Chapter 28: Revenge

Seeing the troubled look on Shen Qingxue’s face, I stopped circulating my qi and opened my eyes fully.

In the entire month she had spent on Lonely Cloud Peak, she had never approached me looking so hesitant. Even when her muscles were torn from brutal body tempering or when she was enduring the bitter medicinal baths, she had always worn that fierce, unbending resolve.

"What happened, Qingxue?" I asked gently, leaning back against the rough bark of the banyan tree. "Did you run into a bottleneck with your forms?"

She paused at the edge of the stone terrace, her fingers twisting anxiously into the fabric of her sleeve.

"Master..." She hesitated, biting her lower lip before finding her courage. "Earlier, I sat down and attempted to circulate the breathing method you taught me for drawing ambient qi into my channels. But... no matter how hard I tried to focus my mind, there was a thought that kept resurfacing, clouding my sea of consciousness. It’s not a major issue, but I felt I shouldn’t hide it from Master."

I smiled warmly, gesturing toward the woven mat beside me. "Come sit. A disciple never needs to hide her thoughts from her teacher. You can speak freely to me about anything."

Qingxue walked over and knelt neatly on the mat. She kept her eyes lowered for a second, organizing her thoughts, before looking up at me with an earnest, solemn gaze.

"Master told me that true cultivation begins when one draws the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the body, condensing the first wisp of qi in the Qi Gathering Realm," she said, her voice soft but filled with deep reverence. "You said that stepping across that threshold is like shedding mortal clay, a complete rebirth of the vessel and the soul."

I nodded. "That’s right. The moment you condense qi, you sever the fragile limits of ordinary mortals."

"That is what I desire," Qingxue said, her dark obsidian eyes flashing with a resolute light. "When I step into the immortal path, I want to be an entirely new person. I want to leave my previous life, my tears, and the fragile mortal girl who watched her clan burn behind me forever. But... I cannot do that while the blood debt remains unpaid. If I become a cultivator while my family’s corpses are still disgraced and their killers feast in the royal palace, that grudge will forever stain my new life. I want to settle my revenge as a mortal, with mortal blood, and then start completely fresh as your disciple."

She looked at me anxiously, worried I might reprimand her for clinging to earthly attachments.

I looked at her quiet, determined face. The mortal heart was a fragile thing, and unresolved grief had a nasty habit of turning into lethal heart demons during high-tier breakthroughs.

Settling her account now, before she even stepped into Qi Condensation, would actually leave her Dao Heart cleaner than the purest celestial jade. Granted, her Asura Dao Heart could handle the heart demons easily, but one shouldn’t forget that she wasn’t born with it. Her experience had forged it.

It was proper to deal with the Blood debt first.

"Are you certain about this?" I asked calmly.

"I have thought about it every night, Master," she replied without a shred of hesitation. "I am completely certain."

"Then your Master will naturally support you." I smiled, reaching out to pat her head affectionately. "A clean slate makes for the strongest foundation. But tell me, do you believe you can take your revenge with your current cultivation?"

Qingxue lifted her chin, nodding firmly. "The Dayun Kingdom is merely a small, remote border dynasty enclosed within the mountain range. As far as I know, the entire kingdom has never possessed a genuine immortal cultivator. The imperial guards and the prime minister’s private soldiers are all ordinary mortals who practice rudimentary external martial arts. With the peak Body Strengthening realm Master gave me, my strength is already enough to shatter iron and tear through hundred-man squads."

I let out a soft chuckle, shaking my head with a wry grin.

"The mortal world isn’t always as simple as it looks on the surface," I said, my tone relaxed and steady. "Mortal kings love to hire rogue cultivators who failed the sect trials to act as hidden court consorts. But it doesn’t matter. We will head to the Dayun Kingdom together, observe the layout of the imperial capital first, and then decide how to strike."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Master is coming with me?"

"Of course I am," I laughed, flicking her forehead lightly. "Did you think I’d let my prized disciple, and my wife, walk into a trap alone? It won’t always be like this, of course; one day you will have to soar across the heavens on your own wings. But for now, while you are still taking your first steps, your Master will accompany you. Besides, I was already planning to take you out on a short journey to experience the world and get some real combat practice."

I stood up from the woven mat, dusting off my white robes and stepping to the edge of the terrace.

"Cultivation gives you raw power, Qingxue," I said, looking out over the endless sea of white mist. "It fills your muscles with force and your veins with energy. But power alone does not teach you how to survive a battlefield. It doesn’t teach you how to read an ambush, how to control your killing intent, or how to strike when your own blood is burning. To wield strength effectively, a cultivator needs life experience and real battles. A sword kept forever in its scabbard will only rust."

Shen Qingxue stood beside me, absorbing every word with absolute reverence. Her heart felt so warm it was almost aching, in her darkest hours, she had stood entirely alone against the world, but now she had an untouchable mountain standing right behind her.

"Now, go pack whatever travel clothes and essentials you need," I told her with an easygoing wink. "We set off today. While you get your things ready, I need to make a quick trip to see my Senior Sister and let her know I’ll be away from the mountain."