Head Sister

Xiao Menglan suddenly stopped and looked at Cao Xueyan’s flushed cheeks.

“Do you understand when I explain it this way?”

Cao Xueyan didn’t answer, as if all the strength had drained from her body, leaving her only gasping for breath.

“Looks like you didn’t understand. In that case, I’ll just explain it again!” Xiao Menglan’s tone sounded like she was facing a bad student who hadn’t listened in class, but her eyes were full of playful amusement.

Ah, this was it—this broken, helpless expression. Ruoyu had never once shown such a look before. This child really was cute. I almost feel like I’m falling in love with this feeling.

No, no, I can’t keep thinking like this.

Xiao Menglan’s face was expressionless, but inside her heart was unusually excited.

Hearing that it was going to continue, Cao Xueyan’s body reacted instinctively. She didn’t even know where the strength came from, but she suddenly broke free from the embrace of a Golden Core cultivator.

“Teacher!” Cao Xueyan turned her head and met Xiao Menglan’s eyes. “This student feels that the knowledge learned today is already plenty. If you go on, I’m afraid I won’t be able to digest it. How about we stop here?”

Xiao Menglan smiled lightly. “That’s true—cultivation values quality, not quantity. What I taught you today did go a little beyond your level.”

Cao Xueyan nodded repeatedly in agreement. “Yes, yes, please give the student a little time to digest it slowly.”

“Even so, you must not slack off.” Xiao Menglan rose from the bed, spiritual power flowing around her. The wrinkles in her robes smoothed out in the blink of an eye, as if nothing at all had happened just now.

“This student will never let down the teacher’s expectations, and will soon master the basics of the Dao of Talismans,” Cao Xueyan replied quickly, afraid Xiao Menglan might change her mind and refuse to leave the room. She added, “It’s already late today. Why doesn’t teacher return to rest?”

She glanced at the window. Beyond the layered sea of clouds, the golden sun was sinking into the west.

It was already this late. Xiao Menglan thought for a moment, then vanished before Cao Xueyan’s eyes.

With high cultivation, one could act willfully—coming and going whenever one wished.

Ah, nothing could be done about it. After all, this was her territory.

Although exhausted in both body and spirit, Cao Xueyan had nothing to complain about. Many would kill for a chance to cling to Xiao Menglan’s thigh, yet didn’t even have the right to see her face. By comparison, she was granted the chance to receive private instruction, simply because she resembled Xiao Menglan’s deceased Dao partner. That alone was fortune beyond measure.

In twenty years, Qingyun Sword Sect would face a great calamity. But outside the sect, was there anywhere that could be considered safe for cultivation?

Don’t forget—this was a world where the weak were prey to the strong. Demonic beasts, devil cultivators, and countless sinister people with ill intent were everywhere. Staying in Qingyun Sword Sect wasn’t the best choice, but it was the safest.

Cao Xueyan lay motionless on the bed, staring through the window at the fleeting glow of the setting sun.

“When will I finally… be able to control my own fate?”

…

Xiao Menglan strolled alone through the Moon-Inviting Palace. Though the palace was grand and splendid, it ultimately lacked the warmth of life. Those she passed by were all puppets crafted from talisman constructs. No matter how exquisite they looked, they were still mere tools.

Cao Xueyan’s arrival had been an unexpected joy. The time spent with this student had truly been the rarest source of amusement in centuries.

That girl was interesting. Regardless of her talent, Xiao Menglan would nine times out of ten take her as her personal disciple. Not for any other reason—just to comfort her own lonely centuries to come. Without forming a Nascent Soul, in two hundred years she would be nothing but a pile of dust, no different in her eyes from mortals with longer lifespans.

As she walked, Xiao Menglan suddenly felt a ripple in her soul—someone was sending her a message through a secret technique.

She paused to sense it, and upon recognizing the familiar aura, a rare delight appeared on her normally placid face.

“So it’s Senior Sister Sect Leader, finally out of seclusion. I haven’t seen her in over a decade. I wonder what new insights she’s gained this time.”

Her voice lingered in the Moon-Inviting Palace, but its speaker had already teleported tens of miles away.

Within Qingyun Sword Sect, the Sword Peak had always been the sect’s most restricted area. It wasn’t guarded by talisman arrays or great formations, yet it was constantly filled with an ocean of sword intent. Any ordinary cultivator who touched it would be either dead or crippled, their very soul likely injured. It was more perilous than the infamous danger zones of the cultivation world.

Without the Sect Leader’s permission, even elders couldn’t enter at will. But Xiao Menglan, carrying a token, was an exception. The sword intent surrounding her actively parted ways, as though afraid of harming her even a fraction.

Crossing the vast ocean of sword intent, Xiao Menglan arrived before a cave mansion that looked plain and unremarkable. The protective formation at its entrance had already been deactivated. Its owner sat leisurely on a stone stool outside, drinking from a white jade wine flask.

Her drinking posture was bold and unrestrained. She lifted her head high, exposing a snow-white jade-like neck, and pressed her enticing red lips to the long spout, gulping like a child. Even so, wine still spilled occasionally from the corners of her lips, sliding down her neck, soaking her robes.

“Senior Sister Sect Leader, what elegance—you just left seclusion and are already drinking heavily. Could it be you’ve found a chance to break through to Nascent Soul?”

Qin Ximo, the Sect Leader, spotted the visitor and immediately set the flask down, rising to greet her. “Junior Sister Menglan, you came so quickly?”

“The moment I received your message, I rushed here. These past ten years, I’ve thought of you every single day, Senior Sister,” Xiao Menglan replied with a smile.

The two had trained under the same master, closer than blood sisters. Through centuries of time, all others around them had already exhausted their lifespans. Only they remained, their bond unshakable.

“That’s true. For us, tens of miles is just a single thought away. I imagine Junior Brother Lu will be here soon as well.”

At the mention of Lu Jiansheng, the smile on Xiao Menglan’s face grew slightly strained.

Qin Ximo, sharp as ever, immediately noticed the subtle shift. She laughed. “What, still avoiding Junior Brother Lu? There’s no need to trouble yourself over matters of unrequited affection.”

Xiao Menglan sighed. “I used to think Lu Junior Brother was cute—knowing propriety, reasonable, and diligent in cultivation. But lately, I don’t know why… he’s only grown more and more irritating.”

Even the wisest judge couldn’t resolve family matters. Qin Ximo, despite being close as kin to them both, found herself at a loss.

“Ah, let’s not talk about him. Senior Sister still hasn’t answered the question I asked upon arriving.” Xiao Menglan said.

“If Nascent Soul could be achieved after just a few secluded cultivations, it would be far too easy.” Qin Ximo sighed deeply as she spoke. “That old Valley Lord of Phoenix Roost Valley has been stuck at the ninth-turn Golden Core for centuries longer than I have, yet even he shows no sign of forming a Nascent Soul. It’s strange—though I’ve successfully endured nine heavenly tribulations, survived fire, wind, and lightning calamities, and dismissed even the insidious heart demon tribulation… at the final step of shattering the core and forming a Nascent Soul, I falter. If I fail, I might not even form a False Infant. Who then will shoulder this great sect’s burden? And how will I face Master beneath the Nine Hells?”

“Senior Sister.” Xiao Menglan grasped Qin Ximo’s hand, staring earnestly into her eyes. “No matter what, you are the one dearest to me. Don’t force yourself.”

“I know that, but still… ah!” Qin Ximo’s face was filled with sorrow as she gazed into the distance. “Perhaps I truly need to go out and wander—search for relics left behind by ancient cultivators, to see if I can find the key to breaking into Nascent Soul. Or perhaps even attempt to cross the Infinite Sea. They say beyond the sea, immortals once walked upon the waves…”

“If Senior Sister wishes to go, then go. With me and Junior Brother Lu holding the sect, there won’t be any great disasters.”

“That’s true. Enough—let’s not speak of such things today. Come, drink with me. This flask is yours, the other is for Junior Brother Lu when he arrives. Tonight, the three of us shall not leave until we are drunk!”

“Everything will be as Senior Sister says.” Xiao Menglan took the flask and drank heartily.