After calmly accepting the magic sword and the maintenance package voucher, Zhenhai’s eyes became clear.

The three of them sat down and brewed tea.

“Boss—oh no, Junior Brother, what do you want to know about Master? Her bust size or her hobbies?”

“Senior Brother, you’ve misunderstood. I want to know about Master’s past experiences, to see if there’s anything I can help with.”

Zhenhai clasped his hands in apology. “I was being petty!”

“Then let’s start from the beginning.”

“Speaking of which, Master was originally the Third Senior Sister back then, and I was just an ordinary registered disciple.”

Lin Yinyin rested her chin in her hands. “What was Master like before?”

“Much gentler than she is now. At that time, the Peak Master of Spirit Sword Peak was still the True Person Wangchuan. The True Person had three personal disciples, and Master was the youngest.”

“True Person Wangchuan was humble and possessed profound cultivation. The Eldest Senior Brother, as the Supervisor, treated all the junior disciples well, including me. Back then, Spirit Sword Peak consistently ranked within the top ten among all peaks and was the leader in swordsmanship within the Yunmiao Sect.”

Zhang Xian nodded slightly; he had heard some of this history.

“Until one day, Master took the Eldest Senior Brother to explore a secret realm, and both perished. With Spirit Sword Peak’s two main pillars falling simultaneously, it faced a crisis of being delisted.”

Among the Yunmiao Sect’s seventy-two peaks, it wasn’t uncommon for legacies to disappear. If a peak went for years without a Peak Master or Supervisor presiding over it, it would gradually fade into obscurity. Surrounded by mountains, who knew how many desolate peaks within the Yunmiao Sect had turned into the dust of history?

“Speaking of which, I remember you two entered the sect with tokens from Elder Nangong Yao. Elder Nangong and True Person Xuanzhou from the Cloud Raiment Pavilion also explored that secret realm back then. That’s why Master doesn’t like them.”

True Person Xuanzhou was precisely Yun Wanqing’s husband. Zhang Xian was startled, a scene flashing through his mind: Nangong Yao falling amidst heavenly fire. He quickly asked, “How long ago did they explore that secret realm?”

Zhenhai counted on his fingers. “Nearly two hundred years.”

Zhang Xian’s fingers trembled slightly. Over two hundred years… the timeline didn’t match up. The little dark-skinned girl was brought up the mountain a hundred years ago.

Zhenhai continued, “To prevent Spirit Sword Peak’s legacy from being severed, the Second Senior Sister trained like her life depended on it. But she suffered a qi deviation, her Golden Core shattered, and she also passed away.”

Lin Yinyin gasped softly, covering her mouth with her small hands.

Zhenhai’s voice grew even lower. “With the Second Senior Sister gone too, Spirit Sword Peak’s situation became even more dire. Many disciples switched to other peaks. That was when Master stepped forward.”

“Master possesses dual Metal and Water Spirit Roots. Her cultivation speed is inherently half that of others. Yet in just a hundred years, she advanced from Foundation Establishment to the sixth level of Golden Core, becoming Supervisor and taking over Spirit Sword Peak.”

“Master’s only wish is to break through to the seventh level, reclaim the title of Peak Master, and revitalize Spirit Sword Peak.” A flicker of respect passed through Zhenhai’s eyes. “All these years, she has devoted herself to cultivation. But progressing from the sixth to seventh level is extremely difficult.”

“To obtain resources, Master has represented our sect in the Southern Region Grand Competitions several times. However, her results were never ideal each time. Resources are scarce, and burdened with dual Spirit Roots… this has kept Master stuck for a hundred years until now.”

“Has Master suffered any injuries? Or does she have any enemies?” Zhang Xian asked again.

Zhenhai shook his head. “Master has no enemies. The Southern Region has always been peaceful. As a Peak Master herself, she has never held grudges against anyone.”

“She didn’t like Nangong Yao and those from the Cloud Raiment Pavilion back then. But she also knew that exploring secret realms depends on fate; one can’t blame others for misfortune. If she truly hated them, she wouldn’t have accepted you two as disciples.”

“As for injuries… probably not either. However, Master lost very badly in the last Southern Region Grand Competition decades ago; her magic sword nearly shattered.”

Zhang Xian gently rubbed his teacup, thinking about how Master had refused his Immortal Ascension Grass.

The Immortal Ascension Grass wouldn’t help her, yet she accepted the Beauty Preservation Pill instead. Zhang Xian began to form a rough guess.

Coupled with Master’s Destiny Points continuously dropping… Zhang Xian recalled when he first saw Li Miaoyin; she only had 5 points. He suspected that if Destiny Points fell to zero, a Daughter of Destiny would likely die.

There were probably hidden circumstances even Zhenhai wasn’t aware of. Zhang Xian didn’t press further and changed the subject instead. “By the way, I have a friend at the Cloud Raiment Pavilion who asked me to inquire about something.”

“Please go ahead, Junior Brother.”

“It’s about Elder Nangong Yao. Did she bring any disciples up the mountain a hundred years ago? Or rather, in recent centuries… has there been any exceptionally talented female disciple?”

Zhenhai thought for a moment. “I haven’t heard of such a thing. By ‘exceptionally talented,’ Junior Brother likely means a Supreme Spirit Root? To my knowledge, only four Supreme Spirit Root disciples have entered the mountain in recent centuries.”

“Besides Junior Sister Lin Yinyin here,” he gestured toward Lin Yinyin beside him, who perked up at being mentioned so casually. “The other two are male cultivators,” Zhenhai continued, “and the remaining one is Senior Sister Zhou Yun, who joined with prior skills. She enrolled under Breaking Cloud Peak; presumably Junior Sister Yinyin has met her too?”

Lin Yinyin nodded vigorously. She’d recently been attending morning swordsmanship classes on Breaking Cloud Peak and had already become good sisters with Senior Sister Zhou Yun!

Zhang Xian frowned slightly; what Zhenhai knew aligned roughly with his own understanding! Judging by Nangong Yao’s attitude back then, though… the little dark-skinned girl must have possessed at least a Supreme Spirit Root!

With such innate talent… how could she suddenly vanish without a trace?! Was someone deliberately covering it up?! Or were there other hidden circumstances?!

They chatted about some more trivial details before Zhenhai stood up to take his leave. He vowed earnestly that Zhang Xian could come find him anytime if needed.

“Hee hee~ Big Bro easily won over Eldest Senior Brother just like that~ From now on, you can strut around Spirit Sword Peak without worry~!” Lin Yinyin giggled.

Zhang Xian shook his head. “Problems solvable with spirit stones aren’t real problems! I’m not foolish enough to make enemies everywhere!”

“So what do we do next?! It’s still early; evening class isn’t for a while yet~ Wanna soak in the spirit spring together?!”

Zhang Xian booped her nose playfully. “I’m going to Green Wood Peak! You go play by yourself!”

With that said, he got up and headed toward Green Wood Peak.

Halfway there, he received a transmission from Eldest Senior Brother Zhenhai:

“Master’s bust size is Wu (E)! Hobby: hot spring bathing!”

Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu correspond respectively to A, B, C, D, E!

Zhang Xian: “…”

Lin Yinyin watched Zhang Xian’s figure recede into the distance, stamping her foot angrily—Big Bro is going to find Liu Qingxuan again!!

Ahh!! She tugged her waist ribbon frustratedly, complaining aloud, “Master, when are you coming back?! If you don’t help me undo the Locking Garment Curse soon, Big Bro’s body and mind are both gonna be stolen away by that white lotus!!”

Green Wood Peak, Spiritual Plant Garden.

Liu Qingxuan bent over, tending a spiritual herb. She sensed someone approaching, looked up, and saw Zhang Xian, her eyes softening slightly.

“Zhang Xian!” She called softly, her voice as gentle as a clear spring water.

“Supervisor Liu!” Zhang Xian smiled slightly, clasping his hands in greeting.

These past days, Liu Qingxuan’s heart had gradually calmed down.

Initially, she was still somewhat apprehensive, afraid Zhang Xian, after giving gifts, would impatiently declare feelings or even pester her incessantly.

But Zhang Xian didn’t.

He still came to attend evening classes normally, occasionally asked questions, but never overstepped boundaries and certainly didn’t deliberately create ambiguity.

He just existed quietly, letting her feel a rare sense of comfort.

She didn’t know exactly what feelings she held toward Zhang Xian, but at least she didn’t dislike this way of interacting.

The only thing that made her somewhat guilty was the slow progress in researching the Immortal Ascension Grass.

Her father, Liu Huaigu, however, completely shamelessly swindled two more Immortal Ascension Grass plants from Zhang Xian and urged her to swallow one, causing her Wood Spirit Root quality to upgrade to Supreme Wood and her cultivation to break through to the sixth level of Golden Core!!

Thus, she felt even more indebted to Zhang Xian!!

“Zhang Xian…” She hesitated but finally spoke up. “Research on the Immortal Ascension Grass… temporarily still has no leads!”

Zhang Xian waved his hand, smiling. “No matter. It was originally a difficult task; no hurry!”

Saying this, he took out one Heart-Mending Lotus seed and one Marrow-Cleansing Remnant Fruit from his system space and handed them over.