Ruan Mother and Daughter

After a long talk with Su Yu, the last wisp of fog in Shen Qingzhou's heart dispersed.

The methods of rituals, the struggle between lineages—the road ahead had already become clear.

He did not immediately set out for Peace River City. Instead, he first made a trip to the Steward Hall at Sword-Coming Peak.

The Blackwater Marsh garrison mission lasted one year. It hung on the mission jade wall year-round, with scarcely anyone willing to take it.

"Senior Brother Shen, are you certain you want to accept this?"

"I'm certain."

"The environment for this mission is harsh, and you'll often have to deal with people from the Earth Spirit Sect and the Plain Maiden Sect. It's a real nuisance..." the steward disciple kindly warned him.

Shen Qingzhou merely nodded calmly.

Seeing that his mind was made up, the steward disciple did not try to dissuade him further. He swiftly completed the procedures and handed him a dark jade slip recording the mission details and the location of the garrison.

"Senior Brother Shen, you must report to the Blackwater Marsh garrison within one month. At that time, a fellow senior brother will travel with you. If you fail to arrive by the deadline, the mission will be voided, and one hundred contribution points will be deducted."

"A fellow disciple? Understood."

By accepting the mission, Shen Qingzhou now had a legitimate destination and reason on the sect's books.

He just did not know whether this fellow disciple would be easy to get along with.

One month was more than enough time for him to make a trip to Peace River City.

After leaving Sword-Coming Peak, Shen Qingzhou put the Ripple-Pattern Sword into his storage pouch and concealed all his aura before strolling unhurriedly down the mountain gate.

Beyond the sect, heaven and earth stretched wide.

Peace River City lay roughly six hundred li southeast of the Profound Heaven Sect's mountain gate. It was not particularly far.

Shen Qingzhou did not hurry on his way. He followed the official road for half a day, and only after confirming that no one was following him did he turn onto a mountain path and use Abyssal Step.

His figure darted through the forest without a sound.

After advancing to Swordsman, his movement technique had become even smoother and more effortless, consuming very little spiritual power.

Two days later, Peace River City appeared in the distance.

"So this is the Xu Family's ancestral land... It looks terribly desolate."

Shen Qingzhou did not enter the city. He went straight around its walls and headed for the earth-vein node at the Kan Water Site outside the city. The land there consisted of low, sunken hills, with denser vegetation than elsewhere and air thick with damp water vapor.

The farther inward he went, the lower the terrain became. At last, it gathered into a shallow lake several li wide. The water was clear, yet its depths could not be seen, revealing a dark green tint.

This was the earth-vein node at the Kan Water Site Su Yu had mentioned.

But before he could approach the lakeshore, he sensed that something was amiss ahead. Several fluctuations of spiritual energy mingled with sounds of argument and angry rebukes.

Shen Qingzhou did not reveal himself in haste. Instead, he quietly moved closer.

After circling around the tall reeds, the scene before him took him somewhat by surprise.

Several Rogue Cultivators on the open ground by the lake had surrounded two people.

The two being surrounded were unexpectedly the mother-and-daughter artifact refiners he had met once at Blackwind Market.

They were Ruan Yu and the little girl named Ya'er.

A portable ground-fire furnace half a person tall stood before Ruan Yu, though no fire had yet been lit within it.

Her face was slightly pale, but she stubbornly shielded her daughter behind her, watching those Rogue Cultivators with wary eyes.

Ya'er shrank behind her, both hands tightly clutching the hem of her mother's clothing.

"Fellow Daoist Ruan, you're being rather unreasonable here."

The leader was a middle-aged male cultivator with triangular eyes, roughly at the third level of Qi Refining. His voice already carried a trace of impatience.

"This Kan Water Lake is something us brothers had our eyes on first. You show up and want to seize the best spot for drawing ground fire. Aren't you taking us too lightly?"

"This place doesn't have anyone's name written on it. Since when was there a rule about who came first?"

Ruan Yu's expression turned cold, and she did not yield.

"I only need to use this place to run my furnace for three days. I'll leave as soon as I'm done, and I absolutely won't delay your cultivation."

"Three days? You make it sound so nice with those flapping lips of yours!"

A sharp-faced Rogue Cultivator beside him let out a strange laugh.

"Who knows whether you're using artifact refining as a pretext to steal the Water-element Essence in this earth vein?"

"Though this place leaks quite a bit of spiritual energy, it's still a feng shui treasure land for Rogue Cultivators like us."

"If you want to occupy this spot, you should at least show some sincerity."

As he spoke, the man rubbed his fingers together. His demand for money could not have been clearer.

Ruan Yu's expression immediately worsened.

She herself was only at the third level of Qi Refining. Traveling everywhere with a child was already difficult enough—where could she find surplus spirit stones to feed these people?

"Either hand over spirit stones, or get the hell out of here! Don't stand around getting in my way!"

The triangular-eyed cultivator finally lost all patience. He stepped forward, and the pressure of his spiritual power bore down upon the mother and daughter.

Ruan Yu could not withstand it and let out a muffled groan, her body swaying twice. Behind her, Ya'er's little face turned deathly pale with fright.

Just then, an extremely dim streak of watery light suddenly flashed out from the reeds.

That light was absurdly fast. It flickered past the eye like an illusion.

The triangular-eyed man, who had been about to make his move, suddenly stiffened. His eyes widened, and at some unknown moment, a line of blood had appeared across his neck.

He did not even manage to make a sound before falling stiffly to the ground.

"Big... Big Brother, what's wrong with you..."

The remaining Rogue Cultivators were still dumbfounded when they saw that faint glow had already darted before them.

Several muffled impacts rang out in succession, and the rest of them also crashed to the ground one after another.

Their faces still bore expressions of confusion.

In no more than the time it took to draw a breath, several living people had all perished here. Only the sound of wind stirring the reeds remained.

Ruan Yu stood there blankly, her limbs as cold as if they had been soaked in ice water.

She had not seen what happened at all. Those people, who had been swaggering and domineering a moment ago, had all become corpses.

An even deeper terror than before suddenly surged into her heart.

She clutched Ya'er tightly, her entire body trembling beyond control.

Someone capable of silently slaughtering this entire group must have possessed cultivation far beyond hers...

She forced herself to endure it and stammered toward the reeds.

"S-Senior, thank you for stepping in to help us. I beg you... I beg you to spare the lives of my daughter and me."

Before she had even finished speaking, a figure slowly emerged from behind the reeds.

"Fellow Daoist Ruan, it seems we meet again."

When she saw that it was Shen Qingzhou, both Ruan Yu and Ya'er froze.

"Is... is that big brother?"

Ya'er hid behind her mother but bravely poked half her head out.

"Fellow Daoist—no, Senior?"

Only then did Ruan Yu come back to her senses, though her voice still trembled uncontrollably.

She hurriedly tugged at her daughter's hand and gave Shen Qingzhou a deep bow, lowering herself as much as possible.

"Many thanks to Senior for saving our lives!"

Her mind was in utter chaos. Back at Blackwind Market, this man had only been in the Early Qi Refining Stage.

Only a little more than a year had passed. How had he become so formidable?

That killing method from before had been too terrifying. Merely witnessing it left her unable to summon even a hint of resistance.

"It was nothing more than a casual effort. There's no need to be so polite."

Shen Qingzhou smiled.

"Why have you mother and daughter come to a place like this?"

How could Ruan Yu dare to conceal anything? Lowering her head, she answered cautiously.

"In reply to Senior, the rent for the ground-fire cave dwellings at Blackwind Market has risen outrageously lately."

"I... I truly could not afford the spirit stones, so I had no choice but to bring Ya'er out and search everywhere for a place where I could refine artifacts."

"I heard this place had spiritual energy, so I wanted to borrow the ground fire here to run a furnace and make a couple of dharma artifacts to earn a bite to eat. Who would have thought we'd run into something like this?"

After listening, Shen Qingzhou more or less understood. Rogue Cultivators already had a hard time surviving, much less those burdened with family.

"Fine, then refine your artifacts here. I'll act as your protector for once."

Shen Qingzhou spoke half-jokingly.

"Ah? N-No, we wouldn't dare! How could we trouble Senior?"

Startled, Ruan Yu waved her hands repeatedly, nearly dropping to her knees. "If we delay Senior's cultivation, this junior will not be able to atone even with ten thousand deaths!"

"It's no matter. I also intend to cultivate here for some time." Shen Qingzhou's gaze fell on the ground-fire furnace before her, and his tone shifted. "As it happens, I have something I'd like to ask you to help with."

It was rare for him to encounter this woman. He finally revealed the dagger when the map was exhausted and stopped pretending.

With a flip of his wrist, the Ripple-Pattern Sword appeared in his hand. The dark sword body seemed to retain the killing intent from moments ago, making Ruan Yu's heart tighten.

"This sword—I would like to ask you to temper it once more."