“Master, where are you going?”
Along the border of Cangling Kingdom, flames of war raged. The snowy mountains and valleys were scarred everywhere by the devastation left behind from clashes between cultivators.
Three figures stood atop a snow-capped peak.
Draped in a white cloak, Yao Dai wore a calm and composed expression. Her voice sounded indifferent, yet only she knew the bitter ache hidden beneath it.
Master said she had to part ways with them.
Master said that surviving near-certain death without a way out was what would make her stronger.
Master said that when they met again in ten years, she wanted to see a disciple stronger than herself.
“The Five Provinces are vast. I don't know where our next resting place will be either. Perhaps if fate wills it one day, you'll cross paths with us, and with your junior brothers and sisters.”
Snow drifted down like willow catkins. Wen Li turned to look at the young woman who only reached her chest, raising a hand to gently stroke her hair. “Stay calm and decisive when trouble strikes. Fight if you can win; run if you can't. Use a disguise and an alias only once. Don't casually show the pills and talismans I gave you. That black talisman can only block three attacks from a Late-Stage Golden Core cultivator for you—after that, you'll have to rely on yourself for everything.”
“Be extremely cautious when plundering someone's spiritual root. Never let anyone discover it. If someone finds out, silence them if you can; if you can't, disguise yourself and change your name.” By now, Yao Dai had integrated seventy percent of the Soul-Severing White Mi Fruit. With the seal Wen Li had placed on it, no one would be able to detect anything unusual.
“As for the pickpocketing tricks I taught you, don't bother using them. Plunder directly if you can; if you can't, set a trap to fish in troubled waters.” Yao Dai was somewhat impatient by nature, and despite multiple attempts, she still struggled to conceal her presence entirely. Using petty theft would only risk getting caught and chased down.
“You must find your own cure for the poison Yin Fengcong planted in you, as well as the other poison; there is nothing I can do to help with that. You have a knack for arrays, even if it has yet to be unearthed, but you must not specialize in only one path. As my disciple, you must master one discipline while studying several others as secondary pursuits. Since your master does so, you must not bring shame to me either.”
Like an anxious mother about to travel far from home and worried about leaving her child behind, she produced a dark token gilded with gold and handed it to Yao Dai. “This token is the symbol of your status as the Eldest Disciple of the Wuji Sect.”
Yao Dai's eyes glistened with unshed tears. She opened her mouth, about to ask if it could command all heroes under the heavens.
“It has no practical use.”
“...” Then what was the point of it?
Wen Li dashed her fantasies. “Its only use is that if you see someone wearing one in the future, that person is my disciple—one of your other junior brothers and sisters. If you're in trouble, call on them. If they're in trouble, run far away and disown all ties.”
“...”
The corner of Xie Tinglan's mouth twitched. His intuition told him Master would say the exact same thing to the other disciples.
Yao Dai nodded and listened earnestly. “Yes, Master.”
Wen Li disliked the tearful, mournful atmosphere of farewells. After warming up the mood with a joke, she found she had no further instructions to give. Sighing, she lowered her hand.
“We're leaving. What happened in Cangling Kingdom's secret realm will come to light sooner or later. It's not safe for you to remain here, so leave as early as possible.”
“Mm...” Yao Dai lowered her head. The corners of her eyes were tinged with red as she fought back her emotions, forcing a strained smile.
Then her smile vanished as she turned to Xie Tinglan and snapped viciously, “Protect Master well. If you bite Master again, I'll kick you like a ball the next time I see you.”
She raised a hand and punched Xie Tinglan's shoulder, though to him it was merely an itch.
“You can't beat me now, and you won't be able to beat me ten years from now either.”
Having consumed a few cultivators to mend his wounds, Xie Tinglan could now maintain his adolescent form for an hour each day. Dressed in black robes with his arms crossed over his chest, his dark pupils shifted into crimson vertical slits for a split second as he bared his teeth with smug, arrogant pride.
Yao Dai scoffed coldly. “Don't be so sure. I am your Eldest Senior Sister. As your senior sister, I'll beat my junior brother sooner or later.”
“Hmph.”
Xie Tinglan let out a soft hmph, not deigning to lower himself to the level of an idiot like her. Even though she claimed to be his senior sister, he had never once addressed her that way, always calling her by her full name.
“Someone like you has only gotten this far by relying on the opportunities Master gave you.” His words were laced with subtle bitterness.
“What, jealous that you couldn't have them even if you wanted to?” Since his words discredited her hard work, she naturally didn't hold back. She knew Xie Tinglan couldn't stand her, and by coincidence, she couldn't stand him either.
“You...”
Xie Tinglan's gaze instantly turned several degrees colder.
Even after being together for so long and braving life-and-death perils, the two of them still turned on each other at the drop of a hat, ready to fall out over the slightest disagreement. If Wen Li hadn't kept them in check, they would have long since fought it out and gone their separate ways.
With Wen Li, they were fellow disciples; without her, they were strangers.
“All right, all right. You'll have plenty of chances to fight in the future—gang up on each other or duel one-on-one, whatever you like. Don't rush; I'm giving you ten years to grow.”
Seeing that their bickering was on the verge of escalating into a physical brawl, Wen Li quickly pulled them apart.
“Hmph!” A wise woman doesn't fight a man.
“Hmph!” A gentleman doesn't fight a woman.
Yao Dai and Xie Tinglan glared resentfully at each other, then each gave a muffled snort and turned their heads away in opposite directions.
One felt bitter jealousy in his heart that Wen Li had repeatedly risked life and limb for a useless disciple like Yao Dai, dragging even him into danger.
The other was unwilling to leave Master, envious that Xie Tinglan got to stay by Master's side and that Master would grow closer to that arrogant brat than to her in the days ahead.
“We're off. Don't look for me whether you have business or not. When the time comes, we will naturally meet again.”
“In ten years, at the Western Province's Qingyun Gathering, I hope to see you.”
A gentle breeze swept by, carrying those two sentences into Yao Dai's ears. Where three silhouettes had stood just moments ago, only one remained now.
The remaining figure's shoulders trembled faintly. The haughtiness and pride she had forced herself to feign shattered in an instant. She didn't dare turn back to look, afraid she wouldn't be able to stop herself from chasing after them.
A single clear tear drifted into the mountain ravine with the wind and snow, leaving behind only a faint, barely audible murmur.
“All right...”
Master, I won't bring shame upon you.
Yao Dai lowered her head and stroked the Blood Vine Whip at her waist. As if sensing her sorrow, it rubbed against the back of her hand to comfort her.
“It's all right...”
She stowed the Blood Vine Whip into her storage bag, determined not to bring it out unless absolutely necessary.
Yao Dai held back her emotions, turning around to depart.
Master had told her that the life of a rogue cultivator was arduous. Resources in the cultivation world were almost entirely monopolized by sects and clans; only powerful factions possessed abundant spirit veins for exceptionally talented cultivators to absorb. She could first join another sect to make use of its resources.
And her primary objective was the Xuandu Sect of Xuanbing Kingdom.
She would seek out Mu Qingyu, the female cultivator who loved eating durian and whom she had met twice before.
Mu Qingyu had once promised that Yao Dai could seek her out if she ever had trouble. If she could secure an introduction into the Xuandu Sect, it would indeed be worth a try.
Master had also said that if she caused trouble in the future, she must never mention her name.
In truth, Yao Dai had vaguely guessed it. The name Wen Li did not signify the proud top spot on the Aptitude Ranking as Master had claimed when accepting her as a disciple, and the Wuji Sect... seemed to be known by no one.
Yet she didn't ask. She would rise to a height where Master would willingly tell her everything.
Master had her own Dao.
Yet in the end, Master was her Dao.
She would not drag her down; she would become Master's sharpest blade.
...
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