It was actually Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Milk! But wasn’t the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Milk in the hands of the Grand Master?
The Grand Master had been injured in that great war years ago, and whenever the injury flared up, he needed the Spirit Milk to suppress it and make things a bit more bearable.
Once a Mahayana cultivator is injured, they require a vast amount of resources to maintain their cultivation and recover. At the Mahayana stage, useful cultivation resources are even scarcer—not to mention that after the catastrophe years ago, the cultivation resources in the Qianyuan Realm were damaged. Finding a heavenly material or earthly treasure that could completely heal the Grand Master’s injury was harder than ascending to heaven.
It seemed the Grand Master had been here before them.
When the jade box opened, Ye Wan clearly felt a surge of fresh, pure spiritual energy, as if it were washing through every pore in her body. Even her Grade 6 Qi Refinement stage, which had been stuck for years, showed signs of loosening.
The bottle was transparent, and she could see the Spirit Milk condensed into droplets inside. It truly lived up to its reputation as a “mana-restoring divine tool” from cultivation novels.
As expected, when the cub takes action, you know she’s got the goods.
Chong Yuan’s gaze shifted back and forth between Ye Wan and Suisui, uncertain which of this mother-daughter duo possessed such incredible luck.
He closed the jade box and handed it over. “Good luck. You can go to the Library whenever you wish; just inform the gatekeeper, Elder Shouzhuo, and he will give you the token for the second and third floors. As for your desire to enter the major secret realms to dig for wild vegetables, you should perform well in the Great Sect Trial three months from now.”
With that, Chong Yuan flew away.
Ye Wan knew that the Great Sect Trial didn’t refer to a competition between disciples of their own sect, but rather a competition against other sects.
The Great Sect Trial occurred once every two hundred years and served as the competition for slots in the next round of secret realm explorations. The Qianyuan Realm had several major secret realms, such as Yun’ai, Jialan, and Fentian. Slots were allocated based on the rankings achieved in the Great Sect Trial. If new secret realms or massive ancient ruins were discovered in the interim, the slots were also distributed according to the results of the previous trial.
In recent years, because the Wan Yan Sect suffered from a gap in talent, they hadn’t even needed internal selections for participants since the last trial. It was already a feat just to gather enough people.
To prevent disciples from “slacking off,” the Wan Yan Sect also declared that the disciple with the highest individual score in the trial would not only receive a sect reward but also be guaranteed a slot in any allocated secret realm, without needing to go through further internal competition.
In other words, as long as your individual score was high, you would have a share of any secret realm slots allocated to the Wan Yan Sect. Whether a secret realm opened or not, as long as you were eligible to enter, you had a spot. This was designed to ignite the fighting spirit of the participating disciples.
No matter what, Ye Wan was determined to get that slot. That was the entry ticket to finding “fodder” for her daughter.
After leaving, Chong Yuan went to the restricted area of the back mountain to see the Supreme Elder.
“Grand Master, why did you need to put the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Milk in there?”
“It seems it was chosen. That child has a bit of destiny on her,” the meditating Supreme Elder said without even opening his eyes.
“That is one of the few things currently available that is beneficial to your injury. It might not be found so quickly again if we look.”
“It wouldn’t do to let that disciple lose out too much. I am fine. Go and tend to your business,” the Supreme Elder said.
Chong Yuan had no choice but to withdraw.
Returning to the Discussion Hall, Chong Yuan immediately took out a communication jade slip to send a message to someone—
“Elder Kong, it is time for you to return. I have a Ten-Thousand-Year Stop-Life Grass in my hand, waiting for you to return and refine it.”
Ye Wan went to the Management Hall to collect the plaque that opened the protective barrier for Changliu Peak and, along the way, picked up the contribution points the original owner hadn’t claimed since leaving the sect.
The sect issued one contribution point per month to its disciples. One point could be exchanged for one low-grade Inedia Pill or ten days’ worth of meals at the Dining Hall. In short, it ensured that disciples wouldn’t starve to death.
The original owner had been away for nearly ten years, so she could claim over a hundred contribution points. This would be perfect for Suisui to use for meals at the Dining Hall while Ye Wan was busy cultivating.
Ye Wan took Bian Yun and Suisui toward their future residence—oh, and the silent Divine Tree cub who didn’t speak unless poked.
If this Divine Tree’s transformation hadn’t occurred after the Sect Master agreed to let Master Bian Yun stay at Changliu Peak, she would have suspected that Changliu Peak was compensation given by the Sect Master for her bringing the Divine Tree cub along.
The accommodations the sect provided for outer disciples were better than those for task disciples. Task disciples shared rooms, whereas outer disciples could have a room to themselves within a shared courtyard. A single courtyard housed no fewer than six people, though those who didn’t lack spirit stones could stay in an independent courtyard.
The place where the original owner used to live had been reclaimed because she had been away for more than five years. If she returned, she would have to reapply for housing.
Fortunately, the Sect Master was considerate. To respect Master Bian Yun’s status, he directly gave them an entire peak.
Who would have thought? The daughter picks up a bodyguard, and they get to live on their own peak by association.
According to the sect records the original owner had read, Changliu Peak was established by the Supreme Elder’s only disciple, True Person Jing Zheng. He was the peerless genius of the Sect Master’s generation—a brilliant sword cultivator that the Wan Jian Sect couldn’t lure away no matter how hard they tried.
Regrettably, such a crowning figure had fallen in the catastrophe five thousand years ago.
The reason Changliu Peak was called “Changliu” wasn’t because it had mountain springs, rivers, or waterfalls, but because Jing Zheng’s natal spirit sword was named “Changliu.”
Looking down from above, one could see that the entire mountain peak had been carved into the shape of a sword, standing proudly between heaven and earth like a sharp blade.
Perhaps because it had been abandoned for too long, the peak that was once barren due to the devastation of sword qi was now covered in lush trees.
Sword cultivators focused on “simplicity.” Most of the mountain peak had been flattened into a large platform for sword practice. The spirit fields, spirit springs, pavilions, and towers found on other peaks were nowhere to be seen.
There was only a sword monument standing there. The sword intent on it had long since dissipated with time, but the sword scars on it seemed to reflect the figure that once swung a blade and sharpened their intent here.
Yet, on this mountain peak filled with the aura of a sword’s edge, stood a small, poetic courtyard. The fence was covered in green vines, with occasional small flowers dotting the gaps, adding a touch of vitality.
In the corner of the courtyard grew a wisteria tree. Clusters of purple-and-white wisteria flowers hung down from the branches, looking like a purple waterfall from a distance.
Under the tree stood a stone table and four stone stools, suitable for sitting in meditation, or sipping tea and discussing the Dao.
This small courtyard, so out of character for a sword cultivator, seemed to have been arranged by a woman. Its existence seemed to tell a story of a soft past.
The Supreme Elder was hidden in the air, looking down with his hands behind his back at the reopened peak. He seemed to see his brilliant disciple carving out this sword peak strike by strike, and saw that girl Chong Yun overbearingly and unreasonably decorating a peak full of sword qi into the style a girl would like.
When dividing the rooms, Ye Wan intended for her and Suisui to share one, Bian Yun to have one, and the Divine Tree cub to have one. However, the Divine Tree cub clung to Suisui and wouldn’t let go.
When told to choose a room, he looked at Suisui without saying a word. His meaning was clear: he would stay wherever Suisui stayed.
Ye Wan: “…”
“Little Ancestor, humans have a saying: ‘Men and women should not touch or be intimate.’ You cannot stay with Suisui.” Ye Wan tried to reason with a tree.
“I won’t touch. I want to stay with Suisui.” Lang Xuan held Suisui’s hand firmly, his eyes full of the clear ignorance of a three-year-old.
“Mother, can the chubby ones be touched then?” Suisui also raised her hand to speak.
Ye Wan: … These two cubs are going to kill me with cuteness.
“Neither fat nor thin is allowed.” Ye Wan pressed Suisui’s hand down and patiently misled the Divine Tree toddler. “Suisui is still small and needs to stay with Mother. You’ve transformed into what counts as a human boy. Human boys should be independent and live on their own.”
“I am the same as her.” Lang Xuan pointed at himself and then at Suisui.
Ye Wan: You both look equally tender on the outside, but your ages aren’t the same at all.
“Mother, Tree Brother can stay with us. I can share this much of the bed with Tree Brother.” Suisui let go of the little Divine Tree’s hand and gestured with her arms. The little Divine Tree switched to grabbing the strap of her small crossbody bag.
Ye Wan: “Suisui, what did Mother say you shouldn’t do with boys?”
“Can’t play the body-touching game, can’t let boys take off my pants, lift my skirt, or kiss my mouth. But… Tree Brother is a tree, not a boy.”
Fine, so now you know your Tree Brother is a tree. Who was it earlier that put their hands on their hips and insisted on forcing him to admit he was a person?
Lang Xuan looked at Suisui and seemed to understand something. In the blink of an eye, his green robes transformed into a small dress identical to Suisui’s, with the only difference being that the dress was green.
Ye Wan: …
Forgot that trees can be monoecious.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that the Divine Tree cub didn’t like to talk and seemed ignorant about everything; when he got stubborn, it was truly hard to handle.
Ye Wan thought for a moment, then bent down to look the Divine Tree cub in the eye. “Come, repeat after me: ‘I swear to Heaven that this three-head-tall form is my true transformed appearance. I am absolutely not painting an old cucumber green to pretend I’m young. In playing with Suisui, I have no other intentions and will never harm her. Otherwise, my cultivation will dissipate, my leaves will all fall off, and I will become a bald tree.'”
Beside them, Bian Yun, who was acting like she was invisible, couldn’t help but glance at Ye Wan, curious about what was inside her head.
Ye Wan: An Anti-Fraud APP.
Lang Xuan looked dazed, unsure if he understood. He hesitated to follow.
“If you don’t do it, you can’t stay in the same room as Suisui,” Ye Wan said.
Lang Xuan blinked. Without needing Ye Wan to repeat it, he slowly recited every single word Ye Wan had just said, without a single mistake.
As he finished, a mark sank into the top of Lang Xuan’s head. The oath was formed.
Ye Wan felt relieved. In truth, the Divine Tree cub was no less than a “Little Ancestor” of the sect. Suisui being able to play with the sect’s Little Ancestor was her gain, but as a mother, she always had to be cautious.
“Suisui won’t hit or hurt Tree Brother either! Otherwise… otherwise all my hair will fall off, and I’ll become a bald little monk!” Suisui raised Lang Xuan’s hand and declared grandly.
Ye Wan watched as the mark representing the oath began to appear, then retracted halfway.
Ye Wan: …
I understand. This oath wasn’t ‘standard.’ It’s definitely NOT because this Heavenly Dao Daddy is worried his daughter might accidentally hurt the Divine Tree cub one day and actually become a little monk.
Bian Yun looked at the sky. Heh! This favoritism is blatantly obvious.