Chapter 36

The long course of study continued, about three to five times a week, accumulating into a considerable workload.

Compared to facing Elder Liu and breaking out in a cold sweat, Yun Shuchen's class was like a spring breeze.

During the formation lesson, Qing Zhouxue looked at her master. Yun wore a soft silk gown that trailed along the ground, her long hair half tied up, with a hollow silver lotus flower adorning it. She appeared elegant and refined. Every time she smiled, the younger disciples below seemed to perk up.

Ruan Mingzhu greatly admired Senior Yun. She straightened up and listened intently as Yun Shuchen told an amusing anecdote.

Casually turning her head, she noticed Qing Zhouxue was absent-minded. The latter wore an expression of being detached from worldly affairs, as if she had seen through the mortal world—eyes empty and void.

Curious, Ruan Mingzhu lowered her voice and asked, "Senior Sister, what are you thinking about?"

Qing Zhouxue seemed to wake from a dream. She shifted her gaze to Ruan Mingzhu's face, stared at her for a moment, then looked away. "Nothing."

Ruan Mingzhu suddenly understood. Her gaze swept over her. She saw Senior Sister Qing looking straight at Elder Yun's figure, clear-eyed for a moment, then, before long, she was again beholding her as if in deep meditation.

"Is she nice to look at?" Ruan Mingzhu shifted her weight, leaning slightly toward Qing Zhouxue, a mischievous glint in her smiling eyes.

"She's…" Qing Zhouxue furrowed her brows, turned her head, and said in a low voice, "I think Master teaches very well."

Knowing class wasn't over yet, Ruan Mingzhu struggled to suppress her laughter, stifling it with pauses. If she were alone, she would have burst out laughing.

During the inner sect competition, Qing Zhouxue was so righteous in her speech. What had she said?

—What does looks have to do with it?

Ruan Mingzhu could almost imagine an invisible hand slapping Senior Sister across the face.

"Ruan Mingzhu."

Suddenly hearing Yun Shuchen call her name, Ruan Mingzhu jumped in surprise.

"What are you laughing about so happily?"

Yun Shuchen hadn't deliberately looked toward Qing Zhouxue, but occasionally glanced over. Ruan Mingzhu was tilting her head and laughing, almost leaning entirely on Qing Zhouxue. Her disciple had slightly turned her head, her lips nearly brushing the girl's ear, seemingly whispering something.

"I…" Ruan Mingzhu stood up, laughed again, and deliberately mimicked Qing Zhouxue: "I think Senior Yun teaches well, so I'm happy."

Qing Zhouxue shot her a cold glance.

"Is that so?" Yun Shuchen raised an eyebrow. "Then tell me, what did I just say?"

Ruan Mingzhu bit her tongue. How would she know? She had been too busy laughing at Qing Zhouxue.

"Don't do it again."

Yun Shuchen abruptly stopped her amusing anecdote. After making Ruan Mingzhu sit down, she changed the subject and got down to business, causing many disciples who had been enjoying themselves to sigh in disappointment.

Qing Zhouxue felt her master's gaze brush over her face intentionally or not, carrying a hint of coolness.

She could only lower her head and focus on the book.

Formation cultivation was a profound subject, but for most disciples present, they could only listen, as a way to cultivate their temperament.

Since formations required the harmony of the Five Elements, those with Five Spiritual Roots were most suited for this path. Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—if even one were missing, it would be hard to display full strength.

However, Five Spiritual Roots were usually of mixed quality and could not cultivate; encountering someone with balanced Five Spiritual Roots was extremely rare, happening perhaps once in a century—and that wasn't even the end of it. Because with so many spiritual roots, the same spiritual energy had to nourish all five, making cultivation extremely slow.

Either one dumped heavenly treasures and earthly treasures to make up for the cultivation gap, or one would still be stuck at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Yun Shuchen was neither.

Her terrifying aspect was that, despite having five spiritual roots, she was born with an extremely fast absorption rate for spiritual power, which did not affect her cultivation at all. It was equivalent to five flourishing single spiritual roots.

Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky as to have such a once-in-a-millennium fortune. The great cultivation families and sects would not invest heavily in cultivating a Five Spiritual Root disciple, so the study of formations languished in desolation, unable even to be passed down through a single line.

Elder Yun had been solitary on Heyi Peak for so many years, not because she was inherently reclusive, but because it was simply awkward—she couldn't take on disciples.

Recently, she had barely managed to pick up Qing Zhouxue, who still practiced the sword path—a fairly pure sword cultivator.

Back then, the Sect Leader had greatly valued Qing Zhouxue's excellent bone structure and had been eager to take her, yet he hadn't competed with Yun Shuchen for the disciple, perhaps… also out of a sense of sympathy.

Thus, Qing Zhouxue smoothly went from being the Sect Leader's closed-door disciple to Yun Shuchen's first disciple.

That first disciple finally got into the swing of things and began to listen attentively. On the open scroll, she was meticulously jotting down the key points with ink.

Qing Zhouxue paused her brush from time to time, listening to her master's soft and melodious voice, yet her thoughts never quite focused on the content.

The characters on the scroll were clearly all recognizable, all neat and upright, but when seen through her preoccupied eyes, they became elusive, fluttering about, refusing to enter her mind.

Master is dressed a bit thin today. The door next to Master isn't closed tightly. The window is also open a crack. Master paused just now—could she be wanting to cough? She hasn't drunk water in a long while. The tea at her hand has no steam, so it must be cold. Master looks beautiful when she smiles. Master truly knows so much.

Such thoughts flickered for an instant before she yanked them back. She glanced at Yun Shuchen a few more times, like smoke dispersing, then silently pulled them back again.

In this back-and-forth tug-of-war, she finished a class she couldn't recall anything from.

Finally, Qing Zhouxue raised her eyes and looked straight at her. Yun Shuchen's fingertips moved slightly, five points of light spinning continuously under her control, evolving into a vast and exquisite Eight Trigrams formation in the air.

She really liked seeing her like this.

In every gesture, there was a casual air mixed with a hint of nobility; her gentleness hid a touch of pride.

She had watched her since childhood, and she didn't tire of it.

After class, Qing Zhouxue packed up her things and, along with them, her inexplicable mood. She declined Ruan Mingzhu's invitation to walk together, saying, "I'll wait for Master to return with her."

Ruan Mingzhu let out a meaningful "Mm," and said, "Hadn't you had enough looking during class, you want to look along the way?"

"…"

"Qing'er."

At the same time, the scent of Jiuhe incense enveloped her, like a gentle breeze stroking flowering trees. Qing Zhouxue turned her head and saw Yun Shuchen approaching them.

"Are you two heading together?" Yun Shuchen said softly, then glanced at Qing Zhouxue. "I'll go on ahead then."

Ruan Mingzhu quickly hopped away, letting out a snicker. "Senior Yun, I think Senior Sister has a cold face and is no fun. She doesn't really want to walk with me."

She flew off like a little red bird, laughing at something. Yun Shuchen walked on her own without waiting for Qing Zhouxue. Her young disciple quickly and neatly followed behind, wordlessly trailing her like her shadow.

What a perfect match.

Ice and fire—one in white with a cold air, the other in red, radiant. Even the taciturn disciple could chat very well with that brilliant girl.

Yun Shuchen inexplicably thought this and looked back at her. After a thorough look, she still found Qing Zhouxue more agreeable—proper and obedient, gentle and considerate, skilled in both letters and martial arts. Aside from being a little quiet, she was almost flawless. Even the elders of the six peaks were quite fond of her.

This comparison didn't seem to make her any happier; instead, under the twilight of Heyi Peak, it gave rise to more unprovoked vexation.

"Come here," Yun Shuchen called to her. "Why do you keep stepping on my shadow?"

Qing Zhouxue followed her words and walked abreast with her, then naturally took her hand. Feeling the temperature appropriate, she let go.

But Yun Shuchen didn't let go of her immediately. Her fingertips curled slightly in a subtle, reserved gesture. Perhaps because the movement was too slight and too restrained, Qing Zhouxue didn't perceive it.

The disciple simply released her hand.

Yun Shuchen suddenly flicked her sleeve and walked forward quickly. Qing Zhouxue was about to follow when Yun shot her a glance. "Walk behind me. Don't come close."

Qing Zhouxue sensed her displeasure but was bewildered: "…Master, you told me to come close, yet now you forbid me to come near. What does that mean?"

"You figure it out yourself." Her voice was flat, impossible to read as pleased or angry.

That night, Qing Zhouxue kept reflecting. She thought and thought, then glanced at the notes she'd half taken today, and thought she understood—Master must be blaming her for not focusing on her studies.

She frowned. Setting aside everything else, she had to study Master's formation subject well.

So she stayed up late reading.

Though it was early spring, there was still a lingering cold. Moreover, Heyi Peak was high, so spring generally came later; even the small flowers on the mountain bloomed later than those at the foot.

These past few nights, Qing Zhouxue had shared a bed with Yun Shuchen.

But tonight, she was studying with full concentration, and formation studies were ever-changing and difficult. She devoted her mind to mastering it and forgot the time.

Yun Shuchen lay alone, pillowed by the cold moonlight. The disciple she was used to holding in her arms was absent that night, with no one to drive away the chill. She couldn't fall asleep until the moon was high in the sky.

Qing Zhouxue indeed studied until the moon reached its zenith. When she put down the book and realized the lateness, a chill ran through her heart. She groped her way into her master's room, gently pushed the door open, and relying on a bit of moonlight, saw the woman sleeping restlessly, her body trembling slightly again.

She quietly lifted the blanket and slipped in. She found that Yun Shuchen wasn't asleep at all, nor did she show any sign of wanting to embrace her.

"It's your disciple's fault for forgetting the time while studying."

Qing Zhouxue wrapped her arms around her master's waist from behind, softly murmuring an apology against her back, which dissipated most of the displeasure in Yun Shuchen's heart. For a moment, she didn't struggle free as she had last time.

Qing Zhouxue began to circulate her energy, guiding the cold air into her own dantian. Yun Shuchen felt much better and slowly turned around, languidly lifting her eyes. "You remembered after all?"

"Master's matters, your disciple naturally remembers all." The woman's voice was clear and gentle, making it hard to fault her.

"Mm." The words were pleasing to the ear and comforting.

Yun Shuchen studied her, and suddenly, the image of her disciple walking side by side with Ruan Mingzhu flashed through her mind. She subtly knit her brows, feeling an uncomfortable sensation like one's own belonging had been rubbed by someone else.

"Cold," she said with dissatisfaction. "Still cold."

Qing Zhouxue then pulled her closer. But she felt that soft, elegant body stiffen slightly. The woman let out a light breath, feeling that if she moved a little more, a warm current would flow through her lower abdomen.

Qing Zhouxue said softly, "Better now."

"Don't move."