Chapter 9: Senior Sister Is Quite Sweet

My senior sister was the closest person to me in this world and I loved her dearly. It wouldn’t be a lie to say that I would give and take lives for her. But there were reasons I didn’t want to tell her about secrets that could endanger her life. My reincarnation was one of them and now the truth about system too.

"Aiya, Senior Sister, you flatter me," I laughed, leaning against the wooden railing beside her. "I’m thirty-eight, but you’re only thirty-six and already a terrifying Nascent Soul Sect Master. Praising me like this is just a roundabout way of praising your own monstrous talent, isn’t it?"

"Hmph! Flattery won’t save you," Wan’er snorted, rolling her eyes, though the faint twitch at the corner of her lips betrayed her immense relief.

A triumphant, dazzling smile slowly broke across her face. "Still... this changes everything. If you’re already at the Late-Stage, that means you actually have a legitimate shot at condensing a Nascent Soul before your prime passes! Do you know what kind of leverage this gives me against Zhao Cang and the Elders’ Council? They were using your stagnant cultivation as an excuse to seize your peak’s spirit vein! Now, I can shove this right down their throats at the next assembly! Hah, let’s see that old bald bastard try to annex my junior brother’s mountain now."

Watching her gloat like a mischievous little girl who had just won a bet, I smiled warmly. For all her nagging and terrifying temper, she really did spend most of her days shielding me from the sect’s political vultures.

"See? I told you there was no need to worry," I said, strolling over and pouring a cup of fresh morning dew tea before setting it in front of her. "In fact, Senior Sister, taking in a disciple today made me realize something important."

Wan’er paused, picking up the porcelain cup and looking at me curiously. "Realize what?"

"I think my Dao has been choked by loneliness all these years," I said calmly, adopting a thoughtful, philosophical expression. "When I brought someone back here, when I felt that genuine warmth and responsibility toward someone who cares about me, my mental barrier shattered completely. It turns out I cultivate much faster when I am relaxed, surrounded by people I care about and who care about me. My Dao simply resonates with family and affection, rather than cold, solitary meditation."

Wan’er held the warm cup to her lips, staring into the swirling green liquid as she fell into deep contemplation.

"Cultivating through warmth and human connection...?" she murmured, her willow brows knitting slightly. "Most orthodox manuals preach the severance of mortal emotions to reach the Dao, but ancient texts do mention the ’Emotion-Entering Path’ of the ancient immortals... Could your bloodline or constitution be tied to that? I will go through the forbidden archives in the ancestral hall tonight and look into it."

"Take your time, Senior Sister. No rush," I said with a smile, thoroughly amused by how easily she had rationalized my shameless excuse into an ancient, profound cultivation doctrine.

Wan’er took a slow sip of tea, and only then did her gaze drift toward the quiet figure standing beside the pavilion.

Shen Qingxue had been standing there silently the entire time, her posture straight and respectful, her dark eyes observing the grand Sect Master with quiet reverence.

"Ah, right. I was so startled by your breakthrough that I forgot," Wan’er said, setting her cup down and looking closely at the girl. Her eyes widened slightly in genuine surprise. "Wait... she took a Marrow Cleansing Pill? Her face... and her posture..."

"Senior Sister, let me introduce you properly," I said, stepping forward. "This is Shen Qingxue, my first disciple. Those blind outer sect fools only looked at the surface and thought she had a clogged mortal waste root. But after I washed away her poison with a pill, her Five Elements Roots fully resonated. Paired with her unyielding will, she is an absolute uncut jade. In ten years, she will be an unstoppable pillar of our sect."

Qingxue took a step forward and gracefully dropped into a standard disciple bow. "Disciple Shen Qingxue pays her respects to Sect Master."

Wan’er reached out, sending a gentle strand of pure Nascent Soul energy to support Qingxue’s elbows, pulling her upright with a warm smile.

"There is no need for such heavy formality on your own peak, child," Wan’er said, her voice turning remarkably tender. She looked at Qingxue’s exquisite features, then at the sharp, unshakable resolve in those dark obsidian eyes. "Your Master is a shameless rogue who loves to slack off, but his eyes rarely deceive him. If he saw your worth when the world turned its back on you, then you belong here. Lonely Cloud Peak has been cold and empty for far too long, having you here will bring some much-needed life to this old mountain."

"Disciple will remember Sect Master’s guidance," Qingxue replied earnestly, her heart deeply touched by how kind and approachable the legendary Sect Master was.

The three of us sat around the stone pavilion under the afternoon sun. Wan’er asked Qingxue about her journey, listening with a mix of sorrow and righteous anger to the hardships she had endured across the mortal realm, while I leisurely sipped my tea and threw in casual banter to keep the atmosphere light. The tension that had choked Lonely Cloud Peak for a decade seemed to melt away, replaced by warm laughter and the quiet scent of bamboo.

Naturally, as we talked and laughed, I made sure not to utter a single word about my plans to marry Qingxue.

If Wan’er found out I had turned my freshly recruited twenty-year-old disciple into my fiancee within two hours of bringing her home, her Glacial Heaven Shattering Strike wouldn’t just freeze my pine trees it would obliterate me, my pavilion, and half of Lonely Cloud Peak into cosmic dust.

Some investments were better kept strictly between husband and wife.