Reward

After that night, Lu Xueqing seemed to have truly listened.

She no longer avoided Bai Qingxue, nor did she frantically take on missions anymore.

The deacons of the Affairs Hall would occasionally see her name when flipping through their ledgers, but her tasks were no longer long-distance journeys where she wouldn't return for days on end. They were just ordinary errands expected of a Foundation Establishment disciple.

And once again, Lu Xueqing began showing up in Bai Qingxue's courtyard on time every evening.

Sometimes, she would bring along a few things.

A bag of pine nut candy bought from the market, or a few wild plum blossoms plucked from the mountain path.

Whenever Bai Qingxue applied medicine to her, she would sit obediently.

She would untie her collar, revealing the healing wounds on her shoulder, and wait motionlessly for Bai Qingxue to apply the medicinal powder and wrap the bandages.

After a few times, it actually made Bai Qingxue feel as though they had returned to the past.

Yet, something was different.

This evening, Lu Xueqing came again.

Twilight was creeping over the mountain ridge, and the shadow of the old plum tree stretched long across the bluestone ground, the outlines of its branches and leaves swaying gently in the wind.

Bai Qingxue was sitting under the tree drinking tea, holding a white porcelain cup in her hands. The steam from the tea rose gracefully in the twilight, casting a thin mist over her silver-white hair.

When Lu Xueqing walked in, she did not call out “Junior Sister Bai” first as she usually did.

Her footsteps were slightly faster than usual. As she entered the courtyard gate, her hem stirred a gust of wind, causing a few fallen leaves beneath the old plum tree to swirl.

Lu Xueqing stood by the stone table, looking at Bai Qingxue.

The twilight fell upon her, casting a faint grayish-blue hue over her light-colored Daoist robe.

Her hair was tied back neatly, with a few stray strands hanging by the side of her face, swaying gently in the wind.

Her eyes shone exceptionally bright in the twilight—an unusual brightness, as if something were churning within them, waiting to overflow.

“Junior Sister Bai,” she said.

Bai Qingxue raised her head, her teacup pausing in midair.

Bai Qingxue looked at Lu Xueqing's face.

The expression on her face was different from usual, carrying a restless surge that seemed to have been suppressed for so long that it could no longer be held back.

Only now did Bai Qingxue realize that Lu Xueqing's spiritual power was surging inside her body in wave after wave, like a tide pulled upward by a full moon.

Her aura was not chaotic, but it was exceptionally active. Every thread of spiritual power surged through her meridians, searching for an outlet.

At this moment, the aura around Lu Xueqing was much more restless than usual, like a pot of water on the verge of boiling—the surface barely maintained its calm, but underneath, it was already filled with rising bubbles.

“I am about to break through,” Lu Xueqing said.

When Lu Xueqing said this, her tone was not excited; it was actually even calmer than usual.

Bai Qingxue looked at Lu Xueqing and fell silent for a moment.

Her light-colored eyes flickered slightly in the twilight, like a tiny ripple stirred on the water's surface by the wind.

“You plan to break through here?” Bai Qingxue asked softly.

Lu Xueqing looked at her, the corners of her lips curving slightly.

“Yes.”

Indeed, Lu Xueqing intended to break through here, right in front of Bai Qingxue.

She didn't seek out a cave dwelling, she didn't find a quiet room, and she didn't quietly break through her bottleneck on her own turf. Instead, she insisted on coming here, right under Bai Qingxue's nose.

Bai Qingxue naturally knew what this meant.

A breakthrough was one of the most vulnerable moments for a cultivator. Choosing to break through in front of someone was equivalent to completely trusting them with one's back.

A simple single word. No more, no less. After speaking, Lu Xueqing sat cross-legged on the stone stool, her movements swift and decisive, not as if she were making a decision that required careful consideration, but rather doing something she had planned long ago.

She closed her eyes, formed hand seals with her hands, her spine perfectly straight, and her breathing instantly deepened.

Spiritual power surged from her body.

That spiritual power was pale blue, carrying a warm, sunlight-like quality unique to Lu Xueqing.

It gushed from her dantian, flowing through her meridians to every corner of her body, before seeping out of her pores and spreading around her.

The air beneath the old plum tree was stirred by the spiritual power. A few fallen leaves were swept up by the vortex, swirling around Lu Xueqing a few times before gently settling back down.

Bai Qingxue did not walk away.

She merely set down her teacup.

The bottom of the white porcelain cup touched the stone table's surface, making an extremely soft sound.

Sitting on the opposite stone stool with her hands folded over her knees, she quietly watched Lu Xueqing before her.

She did not circulate her power to guard her, nor did she set up any protective formations.

She simply sat there, just as she did when drinking tea. Yet, her gaze never once wavered from Lu Xueqing.

The breakthrough went more smoothly than she had anticipated.

The barrier belonging to Lu Xueqing was as thin as paper; it shattered at the first surge of spiritual power.

But that made sense. Lu Xueqing should have crossed this hurdle long ago. Her spiritual power had been lingering at the threshold of Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment for who knew how long, only held back by something previously.

Overthinking and carrying too heavy a heart had turned a thin sheet of window paper into a solid wall.

Now that the obstacle was gone, the barrier was nothing more than a formality.

Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment.

Under the old plum tree, Lu Xueqing's spiritual power slowly receded, like a tide returning to the sea.

The vortex around Lu Xueqing gradually subsided, and the few leaves that had been swept up finally settled peacefully back onto the ground.

The twilight had deepened, and a few faint stars appeared above the courtyard wall, twinkling gently against the grayish-blue sky.

Lu Xueqing opened her eyes.

Her eyes were even brighter than before.

The changes brought by Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment were not earth-shattering, but the clarity and abundance left behind after the spiritual power cleansed her meridians made her entire being look different.

She looked down at her hands, her fingers curling slightly as she felt the spiritual power—now far more robust than before—circulating through her meridians.

Then, Lu Xueqing raised her head.

Bai Qingxue sat opposite her, watching her.

The twilight fell upon that cold face, rendering her features somewhat soft and hazy.

Those light-colored eyes held no expression, just as usual.

Lu Xueqing stood up, walked around the stone table, and came before Bai Qingxue.

Bai Qingxue raised her head, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

They stood only a short distance apart.

Lu Xueqing stood while Bai Qingxue sat, the twilight flowing slowly between them. The leaves of the old plum tree rustled a few times before falling silent once more.

Lu Xueqing leaned down.

She reached out and took the teacup from Bai Qingxue's hand.

Her fingertips brushed against Bai Qingxue's fingers—a fleeting contact so light it felt like a feather drifting down and bouncing back up.

She placed the teacup on the stone table beside them, the bottom of the cup clinking against the stone surface with a sound crisper than usual.

Bai Qingxue did not stop her.

Her fingers remained in the shape of holding the cup, hovering in the air for a brief moment before slowly closing and resting on her lap.

“I broke through,” Lu Xueqing said.

“Yes,” Bai Qingxue murmured. Her voice was still faint, but as she uttered the word, her eyelashes drooped slightly, and she did not look back up at Lu Xueqing.

Lu Xueqing looked at her. She watched those eyelashes trembling slightly in the twilight, those thin lips gently pursed, and that cold face completely devoid of expression. She gazed at this aloof person for a long while before suddenly curving her lips, her tone carrying a hint of irrepressible lightheartedness.

“Come to think of it, my breakthrough is all thanks to you, Junior Sister Bai.”

Bai Qingxue's eyelashes fluttered.

“I was stuck at that threshold for so long, unable to cross it no matter what. But you told me to walk my own path, so I did. And as I walked,”

Lu Xueqing paused, her gaze landing on a strand of silver-white hair blown loose by the wind near Bai Qingxue's temple. “That hurdle simply vanished.”

“So...”

Lu Xueqing tilted her head slightly. The twilight softened the contours of her profile, and a few loose strands of hair slipped from her hair ribbon, dangling by her cheek and swaying gently with her movements.

“Is there any reward you would like, Junior Sister Bai?”

Lu Xueqing's smile was faint, yet filled with absolute certainty.

She looked exactly like someone who had waited for a long time and had finally found a perfectly legitimate excuse.

Bai Qingxue raised her eyes to look at her. The twilight reflected in her light-colored eyes, like moonlight reflecting on ice—cold and serene.

“What reward?”

Bai Qingxue looked at Lu Xueqing, waiting for her response.

Lu Xueqing did not speak.

Instead, she leaned down.

Lu Xueqing's movements were slow, every inch of her descent clear and deliberate, as if giving Bai Qingxue ample time to dodge.

Her hair fell forward, a few strands brushing past Bai Qingxue's shoulder, carrying a faint fragrance carried by the evening wind.

Her lips pressed against Bai Qingxue's forehead.

She lingered for a breath.

Lu Xueqing's kiss was neither light nor heavy. It did not feel like a demand, nor did it feel like a probe.

It was simply placing something gently there, like laying down a flower, or leaving behind an unspoken word.

Her lips were warm, carrying a slight coolness from the evening wind as they pressed against the smooth skin near Bai Qingxue's temple.

Then, she pulled back.

Bai Qingxue did not dodge.

She sat on the stone stool, her spine still perfectly straight, her hands still folded over her knees. Her face remained entirely devoid of expression, just as usual, as if nothing had happened at all.

Lu Xueqing straightened up.

Moonlight fell between the two of them.

Without them realizing, the moon had already climbed above the courtyard wall.

Lu Xueqing looked at Bai Qingxue, waiting to see some sort of reaction on that cold face.

Even a slight softening, a faint blush, or a tiny flutter of her eyelashes would do.

Yet, Bai Qingxue merely raised her eyes and looked at her.

Her gaze was still so indifferent, like moonlight reflecting on ice, showing no ripples of emotion whatsoever.

“Done?” Bai Qingxue asked calmly.

Lu Xueqing tilted her head, waiting for a breath.

Then another.

Bai Qingxue did not stand up to leave, nor did she look away, but there was indeed nothing on her face.

The curve of Lu Xueqing's lips faltered slightly before returning, though her smile now held something indefinable.

It was like an expectation falling flat, yet also like she had long anticipated this outcome.

“Junior Sister Bai,” she said.

“Yes?”

Lu Xueqing let out a soft laugh. It was very brief, like the night wind brushing past plum leaves, dispersing into the twilight in an instant.

“It's nothing. See you tomorrow,” she said.

Lu Xueqing turned around, picked up the completely cold tea on the stone table, and drank it in one gulp.

The tea was cold, carrying a slight bitterness from steeping too long, but her throat moved as if she had swallowed something incredibly sweet.

She set the cup back down on the stone table with a soft clink.

Then, the gate was pushed open, and then closed.

Lu Xueqing's footsteps gradually faded, vanishing beneath the moonlight.

Quiet returned to the courtyard.

Moonlight blanketed the bluestone ground, and the shadow of the old plum tree swayed gently in the wind.

Bai Qingxue sat on the stone stool, remaining motionless.

Her face held no expression, just as it had when Lu Xueqing was present.

After a moment, she picked up the teapot and poured herself another cup. The tea was cold, making almost no sound as it flowed into the cup. She lifted it to her lips, yet did not drink.

The rim of the cup hovered an inch away from her lips.

The moonlight shone on the surface of the tea in the cup, reflecting her cold face.

Then, she set the teacup down.

The bottom of the cup touched the stone surface, producing an extremely soft sound. It was softer than usual, as if she were afraid of disturbing something.

She stood up and walked toward the house. Her pace was neither fast nor slow, just as usual.

When she reached the doorway, she paused for a step.

Just a single step.

She seemed to have remembered something, yet also seemed to be thinking of nothing at all.

Immediately after, Bai Qingxue pushed open the door and walked inside.