I Don’t Care About You

Cultivation—its most crucial phase is the beginning.

After Golden Core, every cultivator walks their own Dao.

No master can teach that path.

So for a proper master, the most important task is guiding disciples through the door.

Everyone has their own talents, their own passions.

To avoid leading them astray—and instead nurture them according to their nature—requires immense skill.

That was why Gong Ning had spent so much time on things others couldn’t understand.

Sword techniques, body arts, all manner of weapons, formations, talismans, artifact forging, alchemy, and medicine—she had studied them all in depth.

And more—how to maximize cultivation for those with poor talent was itself a branch of medicine.

Gong Ning’s medical skills had passed the evaluations of Yuqing Sect and the Governance Institute, earning her the title of High-Rank Physician.

Only her overly broad studies had kept her from becoming a Grand Medic, a title she didn’t mind missing.

But for teaching disciples and healing the wounded, it was more than enough.

One Qi-Nourishing Pill, a handful of Revival Pills, a splash of Wound-Sealing Water—that was the standard treatment for each disciple.

Nothing fancy.

Just observation, listening, questioning, pulse-taking.

Adjusting dosage based on individual needs.

Diagnose and treat.

But it couldn’t be helped.

Everything in this world relied on spiritual energy.

Without cultivation, one could only depend on external aids.

Thanks to the abundance of fire spirit stones—far beyond what ordinary disciples could ever dream of—the chamber slowly warmed.

But Gong Ning could sense it.

The ice energy was still being emitted, constantly eroding the cave.

She stood and asked the group, “Is there a disciple skilled in detection techniques? At least Qi Refining Layer Five?”

A timid girl stepped forward.

“Master, it’s me.”

“Use this artifact to scout the area above. As detailed as possible.”

“Master, why me…?”

“My cultivation has… issues.

I’m below Qi Refining Layer Three.

Even with an artifact, I can’t see clearly.”

The girl froze.

No one had expected it.

This woman—beautiful as a celestial descending to earth, their savior, their source of calm—was weaker than them.

Her eyes hardened with resolve.
“Yes, Master.”

“Don’t rush. I’ll draw the formation for you.”

With care, Gong Ning drew a detection array, placed several spirit stones, and had the girl sit at the focal point.

It was a simplified amplification formation.

One needed at least Qi Refining Layer Four to endure its effects.

Lower cultivation risked spiritual overflow and injury.

“Master… above… there are five powerful presences.

One of them… is Yan Sha.”

“What’s the situation? Can you see more detail?”

“Yan Sha’s killing intent is intense…

One person is maintaining a defensive formation.

Three others are fighting—but… they seem to be at a disadvantage.”

“What kind of disadvantage? Are their energies stable?”

“Their energies… are steady.”

Gong Ning exhaled.

When the girl said disadvantage, her heart had nearly leapt from her throat.

The situation now must be this:

One cultivator maintaining the formation—preventing Yan Sha from destroying the realm.

The other three weren’t truly losing.

They were holding back.

How long would this stalemate last?

When would reinforcements from outside arrive?

The immediate crisis was still here.

The disciples.

Spirit stones weren’t free.

Even if they were, this was only a temporary fix.

“Thank you. Take these.”

Gong Ning tried to give the girl a reward.

But the girl shook her head fiercely.
“I can’t accept! Master, you’ve already done so much for us!”

She didn’t let Gong Ning react—shoved the artifact back into her hands and ran back.

Good children.

Seeing them so strong despite their suffering only deepened Gong Ning’s conviction.

The Xuan Yuan Sect had to be destroyed.

“Tang Qiaohuan, go find that celestial meteorite you mentioned.”

“Do we need to find it?

It belonged to Su’e.

Your technique should already be responding.

Feel it. You’ll know where it is.”

Who was the real disciple here? Why did she seem to know more than Gong Ning?

Gong Ning closed her eyes, focusing inward.

Earlier, in the chaos, she’d missed it.

Now, calm and centered, she felt it—a subtle shift.

A guidance, forming in her mind.

Deeper.

Further down.

She walked slowly, disciples parting before her.

She reached a wide stone wall.

Broken chains hung from it—once used to bind Yan Sha.

But the center of the wall was key.

She placed her hand on it.

Her spiritual energy connected with something beyond.

A mechanism triggered.

The wall slid open like a door.

Another downward staircase.

And with it—fierce cold, like a typhoon, roaring outward.

The warmth they’d just gained vanished in an instant.

But Gong Ning felt no discomfort.

Instead, her cultivation stirred—rising faintly.

Step by step, she descended.

The dark stairs gradually brightened.

At the bottom—a chamber matching the one above.

Only this one had a stone table in the center.

Intricate patterns carved around it.

Chains of unknown material.

And floating above the table—a translucent, irregularly shaped, bluish stone, like a rough diamond.

Gong Ning recognized the formation.

It was commonly used today to draw energy from spirit stones.

This was the celestial meteorite.

The closer she got, the colder it became.

A violent energy storm swirled around it—any ordinary person would be torn apart.

But Gong Ning sensed she was unaffected.

She stepped forward.

The storm didn’t touch her.

She reached out, placing her hand on the stone.

To her surprise, it didn’t move.

It resisted her.

Disciples often entered secret realms for trials.

One reason—ideal cultivation conditions.

The other—personal opportunities.

This stone was her opportunity.

But it both accepted and rejected her.

Only one explanation.

The stone recognized her.

Confirmed she was Su’e’s heir.

But the timing was wrong.

Perhaps Su’e didn’t believe this could permanently contain Yan Sha.

So she used the classic ancestor trick—trust in future generations’ wisdom.

If a descendant reached sufficient cultivation—able to suppress Yan Sha—and happened to be her heir…

Then the opportunity would be granted.

Perhaps Gong Ning shouldn’t have come here.

Only because powerful allies held Yan Sha back.

Her mere Qi Refining Layer Two cultivation made her unworthy at this critical moment.

But…

Who cares about your conditions.

Gong Ning gripped the stone.

With a thought, she shoved it into her System space.

The System couldn’t hold living things.

But anything not alive? Fair game.

That was why, in her early years—before taking disciples—it had been useless for cultivation, yet still a cheat for storage.

Most of her bizarre, endless array of artifacts? All obtained this way.