“Finally…” Jiu Xian closed the book with a long breath, as though he had just finished a battle.
Yao Qing looked up. “Done already?”
“‘Cultivation for Dummies’… and all five volumes of Auxiliary Arts of the Cultivation World,” he said proudly. “Memorized.”
She let out a low whistle. “Show-off.”
Rolling her stiff shoulders, she muttered, “Just one more chapter of Array Formations… then we can report to Granny.”
...
Days blended into nights.
The cabin remained quiet, filled only with the soft rustle of turning pages and the scratch of charcoal against paper as they copied diagrams and notes.
One month passed.
By the end, both of them had carved the fundamentals of cultivation into memory — the circulation of Qi, the map of meridians, the warning signs of deviation.
They had also forced their way through the Five Auxiliary Arts of the cultivation world: the crafting of pills, forging of spirit tools, construction of arrays, the art of divination, and even puppetry.
Their minds were swollen with knowledge.
Yet they had not cultivated a single strand of Qi.
Jiu Xian couldn’t help but think of a friend back in Crouching Fish Village — a fellow who had never once been in a relationship, yet spoke as if he had lived through a hundred love stories.
That’s us, Jiu Xian thought.
We sound like seasoned cultivators… but we’re still complete novices.
Granny had also examined the Golden Sun Method Jiu Xian possessed. After studying it for some time, she nodded in approval and even allowed Yao Qing to learn it as well.
“It’s a solid cultivation technique,” she had said.
Unfortunately, neither of them succeeded in entering its initiation stage.
“So where are we going?” Yao Qing asked, her excitement barely contained.
Granny’s shoulders shook faintly beneath her hood. “If I told you, where would the fun be? Consider it a surprise.”
Jiu Xian narrowed his eyes. “You’re not planning to murder us somewhere deep in the forest, are you?”
Granny fell silent.
Then—
“…How did you find out? I thought my plan was flawless.”
Yao Qing blinked.
Jiu Xian sighed.
“Granny…”
Granny waved her sleeve dismissively. “Enough chatter. The sun is rising. We must depart.”
After a simple breakfast, the two youths followed her as she left the cabin.
Neither of them spoke.
Both of them understood—
Whatever waited ahead would be the start of their cultivation journey.
Trekking down the hill, the two youths followed Granny into the dense, emerald forest.
What shocked them most was not the terrain — but Granny’s gait.
Her movements were light, effortless. Each step covered impossible distance, her figure gliding between trees like drifting smoke. The “frail old woman” they had imagined no longer seemed so frail.
Stranger still — the forest was silent.
No snarls. No rustling predators.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
It was as if the entire wilderness avoided their path.
...
By the time the sun dipped low, painting the sky in fading gold, they reached a small clearing. The trio decided to rest before continuing.
Jiu Xian gathered dried branches for a fire.
Yao Qing prepared their meal, carefully seasoning the game they had brought.
Granny sat on a fallen log, watching them in silence.
Crackle. Crackle.
Smoke rose gently into the twilight as the fire came to life.
Warm light flickered across their faces.
Jiu Xian and Granny joked back and forth as usual, their banter light, familiar.
Yao Qing found herself smiling without realizing.
Her once-grey world was slowly filling with colour again.
Drinking together with Jiu Xian.
Being teased by Granny.
Sharing meals together.
These small things had begun to thaw the cold place inside her heart.
She still missed her parents.
She still wondered where Tian’er was.
But now… she found herself smiling more often.
‘I wish this time could last forever,’ she thought.
Above them, the forest still remained silent.
Too silent.
No wind. No leaves moving.
Even the fire crackled lower, as if afraid.
Granny’s head snapped toward the darkness beyond the trees.
Her posture changed.
The warmth in her voice vanished.
“Jiu Xian.” Her voice trembled. “Take Yao Qing. Run straight north. You will find a giant tree with pink blossoms. Press this pendant against its trunk.”
She shoved something into his hand.
Yao Qing froze.
Jiu Xian’s breath hitched.
She didn’t call them child.
She didn’t joke.
Something was wrong.
“Granny… what’s happening?” Yao Qing whispered.
“No time.” Her voice cracked. “GO. NOW.”
Jiu Xian shook his head.
“We can face this together.”
Even as he said it, his instincts screamed.
Run.
But he wouldn’t.
He was not one to abandon his people.
He wouldn’t let her face whatever this was alone.
“NO!” Yao Qing stepped beside him. “We’re not leaving you!”
Granny turned.
For the first time—
Panic was visible in her voice.
“GO!”
The ground trembled.
A pressure descended over the clearing — heavy, suffocating.
Jiu Xian’s legs almost buckled.
“PLEASE… just go…” she whispered, softer now.
Her sleeve moved.
A wave of gentle wind wrapped around them like unseen hands.
“Forgive me,” she murmured.
The world blurred.
The forest vanished.
They were thrown backward, carried by invisible force, faster than any mortal could run.
Granny remained behind.
...
Granny remained seated by the dying campfire.
‘I knew this peace would not last…
Still… I hoped for a little longer’.
Her gaze softened.
Those two…
Then—
Leaves crunched.
Five figures stepped from the darkness between the trees.
They did not bother hiding their auras.
The air grew heavy.
Oppressive.
The one at the front laughed.
“HAHA! Who would have thought you were still alive.”
His voice carried the unstable pressure of early Nascent Soul.
Behind him, four Foundation Establishment cultivators stood with drawn weapons.
“Hand over the key to the secret realm,” he sneered, “and I might leave your corpse intact.”
Granny looked at them.
No fear.
Only disappointment.
‘To think I have fallen so low…
Threatened by an early stage Nascent Soul… and four Foundation ants’
“Over my dead body, Wushen.”
With a flick of her wrist, spiritual light gathered, condensing instantly into a slender sword.
She slashed toward the four ants behind Wushen.
The sword light howled.
Before they could react, the blade intent tore through the night like a silver crescent.
Two cultivators barely had time to raise defensive talismans before they were cleaved in half, their shields shattering like glass.
The third screamed as his arm was severed, blood spraying across the forest floor.
“Formation!” the fourth shouted in panic.
Too late.
She stepped forward, her figure blurring. The sword pierced through his throat, pinning him to a tree before his words could finish forming.
Wushen’s laughter vanished as he witnessed three of his men die and the remaining one faint from shock.
“You vile woman!” Wushen roared, unleashing the full force of his Nascent Soul aura.
The pressure exploded outward.
The earth split.
Trees bent as if crushed by invisible mountains.
“You think killing ants makes you fearsome?!”
She laughed coldly. “What gives you the right to call others thrash after what you did! You traitorous dog!”
Her aura rose. Oppressive and Heavy.
Wushen staggered back two steps.
Then—
They moved. They dashed towards each other.
CLANG!
Sword met sword.
Sparks rained like falling stars.
Strike after strike blurred into afterimages. The clearing vanished into a storm of blade intent.
Wushen’s heart sank.
His limbs felt heavy.
His Qi circulation… sluggish.
‘Poison? Suppression? No…’
‘Why is she not bleeding?’
As they fought the woman’s hood dropped.
The sight of her face brought fear in Wusheng’s mind.
“You—YOU—”
“Monster! Cai Xi, what did you to yourself?” Wusheng jumped back in fright.
The woman called Cai Xi ignored him.
Aiming her strike to his neck she swung her sword channelling all of her remaining qi.
Seeing the lethal strike come his way, Wushen bit his tongue and decisively sacrificed his left arm to save his life.
“UGH!” He groaned as the pain of having his arm severed hit him.
Cai Xi’s expression turned ugly.
She had bet all her qi reserves on this single strike, but she failed.
‘Is this how it ends? I just hope Jiu Xian and Yao Qing will be safe.’
She fell limp at the ground, but then something miraculous happened.
She found her Qi reserves filling up. The environment’s Qi wildly rushed into her body.
“HAHAHA!” She stared at Wusheng and laughed maniacally.
Wusheng also caught on to what was happening, his expression turning desperate.
“HOW?! Why is there an array formation here? I divined the key will—”
*Clatter*
Before he could even finish his sentence a silver chain materialized before him, quickly wrapping around him before he could do anything.
Wusheng looked resigned and he sat on the ground, chains binding him.
““Granny”” Jiu Xian and Yao Qing appeared from behind her and rushed towards her tightly hugging her.
“You idiots!” She hugged them back.
“We found the array formations flags in the storage of the pendant. Good thing we memorised the basics.” Yao Qing said, tears bawling out of her eyes.
“Right! Using the spirit stones we powered the flags to slow down that man and help you refill your Qi.” Jiu Xian said.
“So, what do we do with him now?” Yao Qing drew their attention towards Wusheng.
“JAJAJAJAJA” Wushen hysterically.
“You think too little of me Cai Xi” Wusheng forced his nascent soul to self detonate.
All this time while these people were distracted, he sacrificed his life force to lift some of the restrictions of the chains, allowing him to make one final move.
BOOM
“NOOO!” Cai Xi quickly realised what was happening and shielded Jiu Xian and Yao Qing, hugging them in her arms and using every bit of her Qi to protect them.
Cai Xi bore the full brunt of the explosion.
Jiu Xian and Yao Qing felt their ears buzz. As soon as they regained their vision, they searched for granny.
Her body was on the ground, unmoving.
Wooden pieces falling out of it, the array circuit on her body burnt at many different places, the bead at her forehead had many cracks.
“No! Granny please don’t leave us.” Tears fell out of Yao Qing’s eyes.
“Pills! There must be some pill in the pendant. We can still save her.” Jiu Xian frantically searched the storage space of the pendant, pulling out every bottle of pill he could find in it.
“*cough*Cough*Boy, Promise me to take good care of Qing’er and Qing’er promise me to take care of Jiu Xian.
“Cough* Don’t cry. I want you both to see me off with a smile. *Cough* If the heavens wills may we meet again in next life.”
Jiu Xian and Yao Qing forced a smile as promised her.
“Please bury my body at the secret realm. It’s a safe space and you should hide there for a couple of months while you guys absorb the inheritance located there.” Cai Xi continued.
“Master, finally I will be able to meet you again... I killed the traitor... Mom and Dad... Cai Xi is coming to meet you”
The woman carved out of wood finally closed her eyes
.....