The body of an ordinary person is like an empty alchemical furnace. Drawing spiritual energy from the heavens and earth into the body is akin to refining elixirs within the furnace, thereby triggering various Immortal Techniques and Mystic Arts. Those with greater talent possess superior furnaces, as if capable of refining countless magical pills and elixirs—they can master numerous Advanced Immortal Techniques. Those with average talent, much like how one shouldn't expect to refine elixirs with an ordinary furnace, are limited by the quality of their innate gifts. Even with utmost effort, success is uncertain, and there may even be life-threatening dangers. In the path of cultivation, fairness was never a consideration.
This was what her Master had once told her. Back then, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't sense the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth. Her Master would pat her head and sigh: "You lack talent. Don't force it."
Li Fei pinched a Water Element Talisman between her fingers, closed her eyes, and focused all her attention on her vision. This was the "simplest" method the Nine-tailed Fox had taught her.
A moment later, when she opened her eyes again, the world had transformed. She couldn't quite articulate the difference, but every gust of wind, every blade of grass seemed brimming with vibrant energy—glimmering, swirling, visible yet somehow intangible, all of it indescribably subtle.
Across from her stood a massive tree so wide it would take five people to encircle it. She could even see its intricate network of veins, stretching from the roots deep underground to the canopy above.
The Water Element Talisman emitted an astonishing chill between her fingers. Instinctively, Li Fei aimed it at the tree and released it—the talisman shot forth like an arrow from a bow, landing with a crisp "snap" against the trunk. A flash of icy light erupted, and in an instant, the tree was encased from top to bottom in layers of frost.
She exhaled slowly. Within the unseen Eight Extraordinary Meridians of her body, it felt as if warm water was gently swirling. Countless pores across her skin seemed to breathe, drawing in something warm and viscous that filled her meridians—an entirely new sensation, yet not unpleasant. Within moments, this strange feeling faded away.
Only now did she truly understand: she wasn’t untalented. She was simply... different from them.
"The furnace analogy is somewhat interesting, but your Master is also a fool. Ordinary people have empty furnaces, so of course they need to draw in spiritual energy and go through those tedious steps of circulation and breathing. Your furnace has been full since birth—how can you stuff more into an already full vessel? Besides, whenever your spiritual energy is depleted, your body naturally replenishes it. Hmph, these fools... what a waste! Blind to true treasure!"
The fox sat proudly on her shoulder, its lecturing tone making it seem more like a proper teacher than that Hu Jiaping.
Li Fei stared with mixed emotions at the tree frozen solid in layers of ice. His words troubled her.
"Um... what do you mean by 'a waste'? And 'blind to true treasure'?" She couldn’t hold back her questions.
The fox replied indifferently, "Why ask so much? Your worries are resolved anyway. At your age, overthinking will only shorten your lifespan!"
How vicious! Was that a curse? Li Fei raised a finger, intending to flick him secretly, but his body suddenly dissipated like smoke, startling her.
"I’ve reached my limit and must sleep for ten more days. If I wake to find you sniveling like a coward again, I’ll pluck out all your hair!"
His voice, too, faded like smoke, growing faint until it vanished entirely.Li Fei hurriedly said, "Wait a moment! What should I call you?" She couldn't keep calling him "old sir," could she?
His voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum: "...You may call me Ri Yan for now."
Why "for now"? She waited a while longer, but the hoarse voice didn't speak again—he must have really gone to sleep. She looked down at the Curse Seal in her hand, then at the frozen tree, and a sudden excitement seized her body—she had done it! Those Curse Seals she could never use before, that Inner Breath she could never circulate—so this was how it worked!
As for who she was or what her identity might be, she couldn't be bothered to think about it anymore. Ri Yan was right—thinking too much at such a young age would shorten her lifespan. Right now, she just needed to be happy.
Li Fei sprinted back to her room, yanked the Stone Sword off the wall, and turned to dash back into the vast night.
By dawn, the children had gathered as usual in the open space of the Disciple Room. Baili Gelin looked around but didn't see Li Fei and grew anxious. "Has Li Fei not arrived yet? She must have skipped dinner yesterday! Xiu Yuan, you live in the same courtyard—didn't you see her?"
Lei Xiuyuan replied, "How would I know?"
His tone was calm, as if he couldn't care less. Baili Gelin glared at him unhappily. "How can you be so indifferent about Li Fei?"
Lei Xiuyuan said flatly, "You're noisy."
"...What did you say?" Baili Gelin was stunned. Was this really Lei Xiuyuan? What had he just said? Was this something Lei Xiuyuan would say?
Lei Xiuyuan turned away indifferently. "You're not deaf."
Just then, Ye Ye and Baili Changyue came running over, sighing. "We've looked everywhere—the Thousand Fragrance Chamber and the nearby courtyards—Li Fei isn't there."
Baili Gelin's mind was still struggling to process what had just happened. She stared blankly at Lei Xiuyuan for a long moment before suddenly snapping back to reality, her temper flaring. "And here you are, calling her 'Big Sis' all day long, relying on her to stand up for you when there's trouble, but the moment something happens to her, you don't care at all! At least I went looking for her! I asked about her! What about you?!"
Everyone was startled by her sudden outburst. Ye Ye blinked in confusion. "Why are you suddenly so angry?"
Lei Xiuyuan's eyes reddened, and large tears rolled down his cheeks. "I... I just... Big Sis is so strong, what could I possibly do to help her?"
Seeing his pitiful, tearful act, Baili Gelin was furious. "Who are you putting on this act for?! What happened to what you just said?!"
Lei Xiuyuan began sobbing uncontrollably. Ye Ye, unsure of the reason for their argument, could only step in to mediate, pulling him aside. "Alright, what's the point of you two arguing like this?"
Baili Gelin's face flushed red with anger. Normally quick-witted, she now found herself at a loss to explain Lei Xiuyuan's two-faced behavior. He was crying as if his father had died, while the others, unaware of the truth, pointed fingers at her, making her seem like a bully.
Just then, Hu Jiaping's voice suddenly rang out beside them. "What's with all the crying so early in the morning?"
The children jumped in surprise—this teacher was always appearing out of nowhere!
Hu Jiaping glanced around, eyebrows raised. "Hmm, someone's missing."
Baili Gelin immediately forgot her anger at Lei Xiuyuan and blurted out, "She'll be here any moment!"Hu Jiaping ignored her, muttering to himself as if lost in thought, "That little girl who couldn't learn sword flying yesterday, right? Hmm, if she still can't do it today, it'll be forty taels per meal. Plus she's late—fifty taels per meal. Her family must be quite wealthy, no?"
"Hey!" Baili Gelin found this utterly unbelievable. "Don't spout nonsense! How can you fine someone like that?"
"Why not?" Hu Jiaping looked at her innocently. "The Academy won't raise freeloaders for free."
"How can you say such..." Baili Gelin's angry retort was muffled by Ye Ye, who covered her mouth and whispered, "Arguing with the instructor—are you insane? Calm down and look up."
She instinctively raised her head. Amidst the gauzy mist, a streak of golden light flashed by. In the blink of an eye, it was close enough to discern its outline—a sword with a figure standing atop it, clad in white robes and a red skirt, petite and slender. It seemed to be the belated Jiang Lifei.
Hu Jiaping narrowed his eyes and let out an "Oh." She was flying incredibly fast—at a speed comparable to that of formal disciples from ordinary Immortal Sects.
In the span of a single breath, the sword landed on the island. Lifei jumped down nimbly, one hand clutching a large paper bag, the other holding a half-eaten bun, crumbs still clinging to her cheeks. The light, flowing red skirt had been rudely hitched up and tied around her waist, revealing trousers underneath. Whether she had stayed up all night was unclear, but her eyes were bloodshot, and her hair was a mess. Famished, she wolfed down the food, too preoccupied to even sheathe her sword, which hovered behind her.
"...I'm not late, am I?" Lifei asked cautiously after finally swallowing the vegetarian bun. The food stalls on the northern island hadn't opened for a long time, and she had waited forever, starving to the point of feeling hollow. When the green-scaled female monsters finally opened shop, she grabbed a bag of vegetarian buns and bolted—though it seemed she might still be slightly late.
Hu Jiaping tilted his head thoughtfully, a playful smile gracing his handsome face. "Not late," he said lightly. "Just on time."
This was favoritism! Ji Tongzhou huffed indignantly. Just because she learned sword flying overnight! She was clearly late, yet the instructor was covering for her!
"That's good." She sighed in relief. Being late would have meant ten taels per meal, plus three consecutive days of fines—utterly terrifying.
"Lifei!" Baili Gelin was overjoyed, rushing over to hug her. "You scared me to death! Did you stay up all night practicing sword flying? Your eyes are all red!"
Lifei rubbed her eyes and shook her head. "It's fine. I'm not tired."
She handed over the paper bag. "I just got these buns—still warm. Have some."
Baili Gelin sighed in relief, brushing the crumbs off Lifei's face with a smile. "You're like a wild boy. How can you hike up your skirt like that? Everyone can see!"
There were trousers underneath anyway. Lifei glanced down. She didn’t like wearing skirts—they always clung to her during sword flying or billowed up, getting in the way. It was so much better before, wearing Master’s altered clothes with her hair tied up, neat and simple.
Lei Xiuyuan approached timidly, his eyes watery and red—had he been crying again?
"Big Sis," he called softly. "You’ve learned sword flying. Congratulations."
Lifei nodded, then couldn’t help asking, "Why were you crying again this early in the morning?"Lei Xiuyuan forced a smile. "I overslept today and didn’t have time to look for you, Big Sis. I’m sorry, please don’t take it to heart."
Baili Gelin glared at him, snorted, and turned her head away without saying a word.
Seeing the situation, Li Fei guessed that Gelin and Lei Xiuyuan had some disagreement. Not knowing how to mediate, she could only pat Lei Xiuyuan on the shoulder. "Have some buns."
Lei Xiuyuan murmured, "Yesterday, I should have thought to sneak some food for you, Big Sis. After all, Gelin and Ye Ye live far away, while you and I are closest..."
"Hey! Is that what you just said?!" Baili Gelin flared up. "Do you dare repeat what you told me earlier in front of everyone?! What’s the point of stirring up trouble like this?"
Lei Xiuyuan sniffled and wiped his tears. "Gelin, don’t be angry... I was wrong..."
Li Fei was completely lost. On one side, Baili Gelin’s face was flushed with rage, while on the other, Lei Xiuyuan’s incessant crying was driving her up the wall. Thankfully, the ever-reliable Ye Ye stepped in to smooth things over. "Gelin, why are you so worked up today? We’ve known each other for so long—you shouldn’t talk like that."
"You didn’t hear what he just said! The way he was acting earlier... crying, crying, crying! Do you think pretending to be pitiful and shedding tears all day will make everyone take your side?!"
Baili Gelin couldn’t even find the words to describe Lei Xiuyuan’s behavior earlier—it was like he was a completely different person from now. But with him bawling as if mourning his parents, she looked like nothing more than a bully. A lump of frustration lodged in her chest, making her hands tremble with anger. She resented the others for failing to see the truth. Finally, she flung her hand dismissively and stormed off.
Baili Changyue stared at Lei Xiuyuan for a moment before suddenly speaking up. "This is the second time."
Second time for what? Li Fei was baffled, but no one offered an explanation. Baili Changyue caught up with Baili Gelin, wrapping an arm around her, and the two walked away slowly.
Ye Ye shot Li Fei a look, signaling her to comfort Lei Xiuyuan while he went after Baili Gelin.
Li Fei sighed helplessly as she looked at Lei Xiuyuan. His eyes were red, his expression full of grievance and timidity. Even after entering the Academy, he hadn’t changed. Despite growing taller and more refined in appearance, he still seemed like the little beggar she had first met in Lu Gongzhen—if anything, he had become even more tearful and cowardly than before.
"Xiuyuan, what happened just now?" She sat on the ground and patted the grass, gesturing for him to join her. "What did you say to Gelin?"
Lei Xiuyuan sobbed and mumbled, "N-nothing... They blamed me for not looking out for you, Big Sis."
Something so trivial? Li Fei sighed, at a loss for words.
"I live closest to you, Big Sis, so I should take care of you," he sniffled. "Gelin was right to scold me. They live farther away and can’t always be there for everything."
The more Li Fei listened, the more something felt off. She tilted her head, silently watching Lei Xiuyuan without speaking.
He continued, "But deep down, I always thought you were so strong, Big Sis... that there wasn’t much I could do to help..."
"Why do you always put yourself in the position of the weak?" Li Fei cut him off. "You have talent, friends, and you’ve entered the Academy. You’re already stronger than countless others—even stronger than me."
Lei Xiuyuan hastily shook his head. "How could I ever compare to you, Big Sis!""You always say that, but I don't feel like I'm anything special." Li Fei looked at him. "My Master once said that truly remarkable people don't need this kind of adulation. Satisfaction doesn't come from being idolized by others."
"...But in my heart..."
"You should recognize your own talents in your heart." Li Fei interrupted him. "Everything around you changes, yet you remain exactly the same. It's because you don't want to change."
Lei Xiuyuan fell silent, his head bowed, long eyelashes still wet with tears, saying nothing.
"To be honest, I haven't really taken care of you at all. I don't like being put on such a high pedestal by you. Because you're our friend, we're equals."
Lei Xiuyuan said softly, "You... don't like being praised or admired?"
Li Fei thought for a moment. "I do like it, but I have to keep reminding myself that it's all fake. If you start believing the fake is real, that's when you're truly doomed."
Lei Xiuyuan seemed to laugh, though she wasn't sure if she imagined it. After a long pause, he spoke quietly, "That sounds so noble."
"Hmm?" She tilted her head. "Feeling better now? Go apologize to Ge Lin."
"No," Lei Xiuyuan stood up, brushing the dust off his clothes, his voice indifferent. "I'm leaving. I'm done playing."
Li Fei stared in astonishment at his retreating back. What was wrong with him? Had she said something wrong?
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