Chapter 2
Life with Rong Fei as my cultivation partner was rather enjoyable.
His cultivation was low, and he owned few treasures or pills.
As for me, years of generosity and being everyone’s helpful fool had left my pockets just as empty.
Once I had a partner, I felt an added sense of responsibility. I decided to find something useful for Rong Fei’s cultivation.
I took him into secret realms with me.
His cultivation was too low for him to fight at my side most of the time, so I had to divide my attention to protect him.
But if I tried to leave him behind, tears would well in his phoenix eyes and he would mumble,
“Does Shuangshuang despise me for being useless? Well, I suppose low-level cultivators like us never know if we’ll live to see tomorrow. It would be perfectly normal for Shuangshuang to despise me.”
“It’s just that I always thought of Shuangshuang as a ray of light in the darkness. I’ve tried so hard to mind my every step…”
As he spoke, his pale-gray eyes would steal a glance at me.
I loved all beings equally, so I would spend ages coaxing him—carving little wooden figures for him and soothing his worries.
I also remembered that we were supposed to dual cultivate.
So every morning, noon, and night, I made him press his palms to mine, draw on the energy in his dantian, and meditate with me.
I still remembered the way Rong Fei arched a brow at me, his phoenix eyes shimmering like spring water.
“This is what you meant by dual cultivating three times a day?”
I felt a little sheepish. “It is rather frequent. If you can’t manage it, I can always cultivate by myself.”
He burst out laughing, every line of his face alight with a smile, soft and hazy as moonlight.
Still smiling, Rong Fei pressed his palm firmly to mine.
Then his five fingers slowly curled, slipped between mine, and enveloped my hand.
With our fingers interlaced, I felt his spiritual energy roam through me like a sly little snake.
His gentle voice sounded beside my ear.
“Silly sword cultivator. This is dual cultivation.”
As the spiritual energy inside me surged, I couldn’t help marveling to myself.
Dual cultivation was wonderful!
Unfortunately, those happy days did not last long. We broke up.
More precisely, he had toyed with my feelings.
I still remembered that day. I had just emerged from a secret realm, drenched in blood.
In my fist was a thousand-year immortal herb I had searched for a very long time to find.
Rong Fei often complained of his low cultivation and poor foundations. I had always looked for an immortal herb that could cleanse his meridians and remake his body.
He was only at Qi Refinement, yet dual cultivating with him already worked wonders. If his cultivation improved, wouldn’t our sessions become even more efficient?
With my heart full of beautiful hopes for the future, I went to find him.
Before I reached our cave residence, I saw several cultivators in Joyous Union Sect robes gathered around Rong Fei, laughing and talking.
The Joyous Union Sect had always been on good terms with sword cultivators. From time to time, we even accepted jobs removing people who would not leave their disciples alone.
But whenever we dealt with them, they said the strangest things.
They claimed sword cultivators ranked first on the Joyous Union Sect’s list of impossible conquests, and no one had succeeded to date.
Most sword cultivators were indeed taciturn, unlike me, who was gentle and pleasant to talk to.
Thinking of my junior brothers in the sect, I had to admit they were not very talkative.
I was about to go over and greet the Joyous Union disciples when I heard one of them exclaim,
“As expected of Eldest Senior Brother! You actually conquered the most difficult kind—a sword cultivator.”
Then I saw Rong Fei dressed in magnificent red robes. His raven hair poured down like a waterfall, a crimson cinnabar mark gleamed between his brows, and he was breathtakingly handsome.
He summoned his storage pouch and spread everything I had given him across the table as though displaying a trove of treasures.
“She’s only a sword cultivator. I barely had to lift a finger before she fell hopelessly in love with me. Look—she carved this little wooden duck for me.”
“And this is the immortal herb she went out of her way to find. She said it tastes sweetest when steeped.”
The others gasped in admiration.
One of them teased, “Eldest Senior Brother, you have a whole bag of that herb. Share some with me—I want a taste too.”
“Get lost.” Rong Fei lost his usual composure and hurriedly bundled everything away.
The disciple suddenly asked, “Why such a big reaction, Eldest Senior Brother? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for that sword cultivator. Weren’t you the one who said there should be no true love in the Joyous Union Sect?”
“How could I? No. Never.”
Then I heard him shriek,
“She’s nothing but a tool for overcoming my love tribulation. A plaything, that’s all.”
Who would have thought the Joyous Union Sect cultivated the Way of Detachment to a level even more profound than mine?
I was almost jealous of Rong Fei.
Watching him deny everything over and over from a distance, I assumed I must have become a burden to him.
A wise person knows when to withdraw. I left the immortal herb on the ground, mounted my sword, and flew away.
I had barely gone any distance when thunder began to roll.
I was about to break through!
The bottleneck that had held me back for so long would finally be crossed today.
I hurriedly found a random secret realm and entered seclusion.