"What do you even know about the Dao?"
Bai Yujian’s voice carried the soft authority of a thousand years atop Sword Peak, but her curiosity was met with an unexpected twist. She had been eager to educate this new disciple, to speak of the Sword, the Righteous Dao, and the legacy of their peak. Instead, Su Xiaobai raised his hand, casually cutting her off.
The audacity.
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The absolute gall.
He was, without a doubt, the first sect member who had ever dared to interrupt her.
"Uh… yeah, we can circle back to the ’Dao talk’ later," Su Xiaobai said, scratching his head. "I’ve got more important business to handle right now."
Bai Yujian: "???"
Her beautiful eyes blinked at him—crystalline pools that could drown a weaker man. But Su Xiaobai? Oh, no. He wasn’t diving in there. He had no time for that kind of trouble. His goals were crystal clear: get his hands on some rare resources and avoid unnecessary drama.
"I need the core of a Crimson Ore Behemoth," he said plainly.
Bai Yujian pursed her lips. The audacity was annoying, but the request? Simple enough. She had the core lying around, no big deal. In fact, she even transferred him contribution points so he could arrange for some Void Fracture Stones from the treasury—a rare and priceless resource, each piece costing a hundred thousand contribution points.
When he bought ten at once, her eyes widened.
’This guy…’
"Finally!" Su Xiaobai grinned like a man who’d just won the lottery. Clutching the crimson ore core and the stones, he looked as smug as a cat with cream. "Now I just need an open space. Is there one around here?"
Bai Yujian blinked again, nodding hesitantly. "???" was practically written on her face.
To say she didn’t understand this strange new disciple of hers would be the understatement of the century. After all, she’d only ever had one other personal disciple in a thousand years, Liu Zhenhai, and even that was more out of obligation than choice.
Yet this guy—Su Xiaobai—had shown up on his first day, casually beaten a dozen Core Formation brats into submission, and revealed himself to be a puppet refiner, a craft so niche it wasn’t even its own peak anymore.
Stormfire Peak handled puppets as a side hustle, but putting Su Xiaobai next to their lead crafter, Elder Liu? That would be a death sentence.
No, she’d taken him in to protect him… or so she thought. In her mind, Su Xiaobai was earnest and sincere, proving his worth through trials instead of abusing her token to sneak into the sect. The truth? She was delusional. He was delusional. Truly, a match made by the heavens.
They walked together to the practice arena. A few Core Disciples in red robes crossed their path, but the moment they saw Bai Yujian, they bowed and scattered like frightened sparrows.
’Damn,’ Su Xiaobai thought, watching them vanish. This woman’s reputation must be terrifying. Still, to him, she seemed… pretty harmless so far.
"Hey," he said, glancing at her. "Since this is a Righteous Sect, don’t you think people could fake being righteous while secretly being scumbags? Like that Crimson Sword guy. His weapon looked demonic as hell. Why’d you even let him participate?"
Bai Yujian paused, turning to him with a trace of surprise. On day one, this brat had already poked a hole in the sect’s ideology. His observational skills were sharper than most elders’.
"Yes," she admitted after a moment. "It’s true that some try to hide their corruption behind a mask of virtue. But the heart of the Righteous Dao isn’t about appearances. It’s about motives. A demonic sword raised against evil is righteous at heart, and we accept that. But even a sword forged in the heavens, if used for evil, goes against our values. Those who pretend to be righteous? They don’t last long here."
Her voice grew cold toward the end, and Su Xiaobai shivered slightly.
"Good to know," he said, stepping onto the vast training ground and beginning to arrange the Void Fracture Stones. "I’ll help you root out ’those’ hypocrites. Someone’s gotta keep the books balanced, right?"
Bai Yujian blinked again, genuinely stunned by his words. ’Perhaps my choice wasn’t wrong after all…’
But Su Xiaobai’s thoughts were far from noble. ’If I’m the warden of justice, there’s no way I’d prosecute myself. Easy win.’
With a grin, he pulled out a Celestial Inscriber and fed it the Crimson Ore Behemoth’s core. Bai Yujian’s eyes widened as he began working.
"Is that… a formation pen?"
"You understand formations?" Bai Yujian asked, stepping closer. Her fragrance—light, like spring rain—lingered in the air, teasing the senses.
Su Xiaobai didn’t look up. His hands moved swiftly, tracing lines of light across the ground, stitching the heavens into the earth. The formation glowed, intricate and beautiful, pulling silent gasps from the disciples who dared to sneak closer despite their fear of Bai Yujian.
"Summoning array?" she asked again, her tone soft, her curiosity sharper than her sword.
Su Xiaobai glanced up, unimpressed. "What gave it away? The glowing runes or the ’giant interdimensional tear’ vibe?"
Bai Yujian’s lips tightened, half amused. Her eyes lingered on the Void Fracture Stones—tools of immense power, capable of slicing through dimensions.
"Why aren’t you at Mystic Vein Peak?" she asked, stepping closer. "Formation masters thrive there. You’d be their star."
He snorted, dusting his hands. "Sure. I’ll give up Sword Peak, forget stabbing people, and go meditate on celestial geometry. Great plan."
Bai Yujian arched a brow. "Strange," she muttered. "Why someone like you even needs all this. Who are you summoning?"
Su Xiaobai paused. For once, his hands stilled.
"Family," he said. "The last one left."
Bai Yujian blinked, her composure slipping. The single word struck harder than she expected.
’I see,’ she thought, imagining hidden pain, some tragic saga of loss.
Su Xiaobai almost rolled his eyes. ’Here we go. She’s writing my biography in her head.’
The truth? No epic drama.
He was weak.
He’d screwed up.
He was fixing it.
End of story.
"What now?" Bai Yujian asked, her tone softer.
The answer roared to life.
Swoosh!
The Void Fracture Stones blazed. Light shot skyward, carving a rift in the heavens. Day turned to night in an instant, and above them, stars swirled in a massive astral projection. It was breathtaking.
Disciples from every peak turned to Sword Peak, whispers rising like wind. Bai Yujian raised her hand, her qi forming a barrier. "No one comes closer," she commanded.
Meanwhile, Su Xiaobai moved with calm efficiency. He tossed items into the array—a cursed talisman, a broken bone, and what might’ve been a mummified claw. Each vanished in the light, consumed by the array.
Finally, he pulled out a frayed ’scrap of cloth’, belonging to his little sister — Xiao Mei, its edges worn by time.
The cloth hovered, spinning faster and faster until it became a blinding spiral. The astral projection shifted, and a gateway began to form—a shimmering tear between realms.
Bai Yujian’s breath caught. "An Astral Gate…" she murmured. "He’s tearing through dimensions like it’s nothing."
For the first time in centuries, awe flickered in her gaze. She almost summoned Mystic Vein Peak’s lord to witness the feat but held back. Disruption now would be catastrophic.
Her gaze returned to Su Xiaobai, who stood calm amidst the mess. At first, she’d thought him an oddity, then a mystery.
Now, she realized he was something far greater.
What is he?
Opening an Astral Gate so recklessly… Did this brat not value his life? Her lips thinned as she watched the formation glow, its energy pulsating with dangerous intensity. One misstep, one slight miscalculation, and the entire Xiantian Sect would cease to exist. She reinforced the barrier surrounding the training grounds, her qi flowing like a steady river. If it weren’t for her, this thing would’ve exploded five steps ago, she thought grimly.
At the center stood Su Xiaobai, unnervingly calm as the storm of spiritual energy roared around him. With the array stabilizing, all that remained was for the gate to connect to White Cloud Star—or wherever his sister might be.
The weight on his shoulders eased. He glanced around, noting the now-empty training grounds. Spotting Bai Yujian standing guard and ensuring their privacy, he raised a hand, ready to give her a casual thumbs-up.
Then he froze.
She was staring at him.
Not her usual amused or curious gaze. No, this was deeper, sharper, like a blade above his neck. It was the kind of look that made Su Xiaobai feel like a frog skewered on a spit, ready to roast.
’What now?’ he thought.
For a moment, an absurd thought crossed his mind. If this were his old world, maybe this could be romantic—a girl gazing at him under a light drizzle. Except here, it wasn’t an umbrella but a parasol of pure killing intent. And instead of romance, it felt like she was about to turn him into research material.
"Uh…" Su Xiaobai coughed to shatter the silence, suddenly remembering a critical distraction. "Do you, uh, know someone called White Jade Sword?"
Bai Yujian blinked, her razor-sharp focus faltering. "White Jade Sword?" she repeated, her voice carefully blank.
"Yeah," Su Xiaobai said, pulling a neatly wrapped scroll from his robes. "I’ve got this love letter for her. Big deal, super important. Figured I’d deliver it personally, y’know? Make a strong impression."
"..."
Her lips twitched, and for a moment, it looked like she might laugh. But instead, she snorted. "You’re delivering a love letter to someone whose real name you don’t even know?"
Su Xiaobai shrugged, slipping the scroll back into his robes. "True love transcends names, alright? When you feel it, you just
know. The moment I heard her name—White Jade Sword—I knew she was the one."
＼(°o°)／ Bai Yujian’s eyebrow twitched violently.
This idiot.
She stared at him, stunned. He was standing right in front of her, delivering a love letter to her, and had no idea.
Was he mocking her? No… his sincerity was too genuine. That almost made it worse.
Su Xiaobai’s tone shifted to one of heartfelt earnestness, though inwardly he cursed Wei Jun. Pretending this was his task was risky, but there was no way he could reveal the prince’s identity now. "I’ve heard all about her deeds. A righteous cultivator, a hero who’s changed the world! That’s enough to fall in love with her shadow. If I have to chase her across the realms, so be it! I’ll even kneel at her feet, live under her feet—whatever it takes! That’s the power of true love!"
Bai Yujian blinked rapidly, completely stunned.
"…You’ve never even seen her," she muttered. "What if she’s an ugly witch?"
Su Xiaobai snorted. "If she’s an ugly witch, then I’ll marry an ugly witch. What’s appearance got to do with it?"
Inwardly, he added, Not my problem anyway. Wei Jun can deal with whatever happens after this.
Hiss~~
Bai Yujian’s expression faltered. For a moment, her face turned the faintest shade of red. She quickly masked it with a sharp exhale, holding out her hand. "Give me the letter."
"Oh, great," Su Xiaobai said, relieved, and handed it over without hesitation. "Saves me the trouble of running all over the sect."
Her fingers brushed the scroll briefly before she slipped it into her sleeve. "I’ll deliver it personally," she said, her voice calm.
But as she walked away, her gaze lingered on Su Xiaobai.
’This fool… does he have any idea what he’s done?’