Seeing Lu Beichen fall silent, Bai Roushuang’s expression flickered with complexity for a fleeting moment.
But she quickly composed herself and expressed her willingness to accept her senior sister’s evaluation.
Having only entered the sect a year ago, Xu Shulou naturally didn’t dare to go too hard on her. Using the jade fan at her waist as a weapon, she exchanged a few moves with Bai Roushuang.
After their spar, Xu Shulou offered some pointers and found her junior sister quite perceptive and clever. Her interest piqued, she ended up teaching her a few extra techniques.
"You have great potential, but your heart isn’t fully devoted to cultivation," Xu Shulou concluded.
Bai Roushuang bit her lip, her expression slightly uneasy. "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Sister."
She didn’t say anything more, but Lu Beichen, who had been observing, frowned. "Shulou, Junior Sister Bai has only been in the cultivation world for a year. For her to have reached this level is already impressive. Must you be so strict?"
Xu Shulou glanced at him. "I was speaking to my junior sister."
Lu Beichen was abruptly pulled into distant memories by her words. After so many years apart, when he had seen her descend from the phoenix carriage earlier, radiant as a luminous pearl or glowing jade, he had been momentarily dazed. Such a stunning beauty, with such formidable cultivation—why had he been so reluctant to marry her back then, delaying the engagement again and again?
But after exchanging just a few words with Xu Shulou, all those memories came flooding back. Back then, Lu Beichen had grown up sheltered within the sect, rarely venturing out. His parents adored him, his elders protected him, his peers respected him, and even the attendants obeyed him without question. Xu Shulou had been the first person who treated him with only the barest politeness.
During their joint mission against a common enemy, whenever he made a mistake, even that thin veneer of courtesy from Xu Shulou often teetered on the edge of collapse.
Lu Beichen hadn’t developed any "she’s so unique" feelings toward her—he’d simply found her utterly insufferable.
Now, after all these years, Xu Shulou had clearly mellowed. Back then, her response wouldn’t have been "I was speaking to my junior sister," but rather, "This is between my junior sister and me. Why are you butting in? Go stand over there."
As Lu Beichen lost himself in reminiscence, Xu Shulou glanced at her bowed-head junior sister and briefly reflected on whether her words had been too harsh. She softened her tone with an encouraging remark: "You have exceptional talent. If you devote yourself wholeheartedly to cultivation, you’ll surely achieve greatness in time."
As she left, she overheard Lu Beichen consoling Bai Roushuang: "Don’t worry. Cultivation isn’t something to rush. I recently acquired a powerful magical artifact—one I don’t need. It’s perfect for you, more than enough for protection."
Xu Shulou sighed quietly. Seeing Lu Beichen reminded her of her younger self—back then, she’d been quick-tempered and unyielding, unable to tolerate his arrogance.
In those days, she wouldn’t have bothered warning him. If he dared challenge her to a fight, she’d have gladly beaten him senseless.
But over the years, she had come to understand many things and gradually mellowed. What once infuriated her now only drew a light chuckle.
Shaking her head, Xu Shulou leisurely left the courtyard.
The next time she accidentally overheard Bai Roushuang chatting with someone, Xu Shulou felt a twinge of awkwardness.
"Senior Brother Li, I’ve prepared some dishes—made with premium spirit rice and herbs. Please try them!" Bai Roushuang’s voice was melodious, instantly recognizable to Xu Shulou.
"I’d never doubt your culinary skills, Junior Sister Bai. But with the competition approaching, why spend time on this?" The male voice, however, didn’t belong to Lu Beichen.
"It’s no trouble at all. As long as you enjoy it, Senior Brother."
"Of course I do. This is far better than fasting pills. Thank you, Junior Sister."
Xu Shulou was about to discreetly leave when she heard her own name.
"Oh, Senior Brother Li, yesterday Senior Sister Xu sparred with me using a jade fan. Is that really her magical weapon?" Bai Roushuang asked. "Even her weapon is so exquisite and beautiful. I bet every strand of Senior Sister Xu’s hair is immaculate. It’s hard not to envy her."
"The jade fan isn’t Senior Sister Xu’s actual weapon," the male voice—belonging to Li Qi—replied. "That’s just for, ahem, aesthetics. From what I’ve observed, she matches her fan to her outfit: a jade fan for formal attire, a golden-threaded fan with brocade robes, a snow-and-plum fan with red dresses, and a silver-patterned black fan with dark clothing."
"..." Bai Roushuang fell into a suspicious silence, as if struggling to steer the conversation back. "Perhaps Senior Sister thought my skills were too lacking to warrant her real weapon."
Li Qi answered bluntly, "Of course she didn’t use it. She wasn’t trying to kill you."
"..."
Noticing her silence, Li Qi added, "Her actual weapon—well, very few people have seen it. Few *living* people, I mean."
"Then just how strong *is* Senior Sister Xu?"
"Hard to say," Li Qi admitted. "In sparring matches with peers, she always holds back. I’ve never seen her full strength."
"...Is that so?" Bai Roushuang murmured. "It’s a shame I didn’t perform well. From what she said, it seems she thinks I’m not diligent enough."
Had a more socially adept man been present, he might have comforted the disheartened beauty with lines like, *"You’re already doing your best—your senior sister’s standards are just too harsh."*
But Li Qi missed the hint entirely and replied cheerfully, "Then you’ll just have to keep working hard, Junior Sister Bai!"
"I... I just worry Senior Sister might dislike me because of it."
"How could that be? You’re so kind, Junior Sister Bai, and Senior Sister Xu is wonderful too. You’ll get along splendidly."
Xu Shulou chose that moment to clear her throat lightly, interrupting the conversation.
When Bai Roushuang spotted her, her gaze lingered subtly on the folding fan at Xu Shulou’s waist before darting to her attire, as if assessing its coordination.
"Senior Sister Xu!" Li Qi—a disciplinary disciple from Dustless Island—greeted her with a smile and a bow. "It’s been a while."
Xu Shulou smiled. "What brings you here?"
"Some business to attend to. I dropped by to support Junior Sister Bai," Li Qi replied cheerfully. "Had I known you were coming, I wouldn’t have rushed to finish my tasks."
Xu Shulou understood his meaning. Dustless Island had long been reclusive, its reputation faint in the current cultivation world. With new disciples now venturing out, Li Qi worried they might face bullying.
Bai Roushuang, however, misread the implication. At Li Qi’s words, she tensed and bit her lip.
Unaware of her reaction, Li Qi continued, "Senior Sister Xu, it’s been ages since you returned to Dustless Island. After the competition, will you come back with us?"
Xu Shulou’s gaze settled on the radiant spirit bird, Nine Glories, perched beside Bai Roushuang. After a brief pause, she shook her head. "No. I’ll be heading to the mortal realm in a few days."
Noticing Xu Shulou’s attention on her spirit companion, Bai Roushuang stiffened slightly.
"Perfect timing," Li Qi said, oblivious to her inner turmoil. "Junior Sister Bai mentioned she’d like to visit the mortal realm, but she hasn’t mastered sword flight yet. Could you take her along, Senior Sister?"
Bai Roushuang flinched. "Th-That’s too much trouble! I wouldn’t want to delay Senior Sister Xu’s affairs."
The other day, she had deliberately brought up the topic in front of Lu Beichen and the others—it was nothing more than the fact that the Qixi Festival in the mortal realm was approaching. She had hoped to hint at Lu Beichen accompanying her for a visit to the mortal world, using the opportunity to deepen their relationship. Yet, he failed to grasp her meaning, and instead, it was Li Qi who stepped forward with this arrangement.
“Well…” Li Qi hadn’t given it much thought. After hearing Bai Roushuang’s concerns, he simply wanted to create a chance for the two to interact. In his mind, Senior Sister Xu was a wonderful person, and Junior Sister Bai’s worries were entirely unnecessary. Once they spent some time together, she would naturally understand.
For Xu Shulou, this was merely a trivial favor, so she nodded in agreement. “Very well.”
Bai Roushuang bit her lip, unable to refuse further. She bowed slightly and said, “Thank you, Senior Sister.”
Li Qi grinned. “I’m sure you’ll get along splendidly.”
Xu Shulou studied Li Qi. This junior brother usually had a good relationship with her. In the past, whenever she captured demons, monsters, or rogue cultivators who brought harm to the mortal realm, she would simply toss their bloodied bodies into the Disciplinary Hall for judgment. When Li Qi had first taken up his post, he had been startled by the sight of Xu Shulou barging in with a blood-soaked prisoner slung over her shoulder. Over time, however, he grew accustomed to it, and a friendship had developed between them.
Even though she had just dreamt of having her cultivation abolished by the Disciplinary Hall before coming here, she refused to believe he would coldly press torture tools against her like some villain from a storybook.
The nature of those around her was for her to judge. Even if the spirit bird Jiuyao had lent some credibility to her dreams, she would never let prejudice cloud her perception—not toward Li Qi, nor toward her junior sister.
And of course, she also didn’t believe she would ever submit meekly to punishment.
In her youth, Xu Shulou had been rather hot-tempered, adhering firmly to the principle of “fight first, ask questions later.” Though her temperament had mellowed somewhat in recent years, if someone in reality dared to point at her nose with disgust and call her “the architect of her own misfortune,” she would have already struck them with her sword—regardless of whether she could win the fight.
Still, recalling how, in the storybook, one of the charges against her when she was stripped of her powers and expelled from the sect was “repeatedly violating sect rules,” Xu Shulou mentally reviewed her past borderline infractions and decided to give her dream a sliver of respect. She turned to Li Qi and confessed, “Junior Brother Li, hypothetically, if I’ve broken a few sect rules, would the Disciplinary Hall…”
Before she could finish, Li Qi forced a nervous laugh and took two steps back, asking with genuine alarm, “Which rule was foolish enough to cross you?”
“……” The difference between reality and dreams was vast indeed. Xu Shulou fell silent, reflecting on whether she had unwittingly traumatized this junior brother of hers in the past.
