029 Wrong Phrasing

  Jia Yu of high castles.

  Of tall spires ed in clouds, polished floors refleg the moonlight, and silk-draped halls filled with ughter. She dreamt of warm hands brushing against her hair, of murmured words promising that she ecial, that she recious.

  She dreamt of love.

  And then she dreamt of the day it was all taken away.

  The gazes that once held pride now carried disappoi. The warm hands that onforted her turned cold. The halls that once echoed with ughter became silent.

  She had no talent, they said. She was unworthy, they whispered.

  She was cast away.

  Not officially, of course. On paper, she had beeo the Riverfall ti as an ambassador, a ce to ‘temper herself in the lower realms.’ But Jia Yuhe truth. It had been exile, in all but name.

  That was why she had worked herself to the bone. She cultivated relentlessly, pushing past her limits until her meridians screamed in protest. She gathered allies, strengthened her reputation, cwed her way back up the mountain she had been kicked down from.

  Starting from ist Sect.

  She would rise again.

  And then—

  She was betrayed.

  When the spiritual link feeding her immortal qi vahe first thought that crossed her mind wasn’t that she had been outpyed, nor that she had been weak.

  It was that Pan Xia had betrayed her.

  Her eyes snapped open, and the first person she saw was Elder Pan Xia himself.

  “Elder Pan,” she whispered, her throat raw. Her hands ched into weak fists. “Why did you betray this seat?”

  Pan Xia stiffened. “It has been a misuanding—”

  “A MISUANDING?!” she shrieked, voice shaking. “THIS JIA YUN ALMOST DIED!”

  A cough interrupted them.

  “Ahem.”

  Jia Yun’s head soward the er of the room, where a man i verdant robes stood. His posture was rexed, one haing against the cquered wood of the doorframe.

  “It looks like I am not needed here anymore…” he mused. “A pity.”

  His gaze nded on her, and it was that look that set her blood boiling. A look of pity. A look nation. As if she had already been written off.

  Her body moved before she could think. Even in her weakeate, her instincts screamed at her to strike, to make him pay for daring to look down on her.

  The moment she fred her qi, she regretted it.

  Pain shot through her body as if every nerve in her system had bee on fire. Her meridians straihe cracks in them widening as she gasped, her vision swimming.

  The young man tilted his head as if only now realizing her i. He exhaled softly.

  “I am going tret this,” he muttered.

  Slowly, green veins traced with gold began to glow along her arms.

  “Divine Word: Life,” he spoke.

  A warm sensation, like the first breath of spring after a long winter, flowed through her body.

  Jia Yun’s frayed nerve endings began to knit themselves back together.

  The cracks in her meridians were rebuilt aronger, sturdier, as if they had never been broken at all. She ched her fingers, feeling the warm flow of qi circute through her limbs. It was… miraculous. The kind of healing that even the best physis of the Imperial Capital would have struggled to achieve… barring the Divine Physi.

  She turned her attention to the man who had performed it.

  The moment she id eyes on him, her mind shifted into assessment mode. His verdant robes were of high quality but unadorned with sesignias—either a rogue cultivator or someone who deliberately kept a low profile. His face was youthful, almost zy, but those eyes… sharp, amused, airely unfazed by her outburst. He had healed her without a single sign of strain.

  A true expert.

  Her stomach twisted slightly in guilt. She had just shed out at him in a moment of weakness, assuming the worst. She wasn’t ashamed of feeliie, betrayal, helplessness. But ag on them irrationally? That was a mistake. And mistakes o be corrected.

  Without hesitation, she ged her approach.

  Jia Yun csped her hands together and bowed deeply.

  “Jia Yun asks for fiveness from Senior for the folly she has caused.”

  She wasn’t ashamed of her plete 180-degree shift in attitude. The stroo be respected, even revered. If there was a ce to establish rapport with this person, she would take it.

  The man bli her. Then, in a tone filled with exasperation, he said, “Oh, e on. Do you actually speak ihird person? Seriously? Is that why you barely talked during the arena match?”

  Jia Yun stiffened.

  Ah. The arena.

  Who won?

  Her stomach ed, but she kept her face still. It didn’t matter. There was still tomorrow. She would rise again.

  More importantly, what was wrong with speaking ihird person? That had beerend in the Imperial Capital the st time she was there.

  Despite the turmoil in her heart, she maintained a masterful poker face.

  As expected of an ice-cold beauty.

  Jia Yun maintained her bow, waiting for a response from the mysterious cultivator. His expression was unreadable, his gaze assessing but not unkind.

  Before she could say anything more, Elder Pan Xia finally cleared his throat.

  “Jia Yun,” he began cautiously, “allow me to formally introduce Senior Da Wei.”

  She frowned.

  Da Wei?

  She turhe name over in her mind but found no recolle of any such expert. The Riverfall ti did not house many high-ranking masters without a reputation.

  “Senior Da Wei was the one who healed you,” Pan Xia tinued, his tone oddly restrained. “You owe him your life.”

  Jia Yun bit back the urge to demand his cultivation level ht. Such a question, while ong lesser circles, was sidered savage in the higher imperial ranks. It implied a ck of tad a disregard for etiquette. The strong didn’t ask—they observed, inferred, and uood.

  Still, she was tempted.

  Before she could speak, however, Pan Xia’s voice suddeered her mind, his words carried by Qi Speech.

  Tread lightly, Jia Yun. This master follows the extremely righteous path.

  That meant this Da Wei would tolerate no evil… no matter how minor.

  Jia Yun stiffened, gng at Elder Pan Xia out of the er of her eye. He looked uneasy, his lips barely moving as he tihe silent transmission.

  Do not antagonize him. Do not question him. Do not test him.

  What?

  She almost scoffed but caught herself. Was Elder Pan serious?

  Pan Xia tinued, If you must know, Jia Yun, this same person is likely the reason we lost in the arena. We dared to cheat by using immortal qi and activating your bloodli. A mere Sed Realm tour was beh you, yet you pushed the limits—and this was our punishment.

  It wasly a Sed Realm tour.

  It just happehat was the average level of the partits and that Jia Yun had a trump card that would allow her to raise her realm by borrowiernal force.

  Jia Yun’s breath caught ihroat.

  More importantly, Pan Xia pressed, this Da Wei is a peer of the Isotion Path Sect Master.

  Her entire body went cold.

  A peer… of the Isotion Path Sect Master?

  Visibly, the color drained from her face.

  Elder Pan Xia coughed into his fist, regaining his posure after seeing Jia Yun's rea. He turoward Da Wei and spoke in a carefully measured tone.

  “Senior Da Wei, would you be so gracious as to give us a moment? There are some matters I must discuss with disciple Jia Yun.”

  Da Wei raised an eyebrow but didn’t seem offended. Instead, he crossed his arms and smirked. “Sure, but I actually have a few things to talk to you two about as well. No rush, though. I’ll wait outside.”

  Jia Yun narrowed her eyes. “Jia Yun offers her thanks. How generous of you,” she said. Then, she took a slow breath and added, “Senior wouldn’t be eavesdropping on Jia Yun and Elder Pan Xia, would you?”

  Da Wei frowned. “Eavesdropping? That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”

  She held his gaze, unimpressed. Still, she was nervous.

  Da Wei clicked his tongue. “Alright, alright. I’ll excuse myself properly. Spying on you guys is more effort than it’s worth.” He turoward the door, flig his sleeves. “I’ll be in the VIP area if you need me. Try not to take too long.”

  With that, he strolled out of the room.

  Jia Yun and Elder Pan Xia remaiill for a few moments, making sure he was truly gone. When they could no longer sense his presence, Pan Xia immediately reached into his robes and pulled out several talismans.

  One by one, he activated them, eae shimmering briefly before disappearing into the walls, f a yered barrier of prote.

  Jia Yun watched silently as he worked, her mind already rag with possibilities.

  Pan Xia let out a deep sigh, his expression solemn as he csped his hands together. “It is truly of my utmost pleasure that you still live, My Lady.”

  Jia Yun, still propped up against the bedding, crossed her arms and gave him an unimpressed look. “Yeah, because you could have been beheaded for letting the noble daughter directly desded from the mai perish so miserably.” Her tone was sharp, but there was no true anger behind it—only cold pragmatism. “This Jia Yun warns you.”

  Pan Xia swallowed. He did not he reminder.

  Jia Yun exhaled, allowing herself to lean back. “That aside, how is the Immortal Qi?”

  Without hesitation, Pan Xia reached inside his robes arieved a small vial. Within it swirled translut, nearly invisible particles, so faint that one could mistake the tainer for beiy. It was the purest essence of qi—specifically, the qi of Eleventh Stage practitioners, those rumored to have set foot upoh of immortality itself.

  For something as votile and powerful as Immortal Qi, Jia Yun needed Pan Xia who was of higher cultivation realm to facilitate it.

  Jia Yun's eyes narrowed as she observed the pitiful amou. Her ailed Fox Asdaeique required Immortal Qi to activate. When the spiritual link supplying her had been severed, she had bee helpless at the mercy of her oppo.

  She reached for the vial but stopped short. Instead, she took a more serious tone, l her voiething nearly imperceptible. “How much did we lose?”

  She had entrusted Pan Xia with managing their funds. When he had first informed her of the gambling opportunity, she had given him full sent to go all in. The iment had bee to secure crucial resources for their future.

  Pan Xia hesitated for a fra of a sed before answering. “…The her Ghost Fmes.”

  Jia Yun gritted her teeth. She had expected losses, but not this.

  Uher treasures, the her Ghost Fmes weren’t just a rare au item—they were the ist Sect’s own property. Their sect had inteo use it to amass funds for the day of the au, seg rare materials and teiques for their top disciples. Losing it was not just a financial setback; it was an insult to their standing.

  She gritted her teeth, her fiightenih the covers. A part of her burned with rese. Another part of her khere was no poiing it.

  The only thio do n her move.

  Jia Yun sat up, her mind rag through the implications of what had happened. She had e too close to death—closer than she had ever expected in this forsaken ti. It wasn’t failure that frustrated her the most, but the fact that she had been pletely outmaneuvered. How?

  She let out a slow breath, suppressing the turbuleions inside her. “This Jia Yun shall tio trust Elder Pan in light of ret events.”

  Elder Pan Xia lowered his head slightly, hands csped together in gratitude. “I shall not betray your trust, My Lady, but I fear we are outmatched. We ot scheme our way into this au.”

  And the reason for that was clear—Da Wei.

  If Pan Xia’s assessment was correct, then this Da Wei was not only a cultivator of a higher realm but aremely righteous cultivator.

  Jia Yun frowhe term extreme righteousness wasn’t a pliment—it was sng used in higher imperial circles to describe cultivators who held absurdly strict beliefs on justice. They were ofteructive, sometimes even suicidal, as they pursued their ideals withard for personal safety or reputation. In fact, their obsession with enf justice often made them dangerous.

  It suddenly made perfect sense. If Da Wei truly embodied this extreme righteousness, then it was no surprise that he had almost killed her the moment he discovered their cheating.

  Immortal Qi… Jia Yun ched her fist beh the covers. That was the part that uled her the most.

  “Jia Yun is curious how Da Wei found out about Immortal Qi.” Her voice was calm, but her eyes were sharp. Immortal Qi wasn’t something just anyone could detect. It ervasive, formless essenething invisible to all but those with highly specialized means.

  Even among the mai’s experts, only a select few had the ability to perceive it directly.

  Moreover, Riverfall was a backwater that barely had any idea about the higher realms.

  A, Da Wei had found it. More than that, he had somehow sabotaged their use of it.

  That was the true mystery.

  Pan Xia sighed. “I guess we will never know.” He shook his head. “It’s luck that he was a healer and had a softer temperament pared to his extremely righteous terparts. If anything, he is a fner and it is most likely he does have esoteriowledge about Immortal Qi.”

  A fner?

  That was troublesome.

  An unknown variable.

  Jia Yun narrowed her eyes. She didn’t believe in luck.

  Jia Yun folded her arms, her expression cold and unreadable as she regarded Elder Pan Xia. "We o decide how to handle Da Wei."

  Pan Xia sighed, rubbing his temples. "My Lady, there is no handling someone like him. He is beyond our means."

  Jia Yun frowned. "Are you suggesting we cower? That we bow our heads like lowly servants? This Da Wei may have been stronger, but I refuse to believe we have no way to ter him."

  Pan Xia gave her a wry smile. "This is not a matter of strength alone. He follows extreme righteousness. People like him are uable. If we antagonize him further, we risk inviting disaster upon ourselves and the sect. Do you not uand? If he truly wao, he could have killed you in the arena, and no one would have stopped him. Corre: no one would have known it was him who had do. Instead, he healed you. That means he ercy. That is already a fortue."

  Jia Yun ched her jaw, unwilling to accept his words but uo refute them. The humiliation of her defeat still burned, but the reality was undeniable. If Da Wei had beeype to eradicate those he deemed unjust, she would not be standing here now.

  "...Then what do you propose?"

  "We keep our distance." Pan Xia's voice was firm. "Or, if an opportunity presents itself, we accost him. Someone like him does not scheme or maneuver in the shadows—he acts openly, without hesitation. If we earn his favor, we may turn a potential threat into an ued ally."

  Jia Yun scoffed. "You wao befriend him?"

  "I want you to survive." Pan Xia’s expression was solemn. "For now, that means making sure Da Wei does not see us as enemies. He has already crippled reatest advantage in the uping au, but we still have other ways to recover. Let us not add unnecessary flict."

  Jia Yun closed her eyes and took a deep breath, suppressing the rising frustration. "Fine. I will leave him be—for now."

  Pan Xia nodded. "That is for the best."

  Later that day, Jia Yun stepped onto the dueling stage once more for the rest of the quarter-finals.

  Her sed oppo was a testant from the Lu , a well-built young man wielding a spear. The fight had been grueling, a csh of precision and endurance. Despite her injuries from the previous day, she had mao push him into a draw, their battle ending wheime limit was reached with her side able to decisively cim victory.

  Her third match was against a Sword opy disciple, a cultivator whose style relied heavily on overwhelming sword formations. It had been a test of patience, waiting for the right moment to strike amidst the sea of bdes. When she finally found an opening, she capitalized on it, seg a hard-earned victory.

  With one win, one draw, and one loss, her record was now banced.

  But bance was not what she wanted.

  As she left the stage, she ched her fists.

  Tomorrow, she would fight again. And she would win.

  Jia Yun moved with measured steps, her exhaustioling deep into her bones. She wanted nothing more than to return to her quarters, meditate, and recover her strength. The battles had takeoll, and her mind reeled from the weight of everything that had transpired. Yet, the world of cultivation was unkind to those who sought rest too soon.

  A shadow loomed before her.

  Her muscles tensed.

  The cultivation world had always been a cruel pce, where the strong ruled over the weak. And sometimes… on a while… unreasonable powers would desd upon you, stepping all over you without warning.

  Jia Yun exhaled slowly, suppressing her unease as she cupped her fists and bowed. “This disciple greets Senior.”

  Da Wei regarded her with an unreadable expression, arms crossed behind his back. The light of the moon illuminated his features, and for a moment, he appeared almost ethereal, as if the heavens themselves had sculpted him.

  “I believe you still owe me that versation,” he said.

  Jia Yuated. Her heart beat just a little faster, though she would never admit it. “Jia Yun shall apany Senior.”

  It was already night. Elder Pan Xia had left earlier, i on topping off their funds for the au. She was alone. Vulnerable. She disliked the feeling immensely.

  Da Wei smiled. It was the kind of smile that had undoubtedly made tless young dies weak in the khe kind that could disarm even the most cautious of hearts.

  But Jia Yun was an ice-cold beauty.

  She had trained herself to remain unmoved.

  Then Da Wei spoke.

  “How about we spend the night together?”

  A shudder ran down Jia Yun’s spine.