The Thousand-Layer Schemes of the Sickly Beautiful Master - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Qing Zhuxue’s dantian was completely drained, yet it was endlessly demanded and called upon by its owner, gradually becoming like a thin membrane stretched to its limit.

Finally, it burst into a rebound.

Yun Shuchen stood at the cliff’s peak, silently counting the hours. Suddenly, she felt the temperature around her drop sharply, and wisps of frost climbed up from the cliff’s base, blooming in intricate patterns.

It was time.

Golden light spilled from her fingertips as she formed a complex hand gesture, slicing a line through the air. This was a common teleportation array: one part set at the cliff’s base, so when Qing Zhuxue fell into it at high speed, she would emerge directly from the array at the cliff’s peak.

Qing Zhuxue landed on the ground and rolled several times, spitting out a mouthful of bl00d before fainting.

Her body lay softly on the ground, and at a glance, one might think she was dead. Her clothes were tattered, shredded by the wind, and the grass beneath her quickly frosted over with a thin layer.

Yun Shuchen extended a hand and gently touched her cheek, which was freezing, colder than a corpse. Yet she could sense that within this icy body, a heart still beat with vibrant life.

A single ice spirit root.

Exceptional talent, extremely rare.

For some reason, the ice spirit root had awakened a bit late, but at the brink of life and death, it had finally unleashed its full potential.

She was a hidden gem, unnoticed until now.

Yun Shuchen gently brushed her hair and smiled faintly. Though she might have frightened the girl, the results were undeniably satisfying.

As expected, her judgment was never wrong.

…

Qing Zhuxue burned with fever for half the night, remaining unconscious.

She wasn’t sent back to Crane Feather Peak but was carried to Lingsu Peak to recover.

“There’s no serious harm. The vomiting of bl00d came from an exhausted dantian, and the fever was from catching a cold after being exposed to the wind for so long,” Elder Liu said, too lazy to even write a prescription, leaving it to her head disciple, Bai Su, to handle.

“A single ice spirit root, right?” Liu Xunqin exhaled a ring of white smoke, resting her chin on one hand while slowly turning her pipe. “She’s still leaking ice.”

Qing Zhuxue lay there with her eyes closed, another thin layer of frost forming beneath her.

Yun Shuchen extinguished the flame under the teapot and glanced at the girl on the bed. “This shows her spirit root isn’t weak but inherently strong. She just doesn’t know how to control it yet.”

A slender, pale hand lifted the teapot, pouring tea into a cup until it was brimming, pulling a fine thread of liquid. It stopped just before overflowing.

Yun Shuchen said, “Like water in a cup, too much will spill.”

The matter of Qing Zhuxue freezing half of One Dream Cliff naturally couldn’t be hidden from the Sect Leader. He made time to visit Lingsu Peak.

Upon entering, he saw the girl lying pale and bloodless on the bed.

The Sect Leader looked at her for a moment, clutching his sleeve, and sighed. “Your method is truly extreme.”

“Indeed,” Liu Xunqin said lightly. “We’ve only been together a few days, and she’s already been here twice. If we meet more often, this unlucky child might end up living at Lingsu Peak.”

“The results are impressive,” Yun Shuchen said, sipping her tea. “That’s enough. I know my limits.”

The Sect Leader smiled. “It’s rare for you to take such interest in someone, Junior Sister. Are you planning to take her as a disciple?”

“This child has a single spirit root, perfect for the sword cultivation path. Your array techniques are unmatched, Junior Sister, but she lacks the talent to inherit your mantle.”

The Sect Leader spoke the truth. As an experienced sword cultivator, he was naturally tempted. In the past few centuries, he had never seen a child with such exceptional talent.

Arrays require the harmony of all five elements; missing even one causes imbalance.

A single spirit root makes cultivation remarkably easy but almost impossible for achievements in arrays.

Yun Shuchen tapped the table and looked at him with a slight smile. “I’ve heard of an old rule: the winner of the inner sect competition earns the honor of choosing a peak elder as their master.”

“She can go wherever she wants. How could I interfere?”

Her words were, as always, evasive and calculated. After a moment, he pondered her meaning, sensing something amiss, and chuckled. “The competition hasn’t even started, and you’ve already decided she’ll take first place?”

Yun Shuchen clicked her tongue. “What’s the difference? Even if she’s chosen by others, once the elders see her single spirit root, they’ll all compete for her. In the end, it’ll still come down to her choice.”

“You’d better hope she wins first place. Otherwise, if they argue in the grand hall, it’ll be those old fools who lose face.”

“That makes sense,” the Sect Leader mused.

A faint movement came from the bed as Qing Zhuxue shifted her leg. Her eyes remained closed, and she mumbled, “Water…”

Bai Su, standing nearby, poured a cup of tea, gently propped her up, and carefully fed her. Qing Zhuxue’s furrowed brow relaxed slightly. She slowly opened her eyes, reached beneath her, and touched a patch of cold frost, quickly pulling her hand back.

Liu Xunqin waved a hand in front of her eyes, but Qing Zhuxue showed no reaction.

“Falling from a great height often causes temporary blindness,” Liu Xunqin said.

“Her self-healing ability far exceeds normal. She’ll recover in a few days.”

Blindness?

Qing Zhuxue looked ahead, seeing some light but mostly a dim, blurry haze. She vaguely sensed a figure approaching, enveloped in a familiar faint fragrance.

Her unease from blindness eased considerably in that moment.

A woman’s gentle voice sounded by her ear. “Since you’re awake, Elder Liu says there’s no issue. Come back to the peak with me.”

Qing Zhuxue hoarsely agreed.

Her words were few but notably obedient, as if she never cried or fussed no matter what happened.

The Sect Leader looked at the girl’s silent, fragile appearance, and his heart, like that of an old mother, ached sharply.

He sighed, thinking this girl would likely stay at Crane Feather Peak.

Turning to Yun Shuchen, he said, “She can apprentice under anyone; she’ll still be a disciple of Taichu Realm. If she wants to learn sword techniques later, send her to the Sword Pavilion, and I’ll teach her as my direct disciple.”

“There are sect matters to attend to, so I’ll leave first.” The Sect Leader sighed again and left with a wave of his sleeve.

Qing Zhuxue didn’t know how many people were in the room. She grasped a corner of Yun Shuchen’s sleeve. After hearing Yun Shuchen exchange a few words with Liu Xunqin, her body suddenly felt light as she was lifted.

“You’re so cold. Try to rein in your spiritual energy.”

She focused her mind until the temperature of her hands warmed slightly, returning to normal. Moments later, she realized Yun Shuchen was carrying her and still walking.

“I’m heavy. I can walk myself,” she said softly.

At fourteen, she wasn’t exactly light. Elder Yun looked delicate, like a slender willow in the wind. Where did she get the strength to carry her?

“Just a small technique. It’s not strenuous.” A gentle breeze swirled around her, lifting her body, so Yun Shuchen only held her legs and waist effortlessly.

Hearing the ease in her voice, Qing Zhuxue relaxed. Her head rested loosely on Yun Shuchen’s shoulder. With her vision gone, her senses of smell and hearing sharpened.

The faint, lingering fragrance enveloped her, like the endless breeze of a valley, blowing open one tree of flowers after another.

Since opening or closing her eyes made little difference, Qing Zhuxue sank into the soft, gentle scent, drowsy and nearly asleep.

When her back touched the bed, she startled awake.

She was finally lying down properly.

“Elder Yun, can I start cultivating now?”

She sensed something unusual in her dantian but wasn’t sure what it was. Since she hadn’t been thrown off the mountain again, she assumed she had succeeded.

Yun Shuchen held her hand and chuckled softly. “You succeeded, but you suffered a lot. Do you resent me?”

“I chose this path. I don’t regret it or blame anyone.” She closed her eyes and shook her head.

“Good child.” Yun Shuchen stood and opened a window slightly, finding the room stuffy. “Are you cold?”

No answer came. The girl had tilted her head and fallen fast asleep.

Yun Shuchen paused, then closed the window to prevent her from catching another cold. Turning back, her gaze, for the first time, held unmasked admiration as it fell on the girl’s youthful face.

What she valued wasn’t just her remarkable talent or her resilience in the face of hardship.

What truly impressed Yun Shuchen was that moment at the top of One Dream Cliff, when the sunlight illuminated the mountain’s slope, and the girl, wrapped in thin white robes, stood against the rustling wind, arriving on time. Though trembling instinctively, her eyes were clear, resolute, and free of regret.

Cultivation wasn’t a leisurely pastime for pampered nobles. It demanded the courage to face death and emerge anew, to tread paths others couldn’t and endure for the long haul.

Even poor talent could be compensated with heavenly treasures, not an unsolvable issue. But this courage and determination, innate and coursing through one’s bl00d—some had it, some didn’t. It was the difference between a carp and a true dragon.

Clearly, she hadn’t disappointed her.

…

Qing Zhuxue spent several days in darkness.

During this time, Elder Yun was unusually gentle and seemed in good spirits. Pitying her temporary blindness, she tended to her meticulously, even patiently placing deboned fish in her bowl at meals.

Qing Zhuxue felt somewhat overwhelmed by the attention.

In the past, Yun Shuchen hadn’t been this close, always maintaining a gentle but distant demeanor, occasionally teasing her for amusement before leaving.

Her eyes recovered well. By the third day, she could see outlines. By the fourth, colors returned. A week later, she was fully healed.

That week, Qing Zhuxue didn’t attend outer sect classes. Once recovered, she instinctively planned to return, but Yun Shuchen suggested she focus on practical combat and adapt to her spirit root, setting aside theoretical studies for now.

Having awakened her spirit root, she could now absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. What once slipped through her fingers now had a place to stay.

The outer sect’s ‘On the Five Elements’, spanning five thick volumes, detailed only metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Ice spirit roots were unheard of, and Qing Zhuxue found no records of their cultivation methods.

She had to revisit the third volume, which described water, hoping for similarities since ice derived from it. She also noticed her control over water was far more natural than over the other elements.

Yun Shuchen occasionally offered guidance. “There’s always moisture in the air. Try to sense it, lower the temperature, and condense it into ice for your use.”

Qing Zhuxue frowned, focusing on a dewdrop on a blade of grass for a long time. The dewdrop slowly froze, but she couldn’t control it precisely, accidentally turning the entire leaf into an ice sculpture.

“You don’t need to be so tense.”

Yun Shuchen’s fair, slender hands traced the air, swift and light like a swallow’s wings skimming water.

The wild currents of rivers and streams were tamed in her hands, a mere wisp of moisture from the air manipulated with ease.

Sunlight refracted into flecks of gold, shimmering on her profile like a divine miracle.

Qing Zhuxue watched her effortless movements, flowing as naturally as breathing, exuding an innate beauty.

It was impossible to look away.