Chu Mingxi fell silent.
The young woman before him smiled, radiant as a midday sun. It was clearly the dead of night, and above the cursed Danming Village hung only that chilling, blood-red crescent. Yet, Chu Mingyao’s presence felt like the only source of light in a world of suffocating shadow.
But that wasn’t the point.
The point was, since when had Chu Mingyao become this terrifying?
She had casually flicked her sleeve and unleashed sword energy at will. That wasn’t just a technique; it was a feat only possible after one had condensed true sword intent. Furthermore, a single careless strike had pulverized the monsters that had been driving him to the brink of exhaustion. If she could do that to them, she could likely end him in a single move.
He had only been away from the sect for a little over forty days. How could the gap between them have widened this much in such a short time? Was there any justice left in the world? Or was supreme talent its own form of justice?
Chu Mingxi’s mind was in a daze. He was so stunned he forgot that his identity jade token was bound to his divine sense, and that he could have summoned it to his hand with a single thought. Instead, he instinctively bent over to pick it up manually.
As Chu Mingyao stepped off her flying sword and walked toward him, he realized how ridiculous he looked, scavenging for a piece of jade in the dirt like an ordinary mortal. He steeled his heart. Fine. If he was going to look like a fool, he would be thorough. He reached down and gripped the token.
“Eldest Senior Sister, these monsters……”
He had intended to explain the anomalies of the past few days— how the great monster in the shadows seemed to be losing patience, or perhaps how its master plan was reaching its endgame, prompting it to send waves of fodder to sweep them aside. He didn’t have the answers yet. The siege had left him no room to investigate. He only knew, with a cultivator’s instinct, that a catastrophic danger was looming.
“I will handle it.” She interrupted, her voice cold and steady. “In a moment, have Guan Jingjing and the others hold the perimeter here. You and Xiao Bei will come with me. We aren’t giving these creatures a single chance to escape.”
Chu Mingxi stared at her, baffled. He hadn’t even explained the situation yet!
But as Chu Mingyao brushed past him, her movements were a blur of efficiency. She didn’t just walk; she commanded. Her longsword whistled through the air, circling the formation in a singular, devastating arc that decapitated every Core Formation monster in its path.
Then, she cast a sharp, knowing glance toward a specific patch of the black mist. In that look, Chu Mingxi finally understood that she didn’t need his explanation.
Perhaps it wasn’t that the great monster was hiding too well. Perhaps his own strength was simply too meager— so weak that he didn’t even possess the qualifications to pierce the black mist and locate the heart of the threat.
Why did that thought make him feel even more crushed?
Chu Mingyao walked toward Chu Mingbei and Guan Jingjing with a light, graceful step. With a gentle flick of her sleeves, tens of thousands of hair-thin strands of sword energy erupted like a blooming lotus. Some plunged into the earth, silencing the scratching rat monsters forever; others soared into the heavens, raining down upon the shrieking birds. In an instant, the maddening cacophony that had pushed them to the brink of insanity was replaced by the heavy thud of falling carcasses.
Behind her, Chu Mingxi felt utterly numb.
After being surpassed by Chu Mingyao so many times, one should eventually get used to it. But ‘get used to it’ his foot! Ever since he had known her, Chu Mingyao found a fresh way to humiliate his sense of pride every few months. Today, he had been hit by several of those ‘revelations’ in a single breath.
He remembered when he first met her. She was just a little girl living with Perfected Ziqiong— nominally a disciple, yet not even officially ranked. At only a few years old, she could wield a bamboo sword with such remarkable precision that every strike rivaled the form of an inner sect instructor.
Just a few years later, she was defeating outer sect disciples through sheer technique alone. The only reason she hadn’t cleared them all was because of cultivators like Guan Jingjing— disciples who were older and possessed more raw power. But below the Foundation Establishment stage, no one could touch her.
Once she reached Foundation Establishment herself, her cultivation had accelerated at a terrifying, almost insulting pace. The blows to Chu Mingxi’s ego had only grown more frequent and more outrageous.
He had secretly hoped that the appearance of Xiang Qingyun might finally restrain Chu Mingyao or slow her down. Who could have guessed it would have the opposite effect? It had spurred her to retreat into seclusion and tear through the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul stage.
Judging by the casual way she was currently slaughtering Core Formation-level threats, she hadn’t just succeeded— she had achieved a breakthrough of legendary proportions.
Chu Mingxi watched her back. He heard Guan Jingjing’s respectful, almost fearful salute, as well as Chu Mingbei’s ecstatic cheering as she confirmed her new realm. A subtle, self-mocking smile curled Chu Mingxi’s lips.
He had to admit that in the world of cultivation, Chu Mingyao stood on a peak he couldn’t even see. But there was still one thing— one truth— that Chu Mingyao, for all her genius, had never been able to see through.
He had once tried to subtly warn her, but Chu Mingyao had seemed utterly unconcerned, even dismissing his caution as meddling.
Now, that secret was the one and only domain where he could surpass her. Even if she never knew it, even if the joy of this private victory could only be savored alone in the shadows— what did it matter? In the end, there was still one thing in which he was better than her.
It was a foolish act of self-comfort, a hollow victory, but it was the only solace he had. He couldn’t compete with her talent, and to continue comparing their cultivation would be nothing more than masochism.
Reining in his emotions, Chu Mingxi forced a carefree, world-weary smile onto his face and strolled leisurely toward the group. All the monsters have already been slaughtered by her anyway…… Tsk, stop thinking! Just the casual thought of her speed made his heart tremble.
Chu Mingbei, oblivious to his third senior brother’s internal crisis, excitedly tugged at Chu Mingyao’s sleeve. “Eldest Senior Sister, are you really taking us to face that great monster? You found its hiding place that quickly?”
His eyes sparkled with such pure admiration that Chu Mingyao felt her heart soften. Despite the coldness she had cultivated since the nightmare, he was still the little junior brother she had watched grow up. As long as Xiang Qingyun wasn’t poisoning the air, and as long as Chu Mingbei wasn’t siding against her, she still felt a flicker of sibling affection for him.
In the eyes of the world, Chu Mingbei was a formidable talent. But in her eyes, he would always be the little brother of the group.
The Sword Sect was a world of strict stratification— outer sect disciples, inner sect disciples, and direct disciples. Only those hand-picked by the sect master, the grand elder, or the supreme elders were considered true direct disciples— the elite of the elite. While instructors and protectors could take apprentices, they did not carry the prestigious ‘direct disciple’ title.
In the world of cultivation, realms were divided into seven distinct levels. From lowest to highest, they were— Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, True Void, and Great Ascension.
According to Sword Sect regulations, the sect master and the elders were required to be at least at the True Void stage, while supreme elders had to reach Great Ascension. Instructors and protectors, meanwhile, were only required to be at the Soul Transformation stage.
The primary difference between an instructor and a protector lies in their duties. Instructors remained within the sect year-round to teach foundational knowledge, while protectors frequently ventured out on missions. Both roles were further divided into inner and outer positions. Those serving the inner sect generally possessed greater strength and potential.
While there was no official limit on the number of direct disciples a master could take, most took only one in practice. Taking a second usually meant the first had either completed their training or met with misfortune. After all, a master’s energy and resources were finite. If there were too many direct disciples, how could they all be properly nurtured?
Those who were neglected might hold the title of direct disciple, but their treatment was no better than that of an ordinary inner sect disciple— high in status, but hollow in benefits. Conversely, a non-direct disciple might be taken in by an instructor or protector through a simple apprenticeship. Beyond the basic knowledge available to everyone, these disciples could earn opportunities through missions or even request resources directly from their master, rather than relying solely on the meager monthly stipend or external jobs.
In truth, a poorly treated direct disciple often lived a harder life than a non-direct disciple with a generous master.
Chu Mingnan’s master, for instance, was Perfected Zidan of Zidan Peak— a ruthless figure who had single-handedly renamed an entire peak after himself. Consequently, Chu Mingnan lived an exceptionally comfortable life.
In contrast, Chu Mingbei and Chu Mingxi were apprenticed to the sect master himself, Perfected Ziling. Despite their prestigious master, their lives were remarkably ordinary, and they never received extra resources. Perfected Ziling claimed that as the sect master, he had to remain impartial to avoid any appearance of favoritism.
As for why Chu Mingdong received more than the others? That was simply a case of a doting mother spoiling her son. His mother privately slipped him resources— acts that officially had nothing to do with Perfected Ziling.
None of it was a secret among the direct disciples. There was, however, one true secret— Chu Mingyao was the one who suffered most. Not only did she receive no extra resources, but she was often forced to hand over her own sect stipend and mission rewards to Chu Mingdong. All of that was, of course, ‘thanks’ to Perfected Ziqiong.
Meeting Chu Mingbei’s gaze now and sensing his somewhat meager cultivation, Chu Mingyao couldn’t help but recall those injustices. She quickly suppressed the thoughts, reaching out to tap Chu Mingbei lightly on the forehead.
“When has your eldest senior sister ever lied to you? Get ready. I’ll take you to find that great monster now. Your flying sword is slow, so once we reach the mountain, follow your third senior brother. The two of you keep watch together. Don’t let a single minor monster escape.”
As she spoke, a cold sword-light flashed in Chu Mingyao’s eyes. “That mountain is crawling with them.”