When Chu Qingxue opened her eyes from meditation, the sky outside the window was just beginning to lighten.
Mornings on Purple Sun Peak always carried the clean sweetness of spirit grass, and cranes could be heard calling somewhere off in the distance.
She stayed cross-legged and felt out the last traces of spiritual power drifting inside her. A whole night of meditation, and the water spirit root in her dantian still gave off the same soft blue glow, without the slightest stir.
Then she tried to drive the power, following the route of the basic sword art's First Form as she had it memorized, guiding the energy from her dantian toward her wrist.
And as always, it got about as far as her elbow and dispersed.
She got up helplessly, straightened her skirt, and dug a bronze mirror out of her storage ring.
In the mirror was an exceptionally lovely, ice-cold face, the skin as white as snow.
She adjusted her expression in front of it, pressed the corners of her mouth down a little, and cooled her gaze.
Mm. Today's Saintess is pretty flawless too.
Then she thought of the night before.
Of the original owner's memories, of that promise sealed with a touched fist, of the line she had said herself: "You carried it for twenty years. I'll carry it from here."
Ugh. I can barely look after myself right now, never mind catching a traitor. The recruitment ceremony on its own is enough to worry me into the grave.
Chu Qingxue set the mirror down and looked at her own palm.
The Flawless Sword Body.
A top-tier physique that appeared once in a thousand years. Meridians clear from birth, sword intent so pure it turned aside evil and filth of its own accord. And the Golden Core cultivation was genuine, every bit of it.
Like someone who had inherited a fortune of hundreds of millions and did not know the PIN for the bank card.
Twenty yuan a day was all she could withdraw, and one cup of milk tea made it disappear.
She was quiet for a moment, then fished an empty storage pouch out of her sleeve.
The Saintess's monthly resource allowance was really something. In three months she had done nothing but brew tea, and the spirit stones and pills heaped up in her storage ring were practically growing mold.
She reached in and began pulling things out.
"Spirit-Nurturing Pills, three bottles." She gave one of the jade bottles a shake. "For stabilizing your realm during Qi Refining, good for a beginner just starting out. An ordinary outer sect disciple is issued one a month. There are twelve in this bottle. Three bottles will carry him to mid Qi Refining."
"Marrow-Cleansing Pills, two bottles. For the body-tempering stage. They scour the hair and wash the marrow and toughen the meridians. One of these fetches fifty low-grade spirit stones on the black market, and I'm handing over two whole bottles—hmph, he's getting off cheap."
"Qi-Gathering Powder, five packets. Drink one while drawing spirit into the body and the odds of sensing spiritual energy go up by thirty percent. A mortal's success rate on a first drawing is under ten percent. With this it goes to forty at the least."
"Meridian-Opening Powder, one bottle. For opening the meridians, used when pushing through a barrier in Qi Refining. If his aptitude is any good it could save him three months of grinding."
"Spirit-Gathering Incense, three boxes. Light a stick while meditating at night and the rate of absorbing spiritual energy doubles. Ten sticks to a box. Three boxes will last him a month."
"Heart-Clearing Dew, one bottle. Prevents qi deviation. When a heart demon rises, a drop between the brows. He won't really need it at Qi Refining, but what if he does? Better to have it and not need it."
She laid the items out on the table one after another, her movements growing smoother and smoother, her tone more and more like a housewife sweeping through a supermarket. No — a househusband.
Then her hand found something cold at the back of the wooden cabinet.
She gave it a hard pull and dragged out a short sword, jade green from end to end.
The blade was under two chi long, and its edge carried a faint azure halo in the morning light. Two archaic seal-script characters were carved into the hilt: Azure Spirit.
"The Azure Spirit Sword." Chu Qingxue read the name aloud and weighed it in her hand.
This was the sword the original owner had carried during Foundation Establishment, forged from ten-thousand-year cold iron and the essence of green jade. For a cultivator at Qi Refining it was already top-tier equipment.
"Take it." She set the Azure Spirit Sword aside and went on digging.
"Light Spirit Armor. Close-fitting soft armor that blocks any attack below Foundation Establishment. Wear it and blades and spears can't get through, water and fire can't touch you. Next to this, an outer sect disciple's standard robe is a rag."
"Give it to the kid, so he doesn't cut himself open on his first day of sword practice."
"Spirit Void Ring. A jade bracelet that adds to the rate of spiritual energy absorption once worn. At least twenty percent better cultivation efficiency."
"The original copy of 《Illustrated Guide to the Basic Sword Art》. Three times as detailed as the reproductions, with full annotations on the spiritual power route for every move and every form."
She paused and drew a small white jade token from her robes.
A cloud pattern was carved on the front and a neat character for sword on the back. This was the access token for the Transmission Pavilion; with it he could go and consult low-tier techniques there at any hour, with no time restriction.
"He gets this too."
Chu Qingxue straightened up, looked at the small mountain of cultivation resources on the table, and began counting.
Three bottles of Spirit-Nurturing Pills, two of Marrow-Cleansing Pills, five packets of Qi-Gathering Powder, one bottle of Meridian-Opening Powder, three boxes of Spirit-Gathering Incense, one bottle of Heart-Clearing Dew, one set of Light Spirit Armor, one Spirit Void Ring, one Azure Spirit Sword, one original copy of 《Illustrated Guide to the Basic Sword Art》, and one Transmission Pavilion access token.
She thought about it and dug fifty low-grade spirit stones out of the storage ring as well, and packed them into the pouch.
Looking at the pouch crammed full of cultivation resources, she could not help grumbling to herself.
Tch. An inner sect disciple would have to save for three months to put a bag like this together.
An ordinary inner sect disciple's monthly allowance came to five Spirit-Nurturing Pills, one Marrow-Cleansing Pill, and ten low-grade spirit stones, and they still had to run missions for contribution points before they could trade for an artifact. And here she was, kitting out a mortal who had not even started, with a full endgame set in one go.
For a mortal just starting out, this was enough to take him from nothing all the way to the peak of Qi Refining. No — better put, even a pig could be stacked up into Qi Refining on resources like these.
Chu Qingxue gave a light snort and pushed the last item into the pouch.
"With this lot, even if he's a good-for-nothing with a spirit root of zero, I could force-stack him into Qi Refining inside a day."
She pulled the mouth of the pouch tight, patted the bulging thing, and the corner of her mouth curved without her permission.
This guy really is getting off easy.
She pictured Lin Jin's face when he received all of it. The kid would probably drop into a knee-slide on the spot, knock his head three times, then clutch the Azure Spirit Sword and bawl his eyes out, shouting something about Senior Sister being the parent who gave him a second life.
If this idiot knew that Senior Sister Qingxue was Chu Yang — the bro who had failed countless courses and lost eight games in a row with him — the look on his face would be spectacular.
But she could not tell him yet.
At the very least she had to wait until the ceremonial demonstration was over and the traitor had been found. Otherwise, knowing Lin Jin, the moment he walked into the traitor's trap and the truth spilled out, it would all be finished.
Chu Qingxue tied the storage pouch at her waist and made one last check of her appearance in the bronze mirror.
White robes whiter than snow, hair falling loose like a waterfall, expression as cold as the frozen surface of a lake.
The Saintess in the mirror was without a single flaw.
All right. About time. She should set out for the place they had agreed on.
She pushed open the door of the cave dwelling, and the early sunlight fell across her face, carrying the scent of spirit grass and mountain spring water.
Out on the Transmission Grounds in the distance a few early-rising disciples were practicing, their sword light cutting through the morning mist like so many meteors.
She walked down the mountain road at an unhurried pace, white robes drifting in the morning wind, heading toward the guest lodge at the foot of Purple Sun Peak.
Noon was nearly here.
Lin Jin should be waiting for her.
But she would soon discover that Lin Jin had not arrived.
He had been lying in a warehouse all night.