitiful cultivation, without Master I’d be no better than an Outer Sect Disciple. So I can only stay diligent by your side to avoid being kicked out of the mountain…”
He looked so earnest that Jiang Yueliu couldn’t help but suppress a smile as she glanced at him.
“Enough with the clever talk.”
After a few seconds, she suddenly asked, “Do you really not envy Jinian Xue?”
Even if Jiang Tong swore that he was fine, boys at this age were often most competitive—he might just be hiding his hurt inside.
To her surprise, Jiang Tong thought about it seriously, then answered sincerely, “If Master doesn’t envy her, then I naturally have no complaints.”
Jiang Yueliu’s eyes flickered slightly. “What if I wanted you to surpass Jinian Xue?”
“If my cultivation won’t improve no matter what, then I have to find out the root of the problem first.” Jiang Tong’s gaze grew somber, but not from sorrow over his cultivation.
“If Master truly thinks so, then I’ll just pack up my things and leave Condensing Moon Cliff…”
……
Jiang Yueliu would never actually kick Jiang Tong out.
It wasn’t his pitiful expression that stirred her sympathy—it simply had never occurred to her to do so.
She’d seen the sadness on Jiang Tong’s face just now; this troublesome disciple didn’t find low cultivation that painful, but was simply afraid of having to leave this mountain.
Unambitious, taking cultivation as it comes—Jiang Tong’s personality was very much like her own.
The room was filled with the scent of incense. Jiang Yueliu quietly held the incense, bowed three times, and was about to place it in the censer when her hand paused.
Ash dropped away, revealing the faint glow of embers.
She was lost in thought again.
Rather than say he was similar to herself, it was more accurate to say he reminded her of someone from long ago—sometimes, Jiang Tong’s tone was very much like that person.
But after all, he was only an eighteen-year-old boy.
“Master.” Jiang Yueliu placed three sticks of incense in the censer, her expression melancholic.
“Today marks exactly two hundred years since we met.”
“In two hundred years, I still do not know what you looked like, nor do I know where you are, or even if you still exist.”
“That young boy I picked up, who shares your surname and given name, is now eighteen. Back then, I thought it was fate and brought him up the mountain. His personality is similar to yours. Perhaps it really is destiny between us.”
“Master, everything now—even my name—is thanks to your kindness. If I could see you just once…”
Jiang Yueliu sighed, her eyes as deep as a cold pond.
“…then I would have no regrets in this life.”
She bent down and bowed deeply once again.
The censer was silent. Behind the faintly burning incense sticks was an old, battered little bell tied to a small wooden tag.
The bell lay quietly on the cold stone table, its luster dull, as though hiding an unknown secret.
At the same time, in another room.
Jiang Tong’s nose twitched as he caught the familiar scent of incense.
Every year at this time, his Master would commemorate an unknown Ancestor Master.
Jiang Tong knew little about it—in fact, he knew very little about his Master’s past.
Perhaps it was because she always treated him as a junior, a child. They’d never had any heart-to-heart conversations. At the sixth layer of Qi Refining, he was meant to be sheltered; if he never made progress, in his Master’s eyes, he’d always be a junior.
Being a junior wasn’t so bad. It meant he could avoid responsibility. With such a powerful Master above him, there were countless benefits. He could do whatever he pleased in Shangyuan Sect. Even if someone didn’t like him, they’d think twice about making trouble.
But unfortunately, it had been thirteen years since he transmigrated here. In his previous life, Jiang Tong would have reached adulthood by now.
In this life, though, he no longer wished to be the junior in his Master’s eyes. Sooner or later, the fox’s tail would be revealed.
“You’ve consumed my cultivation for eight years, leaving all my meridians blocked…”
Jiang Tong gazed into the depths of his consciousness, where a bell quietly floated, ancient and radiant.
“Let’s see…just what you’re capable of.”
As he spoke, the bell trembled slightly, and a deep, distant sound echoed forth.
Three small characters appeared on the bell.
—Spring and Autumn Bell!
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