I'm Willing to Take My Sister's Place and Help Uncle Luo Cultivate

Late at night, the bright moon hung high.

After coaxing Mo Xue to sleep, Ling Qiuyun stood anxiously outside the side room.

She clutched the front of her robe and took several deep breaths before finally mustering the courage to knock softly on the wooden door.

"Uncle Luo. Qiu Yun requests an audience."

"Come in."

The wooden door swung inward on its own. On the cushioned couch, Luo Fanchen sat with his eyes closed, breathing evenly.

Qiu Yun stepped inside quietly. Luo Fanchen slowly opened his eyes, ended his cultivation, and rose to pour two cups of tea.

"Have you made up your mind?"

Luo Fanchen took a sip of tea that had long gone cold. His gaze swept over Ling Qiuyun, and his expression briefly went blank.

The young woman's long hair fell to her waist. Mist shimmered in her beautiful eyes, and a faint touch of rouge adorned her glossy lips.

She wore dark-green silk underclothes edged with an outer layer of gauze woven like a fishing net. Through it, glimpses of her soft, creamy-white skin drew the eye irresistibly downward.

"Uncle Luo?"

Ling Qiuyun's voice was faint. She lowered her dewy eyes, watching Luo Fanchen from the corner of her eye.

His expression had faltered for only an instant before turning calm as still water. She pressed her lips together, smoothed her skirt, and knelt on one knee beside his leg, looking up at him timidly.

"From now on, I am willing to serve you, Uncle Luo, and acknowledge you as my master."

A faint lavender scent lingered at his nose. Her sweet breath was close enough to feel.

Luo Fanchen coughed lightly, his expression somewhat strained. This girl was playing with fire.

He had not cultivated to the point where he could remain unmoved with a beauty in his arms. Quite the opposite: after twenty years of bitter cultivation, he had suppressed his desires for far too long. Ling Qiuyun was a striking beauty even among cultivators; naturally, she could shake his Dao heart.

He was not foolish enough to think Qiu Yun had simply thrown herself into his arms. She had almost certainly come because of Mo Xue's Blood Contract.

Luo Fanchen narrowed his eyes and waited for Ling Qiuyun to continue.

The young woman sniffed, as though gathering all her courage. Timidly, she rested her chin on his knee, took a Storage Bag from her robes, and offered it with both hands.

"My sister and I have no one to rely on. We will need your care in the days ahead, Uncle Luo. This cannot begin to repay you, but I beg you to accept it."

Luo Fanchen scoffed and casually weighed the Storage Bag in his hand. "You're just giving this to me?"

Propping his chin on one hand, he looked down at Ling Qiuyun. Under his burning gaze, her face flushed with embarrassment, and her words stumbled out.

"All I ask is that Uncle Luo make a Master-Servant Blood Contract with me instead. My elder sister is foolish. I fear she won't serve you well."

"Silly girl. The treasure is already in my hands. Why should I agree?"

From the corner of his eye, Luo Fanchen glanced toward the crack in the door. A furtive little eye kept blinking there. Who else could it be but Mo Xue?

Amused, he pretended not to notice and continued pressing Qiu Yun. Today might be his chance to earn Mo Xue's admiration.

He extended a finger and teasingly lifted Ling Qiuyun's fair chin, his fingertip gently stroking her cheek as amusement played in his eyes.

His manner seemed frivolous, but he never touched her lips. He kept a careful sense of where the line lay.

Ling Qiuyun's lashes trembled. Her hands clenched her gauzy skirt until it wrinkled, but she did not slap the rough hand away from her cheek.

"Uncle Luo, do you know how my father, a mere Fifth Level of Qi Refining Rogue Cultivator, came by the Soul Banner inheritance?"

"The Soul Banner and a high-grade Mystic Method are hardly ordinary things. Aren't you curious, Uncle Luo?"

"Go on."

Luo Fanchen nodded slightly and was about to withdraw his hand.

But Ling Qiuyun caught it between her soft hands, her eyes reddening. Trembling, she pressed her face into his palm and rubbed her cheek against it in submission. The tiny beauty mark beneath her dewy eye made her look so fragile that anyone would ache for her.

"Thirteen years ago, a Snake Demon ravaged Cloudmist City. My father laid an ambush and set a killing formation to lure it out, intending to slay it."

"But the Snake Demon was cunning. In the midst of their battle, it fled deep into the earth veins. My father used a blood-essence secret art to track it underground. The Demon Serpent escaped, but he discovered an underground residence where three cultivators had died."

Ling Qiuyun's voice was delicate, though a faint choke could be heard beneath it.

Luo Fanchen paused. The warmth of her cheek reached his palm.

He could feel her breathing quicken and her slender shoulders tremble without cease.

This girl was trying to seduce me, yet she was scared half to death.

"All three were Qi Refining cultivators, and their bodies had long since crumbled away. From the traces of battle and the formation patterns, my father concluded that two sect disciples had besieged a Demonic Cultivator. In the end, all three perished together."

"Their remains had weathered away, so their identities and sects could not be determined. Only the cultivation Jade Slip and the Soul Banner inheritance in their Storage Bags survived."

Ling Qiuyun's voice shook. She wrapped her arms around Luo Fanchen's lower leg. Physical revulsion mingled with such intense shame that she nearly burst into tears.

"I have already undone the restriction on the cultivation Jade Slip. Uncle Luo can examine it closely and see whether my words are true."

Luo Fanchen took out the cultivation Jade Slip. As he rubbed its surface with his thumb, the art's general principles unfolded before him.

It was called the Lesser Yang Wood-Transforming Art. Not only was it a genuine high-grade Mystic Method, it also contained a Foundation Establishment method.

Even the general principles showed him how exquisite its circulation of energy was. When he reached the final section, he felt there was more left unsaid. Clearly, further teachings existed, but this portion had been deliberately cut down and simplified into something lower-level cultivators could understand and use to solidify their foundations. An ordinary Aristocratic Clan could never have done this.

Luo Fanchen's breathing quickened, his eyes dazed. A high-grade Mystic Method was only the foundation?

"The County Magistrate was blessed with remarkable fortune indeed."

Luo Fanchen's face remained as still as a lake, but his hands trembled slightly.

Foundation Establishment methods were extraordinarily precious and usually controlled by powerful Aristocratic Clans. They could raise the chance of success by roughly five percent and greatly reduce the backlash of failure.

If the Foundation Establishment method matched one's cultivation art, it could raise that chance by a full ten percent.

If he switched to this art and supplemented it with Water Dragonwood, would he not have a thirty-percent chance of reaching Foundation Establishment?

"This art truly is profound. I accept your kindness."

Luo Fanchen tucked the Jade Slip into his robes, keeping it close to his body. Ling Qiuyun lowered her head and timidly looked away, shame in her dewy eyes.

She had trampled her own dignity with her own hands. Lost and uncertain, she felt as though revulsion and shame were burning through her organs.

This is the punishment I deserve.

She kept telling herself to endure. Everything had begun because of her frail, sickly body.

If this could buy her elder sister's freedom, she would gladly descend into hell. Modesty, dignity, her own wishes—none of it mattered.

"I can't agree to that."

After a long while, Luo Fanchen shook his head and placed the Jade Slip back on the table.

"Un-Uncle Luo, I also have the Soul Banner inheritance. I can teach it to you right now!"

"Besides, the residence holds demonic treasures worth no less than the Heavenly Demon Spirit Puppet, along with the inheritance my father left me. They are all hidden there."

Luo Fanchen remained unmoved, though pity entered his eyes.

Ling Qiuyun grew anxious. She rubbed her cheek against his palm again and again, pressing clumsy kisses to it with her soft lips. Her pleading voice was thick with tears.

"Every word I've said is true. My father never told me where the residence was, but he left behind a formation diagram drawn in blood essence."

"If I can decipher it one day, I will offer every opportunity within it to you, Uncle Luo!"

Moisture dampened the spaces between his fingers. Her kisses were awkward and inexperienced, and the rouge smudged across her cheek made her look so helpless that his heart softened.

Yet that very awkwardness lent her a natural allure. A few strands of dark hair clung damply to the corner of her mouth, like dewdrops trembling on a lotus in early summer, enough to make his heart quiver.

"I'm willing to sign a Master-Servant Blood Contract in Mo Xue's place and serve you without complaint."

"How could a Four-Element Spirit Root compare to a Superior-Grade Spiritual Root?"

Luo Fanchen was startled. He pursed his lips and promptly pulled his hand away.

Ling Qiuyun's slender body swayed. Her beautiful eyes were red and brimming with tears, and her teeth left clear marks on her lower lip.

She rose unsteadily and forced a smile, her fingers finding the sash at her waist and tugging it loose.

The pale gauze slipped away layer by layer, revealing her graceful, fair back. Her slender curves swept down to a flat, even abdomen and the budding contours of her hips, perfectly framing her youthful figure.

"I naturally cannot compare to my sister, but even someone as plain as me can... help Uncle Luo cultivate, harmonize yin and yang, and fully refine the Soul Banner."

Ling Qiuyun gripped her pale-purple undergarment tightly, her voice dry.

"If I practice dual cultivation with you from now on, your cultivation of the Soul Banner art will yield twice the result for half the effort."

She pouted slightly, her dewy eyes soft with invitation, and guided Luo Fanchen's hand to her lower abdomen. Her breath was as fragrant as orchids.

"Uncle Luo, it's late... let Qiu Yun serve you."

Luo Fanchen sighed softly. He raised his other hand and reached somewhat roughly toward Ling Qiuyun's chest.

The young woman lifted her fair neck, arching her back like a crescent moon. She offered her budding breasts forward, as though making it easier for him to touch her.

"Silly girl. Your nose is dripping on my hand."

"Huh?"

Luo Fanchen waved his hand as though in distaste. With a loose curl of his fingers, he used True Essence to draw a blanket over the stunned Qiu Yun, wrapping her up tightly like a dumpling before tossing her onto the bed.

Ling Qiuyun hurriedly wiped her nose. Only when its tip had turned red did she belatedly understand, and she looked at Luo Fanchen with wounded eyes.

He could not help laughing. In two steps, he reached her and wiped the tears from her face, speaking gently.

"There's no need to mention the Blood Contract again. That is between Mo Xue and me. But I can promise I won't treat her as a servant."

"But Mo Xue is already eighteen. How can she enter the Dao Sect?"

"Interesting. You care so much about your elder sister, yet you don't believe in her?"

Luo Fanchen flicked Ling Qiuyun on the forehead and said helplessly.

"The County Magistrate entrusted you to me. If I took advantage of you when you were vulnerable, how would I be any better than a beast? Don't degrade yourself like this again."

Ling Qiuyun's cheeks burned. She pulled the blanket over her head, leaving only her reddened eyes visible. Her lips moved, but she could not utter a word.

How humiliating... She had guarded her virtue for more than ten years, cast aside her modesty to seduce him, and failed—only to be scolded for it.

Was she not attractive enough, or had she judged a gentleman by her own petty standards?

"Qiu Yun doesn't believe you can enter the Dao Sect. Mo Xue, can you?"

Seeing that the time was right, Luo Fanchen gestured toward the door.

A few breaths later, the wooden door slowly opened a crack. Ling Moxue stood outside with her head lowered and her fingers curled tightly.

"M-Mo Xue? Weren't you refining the medicine's effects? I... it wasn't like that..."

Ling Qiuyun stared blankly, her lips trembling. Like an ostrich, she buried her head in the blanket, so ashamed she wished she could crawl into a crack in the floor.

Ling Moxue's eyes were distant. From the corner of her eye, she watched Luo Fanchen's fingertips, damp with fragrant moisture. No one could tell what she was thinking.

Sensitive and deeply wary, she had noticed when Qiu Yun got up and had quietly followed her. She had heard their entire conversation.

Qiu Yun had been willing to surrender her chastity for her sake. It both broke her heart and filled her with fear.

Fortunately, Master Luo was an upright gentleman. Otherwise, she might have regretted this for the rest of her life.

Master Luo was no Demonic Cultivator.

"I will enter the Dao Sect and fulfill my agreement with Master Luo. If I fail, I'll serve him for the rest of my life to repay his kindness!"

"Sister..."

Qiu Yun poked her small head out from under the blanket, anxiety on her face. She wanted to speak but held back.

She still did not fully trust Luo Fanchen. Uncle Luo was young and might harbor no malicious intent now.

But if he became trapped at a bottleneck in the future, he would surely do anything to break through. With a Blood Contract binding her sister, Mo Xue would be a blood slave entirely at his mercy.

She had finally managed to make Master Luo waver a little. If she could use this chance to place limits on the Blood Contract, her sister would have more room to maneuver later.

"Qiu Yun, you offended Master Luo. You were far too reckless!"

Anger rose in Ling Moxue's heart. She took several deep breaths, picked up the clothes from the floor, and strode to the bed, raising her hand toward Qiu Yun's cheek.

Ling Qiuyun's lashes trembled as she squeezed her eyes shut. In the end, Ling Moxue could not bring herself to strike her. Instead, she angrily pinched her younger sister's cheeks, leaving two finger marks on her fair skin before letting go.

"From now on... don't hide things from me. If Master Luo hadn't been here this time... would you even be alive?"

Ling Moxue's voice caught. Qiu Yun had been clever since childhood, yet when she grew stubborn, she could also be astonishingly naive.

Even Mo Xue knew a bargain required both sides to stand on equal footing. How could Qiu Yun not see that? Her little sister was simply too fixated on this.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Luo. I was wrong."

Ling Qiuyun spoke softly. Her lips moved as she avoided her elder sister's gaze.

She wiped tears from her aggrieved little face. Of course she was not stupid; she would never have tried to seduce him without something to bargain with. She simply feared worrying her sister and dared not explain.

"It's all right. I don't mind."

Luo Fanchen shook his head lightly. His index finger had remained on Qiu Yun's slender wrist, and now his brow furrowed.

He finally understood what she had been bargaining with.

Gentle wood-aspected True Essence flowed through her Conception Vessel and flooded her organs. Of every hundred strands, only one passed through her Heart Meridian.

Her condition was far worse than Ling Youdao had described. Her Heart Meridian was failing, and medicinal toxins had invaded her Lung Viscera and blocked her central meridian.

Unless she seized another body, there was no saving her.

Qiu Yun was currently the master of the Soul Banner. To obtain it, he would need her help with the refining ritual for at least six months. Yet she had barely a month left to live. Without dual cultivation, he could never fully refine the Soul Banner.

This form of dual cultivation was a righteous method. It required yin and yang to harmonize, their minds to be in accord, and Qiu Yun to cooperate fully in circulating their energy.

To obtain the Soul Banner, he needed Qiu Yun to willingly give him her primal yin. In exchange, he would naturally have to meet her conditions.

"Ah..."

Luo Fanchen sighed. He met Ling Qiuyun's almost pleading gaze, murmured a few words to himself, and ultimately said nothing to Mo Xue about her condition.

He feared Mo Xue would collapse on the spot.

After a moment's hesitation, Luo Fanchen took the Blood Contract he had signed with Ling Moxue from his Storage Bag. He weighed the matter again and again, then painfully voided it, took out a fresh contract, and copied out new terms.

"My agreement with Mo Xue still stands. But if she fails to enter the Dao Sect, she may regain her freedom after repaying twice the resources I spent on her."

"Will that do?"

Luo Fanchen pressed a fresh blood-essence handprint onto the new Blood Contract and handed it to the sisters.

The gesture showed his sincerity and set Qiu Yun's mind at ease, allowing him to rightfully receive all the resources she held. At the same time, it would win Mo Xue's complete trust.

After witnessing Mo Xue reach Seated Illumination in a single night, he was at least seventy percent certain she could enter the Dao Sect.

Even if she failed, years of patient guidance would be enough to make Mo Xue, who had known so little affection, depend on him. She would never leave.

"Can you really do that, Master Luo? You..."

Ling Moxue froze, her lips parting without words. Ling Qiuyun reacted first. She gave Luo Fanchen a grateful look, hurriedly pulled her elder sister into thanking him, and signed the new contract. When she looked at him again, her eyes held only gratitude, without a trace of wariness.

At the same time, in Luo Fanchen's Eight Desolations Record of the Demoness, Ling Moxue's Admiration Points rose from 0 to 1, and he received 200 Admiration Points.

"I'll leave Qiu Yun in your care. Mo Xue, focus on refining the medicinal power of the snake soup. You mustn't slack off."

Luo Fanchen put away the contract and did not linger. He left the bedroom to the sisters so they could be alone and gather themselves.

Everything had gone exactly as he had hoped, yet he could not feel happy. All he could think about was Ling Qiuyun's failing heart.