Writing a Letter

At noon, after classes ended at the cultivation hall on Qingyun Peak, Han Weishu tidied up her desk and hurried back to the dormitory with Tong Jialiang.

“Shu, why are you in such a hurry? Is something wrong?” Tong Jialiang asked as he jogged to catch up with her.

“I want to send a letter to my father,” Han Weishu replied.

She suddenly stopped and turned to look at Tong Jialiang, her eyes shining.

“Ah Liang, I advanced to the fifth level of Qi Refining last night!”

“Really? Congratulations!” Tong Jialiang was sincerely happy for her.

Back when he had first met Han Weishu, she had never told him her true background. She had mentioned, however, that her father possessed exceptional skills, yet despite being his only daughter, she had been unable to inherit his legacy because of her poor aptitude. She had also spoken of a talented senior apprentice brother.

Tong Jialiang had more or less understood her disappointment and the indifference she had pretended to feel.

It was only after they entered the Lingxian Sect that he learned she was actually the daughter of a cultivation sect’s master. Once he connected her past remarks with the path of cultivation, and combined that with what the sect’s seniors had often told them about the cultivation world and other cultivators, everything became clear to him.

Han Weishu smiled, her lips curving upward.

“Although I’m still far behind you, this pace is something I never would have dared imagine over the past dozen or so years. If my mother is watching over me from the afterlife, she must be very happy too.”

“I really think our sect is incredible! Just look at it. Forget our cultivation speed for a moment—even the speed at which the Lingxian Sect has developed from nothing over the past three years is something no other sect can compare with! I can’t speak for the sects beyond the Kingdom of Pu Si, but just look at my Qinghe Sect. Not only has it barely changed during the dozen or so years I grew up there, according to the elders in the sect, it had hardly developed at all for a long time even before I was born. The only time anything fresh or lively happened was when the sect recruited new disciples.”

“And as for the other two sects in the Kingdom of Pu Si—the Yunyan Cult and the Shangyang Sect—they’re even worse than the Qinghe Sect. Judging by the way our sect master and elders conduct themselves, our sect clearly has no intention of remaining content with the status quo! Who knows what it will become in the future? I want to write to my father and ask him to cultivate a good relationship with our sect master, so that the two sides can work closely together…”

It was not that Han Weishu looked down on her own sect. This was simply her firsthand impression. The Qinghe Sect truly could not compare with the Lingxian Sect. She felt that it would be best to persuade her father to board this promising ship while he still could.

Otherwise, if the Lingxian Sect really flourished in the future, her father might end up blaming her, his daughter and a disciple of the Lingxian Sect, for failing to secure any benefits for the family.

After hearing Han Weishu’s words, Tong Jialiang was also moved.

His cultivation was actually much higher than Han Weishu’s now, and higher than that of most of the disciples on Qingyun Peak.

Apart from disciples such as Liang Zhonghuai and Yuan Jinsheng, whose cultivation had already been quite advanced before they joined the sect, there were currently two disciples on Qingyun Peak who had begun cultivating from scratch and reached the ninth level of Qi Refining.

One was Baizhu. The other was Tong Jialiang.

The two of them had reached the ninth level of Qi Refining almost on the same day.

However, Baizhu had many friends, so everyone learned of his breakthrough within a couple of days.

Tong Jialiang, on the other hand, had told no one except Han Weishu.

Moreover, he usually wore the peach-leaf pendant issued by the sect, which could conceal his cultivation level. Thus, no one knew how strong he really was.

In theory, Lin Xiao could see it through the sect’s roster.

Unfortunately, Lin Xiao was a very busy man and had no time to keep an eye on the cultivation progress of the Qi Refining disciples on Qingyun Peak.

With so many instructors and seniors at the cultivation hall watching over them, nothing was likely to go wrong.

For Tong Jialiang, joining the Lingxian Sect had been a complete accident.

But now, he had found direction through cultivation.

In the past, because life had been so difficult, all he had wanted was to survive. As long as he and his uncle and aunt were safe and well, he had wanted nothing more.

Yet the pain and darkness he had endured clung to him like maggots in his bones. He could neither shake them off nor break free of them. In the dead of night, they became darkness that coiled around him.

But now, each day, he listened to the elders’ lectures on ancient history and cultivated the Primordial Essence Scripture. As his understanding of the cultivation method deepened step by step, the dark fog that had once trapped him seemed to disperse little by little.

Through cultivation, he gradually faced his past and slowly found himself again.

That was why he was deeply grateful for this unexpected opportunity, which had allowed him to embark on a path he had never once imagined before.

Here, he had found a place where he could settle down and build a life.

“You’re right, Shu. After hearing you say that, I’d also like to ask my uncle and aunt whether they’d be willing to move here and settle at the foot of the mountain,” Tong Jialiang said.

Seeing that he had reached the same conclusion, Han Weishu clasped her hands and smiled.

“Wouldn’t that be perfect? We can send letters home together. If your uncle and aunt are willing to come, I’ll ask my father to escort them here. That way, they won’t have to endure the hardships of traveling such a long distance away from home.”

“No, no, that would be too much trouble for your father. I can rent a small spirit boat from the sect and go fetch them myself.”

Tong Jialiang raised the hand bearing his storage ring.

“I’ve been helping Elder Xiaoluan at the beast garden lately, and she’s given me quite a lot of payment.”

Han Weishu thought about how much Elder Xiaoluan paid him each time his wages were settled and decided not to argue.

Tong Jialiang really had earned quite a lot recently—enough to make even her envious.

Speaking of which, the whole matter was rather strange.

When the beast garden first posted the task, quite a few disciples accepted it. Yet for some reason, Elder Xiaoluan dismissed every one of them after they had worked for only a couple of days, saying they were unsuitable.

Tong Jialiang alone had not only avoided dismissal, but also frequently received additional rewards from Elder Xiaoluan.

Whenever anyone asked him about it, he said he had no idea why. He simply did the work as instructed each day and finished it.

Liu Yunan had even asked Xiaoluan about it. Her answer was that Tong Jialiang did a good job. No matter how many times he asked, that was all she would say: He did a good job.

In any case, the work at the beast garden was being handled by one chicken, one person—and, oh yes, Da Tao as well. The three of them had managed perfectly well, so Liu Yunan stopped interfering.

“Alright. Let’s write our letters home first. Once we receive your uncle and aunt’s reply, we’ll go submit a request to Elder Liu for permission to leave the sect. I’ll accompany you when you go back. Having one more person means one more pair of helping hands.”

Remembering that, if Han Weishu had not accompanied him the last time he left the sect, he might have ended up dead and abandoned in that Thunderstone mine, Tong Jialiang nodded at once.

Even after beginning cultivation, one still could not afford to be careless. Senior Liao had said that regardless of one’s cultivation level, no one could predict when trouble or danger might strike while traveling outside. It was always better to take extra precautions.

After reaching an agreement, the two happily hurried back to their respective rooms to write their letters.

Once they had finished, they handed the letters to a disciple from the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall who was specifically responsible for delivering mail outside the sect.

The disciple accepted the letters and went down the mountain to Xiushui Village, where he left them at the courier station established by the local authorities for delivery.