I'll Wait for You to Come Find Me

Yun Shulan was somewhat surprised by Yi Xuan's words, then looked at him with sympathy written all over her face.

Yi Xuan was already used to that expression. Nearly twenty years ago, after he had been identified as a Rootless Person, he had often seen it in other people's eyes.

As time went by, it had been a long time since Yi Xuan had seen that expression. Seeing it again so suddenly, he even found it a little familiar.

What Yi Xuan hadn't expected was that Grandmaster Yun was not only a superb dancer, but also knew a great deal about the cultivation world.

Back then, to determine Yi Xuan's condition, the sect's higher-ups had searched the Scripture Pavilion for a whole month before finding an account of Rootless Persons in the sect's records spanning thousands of years. Yet Grandmaster Yun, sitting before him, actually knew what a Rootless Person was. Yi Xuan saw her in a new light. Truly, one could not judge a person by appearances.

Yun Shulan lowered her head, lost in thought. After a long while, she looked up at Yi Xuan and said, "Sorry, I didn't expect there to be castrated men among cultivators. I thought they were only found in the imperial palaces of the mortal world!"

Yi Xuan, who was drinking tea, sprayed it out in a mouthful. He stared wide-eyed at Grandmaster Yun across from him. "When did I say I was a eunuch?"

"Hm? Aren't you? Didn't you just say you were a Rootless Person? If a Rootless Person isn't a eunuch, what is he?" Yun Shulan said earnestly.

Only then did Yi Xuan fully understand the look Yun Shulan had given him. Mixed in with the sympathy had been a touch of disdain.

Helpless, Yi Xuan had no choice but to explain. "A Rootless Person isn't a eunuch. It's a type of constitution among cultivators!"

"Oh?"

"It means someone without a Spirit Root!"

"What?" Grandmaster Yun was greatly surprised. After all, she knew quite a bit about the cultivation world and naturally understood what a Spirit Root meant to a cultivator.

Grandmaster Yun herself possessed an eighth-grade Spirit Root, which was why so many sects in this world had rushed to recruit her.

After all, with a Spirit Root of that caliber, barring any mishaps, whichever sect recruited her would one day gain another giant of the cultivation world.

"Why would someone have no Spirit Root? Don't Spirit Roots only dissipate when people die?" Grandmaster Yun asked curiously.

Yi Xuan nodded, then told her about Rootless Persons.

When Yi Xuan finished speaking, sympathy appeared on Grandmaster Yun's face once more. This time, there was no disdain in her expression, which made Yi Xuan feel much more comfortable under her gaze.

"Can you accept it?" Grandmaster Yun asked sympathetically.

Telling her about Rootless Persons seemed to have brought the two of them closer without their noticing, and Grandmaster Yun no longer showed the disdain she had at first.

Yi Xuan smiled. "Who could accept it?"

"The senior in our sect's records was also a Rootless Person. He spent his entire life trying to find a way to break through the Foundation Establishment Realm. But in the end, his allotted lifespan ran out, and he died full of regret!"

"The last stretch of his life must have been agonizing!" Grandmaster Yun said, though it was unclear whether she was speaking to Yi Xuan or to herself.

Yi Xuan shook his head. "I don't think so. I think the last stretch of his life was his happiest. Once he knew the outcome and let go of the obsession in his heart, he probably lived more comfortably without it!"

Although Yi Xuan was disagreeing with Yun Shulan, she felt no resentment at all. After turning it over in her mind, she found herself agreeing with him. "If that senior knows anything in the underworld and knows that a junior like you can understand how he felt, I imagine he would be very comforted!"

Yi Xuan said nothing. He merely smiled and drained the tea in his cup.

Seeing how composed Yi Xuan was, Grandmaster Yun smiled and asked, "Judging by how you're acting, did you let go of your obsession a long time ago?"

"That's right!" Yi Xuan nodded. "A month after I was identified as a Rootless Person, my obsession left me!"

Grandmaster Yun was puzzled. After all, being unable to cultivate was a terribly cruel thing for a cultivator, yet she hadn't expected Yi Xuan to come to terms with it in just one month.

Either he was someone with no ambition, who only wanted to eat his fill and wait for death, or he was a man of great wisdom and foresight who didn't care about cultivation.

Unfortunately, neither possibility was true of Yi Xuan. A month later, he had discovered the wonders of the Book of Technology and switched to pursuing technology.

Of course, Yi Xuan wouldn't tell her any of that, even if she was a peerless beauty.

"Grandmaster Yun, I heard about you before I came, but I still wanted to ask you in person!"

By now, Yun Shulan no longer felt any aversion toward Yi Xuan, so she naturally agreed.

"Why are you so averse to cultivators?"

"Aversion? Who would be averse to themselves?" Grandmaster Yun sighed and held out her palm. True Essence was actually flowing over it. Though it wasn't as powerful as that of Yi Xuan's senior brother Shi Zhenghao, she still had the strength of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

"You? You're actually a cultivator?"

"Of course. I never said I wasn't a cultivator!"

"But from what you said earlier, I could sense your disgust for cultivators, Grandmaster Yun."

Grandmaster Yun shook her head. "No, I've never been disgusted by cultivators. I'm only disgusted by those who act high and mighty, those who were clearly born ordinary people but act high and mighty once they gain strength. Perhaps, in their eyes, they're no longer human. After all, their goal isn't to be human, but to be called immortals!"

Hearing her words, Yi Xuan seemed to understand something. He shook his head and said, "A rise in strength inevitably brings a rise in status. There's no helping it. Just as a tiger could never care about a goat's feelings, in a tiger's mind, eating a goat when it's hungry is perfectly normal!"

Hearing Yi Xuan's words, Grandmaster Yun froze and murmured to herself, "Is that really so? Is everything I want nothing but a joke? I only want those high and mighty people to give ordinary people the most basic respect! Why is it so hard?"

Seeing Grandmaster Yun cover her face and weep bitterly, Yi Xuan patted her on the shoulder. "Since you want ordinary people to gain respect, you have to give them the ability to threaten cultivators. If a day comes when ordinary people can pose a threat to cultivators too, there'll be no need for you to resist them. Cultivators will naturally give ordinary people the respect they're due!"

"Do you know how to do that?" Yun Shulan looked at Yi Xuan, her tear-streaked face like a rain-drenched pear blossom.

"I do, but I can't do it yet! If a day comes when you hear rumors about me in the capital, come find me. By then, I might be able to do it!"

Yi Xuan walked toward the door, saying as he went, "My name is Yi Xuan. I'll wait for you to come find me! Remember, you owe me a solo dance!"

With that, he left the room without looking back.