Chapter 2
Silence fell all around me. Everyone thought I had lost my mind.
Shen Du was a sword genius who appeared perhaps once in a century, and he accepted a disciple only once every fifty years.
Li Yuan, meanwhile, had not even formed a Golden Core. He owed his nominal position as an elder of Forgecraft Peak entirely to the battle honors his father had died earning.
Under the rules of the Immortal Trials, no elder could refuse a request for discipleship from one of the top three candidates.
Li Yuan lifted his phoenix-shaped eyes and gave me an indifferent glance. Without a word, he tossed something at me.
I caught it on instinct. It was the wine gourd he had just been drinking from.
“Your initiation gift.”
“…”
The instant I accepted it, a golden master-disciple seal formed between us, so quickly that none of the other elders had time to react.
After a moment of silence, Shen Du slowly withdrew his hand.
His voice, cold beyond measure, drifted down from the empty sky.
“Foolish.”
Shen Du had always been as aloof as an exiled immortal. This was the first time he had ever shown so much emotion.
That single act made me famous. Wherever I went, people pointed and whispered.
“That’s the girl who rejected Immortal Shen Du and chose that good-for-nothing as her master.”
“She doesn’t look like much. Who does she think she is?”
“Lasting nearly eight minutes in the Celestial Secrets Mirror makes her a genius, I suppose, but she’s only at Foundation Establishment. Now that she’s missed her chance with Shen Du, how far can she possibly advance?”
“Exactly. Which of Shen Du’s disciples hasn’t become renowned?”
“What a waste of an opening. Immortal Shen Du takes a disciple only once every fifty years. Now everyone has to wait another fifty.”
I let it all go in one ear and out the other, burying myself in books every day.
I had little choice. My master was useless, and I was the only disciple on all of Forgecraft Peak. After bringing me back, Li Yuan tossed me the key to the library and told me to cultivate on my own. Then he vanished to sleep somewhere.
Forgecraft Peak also lay far from the Changheng Sect’s main peak. Its spiritual energy was pitifully thin and full of impurities, making it utterly unsuitable for cultivation.
Only on the first and fifteenth of each month, when I went to the main peak for supplies, did I have a chance to soak up a little spiritual energy.
The rest of the time, I shut myself in the library and devoured books to stave off boredom.
Consequently, the entire sect thought I had given up.
Some sneered. Some lamented my wasted promise.
Others placed bets on how long I would last before crawling to Shen Du on my knees and begging him to take me back.
But instead of seeing me weep and grovel, they received news that Shen Du had taken another disciple.
Whenever an elder accepted a disciple, a master-disciple seal formed between them. The stronger the master, the more brightly the seal shone.
On the day Shen Du took his disciple, golden light flooded the main peak. I happened to be there collecting supplies and accidentally absorbed a great deal of spiritual energy.
When I emerged from meditation, the plaza was packed. A girl surrounded by the crowd said in a clear voice,
“Can I answer your questions later? Master told me to collect my things and hurry back.”
Her words drew another chorus of envious sighs.
The crowd parted on its own. A girl in a pale yellow dress, her hair tied in two hanging buns, skipped up the steps and nearly collided with me.
She tilted her head, studying me with an innocent smile.
“They said you refused to become Master’s disciple six months ago. I thought you must be some peerless genius, but… half a year has passed, and you’re still at Foundation Establishment.”
I stared at her in confusion, unable to understand where this inexplicable hostility came from.
Someone behind her called out,
“Ah Yuan, don’t bother with her. She’s trash.
“So what if she placed first in the Immortal Trials? The moment she joined Forgecraft Peak, her path of cultivation came to an end. You’re different, Ah Yuan. I hear Immortal Shen Du dotes on you.”
My heart sank slightly as I rolled the name “Ah Yuan” over in my mind.
I had heard that Shen Du recently left seclusion and casually awakened an iris into sentience. After taking human form, the lively young woman pestered him to make her his wife.
Shen Du refused several times. She pretended to obey, then followed him to the Changheng Sect. When outer disciples bullied her and left her weeping, Shen Du appeared in person to rescue her and bring her back.
As far as I knew, Shen Du had always treated his disciples well.
And judging from the details I had seen in the Celestial Secrets Mirror, I must have served him with complete devotion—
Yet he could still carve out my inner core for this Ah Yuan.
What kind of man was Shen Du? Could he truly have failed to notice Ah Yuan following him?
He had merely permitted it. One could even say he had indulged her behavior.