The sky was faintly bright.
Luo Shuiling finished a night of cultivation and slowly opened her beautiful eyes.
After cooling her temper overnight, her heart had settled a little.
She had already decided that once Yun Hao returned this time, she would give this disobedient “pet” a severe punishment.
She dispersed the icy spiritual power around her, and the ice crystals melted away. Sect Master Peak returned to the way it had looked before Yun Hao left.
A guest would be arriving soon.
She could not let the visitor sense any wavering in her heart.
She had to uphold the proper image of Proud Sword Sect’s Eldest Senior Sister. Nothing could shake her Dao heart.
Luo Shuiling’s gaze drifted toward the window. Her expression remained somewhat cold, yet a faint trace of gentleness lingered in her eyes. She sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion, quietly waiting for that person to arrive.
………..
Inside Elder Mu’s pill room on Pill Peak.
A young woman around eighteen or nineteen years old was hurriedly tidying herself up.
She set aside the rouge she would need, then absentmindedly drew her eyebrows, looking exactly like a young maiden preparing for a secret meeting with her sweetheart.
The companions around her watched An Rui as she kept beautifying herself and immediately knew what she was up to. They all giggled and teased her.
“Oh my, our little Rui’er is going to see her sweetheart again?”
“Hey, don’t say it like that. She hasn’t seen her good sweetheart in months. Let her dress up—why are you teasing her?”
“Ah, it’s just pitiful for us. We’ve all cultivated for decades and still haven’t met a single good man.”
An Rui listened to the senior sisters’ teasing and could not help smiling in exasperation.
She deliberately put on an affected smile and replied in a voice so sweet it could make teeth ache.
“Yes, I’m going to see my good sweetheart. Sisters, feel free to laugh all you want.”
At these words, the female disciples in the pill room burst into laughter again.
Of course they knew An Rui was not going to meet any so-called sweetheart, but rather their nominal Eldest Senior Sister, Luo Shuiling.
An Rui’s encounter with Luo Shuiling had been quite extraordinary.
Six years ago, when An Rui was only thirteen, she had refined a high-grade spiritual pill all by herself without any elder supervising her. The next day she astonished everyone on Pill Peak. After Peak Master Mu Nan confirmed the pill was genuine, she directly announced that An Rui would become her fourth personal disciple.
From that day onward, the disciples of Proud Sword Sect regarded her as the new generation’s pill-refining genius.
At the time, the constant praise made her grow even prouder. Her cultivation was in no way inferior to other disciples her age, so despite her senior sisters’ warnings she insisted on participating in that year’s sect competition.
According to the long-standing unspoken rule, Pill Peak disciples did not need to join the sect’s grand competition.
Pill refiners required a calm and steady mindset to guarantee success with every pill. Restlessness and impulsiveness were absolutely forbidden for them.
Elder Mu Nan knew of An Rui’s decision yet did not stop her.
She understood that there were always people stronger than oneself and heavens beyond the heavens. This was the perfect chance to temper An Rui’s temperament and let her realize that pill refiners were not necessarily stronger than other disciples—they simply were not suited for combat.
Thus An Rui concealed her appearance and slipped into the competition arena as an ordinary disciple.
Apart from the elders who noticed something unusual and a few high-cultivation true disciples, no one imagined that this little junior sister at Foundation Establishment stage was actually a pill refiner. They simply thought she seemed a bit different from the rest.
In the end An Rui achieved her wish and took first place among all Foundation Establishment disciples.
By tradition, the top disciple in each realm could make one request of the sect, and as long as it was not excessive it would be granted.
Yet An Rui did not ask for pills or techniques like the others. Instead she pointed straight at Luo Shuiling, who was already at Nascent Soul stage at the time, and requested a fair duel.
An Rui’s request caused an uproar across the entire arena. Some disciples even began cursing her for not knowing the rules and daring to challenge a superior.
The presiding elder hesitated as well. Luo Shuiling was the Sect Master’s personal disciple; he could not casually arrange a fight between her and An Rui.
Just as several elders were still discussing whether to reject the request, Luo Shuiling gently flew onto the combat platform.
She stated that since she had cultivated six or seven years longer than An Rui, she would only use the physical strength of her Qi Refining stage body and refrain from using spiritual power. That way it would not count as bullying her junior sister.
Luo Shuiling’s words made An Rui feel deeply underestimated.
She said nothing, simply staring fixedly at Luo Shuiling.
Luo Shuiling, in front of all the disciples, sealed her own cultivation and left herself with only early Qi Refining strength.
At the elder’s command, An Rui drew her sword and charged at Luo Shuiling.
She was a genius of Pill Peak after all. Even though most of her time had been spent learning how to refine pills, she was still far stronger than ordinary disciples of the same generation.
Taking first place among Foundation Establishment disciples was the best proof of her ability. Facing an opponent who was merely at early Qi Refining—even if that opponent was the Sect Master’s personal disciple—she refused to believe she could not defeat her.
Yet as time passed and the number of exchanges increased, An Rui’s heart grew more and more alarmed. Even the hand gripping her sword began to tremble slightly.
No matter how fast she swung her sword, Luo Shuiling could easily block and neutralize every strike.
And every time Luo Shuiling attacked, An Rui could only dodge by the narrowest margin. Luo Shuiling always found the flaws in her swordplay.
So she stopped competing with sword techniques and created distance, intending to decide the match with spiritual techniques.
But strangely, Luo Shuiling’s speed suddenly exploded. She gave An Rui no time to release a killing move and instead closed in, forcing her to fight purely with sword strikes.
An Rui struggled desperately. Her entire skeleton creaked as if it would fall apart at any moment.
Just when she felt she could hold on no longer, Luo Shuiling主动 created distance again.
Though puzzled, An Rui did not overthink it.
Her stamina was almost completely exhausted. She could only rely on spiritual techniques to settle the outcome now.
Seizing the brief respite, she gathered every ounce of spiritual power in her body and unleashed her technique without reservation.
The explosion of spiritual power was scorching hot.
Feeling the rolling waves of heat rushing toward her, she narrowed her eyes and revealed a faint smile at the corner of her mouth.
A Qi Refining stage body could never withstand this move—she was certain.
But before the joy in her heart could fully rise, an indifferent voice came from behind her and plunged her into an ice cellar.
“Have you had enough?”
It was Luo Shuiling speaking.
An Rui spun around and slashed at her, but her vision suddenly blurred. The next instant she felt her body flying uncontrollably through the air.
The disguise mask on her face shattered as well.
She crashed heavily to the ground, took a long moment to recover, then struggled to her feet.
Looking up at Luo Shuiling standing on the platform, she felt the gap between them was impossibly vast.
When her disguise mask fell away, her true appearance was revealed.
Sharp-eyed disciples quickly recognized her as the fourth disciple of Pill Peak Elder Mu Nan—the new generation’s pill-refining genius.
The very disciples who had been cursing her for breaking the rules now began praising her instead, saying her combat strength was extraordinary and that she had dared to challenge the Sect Master’s personal disciple, Luo Shuiling, despite the difficulty.
An Rui paid them no attention.
She only stared fixedly at Luo Shuiling, who still stood on the platform, and declared word by word that she would definitely defeat her one day. Then she turned and left.
In the following period she repeatedly went to Sect Master Peak to challenge Luo Shuiling one-on-one.
Each time Luo Shuiling defeated her while using only early Qi Refining strength.
After many attempts over a long time, she gradually gave up the idea of defeating Luo Shuiling—because she was simply too strong.
No matter what method An Rui tried, she could not injure her in the slightest, and the gap in their cultivation continued to widen.
Later, when An Rui had free time she simply went to find Luo Shuiling to chat and play.
Perhaps because of loneliness, after An Rui had spoken to her a few times Luo Shuiling became willing to talk with her as well.
Their relationship grew closer and closer. Eventually they began calling each other sisters and became as close as best friends.
However, this was opposed by Mu Nan.
Luo Shuiling was a strong candidate to become the next Sect Master and would definitely clash with the disciples of the other elders. The factional struggles were far too complicated.
Ever since its founding, Pill Peak had remained neutral within the sect. They focused solely on refining pills and cared nothing about the struggle for the position of Sect Master, nor did they interfere.
If it had been an ordinary Pill Peak disciple befriending Luo Shuiling, it would have been fine. But An Rui was the most outstanding disciple in the peak; the next Peak Master would most likely be passed to her.
If things continued this way, Pill Peak’s tradition of neutrality might be broken.
Mu Nan could only issue a stern warning to An Rui.
An Rui agreed on the surface, yet whenever she had the chance she would still secretly go find Luo Shuiling.
After repeated occurrences, Mu Nan ran out of options.
She had considered simply giving up on An Rui, but the girl’s talent was truly too high—she could not bear to do it.
So Mu Nan made a three-point agreement with her: An Rui could only visit Luo Shuiling as a private individual, so as not to give others any grounds for gossip. In addition, she could not visit too frequently—only once every four months. Otherwise Mu Nan would have no choice but to confine her permanently.
Left with no alternative, An Rui agreed to Mu Nan’s conditions.
And so her friendship with Luo Shuiling continued and was preserved in this manner.