Cultivation Nerd

Ms. Xing Ju strolled down one of the estate's many corridors. The wooden flooring creaked beneath her footsteps.

She had deliberately commissioned the floor to be constructed this way, as there were frequent attempts on Song Song's life during her youth by assassins. The creaking floor served as a deterrent against stealthy intruders.

Fond memories of Song Song's childhood escapades in this very location surfaced in her mind. A sense of warmth enveloped her aging heart, and a gentle smile graced her weathered face.

Although she was Song Song's mentor, she was also her grandmother. Cultivators were unlikely to have familial feelings for their offspring. Still, she had personally raised Song Song.

Xing Ju recalled the first time she met Song Song. She was just a young girl with a vacant look in her eyes. There had been no emotion in her gaze for quite a while.

What kind of life must she have lived until then to have an expression like that?

Ever since she could remember, Xing Ju had never seen Song Song act like a normal kid. She never cried or complained about food, even when she didn't like eating meat.

She was always a strange child and continued being that same dead-eyed child for years, with no apparent emotions, like she was a doll. But that all changed when Song Song decided to murder one of the Sect Leader's concubines.

After that, a demon had been born in her heart. Her whole demeanor changed. Perhaps that was how she had always been, hiding it behind a dead stare. Since then, Song Song always had a spark in her eyes—a very deadly spark.

Xing Ju reached one of the hallways filled with portraits of her and Song Song through the ages. While she had always been an old woman, Song Song still changed, and with each passing year, the paintings seemed to show a more deranged look in her eyes.

The old woman knew many saw Song Song as the perfect tool for their agendas. They just needed to make Song Song the Sect Leader, and since she cared little for ruling, her dear "advisors" would do that for her.

Of course, they were playing with fire... However, no one could have guessed just how dangerous that fire would be.

Recently, Song Song began changing. Her ruthless ways were still there, but now there was a semblance of intelligence behind her actions. That just made her even more dangerous.

Song Song was undoubtedly clever enough to know she was being used as a tool by her "supporters." It wasn't like they tried hiding it too hard, either. But she still had no one to replace her supporters. That changed recently. Once again, Song Song grew even more dangerous.

She walked past the hallway and ended up at one of the windows, which gave her a good view of the snowy gardens and the slope of the mountain, which looked ready to break off into an avalanche. But even the possible natural disaster didn't scare the old woman enough to stop her train of thought.

For some reason, Song Song had put up with this newcomer. Xing Ju could never understand how the same Song Song she raised would tolerate someone of no value to her.

Xing Ju thought he was just another kid, someone Song Song took a fancy to. Like everyone else, he would try to use Song Song, and her granddaughter would learn a valuable lesson from that experience.

That was all Liu Feng was supposed to be. Even with his sudden changes, he was supposed to be just another stepping stone in Song Song's path. Someone who would teach Song Song something important while ending with some heartache for her.

Like everyone else, he saw the potential Song Song represented as a tool. So he definitely wouldn't do something as stupid as going against a Core Elder when he was still within arm's length of them! Yet he did, and Song Song became even more dangerous. It was like she was slowly growing into a demon incarnate of slaughter.

One thing was for sure: when she got out of that prison, there would be a massacre. So, it was in everyone's best interest to keep her there until she gave up on such foolish ideas.

Xing Ju opened the window, letting the cold brush against her face. She looked down and jumped without hesitation, landing on her feet, barely making a crunch in the soft snow. But even being in the snow did not cool her anger.

It was all because of Liu Feng; he either actually cared for Song Song or was just plain stupid! There was a good chance it was both.

Even Xing Ju, Song Song's own grandmother, didn't care as much about her as he seemed to. He was willing to risk his worthless life for someone like Song Song, who would take him out on a whim.

Either way, the kid had to be dealt with. He was bringing out the worst in Song Song. The guy was making her worse... somehow.

Xing Ju walked along the yard, staring at the places where flowers would have grown if it hadn't been winter.

For now, Song Song had to stay in prison. Hopefully, her stay there would teach her to be more patient, and by the end of winter, she would be out. She needed to understand that the world was not her plaything and that not all people were toys she could break whenever she wanted.

As Xing Ju was thinking that, she felt a change in the air and turned toward one of the walls surrounding the mansion. Some snow had accumulated on the walls, and a man wearing a dark cloak and a green mask stood atop the snow. Despite the snow having just fallen and not having had a chance to freeze over, meaning it was soft snow, the man stood atop it without making a dent.

"What is someone like you from your part of the world doing here?" Xing Ju inquired.

As someone who had lived in the Blazing Sun Sect, Xing Ju knew about the secret organization that acted as the Sect Leader's choreboys. Despite mostly doing menial tasks, they had some powerful members.

She never quite understood why someone as powerful as the people who led this organization would be okay spending their long lives in the shadows. They could never enjoy their lives like a standard cultivator at their level did.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Oh well, she cared little about what living like that felt. At the end of the day, there would always be strange things that, even at her age, she would never understand.

"There has been a direct order from the Sect Leader that the Song Clan must release Song Song. The Clan Head is also being personally notified by the Sect Leader at this time," said the masked man. His voice was soft and sounded young, but that did not reveal much about cultivators.

What did he just say? Xing Ju doubted what she just heard.

"Why would the Sect Leader intervene in Song Clan business?" Xing Ju frowned.

The masked messenger shrugged. "The Sect Leader's decisions are his own. It's not my place to question them."

Of course, a slave wouldn't question their master, Xing Ju thought. But she decided to keep those thoughts to herself, knowing just how dangerous the dark and hidden part of the Blazing Sun Sect could be.

"The Sect Leader also said a familiar face should be there to release Song Song. After you're done with that, make sure to drop her off at the place where young master Song San used to live in his youth," said the masked man, staying quiet for a couple of seconds before adding, "She will be confined to that building for the foreseeable future."

After saying that, the space around the masked man blurred, and he disappeared as if he hadn't been there to begin with.

Xing Ju contemplated reporting this to the Song Clan Head but decided against it. After all, if the Sect Leader was there meeting with him, she wanted to be nowhere near that. The Sect Leader's orders were absolute. Even as a Core Elder, there was a good chance she would die if she ever went against the Sect Leader's direct orders. Especially someone like her who had little time left to live. The Sect Leader might just be looking for someone to make an example of to keep the other Elders in line and remind them of their place. She would be the perfect target.

It was better not to give the man a reason to act like that, so she immediately went to do her job.

Xing Ju gathered Qi at the bottom of her feet and exploded it outward, allowing her to cover massive distances. She used it to fly in this case, with a continuous stream of Qi gathering at the bottom of her feet and burning like a fire as she flew forward.

The sound she made while moving through the air was always too loud, and she could barely hear anything else.

But this time, it didn't bother her much as she was absent-minded the whole flight, trying to figure out why the Sect Leader would do something like this.

Someone must have convinced him... How would someone do something like that, and why?

Why would someone want such an unstable danger like Song Song out of prison?

The only person she could think of who had that kind of authority was the Song Clan Leader. But doing something like this was very much unlike the Song Clan Leader... he wouldn't release her anytime soon...

Also, the masked man said that the Sect Leader would notify the Song Clan Head. There was no reason for the masked man to lie. It made no sense for the Clan Head to be the one who released Song Song and the Sect Leader to be there to notify him of his decision?

She reached the melted tower where the Song Clan kept its prisoners in no time. Xing Ju barely even paid attention to the tall, purple-haired woman as she bowed and kept moving.

As soon as she reached the tower where the cylinder-shaped prison was, she didn't bother climbing down the stairs and just jumped.

Doing this was much faster than walking, and she was at the dark bottom of the prison in no time. Her landing created a loud noise that rang through the whole prison, but the floor beneath her feet didn't crack despite the impact. Strong and precious materials were used to build this place.

Without waiting any longer, she used her Qi as a tidal wave to push open the door that led to Song Song's cell.

Song Song was still there, wrapped in dark bandages. Her mouth was also covered again, and she made no effort to talk this time. The only other sound and movement in the cell was the blood dripping off Song Song's wrists.

"There is an order that you're going to be released today," Xing Ju explained, summarizing the rough situation of what had happened and what she knew.

Suddenly, there was a tugging in the dark bandages wrapped around Song Song. Precise spikes of Qi hit the dark sealing bandages in specific places and caused the wrappings to snap instantly.

As the wrapping was undoing itself, Song Song tugged her wrists and ripped them straight out of the place they had been nailed, letting the metal nails perforate directly through her wrists.

It was undoubtedly a painful process, but Song Song seemed almost nonchalant as she did it.

A naked Song Song softly landed on the ground, her cold blue eyes staring at Xing Ju. Then she raised her hands and looked through the holes in her wrists.

Xing Ju was confused at first. Then Song Song groaned, spit out a ring, and put it on her finger.

"Yeah, I'm ready now," Song Song said nonchalantly, seeming calm.

A new pair of clothes materialized on her—a plain and simple dark robe.

Xing Ju glanced at the ring on Song Song's finger. It was a storage ring, one Song Song was familiar with as she accurately materialized her clothes.

Suddenly, the pools of blood that had formed on the floor bubbled up. Xing Ju realized something she had missed the first time she visited.

Song Song had been here for a while, and most of the blood that had fallen on the ground should have dried. But instead, it still looked fresh.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the blood from the floor flew toward the holes in Song Song's wrists. The flesh mended itself, and her wounds closed up. Soon enough, there was no injury and no scars where the nails had pierced through.

Xing Ju's eyes widened, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that.

With every major breakthrough, a cultivator experienced a metamorphosis. Their perspective on Qi changed, and they saw the world differently. Just like the difference between Body Tempering and Qi Gathering was massive, where the latter could sense and see Qi, the difference was even more profound when someone became a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

The higher a cultivator rose, the more things they could "see" in a sense.

When one became a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, one had to align one's Qi with a compatible element. Changing their Qi to an incompatible element could doom someone, no matter their talent. That also wasn't something they could ever change again after they locked in their choice and began the process.

However, when someone reached Foundation Establishment, it took months, and even years in some cases, to fully attune their Qi with an element. The speed at which one improved after that often indicated how compatible a cultivator was with their element.

Song Song had not been here even a month, and she had already attuned to her element. She seemed to have reached a level where even one of the more advanced and complicated usages, like regeneration, was already within her grasp.

The pools of blood that had formed below her were a form of training, and she had been doing that this whole time.

Her element was blood, and she was extremely compatible with it!

"What is it, teacher? Are we going now or what?" Song Song asked calmly.

This brought Xing Ju out of her thoughts, and she nodded. "Come, follow me."

As they walked outside, the doors behind them closed. Almost immediately, the back of Song Song's clothes bulged just where her shoulder blades were. A beautiful, intricate, and nearly artistic pair of bat-like wings sprouted.

"Hopefully, you're not too old to keep up, teacher," Song Song said as she flapped her wings. She took off with practiced ease as if she had done this many times. But Xing Ju knew this was Song Song's talent at play.

Xing Ju used her raw power and Qi to fly, easily keeping up with Song Song. But she was still surprised by her speed.

Song Song's improvement was worrying...

When they arrived at the top, the tall woman was still there and bowed her head. "Honorable Core Elder of Beauty, and Lady Song-"

Whatever she was about to say was cut short as, with a swing of Song Song's hand, the tall woman's head went flying. The lack of hesitation and committing murder before she was even entirely out of prison... even Xing Ju was so shocked by what happened that she hadn't been able to act in time.

The prison guard here was still an Inner Elder!

"Why did you do that?!" Xing Ju yelled at Song Song.

"I could hear her when she was torturing the people. It was annoying, and she always did it late at night when I was trying to sleep," Song Song shrugged. "I had to change my schedule because of her and spent the night training. Who did she think she was to force me to change my sleeping schedule?"

Her bloodlust was palpable. It was as if people daring to be a slight inconvenience to her by accident were deserving of a death sentence.

Yeah, Song Song's time in prison had changed her for the worse...

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