Chapter 26
Chapter 26: A True Genius
He was handsome and straight-backed, only 13 or 14, still unmistakably a youth. It was Zheng Chen Qing, the Sect Master’s disciple.
Since the day of spirit testing, Zhao Chun hadn’t seen him again, but she’d heard plenty. After entering Daoist Tu Sheng’s line, he’d risen like the wind itself. In a little over eight months, he’d reached the sixth level of Qi Refining—advancing just last month and surpassing every other disciple of his intake.
That was true genius, the kind who could press down an entire generation.
Zhao Chun glanced inward at her own cultivation—still the third level—and shook her head. Comparing herself to him would only sour her mood.
She stepped closer anyway. “Senior Brother Zheng—why are you here?”
Zheng Chen Qing turned calmly. He’d clearly sensed her long before she spoke. “My Spirit Fox is unruly. It ran here.”
Then his gaze flicked over her. “And Junior Sister is…?”
“I am Elder Li Shu’s nineteenth disciple,” Zhao Chun said. “My name is Zhao Chun.”
“Junior Sister Zhao.” He was polite enough, yet something in his expression tightened. When he spoke again, there was distance in it. “I didn’t expect it to run to your residence. I’ll retrieve it, then come back and apologize properly.”
Zhao Chun felt the shift, but she had no interest in forcing closeness. “It isn’t your fault, Senior Brother. There’s no need for an apology.”
“I have matters to attend to,” she added, already turning away. “I’ll take my leave.”
Before she could go, a clear female voice rang out, bright as a struck bell.
“Junior Brother—your beast is found. Keep a better watch next time, and don’t let it run off again!”
The newcomer was tall, with bold brows and sharp eyes, all brisk, martial energy. It was Elder Qiu Silhouette of the Inner Sect.
She was also a disciple of Daoist Tu Sheng, which was why she called Zheng Chen Qing her junior brother.
Zhao Chun greeted her at once. “Greetings, Elder Qiu.”
Qiu Silhouette’s presence carried a natural authority, the kind that made people want to stand straighter. Zhao Chun had heard of her before—how could she not admire a woman like this?
Qiu Silhouette’s eyes held a flicker of confusion. She hadn’t seen Zhao Chun before. Zheng Chen Qing answered for her. “She is a new disciple under Elder Li—Zhao Chun. Junior Sister Zhao.”
At the words “Elder Li,” Qiu Silhouette’s gaze cooled. “So you are Zhao Chun.”
Zhao Chun blinked. “Elder knows me?”
“Not personally,” Qiu Silhouette said, cradling the white fox in her arms. “But I’ve heard your name.”
She hesitated, then let out a quiet sigh. “That day, if Elder Li hadn’t argued for you, you would have entered my line instead.”
Zhao Chun’s thoughts snagged. Elder Li had fought for her? Then why had he treated her so distantly afterward, as if she were nothing more than another face?
Before she could untangle it, Qiu Silhouette asked, “Was it you and Meng Han who killed the evil cultivator Yue Zuan?”
Zhao Chun answered immediately. “This disciple doesn’t dare claim credit. Senior Brother arrived in time—that is the only reason I lived.”
“Hm.” Qiu Silhouette nodded, her expression softening by a fraction. “Humble.”
“Yue Zuan’s cultivation was diminished, but he was still Foundation Establishment. For you two to kill him—your strength is not ordinary.” Her gaze stayed on Zhao Chun. “And I also heard that when you were in the Outer Sect, you cultivated diligently and advanced again and again. That kind of heart is rare.”
Then she turned to Zheng Chen Qing. “The path of cultivation—talent is only one part. Even dual-root cultivators can be trapped at Foundation Establishment and never reach Essence Condensation.”
Qiu Silhouette’s voice lowered, steady and sincere. “My aptitude is limited. To reach what I have, I worked several times harder than others.”
“You two carry dual spiritual roots. The sect’s future rests heavily on shoulders like yours. Do not slacken. Walk the immortal path with everything you have.”
Both Zhao Chun and Zheng Chen Qing bowed. “Disciple has been taught.”
Zhao Chun meant it. Qiu Silhouette had reached Essence Condensation at 25 with only three spiritual roots. That kind of achievement didn’t come from fortune alone—it came from endurance, from a will that could grind stone into dust.
If anyone deserved the word genius, Qiu Silhouette did.
“It’s hardly teaching,” Qiu Silhouette said, waving it off. “Just words I’ve repeated too many times.”
Her eyes shifted back to Zhao Chun. “Junior Brother and I have matters to discuss. You may go. No need to bid farewell.”
Zhao Chun understood at once. She cupped her hands and withdrew.
Behind her, Qiu Silhouette passed the white fox to Zheng Chen Qing. “Found it in the woods. It ate its fill and fell asleep.”
“Thank you, Senior Sister,” Zheng Chen Qing said, head slightly lowered.
Qiu Silhouette’s face remained calm. “It was nothing.”
Then her tone sharpened. “If you can help it, have less contact with that side.”
Zheng Chen Qing didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Senior Sister may rest assured. Today was only coincidence.”
Qiu Silhouette’s brows knit. “Elder Li still refuses to budge?”
At the mention, her frustration broke through. “He leans on seniority—he’s the Sect Master’s fellow disciple and junior brother, so he loves using rank to pressure people.”
“And the matter of the Hundred Sects Assembly involves far too much. We cannot allow it to fall into his hands.”
Something dark flickered across her face—grief and fury tangled together. “Ten years ago, the Sect Master forced a breakthrough and lost a great deal of lifespan. He’s endured until now through sheer will. If anything happens to him, the Ling Zhen Sect will be like an infant in swaddling—unarmed, helpless, ready to be carved up.”
“Outside, the Ren Yang Sect watches like a tiger. Inside, we can’t unite from top to bottom. Those rats drunk on profit—will they only understand when someone kills their way into our valley?”
Above the Essence Condensation Stage lay the Profound Division Stage. In any great sect, at least one Profound Division cultivator was needed to hold the fort. Without that, the sect could not stand.
When the previous Sect Master of the Ling Zhen Sect died, Daoist Tu Sheng—the eldest disciple—had been only at peak Essence Condensation. To keep the sect from being torn apart by enemies, he’d used a secret art and sacrificed 200 years of lifespan to force his way into Profound Division.
Now, his years were nearly burned out. The old crisis was rising again.
Qiu Silhouette and Li Shu were both mid-stage Essence Condensation. Whoever advanced first into late stage would seize the advantage. Yet with the Sect Master pressing down from above, neither side dared openly tear the sect in two.
Even as an Essence Condensation cultivator, Qiu Silhouette was still bound by power and profit, unable to breathe freely.
None of that had much to do with Zhao Chun, still only at the third level of Qi Refining.
She returned to her room, bound the three magic tools, and reread the two new techniques with quiet satisfaction.
After summoning Cui Cui and giving a few instructions for her seclusion, she closed the door and turned her focus inward.
First, she would break into mid-stage Qi Refining.
Then she would train the Tiger Strength Art and Serpent-Form Step until she had a firm grasp.
If she had the time and ability, she would push the Single-Line Flying Knife and Swift-Stride Sword Method toward minor mastery as well. They said that was when techniques truly fused into a cultivator’s body—when multiple arts could combine into something uniquely one’s own.
Major mastery and completion were far beyond her. For now, minor mastery was the first summit she intended to reach.