Each with His Own Thoughts

On the way to the rendezvous point, everyone was lost in their own thoughts, their spiritual sense transmissions weaving a tangled web.

The trio of Xuan Ya, Xuan Ping, and Xuan Mo.

Xuan Ya said worriedly, “Senior Brother, Junior Sister. For this demon immortal to so brazenly demand to reside within our sect… her motives are suspect. We must prepare in advance.”

Xuan Ping calmly reassured them, “What’s done is done. She is, after all, our benefactor, so proper etiquette must be observed. Junior Sister, since you are on Tianquan Peak, I must trouble you to keep a close watch for any unusual activity.”

Xuan Ya replied succinctly, “Understood.”

Xuan Mo, however, was nonchalant, a trace of disdain in her voice, “Senior Brother, Senior Sister, don’t you worry!

Her aura feels about on par with my own.

She can’t cause much trouble!

If she tries anything…”

Her brow twitched, revealing a hint of killing intent, “we’ll just throw her out!”

Hearing this, Xuan Ping glanced sideways at his junior sister and shook his head with a helpless, faint smile, “…”

The duo of Shangguan Yunzhu and Lu Qiancha.

Shangguan Yunzhu said, “Thank you for coming to my aid earlier, Senior Brother.

If there is anything I can do to repay you, I, Yunzhu, will not let you down!”

“…”

Lu Qiancha couldn’t help but glance at Shangguan Yunzhu.

‘That’s a dangerous line… In my past life, I read plenty of novels with similar plots.

The heroine gets coerced into repaying a debt of gratitude and eventually becomes someone you can’t afford to provoke…’

“Senior Brother?

Is something amiss with what Yunzhu said?”

Shangguan Yunzhu couldn’t help but ask in a low voice.

“Ahem, Junior Sister, you’re being too serious.”

Lu Qiancha collected her thoughts, cleared her throat, and then said, “However, there is indeed one small matter I’d like to trouble you with…”

“Please speak, Senior Brother!”

Shangguan Yunzhu’s spirits immediately lifted, her amber eyes shining brightly as she watched Lu Qiancha intently.

“If it means repaying the debt of saving my life, I, Yunzhu, would not hesitate to give up this life itself!”

“It’s nothing that serious.”

Lu Qiancha quickly waved her hands, interrupting with a smile, “Our journey this time has been full of bizarre twists and turns.

The elders will surely ask for a detailed account when we return to the mountain.”

“I am by nature lazy and dislike drawing attention, and I fear it might stir up unnecessary trouble.

So I ask that when you report to the elders, Junior Sister, you refrain from mentioning me too much.”

“My cultivation is not high, and I only know how to dabble in poisons—mere unorthodox tricks.

If word of this gets out, it might attract undue criticism.”

“Senior Brother…”

Shangguan Yunzhu’s expression shifted slightly.

She clearly remembered that this Senior Brother Lu of hers had helped her deal with a great power at the Integration realm.

To seek no credit for such a deed… a flash of insight suddenly crossed her mind.

‘To offer aid without expecting reward? To disdain the fight for worldly fame.

A true gentleman, as gentle as jade; his virtue needs no grand display to be known.’

A hundred emotions welled up in Shangguan Yunzhu’s heart.

Her gaze softened, filled with a deep sense of admiration.

‘Senior Brother Qiancha truly has the bearing of a gentleman.

Such breadth of heart and character is something I could never hope to achieve.

As for that Qingfeng, he doesn’t even come close.’

‘Oh, Shangguan Yunzhu, Shangguan Yunzhu, you are so often surrounded by the vain and arrogant that you thought all cultivators of your generation were the same.

You never realized such a person was hidden among your peers all along.’

‘If I could befriend Senior Brother Qiancha, my time in this immortal sect would truly not have been in vain.’

Many thoughts raced through Shangguan Yunzhu’s mind, but in the end, her gaze hardened with resolve as she said firmly, “Rest assured, Senior Brother.

Yunzhu will commit this to memory.”

Lu Qiancha smiled upon hearing this, and a weight was finally lifted from her heart.

Once they arrived at the gathering place, the group sat down to meditate, waiting for the others to arrive.

Lu Qiancha, however, was focused on the movements of the Daoist in the eight-trigram robe, Xuan Ping.

With a gentle flick of his sleeve, he pressed his palm through the air above the unconscious Mahayana elder’s forehead.

A flicker of spiritual fire danced between his fingers—he was clearly searching his soul and seizing his spirit!

A moment later, his palm retracted and trembled almost imperceptibly.

The life force in the old man’s body was instantly extinguished, and he collapsed like a pile of mud.

Xuan Ping’s expression was unchanged, his smile as gentle as ever.

He casually tossed the corpse into the dense forest behind him as if it were a piece of deadwood, his smiling gaze sweeping over the group.

From the look on his face, it wasn’t as if he had just killed a man, but rather as if he had simply crushed an insect…

It brought two phrases to Lu Qiancha’s mind: a smiling reaper, utterly ruthless.

“You brat, what are you looking around for!

Why aren’t you seizing this opportunity to cultivate?!”

Xuan Ya raised her horsetail whisk and swatted Lu Qiancha on the head. Then, looking at her with exasperation, she said, “Gan Tang is already at the Golden Core realm. If you don’t work harder, she might just catch up to you. Let’s see you try to hold your head up as her senior brother then!”

“Hehe, Master, you don’t know yet, do you?

During my training here, your disciple broke through to the Spirit Transformation realm.”

As she spoke, Lu Qiancha revealed her aura—early-stage Spirit Transformation.

Her aura was still slightly unstable, perfectly matching the appearance of someone who had just broken through.

Shangguan Yunzhu stared at this scene, stunned for a moment.

‘Wasn’t Senior Brother Qiancha already in the Spirit Transformation realm…’

Just then, Lu Qiancha winked at Shangguan Yunzhu.

She paused for a second, then immediately recalled Lu Qiancha’s earlier request.

She pursed her cherry lips, unsure of what to say.

“Qiancha, you broke through?”

Xuan Ya suddenly grew excited.

She carefully sensed Lu Qiancha’s aura, and a smile instantly blossomed on her face, her eyes shining much brighter.

But before Xuan Ya’s smile could fully bloom, her expression instantly hardened as she began to scold him, “You’ve cultivated for more than sixty years only to luckily glimpse the threshold of Spirit Transformation, and you’re already this conceited?!
Look at your Junior Sister Yunzhu!
She has cultivated for less time than you, yet she has already reached the peak of the Spirit Transformation realm!
Aren’t you ashamed?!”

Lu Qiancha stood to the side with a helpless, wry smile, seemingly dejected by her master’s scolding.

In truth, she was mentally calculating her gains from this trip and the supplementary ingredients she still needed to refine the Soul-Returning Pill.

“Ah, Junior Sister, don’t be so hard on Martial Nephew Qiancha.
Being able to break through to Spirit Transformation within a century is already considered a sign of superior talent.”

Xuan Ping stepped in at the right time to smooth things over, smiling as he said, “Look at me.
I stumbled along for two hundred years before entering Spirit Transformation, and only after accumulating a deep foundation did I ascend to immortality within a century.
The path of cultivation is about fate and opportunity.
You shouldn’t be so harsh on your disciple.”

“Hmph, I’ll let you off this time on account of Senior Brother Xuan Ping.
The next time you’re so arrogant and complacent, this whisk in my hand will show no mercy.”

Xuan Ya snorted coldly and brandished her whisk threateningly, but the look in her eyes had long since softened, the corners of her eyes and brows filled with a joy and pride she couldn’t hide.