Chapter 21: The Breakthrough

Chapter 21: Breakthrough

When Yu Xian returned, it was already late into the night. Yet, the lights in Building Number Two of the Heaven Sector remained illuminated.

In the courtyard, Chen Yi stood draped in a plain white shift, holding a lantern. Under the dim, yellowish glow, she appeared detached from the world, her shadow stretched long by the light, as if she were a figure who had stepped out of a painting.

Yu Xian was momentarily dazed. A sudden surge of warmth welled up in his heart. Once upon a time, he had fantasized about coming home late from work, hoping that among the thousands of lights in the city, one might be left on just for him.

"Were you waiting for me?"

"You don't usually return this late. I was worried."

Chen Yi’s voice was cool and crisp, like the night wind, refreshing and chilling to the bone. Yu Xian smiled as he walked over and pulled her into his arms.

"I’m sorry to have kept you waiting."

Chen Yi’s face flushed slightly. As she breathed in the familiar scent clinging to him, her small hand, still clutching the lantern, tightened involuntarily.

"But since you're still awake, it’s perfect. I have a gift for you."

Behind them, Yulan was directing several palace guards to carry in a chest. Seeing the two embracing in the courtyard, the smile on her face stiffened. However, when she looked down at the phoenix pendant at her waist, which radiated a warm, gentle luster in the night, her lips curved upward again.

Hearing Yulan's voice, Chen Yi felt as if she had been caught in the act and hurriedly pulled away from Yu Xian.

"Yulan."

"Sister Chen Yi, this is the gift the Master gave me today. Isn't it pretty?" Yulan acted as if she had seen nothing, holding up the jade pendant at her waist to show Chen Yi.

Chen Yi glanced at it casually and replied perfunctorily, "It’s very beautiful."

"I think so too, and it’s a pair with the one the Master is wearing." Yulan beamed, her eyes brimming with happiness.

Only then did Chen Yi notice the jade pendant that had appeared on Yu Xian's waist. Her expression dimmed slightly.

"Stop showing off your gift. Where is the gift I picked out for Sister Chen Yi? Bring it out," Yu Xian urged. He didn't mind Yulan's subtle displays of affection; in fact, he welcomed them.

"Fine."

Yulan opened one of the chests. A brilliant, golden light flashed out, so dazzling that it made Chen Yi forget her momentary discomfort. "Where did so much gold come from?"

One tael of gold was worth ten taels of silver. One hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver equaled fifteen thousand taels of gold—a total of fifteen hundred catties, or seven hundred and fifty kilograms, occupying roughly thirty cubic decimeters. A thirty-liter storage box was about thirty cubic decimeters, just enough to fill it with a little left over. It didn't sound like much, but the visual impact was staggering.

However, Yulan only took out a few fist-sized, ugly stones resting on top of the gold before closing the lid. "Sister Chen Yi, this is your gift."

Chen Yi took the stones, and her expression changed to one of shock. She had already learned to sense spiritual energy; the moment she touched them, she detected an aura dozens of times denser than what existed in the surrounding air. She looked at Yu Xian in astonishment.

Yu Xian smiled. "I went to quite a bit of trouble for these few 'ugly' stones. Are you satisfied?"

Chen Yi was silent for a while. Holding the stones, she felt no joy, only a sense of helplessness. "Aren't you afraid that I might..." She stopped, unable to finish the question.

"Leave me?" Yu Xian’s gaze dropped, his voice deepening. "Perhaps you have never loved me, but I have never intended to restrict your freedom. To truly love someone is to let them do what they enjoy. You have your own dreams; you need not linger for anyone's sake."

Having said that, without waiting for Chen Yi to respond, Yu Xian playfully scooped up the still-startled Yulan and headed toward the building. "Yulan, serve your master in the bath."

"Master, the items haven't been moved into the room yet!" Yulan clung tightly to his neck, her eyes darting back to the chest in the courtyard, uneasy about leaving such valuable items unattended.

"What is there to worry about in the palace? If anyone dares to reach out, I’ll slaughter their entire family." Yu Xian’s words were filled with murderous intent.

Once inside, he channeled his mana, casting a miniature fireball into the water-filled tub. In a blink, steam began to rise. Yu Xian tossed Yulan into the tub, stripped off his clothes in a flurry, and jumped in with a splash.

[Name: Yu Xian]
[Cultivation: Qi Refining Level 6 (125/130)]
[Daoist Companion: Yulan (1/1)]

The day of the breakthrough was tonight. A sudden, intuitive warning had prompted Yu Xian to break his usual, methodical routine and indulge in a bit of recklessness.

*'It's only seven cultivation points. Human limits are meant to be broken!'* Yu Xian thought, gritting his teeth as his mana surged within him.

...

Downstairs, Chen Yi was locked in an internal struggle. Since discovering the existence of the immortal world, she had firmly believed that was where she belonged. In her imagination, it was a beautiful place—a realm of cultivators—where she could be reborn.

But now that Yu Xian had handed her these stones rich with spiritual energy, she was certain she could use them to successfully draw that energy into her body. Before long, she would truly become a cultivator.

Yet, she hesitated. No one had ever treated her with such tenderness or protected her like Yu Xian. Even knowing it might be a facade, she couldn't help but feel like a moth to a flame.

A long time passed. The light in the lantern Chen Yi held flickered and died. The rising chill of the night turned her hands ice-cold, and the color drained from her face, leaving her as pale as snow.

She suddenly laughed at herself, muttering, "When did you become so weak? Does a little tenderness make you fall so easily? He is kind, but he could be this kind to anyone. How long can his gentleness last? One year? Two? Do not forget your sister's fate. Selling your beauty to entertain others—when you grow old and withered, when he grows tired of you, no one will spare you a second glance. You may love him, but you must not love him so humbly as to be mere dust."

The light in the lantern extinguished completely, but in the darkness, her eyes shone like stars.

The essence of the *Evergreen Technique* surfaced in Chen Yi’s mind. The spiritual energy within the stones in her embrace flowed out like swallows returning to the woods, entering her body at an extraordinary speed. She channeled the technique, and the thin spiritual energy in the surrounding world was drawn toward her by an invisible force.

Drawing energy into the body to condense mana—this was the path of Qi Refining.

She did not know how much time had passed.

*Drip, drop...*

It sounded like a dewdrop falling from a cliff into a mountain spring. A sliver of mana condensed within Chen Yi's *dantian*. She felt the world suddenly brighten, and she felt as if she were drifting, about to take flight.

"Is this the world as seen through the eyes of a cultivator?"

Chen Yi tried to summon the faint trace of mana within her. It flickered in her palm like a flame—seemingly as fragile as a candle in the wind, yet containing a power that was truly frightening.

"How truly... fascinating this power is."