"Grandmaster!" Ruan Mingzhu cried as she ran into the main hall of Shangqing Palace.
Dao Lord Jinghe, who had been smiling and telling jokes, saw her enter and his expression faded. His tone was indifferent. "What is the matter?"
Tears welled in Ruan Mingzhu's eyes. "Grandmaster, I didn't mean to. I just thought Senior Aunt Mo's spirit beast was very interesting, so I wanted to ask her for it. I didn't mean to make her angry."
Dao Lord Jinghe slowly furrowed his brow. "And then?"
Ruan Mingzhu lowered her head, hiding the hatred in the corner of her eyes. "Senior Aunt Mo seemed very angry."
After she finished speaking, there was no reaction for a long while. Ruan Mingzhu looked up again, only to see Dao Lord Jinghe sitting on the dragon throne, leisurely picking up his tea. "Mingzhu."
"Hmm?" She was somewhat confused by her grandmaster's attitude.
Dao Lord Jinghe looked at her, his expression detached. "Tian Ge has always cherished the things by her side. What you asked for was a spirit beast, but she regards it as a companion. That is why she refused to give it to you."
Ruan Mingzhu was taken aback, not expecting this reaction from her grandmaster.
Dao Lord Jinghe continued, "If you have nothing else, go back and cultivate properly. You are not young anymore, and you only have a few decades left. If you cannot form your Core, it will be difficult later."
Suddenly mentioning the issue of Core Formation, Ruan Mingzhu was stunned. "Grandmaster..."
"Do you not wish to form your Core?" Dao Lord Jinghe looked at her, his gaze sharp. "With so many things weighing on your heart, how can you form your Core? Tian Ge is much younger than you, and she endured a turbulent childhood. Yet now she is already at the late stage of Foundation Establishment and will soon reach Foundation Establishment perfection, ready to attempt Core Formation. And you? You were personally instructed by me since childhood, successfully established your Foundation at twenty-one—you should have been a prodigy. Why, now that you are over one hundred and seventy, are you still only at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment? What have you been doing these sixty years? Why have you made no progress at all?!"
Dao Lord Jinghe's expression turned severe. Ruan Mingzhu's heart trembled, and she stammered, "Grandmaster... that... the spiritual vein at Yungang Mountain is too poor. Cultivating there had no effect at all..."
"Is that so?" Dao Lord Jinghe still looked at her in the same way. "Then what about the pills I sent you over the years? Although I did not call you back, I never withheld your allocated share, Grandmaster. Even if you just forcefully consumed pills, sixty years should have been enough for you to reach the peak of the mid-stage, shouldn't it?"
Ruan Mingzhu lowered her head and said nothing.
Dao Lord Jinghe softened his expression again and said gently, "Alright, don't think about irrelevant matters. Go and cultivate properly. The sect has summoned all disciples back to the mountain this time for an important matter. If you can perform well, it will only benefit you."
"..." Ruan Mingzhu remained silent for a long time before finally replying honestly, "I understand, Grandmaster."
Rushing out of Shangqing Palace, Ruan Mingzhu's face was flushed red. Seeing the gate-keeping disciples looking at her with inquisitive expressions and hidden hostility in their eyes, she angrily shouted, "What are you looking at?!"
Scolded by her, the gate-keeping disciples averted their gazes. They did not retort, but looks of disdain surfaced on their faces.
"You—" Just as she was about to lose her temper, Ruan Mingzhu remembered this was the entrance to Shangqing Palace. Gritting her teeth, she held back, waved her hand to summon a flying artifact, and soared into the sky.
Only after seeing her leave did the gate-keeping disciple softly snort and mutter under his breath, "Really thinks she's something..."
Ruan Mingzhu flew to a deserted mountaintop. After looking around for a while, she confirmed it was her destination. She landed and walked towards a well-hidden cave abode.
"Senior Brother, Senior Brother! Are you there? It's Mingzhu!" She called out twice, but after a good while, she heard no reply. She continued shouting, "Senior Brother! Come out and see me, it's Mingzhu!"
After another long while, the door to the cave abode finally opened. Overjoyed, she was about to rush forward when she froze, her face darkening. "Who are you?!"
The one who had opened the cave abode and come out was Ye Zhenji. Seeing Ruan Mingzhu, he was also taken aback. "And who are you?"
Ruan Mingzhu, her expression grim, looked inside. "Where is my senior brother?"
Ye Zhenji scratched his head, puzzled. "Are you new here? Did you get the wrong place?"
"This is my senior brother's cave abode!" Ruan Mingzhu glared at him. "Kid, who are you? Why are you in my senior brother's cave abode?"
"You're not my aunt, so what senior brother of yours could be here?" Although Ye Zhenji had a good temper, when someone spoke so aggressively, he didn't hold back either. "You'd better leave quickly. Although my master is amiable, he will also get angry if someone is so impolite."
"Master?" Ruan Mingzhu peered inside, finally revealing a slight smile. "You are my senior brother's disciple, right? Tell him I'm Mingzhu, and he'll know."
Seeing Ye Zhenji not moving, Ruan Mingzhu shouted again, "Hurry up and go!"
She gave orders quite rudely. Ye Zhenji was an honest person and didn't get angry, but he frowned and said, "Who is your senior brother? My master is cultivating right now. Disturbing him without a good reason will make him angry."
"You—"
Just as Ruan Mingzhu was about to lose her temper, a familiar voice came from inside the cave abode. "Zhenji, let her in."
Ruan Mingzhu was overjoyed. "Senior Brother!" With that, she rushed into the cave abode.
"Hey—" Seeing her like this, Ye Zhenji was even more puzzled. Who exactly was this? Didn't Grandmaster only take one disciple after Master, which was Aunt? Where did this person come from, calling Master 'senior brother'?
However, since his master had spoken, he couldn't say anything. He closed the cave abode and slowly walked back to the main hall. After thinking for a moment, he didn't return to his own cultivation chamber. Instead, he sat down next to Xiaohuo, who was curled up cultivating, pretending to be looking after the spirit beast.
Actually, Xiaohuo was already a Third-Rank spirit beast, its cultivation always higher than his own, so it didn't need his care at all. Recently, Xiaohuo had been burying itself in cultivation again. Master said it seemed about to advance in rank again, which was why he hadn't sent Xiaohuo back yet.
The door to his master's cultivation chamber was not closed. Ye Zhenji pricked up his ears, listening to the commotion inside.
"Senior Brother!" Seeing Qin Xi, Ruan Mingzhu was extremely excited. She rushed to him in a few steps, tears of joy in her eyes. "Senior Brother, I've finally seen you again!"
Qin Xi still maintained his cultivation posture. He opened his eyes and gave her a cool glance. "Mingzhu, whether by cultivation level or seniority, you should call me 'Uncle-Master,' not 'Senior Brother.'"
Ruan Mingzhu was stunned for a moment, a hurt expression appearing on her face. "Why? Why, when I've finally returned, are both you and Grandmaster treating me so coldly? It's been sixty years. Can you still not forgive me?"
"That is a separate matter," Qin Xi's tone remained indifferent, almost devoid of any emotion. "When we were young, we let you address us carelessly. Times are different now. Neither of us are children anymore. You should understand in your heart how things should be done."
"But Senior Brother will always be Senior Brother in my heart!" Ruan Mingzhu blurted out. "If it weren't for my father being Grandmaster's disciple, and Grandmaster not being able to take me as his disciple, we would be senior brother and junior sister!"
"But that is the reality," Qin Xi said. "Sixty years have passed, and you still haven't understood this principle. No wonder Master treats you coldly."
Although his tone was calm, his words were not polite at all. Ruan Mingzhu was stunned again, then suddenly lowered her head and began to weep bitterly.
After crying for a while, she sobbed and said, "I truly don't understand... I don't understand what I did wrong. Why are both you and Grandmaster treating me like this? Wasn't it just injuring a disciple? Aren't there others in the sect who fight privately? That person wasn't seriously hurt anyway. You and Grandmaster... left me alone at the Yungang Branch. That place is so remote, and no one else pays any attention to me. I... I had such a hard time there..."
If these words had been tearfully poured out before Dao Lord Jinghe, perhaps she would have received some comfort. But unfortunately, the one listening to her was Qin Xi. He simply looked expressionless, as if the person crying before him was a wooden puppet, and he himself was also a wooden puppet.
Ruan Mingzhu couldn't continue crying halfway through. She had to wipe her tears and look at him with reddened eyes, pleading softly, "Senior Brother. I've finally returned. Can you ask Grandmaster not to send me away? I won't cause trouble anymore. I'll listen to you both from now on, alright?"
Qin Xi said nothing, as if he hadn't heard anything.
Ruan Mingzhu waited for a while, then couldn't help but continue, "Senior Brother, Senior Brother, have you forgotten? When you first arrived, you were always alone in the back mountains. Every time, it was me who went to find you before you were willing to come back..."
Mentioning the past, Qin Xi's gaze finally shifted. Ruan Mingzhu thought he might soften, but she still heard his voice remain cold. "What's the use of saying these things now? If you were still the Mingzhu from back then, would Master have made you go to the branch alone and not allowed you to return for sixty years?"
Ruan Mingzhu was stunned for a moment, then said urgently, "Senior Brother, do you really have no feelings for me at all now? We... we grew up together for almost a hundred years. Do you really have no affection at all?"
Qin Xi looked at her and said quietly, "I told you long ago, in my eyes, there is only the Great Dao. I consider everything else unimportant. What you seek, I do not have. Why must you force it?"
"Senior Brother!" Ruan Mingzhu cried out, staring blankly at his impassive expression as tears rolled from her eyes. "I... I'm not asking for your reciprocation. I only ask that you could be like before, calling me affectionately, giving me pointers on cultivation, chatting with me when there's nothing to do... Is that too much to ask?"
The Ruan Mingzhu who spoke these words was mournful, without her usual arrogance, only the agony of unfulfilled desire.
Qin Xi suddenly felt a pang, as if something within him had been touched. But he quickly steadied his mind and said calmly, "Mingzhu, do you still not believe you were wrong?"
Ruan Mingzhu lowered her head and shook it stubbornly. "Wasn't it just injuring a disciple? For us cultivators, what does injuring one or two people matter? Haven't you and Grandmaster killed many people? I haven't even..."
"It's not because you injured someone," Qin Xi interrupted her. "What can be obtained, strive for it. What cannot be obtained, you should decisively let go. Because you couldn't get what you wanted, you took your anger out on others, even attacking a fellow disciple. Don't you realize your state of mind has become twisted? Master indulged you too much, to the point where you think you must have everything. But in this world, what can you truly have everything? If you didn't have Master, what could you obtain?"
His tone was very plain, but the meaning of his words was severe. He looked at Ruan Mingzhu, his gaze unwavering. "Mingzhu, I am not Master. I will not teach you what is right and what is wrong. But I know that you and I are fundamentally different people. Even if we grew up together, we will ultimately not walk the same path. Do not persist in your delusion any longer."