Chapter 1
This was the third time I’d been cheated on.
In the middle of our dual-cultivation ceremony, his junior sister burst in.
Her bright eyes brimmed with tears, and her hair was in disarray.
I watched my normally cool and aloof alchemist partner go still at the sight of her.
His long, well-defined fingers clenched his sleeve as he forced himself not to embrace her.
He glanced at me. I gave him a gentle, encouraging smile.
“Go. This is a bond from your mortal past.”
Zhou Yili looked at me gratefully, a trace of warmth entering his usually distant eyes.
“Thank you, Shuangshuang. You never make things difficult for me.”
Then he stepped forward and pulled his junior sister into his arms.
She coughed up a mouthful of blood against his chest.
Zhou Yili hurried away with her in his arms.
The great hall fell silent. Whispers rose all around me.
“This is the third time Shen Shuang’s been cheated on, isn’t it?”
“I heard the first was a star disciple of the Joyous Union Sect, the second was a demon cultivator, and the third is this alchemist.”
“Tsk, tsk. Shen Shuang might as well start calling herself Shen the Cuckold.”
I paid no attention to their mockery or pity.
A sudden clap of thunder split the clear sky.
Still dressed in red, I sat down to meditate right where I was.
Dark clouds rolled in. Thunder crashed again and again.
Over the roar, someone cried out,
“Shen Shuang—she’s ascending!”
I was the eldest senior sister of the Rainbow Immortal Sect.
Everyone in the sect knew it.
I was the easiest senior sister to get along with—charitable, gentle, and kind.
Whenever anyone ran into trouble, I lent a hand.
Apart from cultivating, I spent each day coaching the other disciples and helping my master manage the sect.
Whatever meager stipend I earned went either to struggling itinerant cultivators or to the Adorable Spirit Beast Protection Society.
My master saw me cultivating every day without making any progress.
So he offered me a suggestion.
“Why don’t you find yourself a cultivation partner?”
“But I cultivate the Way of Detachment.” I was baffled. Were people on our path even allowed to have partners?
My master said, “Disciple, the Way of Detachment isn’t about rejecting all love. It is about seeing love for what it is and loving all beings equally.”
He thought over everything I usually did.
Every day, I was either teaching my junior brothers swordsmanship or combing my junior sisters’ hair.
He paused, then said, “You’ve done well at loving all beings, but you still haven’t seen romantic love for what it is.”
“So go on, disciple. Find a partner and give it a try.”
I considered his words, picked up my sword, and left the sect.
It didn’t take me long to find my first cultivation partner.
I bought him for nine spirit stones.
I first met Rong Fei at the House of Rapture.
It was my first time away from the mountain, and I had never seen such a den of glittering extravagance.
Most important of all, there were so, so many men standing inside.
Wasn’t this the perfect place to find a cultivation partner?
After a moment’s thought, I took out a sheet of white paper and held it over my head.
“Sword cultivator seeking partner. Will escort you through all manner of secret realms. Only requirement: dual cultivation three times a day.”
I had always been diligent and devoted to cultivation, so naturally I stipulated three dual-cultivation sessions a day.
The men in the House of Rapture laughed at me.
One of them called, “Sword cultivators are all penniless. You really came here looking for fun? Is this a place the likes of you can afford?”
I ignored him and shouted into the room.
“One cultivation partner, please!” I said, laying nine spirit stones out on the counter.
They raised another chorus of jeers.
“Everyone, come look! Someone’s trying to visit the House of Rapture with nine spirit stones!”
My face flushed. “I earned these nine spirit stones working as a bodyguard the other day… Nine whole stones!”
Under my breath, I muttered things like, “Nine is already a lot… It’s everything I own.”
For a time, the House of Rapture and the street outside rang with merriment.
I stood there at a loss until a man in gray slowly descended from the second floor.
His features were delicate, but his upturned eyes and smiling lips lent him a seductive air.
He gave me a soft laugh. His voice was gentle.
“My name is Rong Fei. Are you in need of a cultivation partner?”
Rong Fei pocketed the nine spirit stones.
He said he was just a worthless little Qi Refinement cultivator who had come here to scrape out a living.
He said his looks weren’t worth much, so he could barely earn a few spirit stones. He lived a poor, miserable life and was lucky to have met me.
I comforted him. “You’re quite good-looking. Don’t sell yourself short.”
Something cold flickered in his eyes, and his voice chilled with it.
“You women always know just what sweet words to say.”
The coldness vanished in an instant. Once more, he stood meekly at my side.
His slender, jade-white fingers hooked into my sleeve and gave it a gentle tug.
I felt wronged. I hadn’t sweet-talked him. I had only told the truth.
Those of us who cultivated the Way of Detachment no longer saw beauty or ugliness. All beings were equal.
Everyone looked perfectly fine to me.
Rong Fei kept toying with my sleeve, only to fall silent all of a sudden.
He had pulled out a loose thread.
I felt a little embarrassed.
I had finally found a cultivation partner. How could I let him suffer poverty with me?
“I’ll enter a secret realm soon and make money to support you!”