"..."
At this moment, Lin Yao was completely, utterly dumbfounded. Her mind had gone blank, unable to process the sheer scale and power surrounding her. Su Min had told her quite a bit about the Heavenly Continent's general situation at that time, mainly to prevent this admittedly naive girl from acting recklessly without a proper sense of awe for the dangers here. But when it came to her own sect, Su Min had always been deliberately vague, brushing past the topic with a few brief words and a wave of her hand.
So Lin Yao had been left to make her own assumptions. She imagined her teacher to be a powerful but reclusive expert, someone who had risen to prominence through relentless cultivation and profound, secret encounters. And it was true, Su Min had indeed broadened her worldview immeasurably. She had shown her just how high the sky could be, and how vast the cultivation world truly was.
The journey alone, crossing the treacherous ancient battlefield to finally reach the continent, had nearly killed her. That single, brutal brush with death was enough to humble any pride, to make her realize just how small and insignificant she still was in the grand scheme of things.
Now, having just arrived at the Heavenly Continent while still shaken and disoriented, she felt she urgently needed a safe place to settle and get her bearings. So she came to the Immortal Sect, which happened to be isolated overseas and was the closest major power to the ancient battlefield's entrance. She came with nothing but her teacher's token, hoping for simple shelter and a little direction.
Then the first shock arrived: Su Min's token was absurdly, overwhelmingly effective.
The sect elder who received her, a genuine, aura-intimidating Dao Comprehension stage cultivator, didn't just send a junior to meet her. He welcomed her himself, personally, with a courtesy and deference so profound it nearly made her panic. At first, she thought he'd mistaken her for someone truly important, a princess or a hidden scion of some great family.
To be fair, Elder Zhu wasn't being overly cautious. Lin Yao was, quite literally, the first person to ever show up at their gates bearing Su Min's personal, unmistakable mark. So Elder Zhu didn't dare neglect her. If this young woman turned out to be someone who'd rendered Su Min a great service and was then mistreated by his oversight, even he, a Dao Comprehension elder, would get a severe earful from Su Min upon her return.
Yes, even though he'd now reached the mighty Dao Comprehension stage, he still had to act like a respectful grandson around Su Min. Her temper and her power were legendary.
And then came the second, greater shock, when Lin Yao, trying to project confidence, calmly declared herself to be Su Min's disciple.
That announcement nearly made Elder Zhu cough up blood in sheer surprise.
Disciple? Since when did that solitary, fiercely independent Su Min take on a personal disciple?
Over the years, countless geniuses had passed through the Immortal Sect's halls. Talented youths from great families, wise elder candidates, even some of the loyal founding cultivators from the sect's early days had all admired Su Min from afar, hoping for a crumb of her attention. But she had never accepted any of them. Not a single one had ever been formally acknowledged or taken under her wing.
Yet here this girl was, young, at the late Divine Transformation stage, with the faint aura of a divine artifact sealed inside her and the sheer courage and luck to have crossed an ancient battlefield alone. Her foundation was solid, her temperament refined under pressure. And she claimed to be Su Min's personal disciple?
Elder Zhu didn't dare make that call himself. The implications were too vast. So he turned around and ran, quite literally, to find the only person in the sect who might actually understand what was going on, the one person whose word on the matter would be final.
Xie Yingying.
She had just emerged from a deep seclusion session after stabilizing her latest breakthrough when Elder Zhu found her and dragged her out to the reception hall without so much as a proper greeting, his face a mask of urgency.
To any outsider, the gesture might've seemed wildly inappropriate, a grave breach of protocol. But to the upper echelons of the Immortal Sect, it made perfect sense. They all understood the dynamics at play.
The relationship between Su Min and Xie Yingying had long since become an open secret, one no one dared confirm aloud, but which everyone saw with crystal clarity. They never announced it publicly. There were no official titles, no overt declarations of affection. But their actions spoke louder than any proclamation.
Whenever Su Min returned to the sect from her wanderings, it was often Xie Yingying who was there to welcome her first, a silent, waiting figure. The two would often vanish into the depths of Xuantian Mansion or other forbidden grounds for days, sometimes weeks, emerging only after their spiritual auras had shifted, synchronized in strange and subtle ways that spoke of deep, shared cultivation.
And though Su Min rarely involved herself directly in sect affairs, the few times she did speak, whether to recommend someone for promotion, or to intervene quietly in a internal conflict, Xie Yingying's shadow was never far behind, her support a silent, unshakable pillar.
The elders whispered about it, of course, in hushed tones. They noted how Su Min's normally sharp gaze softened imperceptibly around her, how her clipped, direct tone turned a shade warmer whenever Xie Yingying spoke. They noticed how Xie Yingying, normally so distant and unreadable, would tilt her head just so, her entire attention focusing whenever Su Min so much as glanced her way.
Unspoken, unconfirmed, but blindingly obvious to anyone with eyes.
So when Elder Zhu, sweating slightly, tossed this hot potato into Xie Yingying's hands and then practically fled the scene, Lin Yao could only stand there, her face pale, heart pounding with panic.
She hadn't expected this. She hadn't expected any of this.
And now… she was very, very afraid she might have said the wrong thing, that her claim might be rejected, leaving her stranded and alone in this terrifyingly powerful new world.
Elder Zhu had given her an intensely dangerous feeling, like standing near a dormant volcano. But this woman before her evoked a sense of complete helplessness, a profound powerlessness she'd only ever felt from Su Min herself. And yet, this woman didn't look much older than her, her beauty cold and pristine like jade. What truly unsettled her was the way she was being looked at, not with open hostility, but with a quiet, unnervingly thorough assessing intensity. It felt like she was being measured, weighed, and judged down to the very soul.
"How much of Su Min's alchemy have you inherited?"
The question landed with no particular emotion, flat and direct, but Lin Yao still straightened her spine instinctively, her body responding to the implicit command in that tone.
"Uh… none at all," she admitted with an awkward cough, her cheeks flushing slightly with embarrassment.
It wasn't that she hadn't tried to learn, that she hadn't desperately wanted to follow in her master's legendary footsteps. But her unique constitution, combined with the innate nature of the Netherworld Ghost Flame that was her primary power, imbued all her spiritual flames with a peculiar, corrosive toxicity. This made proper, refined alchemy utterly impossible; everything she tried to refine turned irredeemably poisonous. The higher-grade the pill, the more potent and deadly the toxin became. Su Min had tried teaching her, patient at first, then baffled, before finally giving up with a sigh and a shake of her head.
So now, wordlessly, she simply raised her palm, conjuring the pale, ghostly flame with a soft whoosh. It danced above her hand, casting a cold, flickering green light that seemed to suck the warmth from the air around it.
Xie Yingying regarded the eerie flame in silence for a long moment, her expression unreadable.
Then she gave a quiet, almost thoughtful hum. "Acceptable."
Lin Yao blinked, not sure she'd heard correctly. "Was that… approval?"
"From now on, you'll cultivate under my guidance. Take the title of Young Sect Master. As for Su Min… she's gone into seclusion again. Who knows for how long this time."
Her tone was final, utterly unbending, as if she were simply carrying out a duty that Su Min had left unfinished. This girl's foundational opportunities were quite good, her will tempered by hardship. Moreover, having come from another world, she was essentially a blank slate to this one, untainted by local factions and politics.
Lin Yao didn't find this strange at all. She was already thoroughly accustomed to Su Min being perpetually in seclusion. Back on her homeworld, her teacher had more or less dumped her there with some basic guidance before immediately going into closed-door cultivation for years on end.
Presumably, things weren't much different for her here in this vast new world.
"Understood," Lin Yao said, bowing her head respectfully.
There was a beat of heavy silence, then Lin Yao hesitated, gathering her courage. "…May I ask how I should address you?"
She didn't ask the question lightly. From the moment she arrived, it was painfully clear this place operated on a level far beyond her current understanding. She knew exactly how terrifyingly powerful this sect was; her entire homeworld would shatter instantly if it so much as brushed against the casual might these people displayed.
Golden Core cultivators were as common as dogs here, Nascent Soul experts seemed to be everywhere she looked, that was her first, overwhelming impression of this world. They couldn't compare at the middle or lower tiers, let alone the upper echelons. She'd already met two genuine Dao Comprehension powerhouses. One of them, Elder Zhu, had smiled at her and it made her feel like a mouse under a hawk's gaze. The other was this woman, whose presence was quieter, more contained… but no less overwhelmingly potent.
Su Min aside, Lin Yao knew enough to tread very, very carefully. This was a world that could reduce her home to cosmic dust with a casual flick of the hand. She had nowhere else to go. And despite Su Min's constant, lengthy absences, Lin Yao still trusted her teacher implicitly, deeply. If this was the person Su Min had, by implication, entrusted her to, then she would obey, completely and without question.
A late Divine Transformation cultivator was an absolute, untouchable powerhouse in her world, but here? She was merely above average, a promising talent but not yet a true force.
Which left her with just one burning, nervous question, why did this formidable young woman before her give off such a peculiar, intense vibe when looking at her?
"Call me Xie Yingying, little girl."
The voice was soft. Almost amused. But the look in her dark, bottomless eyes sent an involuntary chill straight down Lin Yao's spine.
"…Yes, Senior Xie."
She shrank back slightly, nodding without another word, the title feeling both insufficient and dangerously presumptuous.
And so, her new life in the Immortal Sect began.
Her sudden appointment as Young Sect Master stirred no small commotion within the sect's ranks. After all, this was a position countless inner disciples had dreamed of, fought for, and cultivated desperately for centuries to earn. And now, it had been handed to a complete stranger, an outsider from another world who had appeared out of nowhere.
But remarkably, no one dared protest publicly. Not a single voice of open dissent was raised.
Because two names sealed that decision beyond any contest: Su Min and Xie Yingying.
Su Min's word carried absolute, unassailable weight in the sect. She was the unseen pillar that had silently supported the Immortal Sect's rise and dominance for generations. With her implicit endorsement alone, any and all objections died in the throat before they could form.
Xie Yingying's clear approval was the final, unarguable nail in the coffin. While her demeanor remained aloof and unreadable to most, everyone in the upper echelons understood what her silent, firm nod in this matter truly meant. It was a statement of possession, of protection.
Strength ultimately ruled this world. While Lin Yao's late Divine Transformation cultivation didn't make her invincible within the sect, it was enough to place her firmly in the upper ranks of the younger generation. Within the sect, only a handful of elders and hidden experts stood above her, and those individuals either respected Su Min too much to interfere… or owed her far too many life-saving debts to ever raise their heads in opposition.
Besides, even the ancient divine beasts resting in the sect's hidden realms, beings of immense power, only acknowledged one true master within these walls.
And she had chosen this girl.
Thus the matter was settled as decisively as a falling guillotine. While it caused huge, rippling waves of gossip and speculation within the Immortal Sect, the wider cultivation world beyond their mountains paid it little mind, preoccupied with its own affairs.
Meanwhile, deep within the Puppet Emperor's tomb now hidden from the world, Su Min hovered midair, completely enveloped by swirling, visible strands of special laws as over a dozen different cosmic principles competed and intertwined brilliantly around her form.
"Sigh, this is so difficult."
Beads of cold sweat formed on Su Min's deeply furrowed brow, her concentration pushed to its absolute limit.
At this moment, she genuinely missed Yao Xian'er. As a true Spirit Dao Body, Yao Xian'er could naturally comprehend and host multiple laws simultaneously, albeit with one primary law as the core and several secondary ones that were considerably weaker since they weren't the main focus of her being.
But Yao Xian'er was no ordinary Spirit Dao Body. Having once reached the very pinnacle of cultivation in her previous life, the number and depth of laws she'd accumulated and refined was truly terrifying. This current lifetime was all about tempering and perfectly integrating them all into a new, flawless foundation.
Now Su Min attempted something similar, pushing her Five Elements Holy Body to its limits, though the difficulty was astronomical. Even with her current profound abilities and the tomb's unique environment, her progress was painfully, frustratingly slow. Her fair forehead now glistened with sweat under the strain as she inched her comprehension forward with tremendous, grinding effort.
"I need to advance further, to a higher stage of comprehension. This is the only way."
Su Min's hands blurred through a complex series of seals as phantom images of the Four Sacred Beasts materialized around her, their majestic forms glowing with elemental power. Clearly, these sacred beast inheritences she carried were actively assisting her refinement, their ancient knowledge guiding her. Time passed slowly, imperceptibly, in this state of deep cultivation.
Until finally, with a sensation like a dam breaking inside her,
Crack!
With a crisp, internal sound that only she could hear, Su Min's body seemed to burst open with newfound power as her spiritual aura skyrocketed, shattering through all previous limits in a single, breathtaking instant.
Late Dao Comprehension stage. She had broken through.
"Whew."
Su Min slowly opened her eyes, faint, multi hued light shimmering deep within her pupils like captured starlight.
"Success."
In that moment, she couldn't contain her swelling excitement. Simultaneously, a towering, translucent phantom image nearly identical to herself materialized in the space behind her, radiating a profound, law infused pressure.
She had utilized that multitude of temporary laws along with the power of her divine artifacts to finally, roughly pave the initial path to the Unity stage while advancing to late Dao Comprehension. However, actually reaching the full Unity stage would still require considerable time and further consolidation.
Just look at Xie Yingying, she hadn't immediately broken through to Unity after reaching late Dao Comprehension either, choosing instead to spend years consolidating her foundation rather than rushing consecutive breakthroughs. Of course, continuous breakthroughs weren't impossible for monsters, it just required an even more insane refinement and compression of spiritual energy.
Su Min's situation was similar, though her nascent dharma body remained frustratingly incomplete. She'd only barely taken this first, crucial step and needed to progress much further to solidify it.
"My dharma body prototype incorporates not just my core Time Law but several other powerful supporting laws. Who knows what it'll ultimately look like when fully formed? At that point, my old Tathāgata Body will basically become obsolete, a training wheel I no longer need."
Satisfied, Su Min closed her eyes as the magnificent dharma body phantom slowly dissipated back into her core. She couldn't yet deploy it in real combat; if it got shattered before completion, the spiritual backlash would be severe, potentially crippling. Before complete formation, dharma bodies remained fragile and hyper sensitive, which was why no sane cultivator would ever risk using them in a life and death battle.
"Not only have I reached late Dao Comprehension, I've also successfully condensed my dharma body phantom. Now I just need to gradually temper it to completion, which will be a lengthy, patient process."
Narrowing her eyes to internally sense the profound changes within her body and soul, Su Min felt thoroughly, deeply pleased with her progress. The decades of seclusion had been worth it.
"Huh?"
But when she opened her eyes fully, she noticed something odd. The dismantled puppets scattered throughout the tomb's chambers had somehow repaired themselves, their components reassembled, though they now stood inert, devoid of any residual laws or animation.
"It seems this tomb still holds many mysteries I haven't fully uncovered. No matter. I'll take the entire structure back to the sect. It can serve as an excellent training ground for our Dao Comprehension cultivators and some peak late Divine Transformation experts. Plus, it contains numerous powerful puppets as sparring partners."
Su Min's eyes gleamed with practical excitement as she spotted the more powerful puppets hidden in deeper chambers. Among them were two genuine Mahayana level puppets, though like the others, they were confined to the tomb's dimensional rules and couldn't be removed. Even so, they'd prove incredibly useful for high level combat practice.
Because for late Divine Transformation and Dao Comprehension cultivators, experiencing true, no holds barred life or death battles was exceedingly rare. There simply weren't enough practitioners at this exalted level walking the world, and with each usually belonging to different, wary sects, outright battles to the death seldom occurred.
"Also, I need some powerful, intact corpses for that puppet recipe, preferably high grade ones from the ancient battlefield. But who could I possibly send to retrieve them? That's no ordinary place. Even Tian Hao and I barely made it through alive back then, and we were prepared. It's far too dangerous for average Divine Transformation cultivators."
But soon Su Min developed a familiar headache. Even the cleverest housewife couldn't cook without rice. Crafting the specific puppets she needed wasn't particularly difficult for a grandmaster alchemist like herself; the precision and control required were second nature. After all, alchemy represented the most meticulous, demanding art in the cultivation world, bar none.
Other crafts like artifact forging or talisman making paled in comparison to its complexity. Yet her expression soon darkened again as the logistical problem reasserted itself.
For a long moment, Su Min couldn't think of a single suitable candidate she could trust with such a dangerous, important task. But this dilemma lasted less than ten minutes before a simple, effective resolution struck her. She was an eighth grade alchemist, for heaven's sake. She could simply offer a Unity Pill as a reward for anyone brave or skilled enough to retrieve intact, qualified corpses from there, and entire armies of experts would come running, willing to face any danger. The allure of a guaranteed Unity Pill was simply too great for any Dao Comprehension cultivator to resist.
Moreover, she still had several Unity stage pills in her personal stock, since no third member of their sect currently qualified to take one. With only production and no consumption, her inventory had grown somewhat over the years.
"Time to leave."
She'd been in seclusion here for decades now, who knew what changes had occurred outside in the wider world? Fortunately, this wasn't the modern world where decades meant entire lifetimes; for cultivators, it was a long nap.
In a flash of light, Su Min shot out of the tomb's core chamber. Thanks to those two Black Seal fellows' destructive handiwork all those years ago, although the entrance seals had been completely destroyed, no one else had apparently discovered this place in all this time. When she emerged back into the outside world, thick vines and heavy branches completely covered the mountain entrance. She left looking like a wild woman who had been living in the woods, her robes slightly frayed, naturally attracting no immediate attention.
Now properly outside, Su Min didn't hesitate. Grasping the control jade slip tightly, she focused her will and watched as the entire massive tomb structure behind her rapidly shrank, compressing in on itself before being absorbed into the small slip with a faint glow. This would make an excellent training ground for her sect; the intense, simulated combat here might even help peak Divine Transformation cultivators find the insight needed to advance to Dao Comprehension.
Thus this secret realm held tremendous strategic value for Su Min and her Immortal Sect, enough to support their core disciples all the way to the Mahayana stage. Those two Mahayana level puppets were especially precious treasures. Though unmovable, they'd serve as perfect, ultimate sparring partners for herself and Xie Yingying.
"Alright, mission accomplished. After being away so long, it's time to go home."
With that, Su Min transformed into a streak of light and flew off, this time without alerting the Heavenly God Sect's border guards. Or rather, they noticed her departure on their monitoring arrays but had no reason or desire to intercept a figure of her power and status.
After exiting their territory, she headed straight for her own sect, flying at full speed. Though the Heavenly God Sect members saw her passing clearly on their scrying mirrors, they said nothing and did nothing. Su Min had kept an extremely low profile these past decades, provoking no conflicts and taking no sides. She was a neutral, if terrifying, force.
Thus the sect remained completely oblivious that a great opportunity, a secret realm that had been locked within their territory for millennia, had been quietly whisked away by Su Min, leaving them not even the scraps.
But when Su Min finally returned to the familiar peaks of her own sect, she was momentarily stunned, because at that very moment, a figure came rushing toward her from the main courtyard, moving with excited, recognizable energy.
"Master!!!"
Su Min blinked, her mind taking half a second too slow to process the familiar voice and the face attached to it.
A soft, fragrant warmth slammed into her, slender arms wrapping tightly around her waist as the impact stole her balance, sending them tumbling backward onto the polished stone path. The momentum was surprising; she hadn't braced herself at all. Su Min barely weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet, and recognizing the unique qi signature in that split second, she hadn't raised her spiritual defenses either. The laws of physics, it seemed, still applied even to late Dao Comprehension cultivators.
Moreover, the moment she saw that figure, a brilliant, exploitative idea struck her regarding the puppet corpse problem.
"Disciples exist to be exploited," she thought with a flicker of amusement.
They landed in a soft heap on the cool, polished stone. Su Min lay flat on her back, Lin Yao sprawled over her like an overenthusiastic spirit beast, all radiant, flushed cheeks and fluttering lashes, her eyes shining with unrestrained joy.
"...Yao'er?"
She hadn't used that intimate name in decades. It slipped out, unguarded and soft.
For a moment, Lin Yao couldn't speak. Her breath caught in her throat, her heart threatening to burst right out of her chest from the sudden, overwhelming closeness. The warmth and solid feel of Su Min's body beneath her felt so real, too real, after so long dreaming of this moment. For years, she had chased that solitary silhouette across star charts, across deadly ancient battlefields, across countless lonely nights. And now, finally, her long, arduous journey had brought her here.
To this moment. To her.
She had grown so much stronger. She had endured endless cold nights meditating in broken ruins and barren, starlit realms. She had walked the harsh, unforgiving path of cultivation with one single, unshakable desire burning in her heart: to reach her master again, to stand by her side, to be worthy of her notice.
And now, she had. She was here. And her master was looking right at her.
===
So, everyone in her sect already knew that they are a couple..
Hmm... Sweet~
---
"The two would often vanish into Xuantian Mansion or forbidden grounds for days, sometimes weeks, emerging only after their auras had shifted, synchronized in strange and subtle ways."
Immortal Sect Upper Echelons: "Hmm... Very suspicious (눈_눈)"
(The elders' notebooks are full of these 'coincidences' with underlined dates)
Elite Disciples: "The Grand Elders must be... cultivating very intensely together! (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)✧" [blushing but pretending to be pure]
Disciples Who Accidentally Saw Them Return: "(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)" [immediately develops new respect for dual cultivation techniques]
~
"And though Su Min rarely involved herself in sect affairs, the few times she did speak, whether to recommend someone for promotion, or intervene in a conflict, Xie Yingying's shadow was never far behind."
Sect Elders: "This humble one notices Lady Xie's... dedication to supporting Lady Su's decisions. How... professional. (￣ω￣;)" [coughing awkwardly]
Junior Elders Taking Notes: "Ah... So Lady Su's sudden interest in sect matters has... particular patterns (✧ω✧)"
Senior Disciples Observing: "Notice how Grand Elder Xie's 'coincidental' appearances always happen within 3 breaths of Grand Elder Su speaking? (￣ω￣)" [nods sagely]
~
"They noted how Su Min's gaze softened around her, how her clipped tone turned warm when Xie Yingying spoke. They noticed how Xie Yingying, normally distant and unreadable, would tilt her head slightly whenever Su Min so much as glanced her way."
Sect Elder: "This junior has studied the Dao of Subtlety for 300 years... yet these two make cultivation look easier than hiding that (ಠ_ಠ)"
Immortal Sect Upper Echelons: "We've survived centuries by knowing when to be blind. (￣ω￣;)" [sipping tea]
Senior Disciples Teaching Juniors: "Remember children - when two cultivators achieve perfect spiritual harmony, it's... rude to stare. Yes, even if they're holding hands. ESPECIALLY if they're holding hands. (｀ε´)"
~
Ambitious Junior: "So if I become a Grand Elder one day, I too can-"
Master: "FINISH THAT SENTENCE AND YOU'RE ON LATRINE DUTY FOR A DECADE (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻"
~
Entire Sect When They Walk By: "We see nothing, we know nothing! (´⊙ω⊙`)!"