Seraphine’s eyes stayed clenched shut, and for a moment, she didn’t even want to send me a mental message. Because I simply didn’t understand.

I. Didn’t. Understand.

She was the only one who felt angry.

Only. Her.

The mighty Palace Lord of Luanyang Palace, reduced to this.

Seraphine fell silent, eyes still closed.

Bai Fenghui, having finished his proposal, was left hanging in the awkward silence. His confident expression gradually shifted to uncertainty as his mind raced. Could it be that Luanyang Palace was so wealthy and powerful that they didn’t care about a single secret realm? But this was a Golden Core realm that had just undergone ascension!

Standing nearby, Siyi tilted her head up, studying Seraphine’s stormy expression with subtle amusement. She cleared her throat and stepped forward with the authoritative bearing of Luanyang Palace’s Grand Steward.

“Since the Chongshan Secret Realm is opening to all who wish to enter,” Siyi said with a sweet smile, “why must Luanyang Palace ally with the White Water Sect?”

Bai Fenghui straightened. “Fellow Daoist Si doesn’t understand. Entry to the Chongshan Secret Realm requires jade tokens. When the realm opened recently, many cultivators exhausted their tokens. The remaining supply is extremely limited, and with news of the realm’s ascension spreading, they’ve become nearly impossible to obtain. Our White Water Sect disciples were… delayed during the previous opening and couldn’t attend. We happen to have thirty jade tokens in our possession!”

Siyi’s smile widened slightly.

Delayed by circumstances? The white-haired man they’d called Elder could barely maintain Foundation Establishment despite his age—clearly mediocre talent. If someone like that could become an Elder at White Water Sect, it spoke volumes about their disciples’ quality. They probably chose not to risk their lives in the secret realm at all.

Such timid people actually wanted to cultivate immortality?

Seraphine opened her eyes, her voice ice-cold. “Thirty jade tokens. Twenty as compensation to Luanyang Palace. The profit-sharing arrangement is impossible. Once inside the realm, everyone relies on their own abilities.”

Bai Fenghui licked his lips, still hoping to negotiate. “Perhaps… twenty percent—”

“Sect Leader Bai,” Siyi interrupted smoothly, “you should consider carefully. Chongshan Secret Realm tokens are difficult to acquire, but not impossible.”

“…” Bai Fenghui gave an embarrassed laugh. “Yes, but still…”

“Twenty-five jade tokens,” Seraphine said flatly. “In exchange, I guarantee you won’t die in the secret realm.”

Bai Fenghui’s face lit up with surprised joy. “Excellent! With Palace Lord’s word, I can rest easy!”

He paused, then pressed his luck. “If Palace Lord agrees to share any Thunder Sound Grass we encounter in the realm, I’m willing to give up four more tokens! If we don’t find any…” He smiled meaningfully.

His implication was clear: if Seraphine agreed, only he would enter the Chongshan Secret Realm from White Water Sect, leaving all other tokens for Luanyang Palace.

Seraphine’s expression turned almost mocking as she nodded. “Even if we don’t find Thunder Sound Grass in the realm, I’ll have someone locate it for you afterward.”

Having resolved the conflict with Luanyang Palace and secured both companionship and life insurance for his secret realm expedition, Bai Fenghui took his leave with satisfaction. He led his disciples to temporary lodgings in Luanyang City, planning to depart with the Palace forces in ten days.

As he descended the main peak, his disciples followed, including his personal student who asked how things had gone.

Bai Fenghui sighed. “Luanyang Palace is indeed difficult to deal with. You all saw how grand and wealthy they are. That Seraphine immediately demanded all my jade tokens. If I hadn’t fought for it, I might not have been able to enter myself.”

His student felt conflicted—disappointed at missing the secret realm opportunity, yet relieved to avoid the danger. He could only hope his master would bring back some rare treasures from outside.

“However, the Palace Lord of Luanyang Palace is exactly as the outside world describes—ruthless, unpredictable, and quick to anger. I merely suggested the possibility of sharing gains after entering the realm, and killing intent actually manifested around her!” Feeling he’d said too much, Bai Fenghui used this as an excuse to explain why profit-sharing was impossible.

The White Water Sect disciples erupted in complaints about Luanyang Palace’s excessive demands. With their vast wealth and resources, why couldn’t they spare some spiritual treasures?

A clear voice suddenly spoke behind them.

Everyone turned to see a elegant young woman in Luanyang Palace robes, worry creasing her brow. She stood on the mountain gate steps, speaking coldly: “Lady Siyi asked me to remind Sect Leader Bai not to forget to take the person at the mountain gate with you.”

She pointed toward the elderly man lying by the entrance.

The White Water Sect disciples were shocked. They’d watched the Palace servants drag their Elder out, assuming he’d been killed. But apparently no one had bothered to collect the body, and now seeing him still breathing, they were stunned.

“Master, what should we do?” Bai Fenghui’s student asked.

Bai Fenghui clasped his hands behind his back and sighed. “Forget it. His spiritual roots are destroyed, his cultivation completely gone. He’s no different from that green boy from the Lianshan Sect now. Give him a few silver coins—consider it a final gesture for our past acquaintance.”

“Master is so kind-hearted,” his student said loudly.

“Yes, the Sect Leader is truly benevolent.”

The group praised Bai Fenghui as they passed the elderly man, not one of them glancing down at him.

Of course, no one gave him any silver either. After all, they were cultivators who only used spirit stones—where would they get silver coins?

Xue Mengtao watched coldly, anger rising in her heart as she thought of Xue Bufan. When his cultivation was destroyed, he’d fallen from heaven’s favored son to someone completely ignored—all in an instant. She sighed and personally helped the old man to the city, giving him a spirit stone.

Before she could release it, the old man’s gnarled fingers suddenly gripped her wrist. His face twisted with desperation as he shouted: “Save me! I can still cultivate! Save me!”

“It’s your fault! Your fault!” The old man clung to Xue Mengtao, screaming. Passersby stared in alarm, but seeing her Palace robes, they quickly pretended not to notice and hurried away.

Xue Mengtao broke into a cold sweat. “Let go!”

“Take your spirit stone and leave!”

She tried to break free, but the old man held on with surprising strength. Despite her late Qi Condensation cultivation, she couldn’t escape his desperate grip.

A low laugh drifted through the air. A strand of spiritual energy struck through, piercing the old man’s palm. He screamed and fell to the ground, clutching his wounded hand.

Xue Mengtao sighed with relief, rubbing her wrist. Despite the pain when he’d grabbed her, the old man had left no marks—such was the difference between mortals and cultivators. She tossed the spirit stone on the ground and hurried after Siyi.

“Thank you for your assistance, Elder Si,” she said quietly.

The graceful figure in pink robes didn’t turn around. “You’re as useless as I imagined.”

Unable to even handle the simple task of making White Water Sect take their trash away. Truly “impressive.”

Knowing she’d acted foolishly, Xue Mengtao hung her head in silence.

“That man was the one who caused your young master to fall from the cliff and killed several from the Lianshan Sect,” Siyi said. “Yet you kindly helped him down the mountain and gave him a spirit stone?”

“…”

“Hmm?” Siyi glanced back at her.

As if stabbed by that gaze, Xue Mengtao quickly said: “Young Master Xue is no longer my concern. I just…”

Her voice trailed off as she closed her mouth, not daring to mention she’d thought of Xue Bufan, who’d also had his spiritual roots destroyed. Siyi’s gaze cut across her face like a blade, making her afraid to look up.

“That man has already received his punishment. He went from a cultivator respected by thousands to a mere mortal with only a few years left to live. The torment of such a fall… he probably won’t last long,” Xue Mengtao said softly.

“Oh? I see,” Siyi said with a sweet smile. “When Xue Bufan was crippled beyond any medicine’s help, you must have felt terrible for him?”

Each mention of Xue Bufan’s name stabbed at Xue Mengtao’s heart, but she didn’t dare respond. Instead, she changed the subject: “What matter required Elder Si to personally come down the mountain?”

Siyi’s gaze was clear as a mirror as she smiled. “In ten days, the Chongshan Secret Realm will reopen. The Palace Lord will personally attend, so I came down to buy her some story books and snacks to pass the time.”

For a moment, Xue Mengtao didn’t know whether to be confused about the secret realm reopening or amazed that the Palace Lord enjoyed reading popular fiction and eating street food. She stared at Siyi with her mouth agape.

“Why are you staring at me? You’re coming too,” Siyi said. “The Palace Lord specifically requested you accompany us. She said we might encounter Xue Bufan in the secret realm, giving you two a chance to ‘rekindle your romance.’”

The words “rekindle your romance” exploded in Xue Mengtao’s mind, leaving her ears ringing. “Young Master Xue’s spiritual roots…”

“Oh, right—the secret realm reopening is still confidential. If you tell anyone else, I’ll have to cut out your tongue. Without a tongue, you probably can’t ‘rekindle’ anything with Xue Bufan,” Siyi said with a laugh. “Then again, maybe when he sees how you’re suffering in the Palace, he’ll fly into a rage and try to rescue you.”

Xue Mengtao twisted her fingers together, voice dry: “…Please don’t joke around, Elder Si.”

“Joke? Which part?”

Xue Mengtao fell silent.

I fluttered from Siyi’s shoulder to Xue Mengtao’s, sharing in her speechless moment. When a range warning popped up, I quickly flew back to Seraphine’s side.

Seraphine, lounging on a soft couch in the second floor of a tea house listening to storytellers, glanced up. Something about the silver-white ball’s expression seemed odd. Still the same dark circles around the eyes, but somehow… stiff.

“Did you overhear something from Siyi?” she asked through our mental link.

I replayed the entire conversation between Siyi and Xue Mengtao in my clear, cold voice, complete with emotional inflections that captured Siyi’s casual cruelty perfectly.

More entertaining than the storyteller.

Seraphine pulled out a spirit stone to craft a transmission talisman, asking Siyi to buy more story books. She planned to have me read them aloud to her later.

“What’s strange about that?” Seraphine continued working, explaining past events to me. “Siyi came to my side when she was fifteen and I was three. She was an innocent, naive girl then. But the longer she stayed with me, the more gentle and reserved she became.”

I consulted my human dictionary and informed her that “gentle and reserved” wasn’t quite the right description.

Seraphine smiled softly and crushed the transmission talisman. Spiritual light flew from her palm as stone fragments scattered through her fingers. The palace servant kneeling beside her, painting her nails, quickly took out a handkerchief to carefully clean her fingertips.

“Why not?” Seraphine asked. “Human nature is complex. You’ve only known me for a few days—do you really understand me?”

I fell silent, floating before her.

“But that’s fine,” Seraphine said, reaching out to cup my intangible form in her empty hand, slowly closing her fingers around the nothingness. Her lips curved in a gentle smile, opening soundlessly. “We’ll grow more familiar with each other.”

She asked: “You promised that no matter what, you’d help me. Isn’t that right?”

Without hesitation, I replied: “Yes.”