Elder Song Jiayu's cool, decisive words were like a boulder hurled into a still lake.
In an instant, they sent a thousand waves crashing across Qingyun Peak Plaza!
To follow at her side, cultivating day and night!
Those nine words echoed like a reverberating bell, shaking through the minds of every disciple present without cease!
The vast majority of those gathered — including many inner disciples — found the names "Xiaochunhua" and "Liu Yiyi" utterly unfamiliar. They exchanged bewildered glances, whispering to one another about who these two could possibly be.
But no matter who they were, being taken as Personal Disciples by Elder Song Jiayu of Jade Bamboo Peak — and with treatment that amounted to being groomed as a direct successor — was more than enough to set the crowd ablaze!
Who did not know that Elder Song Jiayu of Jade Bamboo Peak cultivated the profound and mysterious Pure Yin Cultivation Technique?
Her temperament was cold and aloof; she was nearly oblivious to worldly affairs, spending her years in quiet seclusion.
Never mind seeking a cultivation partner — she didn't even have a personal attendant to wait on her, let alone Personal Disciples!
Though she had countless registered disciples under her name, they were all left largely to their own devices.
When had anyone ever seen her act with such gravity, taking on two Personal Disciples in one breath and intending to personally guide them at her side?
"Who are these two? What extraordinary talent do they have?"
"Never heard of them! Could they be children of some Foundation Establishment family from the lowlands?"
"Impossible — Elder Song has never cared about background..."
"Following her side day and night! What an incredible stroke of fortune! With Elder Song personally guiding them, their cultivation will advance a thousand miles in a single day!"
The murmurs spread across the plaza like a rising tide.
Every gaze — filled with curiosity, wonder, envy, and even a trace of jealousy — swept through the crowd in search of those two lucky souls.
Over in the outer ring where the Menial Disciples stood listening.
Yan Xi, a sturdily built female laborer, rubbed her eyes vigorously, unable to believe what she was seeing. She pointed at Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua, who were now the center of everyone's attention, and cried out to her companions in disbelief:
"Th-they?! Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua?! How is this possible! Just two months ago, they were weeding and watering herb plots with us in Butterfly Valley! How did they suddenly... become Personal Disciples of a Foundation Establishment Elder?! And Elder Song, no less!"
Her voice was loud enough that the Menial Disciples nearby all turned to stare, their faces written with shock and sheer disbelief.
From the lowest-ranked laborers, leaping in a single bound to become Personal Disciples of a Foundation Establishment Elder...
This was a carp leaping through the dragon's gate — ascending to the heavens in one step!
Over in the direction of Crimson Glow Peak.
Senior Sister Zhuxiu and Zhou Shan exchanged a glance, each seeing unmistakable surprise in the other's eyes.
They naturally recognized Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua — they knew them as attendants who followed Chen Yang, quiet and well-behaved young female cultivators with delicate features.
Nothing had ever seemed particularly remarkable about them.
Zhou Shan murmured quietly:
"These two beside Junior Brother Chen... they really did hide their light well. To have caught Elder Song's eye like this?"
Senior Sister Zhuxiu furrowed her brow slightly and shook her head, equally puzzled:
"Truly unexpected. Elder Song's standards are exceptionally high. There must be deeper meaning behind this."
Over in the direction of Qin Valley.
Lin Yang, who had been lazily leaning against a stone pillar, straightened up slightly.
He looked at Elder Shen Hongmei and Elder Song Jiayu standing side by side on the high platform.
Then he glanced at Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua below, who looked dazed and at a loss.
Something in his expression suggested he had perceived a subtle, unspoken understanding between the two Elders.
And yet.
The most intense reaction of all came from the area where the Jade Bamboo Peak disciples stood!
The moment Zhao Yanran heard the names "Liu Yiyi" and "Xiaochunhua," it was as though she had been struck by a bolt of divine lightning from the ninth heaven!
A surge of blood rushed violently up her throat; her vision darkened in waves, and the pressure in her chest was so immense she felt she might burst!
Pfft—
She forced it down with all her will, yet a thin trickle of blood still escaped her control, seeping from the corner of her mouth and staining her pale lips crimson.
Her face contorted into an expression of utter ugliness.
Her beautiful eyes locked onto Elder Song Jiayu on the platform, then snapped violently toward the two figures below — figures she despised with every fiber of her being.
Her gaze was filled with incomprehensible shock, towering hatred, and the frenzied anguish of someone who had been utterly betrayed!
Why?!
Why them?!
What in the world had happened?!
She had noticed it just a few days ago.
Beside her master Song Jiayu's cave dwelling, two elegant little rooms had quietly been built.
At the time, she had been secretly delighted, assuming her master was finally going to take on Personal Disciples — and that those spots were surely reserved for her!
She had been smug and certain of it, utterly convinced it was her destiny.
She had even fantasized countless times about how, once she became a Personal Disciple, she would use her elevated status and power to make Chen Yang bow his head before her — to make him regret every refusal and every cold dismissal!
But now, this sudden turn of events was like a resounding slap across her face!
Every fantasy, every shred of pride — shattered to dust!
If the ones who had stolen the Personal Disciple positions were some other talented, well-connected Senior or Junior Sisters from Jade Bamboo Peak, she, Zhao Yanran, might have been able to stomach it — barely.
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But of all people...
Of all people, it had to be these two — women with no connection to her whatsoever, of lowly birth, who had only managed to settle in the inner disciple courtyard under Chen Yang's protection!
Two women of tainted origins, wilted flowers from the gutter!
On what grounds?!
What gave them the right?!
An extreme sense of humiliation and indignation gnawed at her heart like a venomous serpent, nearly suffocating her!
"Come with me, both of you."
Up on the high platform.
Elder Song Jiayu seemed entirely oblivious to the enormous waves her words had stirred below — and equally unaware of Zhao Yanran's gaze, which burned hot enough to spit fire.
She simply gave a light, unhurried wave toward Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua.
In an instant.
Two streams of gentle yet irresistible true qi materialized from thin air.
Like invisible clouds, they softly lifted Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua — still caught in a daze of shock and bewilderment — off the ground, carrying them slowly upward toward the high platform.
This sight made the countless disciples below burn with envy.
A Foundation Establishment Elder personally reaching out to receive them — what an extraordinary honor!
Liu Yiyi and Xiaochunhua touched down on the platform and stood before Elder Song Jiayu, still somewhat at a loss for what to do with themselves.
Elder Song Jiayu looked at them, her tone flat yet carrying an unmistakable air of authority, and reiterated her instruction:
"From this day forward, you will remain at my side day and night to cultivate. Do not be negligent."
The two young women nodded — almost instinctively, almost blankly.
Elder Song Jiayu's gaze settled on Xiaochunhua. She noticed that the girl's hair bun had come loose from all the excitement earlier, with several stray strands sticking out playfully.
She raised her hand slightly and beckoned again:
"You — come here."
Xiaochunhua froze for a moment.
She looked at this Elder whose bearing was as cool and otherworldly as an immortal, yet who had just bestowed upon them both the greatest fortune of their lives — and felt a little timid.
But she obeyed, shuffling her feet forward until she stood before Elder Song Jiayu.
Elder Song Jiayu extended her slender, pale fingers and gently smoothed Xiaochunhua's slightly disheveled hair. Then, from seemingly nowhere, she produced an antique-styled Wooden Comb and began patiently combing through the girl's tangled dark tresses.
This scene left the crowd below utterly dumbstruck once more!
A Foundation Establishment Elder, personally combing the hair of a newly taken, completely unknown little disciple?!
Xiaochunhua was completely stunned as well.
She could only feel the gentle sensation at her scalp, accompanied by the soft, delicate sound of the Wooden Comb gliding through her hair.
A strange feeling welled up in her heart.
Aside from Sister Liu, this was the first time anyone had ever combed her hair with such tenderness.
She stood rigid, not daring to move a muscle.
As Elder Song Jiayu combed with gentle, unhurried movements, she spoke in a tone that seemed almost like idle conversation:
"We have met before, you and I."
Xiaochunhua heard this and tried hard to recall.
Elder Song Jiayu offered a hint:
"It was winter at the time. Very cold. You had collapsed in the street, nearly frozen to death."
Xiaochunhua's eyes flew wide open. A memory she had buried deep in the corner of her mind — one she had never been willing to touch — suddenly came rushing back with startling clarity!
That winter.
She had still been at Spring Crimson House. A seemingly kind-hearted gentleman had bought out her contract, and she had thought she was finally free of her suffering — only to find herself entering another den of horrors, subjected to inhuman torment day and night...
Later, she had fallen gravely ill with a severe cold, and that household had discarded her like garbage into the frozen wilderness, left to live or die on her own.
Just as her consciousness was fading and she was certain she would die.
A woman who seemed like a goddess had saved her.
She had given her Pills to heal her wounds and brought her up the mountain...
Xiaochunhua snapped her head up and looked at the cool, breathtakingly beautiful face before her — so close now — and watched it slowly merge with the blurry yet warm figure from her memory!
Her eyes erupted with a light of utter disbelief, and her voice trembled:
"You... you're the one who... the one who saved me... and Sister Liu too... the immortal sister?!"
She had learned only recently, during a casual chat with Liu Yiyi, that the two of them had both been rescued by the same mysterious Senior — and that it was because of her that they had been able to stay at Butterfly Valley of the Verdant Wood Sect.
But because of their lowly origins, no one had ever told them the name or identity of their benefactor.
Until this very moment, she finally knew...
That the immortal sister who had saved them from their suffering was none other than the revered Foundation Establishment Elder of Jade Bamboo Peak — Song Jiayu!
Elder Song Jiayu did not answer directly. She simply continued her movements, her tone as unhurried as ever:
"You have three hair whorls on your head. Your nature is surely lively and mischievous — not easy to keep in line."
Xiaochunhua felt her cheeks flush at those words. Thinking of her own usual behavior, she was suddenly overcome with guilt, and she lowered her head, mumbling, not daring to respond.
Elder Song Jiayu looked at her flustered yet endearing expression, and the corners of her cool lips seemed to curve — almost imperceptibly — into the faintest of smiles.
She continued:
"And your surname? What is it?"
Xiaochunhua shook her head blankly.
Elder Song Jiayu asked again:
"Then your parents' surnames? Surely you know those?"
Xiaochunhua's eyes dimmed slightly. She said quietly:
"I... when I was born, my mother ran off — I don't know who she was. My father... my father had something wrong up here,"
She tapped the side of her own head:
"He was simple-minded. Couldn't even write his own name. The villagers all called him... Big Chun."
Elder Song Jiayu's hand paused ever so slightly in its combing. She nodded thoughtfully.
Looking at Xiaochunhua's eyes — filled with blankness and a trace of quiet self-deprecation — she was silent for a moment before slowly speaking, her voice seeming just a shade softer than before:
"In that case, you shall take my surname."
Xiaochunhua's head shot up, her eyes filled with shock.
Elder Song Jiayu continued:
"However, the name 'Chunhua' is too whimsical and carefree. Spring blossoms are beautiful, but they bloom for only a moment before withering away. We who walk the path of cultivation seek long life and eternal sight — the eternal Great Dao. So you shall be called 'Chunxin' instead. Spring blossoms fade, but a spring heart endures. And it keeps the 'Chun' from your father's name 'Big Chun' — a small keepsake of him."
"Song... Song Chunxin?"
Xiaochunhua murmured the name to herself, and her gaze shifted — from blankness, gradually, to clarity.
A warmth unlike anything she had ever felt before — a sense of belonging, of being recognized — flooded through her entire body in an instant!
She was no longer that nameless, rootless "Xiaochunhua," drifting like duckweed on the water!
She had a surname now!
She had a name — one that was truly hers, carrying with it the hopes and blessings of an elder!
"I... I have a name now... I'm called Song Chunxin... Xiaochunhua has a name now..."
She murmured the words, and tears fell without warning — great, heavy drops rolling down her still-young face like beads from a broken string.
She tried desperately to hold them back, but there was no stopping the torrent that poured forth.
It was joy. It was gratitude. It was release. It was the interweaving of countless complex emotions.
Elder Song Jiayu looked at her tear-streaked face and said nothing. She simply continued in silence, combing the last few strands of hair into place and gathering them into a simple yet neat bun.
At that moment.
Liu Yiyi, who had been standing quietly to one side, suddenly stepped forward. She dropped to both knees before Elder Song Jiayu with the utmost solemnity and performed a full, formal bow of discipleship. Her voice was choked with emotion yet clear:
"Disciple Liu Yiyi pays her respects to Master! This disciple is grateful beyond words for Master's grace in accepting her!"
Xiaochunhua — no, Song Chunxin now — saw Liu Yiyi's gesture and hastily wiped her tear-streaked face with her sleeve. With a thud, she dropped to her knees as well.
Mimicking Liu Yiyi's posture, she kowtowed — clumsy yet utterly sincere — her voice thick with tears:
"D-disciple Song Chunxin p-pays her respects to Master!"
Song Chunxin!
She called out her new name loudly, with pride and excitement.
Elder Song Jiayu looked at the two kneeling before her, and on that face — cold as ice — there finally appeared once more a faint yet genuine smile, like the first thaw of ice and snow.
She said nothing more.
She simply raised her hand lightly, and two streams of gentle true qi lifted Liu Yiyi and Song Chunxin back to their feet.
"When you follow at my side, there is no need for such formal ceremony."
Her tone was flat, yet there was a warmth quietly contained within it.
As she spoke, the corner of her eye seemed to drift — almost casually — toward Elder Shen Hongmei, who had been standing silently nearby, observing the whole affair.
Elder Shen Hongmei, having witnessed this scene, wore an expression of satisfaction and gave a slight nod.
She stepped forward at the right moment, taking up the thread of the proceedings, her voice carrying across the plaza:
"Excellent! That Elder Song has gained such fine disciples, adding new pillars to our Verdant Wood Sect — this pleases me greatly."
She turned her hand and produced two exquisite jade vials, passing them to Liu Yiyi and Song Chunxin with a word of instruction:
"Inside are some Foundation-Solidifying Vitality Cultivation Pills — consider them a welcoming gift from me to you both. I hope that once you ascend to Jade Bamboo Peak, you will heed your master's guidance, cultivate diligently each day, and not disappoint Elder Song's expectations or the sect's investment in you."
Liu Yiyi and Song Chunxin respectfully accepted the jade vials with both hands and said in unison:
"Many thanks to Elder Shen for the Pills!"
Elder Shen Hongmei nodded, and was just about to speak again to continue presiding over the gathering's proceedings.
But at that very moment —
A sharp, piercing female voice — laden with fierce indignation and resentment — exploded from the Jade Bamboo Peak disciples' area.
Like a thunderclap from a clear sky, it instantly tore through the atmosphere of the plaza, which had not yet fully settled:
"Master! Your disciple refuses to accept this!!!"
That cry was filled with grievance, fury, and accusation.
In an instant, it drew every single gaze in the plaza toward its source!
The voice came from a young woman whose lips still bore a faint trace of blood, whose face was as pale as paper, yet whose eyes were locked onto the high platform with a gaze sharp enough to have been dipped in poison...
Zhao Yanran!