Xu Luoshui stretched lazily as she stepped out of her cave dwelling.
Using spirit stones to cultivate felt absolutely amazing. In less than half a month, she had already reached the second layer of Qi Refining.
That should be enough. She couldn't go too fast. Being a step ahead made you a genius. Ten steps ahead made you a monster.
She planned to stay in seclusion for another half a month. She'd go out again in a month. During this time, she'd just focus on making more perfume.
What surprised her the most was the Violet Lightning Sword Manual. As expected of a Nascent Soul level cultivation technique. Even though she only had access to the Qi Refining portion, it was still enough for her to feel how powerful it was.
The manual's offensive power was intense. Sword Qi had already begun forming inside her, tearing through and repairing her meridians over and over again.
Sword cultivation was no joke. Ruthless to others and even more ruthless to oneself.
Unfortunately, Cheng Qian couldn't cultivate this sword manual himself. But he could still practice the sword forms and techniques it included. The only downside was that the effects wouldn't be as strong.
He picked two useful techniques from it.
The first was Violet Lightning Thunderflash, useful for either chasing someone down or escaping. It turned the user into a streak of lightning, covering a hundred miles in a flash. With Cheng Qian's current aptitude, even ten miles in a flash was impressive.
The second technique didn't have a name. It was a divine sense attack method, and also a way to temper spiritual consciousness. If trained to the Foundation Establishment stage, one's sea of consciousness would undergo a transformation. At that point, using this method, one could form either Divine Sense Lightning or a Divine Sense Sword.
That part depended on one's fortune during Foundation Establishment.
Divine Sense Lightning could follow the enemy's divine sense and hit their sea of consciousness. It was fast but not very powerful. If the opponent had a defensive weapon or a protection technique guarding their sea of consciousness, the attack might only cause them to freeze momentarily.
Even if the opponent had no defense, the most it would do was jolt their mind, momentarily stunning them without any serious damage.
But if someone managed to form a Divine Sense Sword, they could concentrate it into a spiritual weapon and strike directly at the enemy's sea of consciousness. If the enemy couldn't block it, their soul would shatter completely.
While Cheng Qian was working hard on cultivating these two secret techniques, things inside the sect had already begun to shift.
******
Xiao Wenchuan started making his move. Since the Yu Dazhi was hard to deal with directly, he decided to target the people around them.
With his long-standing connections in the inner sect, he got to work.
Yu Dazhi's usual hangers-on began receiving sect missions one after another. Some were sent to guard mines. Others were assigned to remote mortal kingdoms.
In just a few days, he was left with almost no one by his side.
Choosing sides was fine, but only if there were benefits. If following someone meant you'd soon get forced into some random transfer order and sent to a desolate place, what was the point?
The reason to follow someone was for cultivation resources. Now that all of Yu Dazhi's people were being sent off to nowhere, staying on his side became a risk.
It was only natural for people to avoid danger and seek benefit.
Unable to hold back any longer, Yu Dazhi went straight to confront Senior Brother Xiao. And he did it publicly, at the Sect Affairs Hall.
"Senior Brother Xiao, what you're doing is way too overbearing."
Xiao Wenchuan faced him with a smile. "What do you mean, Junior Brother?"
The disciples taking or returning missions, and the deacons recording them, all slowed down what they were doing.
These two—were they really about to clash?
Thinking about their identities, more and more inner sect disciples started to understand.
Background? Both had Golden Cores behind them. Yu Dazhi might even have two.
Talent? Both were single fire spiritual roots. That meant they competed for similar cultivation resources.
Rumors? Both seemed to be involved with Junior Sister Xu Luoshui.
The crowd turned into eager onlookers.
"You really gonna pretend? You're the one who got rid of everyone around me!"
"Watch your words, Junior Brother Yu. You can eat carelessly, but you shouldn't speak carelessly." Xiao Wenchuan stood up and walked out from behind the counter where he'd been handling affairs.
"First, I have no authority over the assignment of inner disciples.
"Second, I have no reason to do what you're accusing me of. It's childish.
"Third, I'm your senior brother. You're the junior. Until you reach Foundation Establishment, you should at least show basic respect. And this is the Sect Affairs Hall, not your Yu family's backyard. Is this a place for your shouting and tantrums?"
Xiao Wenchuan was indeed a seasoned veteran of the inner sect. With just a few calm words, he revealed his composure and broad-mindedness.
In comparison, Yu Dazhi suddenly looked impulsive and disrespectful.
He loved seeing the boy so agitated. Impressions formed bit by bit in people's minds. Over the years, he'd cultivated an image, one that made both disciples and elders feel he carried himself with real dignity.
That's why, going forward, he would make sure Yu Dazhi's flaws and failures were seen again and again by everyone in the inner sect.
If there ever came a day when he and Yu Dazhi stood side by side as candidates for sect leader, the disciples would choose him: Xiao Wenchuan.
Even if disciples had no real power in that decision, their opinions could still influence the Elders. Even the smallest nudge could matter.
At this moment, Yu Dazhi also realized he had acted rashly. He quickly apologized to everyone and left, looking frustrated and defeated.
Seeing that the two didn't actually fight, many of the onlookers were disappointed.
But the scene spread through the inner sect like wildfire. If there had been trending topics in Lingyun Sect, then this minor conflict would have shot straight to number one that day.
Meanwhile, all the rumors and gossip surrounding Xu Luoshui started fading. With no more buzz, they lost traction and disappeared.
******
Inside Xu Luoshui's Residence.
She placed over twenty bottles of perfume into her storage bag.
This was her half-month's worth of work.
Once she came out of seclusion, she planned to gift these perfumes to some well-known female cultivators.
Through them, she would slowly open up the sect's market. Then, with help from senior and junior brothers who were either enchanted by her beauty or tempted by the profit behind her, she would spread the perfume into every marketplace under Lingyun Sect's control.
She believed that showing her one-month breakthrough to the second layer of Qi Refining would be enough to get them lining up to pursue her. Using those ambiguous connections, she could quickly set up her network.
Her goal was to fully establish the perfume business within five years, along with clothing production.
Using the spirit stones she earned, she would push her cultivation to the peak of Qi Refining within that time. Once she had the strength and revealed her incredible talent, she'd be in a much better position to take the final step of her plan.
It was a solid plan.
Unfortunately, things rarely go exactly as planned. Accidents, one way or another, always show up.
Xu Luoshui came out of seclusion. One month to reach Qi Refining second layer!
The entire inner sect was in an uproar.
It was unbelievably fast. Though the first three levels of Qi Refining weren't too difficult for inner disciples, no one had ever seen such speed. Even those with single spiritual roots had to admit the terrifying potential of an earth spiritual root.
Ordinary inner disciples with high-grade triple spiritual roots usually needed a full year to reach the second layer, assuming plenty of resources and a good environment.
Elite disciples with low to medium-grade dual roots might manage it in seven to ten months.
Among those fighting to become the top ten inner disciples, even someone like Mu Qingling needed at least four months.
So Xu Luoshui's one-month breakthrough was really shocking.
Earth-grade spiritual roots were already this terrifying. If she had a heaven-grade one? That would be unimaginable. Every breath would increase her cultivation.
If Xu Luoshui knew people were thinking that, she would probably burst out laughing. Fast cultivation progress?
It cost her over three thousand spirit stones.
As for gifting perfume, her plan was already working. Now she was ready to step onto the main stage of Lingyun Sect. Even though she was only at the second layer of Qi Refining, she had earned her place.