Volume 3, Chapter 32 – Recultivation

At dusk, as the sun slipped below the horizon, Xiang Xian and her group finally arrived at the Zhennan Circuit. She personally brought Song Ruhua and Guo Rongzhi to Tingyu Tower so they could formally meet with Bai Xiang.

“Senior Brothers.” Bai Xiang didn’t put on any airs as a Dao Lord; she came down to greet the two of them with a proper salute.

“Little Junior Sister, there’s no need for such formality.” Song Ruhua hurriedly raised a hand to stop her and said, “You’re now a Divine Fetus immortal, on the same level of cultivation as Master. We’re only a few years older than you—there’s no way we can accept such a grand salute.”

“Each thing has its proper order.” Bai Xiang met his gaze directly. “My achievements are thanks in part to Master’s instruction. The teacher’s Dao comes first, so the teacher must be respected first. There’s no such rule as rearranging seniority based on cultivation.”

Seeing that the two still looked hesitant, Bai Xiang added, “Then if one day I reach the Sword Lord realm, will I not be allowed to salute Master either?”

The way she put it made Song Ruhua, Guo Rongzhi, and Xiang Xian, watching from the side, all break into smiles.

But it was true.

“The teacher’s Dao comes first, so the teacher must be respected first”—the phrase really did sound good to the ear.

Especially to Song Ruhua. Having just gone through the grief of losing his younger sister, he hated Song Chengqing’s collusion with Liang Yu and the others—betraying the master and destroying the sect—with a bone-deep loathing. He’d seen first-hand what came of letting rules slide. So looking at Bai Xiang’s upright attitude now, the more he looked, the more pleased he felt. He reached into his robe and pulled out a gold ingot. “Here, Little Junior Sister, take this.”

“What is this?”

Bai Xiang took a closer look and immediately saw it was anything but ordinary. It looked like gold on the surface, but a faint, cool radiance clung to it; stare at it too long and it even felt a bit searing to the eyes.

She looked toward Xiang Xian. Xiang Xian explained, “This is ‘Kuiwood Gold Essence,’ an excellent material for forging swords. It’s also a token of your Eldest Senior Brother’s regard. Go on and accept it.”

Kuiwood Gold Essence? Bai Xiang immediately pulled up the relevant entry from the Yuming Archives in her mind.

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Kuiwood belonged to yang, and its nature was wood. Only when the dead remains of kuiwood more than a thousand years old were buried deep underground would a mysterious reaction occur, transforming them into gold ingots and adding a layer of metallic intent.

It truly was fine material for forging swords. Weapons refined and fused with it didn’t just carry blazing, sun-aspected power and terrifying sharpness; their temperament was also gentle, able to accommodate any kind of heart-flow without fear of backlash.

Since Xiang Xian had spoken, Bai Xiang accepted it at last. In the eyes of the two senior brothers, this only made them nod inwardly yet again.

No rules, no proper square.

Liang Yu had fallen into grave wrongdoing precisely because he’d been indulged too much, so neither of them felt Bai Xiang was being stiff or old-fashioned. On the contrary, the more they saw, the more they liked her, and the more they regretted not getting to know Bai Xiang sooner.

Guo Rongzhi had already started patting at his sleeves, tallying up what good stuff he had on him.

“All right, that’s enough.” Noticing that Bai Xiang kept looking at her, Xiang Xian understood she wanted to speak in private. She waved the two men away. “You’ll have more than enough time to get along later. Aren’t you tired from the journey? Go on, get out of here and wash up and rest.”

“Yes, Master.” The two bowed respectfully to Xiang Xian, and then Guo Rongzhi leaned in to Bai Xiang and exaggeratedly waggled his brows.

“Just you wait, Junior Sister. All my good stuff is in my trunk. Once I’ve checked it over, I’ll pick something out for you—guaranteed to be even rarer than what Eldest Senior Brother gave!”

Guo Rongzhi’s temperament ran to extremes—ice-cold to outsiders, blazing-hot to those he took a liking to.

Bai Xiang found him rather amusing and gave a small nod. “Then I shall await Senior Brother’s gift.”

Spoken in her perfectly serious tone, the words had far too much comedic effect. Guo Rongzhi threw his head back and laughed, then leapt in a single bound out of the courtyard.

A heartbeat later, there was a resounding crash from beyond the wall, followed by a chorus of startled shouts and Guo Rongzhi’s string of apologetic cries—“Sorry… my fault…” all full of earnest contrition.

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“……” Bai Xiang’s expression froze on her face; she honestly wasn’t sure what one was supposed to say at a time like this.

“Don’t mind him.” Xiang Xian flicked her sleeve in exasperation. “He’s just like that.”

Once Song Ruhua had also taken his leave, Bai Xiang invited Xiang Xian to take the main seat as well. Master and disciple sat facing each other beneath the enormous wooden carving of the Thousand-Handed Buddha and began to discuss their plans from here on out.

“This little trip of mine was satisfying enough, but I’ve offended practically every high minister in the process.” Xiang Xian shook her head with a wry smile. “If you, Xiang’er, can’t keep them all in check, your Master is going to suffer for it~”

“I’ll do my best,” Bai Xiang said seriously. “To glimpse the secrets of the Sword Lord realm within half a year.”

“It’s not that dramatic.” Xiang Xian shook her head. “I was teasing you… In fact, I think your current cultivation is already more than enough.”

Back when Yao Qingyuan went rogue, no one knew what kind of demonic art he’d learned; his physical toughness and sword power had actually been enough to suppress even three Divine Fetus immortals working together. And yet that terrifying enemy hadn’t been able to withstand even a single move from Bai Xiang, disintegrating into dust right there in that technique, “Kongxiang Shenming.”

With power like Bai Xiang’s—could she really still be only at the Divine Fetus realm?

Xiang Xian had no basis for comparison for the combat power of other Cores on the path of qi and couldn’t say for sure. But this “Core on the path of qi” that was Bai Xiang’s cultivation clearly far surpassed the Divine Fetus level.

Perhaps she was already at the Innate?

Perhaps she’d already brushed against the Sword Lord realm?

Xiang Xian wasn’t sure… because the Innate realm was far too mysterious. If you went by rumor alone, then as long as one grasped the mysteries of the Innate, one would inevitably ascend to Sword Lord. There were even ancient records stating, “At one glimpse of the Innate, one ascends to Heaven,” leaving people unable to tell whether the Innate was a separate realm or part of the Sword Lord attainment itself.

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“My goal isn’t to suppress two Sword Lords,” Bai Xiang said, meeting Xiang Xian’s eyes and slowly shaking her head. “After all, Sword Lords do not attain longevity.”

“True enough…” Xiang Xian sighed, staring at Bai Xiang a little blankly. “I almost forgot—my disciple has the fate-breaking talent to surpass even the Sacred Emperor. She won’t have her steps blocked by the mortal world’s realms.”

How could she not feel moved?

The truth of Yuming Sword Dao was that it had always been under Yujing’s control.

On the surface, it was a special sword path, said to be poor in combat and devoted to craftsmanship. In reality, any useful secret arts it possessed had to be centrally collected and organized, then allocated and dispatched by Qianyu Palace and the Supreme Dao, those two Dao lineages.

In the words of those two Dao lineages, this was “for the greater good.”

They said the survival of the human race depended on these methods—how could such things be hoarded away like a private library?

That was why her resistance had burned so fiercely. Her rage was not only for Bai Nianchan’s wrongful death; she’d wanted to flip the table for a long time.

And yet even this Yuming Sword Dao, used by Qianyu Palace as a mere library, this Yuming Sword Dao whose archives held every forbidden and strange scripture under heaven—across all the history they’d witnessed, no one had ever managed what Bai Xiang now had: to walk a cultivation path separate from the Sword Dao.

Heaven alone knew how shocked Xiang Xian had been when she first learned of the path of qi. Only then did she finally understand that calling Bai Xiang “astonishing, peerless talent” was practically an insult to her.

Ten thousand years under demon rule, a thousand under human rule.

Of all the heroes in the world, there was only this one.

“Master.” Bai Xiang poured Xiang Xian a cup of tea. “When will you abolish your cultivation and recultivate?”

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Xiang Xian had yet to switch over to cultivating the path of qi. Because her current cultivation was so deep, refocusing her path would take a very long time and wasn’t suitable to attempt while still en route to Yujing.

“In the next few days,” Xiang Xian said with a nod. “The sooner I abolish my cultivation, the sooner I can free myself from their control.”

By “their control,” she meant the Sacred-Heart Pill.

That pill was precisely the means by which Qianyu Palace controlled the Nine Dao lineages. Once swallowed, it fused with one’s heart-flow. Unless you abolished your cultivation and recultivated, becoming a cripple, there was no way to escape the hold of whoever controlled the master pill. Switching to the path of qi, however, happened to be the perfect way out of this trap.

“Then why not now?” Bai Xiang fixed her gaze on Xiang Xian’s eyes. “I’m here as well. I can guard you while you do it.”

Xiang Xian started, then nodded. “All right.”

And so, two hours later, Bai Xiang walked out of the tower alone.

Bai Zhuqing had been waiting to the side for some time. Seeing her, he immediately hurried over. “Auntie?”

Bai Xiang nodded. “Is the car ready?”

“It’s been ready for ages!”

“Then keep up.” Bai Xiang nodded again, flicked her sleeve, and strode straight out the main gate.