However, to reach that opportunity would still take some time.
After returning to the Zixiao Sect, the moment the debt collectors came knocking for the first time, Gu Baiqing became utterly destitute—two empty sleeves fluttering in the wind.
The only immediate impact was on his meals. Without money, he couldn’t buy ingredients, so he had to give up all indulgence in food. After all, he couldn’t possibly go eat in the dining hall with a bunch of junior disciples—that would be too humiliating. So he simply told the child attendant that he had begun fasting again and didn’t need meals prepared.
Aggrieved—too aggrieved. But after a few days of going without, he got used to it.
Strangely, Mo Xuanli kept showing concern over his eating, wondering if his sudden fasting was because the child attendant’s cooking wasn’t good.
Gu Baiqing could only say it was for the sake of improving his health and recovery. That shut Mo Xuanli up.
He thought this was already the most pitiful extent of his poverty—only to find there was something even more bitter.
Mo Xuanli was preparing to learn artifact forging.
Just as in the original text, after some research on that piece of stone, he discovered it could be used for forging, which stirred his interest. Since forging one’s life-bound weapon required fusing in one’s own blood—and his body was special—he didn’t trust anyone else to do it. So he could only forge it himself. Luckily, he was also interested in forging, so he decided to try.
Perhaps their earlier conversation had given Mo Xuanli the courage, for this time he made the decision without hesitation.
Others all knew Mo Xuanli had failed to obtain a life-bound spirit sword, and thought that for him to suddenly turn to learning forging was nothing but giving up on himself—a waste of time. It would be better to focus on swordsmanship, and later buy a good spirit sword and force it to recognize him as master.
Even Fu Zhiyi came to Gu Baiqing about this.
But Gu Baiqing gave a solid reason: “Mo Xuanli was deeply struck by this setback. If I don’t let him fully commit to something where he can prove himself, his state of mind will be damaged, and naturally his cultivation won’t improve. Rather than say I’m letting him forge, it’s more like letting him calm his mind. Whether he succeeds or not, he’ll gain insight. Besides, Senior Brother, do you think it’s a forgemaster who understands swords better, or a sword cultivator?”
Fu Zhiyi had still been pondering Gu Baiqing’s earlier words when that last question hit him like a hammer, leaving him dazed.
This was indeed a novel perspective—one he had never considered. Though forgemasters were precious, they were not as formidable as sword cultivators. Yet every sword a sword cultivator used came from a forgemaster’s hands. Who could dare say a forgemaster understood swords less than a sword cultivator?
In fact, Gu Baiqing’s reasoning came from something Mo Xuanli himself said in the original text.
Mo Xuanli’s talent was extraordinary—he learned anything quickly, eventually becoming the cultivation world’s all-rounder: alchemy, forging, formations, barriers—there was nothing he wasn’t skilled at. At that time, he had said that his forging experience made him understand his weapon better, allowing him to bring out its full potential.
This was indeed an angle no one else had thought of. After all, no one else had his protagonist’s cheat-level talent. For most, achieving mastery in just one field cost a lifetime of effort. To learn across disciplines and integrate them, drawing inferences freely—only Mo Xuanli could do that.
“Although what you say is reasonable, have you forgotten something?” Fu Zhiyi reminded him.
“What?”
Fu Zhiyi smiled faintly, and Gu Baiqing instantly sensed something was wrong. Only after being told did he realize.
Mo Xuanli wasn’t a dedicated forgemaster. To learn at the Forging Peak and practice there would consume a great deal of materials, and since he wouldn’t be staying there to repay the sect later, this time it would require payment.
Naturally, the Forging Peak people came directly to Gu Baiqing about this.
Gu Baiqing could only grit his teeth and promise to cover the tuition—it was, after all, a master’s responsibility.
Mo Xuanli, however, was unaware. He had never heard of such fees; in truth, only at Chunyang Pavilion did they have mutual aid and no extra charges. Back when he learned at Flying Crane Pavilion or Qianren Pavilion, Gu Baiqing had always paid extra for him. The original Gu Baiqing had money and kept it with Fu Zhiyi, who knew he wouldn’t bother with such details, so he simply deducted it directly.
The trouble now was that Gu Baiqing had no money, and family wouldn’t run him a tab. The only way was to earn it temporarily. When Gu Baiqing went to Fu Zhiyi to brainstorm, Luo Nianyi and Chu Fei happened to be there.
Hearing he was short on funds, their sense of sect camaraderie kicked in.
“Perfect timing, I need a high-cultivation test subject for my medicine.”
“Then come spar with me, Senior Brother!”
The two fixed him with glowing green eyes, like starving wolves spotting prey.
After all, the original Gu Baiqing would neither take Luo Nianyi’s medicine nor waste time sparring with Chu Fei.
He hadn’t expected himself to be in such demand, and could only shed tears as he began the bitter days of ‘selling himself’ to earn tuition for the boy.
Naturally, this had to be kept secret—otherwise, it really would be humiliating. Luckily, his close senior sister and brother knew as much, and swore not to spread it.
Meanwhile, Mo Xuanli trained at Chunyang Pavilion in the mornings, attended classes in the afternoons, and then went to Forging Peak to learn artifact forging—so busy he had no time to spare. Yet he was always brimming with energy, and only seemed to grow more spirited.
At last, one day Mo Xuanli’s cultivation progress reached 65%. At 66%, he could advance to late Foundation Establishment.
Which meant the next plot point was about to begin.
After Gu Baiqing finished that day’s teaching, he heard Mo Xuanli speak: “Master, regarding the forging matter, this disciple wishes to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“This disciple has decided to forge a spirit sword of my own, using that stone I found as the base material. But I’m still missing three items—Scarlet Feather Dragon Bone, Immaculate Immortal Shoot, and Holy Tiger Spirit Orchid. Therefore, I wish to register for the upcoming opening of the Void Spirit Secret Realm. Only there can all three be found, and I want to go seek them.”
Mo Xuanli was like an NPC who gave himself quests.
Gu Baiqing, of course, knew exactly what he was talking about — the three items were, respectively, the bone of a demonic beast, the bud from a certain tree, and a particular flower. All three were extremely rare. At the very least, Zixiao Sect didn’t have them in stock; the outside world might, but they would all be exorbitantly priced.
Back when he still had money, he had actually considered just purchasing them outright at a high price for Mo Xuanli’s use. After all, the Void Spirit Secret Realm was not only dangerous, but in the original story it was also the place where, after Mo Xuanli’s demonization, he deceived Gu Baiqing — and where the two of them first… did that sort of thing.
Gu Baiqing really had no desire to go there, nor did he want Mo Xuanli to go. Although the current little disciple would absolutely never do such a thing, to someone who had watched that part of the plot, Gu Baiqing still preferred to avoid any contact in that setting.
But on recalling the plot in detail, he knew that the system’s required mission — the breakthrough to the late Foundation Establishment stage — actually took place inside the Void Spirit Secret Realm. There were also other items in there that the male lead was meant to acquire. Taking everything into account, this was a secret realm they really couldn’t skip.
Besides… as his master, he was now broke. He had no choice but to follow the plot.
And in fact, he was counting on making a nice profit from this plot arc.
While working out his little scheme, Gu Baiqing calmly said, “You realize the Void Spirit Secret Realm is still very dangerous for someone of your current cultivation. Are you sure you want to go?”
Mo Xuanli nodded firmly. “This disciple has already investigated the situation there. Lately I’ve felt I’m on the verge of a breakthrough, so I’d like to take this chance to temper myself.”
Gu Baiqing nodded in agreement. “All right, go to Qianren Pavilion to register.”
Mo Xuanli was delighted that his master trusted him. Just as he was about to leave to register, he saw that when his master stood up, he seemed a little unsteady. He immediately moved forward to help, but his master avoided his hand.
Mo Xuanli didn’t find it strange — he was used to this — and was about to ask whether his master was feeling unwell. But when he looked up, he caught sight of a faint red mark at the overlapping collar of his master’s black robes.
On skin as white as jade, that red stood out like a plum blossom in the snow.
Mo Xuanli stared for a moment in a daze.
“Has Master been feeling unwell lately?” he asked, puzzled.
Gu Baiqing’s expression flickered with discomfort. “No. You should go.”
Mo Xuanli frowned slightly. He had the feeling his master was lying, and wanted to press the question, but his master had already turned away.
After some hesitation, Mo Xuanli made his way to the back courtyard to find the little child attendant.
He found the child attendant trying to bathe Three Bean.
Three Bean was struggling wildly, acting as if he’d rather die than touch water.
The child attendant was clearly having a hard time. When he saw Mo Xuanli, his eyes lit up in a plea for help.
After all, sometimes even the pet didn’t listen to its own master — but it always listened to Mo Xuanli.
Mo Xuanli chuckled and stepped in to help, taking the chance to discreetly probe for news of his master.
In truth, in the past few months, apart from daily lessons, he had hardly had a chance to see Gu Baiqing. Since he no longer cooked for him, there was less reason to come and go from Luofeng Pavilion. As for how his master was doing, he could only ask others now and then.
But after being asked so many times, Three Bean finally caught on. “Xuanli, why do you keep asking about this? Worried about the master? Then why not just ask him directly after each lesson?”
“How could Master talk to me about such trivial things?” Mo Xuanli’s face looked a little awkward. After all, they saw each other every day — asking like that felt a bit redundant, and Master would surely find it annoying.
Still… compared to before, when he came and went freely, he couldn’t help but feel something was missing, as though he had grown much farther away from his master.
“As his disciple, isn’t it natural for me to care about Master?”
That convinced Three Bean, who began talking without reservation. The child attendant also gave Mo Xuanli a strange and sympathetic look, but likewise answered honestly.
After all, since this disciple couldn’t cook for his master anymore, he was surely feeling unhappy. Who knew when this improper, unspoken crush would ever end?
From their reports, Gu Baiqing’s life was dull and monotonous; he hardly ever left Luofeng Pavilion. Aside from the occasional visit from a few sect elders, no one came by. Every day was about the same.
Hearing that, Mo Xuanli felt a pang. Master, alone in Luofeng Pavilion, cold and quiet, with no one to keep him company — he must be lonely. If only he could move back in…
If Three Bean and the child attendant had known what Mo Xuanli was thinking, they’d have been full of question marks — as if they didn’t exist.
Still, Mo Xuanli couldn’t detect anything clearly wrong from what they said. The two obviously didn’t know about the mark on his master’s skin. Given Master’s high cultivation, it was unlikely to be an insect bite. But in recent lessons, he had seemed listless, almost fatigued.
Listening further, Mo Xuanli suddenly noticed something off. “Has Little Senior Uncle been coming over a lot lately?”
In his mind, Chu Fei only occasionally came to ask Gu Baiqing for guidance.
Three Bean said, “Lately he’s come almost every day. And every time Elder Chunyang visits, Master ends up injured and so tired he has to lie in bed. Several times I’ve seen bruises on him.”
“What!” Mo Xuanli instantly thought of that scene he’d witnessed that night, and his mind leapt to the wrong conclusion. He froze where he stood.
Could that red mark have been…
The child attendant, sensing something off about Three Bean’s words, quickly explained, “Elder Luofeng seems to have been sparring with Elder Chunyang, and sometimes gets hurt or exhausted.”
Mo Xuanli jolted, finally letting out the breath he’d been holding. Self-reproach surged up — how could he think such filthy thoughts? Master treated him so well, and yet he’d imagined something improper between him and Little Senior Uncle.
After questioning them more closely, he learned that Chu Fei always came when he himself was off at the Forging Peak after lessons, which was why he had never run into him. The two didn’t think there was anything odd about a junior coming to see his senior, so they hadn’t paid it much mind — it was only the recent daily visits that made them mention it now.
Mo Xuanli had an inexplicable, uncomfortable feeling he couldn’t shake.
He had just been delayed helping Three Bean bathe, so he figured he might as well check on their sparring. After all, Master had no spiritual power — were they really just going to fight barehanded?
When Mo Xuanli reached the maple grove, he saw that they really were sparring — no spiritual power involved, purely martial, with swords and blades clashing brilliantly.
Seeing this, Mo Xuanli almost let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Just as he was about to leave, in the blink of an eye, his peripheral vision caught something that froze him in place. His pupils constricted: the two who had just been sparring fiercely were now… embracing.
To be precise, Gu Baiqing was nestled against Chu Fei’s chest, and Chu Fei, as if used to it, carried him sideways back toward the pavilion.
Mo Xuanli froze behind a tree, unable to believe what he was seeing. Instinctively, his feet followed.
What were they doing?
Wasn’t the last time just a misunderstanding?
Then what about this time?
Why were they so familiar with each other? Why go back to the inner room? Why…?
When Mo Xuanli reached the doorway of the inner room, he heard Chu Fei mutter, “This belt is really hard to untie.”
Meeting every day, fatigued bodies, ambiguous red marks…
Impossible. Master likes… him. There’s no way he would casually… with Little Senior Uncle. This has to be another misunderstanding.
Mo Xuanli drew in a shaky breath, forcing himself to suppress his thoughts. Driven by impulse, he charged into the room.
“Master, I have something to—”
The noise naturally caught the attention of the people inside.
Chu Fei was puzzled by Mo Xuanli’s rash intrusion.
But what Mo Xuanli saw froze his mind. Chu Fei wasn’t drunk this time; he was sitting calmly at the edge of the bed, close to Gu Baiqing. Gu Baiqing, his master, was lying on the bed, his waist sash fallen to the floor, most of his clothes torn open, revealing pale skin marked with irregular red bruises.
Mo Xuanli’s pupils trembled. It felt as if something in his mind had snapped, a rush of heat straight to his forehead.
“Mo Xuanli?” Chu Fei asked, seeing his dazed expression.
Mo Xuanli didn’t answer, only stared at Gu Baiqing in a daze.
But Gu Baiqing wasn’t looking at him, his head turned to the other side, as if afraid to meet his gaze.
Mo Xuanli wanted to ask what was happening. Wasn’t it odd for them to be so close in broad daylight? What about the marks on Master’s body?
But the words stuck in his throat.
He opened his mouth, his gaze sweeping from Gu Baiqing to Chu Fei. Unlike that night when Master seemed to be in trouble, this time… there was no reason for anything untoward to happen.
Suddenly, a thought echoed in his mind:
Isn’t it fine that Little Senior Uncle stays with Master?
Master is human and gets lonely. Perhaps Master finally realized it was wrong to have certain thoughts about his disciple, so he changed his mind. That’s fine.
The cold realization hit Mo Xuanli like a splash of icy water, clearing his mind.
Yet his gaze couldn’t help but fix on Chu Fei’s hand resting on Gu Baiqing’s arm. It hadn’t moved.
Mo Xuanli suddenly felt a sting in his eyes. His hands clenched instinctively. A surge of spiritual power seemed to converge around him. His vision blurred and brightened at once, a suffocating heaviness pressing on his chest, making it almost impossible to breathe.
Something beyond his control was about to explode.
Suddenly, Chu Fei stood beside the bed, speaking seriously: “Since you’re here, you go first. Your Master is unconscious; he won’t know.”
The wind extinguished the fire, but fanned an even bigger one nearby.
Mo Xuanli: ???!!!!!
