Discarded Records Pavilion, After Midnight
The Discarded Records Pavilion was a place of shadows and dust, a tomb of forgotten knowledge. Tonight, it was a spider's web.
Bai Xiaofei entered, her nose wrinkled in disgust. The air was stale, the shelves were packed with rotting scrolls.
"This," she whispered to Su Linyue, "is a sty. Where is this 'master' you spoke of?"
"He is not a master," Su Linyue's calm voice echoed in the cavernous room. "He is an archivist. But he is the one with the solution."
From the deepest, darkest aisle, a figure emerged, holding a dim, flickering oil lamp.
It was Gu Xuan, in his plainest robes, his face a mask of mediocrity, his aura a pathetic Level 5 of Qi Condensation.
He looked, by every definition, like nothing.
Bai Xiaofei's expression turned from disdain to pure contempt.
"This is a joke," she hissed, turning on Su Linyue. "You brought me to this... this peasant? This is the man who solved the greatest alchemical paradox I have ever seen?"
"Senior Sister Bai," Gu Xuan said, his voice quiet, almost mousy. "Please, I assure you, my research is sound."
"Research?" Bai Xiaofei laughed, a cold, sharp sound that was more of an insult than an expression of humor. "And what did your 'research' tell you, boy?"
Gu Xuan looked down, as if intimidated. "The formula isn't just about ingredients, Senior Sister. It's about a process. A symbiotic one. Your Volatile Yang Spark... it's not a flaw, it's a key. But it cannot be contained by ice. It must be... grounded... by a compatible Yin vessel."
Bai Xiaofei's intelligence allowed her to read between the lines instantly. Her eyes narrowed. "A 'symbiotic process.' A 'living vessel.' You are talking about dual cultivation."
"I... It is the only way to stabilize the reaction," Gu Xuan stammered, playing his role to perfection.
Bai Xiaofei stared at him for a long, silent moment. Then she laughed again, louder this time.
"You," she said, stepping forward, her voice dripping with venom. "You want me, Bai Xiaofei, to perform such a... a heretical act? With... you?"
She looked him up and down, her gaze like a physical blow. "A lowly archivist. Level 5 Qi Condensation. No background, no talent, no future. A speck of dust in the sect's gutter."
She began to pace, her frustration and desperation manifesting as pure, scathing rage. "I am in a difficult position, it's true. My alternative is Young Master He Jian. He is a lecherous, talentless, giggling fool."
She spun, her face inches from Gu Xuan's. "But you... you are also talentless. The difference is, he has one of the most powerful families in the province. His background is power. You are nothing."
She spat the word. "Why would I trade a cage of gold for a cage of mud? At least his family's name can protect me. You can't even protect yourself. Su Linyue, you have wasted my time."
She turned, her robes swirling, and stalked toward the exit. She had chosen her fate: a miserable, powerful marriage was still better than a meaningless, pathetic heresy.
"Talentless?"
The voice that spoke was not the one she had just insulted. The mousy, hesitant tone was gone, replaced by a voice as cold, smooth, and deep as a winter-locked lake.
"Wait," Su Linyue said. She didn't move to block the door, but her words held the authority of a drawn sword.
Bai Xiaofei paused, turning back, an annoyed retort on her lips.
Gu Xuan was still standing in the same spot, but he was no longer looking at the floor. He was looking at her, and the light of the oil lamp seemed to be gathering in his eyes, which were now anything but humble.
"You value talent, Senior Sister Bai?" he asked, a cold amusement in his new voice. "You value power above all else?"
He stepped from the shadows into a shaft of pure, unfiltered moonlight that streamed down from the pavilion's high, cracked window.
"Then let us speak the same language."
He reached up to the simple, grey stone pendant at his neck.
The change was instantaneous and profound. The plain, forgettable features seemed to melt away like wax. His jawline sharpened.
His nose became a straight, aristocratic bridge. His eyebrows, once bland, now arched like twin swords, and his eyes... his eyes were deep, calculating, and held an ancient, chilling intelligence.
The face he now wore was not just handsome; it was a face of absolute confidence and control.
Bai Xiaofei's breath hitched. Her heart, for the first time in her life, skipped a beat.
"You are correct," Gu Xuan said, his true voice a smooth, mesmerizing baritone that resonated with power. "Young Master He is a talentless fool. But you are tragically mistaken about me."
He released the suppression on his cultivation.
It was not a request for attention. It was a demand. A golden, overwhelming aura of power slammed into the room, pressing down on Bai Xiaofei with the weight of a physical mountain.
It was not the chaotic, explosive silver of Su Linyue's breakthrough; this was a dense, stable, and terrifyingly deep power.
It was the aura of a Foundation Establishment expert, one whose foundation was so solid, so pure, it made her own feel like sand.
The dust on the floor stirred, and the ancient scrolls on the shelves trembled.
Bai Xiaofei stumbled back a step, her hand flying to her throat, her mind a perfect, screaming blank. Her arrogance, her composure, her entire worldview... shattered.
The book-duster. The peasant. The nothing.
He was a hidden master, more powerful and more terrifying than any prodigy she had ever met.
Su Linyue was standing near the door, a cold, victorious smile on her face.
Gu Xuan took a slow step toward her, his movements no longer shuffling, but the fluid, graceful advance of a predator.
He was the spider, and she had just walked into the center of his web.
He stopped, standing over her, looking down at the most arrogant genius in the sect, who was now trembling, speechless.
"You wanted talent, Bai Xiaofei," he said, his voice a low, commanding purr. "You wanted a background of power. I am offering you both. I am the background. I am the power. And I am the only solution to your problem."
He leaned in, his new, handsome face illuminated by the moon. "Now... shall we discuss our partnership again?"