Wei Yunqing had never felt so humiliated in her life. Worse still, it was the Wei family disciples, whose cultivation levels were all lower than hers, who had caused it. She felt as though her dignity had been thrown to the ground and trampled on by her own kin. That was something she could never accept.
After smashing everything she could find in the room, she sat cross-legged on the floor. Her face was dark as she forced herself to review everything from the beginning.
Half an hour later, Wei Yunqing drew a deep breath. She began to realize that perhaps she'd been reckless this time. Her rapid increase in cultivation had left her feeling inflated, and she had taken it for granted that the other Wei disciples would follow her lead.
She had forgotten a simple truth—people are prone to envy.
In her mind, the reason they had turned on her was jealousy. That, she believed, was why they refused to support her.
If the Wei disciples had known what she was thinking, they would have sneered without hesitation. Gaining respect wasn't as simple as raising one's cultivation. From the moment she was knocked off the platform, it had been painfully obvious to everyone that her strength didn't match her level. Her cultivation was inflated, hollow.
And then there was her age. She was only six. It wouldn't be wrong to say she had no life experience whatsoever. That only made it harder for others to take her seriously.
And let's not forget her reckless antics—dragging the whole family into a meaningless duel just to save face. The only reason no one had scolded her was because of her talent. If it had been any other disciple, Wei Yunting would have already given them a beating.
That alone showed how self-centered she was. Even when something went wrong, she never thought to reflect on herself. To her, the fault always lay with others.
To make matters worse, she had lost the spatial wooden token in this life, and her performance during the sect assessment had been underwhelming. She had also failed to gain the benefits of the Butian Dan, which could have improved her aptitude. Because of all this, she had fallen behind, one step at a time. And the more she fell behind, the more petty she became.
Her relationship with the other Wei disciples had grown strained. Over time, she isolated herself entirely.
And now, the chaos she had stirred up on the outer peaks had only worsened her reputation within the Outer Sect. It would be difficult for her to change how others saw her anytime soon.
So, Wei Yunqing decided to lay low for a while. She would focus on stabilizing her eighth-layer Qi Refining cultivation.
Her plan was to take up long-term residence on the Outer Sect's Pill Peak and build a strong relationship with Senior Brother Ye. One day, when she finally made it into the Inner Sect's Pill Peak, she believed the other Wei disciples would come crawling back to her.
With Wei Yunqing finally settling down, the other Wei disciples could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone had their own cultivation to improve and sect tasks to complete. No one wanted to clean up after her messes. Still, they couldn't completely abandon her. She bore the surname "Wei" after all. But if she'd finally learned how to keep a low profile, that would be for the best.
Back at her residence, Wei Yunxi entered closed-door cultivation for three days. Once she had fully digested the insights gained from her duel, she resumed her usual rhythm. Her days were spent moving between the Disciples' Peak, the Cultivation Hall, the Lecture Hall, and the Dining Hall.
Without that annoying fly Wei Yunqing constantly buzzing around her, she felt like she was finally living a normal cultivator's life.
A month later, both Wei Yunting and Wei Zonghan broke through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining. That was welcome news. They sent communication talismans to the scattered Wei disciples in the Outer Sect, hoping to gather everyone for a meeting. Their goal was to smooth over the tension from last time and help reintegrate Wei Yunqing into the group.
Unfortunately, no one responded.
Wei Yunyīng put up a "closed-door cultivation" sign as soon as she received the talisman, refusing to step out. Wei Yunxi did the same and headed to the Cultivation Hall, claiming she needed to prepare for her breakthrough to the seventh layer.
Wei Zongjin, Wei Zongyu, and Wei Zonghao accepted a sect mission together and had already gone to the mountain range behind the sect. Their task was still unfinished, and they wouldn't be able to return anytime soon, though Wei Zonghao still sent a talisman to explain the situation.
When Wei Yunting received responses from each of her younger siblings—none of whom could attend—she was helpless. She went to discuss the situation with Wei Zonghan.
He sighed softly and said,
"Yunting, your desire to unite the Wei disciples is admirable. Your heart is in the right place. But you've overlooked something."
"What did I miss?"
"It wasn't that the other disciples rejected Wei Yunqing out of jealousy for her cultivation. It was that she looked down on everyone else because of it. That's what drove them away."
"That's why I wanted to ease the tension between everyone."
"But by doing this, we're indirectly telling the rest of the family that Wei Yunqing did nothing wrong. That we're willing to help her save face."
He paused for a moment before continuing,
"This was a misstep on our part. But now that we've seen how everyone responded, it's best to leave things be."
What more could Wei Yunting say? No one was coming. She couldn't force them to attend. In the end, the matter fizzled out.
Thankfully, neither she nor Wei Zonghan had informed Wei Yunqing. Otherwise, she would have blown up in fury again, puffing up like an angry pufferfish.
Wei Yunxi's excuse about entering closed-door cultivation to break through to the seventh layer wasn't entirely a lie. She truly did plan to improve her realm so she could begin taking on more difficult missions. Once she earned enough contribution points, she would head to the Technique Pavilion and exchange them for a cultivation method suited to her spiritual root.
Before that, however, she logged into the chat group in her spatial device. There were a few things she wanted to ask.
Without a master to guide her, most of her cultivation knowledge came from the Lecture Hall and the Library Pavilion. Some questions she could only half understand on her own. She needed an expert's help.
As soon as she logged in, the previously dormant chat interface lit up. A notification popped up:
"Fleeting Cloud has joined the chat."
The first person to message her was Tribal Warrior.
"Xiao Yun, you're finally online. Have you been busy lately?"
[Fleeting Cloud]:"Yes. Took a sect mission, fought a beast, earned some spirit stones, and gained some practical experience. I ended up in closed-door training for a few days.
Then my idiot half-sister stirred up trouble again, and I had to go fight on her behalf. That's why I've been absent for a while."
[Tribal Warrior]:"Sounds like a hectic time."
Fleeting Cloud:"Warrior, did your tribe make it through the cold season safely? Any major casualties?"
[Tribal Warrior]:"Thanks to everyone's help, we got through the cold and thawing seasons without any major losses. All our young survived. I've been waiting for you to log in so I could send you the milk fruit."
As Yunxi finished reading, another prompt appeared in the interface. She tapped "Accept," and ten woven baskets of milk fruit appeared on the ground within her space.
She quickly replied:
"Warrior, this is too much. It's far more than the resources I gave you."
[Tribal Warrior]:"I still think it's not enough. Without the pills you gave us, the warriors wouldn't have been able to stay in beast form long enough to hunt. If not for you, the tribe would've suffered far worse losses.
I only knew you needed milk fruit to strengthen your body, so I prepared these as thanks. You must accept them. If you need anything else, just let me know."
Yunxi didn't mind his forcefulness. At least he understood gratitude. That was far better than the kind who discarded others once they'd served their purpose.
From that alone, she could tell that Tribal Warrior wasn't the type for mind games or manipulation.
[Fleeting Cloud]:"Alright then, I'll shamelessly accept them this time. But next time, let's make it a fair trade. I can't let you keep losing out."