Qi Yan was hardly surprised by this development. The crux was that a Golden Core cultivator Little Crybaby's age was simply too shocking. Even if someone in the sect went mad, they could not all be idiots. Once the Essence-Draining Incantation incident was verified, this outcome followed naturally.
Still, he offered a reminder. "Don't let your guard down. That eldest senior brother of yours is still around... Also, I suspect there's a reason behind his daring to do this. This might not be a simple matter between you juniors. Keep a close eye on things."
"Mm-hmm, I know." Little Crybaby's voice was still light and cheerful. "The sect says it'll compensate me now and let me pick a treasure from the storehouse. There are so many choices I'm dazzled. I don't know what's good. Do you have any suggestions, Brother A-Yan?"
Qi Yan did not know whether to laugh or cry. "I don't even know what treasures you have there. What could I suggest?"
"Hmm... Mostly materials. The ones suitable for me now include emerald fire essence gold, ten-thousand-year cold jade, northern mystic blue crystal... There's a whole pile. You've seen and learned so much, Brother A-Yan. Could you help me figure out which is best?"
Qi Yan blurted out, "Ten-thousand-year cold jade."
"Huh?" Little Crybaby sounded a little surprised. "That jade is mostly used for support. Why did you choose it, Brother A-Yan?"
"You cultivate both witchcraft and Dao Arts, right? This should help with converting between them. You can try it."
"Oh, all right."
In fact, things in Little Crybaby's era were very different from Qi Yan's present.
In this era, witchcraft faced no opposition, and many ancient sects specialized in it. Her Wondrous God Sect actually focused on witchcraft too, with Dao Arts being the secondary discipline. But Little Crybaby's own circumstances were somewhat unusual. She had originally focused on witchcraft and had only begun shifting toward Dao Arts over the last two years.
Her Spiritual Root was excellent, and witchcraft involved human flesh and blood at every turn, which was rather disgusting. The young girl disliked it, so she changed paths.
Little Crybaby, whose performance had originally been above average, had displayed terrifying talent only after switching to Dao Arts. Her sect had not anticipated this either, and it had led to the subsequent suppression by her fellow disciples.
In any case, whether it worked or not, Little Crybaby would never question her Brother A-Yan. She simply shouldered the enormous piece of ten-thousand-year cold jade before her and carried it away.
The storehouse keeper: "..."
The higher-ups meant for you to cut off a portion, surely? Carrying off a lump that big-are you planning to make a bed?
Forget it. A Golden Core cultivator this young-heaven knew whose hands the sect would end up in. Why should someone earning two spirit stones a month quibble with her?
Little Crybaby went thumping back to her cave abode with the ten-thousand-year cold jade on her shoulder. Only then did she remember that the call was still connected, and she hurriedly asked, "Are you still there, Brother A-Yan?"
Qi Yan was contemplating his cultivation as he answered casually, "I'm cultivating. My master gave me a target."
"Huh? You have a master too, Brother? Oh, right, everyone has a master, haha."
"Not necessarily everyone."
Little Crybaby had no idea what had possessed her to ask, "Is your master a man or a woman, Brother?"
The moment the question left her mouth, she wanted to scratch her head. It positively reeked of jealousy, yet she had never even seen Brother A-Yan's face. How had she turned into a little vinegar jar? She really should not have...
Anyway, in Little Crybaby's era, that sort of thing between masters and disciples was hardly unusual... Witches, after all, did not have so many rules and restrictions...
But Qi Yan actually answered, "A woman."
Little Crybaby felt her hair practically stand on end. "She must be really old!"
Qi Yan laughed. "She is quite old... Hey, what are you up to?"
"Uh..." Little Crybaby immediately shrank back, smiling apologetically. "N-nothing. Anyway, that old wo... Ahem, you'll definitely complete your honored master's task, Brother."
Qi Yan hardly dared join her in grumbling about his own master. He hurriedly said, "All right, all right. Since things on your end have settled down for now, focus on cultivating and reach Nascent Soul soon. The pressure's on over here too, so I should buckle down and cultivate. We'll chat when we have time."
Looking at the disconnected call, Little Crybaby put away her jade pendant and muttered resentfully, "Old woman. You've made Brother lose all inclination to chat with me."
As she spoke, she flopped onto the ten-thousand-year cold jade, feeling its threads of penetrating coolness. "So comfortable... Huh..."
She felt it. This cold jade was exceptionally effective at focusing the spirit and calming the mind during cultivation of Dao Arts. Her thoughts had been a complete jumble, utterly unsuitable for cultivating, yet simply lying on it had immediately stilled her mind, leaving it clear as ice.
For a Dao cultivator, the benefits went without saying.
Not only that, another energy was growing too. It felt rather like the magical power from her previous witchcraft cultivation was being converted, directly replenishing the qi of her Dao Arts. Thus, her Golden Core, which she had only recently formed through a breakthrough, grew stronger again, showing faint signs of advancing toward the second layer. Little Crybaby put aside every stray thought and soon entered deep meditation.
Before entering meditation, she hazily thought that once she finished cultivating, she would make this piece of cold jade into a bed and sleep on it from then on...
On his end, Qi Yan likewise discovered an additional benefit: after cultivating on this ice-jade bed, he felt refreshed in body and mind and did not need to sleep at all.
Replacing sleep with meditation was not something his current cultivation could accomplish. He would have to reach Foundation Establishment at the very least. As its name suggested, that meant establishing the foundation of the immortal path-the first threshold of "transcending mortality."
A mere Qi Refinement cultivator still retained many mortal traits and needed both food and sleep. But with this bed's assistance, he could dispense with sleep. This was no different from doubling his available cultivation time during the Qi Refining Stage.
Qi Yan took out the new pills Mu Xunzhen had tailored specifically for him and thought that with conditions like these, he really could attempt a rapid push toward the Late Qi Refinement Stage. His master had not assigned her target arbitrarily.
Without another word, he swallowed a pill, sat on the bed, and entered meditation directly. He did not even hear the "doorbell" ringing outside his cave abode.
Jiang Jinyue was stamping her feet outside. "Fine, fine, fine! Now that you've joined the sect, you're tossing the senior sister who brought you in over the wall, is that it? I'm leaving, and you won't even come out to say goodbye!"
That was right. She was leaving to investigate the Yun Clan.
This assignment had strangely lined up with Qi Yan's remark, "How did you end up at odds with Yun Ranyi?" In any case, Jiang Jinyue was quite happy with this assignment. She had long thought that little bitch who pretended to be so fragile was no good. She had better not let her uncover anything.
The only annoyance was that she had barely eaten a few meals since coming home, and now she had to leave again...
Oh well. There was plenty of time ahead.
The young girl of sixteen sixty-year cycles had absolutely no idea that her master had deliberately sent her away to keep this senior sister and junior brother from becoming dry tinder meeting a fierce flame and disrupting their cultivation.
Mu Xunzhen's divine sense swept past the fuming Jiang Jinyue and settled at the entrance to Qi Yan's cave abode. She nodded slightly, quite satisfied with his diligence. It seemed he really had lived up to his promise to "put in twice the effort," rather than merely paying lip service.
The sect did not prohibit romance. As long as it did not get in the way, helping each other improve would be best. If they really achieved something, she could even tie a red thread between the senior sister and junior brother someday. Surely that would make a fine tale.
But...
The "reincarnation" she had considered earlier turned through Mu Xunzhen's mind again.
Back then, she and Brother A-Yan had entered into a pact of a thousand autumns. Through a thousand autumns and countless ages, they would meet again in the end. Under this pact, if one party died, the other would certainly sense it. Yet she had never sensed such a thing in all these years. That was why she firmly believed Brother A-Yan was alive and had always searched for him as a living person.
So many people had tried to persuade her that the person she sought might have died long ago, but she had never wavered, precisely for this reason.
Brother A-Yan had been powerful. If he had lived until now, he would be an old monster himself. She had never imagined that a young person or someone with low cultivation could be him.
But what if reincarnation truly existed in this world?
Especially the kind involving voluntarily shedding one's mortal shell, with the soul never extinguished-would she also fail to sense his death?
If that really was possible, had her entire approach to finding Brother A-Yan been wrong...?
He could even have reincarnated as a woman, or some other creature! Then the scope of her search suddenly grew even greater. Almost any living creature in the world could be a candidate. How was she supposed to search?!
Mu Xunzhen pressed her forehead, struggling with the thought for a long time. Her divine sense circled outside Qi Yan's cave abode again.
Take Qi Yan, for instance. His name contained "Yan," he had a lead on witchcraft from that era, and even his voice and manner of speaking bore a tiny resemblance. Was there not the faintest sliver of a possibility?
Ordinarily, these minor coincidences meant nothing. The world was full of similar coincidences, and she had encountered countless examples over ten thousand years. Their torment had long since left her heart unstirred by such things. But once the concept of reincarnation appeared, she could not drive it away.
At the very least, she had to investigate in this direction... She had already scanned Qi Yan. His soul was stable and had arisen with the light of the fetus, revealing no clues, but that was precisely how entering a new birth should look.
Mu Xunzhen finally rose to her feet. With everything stable for the immediate future, she could personally visit Tianliang Continent to discuss matters concerning the demonic path with the Resounding Sword Sect, and... see whether there were clues at the Qi Clan that Jinyue had missed. If reincarnation was involved, performing some divinations at his birthplace would be more likely to yield results.
She acted as soon as she decided. After leaving some instructions with Elder Wan, Mu Xunzhen turned into a streak of light and vanished into the horizon.
She had never imagined that after she had been gone for just a few days, Qi Yan would produce a surprise for her.
PS: Quite a few brothers got hung up on the tone of voice and so on in the last two chapters, thinking she should have become suspicious even if the voice was distorted. In fact, given her understanding of the pact-that he had not died-all coincidences were entirely meaningless. She could not possibly connect a young Qi Refinement cultivator with him in that way. The Thousand Autumns Pact is right there in the book's title. There really is a pact, and Qi Yan's earlier "mystic pact" also made that clear. Of course, the old crybaby will definitely investigate. Let's take it slowly. First, let's watch Little Crybaby curse the old woman.