Ignored, Su Ji Decides to Play by Herself for a While.

Su Jiu didn’t have time to ponder how much exaggeration lay in those words.

Her wrist was seized by an unyielding force.

The warmth of the touch made her heart skip a beat.

"Senior Brother, you—"

"Don’t speak. Stick to the plan. Your senior brother is barely holding on—help me back to the Love-Longing Sect."

Su Ji’s voice instantly turned frail, as if he were on the verge of collapsing.

"Once we enter the mountain gate, act as if I’m a dying waste. Just hold me steady."

"Remember, you must support me firmly with both hands."

Seeing how seriously he was acting, Su Jiu was filled with doubt. But recalling how eerily accurate Su Ji’s past predictions had been, she gritted her teeth and nodded.

"Fine."

...

At the mountain gate of the Love-Longing Sect.

The massive sect-protecting formation loomed like an inverted glass bowl, enveloping the entire sect in an aura of unsettling spiritual energy.

The gatekeepers, spotting the two, wore grave expressions and scrutinized them more strictly than usual.

Su Jiu presented her token.

Su Ji, meanwhile, leaned most of his weight on her, letting her drag him along step by step.

His face was ghastly pale, lips cracked, breath faint—the very picture of a man on death’s doorstep.

After verifying the token, one of the gatekeepers frowned at Su Ji.

But with Su Jiu, a newly promoted inner disciple, present, he dared not question further and waved them through.

The moment they crossed the gate—

A terrifying pressure, vast as a collapsing sky, crashed down without warning.

Though not directed at anyone, it was far from restrained.

The two nearest gatekeepers shuddered as if struck by lightning, their knees buckling.

At the source of the pressure, a figure in pristine white robes materialized silently.

At a glance, her bearing was elegant, her presence peerless.

But upon closer inspection, faint traces of age and weariness lingered beneath the surface.

This was the Love-Longing Sect’s Sect Master.

She had arrived.

Exactly as Su Ji had foreseen in his [Heaven’s Gaze] vision.

The only difference was Su Ji’s current posture.

Half his body hung limply over Su Jiu, head bowed as if he lacked even the strength to lift it, relying entirely on her as a "crutch."

The Sect Master’s gaze swept over them briefly before settling on Su Jiu. A flicker of surprise, barely noticeable, passed through her clouded eyes.

Yet she did not strike immediately, as Su Ji had foreseen.

Su Ji steadied himself inwardly.

Just as he’d predicted.

With great effort, he raised his head, trembling violently, voice hoarse.

"Outer disciple Su Ji… greets the Sect Master. Forgive this disciple… hiss… groan…"

He sucked in a sharp breath, as if the motion had aggravated a mortal wound, hunching slightly before continuing.

"Forgive this disciple for failing to bow… due to injuries…"

The Sect Master ignored his explanation, her voice cool and detached.

"What happened?"

Su Ji shivered again, seemingly cowed by her presence, stammering his reply.

"R-reporting to the Sect Master… This disciple… accepted a sect mission outside… but was ambushed by a Golden Core demon beast… nearly… nearly didn’t make it back…"

As he spoke, he feigned a fearful glance toward the north, though his "injuries" made even this small motion a struggle.

"Luckily… Su Jiu, my junior sister, happened upon me and lent her aid… barely scraped through with my life…"

The Sect Master’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

Something felt off.

But she couldn’t pinpoint what.

Then it struck her.

Her frosty gaze bypassed Su Ji entirely. "Who asked you?"

Su Ji: "..."

She locked onto Su Jiu instead.

"Su Jiu. How are you already at the Golden Core realm?"

Her tone carried a sharp edge of scrutiny.

Her memory was flawless.

Talented disciples always caught her attention.

Su Jiu, with her outstanding aptitude, had naturally left an impression.

Yet not long ago, this very disciple had only been at the fifth layer of Foundation Establishment.

How long had it been since her last recollection?

The exact timeframe eluded her—for Golden Core cultivators, time was measured in years.

But by any count, it hadn’t even been a full year.

And now, she had ascended straight to Golden Core?

Such speed was unheard of.

Even the late Elder who had self-detonated above the sect not long ago—

Even he had taken thirty years to reach Golden Core!

And Su Jiu—how old was she now?

An eighteen-year-old Golden Core cultivator?

Since when did the Love-Longing Sect harbor such a prodigy?

Though…

What was this unseemly display of clinging to some random outer disciple?

The Sect Master’s spiritual sense swept over Su Ji discreetly.

This time, her frown deepened.

The outer disciple was indeed unremarkable.

His spiritual roots had been severed.

Focused solely on the Dao.

Unlikely to stir trouble over romantic entanglements.

But…

The wounds where his roots had been severed—why were they so crude?

The torn edges didn’t resemble clean cuts from a blade. More like… they’d been crushed by a hand?

She could almost make out the imprint of fingers in the jagged breaks.

Were the disciples nowadays this reckless?

Did they not fear sowing resentment that might fester into future vengeance?

Her gaze returned to Su Jiu, now laced with even sharper suspicion.

"Care to explain how you forged your Golden Core?"

"And what grade it is?"

Su Ji, feeling thoroughly ignored, began amusing himself on the side.

Su Jiu’s brows knitted tightly.

The Sect Master mistook her reaction for offense. "If your method is sound, the sect will spare no resources to nurture you."

"The next Love-Longing Sect Master could very well be you."

"Don’t misunderstand my caution. Just yesterday, spies from another sect used illusions to fake the death of our Elder."