If Loyalty fell below sixty, betrayal became a risk. The lower the number, the easier the knife found its mark.
Between sixty and eighty, betrayal grew unlikely, but when danger threatened both servant and master, the servant would abandon the master without hesitation.
Between eighty and ninety, the servant would never betray and might even stand willing to die for the master.
Above ninety, betrayal ceased to exist—the servant obeyed every command without question, even unto death.
Below ninety, Loyalty fluctuated like the tide. Once it reached ninety or higher, it locked and would never drop below that threshold again.
Yue Ming currently sat at twenty-five Loyalty and could plummet further at any moment, but Ye Qian felt no concern whatsoever.
The future stretched long before them, and he believed that under his guidance, Yue Ming would grow more and more obedient with each passing day.
"Let's go inside. Time to rest."
The words left his lips, and Ye Qian strode toward his palace without pause. Xia He and Qiu Lan fell into step behind him, silent and attentive.
As his personal maids, they left his side only when circumstances demanded it or when he commanded them away.
Yue Ming stood motionless, watching the three depart. After a moment of hesitation, she gritted her teeth and followed.
She had no choice now—she belonged to Ye Qian.
If she didn't curry favor with him, she would be the one to suffer in the future. Though pride still burned in her chest, Yue Ming recognized the current reality with painful clarity.
Given the situation, she could only do what she ought to do.
...
In the blink of an eye, two days passed.
During those two days, Yue Qingshan worked with relentless diligence, gritting his teeth and pushing himself with everything he had to break through to the Enlightenment Realm.
All of it served one purpose: to challenge Ye Qian after his successful breakthrough. As long as he defeated that man, he would have a chance to win back Yue Ming.
Just now, he had finally broken through the Divine Ability Realm Peak and entered the Early Stage of Enlightenment Realm.
Glowing streams of immortal spiritual Qi frantically repaired Yue Qingshan's battered body.
Sitting cross-legged in his cultivation spot, his skin flushed crimson, and the blood vessels beneath bulged grotesquely.
Wave after wave of pain crashed through his flesh, reminding him that he had reached his absolute limit.
Yet the results proved outstanding—he had actually broken through from the Divine Ability Realm Late Stage to the Early Stage of Enlightenment Realm in one explosive leap.
To endure to this extent under the powerful side effects of the Exploding Pill, Yue Qingshan could be considered a person of extraordinarily strong willpower.
Whoosh!
He exhaled a long breath. Yue Qingshan's eyes snapped open, and a sharp glint flashed in his clear pupils.
Seizing his long sword, he performed his most practiced sword art with rapid precision. Sword shadows flickered through the air, and he felt his strength surge far beyond what it had been.
The sword art flowed more proficiently than before, each strike carrying greater power. After completing the full set, Yue Qingshan experienced an unprecedented sense of exhilaration coursing through his veins.
He sheathed his long sword and turned toward his ethereal, faintly visible master.
Excitement colored his voice.
"Master! I finally broke through!"
To reach the Early Stage of Enlightenment Realm at this age already marked him as an extremely outstanding genius.
Coupled with the fact that Yue Qingshan had started cultivation much later than others, he truly stood as a genius among geniuses.
"Qingshan, you make me look at you in a new light.
To endure the side effects of the Exploding Pill—you are indeed the disciple I chose. The student has surpassed the teacher."
The old remnant soul stroked his white beard, emotion threading through his voice.
When he was young, he too had wanted to use the Exploding Pill, but he believed he lacked such iron willpower and ultimately abandoned the idea.
That Exploding Pill had been preserved until now, and he never expected his disciple to actually endure it. Indeed, he had not chosen wrongly—Yue Qingshan's future was limitless.
Perhaps placing his hope of reshaping his body on Yue Qingshan's shoulders was not a mistake after all.
Though he had successfully broken through to the Enlightenment Realm, Yue Qingshan remained unsatisfied. He bowed deeply to the remnant soul, his expression grave.
"Master, although I have successfully broken through to the Enlightenment Realm, I still don't have absolute confidence in defeating Ye Qian.
Please help me think of a way, Master."
He knew that before Ye Qian suffered Qi Deviation, his strength had already reached the Enlightenment Realm Peak.
Even if his strength had decreased after Qi Deviation, he probably still stood at the Enlightenment Realm Late Stage—a full two minor realms above him.
Without some tricks up his sleeve, defeating Ye Qian would prove extremely difficult.
Initially, the remnant soul had thought Yue Qingshan only wished to cultivate diligently. He remained completely unaware that his disciple intended to confront Ye Qian directly.
His expression shifted suddenly, and the hand stroking his white beard froze mid-motion.
"Qingshan, don't be impulsive.
Ye Qian is the Young Master of the Ye Family, and his talent goes without saying.
Even if you have just broken through to the Early Stage of Enlightenment Realm, you are probably not strong enough to face him."
He wanted to persuade Yue Qingshan to abandon this path, to stop fantasizing about defeating Ye Qian.
But Yue Qingshan thought of Yue Ming.
The image of her being given to Ye Qian made his heart ache as if it bled from a thousand cuts.
The hatred of having one's future bride taken was irreconcilable—how could he possibly endure it?
If he swallowed such hatred, wouldn't he become a pathetic coward? No man could tolerate such a title.
Yue Qingshan had sworn he would rescue Yue Ming, and rescue her he would.
A man of his word—what he promised, he saw through to the end.
"Master, I have already promised Yue Ming that I will definitely take her away from Ye Qian's clutches.
I beg you, Master. Lend me your strength!"
He dropped to his knees and kowtowed heavily to the remnant soul, his forehead striking the ground with a dull thud.
"Alas…"
Seeing his disciple like this, the remnant soul felt a throbbing headache build behind his ethereal eyes.
He couldn't stop Yue Qingshan—not now, not with that look of desperate determination carved into the young man's face.
"Alright. Since you want to save Yue Ming so desperately, then I will help you.
Take this Magic Treasure..."
He waved his sleeve with a flourish. A cold glint flashed from the ring on Yue Qingshan's hand, and a sharp sword suddenly flew forth.
The blade spun rapidly through the air and plunged heavily into the floor with a resounding clang.
When this sword landed, Yue Qingshan felt a chilling aura radiate from it in waves, so intense it pressed against his skin like winter frost.
If his cultivation hadn't just improved, he probably would have collapsed to his knees already.
"This is a Samsara Artifact I once obtained by chance, named the Crushing Star Blade.
It is also the greatest help I can currently give you. I hope you achieve your wish."
When Yue Qingshan learned that this Crushing Star Blade was actually a Samsara Artifact, his eyes widened until the whites showed all around.
Samsara Artifacts were extraordinarily powerful weapons—after refinement, they could even follow their master through reincarnation itself.
To find a suitable Samsara Artifact was exceedingly rare in the world, a treasure most cultivators would never glimpse in their entire lives.
Gulp~!
He swallowed hard, his throat working visibly.
Without hesitation, Yue Qingshan reached down and drew the Crushing Star Blade from the ground.