X
Join our Discord server and get release updates for every novel you follow.
Join the ServerAfter leaving the Jade Spirit Manor, now that he had spirit stones, Su Zhuozhi could naturally wander through Jinbao Pavilion at will and buy anything he wanted.
As his accompanying guide, Qin Zhao had always bought items that were cheap and functional, never the best. The vast majority of his money was spent on his sword blade—literally. A bound sword was a sword cultivator’s wife, accompanying them through cultivation, life and death, saving their lives countless times. If not for maintaining, repairing, and adorning his wife, then for whom?
This time was the first time Qin Zhao experienced the thrill of spending money without restraint.
The young master’s philosophy when buying things was never to look at the price, but to see whether the item was good enough and whether he liked it.
If he liked it, he bought it, regardless of anything else.
He had the confidence to be willful and reckless, without any worries.
Thus, every shop in Jinbao Pavilion welcomed a major customer.
Su Zhuozhi bought all the essential items for future classes and training, and all of them were of high quality and top grade. For items not on the list, if Su Zhuozhi found them novel or interesting, he also bought quite a few.
First, of course, was a mustard seed pouch.
He couldn’t keep borrowing Qin Zhao’s, and the things he bought later also needed a place to store.
Su Zhuozhi picked a sky-blue pouch embroidered with auspicious clouds and cranes, gorgeous and exquisite, with a capacity large enough to hold an entire city. There was an even larger one next to it, but the pouch’s pattern and color weren’t to his liking, so he didn’t take it.
This mustard seed pouch alone cost twenty thousand spirit stones.
Qin Zhao was dumbfounded. His own mustard seed pouch was made by an acquaintance, with him providing the materials, and only charged a friend’s labor price of one hundred and fifty spirit stones.
Next came the Xuanming Mirror, which every cultivator had. It could transmit sound and images, a very convenient communication tool, integrating functions such as making friends, gossip, trading, and posting and receiving tasks.
How could the young master miss such a novel and fun item? He picked the most beautiful and highest-grade one in the shop.
Besides these, he also bought several dharma robes made from the feathers of spirit birds, with dharma arrays woven into the fabric, possessing self-cleaning, water-repelling, fire-repelling, cold-repelling, and defensive effects. Wearing them, he looked ethereal and elegant, beautiful and practical. For the delicate young master who feared both cold and heat, this was extremely important.
Moreover, newly enrolled disciples, before learning the Cleansing Art, had to wash their own clothes by hand. The young master’s ten fingers had never touched cold water in his life; he had never done such things.
Su Zhuozhi even set his sights on spirit boats and spirit pets, but unfortunately, the spirit stones on hand were almost gone. He could only write a letter to his parents later to send more spirit stones before continuing to buy.
As for the Xuanming Mirror, such a convenient tool, he originally wanted to buy one for each family member. But like the mustard seed pouch, it required a wisp of spiritual power to activate. Mortals couldn’t use it. He found it a pity and hoped that in the future there would be a Xuanming Mirror that didn’t require spiritual power; no matter how expensive, he would buy it.
Su Zhuozhi had just entered the sect and hadn’t attended a single class yet. He didn’t know how to absorb and circulate spiritual power, so the newly bought mustard seed pouch and Xuanming Mirror were useless to him.
Qin Zhao, seeing his downcast and pitiful appearance, awkwardly comforted him: “You have a heavenly spirit root. You’ll soon learn to draw Qi into your body.”
Not knowing what else to say, he dryly recited the incantations and techniques he learned back then.
Su Zhuozhi listened and subconsciously followed suit.
Then, the surrounding spiritual power danced lively and drilled into his body.
His dantian warmed slightly.
Su Zhuozhi blinked, trying to use his spiritual power to open the mustard seed pouch.
…He actually succeeded.
“???”
Qin Zhao, witnessing this, was utterly dumbfounded. He had a dual spirit root and took five days to build a good relationship with the surrounding spiritual power. The elder even praised him, saying he had good comprehension.
But how long had Su Zhuozhi taken? The incantation had just been recited, hadn’t it? That was too much.
Wait, Su Zhuozhi had a heavenly spirit root.
A heavenly spirit root was special from birth, able to spontaneously draw Qi into the body from childhood, as naturally as breathing, directly entering the Qi Refining stage. When Su Zhuozhi was young, there were no cultivators around him, so he simply didn’t understand that it was spiritual power.
However, at the Su residence, he seemed to have heard the servants say that the young master had been frail since childhood, always taking medicine. How could someone with a heavenly spirit root, who could unconsciously absorb spiritual energy, have a weak body?
While Qin Zhao was baffled, Su Zhuozhi had already started curiously playing with his mustard seed pouch, putting things inside. Such a small pouch could hold so many things; it was truly magical.
He turned to Qin Zhao, smiling, and handed him a purple mustard seed pouch.
“Senior Brother Qin, this is a thank-you gift for you.”
Qin Zhao, snapped out of his thoughts, hurriedly refused.
But Su Zhuozhi insisted, saying, “You’ve helped me so much. I won’t feel at ease if you don’t accept it. This isn’t expensive; I exchanged it for my pouch plus two hundred spirit stones.”
He forced the mustard seed pouch into Qin Zhao’s hand, with an expression that said he wouldn’t give up until it was accepted.
Qin Zhao couldn’t refuse his kindness.
Before accepting, however, Su Zhuozhi had generously said that Xie Jue could buy whatever he wanted, but Xie Jue only took the items necessary for class. Su Zhuozhi thought it was too little.
The newly bought items all went into Su Zhuozhi’s mustard seed pouch. Xie Jue had none.
Qin Zhao didn’t understand. After buying so many things, why didn’t Xie Jue have a pouch?
Without thinking, Su Zhuozhi said, “He’s different. We share a mustard seed pouch.”
“Different” meant that Xie Jue had poor luck; if he carried the pouch, things would…
Qin Zhao didn’t know this. Hearing “share,” his expression became somewhat subtle.
Did the junior apprentice brother know about this?
Qin Zhao wanted to say something but held back. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Xie Jue, who had been silent and indifferent like a shadow, curl the corners of his mouth slightly, as if Su Zhuozhi’s words had put him in a very good mood.
Qin Zhao was utterly confused. He silently swallowed the words that had reached his lips and instead said, “Let me treat you to a meal.”
He had just received the mustard seed pouch from Su Zhuozhi and wanted to return the favor, so he took them to taste some spirit beast meat.
The cooking style wasn’t as complex and exquisite as what Su Zhuozhi had in the mortal world, but the spirit beast meat contained spiritual energy, tender and delicious. After eating, he felt relaxed and happy, his mind clear, with spiritual energy wandering through his body.
Su Zhuozhi found the taste quite good.
Except for one dish—spirit shrimp cooked with the shell on. He hated peeling shrimp.
Seeing this, Qin Zhao peeled one and reached out to hand it over. After all, in his eyes, Su Zhuozhi was just a kid, and he had given him a gift. Not just peeling shrimp, he could even feed it to him directly.
There was an aura about the young master that made people feel he was naturally meant to be served.
But just as Qin Zhao’s hand reached halfway, a cold gaze shot over, instinctively freezing him in place. He looked warily in that direction.
It was where the personal guard was standing.
Yet Xie Jue wasn’t looking at him. Instead, he lowered his thick, dark lashes and carefully peeled a bowl of spirit shrimp. His cold, fair, slender fingers, with slightly raised veins and knuckles on the back of his hand, exuded an indescribable beauty.
His fingers were very nimble; the peeled shrimp were whole and beautiful, very appetizing.
The porcelain bowl was placed by the young master’s hand, easy to pick up.
Su Zhuozhi ate one. The sweet, bouncy, tender flavor spread on his tongue, making him squint slightly with pleasure. The fox ears on top of his head trembled unconsciously, and the tail beneath his lower back swayed, languid and enjoying itself. The tip of the tail inadvertently brushed against the thigh of the person beside him.
Xie Jue paused in his peeling movements. His Adam’s apple bobbed imperceptibly. After a moment, he continued what he was doing as if nothing had happened.
Qin Zhao didn’t see what happened under the table, but watching the two opposite him, he always felt there was an atmosphere between them that no one else could intrude upon.
After the meal, Qin Zhao took Su Zhuozhi and the others to the disciple residences.
The Ten Thousand Swords Sect also collected tuition from disciples, but the amount wasn’t high. As for accommodation, they thoughtfully offered different types: single rooms, double rooms, and quadruple rooms, catering to different needs.
Naturally, the single room was the most expensive.
After inspecting, Su Zhuozhi looked at Qin Zhao with hopeful eyes and asked, “Senior Brother Qin, can I change the tables, chairs, and bed here?”
Qin Zhao replied, “Yes, but when you move out, you have to restore them to their original state.”
Su Zhuozhi smiled, satisfied. “That’s great!”
He had been worried about not getting used to the bed here and not sleeping well.
Qin Zhao finished his task, nodded to them, and turned to leave.
He went to see the sect leader.
In fact, regarding the tree demon incident in the palace, he hadn’t told the whole story. With Su Zhuozhi present, it wasn’t convenient to talk.
His expression solemn, he said in a low voice, “Strictly speaking, tree demons are gentle by nature and usually don’t attack mortals unprovoked. But this disciple discovered that underground, the roots were tangled, absorbing human flesh and blood as nutrients, and there were astonishing traces of demonic energy. This disciple suspects that the tree demon was tampered with by demonic cultivators, undergoing a demonic mutation.”
Qin Zhao nodded. “This disciple is certain.”
The sect leader furrowed his brows deeply. “If so, I’m afraid this isn’t an accident. Perhaps there will be other actions. Do not spread this. I will discuss it with the elders.”
On the other side.
Night fell. Cold stars were sparse.
This was Su Zhuozhi’s first night at the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.
He lived together with Xie Jue, choosing a double room with a two-bedroom, one-living-room layout. Since it was late, the furniture couldn’t be changed in time, so Su Zhuozhi had to sleep on the existing bed. Xie Jue spread the beddings and pillows brought from home for him.
But even so, Su Zhuozhi still couldn’t sleep.
The bed was too small and the board too hard. He couldn’t roll around as he pleased, and his waist ached slightly from lying down.
After tossing and turning a few times like a pancake on a griddle, Su Zhuozhi finally couldn’t help but sit up. He curled up his legs, wrapped his arms around his knees, pouted, and looked displeased.
With the novelty of the cultivation world fading during the day, in the pitch-black night, it was easy to become sentimental. In this unfamiliar place, homesickness surged like a spring, instantly engulfing him.
Su Zhuozhi sniffled, lifted the bed curtain, got out of bed, and walked barefoot toward Xie Jue’s room.
Under the hem of his robe, his exposed feet were slender and delicate, dazzlingly white under the bright moonlight, as smooth and translucent as jade.
A shadow was cast on the wall: a youthful figure with pointed ears and a long tail, like a fox spirit secretly absorbing a man’s yang energy in the night. So enchanting that anyone targeted by him probably couldn’t refuse and would willingly surrender.
Soon, he arrived at the bed in the other room. He cupped his hands around his mouth, leaned down, and whispered, “Xie Jue, are you asleep? Are you asleep?”
The young man on the bed, eyes closed, showed no reaction, seemingly in deep sleep.
Su Zhuozhi didn’t stop there. Instead, he reached out and pinched Xie Jue’s handsome face, continuing to pester: “Xie Jue, Xie Jue.”
His voice rose, pounding into Xie Jue’s ears one after another.
Finally, Xie Jue opened his eyes.
The one who had woken him looked innocent and smiled brightly. “What a coincidence, you weren’t asleep either. Let’s chat together.”
Xie Jue: “…”
Su Zhuozhi sat on the edge of the bed, whispering about his family members: grandmother, elder brother, father, mother, Qingping, Wanying, counting them one by one, not even leaving out the parrot.
“I miss them so much.”
Xie Jue was a silent listener. He noticed Su Zhuozhi had come over barefoot, frowned, soaked a cloth in hot water, and began to wipe his feet.
This was not the first time he had done this.
His movements had become practiced and natural, as if done countless times.
Su Zhuozhi’s ankle was caught by a large hand, his legs forced to rest on Xie Jue’s thigh. His body lost balance a bit, so he had to support himself with his hands on the brocade quilt. His voice was soft, almost like whining: “Are you listening to me?”
Xie Jue hummed in response, indicating that he was listening.
The soles of Su Zhuozhi’s feet were ticklish. When the wet cloth passed over, he couldn’t help but tremble, instinctively trying to pull back, but he was firmly held, unable to move.
Xie Jue: “Not clean yet.”
Su Zhuozhi grumbled discontentedly: “Then hurry up.”
Xie Jue quickened his movements slightly, pressing a little harder so it wouldn’t tickle as much. Finally, both feet were wiped clean, restored to their fair state with a faint pink hue, not a speck of dirt.
Su Zhuozhi sighed in relief and continued talking, not needing any response from Xie Jue, as if he just wanted someone to keep him company.
Unconsciously, drowsiness overcame him.
Su Zhuozhi’s eyelids drooped, his head nodding. He yawned lazily, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
Xie Jue watched quietly, thinking he should go back to sleep and prepared to send him off.
But Su Zhuozhi didn’t leave. Instead, he crawled toward the inside of the bed, his voice soft and slurred: “So sleepy… I’m going to sleep…”
With that, he slowly burrowed under the covers, pulled them up properly, and obediently closed his eyes.
Xie Jue’s entire body stiffened. The hand resting by his leg clenched into a fist. On his usually indifferent face, a trace of helplessness appeared.
On the ground, the shadow stirred with demonic energy, surging wildly.
Your next favorite story awaits! Don't miss out on Looking For My Child's Father – click to dive in!
Read : Looking For My Child's Father
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂