Sending You to the Taiyan Sect

Su Mingyuan's words caught in his throat, and he hesitated to speak.

Seeing his dilemma, Xue Mingzhao quickly offered him a cup of tea to break the ice. “Master, please try this. It’s some fine tea I specifically brought back for you from Jiudan Pavilion.”

Su Mingyuan picked up the teacup, brushed aside the floating leaves, and took a sip.

It was tasteless.

He muttered to himself, wondering how the tea from a shop as massive as Jiudan Pavilion could be so bland.

The two disciples exchanged secret glances.

Xue Mingzhao: Is the sect really about to disband?

Su Ye rolled his eyes: I don’t know... Look at Master’s face. It’s like he owes someone a hundred million spirit stones and has no way to pay it back.

Su Mingyuan took a deep breath and finally spoke. “Do you two... still remember your Martial Uncle Xie?”

Xue Mingzhao responded, “The one who looked particularly gentle?”

Su Ye nodded along. “Yes, yes, I remember.”

“Your Martial Uncle Xie is my fellow senior brother. He was also a member of the Grand Primordium Sect in the past.”

Xue Mingzhao was puzzled. “Then how did he become the Sect Master of the Taiyan Sect?”

Su Mingyuan sighed, recounting events from years ago. “As you know, seventeen years ago, the spiritual energy in the Eastern Territory suddenly began to plummet, worsening year by year. A large number of cultivators couldn't bear it and left the Eastern Territory one after another.”

“Back then, the Grand Primordium Sect had over ten thousand members. But not everyone was willing to stay trapped here and waste their cultivation.”

“Ten years ago, your Martial Uncle Wu came to me. He suggested that, like other sects, we should relocate elsewhere and rebuild. We couldn't let all our disciples waste away and die in the Eastern Territory.”

“I didn't agree. It was one thing for others to leave, but how could we, the personal disciples, leave? Besides, your Grandmaster left a prophecy that there would definitely be a turnaround in the Eastern Territory within a hundred years.”

“Your Martial Uncle Wu and I had a massive argument. In the end, your Martial Uncle Xie took more than eight thousand people to Lingxiao Heavenly Capital. Though they claimed to establish a branch of the Grand Primordium Sect, in reality... the two sects have long since had no relation.”

“I was extremely reluctant, but staying would only ruin the disciples' futures. Many cultivators with ordinary talent would never be able to reach Foundation Establishment if they stayed in the Eastern Territory their entire lives.”

“With almost everyone gone, only about fifty of us older generation members were left. You originally had a senior brother above you, but he also switched to your Martial Uncle Xie’s tutelage, became his personal disciple, and left with them.”

“For all these years, your Martial Uncle Xie has been writing to ask us to move over. But I just couldn't bear to leave... To avoid hindering the disciples' cultivation, most of the sect's expenses went toward maintaining the Spirit Gathering Formation. After our numbers dwindled, the sect was constantly in the red. Everyone worked themselves to the bone to earn spirit stones to subsidize the sect. In the end, I've failed your martial uncles, and I've wronged you all.”

Hearing this, Xue Mingzhao fell silent.

She had a rough idea of what her master was about to say.

Su Ye still hadn't caught on, looking entirely innocent. “So, Master, have you finally changed your mind? Are you going to move us away?”

Su Mingyuan shook his head. “I am the sixty-seventh Sect Master of the Grand Primordium Sect. I will live and die with the sect. Besides... your Grandmaster is still here.”

Su Ye suggested, “Then can't we just move Grandmaster over as well?”

Su Mingyuan: “...”

Xue Mingzhao quickly covered Su Ye’s mouth and let out a dry laugh. “Senior Brother sees that you’re sad, Master, so he’s just trying to cheer you up!”

Su Mingyuan sighed. “You two have been in the sect for over a month, and I have watched your growth. Especially yours, Mingzhao.”

“Going from having no cultivation at all to the seventh level of Qi Condensation... I know very well that our sect's resources are scarce, and we are wasting your talent.”

“On the day of the mystic realm trial, your Martial Uncle Xie... seemed to notice that your aura was extraordinary. He specifically brought it up with me, offering to take both of you in as his personal disciples. He promised me that if you go to the Taiyan Sect, all resources will be prioritized for you.”

“You are both excellent seeds. Staying in the Grand Primordium Sect will only hold back your futures. This is the real reason I called you here tonight.”

Hearing this, Su Ye didn't feel much.

What was there to choose? Wherever his junior sister went, he would go.

Besides, Master was seriously underestimating his junior sister. Once she showed him the pills she had refined, he would definitely be shocked—spirit stones and resources were just trivial matters.

After all, he was the first to know that his junior sister could refine pills!

Xue Mingzhao’s expression became incredibly serious. “Master, once a teacher, always a father. Since I have joined the Grand Primordium Sect, I will never change my sect. As for earning money, you can leave that to me now.”

As she spoke, she pulled out a bag of spirit stones and shoved it over. “Take these spirit stones, Master. It’s enough for our sect to buy many Spirit Gathering Formations! If it’s not enough, I’ll earn more!”

Su Mingyuan insisted on pushing the bag back. “I cannot accept your hard-earned gains. Moreover, there is another hidden reason why I am advising you to leave.”

His expression turned solemn. “The spiritual energy here in the Grand Primordium Sect... contains hidden toxins.”

Xue Mingzhao looked up, quite surprised.

So, Master had already noticed this.

Su Ye looked completely puzzled. “Is it toxic? But my body doesn't feel uncomfortable at all.”

“Your Martial Uncle Xu only discovered this by chance. The source of the toxin and its latent dangers have yet to be fully investigated.”

But Xue Mingzhao smiled, wearing an expression that said "is that all?". “Master, don't worry about it. There's no way I'm leaving. If we have money but no spiritual energy, we'll just throw money at it and buy Spirit Gathering Formations. If the spiritual energy is toxic, we'll just eat detoxifying pills!”

“Have you forgotten that your disciple can refine pills?”

“Are you really going to send your disciples away just because the resources outside are slightly better? I refuse. I like the Grand Primordium Sect, and I want to stay here for the rest of my life, letting Master support me forever!”

She began to act spoiled as she spoke, behaving like a stubborn child.

Looking at her, Su Mingyuan felt both a pang of sorrow and a wave of warmth in his heart—how was he the one supporting her? It was clearly this child who was supporting the Grand Primordium Sect in turn.

Su Ye immediately followed suit. “I'm not leaving either. I'm going to cling to Master in the future too.”

Su Mingyuan's heart was filled with a complex mix of emotions. In the past, he had pleaded desperately to keep his disciples, yet they had still resolved to leave.

Now, the tables were turned. He was the one trying his best to send his disciples to a better place, yet the two children insisted on staying to accompany the sect.

Su Mingyuan's eyes grew slightly warm, and he let out a sigh. “It is I who was stubborn. I only thought of sending you to a better place, without ever asking if you were willing.”

Xue Mingzhao seized the opportunity to say, “Then you're not allowed to bring this up ever again!”

“Good, good, good, I won't bring it up again.” Su Mingyuan smiled and shook his head.

“Then you must accept these spirit stones, Master!” Xue Mingzhao handed the bag of spirit stones over again. “Everyone in the sect needs money.”

Seeing that Su Mingyuan still wanted to refuse, Xue Mingzhao simply took out the Hunyuan Cauldron.

Su Mingyuan immediately felt its aura and froze on the spot—this aura... was at least at the Spiritual Treasure grade!

“Th-this... Where did you get this from?”

Su Ye said proudly, beating her to the punch, “Junior Sister picked it up at the black market! It only cost one hundred low-grade spirit stones!”

Su Mingyuan's eyes widened. “One hundred low-grade spirit stones?!”

He was completely dumbfounded. His disciple... how could her luck be this incredibly good?

No wonder she could refine supreme-grade pills. It turned out she had the support of such a heaven-defying fortune.

Without another word, Xue Mingzhao took out ten sets of ingredients for Foundation Establishment Pills and threw them all into the Hunyuan Cauldron.

Su Mingyuan was startled. He was about to shout that ingredients shouldn't be thrown in like that during alchemy, but Su Ye held him back.

“Don't worry, Master. Junior Sister isn't a normal person. Just watch.”

Xue Mingzhao pretended to skillfully execute her fire-controlling hand seals. After waiting quietly for fifteen minutes, she lifted the cauldron's lid.

A rich and lingering medicinal fragrance instantly filled the entire hall.

The fragrance of the pills quickly drifted out, rich and deep. A single breath of it made one feel entirely refreshed.

Su Mingyuan could not wait to lean over and look. His voice trembled as he spoke, “Fifteen... A total of fifteen supreme-grade Foundation Establishment Pills!”