Chapter 8

She compared herself to a “dead dog” without any burden. Although her tone was light, there was a hint of loneliness. She shrugged and smiled at Xie Junzhi, comforting him. “You see, isn’t it ironic? I’m already considered a failure in everyone’s eyes. I’ve long been subjected to gossip and ridicule. If it continues like this, what does it matter? I’m still living well, right? So… it’s actually not a big deal.”

“People do have vanity; that’s true. When they hear praise, no one wants to be criticized. But we shouldn’t live for other people’s opinions.”

At this point, her eyes lit up subtly. “Moreover, think about it: if everyone still thinks I’m at the Qi Refining stage, but in reality, I’m in the Foundation Establishment stage, then when the Sword Selection Conference comes, won’t I pretend to be a pig and eat the tiger and defeat those who once looked down on me?”

Xie Junzhi looked at her with a complex expression, finding her words irrefutable.

After a while, he said, “Can’t you have a bit more ambition? Even if it’s just dreaming, dream bigger?”

Yu Xizhi didn’t catch on. “What?”

“With two years left until the Sword Selection Conference, you only want to reach the Foundation Establishment stage?”

Xie Junzhi lowered his eyes, then suddenly smiled. He naturally exuded an aura of elegance, but this smile seemed to carry some kind of temptation.

As he spoke, he reached into his pouch and pulled out a beautifully carved glass bowl. He extended his wrist and pointed to it as if it were a sword, lightly cutting his wrist—

The crimson blood flowed down his pale skin and dripped into the glass bowl. He seemed not to feel any pain at all, but his face grew even paler, unable to suppress a cough. Then he continued, “If you ask me, I want you to crush everyone who looks down on you…”

The glass bowl quickly filled up again. With a swipe of his fingers over his wound, his wrist returned to its original state. Xie Junzhi lifted the glass bowl with three fingers and handed it steadily to Yu Xizhi.

Yu Xizhi instinctively took it.

The red blood made the bowl even redder, and she was a bit repelled by the color, furrowing her brows. Yet she found the blood wasn’t as strongly scented as she expected.

Clearly, she was meant to drink it.

Xie Junzhi’s gaze was intense, and Yu Xizhi remembered the piercing pain from earlier, as well as his description of “just throw up until you die.” Hearing his suppressed cough again, she felt more convinced that she had to drink this blood.

After all, the incident with the blood on the wound wasn’t intentional, right? Who could have expected so much at that moment? She had doubted it later, but after recalling the situation repeatedly, she felt that he was rushing to wipe it off because he knew there was something wrong with his blood, not expecting her to have a wound on her hand.

… In the end, it was because she had asked him if he wanted to wipe the blood. What a mess!

With things having come to this point, Yu Xizhi could only steel herself and drink it.

Only then did Xie Junzhi casually continue the unfinished sentence from before, “Let’s set a modest goal first, like becoming a grandmaster.”

Yu Xizhi:…

“Cough, cough, cough!” Yu Xizhi almost choked on the blood. “G-Grandmaster?!”

In the cultivation realm of the Yuanshen Continent, there are twelve major realms, each divided into four smaller realms: early, middle, late, and consummation.

These twelve major stages are further divided into four equal parts and given special names.

The stages of Qi refining and foundation establishment are collectively referred to as “seeking the dao,” derived from the saying “seeking the dao in the morning, dying content at night,” and are called “Little Immortals.”

The realms of Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Soul Accumulation are known as “Overseeing the World,” and are called “True Immortals.”

When you reach this state, you can already control the wind and rain and turn the clouds and rain upside down.

Some masters of small sects may only reach the Core Formation realm, while Nascent Soul realm cultivators are considered powerful. Beyond that, only the masters and the venerable elders with profound backgrounds in the Three Paths and Five Sects are in the Soul Accumulation realm.

Further up are the almost legendary realms of Illusionary Refinining Void, Profound Void, and Mahayana, which are called “Grandmasters.”

And the white-robed ancestor in front of her wants her to reach the realm of Grandmaster?

Yu Xizhi very much wanted to grab the person by the neck and shake them vigorously, then scream into their ear, “Wake up.”

But the person’s gaze was calm, his tone casual, and he even used the modifier “small goal” when mentioning “Grandmaster,” making Yu Xizhi unavoidably recall a wealthy businessman from her past life who casually said his small goal was to earn a billion first.

“You wanted to crush all those who looked down on you, didn’t you?”

Xie Junzhi raised an eyebrow, seeming not to understand her surprise. “According to your description just now, do you think your master respects you?”

Yu Xizhi struggled to swallow the bloody taste in her mouth. Suddenly, the oppressive pain she had been feeling in her body dispersed by half, and she felt much lighter overall; even the uncomfortable sitting position on the ground became bearable.

She straightened up and recalled the disdainful look her master, Huaiyun, had given her after her junior sister, Xia Yiyao, disappeared. She dryly said, “Probably… looks down on me. After all, I don’t have much to be respected for.”

“Huaiyun has achieved Consummation in the Soul Accumulation realm. If you want to crush him, of course, you need to be a Grandmaster.”

Xie Junzhi said it matter-of-factly.

Yu Xizhi hesitated to speak.

No… wait a minute…

Her ambitions were small, she just wanted to beat some fellow disciples, maybe some teachers…

She hadn’t really thought about stepping on her master or overthrowing him!

She had a myriad of complaints in her heart, but what the other person said made sense, and their tone was overly confident. She found herself at a loss for words for a moment.

“Don’t be too surprised; becoming a grandmaster isn’t that difficult.”

Xie Junzhi smirked, seemingly very satisfied with her reaction, feeling quite pleased with himself. “I’ll teach you.”

Yu Xizhi:?

Ancestor, you just say it and it’ll happen? Doesn’t it hurt your credibility? If you’re really so powerful, why let Huaiyun be the head? Isn’t usurping power more appealing?

“It’s getting late; let’s go back.” Xie Junzhi stood up, then covered his mouth and coughed a few times. In the darkness of the night, his white clothes seemed particularly thin. He turned to leave but stopped in his tracks, glanced back at Yu Xizhi, and clicked his tongue. “Tsk…Qi refining stage is troublesome.”

Yu Xizhi:…?

Have I eaten his rice? How is it troublesome?

The next moment, she saw the white-robed youth in front of her raise his hand, casually break off a twig, and throw it towards her. “Step on it; I’ll send you back.”

Yu Xizhi:…?

She looked down at the somewhat dry and particularly short twig lying in front of her, hesitated for a while, and when she raised her head again, there was nothing but emptiness in front of her, not a trace of the white-robed youth.

The twig waited in place for a while, seemingly not feeling the weight of a person stepping on it, and then shook slightly.

Yu Xizhi couldn’t help but notice some impatience from the twig.

She felt she might have gone a little crazy.

…Maybe drinking the blood of the white-clothed lunatic made her pick up on his demeanor.

As she stepped on the twig, Yu Xizhi smirked.

Daring to compare oneself to a fish leaping over the Dragon Gate. Becoming a grandmaster in two years—isn’t that madness?

What’s stepping on a tree twig? Even if what is floating in front of her now is a leaf, a wisp of smoke, or a cat’s hair, Yu Xizhi would still dare to step on it!