Master, a humble letter from your disciple:
[Master, all is well with Xiaohei during my time outside the sect—please don’t worry about me.]
[This period of training in the mortal world has opened my eyes to many new and wondrous things, though it has not been without its challenges.]
[Compared to the serenity of the mountain, the world below is vibrant and exciting—but it is also filled with danger.]
[Thankfully, under the protection of Senior Brother Bai, no one in our group has suffered injury or loss.]
[There are only three months left in our journey, and soon we shall return to the sect.]
[With this, your disciple and adopted son, Su Xiaohei, wishes both you and Mother continued prosperity in the Dao and early success in forming your Golden Core.]
[May the crescent moon curve gently across the sky, and may the full moon shine bright above.]
—From Qingyang Peak, Sanshan Sect.
Su Bai sat quietly in his room, moonlight streaming softly onto the delicate paper in his hands.
It was a letter sent through Daoist transmission by his little pet disciple.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
His little pet was growing up.
He now remembered to write home every month, offering comfort to this aging father figure who had already entered the phase of semi-retirement.
He carefully placed the envelope into a small wooden box.
Inside were several letters written in the same familiar handwriting—each one carrying warmth and concern.
After putting the box away, Su Bai turned his gaze to the recently acquired Plum Blossom Divination, immersing himself in cultivation once more.
[After forty-one years of simulated training, you have successfully cultivated Plum Blossom Divination to the Minor Accomplishment level. In the Immortal Realm, there are not many ranks between levels—after Minor Accomplishment come Major Accomplishment and Perfection, just like the seven major cultivation realms of the Immortal Path.]
[Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Divine Transformation, Dao Integration, and Immortality.]
[When you activate the Minor Accomplishment level Plum Blossom Divination to divine your own fortune, a strong premonition rises within you.]
[Go down the mountain. There is opportunity.]
***
“Senior Brother Su, are you writing another letter?”
“Mm, one to Master.”
“Senior Brother Su, that Palm Thunder you cast a few days ago—it was amazing! Even more impressive than what Senior Brother Bai can do!”
“Thank you for the compliment, but my Palm Thunder is only at the Minor Accomplishment level. Senior Brother Bai’s has already reached Major Accomplishment.”
“Uh… Senior Brother, look! The moon’s really round tonight, isn’t it?”
“It is. Very round indeed. But it’s getting late—you should head back and continue cultivating. I still need to finish writing to Master.”
The young junior sister puffed her cheeks and glared at the blockheaded man who completely missed her hidden intentions.
With a stomp of her foot, she turned and returned to her own quarters.
Su Xiaohei seemed entirely unaware of the meaning behind her words.
Or perhaps—even if he did understand—he simply didn’t care.
Under Su Bai’s long-standing influence as a decades-long bachelor, Xiaohei had passively developed the mindset of a textbook “sigma male.”
***
“Junior Brother Su.”
Not long after the junior sister left, the door opened again.
This time, the one who entered was Bai Jiuyi, the senior disciple leading their current expedition.
He wore a plain long robe, his posture tall and straight.
His eyes shone like stars, and a faint aura of spiritual energy flowed around him, clearly marking him as someone who had reached the peak of Qi Refining.
“Senior Brother Bai.”
Su Xiaohei looked up upon hearing the voice and gave a slight bow.
In the sect, seniority was not based on age or hierarchy, but purely on strength.
Su Xiaohei was at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, while Bai Jiuyi was at its peak—hence, he respectfully addressed him as “senior brother.”
If, one day, Su Xiaohei were to break through into the Foundation Establishment realm, even his own Master would address him with courtesy—as “Daoist friend.”
Such backward practices as “foundation-establishing offshoots bowing to Qi-refining main bloodlines” that were common under bloodline-based systems in the Outer Territories would never happen here.
Bai Jiuyi got straight to the point.
“Junior Brother Su, we just received word: several cities on the border between our sect and the Yiqi Sect have reported over a thousand missing persons. There have also been raids by bandits trafficking people—and there’s suspicion that demonic cultivators may be involved behind the scenes.”
“We need to go investigate.”
“Understood.”
Su Xiaohei nodded firmly.
Notifying them was enough.
Bai Jiuyi said nothing more and turned to leave.
Once Su Xiaohei was sure that no one else would come to disturb him, he quickly finished writing the letter and sent it to his master using Dao Transmission.
With that done, he walked over to the window, pushed open the wooden frame, and let the silvery moonlight spill onto his hand like a veil of soft silk.
Su Xiaohei looked up, and a massive, radiant crescent moon greeted his gaze.
It had almost been a year since he came down from the mountain for training.
From the initial excitement and anticipation, to the dull tedium midway through, and now the impatience and longing to return home—he had felt it all.
Slaying demons and exorcising spirits wasn’t as thrilling as the storybooks claimed.
Exploring ancient cultivator ruins wasn’t as heart-pounding as he’d imagined.
Instead, there was pain—real pain.
He got hurt.
He bled.
And there was no one to hold him when he was injured.
No one to bandage him when he bled.
No one to comfort him with gentle pats and soft whispers: “Don’t cry, Xiaohei, Papa’s here…”
Countless thoughts tumbled in his heart like waves in a storm, until finally, everything stilled.
Like the deep still water of a well after the wind has passed.
At that moment, Su Xiaohei looked up at the crescent moon.
He said nothing.
He didn’t look particularly sad either.
But in his heart, something felt like it had quietly gone missing.
That feeling was like waking up on an ordinary morning, expecting the usual steaming bowl of peach blossom soup waiting for him—
Only to find that the soup was gone.
And so was the person who used to bring it.
Leaving only himself behind, sitting alone in the emptiness.
An inexplicable, unnameable melancholy welled up inside him.
After a long while, he finally came back to his senses.
Suddenly, he recalled the words his mother would always recite during the fullest moon each year.
Almost unconsciously, he murmured them aloud, as if in a dream: “‘The moon… shines brighter in my hometown.'”
He missed home.
He missed his master.
But most of all, he missed his mother.
He really wanted to eat her peach blossom soup again.
***
Central Province.
A muddy trail stretched and twisted into the distance.
By the roadside stood a quiet inn.
A traveler, hurried and worn, stepped through its doors.
His robes were dusty and slightly disheveled, and exhaustion was written all over his face.
“Xiao Er, bring me some tea—and set out a few plates of good wine and food.”
“Right away, honored guest! Please have a seat, the tea will be ready soon.”
Before long, a steaming cup of tea was brought to the traveler.
Su Bai took a small sip.
The tea was of poor quality, lacking any true fragrance.
It tasted more like boiled mulberry leaves than actual tea.
But Su Bai didn’t mind.
He was far more focused on the growing feeling in his gut—
An intense premonition: His opportunity was nearby.
“Sir, how’s the tea?”
The waiter hunched over and smiled as he leaned in.
“It’s alright. By the way, innkeeper, have there been any reports of ghostly activity or strange happenings around here lately?”
“Ghosts? Not really. But I did hear something strange…”
The waiter scratched his head.
“They say about ten miles out, there’s a place called Black Wind Stronghold. It used to be just a bandit den, robbing trade caravans and the like. But lately, they’ve started kidnapping people too. Nobody knows why.”
The words were casual.
But Su Bai heard them differently.
His eyes lit up.
He slapped a tael of silver on the table and gestured for the man to tell him more.
But just as he looked up—
He met a pair of sinister eyes.
The waiter had pulled a rope from his sleeve.
His gaze locked onto Su Bai like a predator eyeing his prey.
“Since you’re so interested in Black Wind Stronghold, how about I give you a personal introduction?”
“You?”
“Thanks to the green mulberry tendon-softening powder you just drank.”
“That stuff?”
Su Bai looked at him with contempt.
He was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
His body had long been refined beyond the reach of ordinary poisons.
A little mortal drug like that? One flush of spiritual energy would clear it right out.
Just as he was about to act—
A wave of dizziness crashed over him.
His body lurched forward uncontrollably.
He collapsed hard on the ground, losing consciousness.
The waiter wasted no time.
He slipped the rope around Su Bai’s neck, muttering curses all the while.
“And here I thought you were gonna be tough. Turns out you’re just trash.”
“Whatever. That makes ten of ’em. Enough to make the delivery to that lord.”
At the mention of that “lord,” a flicker of uncontrollable fear crossed the waiter’s face.
His pupils even glinted with a streak of blood-red light—
Chilling and twisted.
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