(5 minutes later...)

Yuelan finally arrived at the outskirts of the city, and she was slightly exhausted.

Not physically, but more so from overusing her Void Qi.

She didn’t have a lot like Xuan, but even so, she worked with what she had.

And in the end, she was very close to reaching 5,000 Void Qi.

Name: Xiao Yuelan

Cultivation: Fifth Level Spirit Warrior

(Qi: 383,291,000 / 409,600,000)

<Void Qi | 14 (4,829) / 5,000>

|

Legacy: Scripture of the Moonpiercing Saintess (Stage 1)

Bloodline: None

Physique: None

Physical Strength: 8,700 → 29,190

Mental Strength: 4,800 → 22,190

Physical Defense: 4,670 → 11,200

Mental Defense: 4,700 → 12,400

<★ Xiao Xuan - Sixth Level Spirit Warrior>

Mmm... after big brother gave me Void Qi, my stats shot up by a lot, Yuelan thought with a smile. I can also use 383 Elemental Qi to infuse my attacks, though it drains me too quickly, so I should just hold back for now.

She continued Swift Stepping into the city, and soon, she spotted the Azure Sky sect in the distance.

Readying her sword, Yuelan slowly stepped toward it, fully prepared to deal with whatever might come her way.

And as expected, less than a second later, a powerful presence appeared above her, prompting Yuelan to swing her sword upward with extreme dexterity and precision.

Yet right as her sword was about to meet its mark, she halted, her gaze sharpening as she sheathed her blade and scoffed.

"Lijun Fen, was it? I’ve come to claim my rewards," Yuelan said.

Lijun Fen, the person they had negotiated with before a fight broke out, seemed slightly haggard. He looked around a few times, trying to find someone.

Spotting that, Yuelan clicked her tongue. "My big brother isn’t here, but he sent me in his stead."

"He’s still alive...?" Lijun Fen muttered. "I’d say that’s pretty impressive on its own."

His gaze darkened. "And... while I had wished it to not be true, what you warned us about seemed to be true."

"Of course it was, I don’t lie," Yuelan replied confidently.

Lijun Fen’s brows twitched. "Zheng Shui has been executed after we found out he was secretly cultivating Demonic Qi in his forehead... His father, Zheng Jing, was very unhappy."

"I understand." Yuelan nodded. "I would be furious if my son died too, and I’m sure he’s going to seek revenge on me and my big brother soon."

"That is certain," Lijun Fen affirmed before stepping aside, pointing toward the Azure Sky sect grounds. "But yes, as you might have figured, I have prepared a few rewards for both you and your brother. Follow me."

.

.

.

(Azure Sky Sect, Inner court, Alchemy halls.)

It took them only a few minutes of silent walking to reach their destination, and as expected, Lijun Fen had led her to an alchemy room. She could smell the sweet fragrance of all the herbs and pills from the giant door in front of her.

"I will allow you to pick four pill types out of the many that will be in the storage. Each pill type will come in a box of ten pills, which makes it forty pills in total. Since your brother isn’t here, I’m sure you can choose for him, yes?" Lijun Fen asked.

"Of course," Yuelan replied immediately. "Let me inside. Oh, and since we were so incredible, you think you could throw in another pill type? Make it fifty pills in total. What do you say?"

Lijun Fen smiled. "I’m willing to give you this entire pill room if you join the Azure Sky sect."

Yuelan’s eyes widened. "Seriously? Wait... I can’t. You people have stingy rules that I have no intention of following."

The moment she finished her words, silence ensued, broken by a deep sigh.

"I thought that might be the case, which is why I prepared something different," Lijun Fen said, clearing his throat.

"If you join the Azure Sky sect, you will be treated as a Core Disciple, which means you’ll have access to everything and anything the sect has to offer. Whether it’s techniques, pills, or cultivation rooms. Everything will be yours."

He raised a single finger. "The only string attached to this position is the fact that whenever someone asks you which sect you’re from, you will tell them you are a part of the Azure Sky sect."

Yuelan stared at him speechlessly as she quickly thought over the offer.

Unless I’m being a big idiot... this isn’t a bad offer?

But after taking a moment to process, she soon realized the loopholes.

"I want this to be an honorary position," Yuelan stated coldly. "That means I don’t want to be affiliated with any sect politics." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Lijun Fen’s smile cracked slightly, but even so, he nodded in affirmation. "Very well... I will grant that request—"

"I’m not done," Yuelan interjected. "I want a formal contract to be drafted, and I also want you to swear an oath on your soul that what you’re saying is the truth, and that you won’t go back on your word."

In an instant, the air turned gloomy and cold. It was almost like she had hit a nerve.

But she wasn’t a naive child, even if Xuan thought of her as one.

She was someone who knew what was happening behind the scenes, even the fact that Xuan used to go out and fight in the underground rings.

I knew I couldn’t stop him... so I stole money out of our parents’ account and placed bets on him.

Yuelan’s gaze softened.

Thankfully, he wasn’t someone who checked the bank account that often. He always asked me to do it, so he never knew that we had millions saved up.

But since she didn’t want to reveal everything she knew, Yuelan simply told her brother that they were running low.

She was planning to surprise him with all that money after he came home from his first day of work at the coffee shop, but as it turned out, that was exactly when the world ended.

Yuelan shook those thoughts away and met Lijun Fen’s gaze.

"If you want to use us, then make sure you know who you’re dealing with first."