I Bathe in Everyone's Expectations

My father rushed out of the house. He stared at the lingering trace of sword qi in the courtyard, his face full of astonishment.

My grandfather, with one foot already in the grave, somehow found the strength to sprint over to me in a few strides and hoist me high above his head.

Any sliver of doubt I had in my heart vanished in that instant.

That's right.

I was born to be the paragon of the sword, unparalleled under the heavens.

At that moment, I basked in the expectations of everyone around me.

I was incredibly dazzling.

...

When I was eighteen, I felt I was already invincible.

With nothing but my sword, I waved goodbye to my family and set off in search of the elusive path to immortality.

I walked a very, very long way.

Asking around along the journey, I finally found a minor sword sect called the Qingfeng Sect.

The sect wasn't large, but its mountain gate was built to be quite imposing.

The disciple guarding the gate saw me alone, looking a bit lackadaisical, and led me into the Registry Hall.

The one in charge of recruitment was an old man with a goatee. Rumor had it he was a mighty Foundation Establishment expert.

He told me to show him a few moves of my family's inherited sword art.

Without hesitation, I executed the sword art I had practiced for over a decade, my blade whistling fiercely through the air. With the final strike, a half-foot-long burst of sword qi flew out with a resonant hum, carving a shallow gash into a large bluestone on the ground.

I sheathed my sword and looked at him with my head held high, waiting for his praise.

The goateed old man slowly stroked his beard, not even bothering to lift his eyelids.

"Your innate talent is decent, but it's a pity. You're too old. You've missed the prime age for cultivation."

"How about this: you start as a handyman disciple. You'll be responsible for sweeping the sect's front courtyard, and you'll receive one low-grade spirit stone a month."

"If you're lucky, maybe one of the elders will take a liking to you and accept you as an in-name disciple."

I was dumbfounded on the spot.

A handyman disciple?

Sweeping floors?

I had practiced the sword for twelve years and painstakingly cultivated sword qi, just to come here and sweep floors?

Anger flared up inside me instantly. Gritting my teeth, I asked him if, with my talent, I couldn't even qualify as an outer sect disciple.

The goateed old man finally looked me straight in the eye, though his gaze was like he was looking at an idiot.

"Young man, cultivating immortality isn't playing house."

"You say you started practicing the sword at six and only cultivated your first strand of sword qi at sixteen. This kind of achievement might make you a big shot among mortals, but in our immortal sect, it ain't worth a damn."

"Which of the outer sect disciples in my Qingfeng Sect didn't draw qi into their bodies within three to five years? Who takes ten years like you?"

"You're already eighteen, and you're still one step short of Qi Condensation."

"Letting you be a handyman is already giving you face because you seem to have a bit of perseverance."

I didn't say another word.

I turned around and walked away.

The goateed old man called out from behind, "Young man, don't bite off more than you can chew!"

I didn't even look back.

Immortal destiny?

If my immortal destiny had to be bought by sweeping floors, then I'd rather not have it!

Just like that, I became a rogue cultivator.

In the beginning, life was indeed carefree.

The world was vast, and I could go wherever I pleased.

Relying on the sword in my hand, I slew a few unranked minor demonic beasts, exchanged them for some spirit stones, and lived quite comfortably.

Later, I met her.

She was also a rogue cultivator, knew a few spells, and was exceptionally beautiful.

We met in a market, almost coming to blows over an under-aged Mind-Calming Grass.

In the end, neither of us could best the other, and that lousy weed was casually snatched away by a passing Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Before leaving, he even rewarded each of us with a hard slap to the face.

Clutching our burning cheeks and looking at each other's sorry states, we couldn't hold back and both burst out laughing.

And just like that, in a muddled sort of way, we got to know each other.

We began to roam the world together.

During the day, we would go into the mountains to search for herbs, and at night, we would light a campfire.

I would practice my sword, and she would sit beside me, humming off-key little tunes.

Sharing the morning dew, singing in the evening dusk.

It was the happiest period of my life since I left home.

We found an abandoned cave, cleaned it up, and made it our temporary home.

Together, we painstakingly saved up our spirit stones, eventually pooling our money to buy the cheapest, most common cultivation manual. We shared it—she would read it today, and I would read it tomorrow.

I thought this kind of life could go on forever.

But I don't know when it started, the joy faded away.

Because we were rogue cultivators.

We had no sect to protect us, nor any stable source of spirit stones.

For a single spirit herb, we had to risk our lives against man-eating demonic beasts, all while guarding against other cultivators who would gladly stab us in the back.

First level of Qi Condensation...

Second level of Qi Condensation...

We climbed up level by level just like that. It took us another two and a half years to painstakingly reach the third level of Qi Condensation.

We lived ever more cautiously, and ever more miserably.

The smiles on her face also grew fewer by the day.

That day, we had a stroke of dumb luck. In an exceptionally hidden valley, we discovered a Crimson Sun Flower that was about to mature.

That thing was a treasure that even Foundation Establishment cultivators would fight tooth and nail for.

Like thieves, we lay prone outside the valley for three days and three nights, not even daring to blink, until we finally waited for it to fully bloom.

Just as we held our breath, carefully plucked the Crimson Sun Flower, and prepared to make a clean getaway...

Five silhouettes blocked our path.

They wore identical uniforms—disciples of a nearby sect called the Blazing Fire Sect.

The leader was a burly man at the middle stage of Qi Condensation. His eyes were glued to the Crimson Sun Flower in our hands, practically drooling.

I subconsciously shielded her behind me, gripping the sword in my hand in a death grip.

"Everything should be on a first-come, first-served basis, right?"

The burly man let out a bark of laughter, sounding incredibly arrogant. "You're trying to reason with me? Do you even deserve to?"

"Does this look like a reasonable situation to you?"

I didn't bother wasting any more breath on him. I raised my sword and thrust it forward.

At the same time, she formed hand seals, and several ice spikes radiating cold air shot toward the others with a whoosh.

But in the end, we were just rogue cultivators.

Our cultivation method was garbage; our spells were cheap street wares.

My sword was caught by the burly man with just two fingers. He lifted a foot and kicked me flying directly.

Her ice spikes were casually shattered by the other men, who were grinning mischievously.

Coughing up blood, I scrambled up from the ground, just in time to see her struck down by a palm strike, a trace of blood hanging from the corner of her mouth.

In that instant, my mind buzzed and exploded.

I forgot everything, I didn't care about anything anymore. Like a maddened beast, I roared and charged at them again.

The result was an even worse beating.

My sword snapped.

Several of my ribs were stomped and broken.

Lying on the ground like a dead dog, I could only watch helplessly as the burly man walked toward her step by step.

His hand reached for the Crimson Sun Flower she was clutching tightly to her chest.

She protected it, refusing to let go.

"You don't know what's good for you."

The burly man snorted coldly, his face losing all patience. "You're really pissing me off like this."

He turned back and gave his fellow disciples a wicked grin.

"Brothers, how about we take turns having some fun with her? Whoever can make her let go gets the lion's share of this Crimson Sun Flower. What do you say?"

Just as his voice fell.

"Boom!"

She self-destructed.

A sky full of flesh, blood, and fragments of the Crimson Sun Flower rained down like a crimson shower.

That meager explosive power couldn't even tear their clothes.

It only earned an impatient curse.

"What rotten luck!"

The immense shock and pain made my vision go black, and I passed out completely.

When I woke up again, her voice seemed to echo in my ears.

"Xianxian, wake up..."

I opened my eyes.

It was her figure.

Under the moonlight, she was translucent, drifting and ethereal.

She said this was her destiny; her physical body was gone, but she could still live on by converting into a 'Ghost Cultivator'.

However, she was only at the Qi Condensation realm. Her soul was so weak that a mere gust of wind could scatter it.

She needed a vessel that could nourish her soul.

For the first time, I tasted what it meant to be 'poor'. That bone-deep sense of powerlessness hurt more than my broken ribs.

I emptied all my savings from over the years, and finally, in a black market, I bought the cheapest Ice-attribute cultivation technique and began to switch my path.

Yin attributes are suitable for a soul to reside in.

From that day on, I became an 'Evil Cultivator' in the eyes of others.

And it was also from that day on...

The gears of destiny began to turn.

She said it was too difficult for me to earn resources alone, and that I couldn't support both of us.

Thus, she began to study day and night, delving into talismans, formations, artifact forging, and pill refining that I couldn't comprehend at all...

When my sword broke, she would find a way to forge a new one for me.

When I obtained spirit herbs, she would refine them into pills for me...