A month later.
I could already maintain a stable mid-stage Qi Refining status and had learned the simplest sword moves.
My senior brothers were very satisfied—satisfied in the way owners feel when they see their pig finally learn how to dig up cabbages.
Shen Qingchen: “Mm, there’s power in your sword swings now!”
Su Ning: “Your horse stance is solid now! You can hold it for half a shichen (an hour)!!”
Yan Chuan: “She learns characters fast too—she can already write the three characters for ‘Heavenly Sword Sect’!!”
Murong Zhuo: “Her physical strength is improving quickly, so we can upgrade her medicinal bath. Next time, let’s try adding scorpion tails.”
Me: “…Can we not?”
Murong Zhuo: “Sure, then we’ll swap it for centipede legs.”
Me: “…Let’s stick with the scorpion tails then.”
At least scorpion tails sound like they have fewer legs.
Gu Chenguang was still taking notes in his little booklet, making an end-of-month summary:
Little Junior Sister’s Cultivation Results:
— Cultivation: Mid-stage Qi Refining Stage ✓
— Body Tempering: Beginner ✓
— Sword Moves: Basic 12 Stances ✓
— Character Recognition: 308 characters ✓
— Writing: 3 characters ✓
— Medicinal Bath Count: 12 sessions
— Total Expenses: -1,200 low-grade spirit stones
— Remaining Inventory Balance: 300 low-grade spirit stones
I leaned over to look.
Then pointed at a line of text: “What’s written here?”
Gu Chenguang snapped the notebook shut: “Nothing.”
But I saw it.
— Note: The sect is about to go bankrupt.
One day during mealtime:
Eldest Senior Brother Shen Qingchen handed over a porcelain bottle and a pouch of spirit stones.
Inside the porcelain bottle was an Origin-Nourishing Pill—just one—emitting a subtle medicinal fragrance.
The spirit stones consisted of 100 mid-grade spirit stones, equivalent to 10,000 low-grade spirit stones.
For a poor sect like ours, this was a massive fortune.
Holding the spirit stones, my eyes lit up: “Eldest Senior Brother, did you strike it rich?”
Shen Qingchen shook his head: “I took on an escort mission. This is the deposit.”
Me: “What kind of mission?”
Su Ning immediately leaned in: “Eldest Senior Brother took on a huge order! Escorting a few geniuses from the Beast-Taming Sect into the Phantom Beast Ruins secret realm to catch spiritual beasts!”
Me: “Is it dangerous?”
Yan Chuan said with a serious expression: “3-star difficulty level—no one below the Nascent Soul stage dares to enter casually. Usually, sect elders lead their disciples inside for field training.”
Me: “Then why hire Eldest Senior Brother?”
Murong Zhuo explained: “Sect field training is usually organized only once every few years. If lower-cultivation disciples want to go inside during normal times, they either team up or hire bodyguards.”
Gu Chenguang said with a look of envy: “That group of disciples from the Beast-Taming Sect all have mines at home—they hire bodyguards without even blinking an eye.”
Me: “Have you senior brothers been to the Phantom Beast Ruins before?”
Su Ning nodded: “We have.”
Yan Chuan scratched his head: “In the past, we also formed a squad to go inside and catch demon beasts to sell for money.”
Murong Zhuo added: “However, most demon beasts possess innate divine talents, so they aren’t easy to catch.”
Gu Chenguang thought for a moment: “By the way, Eldest Senior Brother, remember to gather more spiritual herbs and medicinal plants back! Once Second Elder returns after finishing his studies, we can refine pills ourselves!”
He paused, “Though right now we don’t even have an alchemy furnace.”
Shen Qingchen nodded, then looked at me: “Is there anything Little Junior Sister wants? A spiritual beast?”
I thought about it and shook my head: “No, I only want Eldest Senior Brother to come back safely.”
Shen Qingchen froze for a moment, then smiled, patting my head: “Alright.”
The next day, Eldest Senior Brother was set to depart.
The other senior brothers gathered around him, blurting out instructions all at once.
Su Ning: “Eldest Senior Brother, remember to haggle! The escort fee must be at least 500 mid-grade spirit stones! Not a single stone less!”
Yan Chuan: “If you see spiritual herbs and plants, gather them! Free stuff is free stuff!”
Murong Zhuo: “If you run into danger, run first! Forget the money, keeping your life is a must!”
Gu Chenguang: “And… stay safe.”
Shen Qingchen agreed to each of them.
Then he looked at me: “While I’m away, listen to Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Senior Brothers. Cultivate well and don’t wander off.”
I nodded: “Mm.”
Then I stood on tiptoes and stuffed a candy into his hand.
It was the candy he bought for me yesterday that I hadn’t had the heart to finish.
Shen Qingchen was taken aback, then smiled gently, reaching out to gently rub my hair.
Then he waved goodbye to everyone and took off.
He left with great flair—soaring into the sky on his sword with his robes fluttering, looking just like a sword immortal from storybooks setting out to save all living beings.
…And then he landed halfway down the mountain and flew right back, because he had forgotten to bring his dry rations.
Su Ning stuffed three steamed buns he had saved up into his hands.
Shen Qingchen took the buns and said earnestly: “I’ll pay you back when I return.”
Su Ning: “No need to pay back, as long as you remember to add interest.”
Shen Qingchen nodded: “Alright.”
And then he finally flew away.
As I watched his back disappear into the clouds, I turned and asked: “Does Eldest Senior Brother owe you guys a lot of money?”
Su Ning thought for a moment: “Roughly… three hundred and eighty mid-grade spirit stones.”
Yan Chuan added: “Hasn’t paid back for eighteen years.”
Murong Zhuo sighed: “Though the interest keeps compounding every year. In another fifty years, Eldest Senior Brother won’t be able to pay it back at all.”
Gu Chenguang whispered: “Actually, he does it on purpose—if he owes too much debt, no one dares to press him to pay it back.”
Me: “…”
Got it.
This is the cultivation world’s version of “Why should I pay back money I borrowed using my own ability?”
After Eldest Senior Brother left, my heart felt hollow and empty.
Although we had only been together for a month, I had already gotten used to seeing Eldest Senior Brother every day.
Gotten used to him supervising my cultivation, standing beside me expressionlessly like a human sword post.
Gotten used to him combing my hair—even though he didn’t do it as well as Su Ning, he made up for it by being gentle and never pulling out my hair.
Gotten used to him silently stuffing candies into my hand without saying a word, turning around and walking away as if he were a thief.
Su Ning put his arm around my shoulder: “Don’t worry, Eldest Senior Brother is very strong.”
Yan Chuan: “Right! Nascent Soul stage! In the cultivation world, he can basically walk sideways without fear!”
Murong Zhuo: “And even if he can’t win, he can still run!”
Gu Chenguang: “That’s right—ordinary people can’t keep up with the speed of a sword cultivator.”
I took a deep breath and turned to look at my senior brothers: “Alright then, what are we doing now?”
The senior brothers shouted in unison: “Cultivating!”
And so, I continued training with my senior brothers.
However, after taking the Origin-Nourishing Pill, I felt that the warm current inside my body became much more stable.
My meridians were also much smoother and clearer.
It was like a bumpy, pothole-ridden mountain road that had suddenly been paved with slate.
Although it was still a mountain road, at least it no longer hurt my feet.
Seeing that I was in good shape, my senior brothers decided to let me continue cultivating my spiritual power.
However, they still strictly controlled the time.
Su Ning held up two fingers: “Just two shichen (four hours)—not a single quarter-hour more!”
I nodded: “Understood.”
Then I obediently cultivated.
And then… one day later, I broke through.
The Late-Stage of Qi Refining!
Yes, it took only one single day!
My senior brothers surrounded me, their expressions extremely complex—there was joy, worry, pride, and panic.
Su Ning stammered: “L—Little Junior Sister… isn’t your cultivation speed… a bit too fast?”
Yan Chuan counted on his fingers: “Going from mid-stage to late-stage Qi Refining takes an ordinary person at least three years. It took me a year and a half, and it took Eldest Senior Brother half a year…”
Murong Zhuo sighed: “Junior Sister only took one day.”
Gu Chenguang weakly raised his hand: “It took me two years…”
I blinked: “So am I super amazing?”
Silence.
A long, heavy silence.
Su Ning spoke with difficulty: “You’re amazing, alright…”
Yan Chuan picked up the sentence: “But here comes the problem.”
Murong Zhuo: “Your speed of spiritual energy consumption is ten times that of a normal Qi Refining stage cultivator.”
Gu Chenguang pulled out his ledger: “This Spirit Gathering Array alone was worth 100 mid-grade spirit stones. With this single breakthrough of yours, 100 spirit stones are gone.”
He flipped a page: “And the surrounding spiritual energy has thinned out so much that it’ll take at least a month to recover.”
The final page recorded Little Junior Sister’s cultivation results:
— Cultivation: Late-stage Qi Refining ✓
— Sect Spirit Stone Inventory: 0
— Spiritual Energy Concentration: -70%
— Note: The sect is bankrupt, and the spiritual energy is bankrupt too.
Looking at the thinned-out spiritual energy around us, I felt a bit guilty: “Am I consuming too much spiritual energy?”
All the senior brothers shook their heads in unison.
Su Ning: “It’s not your fault—it’s just that we are too poor.”
Yan Chuan: “Right! If we were rich, we could pile up enough spirit stones to boost you all the way to Nascent Soul!”
Murong Zhuo: “It’s a good thing that Junior Sister has great talent—it can’t be wasted.”
Gu Chenguang: “Exactly, it’s just spirit stones anyway, we’ll figure something out!”
…Though as he said that, the notebook in his hand was still trembling.