Mentally exhausted and his defenses utterly collapsed, Perfected Ziqiong hastily improvised an excuse and fled.
Perfected Zizhu tried to call out, but he couldn’t stop him. Claiming there were urgent sect matters requiring his attention as grand elder, Perfected Ziqiong vanished in a single teleportation. Perfected Zizhu had reached out to grab him, but his hand met only empty air. Perfected Ziqiong was already gone.
Perfected Zizhu smacked his lips in disappointment. “He just left like that?”
He turned to Chu Mingyao with a sigh. “I was actually going to ask him if those resources he prepared for your Nascent Soul breakthrough should be given to you now. Even though you’ve already broken through, they would still be useful for consolidating your cultivation.”
After all, aside from a few specialized items meant solely to increase the success rate of forming a Nascent Soul, most resources had flexible usage requirements. Even those specialized treasures were brimming with spiritual energy. If one didn’t mind the waste, they could simply be consumed for their essence. More cleverly, they could be traded for other high-level resources. Regardless of the method, one thing was certain— a cultivator never complained about having too much.
At that moment, Chu Mingyao wore a dazed, crestfallen expression as she stared at the spot where Perfected Ziqiong had vanished. Hearing Perfected Zizhu’s words, she froze.
“My master…… prepared things for my breakthrough?”
Was that even possible?
Once she realized Perfected Ziqiong had never truly cared for her, reflecting on their past only highlighted how deeply she had been deceived. Other masters, no matter how poor, did their utmost to provide for their disciples. Her master, however, provided nothing. She had been forced to rely on meager sect allocations and whatever she could scrape together from missions. Worse, after every breakthrough, he would use honeyed words to trick her out of her own hard-earned resources to subsidize Chu Mingdong.
Would Perfected Ziqiong really prepare for her Nascent Soul stage?
For a fleeting second, Chu Mingyao wavered. But the next instant, she remembered him ruthlessly trying to blast open the formation of her secluded cave. Her heart turned to ice.
Liar!
Perfected Ziqiong would never prepare anything for her. He only knew how to find roundabout ways to take from her.
But with Perfected Zizhu watching, Chu Mingyao quickly tidied up her emotions and prepared to continue her act.
Perfected Zizhu smiled, his eyes narrowing slightly. “He told me he’d been preparing things for you. He even mentioned he wanted to have everything ready before giving it all to you at once. But just as he was about to summon you, he discovered you had already begun your breakthrough on your own.”
……Case closed, Chu Mingyao thought.
Her master had clearly just been talking. Giving her resources? Impossible.
She bit her lower lip and lowered her head, letting a stray lock of hair fall and cast a faint shadow across her delicate profile. In that moment, she was filled with annoyance, self-blame, and a sharp sting of regret— all directed at herself.
How had her past self been so foolish? She had treated Perfected Ziqiong as her entire world, believing his every word without question. Even now, a small part of her wondered if she had misunderstood him, yet the truth laid bare before her was proof enough. She had been blindfolded, yet she had spent years defending the very person who held the cloth over her eyes. She had been a naive, stupid child— so much so that it was almost a waste not to exploit her.
To Perfected Zizhu, however, her slipping emotions appeared entirely different.
He patted her head tenderly, as if she were still that innocent child who used to play in his courtyard. “Silly child. If your master never actually handed the items over, then whether he truly prepared them or not is entirely up to him, isn’t it? I thought if he stayed a moment longer, I could help you press him for them. We could have secured something at least. But now……”
Perfected Zizhu shook his head helplessly.
Perfected Ziqiong had fled under the pretext of sect affairs, and Chu Mingyao’s breakthrough was already a settled fact. If Perfected Zizhu tried to ask about those resources later, Perfected Ziqiong would have a dozen righteous excuses ready.
Perfected Zizhu could already imagine his tone.
‘Those items? Since Mingyao has already reached the Nascent Soul stage, she has no use for them. While I am her master, I am also the grand elder of this sect. It is only right that I reserve those resources for disciples who truly need them. Zizhu, surely you aren’t letting personal feelings cloud your responsibility to the sect?’
If he had cornered Perfected Ziqiong immediately after the breakthrough, he could have used the excuse of consolidating Chu Mingyao’s cultivation to force Perfected Ziqiong’s hand.
But once Perfected Ziqiong was gone, he could simply claim the resources had already been distributed and that nothing remained. After all, Perfected Zizhu was not Chu Mingyao’s master— Perfected Ziqiong was. No matter how much Perfected Zizhu wanted to protect her, he couldn’t overstep to the point of demanding an audit of Perfected Ziqiong’s private gifts or asking for them back one by one.
Thinking of that, Perfected Zizhu couldn’t help but sigh.
If he hadn’t already noticed something suspicious about Perfected Ziqiong’s treatment of Chu Mingyao— and if he hadn’t seen her still drowning in guilt, thinking she had disappointed her master’s kind intentions— he would never have spoken so bluntly. He feared the silly girl was being lured into another deception.
Yet, as he spoke, he met her bewildered gaze and felt the urge to sigh again. Such a good child. Why was she Perfected Ziqiong’s disciple and not his?
He patted her head again, deciding not to push her further. Lessons like these had to be taught slowly. He had solid evidence that Perfected Ziqiong had tried to forcibly interrupt her breakthrough by attacking her cave’s formation, but as the grand elder, Perfected Ziqiong could easily explain that away. In the hierarchy of the Sword Sect, Perfected Zizhu was merely an ordinary elder. His word carried less weight.
“Little Mingyao.” He said, changing the subject to avoid overstimulating her. “You’ve been in seclusion for forty-two days. You haven’t collected this month’s stipend yet, so you can go straight for the Nascent Soul-level allocation.”
As he spoke, he activated a formation within the room, and a pillar of light surged upward. “Come, Little Mingyao. Give it a strike!”
Chu Mingyao knew exactly what to do. This formation was the heart of the Hall of Internal Affairs’ logistical system, linked directly to the sect’s treasury. A disciple’s rank and cultivation level determined their resources, and this pillar served as the official verification.
She sent a stream of spiritual power into the light. It dissipated instantly, sending a ripple through the mountain’s enchantments as every formation on Neiwu Peak updated.
「Sword Sect disciple Chu Mingyao’s cultivation has reached the Nascent Soul stage. Permissions unlocked!」
Stipend quotas adjusted and the list of available sect missions refreshed instantly. It was a testament to the Sword Sect’s ancient foundation. Few sects possessed a grand formation so intelligent and refined through generations of use.
Seeing the formation acknowledge her advancement, Perfected Zizhu beamed. “Little Mingyao, now that you’ve broken through, is there anything you’re lacking? Just tell your martial uncle! I may have been a bit useless these past years, but I still have some savings……”
Chu Mingyao beamed, her eyes curving into bright crescents.
“Martial Uncle, don’t worry. I’m not lacking anything. Even if I truly need something, I can always just ask my master!”
“Your master……” Perfected Zizhu frowned slightly, but he ultimately held his tongue. “That works too. Just remember that if you ever find yourself in a bind, come to your martial uncle.”
After a bit of warm conversation, Chu Mingyao took her leave and headed toward the treasury to collect her stipend.
Since it was nearly the end of the month, the area was swarming with disciples. Most preferred to push their cultivation to the limit first, only coming to collect their resources when their supplies ran low or when they realized a few extra days of meditation wouldn’t yield a breakthrough. After all, stipends were tied to one’s realm. If you managed to advance before the month ended, you could claim a larger share.
Very few disciples could afford to be indifferent toward these resources. In the past, Chu Mingyao had been one of them. Now, she was moving with purpose.
As she navigated Neiwu Peak toward the distribution hall, she was met with a constant stream of greetings. But suddenly, a voice— shocked, delighted, yet laced with a growing timidity— called out from behind her.
“Eldest Senior Sister? Is it really you? You’re finally out of seclusion!”
The speaker faltered, her tone turning nervous, “Ah, s-sorry, Eldest Senior Sister, I…… I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just so happy to see you that I lost my head. If I said something wrong, please correct me so I’ll know how to do better in the future!”