Qian Renxue Heard More and More That Didn't Add Up: Teacher, What Exactly Was Your Relationship With My Mother?

In the pavilion, the night breeze brushed past.

Qian Renxue said nothing, merely lowering her head to look at the booklet on the stone table.

After a long while, she finally looked up and asked softly:

"Teacher, then... why did my mother fall for him back then?"

An Yi paused slightly as he raised his teacup. He glanced at Qian Renxue and smiled.

"Things are precious because they are rare."

Qian Renxue was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

An Yi took a sip of tea. "Spirit Hall values absolute strength. The strong reign supreme."

"What matters most if a Soul Master wants to climb higher? Talent, strength, background, and the resources that can help them grow stronger."

"As for researching these things..."

He pointed at the booklet on the table.

"How many people do you think are willing to spend a great deal of time studying Martial Souls, Soul Rings, and the principles behind a Soul Master's cultivation?"

Qian Renxue thought for a moment and shook her head.

Though she was young, she had lived in Spirit City since childhood and was familiar with its ways.

The Soul Masters of Spirit Hall cultivated every day, striving to break through to higher realms. Who would spend their spare time researching these things?

"Even if someone did discover something, most of it would be passed down within their family."

An Yi continued, "Which of those great families and sects doesn't have its own cultivation methods? If they really mastered some secret that could help their people grow stronger, they'd be eager to hide it. How could they possibly go around publicizing it?"

"Let me ask you: if you had a cultivation method that could make you stronger, would you go around telling everyone about it?"

Qian Renxue shook her head without thinking.

Of course not. With something like that, keeping it in her own hands was naturally the safest choice.

What if someone else learned it, cultivated until they were stronger than her, and then came back to settle scores with her?

An Yi smiled. "Exactly."

"Things of real value are often kept firmly in the hands of a few. In that case, how many people in Spirit Hall would be willing to step forward and discuss them openly?"

Qian Renxue nodded, then thought of something else.

"That's not right. If these things are so important, why does Yu Xiaogang go around talking about them?"

An Yi smiled. "Because other people growing stronger doesn't conflict with his interests."

"It doesn't conflict with his interests?"

"What do you think a Soul Grandmaster who can't even break through level thirty can compete for in the Soul Master World?"

An Yi tapped the tabletop lightly with his fingertips.

"Power? Resources? Status?"

"He has none of those things."

"Even if someone listened to him, made progress in their cultivation, and even broke through a realm they couldn't before, what would that change?"

"Would a Soul Elder who became a Soul Ancestor go looking for trouble with a Soul Grandmaster and blame him for teaching them to become too strong?"

Qian Renxue couldn't help laughing.

An Yi continued, "So of course he can share his ideas. Whether other people can grow stronger or not, it won't affect his position anyway."

"Besides, as I said, what he has is a mixture of truth and falsehood, plausible but wrong."

"It's precisely because it's neither entirely wrong nor entirely right that it's more troublesome."

The smile vanished from Qian Renxue's face. "Troublesome?"

"If some of it is right, doesn't that mean it still has value? Why would it be more troublesome?"

An Yi glanced at her. "Because if something is wrong from beginning to end, it's actually easier to judge."

"You can pick a few examples at random and find the problems. But what if part of it is right, with false conclusions mixed in?"

"Ordinary people can't tell the difference, so they might take the wrong parts for correct ones too."

"Especially when it comes to cultivation, once someone forms a mistaken understanding, correcting it isn't something a word or two can accomplish."

At this point, An Yi shook his head slightly.

"But that still isn't the most important part."

Qian Renxue pressed him. "Then what is?"

An Yi didn't answer directly. Instead, he looked toward the depths of the courtyard.

Moonlight filtered through the branches and leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

"There has never been a shortage of competition in the Soul Master World."

"Spirit Hall, the Seven Great Sects, and all the Soul Master families beneath them, large and small-which of them isn't wound tight as a bowstring, fighting for cultivation resources, power, and better positions? Even within Spirit Hall, it's the same."

"So let me ask you."

An Yi turned, fixing his gaze on Qian Renxue.

"Would someone in power want the people under them to grow stronger than they are and eventually take their place?"

Qian Renxue didn't even think about it. "No."

"Exactly." An Yi spread his hands.

"If what Yu Xiaogang proposed really were some truth that could allow Soul Masters to grow stronger rapidly, there's no way it could have spread without incident."

"Before he could publicize it, someone would have come knocking."

"If he were lucky, they'd force him to hand it over. If he were unlucky..."

An Yi didn't go on, but Qian Renxue already understood what he meant.

"But hasn't he been going around promoting his theories all this time? Quite a few people in Spirit Hall have heard them."

"Because his ideas haven't touched anyone's real interests," An Yi said mildly.

"To put it kindly, some of his views are worth considering. To put it bluntly, they're just unverified personal conjectures."

"They can't guarantee that anyone will grow stronger, can't shake the existing cultivation system, and have produced no results substantial enough to make the strong wary."

"In that case, who would go out of their way to deal with him over them?"

"Listening doesn't cost anything, anyway. What if there really is something useful?"

An Yi chuckled.

"That's why he can go around promoting them."

"As for why people call him Grandmaster..."

He picked up the booklet from the table and weighed it in his hand.

"It's partly to give Yu Yuanzhen face, and it's also possible that some people are waiting to see him make a fool of himself."

"After all, here's someone who can't even break through level thirty, holding forth to a group of Soul Masters all day, teaching them how to cultivate."

"Isn't that a funny sight?"

Qian Renxue stared at him. "But if no one believes his theories, why don't they tell him outright?"

"What good would telling him do?" An Yi asked.

"Do you think someone who considers himself a Grandmaster would admit he doesn't understand just because someone said a few words to him?"

Qian Renxue fell silent.

An Yi set the booklet back on the table.

"Sometimes, leaving things unsaid is more interesting than spelling them out."

"When people call him Grandmaster, he really believes he's learned and respected. As for what they actually think, that's their business."

"If he truly had the ability and produced results, naturally no one would dare look down on him."

"Unfortunately..."

An Yi shook his head.

"Some people just can't tell the difference between the face others give them and what they truly possess."

Qian Renxue listened intently. After a moment, she suddenly remembered her original question.

"Wait."

"Teacher, you just said things are precious because they're rare. What does any of this have to do with that?"

An Yi smiled. "It's simple."

"When there are many fools, a clever person is a rarity."

"Conversely, when there are many clever people, a fool who doesn't know the rules might occasionally pop up and strike people as a novelty."

Qian Renxue: "..."

She felt there was something off about what her teacher had said, but on closer thought, it didn't seem wrong.

An Yi paid no attention to her expression and went on:

"You've lived in Spirit City since you were little, so you should know that people here often have many things to consider in what they say and do."

"Everyone has a scale in their heart for what can and can't be said, what should and shouldn't be done."

"Especially around those in high positions, people are even more careful with their words and actions, afraid that one wrong word will bring unnecessary trouble."

"Your mother grew up in that kind of environment. The people around her treated her with great respect, acted carefully, and weighed their words again and again."

An Yi paused, a note of emotion entering his voice.

"Then suddenly one day, someone appeared beside her who understood nothing, yet dared to speak every thought in his head."

"He didn't care what others thought of him, nor whether his words would offend anyone."

"Among a crowd of people who were cautious in everything and on guard at every turn, someone like that naturally stood out."

"Even if what he said had no real value, it was enough to make people take a second look."

Qian Renxue seemed to understand something. "So Mother might simply have thought he was different from everyone else?"

"Maybe." An Yi didn't speak with certainty.

"But I wasn't there myself, so I don't know exactly what happened either."

He raised his teacup and drained the remaining tea in one gulp.

"All right, that's enough about Yu Xiaogang."

"If you really want to know what happened back then, go ask your father. He's the one in control of Spirit City, and he knows better than I do exactly what happened."

Qian Renxue didn't answer immediately. After a while, she ventured a question.

"Teacher, from what you're saying... did you know my mother before?"

An Yi's movements paused.

Then he raised his head and looked at the bright moon in the night sky.

"You could say that."

"Could say that?" Qian Renxue was clearly dissatisfied with his answer.

"When did you meet?"

"More than ten years ago."

Qian Renxue was taken aback, and her curiosity grew.

More than ten years ago? Wouldn't Teacher have been very young then?

She hesitated, but in the end, she couldn't help asking:

"Then... what kind of person was Mother before?"

This time, An Yi didn't answer immediately.

His gaze passed over the courtyard wall, as though he could see a scene from long ago.

Back then, Bibi Dong laughed and played, and when something made her happy, an unrestrained smile would appear on her face.

She would patiently listen to a child talk about his far-fetched ideas, and she would also argue with him over little things for ages.

Back then, she had many people around her, yet it seemed he was the only one with whom she could speak without any reservations.

After a long while, An Yi said softly, "Warm, lively, and gentle."

"Back then, I thought there probably wasn't anyone in the world better than her."

Qian Renxue stared at him.

She had never heard anyone describe Bibi Dong that way.

In her memories, her mother was always busy and always cold.