Luo Qingci was sitting alone in that broken wooden hut when she formed her Foundation Establishment.
She didn’t do anything; the spiritual power inside her just condensed on its own.
That moment was very quiet.
No heavenly phenomenon, no spiritual power riot, not even any particular sensation.
It was just that shallow layer of liquid spiritual power in her dantian suddenly became full and stable, like a cup of water finally filled to the brim—not too much, not too little, just right.
She opened her eyes, felt the spiritual power flowing through her body and the faint, thread-like connection at her chest, and softly let out an “Oh.”
‘So this is what Foundation Establishment feels like.’
Nothing earth-shattering, just a simple, natural progression.
She had wanted to tell her master, but Xiao Yan wasn’t around those few days.
Later, when Xiao Yan came back and she saw him looking so bored, she felt that such a small matter as Foundation Establishment wasn’t worth mentioning specifically.
After all, in the eyes of a Golden Core cultivator, the difference between Qi Refining Peak and Early Foundation Establishment wasn’t that great—both could be dealt with in one slap.
Several months had passed, and her cultivation resources basically all came from her master, her senior brother, and the monthly stipend.
The three senior brothers indeed had no interest in her looks, which was fine.
Senior Brother Gu Changqing had been here for nearly thirty years.
He was upright in appearance and could sweep floors, cook, knit—all kinds of chores.
He worked several jobs every day to support his junior siblings.
For a meeting gift, he gave her a jade pendant that contained the master’s sword intent.
It could supposedly cut down anyone below Nascent Soul with a single strike, but he said he didn’t need it.
Second Senior Brother Chen Mo was a man of few words.
The master said his sword heart was clear, but in reality, he just had no guile, a straightforward temperament.
Whenever he met someone he thought was strong, he wanted to fight them.
He had sparred with Luo Qingci no less than dozens of times.
He tended to cause trouble outside, so the master rarely let him leave the peak.
His meeting gift was those two low-grade spirit stones.
Third Senior Brother Yun Jinzhou was an eighteen-year-old Late Foundation Establishment cultivator with astonishing talent.
He started body refinement at three, Qi Refining at eight, and Foundation Establishment at fifteen, never encountering any bottlenecks along the way.
He was someone with the potential to become an immortal.
The master and senior brothers feared something might happen to him, so they kept him on the peak all the time.
He was probably stifled by it, seeming a bit neurotic.
For a meeting gift, he made her a dish called “Hundred Heroes Assemble,” which he claimed was the top item on the “Sword Cultivator Must-Eat List.”
She was curious at first, but then she saw Yun Jinzhou mixing flower petals with fried tree leaves…
Each of them had their own unique skills.
As for Master Xiao Yan, he was the most mysterious existence on Lingyun Peak.
In the several months since Luo Qingci had joined the sect, she could count on one hand the number of times she had seen her master.
Every time Xiao Yan came back, he was in a hurry—sometimes late at night, sometimes at dawn.
He never stayed on the peak long before leaving again, but he always brought things for them.
Pills, spirit stones, sword manuals, occasionally a few new dharma robes, and he even brought her a seventh-grade flying sword (ninth grade being the lowest, first the highest) to serve as her personal sword from then on.
Once, Xiao Yan even carved a few sword marks on a stone and had them sit cross-legged in front of it to sense the sword aura within.
The sword intent contained in those marks was vast and fierce.
Just looking at it made Luo Qingci’s brow ache, as if an invisible sword were pressing against her forehead.
Chen Mo sat in front of that stone for a whole day and night.
When he got up, without a word, he drew his sword and began to practice.
Luo Qingci asked her master what he had been doing these days.
Xiao Yan leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and held a blade of grass in his mouth, grinning.
“Found a job. Pays a lot of spirit stones.”
“What kind of job?”
“A respectable job.”
“What exactly do you do?”
“Disciple, you shouldn’t pry into your master’s affairs. Focus on your sword practice.”
Today, Xiao Yan returned again.
When Luo Qingci heard the noise and came out of her wooden hut, she saw her master standing in the middle of the open space, holding a cloth bag and pouring its contents onto the ground.
Spirit stones clattered down in a heap, glistening with a soft luster in the sunlight.
A rough count put them at least in the hundreds.
Yun Jinzhou was already crouched on the ground picking them up, his eyes gleaming as he muttered, “So many spirit stones… Master, did you rob someone?”
“I found a job that pays well in spirit stones.”
Xiao Yan lay back in his chair.
“After all, I’m a Golden Core True Person. How could I possibly rob anyone? Jinzhou, take these spirit stones to your two senior brothers.”
“Got it!”
Yun Jinzhou put the stones into his storage ring and quickly ran off.
“Master,” she walked over and flashed a sweet smile, “I want to discuss something with you.”
“Speak.”
“I want to annul my marriage contract.”
Xiao Yan’s expression didn’t change much; he just raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Annul a marriage contract? You have a betrothal?”
“It was arranged by the elders of my family,” Luo Qingci tried to keep her tone calm.
“It was set before I was born. The other party is the legitimate son of a family from Clear River City. I’ve never met him, and I don’t want to.”
“Then just annul it,” Xiao Yan said matter-of-factly.
“With your current status as a personal disciple of Qingyun Sect, annulling a marriage contract from some family shouldn’t cause you trouble. At most, you’ll have to offer some spirit stones as compensation.”
Xiao Yan’s response caught Luo Qingci off guard.
She had expected her master to ask questions like “Who is it?”
“What’s the situation at home?”
“Why do you want to annul it?” and had even prepared herself for a lecture.
But Xiao Yan just finished pouring the stones, patted the dust off his hands, walked over to the stone table and sat down, popped a spiritual fruit he pulled from somewhere into his mouth, and crunched loudly.
“Offer some spirit stones?”
Luo Qingci followed and sat down across from him.
“Master, does Lingyun Peak have money?”
Xiao Yan’s chewing paused.
“Now that you mention it,” he spat out the pit and flicked it into the distant bushes, “how could Lingyun Peak be broke? Disciple, don’t worry. With your master’s efforts, we won’t lack spirit stones.”
“Master,” she couldn’t help asking, “what exactly is this job you’re doing outside?”
“Your master is still a Golden Core True Person, isn’t it normal to find a job that pays well in spirit stones?”
“Then the compensation gift for my marriage annulment…”
“Your master will cover it.”
Xiao Yan waved his hand grandly.
“It’s no big deal. Annulling a marriage isn’t something that can’t be done.”
Luo Qingci opened her mouth to say she didn’t need his help, but the words caught in her throat.
The seventh-grade flying sword her master had given her—just its maintenance and repairs would eat up almost all of her monthly stipend.
Add the spirit stones consumed in daily cultivation, and she could barely afford to eat.
Besides, sword cultivators were generally straightforward.
Lingyun Peak was dirt poor.
Her storage pouch had fewer than twenty low-grade spirit stones and a few bottles of pills.
If she unilaterally called off the engagement, a compensation gift was necessary.
Given her current situation, taking out such meager items would indeed look shabby.
But if she said that, her master might take it seriously…
“Thank you, Master,” she said.
“For what?”
Xiao Yan pulled another spiritual fruit from his sleeve.
“You’re my disciple. If I don’t take care of you, who will?”
Luo Qingci fell silent for a moment.
She hadn’t heard words like that in a long time.
Back in the Luo family, her father would say “This is what you should do,” and her stepmother would say “You ought to be like this.”
No one ever asked her “What do you want?”
Later, when she came to Qingyun Sect, the outer disciples came and went, and no one really cared about her thoughts.
“What’s the other party’s name?”
Xiao Yan asked.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“But they share your surname, Xiao. I heard he’s a waste who’s been stuck at Qi Refining First Layer for ten years.”
Xiao Yan’s chewing paused again.
“Xiao family of Clear River City?”
“Yeah, Master, do you know them?”
“Uh… I know them, I know them.”
“I heard his root bone is terrible and his spirit roots are impure. The family has almost given up on him.”
Xiao Yan slowly took the fruit away from his mouth, turned it in his hand a couple of times, and his expression became a bit subtle.
He glanced at Luo Qingci, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, then swallowed his words.
“Then go ahead. I’ll prepare the compensation gift. If he really is a waste, your marriage contract will be easy to annul. Write him a letter, and the other party might even be grateful.”
Luo Qingci thought so too.
A waste at Qi Refining First Layer marrying a personal disciple of Qingyun Sect would probably feel a lot of pressure.
Even if she didn’t mind, the other party would likely think he didn’t deserve her.
“What if he’s not a waste?”
Xiao Yan suddenly asked.
“Then I’d still want to annul it. Whether he’s a genius or a waste doesn’t affect your disciple’s intention to call off the engagement. I just want to focus on cultivation and don’t want to get involved in romance.”
Luo Qingci clasped her hands together and looked at him with sincere eyes.
“Help me, Master…”
Xiao Yan squeezed the half-bitten fruit in his hand, looking at his little disciple with clasped hands and sparkling eyes.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
‘Help me, Master’—
If those words came from Yun Jinzhou’s mouth, he would kick him without a second thought.
If they came from Gu Changqing’s mouth, he would just turn and leave.
From Chen Mo’s mouth—forget it, Chen Mo would never say something like that in his life.
But from this little disciple’s mouth… uh…
‘What do I do if my disciple wants to annul her engagement to my nephew?’
‘Pretty urgent. Is there any way?’
‘If I agree, what about my nephew? What about my dear brother? What will the old man at home do when he finds out?’