Having heard out the Zhezhu Sword Spirit, Xie Wuwang looked at Yun Xiu with a slight frown.
Yun Xiu’s head was practically drooping to the ground as she tugged at her fingers.
She had no idea why Xu Shaoqian’s speech had abruptly veered into wanting to take her as his master, utterly caught off guard.
Little by little Yun Xiu shuffled closer to Xie Wuwang and leaned in to whisper, “He wants to take me as his master, but I haven’t agreed yet, so he isn’t a grand-disciple yet.”
…She really couldn’t stay out of trouble for more than three days.
Xie Wuwang’s gaze fell on the red-robed boy in the middle. His voice was calm. “The reason.”
“Sword Venerable Wuwang.”
Xu Shaoqian gave a bow, then raised his head. Under the scrutiny of the group his tone was neither servile nor arrogant. “In that battle three days ago, I came to deeply understand my shortcomings on the path of cultivation. So I wish to take her as my master and train in body techniques.”
Xie Wuwang said mildly, “That’s all?”
Xu Shaoqian nodded. “Sword Venerable, I’m serious.”
Xie Wuwang gave an emotionless hum, then grabbed Yun Xiu by the back of her collar, turned, and walked off, vanishing into the mist.
The Zhezhu Sword Spirit flew off into that thick whiteness after them.
At the foot of Luoxue Peak, only You Yujing and Xu Shaoqian remained.
Xu Shaoqian stared blankly at the mist.
You Yujing clapped him on the shoulder. “Xu Shaoqian, you’ve never taken a master before, so you may not quite get it, this isn’t the same as studying under an instructing senior uncle in the sect. Taking a master isn’t a game, and it certainly can’t be a decision made on a whim. It requires careful deliberation.”
Xu Shaoqian frowned. “I’ve thought it through carefully.”
You Yujing scratched his head, troubled. Anyone who saw this would surely think he was just a foolish youngster fooling around.
“The master-disciple bond is a very serious thing. Once you take a master, you have to accept everything that identity brings with it, in a great many senses.”
Xu Shaoqian shot him a sidelong look, his eyes as though watching an idiot. “Of course I know that. The reason I never took a master before was simply that I felt none of them could make me willingly abide by the rules.”
That didn’t seem to be a lie.
You Yujing recalled the previous Sword-Debate Tournament, when the two of them had ranked first and second, the gap between them, in fact, hadn’t been large, he’d merely edged ahead on talent.
Shuo Yunhuai had wanted to take them both as disciples at the time, but Xu Shaoqian had refused, otherwise they’d be fellow disciples under the same master now.
You Yujing, suspicious: “So you’ll obediently listen now?”
Xu Shaoqian folded his arms and looked at the box in You Yujing’s hand. “What did she ask you to do?”
“Nothing much, just to help her buy some things. Needle and thread, fabric, cloth bags, that sort of thing.” You Yujing opened the box and took out the drawing to turn it around and study it.
He didn’t know much about this area, so Junior Sister Little Yun had drawn it all out on paper, the fabric materials, quantities, and so on, so the shopkeeper would understand at a glance.
Behind him came the soft sound of footsteps. You Yujing turned to see the red-robed boy draw his sword.
The next second, riding the flying sword, he shot off into the distance, leaving behind only a puff of dust.
You Yujing: ?
Weren’t you just now going to take a master? And now you’ve run off.
No sincerity.
You Yujing grumbled inwardly while tucking away the drawing, then his hand suddenly stopped.
Wait.
Two seconds later, a flash of sword-light, and the foot of Luoxue Peak was empty.
……
The sky was at high noon, birds circling in the mountain forest beyond the peak, joining the mist in the bustle.
Yun Xiu had just finished recounting what happened. She sat at the table’s edge, head bowed, not daring to make a sound.
The very picture of a good child waiting for a scolding.
“I wasn’t going to scold you.”
Xie Wuwang gave her a lazy glance and set the dishes on the table. “Wash your hands and eat.”
Yun Xiu washed her hands and sat back down. Normally she’d have started eating already, but this time she just picked at her fingers without touching her chopsticks.
The air fell quiet.
Xie Wuwang turned another page.
At last Yun Xiu couldn’t hold back and asked softly, “You’re not angry?”
Xie Wuwang: “No.”
Yun Xiu pressed. “Really not?”
Xie Wuwang’s gaze lifted from the book and landed coolly on her face, his tone was calm. “Whether or not you take a disciple is your own freedom. It’s only that the matter is no game, it warrants careful thought.”
Yun Xiu hurriedly shook her head like a rattle-drum. “I wasn’t planning to agree to him!”
As if. She knew nothing, had just Foundation-Established, what could she possibly teach? Wouldn’t that just be leading a student astray?
Besides, she had only three months left. Why go looking for trouble?
Yun Xiu pressed her fingertips together, meek and mumbling. “I just hadn’t gotten the chance to refuse before you dragged me back.”
Xie Wuwang withdrew his gaze and kept reading, his black eyes betraying no emotion, and simply gave a calm hum. “Mm.”
Yun Xiu blinked softly and looked at the white-robed young man in the soft chair.
The pale daylight spilled through the window lattice over him. His long fingers propped his chin lazily, his cool, pale jaw hidden in the half-light. His long lashes were lowered over the book, his black eyes like they had a layer of mist over them, cold and remote.
He was really good-looking.
Yun Xiu found she couldn’t look away, and couldn’t help recalling that day.
White sandalwood in the air, amid the cloud-udumbara flowers and thin mist, the young man had slowly lifted his lashes to meet her eyes, so close she could see her own reflection in his black eyes.
Her gaze slid down uncontrollably, landing on the young man’s faintly colored lips.
If she’d leaned in just a little closer back then…
“There are some spirit-peaches in the box. Once picked, they lose their spiritual qi over time, so eat them soon.”
Yun Xiu slapped a hand over her own face.
Xie Wuwang: ?
Yun Xiu patted her flushed little face with both hands, her eyes hazing over with mist, and hastily lowered her head to pick up her bowl and eat.
Before long the meal was done, but though the portions were about the same as the past couple of days, Yun Xiu still felt a little hungry after finishing.
…She seemed to be able to eat more and more.
She opened the box and quietly gnawed on a spirit-peach.
Xie Wuwang suddenly said mildly, “You’ve mostly recovered. If you feel cooped up, you can go out and wander a bit.”
Yun Xiu: “……”
In her current situation, did she dare go out?
Yun Xiu gnawed her peach glumly while pulling out the blue glazed mirror to browse sect missions. She’d spent every last spirit stone buying things, so her assets were now zero. You Yujing had told her that taking on sect missions could earn spirit stones.
As she scrolled, she asked, voice muffled, “Oh, by the way, how come you’re back so early today?”
The dao-lecture assembly was still two days off, by rights he should be very busy.
“Matters are settled,” the young man replied offhandedly, not even lifting his lashes.
“Oh.”
Yun Xiu gave an obedient hum, and her scrolling finger suddenly stopped.
Sect Mission: 【Exterminate the Rampaging Devil-Kin at Penglai Peach-Blossom Continent】
Cultivation Requirement: 【Golden Core or above】
Accepted By: 【1/10 people】
Progress: 【Incomplete】
Yun Xiu’s gaze moved down to the “Accepted By” column, where a single name was written.
—”Xie Wuwang”
In another blink, the golden mission pinned at the very top suddenly grayed out, and the progress column changed to “Complete.”
Yun Xiu scrolled up and found his name under several of the past few days’ missions too. So he hadn’t been preparing for the dao-lecture assembly, he’d been out doing sect missions.
Strange. Why had he suddenly started earning spirit stones? She hadn’t seen him buy anything, either…
Yun Xiu gnawed her peach, then suddenly caught on to something and looked at the peach in her hand.
The white-robed young man gently closed his book, rose with a flick of his sleeve. “Once you’ve had your medicine, rest well. I’ll be back later.”
With that, Xie Wuwang left the little courtyard.
Yun Xiu turned the food box around, found the restaurant’s name, and searched it on the SpiritNet. It was the most famous restaurant in the cultivation world, a single dish from a high-tier chef-cultivator cost dozens of green spirit stones.
…No wonder she’d found it so delicious.
Yun Xiu did the math: by her appetite, a single meal ran to roughly a thousand green spirit stones.
So over these past few days she’d run up a debt to Xie Wuwang of… um… so, so many spirit stones!
Sometimes too strong a sense of conscience isn’t a good thing. Yun Xiu sighed. Like right now, even though she’d be croaking in three months, she still wanted to pay him back.
After all, this person really was quite good to her.
…Better think of some way to earn more spirit stones over these three months.
Yun Xiu pulled out the black glazed mirror, meaning to check on her game. She’d just put it live on the SpiritNet right before going down the mountain to meet You Yujing.
The moment she opened the glazed mirror, a full screen of game backend notifications chimed away.
【Downloads reached 100】
【Downloads reached 1,000】
【Downloads reached 10,000】
【Downloads reached……】
Yun Xiu turned off the notification alerts. The latest download figure was 500,000, and still climbing steadily.
She was stunned. She didn’t expect so many people to play.
She opened the search app, the trending topic was her new game, and the forum was buzzing about this game that had appeared out of nowhere.
【”Fluffy Match-3″ is so childish to play, but so addictive, anyone get it】
【I get it. I’ve been playing half an hour and the sect master asked if I’d fallen into a pit somewhere】
【What is this, looks boring at a glance, not playing, better to cultivate more with that time】
【Does anyone know what spirit-beast that brown-and-red fuzzy blob inside is? So cute, I want to raise one as a spirit-pet】
【Argh, my stamina’s stuck at level 19, hurry hurry hurry, how do I recover stamina??】
【Just wait. The instructions say 1 stamina every five minutes, no other way】
Yun Xiu skimmed through. For now, no one was discussing the “How are you” that flashed on the game’s opening screen.
But she’d thought of a way to earn spirit stones.
It just meant abandoning what little was left of her conscience.
Yun Xiu first looked up the necessary information, then created an official game account, slapped on a title, found the biggest merchant guild’s official account in the cultivation world, and sent a private message roughly stating she had a business proposal and wished to speak with whoever was in charge.
The other side replied not long after.
【This is Ji Zhuo. What is it?】
Yun Xiu dug through the glazed mirror’s info. Ji Zhuo, Third Steward of the Wantong Commerce Guild.
She sent over her idea along with the supporting materials.
The other side went quiet for a long while, then sent one line.
【Why should I cooperate with you? By your own projected figures, the profit your game brings wouldn’t come close to a single day of the guild’s turnover.】
Yun Xiu: 【Okay, thank you, goodbye.】
If this one wouldn’t work, she’d switch to another. Yun Xiu started digging through other guilds’ info, studied it for a while, and was about to message someone when the Wantong Commerce Guild’s avatar lit up again.
Wantong Commerce Guild: 【?】
Yun Xiu was puzzled: 【Something wrong?】
Wantong Commerce Guild: 【You’re not even going to push a little harder for it?】
Yun Xiu glanced at her PowerPoint: 【I am pushing. I’m revising my materials right now, aiming to land one of the top-ranked guilds off the leaderboard today.】
Wantong Commerce Guild: 【……】
Wantong Commerce Guild: 【You】
Wantong Commerce Guild: 【Never mind, don’t bother pushing. I agree.】
Wantong Commerce Guild: 【The guild will draw up the contract. Come to the Wantong main hall within three days to sign it.】
Yun Xiu: 【About that, can the contract be sword-couriered over? It’s a little inconvenient for me.】
Wantong Commerce Guild: 【Why?】
Yun Xiu: 【I have people-fainting sickness.】
Wantong Commerce Guild: 【?】