As the crushing weight of Li Fuxi’s divine sense finally dissipated, the stagnant air in the courtyard began to flow freely once more.

Chen Tiexin retracted her soundproofing array, her brow furrowed in thought. “Strange. Usually, at this hour, Master would be nurturing her lifebound flying sword. Why did her divine sense descend so suddenly today?”

Her gaze swept over Lin Yinyin, and a wide grin broke across her face. “It seems Junior Sister Yinyin is truly receiving special attention.”

Lin Yinyin walked toward the exit, looking back every few steps with wide, anxious eyes. “Brother… I’m a little scared.”

Zhang Xian remained calm. He reached into his robes, pulled out the Boundary Crossing Shuttle given to him by Yun Wanqing, and stuffed it into Lin Yinyin’s arms. “It’s fine. Master isn’t some man-eating monster. If she really intends you harm, just use this Boundary Crossing Shuttle to escape immediately.”

Scared by Zhang Xian’s grave preparations, Lin Yinyin looked on the verge of tears.

Brother, aren’t you being a bit too dramatic? It’s just a meeting with the Master. Handing me a supreme escape treasure makes me even more nervous!

[Ding! Successfully gifted Lin Yinyin the Boundary Crossing Shuttle. Triggered return. Returned: Void Breaking Shuttle x10.]

[Void Breaking Shuttle: Earth-grade consumable artifact. One-time use. No refinement required. Activated with essence blood. Ignores restrictions to penetrate all phenomena. Can tear through space to teleport tens of thousands of miles away. Using the Void Breaking Shuttle in advance allows setting a specific teleportation destination. Destination cannot be changed after being set.]

Huh? The quality actually improved? What a pleasant surprise.

Lin Yinyin departed with a heavy heart. Zhang Xian then turned his attention to Chen Tiexin. “Senior Sister, aside from missions and perfect attendance, are there faster ways to earn contribution points?”

Chen Tiexin’s eyes lit up. “Junior Brother wants to take a shortcut?”

“Mn. After all, we’re new here, and contribution points are tight. I also want to have the means to visit the other peaks more often.”

“Hehe, of course there is! The black market.”

“Black market?”

“Yes. There are always people short on spirit stones, and always people too lazy to grind missions.” She rubbed her fingers together in the universal sign for money. “One point is worth about one hundred low-grade spirit stones.”

Zhang Xian nodded thoughtfully. “What if I want to exchange for a large amount of points at once?”

“A large amount?” Chen Tiexin raised an eyebrow. “Junior Brother, the points circulating on the black market are limited. Usually, exchanging a few hundred points at once is the maximum. Any more than that, and the exchange rate becomes unfavorable.”

“Let’s start with twenty thousand points to wet my whistle.” Zhang Xian casually pulled a heavy brocade pouch from his storage ring and tossed it to Chen Tiexin. “There are over twenty thousand mid-grade spirit stones in there. Can twenty thousand points be delivered within one month?”

Her eyes went wide, her voice cracking as it jumped an octave. “H-how many?!”

“Twenty thousand points,” Zhang Xian repeated calmly. “Is the rate insufficient? If it is, I can add more. Consider any extra as compensation for Senior Sister’s trouble.”

Chen Tiexin: “…”

Her fingers trembled slightly as she clutched the pouch. Over twenty thousand mid-grade spirit stones… just casually thrown at me by this Junior Brother? She did a rough mental calculation. Even after deducting the black market transaction fees, she’d have about four thousand mid-grade spirit stones left as profit—enough for her to work herself to death for the Yunmiao Sect for fifty years to earn the same amount.

She knew Zhang Xian was wealthy, but she hadn’t expected it to be this outrageous.

If not for her noble character, she’d be tempted to drag him into the hut and consummate their relationship right then and there.

“J-Junior Brother,” she swallowed hard, her voice still trembling. “You… you aren’t by any chance the illegitimate child of the Cloud Raiment Pavilion’s head family, are you?”

Zhang Xian smiled faintly. “Nothing that dramatic. My family just owns some mines.”

Chen Tiexin took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. “Alright! Since Junior Brother is so generous, this Senior Sister will go all out!” She slapped her storage bag and produced a communication jade talisman. “I’ll contact the old-timer at the black market right now and have him arrange the point exchange as soon as possible.”

“But…” she hesitated slightly, “…twenty thousand points is no small sum. The black market side might need to deliver them in batches to avoid drawing the sect’s attention.”

Zhang Xian nodded. “That’s fine.”

They chatted for a while longer, allowing Zhang Xian to gain a clearer understanding of the Yunmiao Sect’s inner workings. Before leaving, Chen Tiexin very thoughtfully left him several popular novels to pass the time.

Night deepened. Zhang Xian waited in the thatched hut for a long time, but Lin Yinyin still hadn’t returned.

“It seems Master has detained her…”

Feeling somewhat bored, he wandered out to the spirit spring in the courtyard.

Mist curled above the spirit spring’s surface. Zhang Xian casually inserted five mid-grade spirit stones into the crevices in the stone wall surrounding it.

Instantly, the spring water’s temperature rose, and its spiritual energy concentration skyrocketed.

He soaked his entire body in it; every pore relaxed and opened wide with pleasure.

He couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of contentment.

This spiritual energy density was several times better than simply using a Spirit Gathering Array alone.

It seemed Spirit Sword Peak did have some substance after all.

After soaking for a while, he felt the intensity wasn’t quite hitting the spot and thought: Since mid-grade spirit stones have such good effects, wouldn’t top-grade spirit stones feel even better?

Thus, he grandly took out five top-grade spirit stones and slotted them in.

Boom!

The spirit spring instantly boiled over!

Spiritual energy churned violently; the water temperature soared to dangerous levels!

Zhang Xian had just dipped a toe in when he yelped, “Ow!” and jumped right back out, fleeing the scalding heat.

Flustered, he fished out the top-grade spirit stones and quickly replaced them with mid-grade ones again.

He waited for what felt like an eternity before the spring water gradually calmed down.

Wiping cold sweat from his brow, he felt a lingering fear in his heart. So this is what they mean by ‘the body being too weak to receive excessive nourishment’…

Utterly bored now, Zhang Xian dried off and picked up one of the novels Chen Tiexin had given him: Help! The Yandere Master Has Fallen For Me.

[Fuxi’s beautiful eyes brimmed with tears; her jade-like hand gently caressed the sword blade as her voice trembled: “Disciple… if you dare betray our sect… this Master will use this sword to kill you first… then end my own life!”]

Zhang Xian: “Oh?”

[Her red lips curved slightly; she lifted her disciple’s chin with a fingertip: “Today’s Sword Scripture lesson… this Master will personally teach you… hand in hand.”]

Zhang Xian: “?”

[“Master! Don’t!” The young man’s face flushed crimson—yet Fuxi’s sword tip was already pressed against his throat…]

Zhang Xian: “!!!”

Zhang Xian read all night long, feeling somewhat unsatisfied when he finally finished the volume.

Simultaneously, the Foundation Establishment Third Layer bottleneck that had stalled him for so long finally broke. Thanks to soaking in that spirit spring earlier, his cultivation advanced directly into the Foundation Establishment Fourth Layer!

When dawn arrived, bell chimes rang out across the peak tops, signaling that morning lecture time had come around once more.

Zhang Xian hurriedly got up and dressed himself properly—he mustn’t be late on his first day attending class, after all!

Rushing toward the training grounds gave him a sudden sense of déjà vu—as if he were back in his university days, pulling all-nighters at internet cafes and then rushing off to morning exercise sessions…

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. This feeling is truly nostalgic indeed…

However, upon arriving at the Spirit Sword Peak training grounds, he froze on the spot.

Seventy or eighty disciples already sat cross-legged in neatly arranged rows upon the ground, each craning their necks eagerly as if awaiting the arrival of a deity.

Only a few meditation cushions left in the far corner remained available as seating options.

Lin Yinyin, who had arrived at some unknown time, sat in the front row, center position, looking utterly numb with an expressionless face…

Her Master had specifically instructed her to sit there and not move an inch!

She shot a pitiful glance toward Zhang Xian, causing a stir amongst the crowd immediately.

“Holy crap! Such beauty evokes pity even in me! Where did this top-tier Junior Sister come from? Why haven’t I seen her before?”

“You’re outdated already! The new Junior Sister just entered yesterday! Recording images are already selling like crazy within the sect!”

“Heard she possesses a top-tier Water Spirit Root, but I didn’t expect the person herself to be even more top-tier! Seems this Venerable One must also take up permanent residence on Spirit Sword Peak now…”

“There are already writers working overnight creating content about her—her ‘book’ will probably be released within a few days…”

Just as everyone was discussing animatedly, a figure appeared, approaching from the distance, stepping through the air gracefully.

Li Fuxi wore the same silver-patterned white robe, holding a gleaming longsword cold with light in her hand. She landed elegantly on the central high platform of the training grounds.

The entire venue fell silent instantly.

“Today’s lecture covers the Yunmiao Sword Scripture, twenty-third stance: Returning Wind Brushes Willow.” Her voice carried not the slightest trace of emotion.

Yet the disciples below the platform stared intently at her every movement, eyes shining brightly, hardly daring to blink.

What a bunch of diligent students indeed! Li Fuxi felt quite satisfied inwardly seeing this devotion.

Her wrist turned over lightly—the longsword traced an elegant arc through the air like a swimming dragon. Sword light flowed like water while her figure moved gracefully between each stance, revealing the profound principles of the Sword Dao fully displayed therein.

However, the old perverts below the platform were focusing completely on something else entirely, their eyes glowing brilliantly.

“Supervisor Fuxi’s waist is so slender!”

“This turning arc is absolutely perfect!”

“Supervisor truly possesses great ‘reason’ indeed!”

“That moment when the sword tip passes by, causing her robe hem to flutter slightly upward—I died right there watching it happen!”

Zhang Xian glanced forward, seeing Chen Tiexin and Senior Brother Zhenhai both wearing serious expressions as they used recording stones to capture every single movement Li Fuxi made with meticulous care.

Zhang Xian: “…”

I think I came to the wrong place.