15

Bai li yue entered the courtyard and perked up at once. The courtyard was filled with a light fog. The spiritual energy manifesting was a sign that the energy was saturated. 

Aah… she stretched her aching body and inhaled a long breath. Her exhaustion was quickly fading.

It will be a joy to cultivate in there. It's almost as good as cultivating in the natural array.

She spent a few minutes inhaling the fog and restoring her condition. Once she felt rejuvenated, she grabbed her broom and headed to the remembrance hall and then on to the medicinal herb garden. She watered the plants in her plot quickly, gaining a few curious looks in the process.

She was finally looking forward to cultivating. She ran back to her courtyard and sat without delay in the centre of the array. Her meridians greedily absorbed spiritual energy. They were singing after being starved for so long. She rotated the energy automatically according to her cultivation skill. 

I don't want to stop now that i'm able to cultivate satisfactorily.

She forced herself to stop cultivation for a while during the day to go to the mission hall. The overseer was overseer yu. He was currently in seclusion so she left a message with an assistant.

' please inform overseer Yu that Bai li yue will be taking a month off from her duties. Could he please assign the cleaning of the remembrance hall the medicinal herb plot 3c to someone else?'

The student didn't even bother to sit up from his reclining position. He was overseer Yu's nephew who entered the sect because of his uncle's connections. He spent most of his time in the mission hall and acted as assistant in his uncle's absence.

' what is the reason?'

' i want to focus on my training.'

' okay. Just know that your duties will not be there when you return. The sect has no use for lazy people.'

' i understand. Please inform overseer Yu on my behalf.'

' didn't i already say okay?' he was getting annoyed at her so she bowed and left. His nephew was notorious for neglecting his duties and having a prickly temper. She highly doubted if he would inform his uncle. 

There was nothing i can do but return the next day to find overseer Yu.

The next day, she was successful in meeting the overseer. His nephew gave her a vengeful look when he was smacked on the top of his head for failing to inform his uncle. 

'You are called bai li yue, right? I will return the favour in the future.'

Bai li yue answered his threat with a smile. He was certainly welcome to try.

She spent the whole day cooking and storing the food inside her spatial ring which permanently maintained food in a fresh state. 

She shut herself in the courtyard and entered seclusion. 

Grand elder mu was taking a walk in the sect. She had just left seclusion after spending a year reciting the azure rainwater sutra. She could feel the change in her body. Her dantian that had been rock hard and dessicated for more than a century was now showing signs of life. The sutra was working. She estimated that it would take another year of absorption for it to fully return to life. 

From this moment on, she could begin to cultivate. This was a dream come true for her. After so many years, she could stop living in fear. She could finally return to the land of the living. 

She would have to meet with sect leader chang to arrange for a portion of cultivation resources to be sent over. 

The sect looked beautiful at this time of the night. Just like all those years ago. She reminisced on past memories and took paths that were now almost forgotten. 

 She walked and walked until she came to a stop.

What is this feeling? Why is my dantian all of a sudden trembling in excitement? 

She looked around at her dark surroundings illuminated only by moonlight. Her caught sight of a familiar door.

Isn't that the ancestor's courtyard? 

She drew closer, her diantian trembling violently with each step.

This is strange, the air here feels different; fresher, and i feel a sudden need to cultivate. Why is that?

She sniffed the air and drew in a long breath, then another.

Bai li yue was roused out of her cultivation. She opened her eyes and looked around to find the source of the disturbance. Quickly, she noticed that the energy was thinner than a moment ago. 

Strange. Did i use up all the energy this quickly? 

Worried, she checked the array. 

It's working perfectly. Did i really use everything up? Hmm… it's possible. I have been quite greedy with my cultivation today. 

She called a stop for the day and pulled out the book to study.

Meanwhile, grand elder mu was heading back to her courtyard. She was distracted by her discovery. 

I have found a good thing indeed. Unfortunately, i couldn't cultivate for long. The energy dwindled too soon. I wonder did ancestor chu leave it for us? He is a good elder indeed. I didn't get to say farewell to him, but i'll make sure to burn incense for him at the remembrance hall.

Once the sun had risen high enough for a visit to be polite, she rushed to the sect leader's courtyard. She was promptly announced and shown in. He was already in a meeting with the first and second elders. 

' qi rong fei, you are finally back? How long has it been since you returned?'

' greetings, grand sect aunt' they greeted her. 

' i returned in the night. I hope you are well. Sect leader has been filling me in on the happenings in the sect.'

' i see.'

She took the seat vacated by the first elder who went out and returned with a chair. She paid little attention to their discussion. They were repeating much of the same things she heard from the sect elder whenever he visited during her seclusion.

Can't these people see that i am in a hurry? They should pause their discussion and see to this old lady's affairs first. 

The first elder, the most perceptive of the three addressed her during a lull in the conversation. 

' forgive us for talking about boring matters, grand elder mu. May i ask what brings you here?'

She smiled sweetly at him. 

'i wish to move to the ancestor chu's courtyard to continue my seclusion.'

' ehh!?'

' what? Are you planning to say no to this old lady?'

The second elder gave them a puzzled look. He was the most ignorant of the group. The sect leader had never been able to handle grand elder mu so he left the ball in the first elder's court.

' that's not it, grand elder. That is where the  little ancestor lives.'

the first elder replied.

' huh? How is that possible?'

The courtyard was empty when she passed by. And quiet. Was there really a person in there?

' are you sure?'

She asked again to make sure.

' yes, she has lived there since she arrived. It became her residence after the passing of the ancestor.'

Grand elder mu, frowned. She was facing a quandry.

'i'll leave you to your business then.' 

They all got to their feet when she stood up to leave. 

The sect leader breathed a sigh of relief once she left. 

' did grand elder mu look furious to you when she left?' he questioned the elders.

'i'm afraid so.'

' that old woman had such a weird temper. I am certain she came to ask for cultivation resources but can't bring herself to ask.'

' she has always been too temperamental for her own good.' the second elder chimed in.

The first elder who knew her better than the two begged to differ. In his opinion grand elder mu was not shy about speaking her mind. Since she had brought up the courtyard, that must be what was on her mind. Did she want to live in the ancestor's courtyard that badly? 

' elder zhao, pick a suitable amount of cultivation resources and send them over to her.'

He nodded and made a note of it. They didn't say much but in their hearts hope was blossoming for grand elder mu. She hadn't mentioned her condition, but the very fact that they had not heard any news contrary to the fact told them that things were getting better. 

The first elder excused himself to find elder mu who had been charged to make an inventory of all the treasures. Since the matter demanded secrecy, he couldn't delegate the task to others. 

The second elder finished his tea.

'that's right, elder brother. You still havent told me why you summoned me? From what you've told me so far, there is no cause for worry.'

' that may be true, but we need all the help we can get. There is much to do. I called you specifically to help with the tournament coming up in two years time. I hadn't expected that you'd be far away in the chu kingdom and would take so long to return. We have lost a lot of time, but we still have to try.'

' you want me to be in charge of the tournament?'

' yes, you are the strongest swordsman among us. It will be your job from now on to groom the students participating in the tournament.'

' i accept. I will do my best.'

' elder mu will assist you, he has already made a list of candidates. It will be up to you who makes it. Remember, winning will definitely be good, but more importantly, we need to impress the higher ranked sects and gain patronage from one of them.'

' i see what you mean.' 

Sect leader chang had explained through the night the plan put into place by the ancestor before his departure. If the sect was to have a means of survival it had to find shelter under the shadow of a bigger more powerful sect. 

That night, grand elder mu found herself standing at the same spot from last night. She had tried to persuade herself to stay away tonight, but here she was. 

Her dantian was already trembling again. She remembered that feeling. That wonderful feeling. A determined voice sounded in the back of her mind.

I'm not doing anything wrong. Ancestor chu left such a good thing for us. It's only right for me to partake in it. We all belong to one sect. It's not wrong at all to share. That's right. Little ancestor is young and doesn't know how things work. If anything i am helping her to not learn how to share. Right! Right!

She had no reason to hesitate now. Her dantian trembled; bordering on painful. She inhaled deeply to calm it.

In the courtyard, bai li yue had barely just sat down to begin cultivating when she felt the spiritual energy in the courtyard draining away.

What? This again? Come on! I barely used the energy! 

She checked the array for defects but just like yesterday, found nothing.

'I'm out of ideas. I don't know what is going on.'

I'm not using the energy so i'm certain it's going somewhere else. Is it underground? Or somewhere else.

At this point in time, she didn't know the answer, but she was sure that she wasn't reaping the benefits of her own hard work. The next few days, she confirmed her suspicion. The energy wasn't seeping underground. There was no way it could. The array diagram formed an impermeable shell. The only way to get the energy out was to be inside the array. 

Bai li yue was alarmed and furious in alternating fashion. 

I have a rat! A freaking rat!

Her anger won out in the end when she thought of all her hard work gone to waste. As far she was concerned, if her hard work went into someone else's pocket, then she had worked for nothing. 

'i can't believe it. I, Bai li yue, have been cooking food for someone else to swallow and I'm not even being paid for it. Teacher chu must be weeping for me in the afterlife.'

He was probably laughing at her plight but she preferred to believe that he didn't enjoy seeing his student suffer injustice at the hands of another.

She strode back indoors. There was nothing she could do tonight. The rat is already gone for today. 

'I'd better come up with a plan to catch it and roast it.'

The next morning she took a leisurely stroll around her courtyard. Of course the thought had occurred to her how the rat had been able to infiltrate the array without her noticing. 

I did set up a barrier array, but i should still have been able to sense any intrusion.

She turned the corner of the left wall and felt a slight breeze containing spiritual energy. 

She turned around in place and checked the array. 

'So that's what happened.'

She went to work fixing the array. The spirit containment array had part of it sticking out of the courtyard. Its border overlapped with the cloaking array causing a slight leakage outside the array. Someone must have been walking very close to the wall, noticed the rich spiritual energy and decided to take advantage of it. She hadn't noticed anything because whoever it was was standing inside the border effectively becoming invisible. 

She found two other spots of overlap leakage and repaired it by reducing the radius of the containment array. The problem was solved, but she still hadn't forgotten that there was a rat sniffing around. 

Whoever it is, has cost me two days of cultivation. Now all i need to do is find them and make them pay!

Deep in the night, grand elder mu walked towards the same place she had stood these past few nights. Her body was wound tight in frustration. Even though the spiritual energy she was absorbing was rich, it wasn't plentiful. The incense had barely burned when the energy turned thin and she was forced to leave. 

The cultivation pills brought by the first elder were good enough, but the amount of energy she got from a pill single couldn't compare to the little gains from the array in the courtyard. After all Ancestor chu was a formations sage, there was no way a pill could compare to his array.

She reached her usual spot and took a deep breath. 

Eeh! what's going on?

She whirled on the spot.

Bai li yue watched a figure appear and sit on a spot by the wall. Her pearlescent teeth shone in the darkness and her eyes glinted with glee. 

Got you!

She leapt off the perch and pounced on the seated figure. They rolled in the grass as the alarmed figure scrambled attempting to break free. Fist met claw in a flurry of blows. Bai li yue only wished to capture the intruder, not cause injury after all. She blocked the blows raining down on her and gradually lost patience when her prisoner showed no hint of yielding.  She struck hard and fast. 

Bang!

She struck again, drawing her wooden sword in a flash. It stopped inches from drawing blood.

'are you still thinking of fighting?'

Lu dou was afraid. His heart was beating hard after the sudden intense bout. A muffled groan escaped his lips. He had been happily cultivating at his favorite spot when he had been attacked. 

' miss bai, why did you attack me?'

'huh?! Lu dou are seriously asking me that? you honestly don't know?'

Bai li yue couldn't believe this thick skinned rat. She cursed under her breath.

You are not only a thieving rat, but also an idiot.

' i was only cultivating by your wall. I don't think that is a cause for violence.'

Violence? Of course she'll resort to violence! Try having the food on the way to your mouth snatched away!

' why are you cultivating outside my courtyard when you have your own courtyard?'

She asked.

' no particular reason. I was passing by one evening and felt something.'

No kidding!

' i discovered that whenever i cultivate next to the wall, my training goes easier.'

That's because you've been siphoning all my freaking spiritual energy. My hard work!

She lamented internally.

'miss bai, as far as i know, it is not against sect rules to cultivate outside.'

'that is true, but do you go to the first elder's courtyard and cultivate without asking permission?'

' then i will have to apologise if i have offended miss Bai. It didn't occur to me. I wasn't doing any harm.'

He bowed in apology.

If it was only offending me, i wouldn't make a deal of things. You already stole from me and yet i can't make an issue of it in case i call attention to myself. Living a low key life is too hard!

I'm so unwilling to let him go scot free. So unwilling. She roared inside. 

Seeing that his apology wasn't having any effect, lu dou was out of sorts. He was at a critical point in his training. He couldn't afford to make an enemy especially of miss bai. 

He didn't know much about her but he had seen how respectful his father was toward her. She had too much money for an ordinary chore student.

He had also figured out that she wasn't a normal member of the sect. She dressed in the green robes of the chore division, but her behaviour was at odds with everything he knew about them. For one, a member of the chores division would never dare to look a member of the outer sect in the eye. They were subservient, servile. They knew who their superiors were. 

If he had any doubts about her identity, then the short fight had sealed it. Those moves she used were strange to him. She wasn't very strong but the speed and ease of her moves told him she wasn't a person to be toyed with. Was she a princess? Or the member of a higher ranked sect roaming the land?

While lu dou debated the identity of the person in front of him and consequently his reaction to her anger, grand elder mu ground her teeth in anger.

So that's what happened. There was another thief besides her.

What am i saying? I'm no thief? I'm a concerned elder. If anyone's a thief here, it is him.

'miss Bai, i truly didn't mean any offense-.

'it doesn't matter. How are you going to make up for my loss?'

' your cultivation has drained energy from my precious flowers; disturbing their growth. I also lost hours trying to find the cause. How are you going to pay me back for wasting my time?'

' eh' he shuffled from foot to foot nervously. It appeared that his apology wasn't good enough to pacify her. He had spent enough time in the sect to know that giving benefits was always the way to go. Too bad he was poor. He worked extra hard to save the little money his father sent him every month. Add that to the spirit stone awarded to the outer sect students each month and he was still at the bottom of the barrel wealthwise. He also took missions one and again, but the reward was often divided among their group of friends. 

' miss bai, could you forgive me this once? I really dont have much wealth to-'

' okay, don't say i am not a reasonable person. Give me what you can afford and i'll let the matter drop.'

She wasn't about to let him go without getting something for her troubles. She had already made a loss from the situation. 

He debated between silver coins and spirit stones before pulling out four spirit stones. He knew that cultivators prefered spirit stones over money, but giving silver coins might be misconstrued as an insult.

She weighed the stones like one would weigh a purse full of coins before pocketing them.

' not bad! next time you want to cultivate here, bring payment.'

She left lu dou standing there and went back to her courtyard. She was careful not to reveal her joy.

Spirit stones! spirit stones!

The students in this sect are richer than i expected. I was asking for money, but falling into a treasure pile was unexpected. 

She felt a little bad for taking his spirit stones but it was right for him to feel some of her pain.

She was at the entrance of her courtyard when she heard rustling behind her. The wind was followed by a sweet citrusy perfume. She has smelled this before… when she met grand elder mu.

'What brings you to my courtyard, grand elder mu?' She asked without bothering to look at the woman who had landed behind her a moment ago. 

'Hehe... little ancestor has been very naughty.'

'Whatever do you mean grand elder mu?'

She asked, ignorance bleeding from her every word.

'Hehe, no need to hide it between us. I already heard your conversation. Or do you want me to call the boy back?'

Aaish! This old woman is giving me a headache. I just finished solving one problem and another has already taken its place. What did i do wrong? What evil did i commit? If i didn't have to stay here because i was weak, i wouldn't even bother hiding what i do. Even though, teacher trusts the sect, he was away for a long time. Who is to say that they won't harm me and take away the few treasures i have? Relax bai li yue. Why are you afraid? The fact that she is calling you by a title means she still has some respect for your teacher.

Bai li yue stretched her lips into a smile and turned to face grand elder mu. She gasped in surprise upon seeing the woman. She was eons more beautiful than she had been the last time they crossed paths. Her grey hair was a thing of the past and the wrinkles on her face had softened and in some places, disappeared. It was as if she'd been reborn.

' congratulations. i'm glad to see that the azure rainwater sutra is working well. You look absolutely magnificent.'

Grand elder mu's smile was highlighted by the soft chuckle that escaped her pink lips. She ruffled her long flowing hair and straightened her white robe.

' you are the first person to comment on the return of my youth.'

She replied with a self satisfied laugh.

'Is it because you are a woman too?'

Bai li yue breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Now that she had buttered the woman up, she should probably find out what she wants.

'Grand elder mu, did i do something wrong?'

'Of course. Little ancestor doesnt know this but the array left behind by ancestor chu is technically sect property. Keeping it all to yourself is selfish.'

'Wait. What?'

'Don't bother denying it. The boy might be gullible, but i know a few things.'

'Are you saying the array belongs to the sect?'

'It is in your courtyard so i wouldn't say that you can claim ownership, but we shouldn't forget that this is sect land. The sect technically owns everything on its land. It's the law of the land, but-'

Bai li yue couldn't believe what she was hearing. I worked my bum off to make the array and now some random person is telling me that i don't own what i produce because it's on someone else's land? 

Grand elder mu glanced sideways at bai li yue and continued. 

'But- we can't argue the fact that you are also technically an ancestor of the sect. What belongs to you belongs to the sect and vice versa technically.'

' s- so what are you saying?'

Bai li yue was done beating around the bush. She was encountering too many 'technically' in a short time frame to not be confused. She felt a headache coming on. 

'Since i know about it now, there is no need to worry about future issues. Of course, this also means that you can't utilise it alone. You will have to share.

Ahh… and now the crux of the whole conversation. Bai li yue considered her situation. She knew who held power between the two of them. Teacher chu was right. She was powerless because she was the weaker party. Grand elder mu had her weakness in her grasp and there was nothing she could do about it. 

At least she wasn't running the risk of losing her life, just an untimely inconvenience until the array dissipated.

Humph! This woman doesn't know who she is messing with. Teacher chu isn't my master for nothing. Does she really think i will do all this work for nothing? Since she believes that teacher chu created the array, i'll leave her blissful in her ignorance. If it means that i have to go into the forest to cultivate, then that's what i'll do.

'Very well.'

That said, there was no longer any need to continue the conversation.

'Wait a minute. I'm not yet done talking.' The older woman rushed to add.

' in the interest of preserving your peaceful life, i suggest we keep this matter between us. In fact, i will forbid the boy from cultivating near this place, we don't want more people getting involved. In exchange, i will pay you triple what he is offering. What do you say?'

Huh? Huuh! The conversation suddenly took a different more interesting turn. Getting twelve spirit stones for her troubles was not a bad idea. She was looking at the woman with a warmer look now.

' of course, it means that i get to use the array every single day. The energy i have absorbed so far doesn't match my needs-oh'

Realising too late what she said she laughed nervously and changed the subject like a fish on land. She rambled on about how she was doing Bai li yue a favour. If the sect elders ever found out about a hidden array on sect land, she could just tell them that the grand elder was aware of it. That would settle any problems since the elders were too scared of her to complain in her presence.

Bai li yue listened until the woman ran out of things to say.

' fifteen spirit stones for every use and we have a deal. If you don't agree, then…' she shrugged and trailed off into silence.

Grand elder mu was put off by the slightly mocking smile on the girl's face. If she wasn't the little ancestor of the scet, she wouldn't be this polite. Spending fifteen spirit stones every single day wasn't a joking matter for her or any person in the sect. She couldn't justify the expense since this was a backroom deal. If she dipped into her savings, she could last for at most a few months before she started feeling the pinch. 

Bai li yue was congratulating herself for her quick thinking. She had wanted to quote a high price, but she didn't wish to bite off more than she could chew. Lu dou had given her four spirit stones so it stood to reason that a grand elder could provide more. But being greedy would paint a bad picture of her to grand elder mu. She would be living in the sect for many years. There was no reason to antagonise her.

' no. twelve is my limit.'

Grand elder Mu insisted.

'Fourteen!'

' i told you that twelve is my limit.' 

Isn't this woman being too stingy? 

' thirteen. Take it or leave it.'

' be reasonable. twelve is a good price.you are still young. The spirit stones won't do you much good.'

Bai li yue shook her head, her eyes grew moist with fake tears. She made her lips tremble for extra effect.

'Grand elder mu, i didn't want to tell you this, but you are leaving me no option. the array was left for me by my teacher. He was sorry to leave me with nothing since he gave everything to the sect. Because i just started cultivating, he made the array weak so as not to negatively affect me. It is not strong enough to accommodate a sage realm cultivator. I know a little bit about arrays after following behind my teacher and watching him. A weak array will fall apart quickly if it is used by a cultivator of a higher realm. If i'm right then you are in the king realm hoping to break through to the venerable and sage realms. You will require much more energy than this array can provide you. Since you left me with no option, i was willing to share the array with the sect. In exchange, i could use the spirit stones to cultivate once the array broke down from lack of energy, but accepting twelve spirit stones will be causing harm to myself. I wouldn't be able to face my teacher if i do not achieve his wish for me.'

Grand elder mu's lips opened and closed as she searched for words. They escaped her at each turn.

' fourteen spirit stones.' She finally yielded. The array was important to her so she couldn't give it up. She would if it was possible. Ancestor chu had breathed new life into the sect and she couldn't repay his kindness by blocking his student's path. She also didn't want to be known as an elder who bullied a youngster. 

'Thank you. Thank you grand elder mu.'

She bowed, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and also hiding her laughing face. Grand elder mu wasn't too bad. Offering fourteen spirit stones after the sob story showed that despite being sneaky she didn't forget to be grateful to her benefactors.

Bai li yue sighed out loud upon returning to her courtyard. The day had been too long. It had not begun well, but she had made a killing in terms of future revenue. She had found her rats and neutralised them to the best of her abilities. 

She did feel a little bad for lu dou. He had gotten the brunt of her anger. Beaten and extorted out of spirit stones when he wasn't even the big rat.

His fate was a wretched one.

She spent the night in peaceful cultivation and contemplation of the booklet. There were no intrusions that night.

'This is how true cultivation is meant to resemble.' She exclaimed a few times through the night as she cradled the stones.