Half a shichen earlier.
Watching the wild wind outside, Ye Luqing, who had intended to go out and practice swordsmanship, retreated back inside.
Lying on her bed, she wanted to relax her mind in the comfortable environment but simply couldn’t calm down.
With her thoughts in turmoil, she inexplicably opened the System.
[Name: Pei Ruyi]
[Cultivation: Early Nascent Soul Stage]
[Blackening Value: 48%]
[Devilification Value: None]
[Corruption Value: 100% (Second Stage)]
She stared silently at Pei Ruyi’s stats. If there were an “Affection” value added there, Pei Ruyi’s affection for her would surely have plummeted to rock bottom.
She focused her intent on the “+” sign behind the “Corruption Value” data. Pei Ruyi’s Corruption Value had reached the second stage this morning, but she hadn’t been in the mood to claim it then.
With the Sect Grand Tournament approaching, claiming the second-stage talent reward could be considered a way to squeeze the last bit of utility from Pei Ruyi as a warm-up.
In the next second, the interface suddenly changed.
[Corruption Value: 1% (Third Stage)]
[You can now randomly acquire one of Pei Ruyi’s talents. Proceed?]
“Acquire.”
Ye Luqing watched the flickering purple system box with a flat expression, feeling no joy in her heart.
Recalling the anticipation she’d felt when first acquiring Pei Ruyi’s talent, the guilt now washed that memory pale.
After a moment, the scrolling screen for talent extraction stopped.
[Congratulations, Host! You have acquired the talent: “Willows Dark, Flowers Bright.”]
[Willows Dark, Flowers Bright: When in a crisis, increases the probability of turning danger into safety and finding a way out.]
Willows Dark, Flowers Bright?
The talent’s effect was straightforward, but what did it have to do with Pei Ruyi?
Before Ye Luqing could react further, a memory flooded into her mind.
This was a memory from Pei Ruyi’s childhood. Perhaps due to the passage of time, the images were blurry, leaving only some relevant background information.
Pei Ruyi was born into an aristocratic family in the Heavenly Light Dynasty—the Pei Family, which barely passed as a Second-Rank Power.
According to the hierarchy of powers in the Immortal Cultivation World, Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators qualified to establish sects.
But whether Golden Core or Nascent Soul, they were still cultivators of the Lower Four Realms, unworthy of true prestige, only the most insignificant Third-Rate Sects.
However, once a sect produced a Spirit Transformation powerhouse, it entered the transcendent Upper Four Realms, gaining a proper foothold in the Immortal Cultivation World. The entire sect would rise in status, becoming a Second-Rank Power.
As for a First-Rate Sect, it required a Void Comprehension Divine Lord to oversee it.
Even among the Ten Great Dynasties of the Immortal Cultivation World, a First-Rate Sect would be treated as an honored guest by the imperial family.
As a Second-Rank Power aristocratic family, the Pei Family’s position in the Heavenly Light Dynasty was neither high nor low.
Several thousand years ago, the Pei Family had produced talents in every generation, always having several Spirit Transformation Divine Lords.
But after the death of the last generation’s Family Head, the Pei Family lost its Spirit Transformation cultivators, left with only three Half-Step Spirit Transformation cultivators to hold the fort.
Without the accumulated wealth of their ancestors, they would have instantly dropped to a Third-Rank Power.
And it was during this time that Pei Ruyi, possessing an Innate Sword Spirit Root, was born.
An Innate Sword Spirit Root—even among the highly gifted Sword Cultivators, it was one in a million. Because of this, the Pei Family pinned all their hopes for revival on Pei Ruyi.
From a young age, Pei Ruyi lived a life of luxury with abundant resources.
Even though the family was on the verge of falling to a Third-Rank Power, the resources they provided her rivaled those of a First-Rate Sect.
An Innate Sword Spirit Root combined with First-Rate level resources made Pei Ruyi a household-name genius in the Heavenly Light Dynasty.
She reached Qi Condensation at five and Foundation Establishment at nine. At the age of twelve, she was even scouted by a First-Rate Sect in the Heavenly Light Dynasty, who wanted to take her in for focused training—but the Pei Family refused.
And just as Pei Ruyi was riding high on success, she suddenly received rather terrible news.
When she turned fifteen, she would be sent to the Southern Sky Sword Sect.
The Southern Sky Sword Sect was overseen by a Dao Venerable of the Dao Integration Stage. Specializing in Sword Qi, it was one of the Seventy-Two Lower Sects under a Transcendent-Rank Power.
Even as a “Lower Sect,” the Southern Sky Sword Sect, being a Transcendent-Rank Power, wielded influence far beyond ordinary forces.
A First-Rate Sect, even if treated as an honored guest by a dynasty’s imperial family, still relied on that dynasty for survival.
Transcendent-Rank Powers, however, were different. Possessing a Dao Integration Stage Dao Venerable meant they could alter the rules. Dynasties relied on Transcendent-Rank Powers for existence, not the other way around.
The Southern Sky Sword Sect had taken a liking to Pei Ruyi’s Innate Sword Spirit Root and promised to accept her as the Sect Master’s registered disciple—enough to be a backer protecting the Pei Family, a Second-Rank Power.
But the price was that Pei Ruyi would have to become the Dao Companion of the Sect Master’s grandson, engaging in Dual Cultivation with him to nurture his Sword Dao.
Unlike the Heavenly Sword Peak of the Profound Firmament Upper Sect, the Southern Sky Sword Sect cultivated “Sword Qi.” And Sword Qi, even if innately deficient, could be nurtured postnatally.
An Innate Sword Spirit Root was the best nourishment for that.
To put it simply, she was to be a Sword Qi Furnace Vessel for the Sect Master’s grandson, in exchange for the Pei Family gaining the protection of a Transcendent-Rank Power.
Pei Ruyi was, of course, unwilling. She tried to resist, but the luxurious life and high-level cultivation resources she’d enjoyed since childhood became the cage that trapped her.
All her achievements, her techniques, her divine weapons, even her cultivation base—everything had been given to her by the family.
Under these circumstances, she was utterly powerless to defy the “command” of the vast Pei Family.
For the next three years, she lived under the family’s control.
Every day, she wanted to escape, only to find she had nowhere to run.
Aside from Dongtang County, where the Pei Family resided, she had never been anywhere else in her life.
Until one day, three years later, on the outskirts of Dongtang County, just as she was caught and about to be sent back to the Pei Family… she met someone.
It was a young woman, not much older than her, dressed in plain white Daoist robes. Her brows and eyes held a distant, indifferent coldness. She held a semi-transparent long sword in her hand, its blade flowing with faint light.
The woman called herself “Daoist Qinghan.” Despite only being at the Golden Core Peak Stage, she beat back the Pei Family’s pursuers.
Daoist Qinghan didn’t ask who Pei Ruyi was or why she was being chased.
She only asked Pei Ruyi one thing: was she willing to come with her?
Even without knowing if the person before her was good or evil, friend or foe, Pei Ruyi agreed without the slightest hesitation.
Only later did she learn that this “Daoist Qinghan” was the Head Disciple of a First-Rate Sect, the Clear Sword Sect.
And backing the Clear Sword Sect was none other than the Profound Firmament Upper Sect.
Through this connection, Pei Ruyi entered the Profound Firmament Upper Sect. With her Innate Sword Spirit Root, she joined Heavenly Sword Peak and became the Direct Disciple of a present Elder.
The memory stopped there, and dawning understanding filled Ye Luqing’s eyes.
From being destined to become a Sword Qi Furnace Vessel, to being saved by a passing disciple of the Clear Sword Sect and joining the Profound Firmament Upper Sect… this luck of turning danger into safety at a critical moment indeed deserved the title “Willows Dark, Flowers Bright.”
But the very next moment, Ye Luqing fell back into contemplation.
She hadn’t expected Pei Ruyi to have such a past.
No wonder she yielded to her domination and commands so easily. It wasn’t normal—she had been treated that way by her family since childhood.
Thinking of this, the guilt in Ye Luqing’s heart instantly deepened by a few more degrees.
