She hadn’t eaten well in years, and the dishes before her, fit for a high-end restaurant, made her eyes slightly redden.
"Master, thank you," she said softly.
Little Wei hadn’t expected her little disciple to be so polite.
"Eat more. Look how starved you are." Little Wei didn’t bring up Duan Lingyun’s past at all. From today onward, she was determined to protect this unlucky disciple of hers.
Lacking talent wasn’t the end of the world—it was still better than being an ordinary mortal with no chance at immortality.
Duan Lingyun devoured three large bowls of spirit rice before finally setting down her bowl with slight satisfaction.
Since spirit rice and spirit vegetables wouldn’t harm the stomach, Little Wei wasn’t worried about Duan Lingyun’s digestion, even after days of eating little.
"Want some more?" Little Wei glanced at the table—there was still plenty left.
Meanwhile, Song Huanqing had already eaten a bowl and a half of rice and couldn’t take another bite. She was busy clearing her small table.
"Master, isn’t this a bit too much?" Duan Lingyun felt a little embarrassed.
Cultivators naturally ate a lot, and Little Wei couldn’t care less. She had Song Huanqing fetch another large pot of rice—after all, she wasn’t full yet either.
Duan Lingyun’s ears turned red. She usually didn’t care about appearances, but for some reason, under her master’s gaze, she felt a little self-conscious.
Song Huanqing steamed another pot of spirit rice and ladled a full bowl onto the table for the two of them.
Little Wei scooped a generous portion for Duan Lingyun and placed it in front of her.
"Eat up. It’d be a waste to throw these dishes away." Little Wei refused to be the kind of person who left food uneaten.
Wasting food was unacceptable.
"Alright." Duan Lingyun, after all, hadn’t eaten her fill.
From the entrance trials until now, it had been nothing but hardship. Unlike other sects that emphasized combat, the Qingdao Sect tested willpower above all else—which was precisely why she had stood out among the newcomers.
Had she known the Qingdao Sect’s rice and vegetables were this delicious, or that the fish and meat were brimming with spiritual energy—warming and nourishing with every bite—she would’ve realized how inferior her past meals had been.
"Huanqing, make another meal tonight," Little Wei said contentedly, sprawling onto the warm jade bed. It was pure bliss.
"Oh, how old are you?" Little Wei suddenly remembered to ask Duan Lingyun’s age.
Up close, she realized her little disciple was even shorter than her—mostly because she was so thin that she appeared taller.
"Thirteen," Duan Lingyun replied, lowering her gaze.
"Then the others with you must be around the same age?" Little Wei mused, rubbing her chin.
"Yes. Ye Mingtian and I both came from Baizhou—we’ve known each other. He’s the same age as me. Cheng Yuguang is a year younger than both of us."
Hearing their ages, Little Wei’s headache worsened.
At their age, she had been playing in the mud in her village. No matter how talented these kids were, they couldn’t possibly be that scheming.
Could the demonic cultivator be among the earlier disciples?
Those recruited years ago had already reached Foundation Establishment, and the most exceptional among them had barely stepped into the Golden Core stage, becoming senior disciples of their respective peaks.
Could the problem lie with them?
The deeper Little Wei thought, the more she wanted to give up. With tens of thousands of disciples in the Qingdao Sect, finding one demonic cultivator was like searching for a needle in a haystack—easier to just let Si feast at her funeral.
"Little Nailuo, you can tell who the demonic cultivator is, right?" Little Wei whined pitifully.
Little Nailuo: ???
"I know," she said.
"Who? Who?" Little Wei immediately perked up.
"I can’t tell you." Little Nailuo poured cold water on her excitement.
Little Wei: ??
"If I told you, the readers would have nothing left to read. Your world would end right here and now," Little Nailuo said helplessly. It was the truth, after all.
Besides, Sister Si had warned her—aside from helping erase traces of her existence, she shouldn’t interfere.
This mission was something Little Wei could handle alone.
Hearing this, Little Wei fell silent.
"Fine. Guess I’ll just slack off then."
Despite her words, she still planned to visit the library pavilion the next day.
"By the way, start with the foundational techniques. See if you can improve your fire spiritual root’s potential. If you can reach Qi Refinement, even better."
Little Wei watched Duan Lingyun, who seemed equally anxious about this, nod eagerly.
"Then, Master, I’ll go back to meditate and regulate my breathing."
"No need. Stay here—sit on my bed." Little Wei pointed to the bed.
She had already tidied it up.
The warm jade bed was one of a kind in the world. Other warm jade pieces existed, but few were large enough to form an entire bed. It expelled impurities, enhanced cultivation speed, and improved physique—immensely beneficial for beginners.
Duan Lingyun, however, didn’t know this. She only felt that her master’s bed was different from hers.
Carefully, she spread a mat before sitting cross-legged, afraid of damaging it.
The moment she settled, the bed drew in surrounding spiritual energy. Duan Lingyun immediately began meditating, reciting the foundational techniques to unblock her meridians.
The first step was sensing spiritual energy. Once all her meridians were unblocked, she would officially step into the world of cultivation.
Little Wei watched from the side, chin in hand.
A child who hadn’t even reached Qi Refinement couldn’t possibly be the demonic cultivator. The other two were likely no different from Duan Lingyun.
After all, Duan Lingyun still had several unopened meridians.
Little Wei sat cross-legged on a straw mat, absorbing the world’s spiritual energy. She needed to solidify her foundation—at the very least, she had to be strong enough to face the demonic cultivator. The original owner’s unstable foundation could easily lead to disaster.
It was a strange experience. Little Wei saw countless glowing specks around her, but only the icy-blue ones drifted toward her.
A little cold.
The original owner’s ice affinity aligned somewhat with her soul, so absorbing these specks came effortlessly.
She even noticed how they nourished her soul.
This was the world of cultivation.
The benefits were so intoxicating that Little Wei didn’t want to leave.
High-tier worlds were nothing like ordinary ones—the rewards here far surpassed anything the system could offer.
By the time this mission ended, her soul might even solidify, unlike before, where she appeared human but would scatter at a touch, transparent at her core.
Just as Little Wei was about to sink into deep meditation, she heard Duan Lingyun cough up blood.
What the—?!
Her eyes flew open to see Duan Lingyun pale-faced, wiping blood from her lips with a handkerchief.
Little Wei: …
"Did you mess up your energy flow?" Little Wei didn’t know what to say.
Even she, who knew nothing about cultivation, wasn’t this clumsy.
Guess who the demonic cultivator is?
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