Talk the toughest, act the toughest, swear the dirtiest

Li Xingtian's tightly shut eyes suddenly snapped open.

A surge of intense spiritual energy rippled from his body.

Haaah...

He took a deep breath—everything had gone smoothly, without any strange mishaps.

The Golden Core had successfully formed as well. Li Xingtian inspected the core within himself, then let out a heavy sigh.

It wasn’t that the quality of the core was lacking—in fact, this lifetime’s Golden Core far surpassed the one from his previous life.

But... this core wasn’t golden. Instead, it was a deep crimson, faintly exuding a...

Master, are you sure I’m not cultivating demonic arts?

Ah, whatever. He’d trust his master one more time. Once he reached the Nascent Soul stage, everything should turn out fine.

Li Xingtian stood up and stretched his limbs. He hadn’t suppressed his spiritual fluctuations during the breakthrough, so his master should have sensed it. Why hadn’t he come to check on him?

Pushing the door open, he stepped outside.

Soon, he spotted Li Yingling sitting alone on a stone bench by the water’s edge.

His usually lively and mischievous senior sister now looked utterly dejected.

The infectious smile that once brightened everyone’s day had been replaced by a cloud of sorrow.

Li Xingtian swept the area with his spiritual sense—no sign of his master or junior sister. Had something happened?

Why was only his senior sister left here, looking so troubled?

He hurried over. "Senior Sister, what’s wrong?"

"Ah..." Li Yingling turned to look at him, forcing a strained smile. "Nothing’s wrong. Did you... form your Golden Core?"

"Yeah."

Li Xingtian sat down across from her, studying her weary expression. He couldn’t help but press further.

"Senior Sister, you don’t look like nothing’s wrong."

"I just didn’t sleep well."

Li Xingtian: "..."

His breakthrough to the Golden Core stage hadn’t taken that long. Given his senior sister’s cultivation level, even if she hadn’t slept at all, she shouldn’t be in such a state.

Her excuse was flimsy at best.

If she wouldn’t talk, he’d just ask his master instead.

Li Xingtian changed the subject. "Then, Senior Sister, where are Master and Junior Sister?"

"They went out to buy some things. They’ll probably be back soon..."

Li Yingling turned back to gaze at the rippling pond, her voice calm but distant.

"Junior Brother, can you let me have some quiet time for now?"

Li Xingtian immediately fell silent. Faced with his senior sister in this state, he could only awkwardly stand up and leave.

But he didn’t have to wait long.

Chu Xingchen soon returned to the sect with Chen Baiqing in tow.

Standing by the stone gatepost, Li Xingtian quickly approached them.

Before he could speak, Chu Xingchen tossed him a long saber and said,

"Perfect timing—you’re awake!"

Catching it, Li Xingtian immediately recognized it as an exceptional weapon, leagues better than the rusted scrap sword his senior sister had given him before.

Though not exactly a treasure, within their sect, it was undoubtedly top-tier.

Was this Master’s gift for reaching the Golden Core stage? It might not be expensive, but it was rare for his master to show such thoughtfulness.

Just as he looked up in appreciation, he noticed the grave expressions on his master and junior sister’s faces. His heart sank.

"Master, did something happen?"

"Mn! We’re setting out to avenge your senior sister!"

Avenge Senior Sister?

Li Xingtian was taken aback. He glanced back at Li Yingling, still seated on the stone bench...

Chu Xingchen patted his second disciple’s shoulder. "It’s about your senior sister’s former home."

Li Xingtian suddenly understood. "Senior Sister’s family was attacked by bandits...?"

"No. This time, we’re the ones playing the bandits!"

"What?!"

Chu Xingchen lightly tapped Chen Baiqing’s head, signaling her to explain to her senior brother.

Then, he walked over to Li Yingling, still sitting motionless on the bench.

Placing the finest sword he had chosen on the stone table, Chu Xingchen said,

"This blade is the best one I could find for you."

Li Yingling glanced at it before lowering her head again.

"Master... I still haven’t made up my mind."

Her feelings toward her family were complicated.

All her attachment to that place hinged on her mother—the only person who had ever truly cared for her. Her mother had been a lowly maidservant in the Li household, a mistake made by the family head in a drunken stupor.

But that "mistake," as her mother called it, was nothing more than disgrace in the family head’s eyes.

Though it had only happened once, it resulted in Li Yingling’s birth. But unless the family head openly acknowledged it, no one would ever treat it as legitimate.

Her mother’s dream of rising in status never came true. Even her position as a servant never changed—though no one dared order her around anymore.

From the moment she was born until she grew up, no one in the Li household ever recognized Li Yingling’s existence. Even her name had been given by her mother.

Li Yingling—"Responding to Heaven’s Spirit, moved by its sincerity."

It was a phrase the Ancestral Grandmother often chanted during incense offerings. Back then, her mother had been the Ancestral Grandmother’s attendant.

Most of the prayers were incomprehensible to her mother, but this one line was always spoken with the utmost clarity and devotion.

Her mother had never been educated, but she still wanted the best for her child.

The Ancestral Grandmother was the highest-status person her mother had ever interacted with, and this phrase was the most sacred thing she knew.

So, Yingling became her name.

Her mother had only told her this during her final days.

But Li Yingling understood—her mother had hoped that, in some small way, this name might tie her to the Li family. In her illiterate mother’s eyes,

maybe, just maybe, it would be enough for the Lis to accept her.

To Li Yingling, the Li household was nothing more than towering walls and a mother who bowed her head to everyone.

But her mother had loved her. So, so much.

When her mother was alive, she had been happy. Her mother would sneak books for her to read or hide a piece of candy as a surprise.

The Li household was a terrible place—but it had once held the most wonderful person in her life.

Some memories are like that. When you don’t think of them, they mean nothing.

But when you do, they become merciless blades, carving you apart.

Especially when you’ve finally grown strong enough to face them head-on.

Li Yingling lowered her head slightly, feeling something wet on her cheeks.

Chu Xingchen looked at his eldest disciple, who had been moping ever since he’d initially refused to take her to the capital.

This was a deeply buried knot in her heart—but a knot was still a knot. As her master, now that he had the means, he would untie it for her.

Softly, he said, "Don’t cry. Your master will make things right. Just think of it as... visiting your mother again."

Gripping the sword on the table, Li Yingling responded with a thick voice,

"Okay..."

She wanted to give her mother an answer.

Even if the Li family never acknowledged her, she could still live well.

She had met a master who treated her as kindly as her mother once had.

Maybe this, too, was fate’s arrangement?

Just like how she had met her master at her most desperate moment.

"Master, are we almost there?"

Chen Baiqing poked her head out of the extravagant spirit-beast-drawn carriage their master had rented for appearances’ sake, staring wide-eyed at the towering city walls ahead.

It was a sight she’d never seen before.

Chu Xingchen glanced at Li Xingtian, who was meditating beside him, and muttered,

"Damn it, Xingtian—you get it, right?"

The spirit stones were flowing like water!

The effect had better be worth it!

Li Xingtian opened his eyes and gave a slight nod.

"Speak the fiercest words, do the fiercest deeds, and hurl the foulest curses!"