"Hu—"
Su Min let out a soft, measured breath. Her quiet bamboo grove's still air stirred gently in response, carrying the faint, clean scent of dew and cut wood. More than a week had passed since the confrontation that painted the foothills with blood. The treasure was securely hers, resting against her hip in a subtle, leather holster, and not a single soul had dared to disturb her peace since.
In the ensuing, profound quiet, her cultivation had smoothly and steadily advanced. The internal energies consolidated until she reached Qi Refining mid-stage. Yet, such progress felt almost trivial now, a minor step on an endess road. For a practitioner, these early hurdles were the easiest, the foundation's very core. The true, monumental gate that loomed ahead was Foundation Establishment.
She knew that Foundation Establishment was divided into three distinct paths: Heaven, Earth, and Mortal. The Mortal Path was the simplest and most common. It required only that one build their foundation directly with the resources immediately at hand, a serviceable but ultimately limited base. The Heavenly Path, however, was far more arduous. It was legend's path. It demanded the gathering of five rare spirit items, each perfectly representing the core elements' energy, to construct a foundation of unparalleled purity and potential.
Through a decade of patience and an immense stroke of fortune, she had already secured a rare Wood element spirit treasure. Now she needed to seek out the remaining four: Metal, Water, Fire, and Earth. She would ascend via the supreme Heavenly Foundation path. As someone who always pursued perfection and would never compromise when a better path existed, she knew the time had come to leave her sanctuary and set out on this grand journey.
"It's time to bid this place farewell," she murmured to the quiet grove. The bamboo stalks seemed to listen, their leaves rustling in a phantom wind. "Among the Five Elements, the Wood element is already in my hands." She touched the gourd at her side. Its surface was cool, humming with a low, rhythmic thrum.
It had been an unexpected, immense blessing. The vine that had birthed the wondrous gourd was itself a spirit object of profound vitality, more than worthy of the task. Ancient texts stated that whenever one of the other four Elemental Treasures emerged into the mortal world, it would inevitably stir up bloody, chaotic storms.
Except for Wood. Its nature was different, more gentle and nurturing. Its awakening caused forests to flourish and vegetation to thrive, nourishing the land and its creatures without shaking the world's very foundations. The other four elements wouldn't be so merciful. Each would spark a tempest, a visible disturbance in the world's spiritual currents, and she could track those tempests. To do so efficiently, she would rely on the Fuding Merchant Guild's vast network.
As Prince Yong's eyes and ears, they had commercial and informational tentacles sprawling across the entire realm. They were capable of uncovering news and rumors from the most hidden, forgotten corners. Matters she couldn't personally search for across Great Wei's vastness, they could handle with their contact web. Moreover, what she sought wasn't a great state secret, just rare natural phenomena. To the public eye, it would merely appear she was a wandering cultivator, a benevolent figure aiding the suffering as she traveled.
"I have arranged for the plant spirits," she said aloud. Her preparations were complete. "Each nearby village now shelters and is sheltered by one. As long as they offer regular, simple worship and provide burnt grass and wood ashes as spiritual fertilizer, their safety shall be secured."
She took one last, long glance at the now empty, silent bamboo grove. A faint, unreadable emotion stirred in her heart. She had lived here for ten years, almost half her life in this world. She had even, without ever really intending to, nurtured little bamboo spirits here with her discarded pill dregs, though she used to pluck their leaves to brew tea when she was bored. Now the awakened spirits had been transplanted to guard the villages, and this place had returned to being an ordinary, unremarkable forest, its magic withdrawn. Having tied up every last loose end, Su Min's figure flickered and then vanished from the grove, disappearing into the distant horizon like mist dispersed by the wind.
-
Within a quiet, secure chamber at the Fuding Merchant Guild, the steward provided his report. His voice was respectful, and his head remained bowed.
"Thus far, the court remains silent, a tomb-like quiet. After you slew three of their Qi Refining cultivators so publicly, they must be choking on their own rage and humiliation. Yet, everything on the surface is calm."
Su Min chuckled, the sound dry and humorless. The truth was, the public order in the region had improved considerably. Previously, the city and the surrounding roads had been plagued by foreign refugees, landless and desperate people who often turned to banditry out of sheer need. The misguided, horrific sacrificial ritual conducted by the rogue cultivators had, grimly enough, incinerated most of that troublesome population. The few survivors had long since fled in terror, fearing they were next. With that rabble gone, a fragile, uneasy peace had returned.
The imperial court could barely extend its withered reach to this remote corner of the realm anymore. As for Su Min herself, among the common folk, she was quietly revered as a mountain guardian spirit. Because of her known, violently strained relationship with the court, the worship was subdued, held in the privacy of back rooms' privacy and at small, hidden shrines. Yet it grew steadily nonetheless, a quiet undercurrent of faith.
At the mountain's foot, villagers had even pooled their meager resources to erect her shrine. Now both mountain folk and cautious city dwellers came from time to time to burn incense and offer simple prayers for health and safety. The one who had discreetly provided the final funds for the temple's completion now stood respectfully before her, the merchant guild's steward himself.
Su Min hadn't refused this offering. Belief's power might one day prove valuable in ways she didn't yet fully understand. She had only one strict maintenance instruction: burn incense if they must, but no forced donations, no corruption from the temple keepers, and no allowing it to become a source of chaos or extortion.
"There's been no movement from the capital, no new edicts, no troop movements," the steward confirmed. He pulled her from her thoughts with a slight cough. "The court likely simply lacks the strong, readily available cultivators to dispatch anymore. You have… depleted their reserves here."
"I have left this place to wander the world. Spread the word far and wide," Su Min said.
This was a deliberate part of her plan. She knew neither the demon queen nor the emperor would swallow their grievances so easily. It was better to mislead them, to draw their attention and any potential retaliation to her moving, elusive figure, away from this place and its people. Let the mountain folk live in peace, forgotten. Not that she truly feared their retaliation, but it was an unnecessary complication.
"Miss Su is departing?" the steward asked. Surprise and apprehension clearly colored his voice.
"Indeed. My business here was tied solely to the object I obtained some days ago. With that matter fully resolved, I have no further reason to remain. It's time to wander the vast lands and see what fate has in store." She paused, her voice dropping to a soft murmur. "After all, my divine arts are stifled here. This place has given me all it can."
To awaken more of her innate talents and to seek new, powerful spells, she needed broader skies, deeper spiritual energy wells, and greater challenges. Staying in one place, no matter how comfortable, would only slow her growth to a crawl. She still had treasures to seek and tasks to complete that no one else could accomplish for her.
"This..." the steward hesitated. His mind was clearly racing through the implications, but seeing Su Min's firm resolve, he dared not voice any objection or plea.
"My master instructed me to ask, should the opportunity arise..." he began again, cautiously, choosing his words with care. "Does the immortal lady know how one might, truly and properly… enter the Qi Refining Stage? Not through… forced means."
"First, you need a proper, complete cultivation method. That, your own Tianqi inheritance should have provided. I won't interfere with another faction's secrets. Second, you must temper your body to its absolute peak, purging all impurities and blockages, until it's a flawless vessel. Lastly," she said, her voice becoming more pointed, "you must consume a Qi Induction Pill. It's the lock's key."
"Qi Induction Pill?" the steward repeated. His eyes widened with a mixture of hope and awe. He had heard the legends.
Su Min smiled faintly. She produced a single, perfectly smooth and faintly luminous pill from her sleeve. It was exquisitely made, radiating a pure, fragrant spiritual aroma that filled the room. She placed it gently on the lacquered table between them. It was her last one. To her, now firmly anchored in the mid-stage of Qi Refining, it was utterly useless, a relic of a previous stage. There was no reason to hoard it.
The steward swallowed audibly. His throat was dry and his eyes locked on the pill as if it were his firstborn child. He knew its value all too well. The demon queen could mass-produce cultivators, but her creations were flawed and unstable. Su Min's pills, however, were renowned for their near perfection, with almost no discernible side effects. Each one was a priceless treasure that could found a noble lineage or secure a faction's future for a generation. It was a shame, he thought, that she had yet to take a formal disciple to pass on this art.
"Miss Su... how much... for this pill?" the steward asked. His voice was hushed with reverence as his hands trembled slightly, stretching almost involuntarily toward the gleaming object on the table.
"Bring me four information pieces," Su Min said, her voice calm and level. "The pill shall be yours. Besides..." she added with a piercing look, "even if you acquired it in a rush, it would be useless to you or your master right now. I doubt anyone in Prince Yong's entire household has yet tempered their body to the required state of flawless perfection. The pill requires a perfect vessel, or it's wasted."
"This—" the steward started, then stopped short, his enthusiasm dampened as he realized she was undoubtedly correct. Their methods were crude compared to hers.
Su Min already had her plan. The pill was of no use to her, but letting the right person use it under the right conditions could enhance her own Path of Merit. And to set the vast, resourceful Fuding Merchant Guild scurrying to scour the lands for the news pieces she needed, she had to offer them a proper, irresistible bait.
"What information do you require?" the steward asked. His back straightened with sudden vigor. "Please, instruct me!" He slapped a hand to his chest, his expression solemn and eager, as if vowing to complete a life and death mission. The prize was now within sight, and he would move heaven and earth to grasp it.