Chun’er suspected that her young mistress might have been deceived by that Dongfang Xiaotian fellow while she was nursing her wounds!
It absolutely had to be the case—otherwise, how could her mistress have said something like that?
“Chun’er, listen to me.”
Beichen Yue seemed to notice Chun’er’s doubt. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she explained helplessly, “Chun’er, you’re not a child anymore. It’s time to consider a good family.”
“Don’t abandon me, Miss!”
Chun’er instantly made a pitiful face, showing an expression of utter sorrow. “I have no parents, and I’ve served you since I was little. If you don’t want me… I might as well just die.”
“Where did you learn such sweet talk?”
Beichen Yue flicked Chun’er’s forehead and said, “Enough, enough. If you don’t want to, then forget it.”
“But speaking of Master Dongfang,”
Beichen Yue felt the surge of Dao Foundations inside her that had grown several times stronger, “he really is an extraordinary person.”
“To have three sword intents that complement each other so perfectly, and even invent his own immortal art… such a talent is truly a pity to be confined to such a small corner.”
“All right, all right, Miss.”
Chun’er had just snapped out of the horror of being abandoned by her own mistress and married off to a man who couldn’t cultivate. Her resentment toward Dongfang Xiaotian was off the charts.
Well, not really that high. After all, Dongfang Xiaotian was indeed quite handsome.
Still, she couldn’t help feeling a bit dissatisfied.
Chun’er pouted and said, “That guy does have many merits, but he’s really greedy! Along the way, he wouldn’t suffer a single loss, tricking you out of all your spirit stones.”
Beichen Yue had already used up all her spirit stones, while Chun’er still had some, but she was just a servant, and most of her stones had just been used to help Beichen Yue establish her foundation.
Right now, even combining their spirit stones, they probably wouldn’t have enough to get back home. They might even have to sell some heavenly materials just to get by.
“That was agreed upon from the start. Speaking of which, I still owe him a spirit stone for a Three-Tier Spirit Talisman.”
Beichen Yue continued tending to Chun’er’s wounds. At the time, the situation had been too chaotic.
She had just wanted Dongfang Xiaotian to take Chun’er away quickly, so she directly handed over the highest-value spirit card from her space treasure to him.
Dongfang Xiaotian hadn’t taken advantage of that spirit talisman to cause trouble either.
But the important thing now was to correct this girl’s unwillingness to marry.
“Chun’er, do you still just see him as a useless man?”
Chun’er was immediately dumbstruck.
At first, she had indeed only regarded Dongfang Xiaotian as a crippled man who couldn’t cultivate.
After all, although he had been retired for many years and his reputation had faded, the Azure Dragon Sword Immortal was still well-known in the Beichen family, as he had once been their benefactor.
But a sword immortal is basically a sword cultivator, whose strength relies heavily on spiritual power. Without cultivation, isn’t he useless?
Knowing this from the start, and with Dongfang Xiaotian’s somewhat troublesome attitude about Miss Beichen’s affairs, compounded by their initial misunderstandings, he had left a bad impression.
Yet, to be serious, he was indeed crippled, but definitely not just a cripple.
Besides the major cultivation paths, there are side paths—not that they’re inferior, just less commonly practiced and harder to use for immortality.
Among those side paths, formation masters are one of them.
Dongfang Xiaotian had casually dismantled an ancient formation left from the Divine Era, which was at least a Three-Tier Formation, with just a few words negotiating with a wicked cultivator.
That showed how profound his foundation in formations was.
Not to mention, before his cultivation was destroyed, he was at least a half-step Golden Core.
Just judging by his age, to be able to dismantle such a mysterious ancient Three-Tier Formation means his talent in formations was absolutely top-tier.
After all, breaking a formation isn’t hard. The difficulty lies in being able to do it so effortlessly, like Dongfang Xiaotian.
This shows he is very familiar with Three-Tier Formations—probably at least a Third-Tier Formation master!
A Third-Tier Formation master could defend an entire city. With enough preparation, formation masters have the greatest power among all cultivation systems.
So when Miss Beichen asked so seriously, Chun’er was suddenly at a loss for words.
Seeing that Chun’er only spoke out of turn but wasn’t stupid, Beichen Yue felt much relieved inside.
“So, from now on, show more respect to Master Dongfang.”
“This should be considered a blessing in disguise for him. I didn’t expect that after he lost his ability to cultivate swordsmanship, he could still find an even better path. But of course, he still can’t compare to you, Miss.”
Chun’er quietly acknowledged Dongfang Xiaotian’s talent deep down. A Third-Tier Formation master under twenty years old… even in the Ice Ling Immortal Palace, that counted as a genius.
But Miss Beichen was sixteen this year and, after only one year of cultivation, had reached half-step Foundation Establishment.
Although she had been stuck at that stage for three years, advancing an entire realm in one year was still much faster than Dongfang Xiaotian’s many years of work to reach Third-Tier Formation!
“Cultivation doesn’t work like that.”
Beichen Yue knew what Chun’er was thinking and sighed helplessly. “However, Master Dongfang is about to enter Ice Ling Immortal Palace with me. Compared to his formation skills, I hope he will spend more time on swordsmanship.”
One of the compensations Beichen Yue offered to Dongfang Xiaotian after breaking their engagement was an exceptional qualification to enter the inner sect of Ice Ling Immortal Palace.
At that time, she would ask her Sect Master to help repair his Spiritual Sea so he could cultivate again.
Though his original cultivation was lost and he’d have to start over at Qi Refining stage seven, wasting five years and progressing more slowly than before, because of his previous experience, Beichen Yue estimated that his cultivation speed wouldn’t be slower than true inner sect disciples.
She had great confidence in Dongfang Xiaotian.
Chun’er was stunned. So Miss Beichen meant his talent in swordsmanship even surpassed his gift in formations?
Since Miss Beichen possessed an Innate Sword Body, Chun’er trusted her insight into swordsmanship completely, silently marveling that the title Azure Dragon Sword Immortal wasn’t just for show.
But this only made Chun’er more curious. She couldn’t help but cast a questioning glance at her mistress.
“Miss… When I investigated him, I heard rumors that the one who crippled him was actually one of his peers.”
Dongfang Xiaotian, such a prodigy, praised to such a degree by Miss Beichen—he must have been unparalleled among his peers at the time. So who was the peer that managed to cripple him like that?
Beichen Yue shook her head. She was focused on sword cultivation, and it was Chun’er’s job to gather external information. If Chun’er didn’t know, she definitely didn’t.
Many geniuses have fallen—some because they provoked higher-level opponents, others due to accidents in ruins exploration.
But someone like Dongfang Xiaotian, defeated by a peer… usually there were two possibilities.
One: Dongfang Xiaotian was actually weak, and the Azure Dragon Sword Immortal title was exaggerated by the common folk, so he perished when facing a true genius.
Two: The one who defeated Dongfang Xiaotian was an even more terrifying genius.
Several names flashed through Beichen Yue’s mind—all top figures in contemporary Shenghua, yet none had such a grudge against Dongfang Xiaotian.
“Why don’t we ask him directly when we have time?”
Chun’er put on her light green dress and started, “I still have some spirit stones.”
Suddenly, Chun’er recalled how she had once used spirit stones to buy some little-known gossip about Dongfang Xiaotian.
“No.”
Beichen Yue said firmly, “Other matters are easier to discuss, but since this involves damage to his Spiritual Sea, it must be a deeply painful memory for Master Dongfang.”
“It’s best to wait until he returns to Ice Ling Immortal Palace and repairs his Spiritual Sea before bringing it up.”
Such matters, if handled poorly, could turn into mental demons, which might lead to deviations in cultivation methods. At best, this damages the self; at worst, it drives one mad.
Sighing, Beichen Yue added, “I wonder how much neglect Dongfang Xiaotian suffered to become so disheartened and end up here in remote Ling Tian City.”
The Azure Dragon Sword Immortal—a fallen genius… such cases were common in the vast Saint Hua Dynasty. Especially for a scattered cultivator like Dongfang Xiaotian with almost no background.
Even though once famed among the common folk, once crippled, he would soon be forgotten.
“That’s right.”
Hearing Miss Beichen’s words, Chun’er couldn’t help but mutter, “He did chivalrous deeds for so many years, but no one helped him when he was most in trouble… that must be why he came to Ling Tian City.”
Thinking this way, Chun’er no longer felt Dongfang Xiaotian was so hateful.
“No wonder, Miss, you sold so many things just to gather so much compensation for Master Dongfang.”
“Just a bit of sympathy,”
Beichen Yue sighed slightly. Though still a genius, she had been stuck at a bottleneck for three years and had heard many unfavorable rumors about herself.
She couldn’t help but empathize with Dongfang Xiaotian’s plight.
When her family refused to provide more compensation to Dongfang Xiaotian, even trying to reclaim the Clan Leader’s reward, Beichen Yue had no choice but to empty her own pocket and take this last-ditch measure.
That was why she, a direct disciple of Ice Ling Immortal Palace and a Beichen family genius, was completely broke and couldn’t even raise two thousand spirit stones.
Every time she thought about it, Beichen Yue sighed.
Chun’er nodded. Though Miss Beichen’s difficulties were not as severe as Dongfang Xiaotian’s, there were indeed similarities.
But seeing how Miss Beichen kept speaking well of Dongfang Xiaotian, Chun’er dared to tentatively ask, “Miss, so are you going to break off the engagement or not?”
At first, Chun’er thought Dongfang Xiaotian wasn’t worthy of Miss Beichen, mainly because he was crippled, and because Miss Beichen cultivated the Path of Forgetting Emotions, which wasn’t good for either party.
After all, although Miss Beichen had been stuck for three years, she was still a direct disciple, and many men chased her, including some Golden Core cultivators.
It was possible that one jealous disciple might slap Dongfang Xiaotian to death someday.
But now that Dongfang Xiaotian had the ability to protect himself, and might even be a Third-Tier Formation genius, he was no longer a waste.
Coupled with Miss Beichen’s high praise, Chun’er couldn’t help but raise the question.
“Of course it’s going to be broken off.”
Beichen Yue replied without hesitation.
But as soon as she said it, she felt a strange discomfort and aching in her heart, a feeling she couldn’t immediately place—something unusual for someone usually so focused on cultivation.
In the end, she decided not to dwell on it.
“To make you ask such a question, it seems my Path of Forgetting Emotions is still not fully mastered.”
Beichen Yue took a deep breath and said, “Alright, Chun’er, I’m about to start seriously cultivating the Path of Forgetting Emotions. From now on, I can’t let any feelings slip through.”
“Oh.”
Chun’er nodded, feeling both relieved and somewhat lonely inside.
The so-called Path of Forgetting Emotions is still a path. A path requires cultivation. Not everyone can reach the supreme level of perfect forgetting in one step.
Moreover, Ice Ling Immortal Palace does not forbid starting with emotions. After all, supreme forgetting requires first having feelings to forget.
Like now, Beichen Yue and Chun’er opening their hearts to each other is not taboo—just not recommended.
Beichen Yue was still in the gradual forgetting phase, so she needed to sever attachments, settle karmic ties, and travel thousands of miles to personally break the engagement with Dongfang Xiaotian, achieving a state of no entanglements.
Therefore, Beichen Yue was not completely emotionless—she was deliberately trying to become so.
Once she began cultivating supreme forgetting, she would reach a stage of “forgetting emotions” where even her closest servant Chun’er could no longer stir her feelings.
However, at that moment, a young girl’s clear voice suddenly came from outside the tent.
“Dongfang Xiaotian, are you all right?”
Dongfang Xiaotian had returned?
Chun’er was about to go outside and take a look when suddenly a figure dashed past her—it was Miss Beichen rushing out of the tent.
“Master Dongfang, I still have some doubts about the sword intent!”
Chun’er looked at her young mistress like this and couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of her mouth.