Su Ji probably didn't do it on purpose.

The city buzzed with noise, the cries of vendors rising and falling in a lively cacophony. It was far more bustling than the market near the Love-Longing Sect.

With no interest in idle wandering, the two of them cut straight through the crowded streets, heading toward the teleportation platform at the city center. After paying the required amount of spirit stones, Su Ji and Su Jiu stepped onto the platform one after another.

As the formation activated, a soft glow rose from beneath their feet, enveloping them both. In the final moment before their vision was swallowed by white light, Su Jiu’s gaze flickered toward Su Ji beside her.

He still wore that same composed, unreadable expression. The contours of his profile blurred slightly in the radiance.

Su Jiu slowly raised her left hand, her fingertips unconsciously brushing against the smooth, milky-white ring on her fourth finger.

She wasn’t stupid.

She understood the unspoken meaning behind Su Ji’s words.

What were the odds that the sect master would personally involve himself in this matter?

She didn’t believe it.

But so what?

Su Ji had already said it—she was one of his own.

And if she was one of his own, then being tricked by him… well, that wasn’t entirely unacceptable.

……

When the light faded, they had already arrived in the small town at the foot of the Love-Longing Sect’s mountain.

Su Ji suggested, “To avoid suspicion, we should return separately.”

But Su Jiu shook her head.

“No need.”

“Being too deliberate would only draw more attention.” She met his gaze calmly. “We’ll go back together and say we happened to meet on the road. What can anyone say?”

“Does any sect rule forbid fellow disciples from returning together after meeting outside?”

Su Ji raised an eyebrow, finding himself at a loss for a rebuttal.

This junior sister’s mind was getting sharper by the day.

And so, the two walked side by side toward the sect’s mountain gate.

The two gatekeepers were momentarily stunned to see Su Jiu accompanied by a male disciple. Still, they dutifully inspected their identity tokens.

“Su Ji, outer sect disciple.”

“Su Jiu, inner sect disciple.”

Both had records of leaving on assignments, so after verifying, the guards waved them through.

Only after they had walked away did one of the gatekeepers mutter under his breath,

“Weird. Didn’t Su Jiu shimei always keep to herself, never interacting with anyone?”

The other shot him a glance and replied dismissively,

“Why bother with that nonsense? We’re just gatekeepers—do our job and that’s it.”

“Besides, they just came back together. It’s not like they went to bed together.”

“Even if he had that thought, does he have the ability?”

“Even if he had the ability, would Su Jiu shimei indulge him?”

“No way.”

“Shixiong makes a fair point.”

……

The two walked in silence, soon arriving at Su Jiu’s elegant private courtyard.

The moment he stepped into the familiar surroundings, Su Ji felt his entire body relax.

But before he could fully exhale, the voice of the Heavenly Dao rang abruptly in his mind.

[Disciple Su Ji has achieved ‘Minor Reputation’!]

[Many cultivators have been astonished by your alias.]

[The first stage of the Path of the Heavenly Chosen—completed!]

[Reward granted: Three hours of enlightenment!]

Su Ji’s eyebrows shot up.

He had nearly forgotten about the ‘Path of the Heavenly Chosen’ that had mysteriously activated after killing the fat steward.

And now it suddenly decided to remind him?

Also, ‘Minor Reputation’?

Did his alias count toward his own fame?

Well, since Su Jiu—a living encyclopedia of cultivation—was right beside him, it’d be a waste not to ask.

Without hesitation, Su Ji strode straight into Su Jiu’s private chambers.

With the ease of someone returning home, he plopped down onto the soft bedding of her bed.

“Shimei, have you heard of the Path of the Heavenly Chosen?”

Su Jiu followed him inside, and though her lashes fluttered slightly at his brazenness, she showed no other reaction.

She first walked to the cabinet in the corner, carefully placing the bottles of pills, jade pendant, and short sword—looted from the Nascent Soul cave—into an exquisite wooden box.

“Shixiong, these items are valuable, but they’ll be tricky to sell. If handled carelessly, they could be traced back to us.”

“I’ll find a way to exchange them for spirit stones in the coming days.”

“If you’re worried I might pocket them, you could try selling them yourself in a black market, but I wouldn’t recommend—”

“It’s fine. I trust you to handle it.”

Su Jiu closed the box, touched by his confidence.

She then sat beside him on the bed.

A faint, delicate fragrance drifted into Su Ji’s nose.

Su Jiu frowned slightly, as if searching her memory.

“I’ve heard of it, but only bits and pieces.”

Suddenly, her eyes brightened with realization.

“So it was shixiong who activated the Path of the Heavenly Chosen in the sect last time?”

Su Ji hesitated, then nodded.

He felt a little cheated—he still didn’t know this junior sister inside out, yet she seemed to have unraveled nearly all his secrets.

When would he get to know her just as thoroughly? That’d be fair.

Of course, Su Jiu had no idea what indecent thoughts were running through his mind.

She earnestly explained, “From what I know, the conditions for triggering the Path of the Heavenly Chosen are elusive.”

“And it’s been absent for a long time—it’s a relic of ancient times…”

That made sense.

Great Xia was full of old monsters who barely reached the Golden Core stage even after five hundred years.

If they could be called ‘Heavenly Chosen,’ it’d be a joke.

“The most widely accepted theory is that one must accomplish something considered absolutely impossible for a cultivator of their current realm.”

“Only then can one be deemed a ‘Heavenly Chosen.’”

Su Ji chuckled. “So killing a sixth-level Qi Refiner at the fourth level counts as ‘impossible’?”

Su Jiu shook her head. “Not exactly. While it’s rare for Qi Refiners to kill opponents two levels higher, it’s not unheard of. There must have been other conditions at play that time?”

Su Ji thought back carefully.

That fight with the fat steward had been his first life-or-death battle against another cultivator. Not only had he won despite the level gap, but he’d emerged completely unscathed.

First battle. Higher-level opponent. No injuries.

Perhaps the combination of these factors had convinced the Heavenly Dao it was an “impossible feat.”

Su Jiu continued, “I recall an ancient text from my clan mentioning that the first stage of the Path of the Heavenly Chosen requires ‘Minor Reputation.’”

“Given the Heavenly Dao’s announcement earlier…”

“Shixiong must have already completed it, which is why you’re asking?”

There was no denying it—Su Jiu’s mind was sharp. She just occasionally had her logic disconnected by Su Ji.

“In the past, this stage was easy to fulfill. Major sects would spare no effort to build fame for their ‘Heavenly Chosen.’”

At this point, Su Jiu paused, as if struck by a crucial detail.

“I remember now…”

“The second stage is…”

“Achieving Heavenly Foundation Establishment!”

Su Ji reacted as if he’d just heard earth-shattering news. In his excitement, he suddenly clamped a hand onto Su Jiu’s smooth, firm thigh, squeezing with noticeable force.

“What’s Heavenly Foundation Establishment? Why have I never heard of it?”

Su Jiu’s entire body froze.

Where Su Ji's hand touched her, a jolt of electricity surged through, leaving her mind blank.

Su Jiu froze for several seconds.

By the time she regained her senses,

she wanted to push Su Ji's hand away.

But then another thought crossed her mind—

Would doing so seem too deliberate, too self-absorbed?

Su Ji probably didn’t mean anything by it.

His expression earlier had seemed more like a natural reaction in the heat of the moment.

Just human nature.

If she made a point of moving his hand, it might come across as her overthinking things—projecting her own assumptions onto him.