I cultivate only the Path of Ruthlessness!

Xiao Qingpei felt as if he were dreaming.

It was so sudden—the notice that he was to go cultivate at Reversed Yang Spring for ten years.

What kind of place was Reversed Yang Spring?

It was one of the ten great secret reserves of Cloudsky Palace! He’d heard of it as early as his days in the Linwu Sect.

After all, when it came to a behemoth like Cloudsky Palace, anything related to it was worth discussing for cultivators of lesser sects and solitary practitioners. If one knew more, it became a thing to boast about, a way to gain prestige.

So, Xiao Qingpei agreed.

It was the perfect opportunity to escape his position as instructor of the sword at the Cultivation Institute.

He could pretend to be a sword cultivator, with a sword orb upgraded by stacked spirituality, even a counterfeit golden core—he could put on a convincing show.

But to teach others how to perfect the sword path?

That was far beyond him.

Since Reversed Yang Spring was one of Cloudsky Palace’s ten great secret reserves, a grand cultivator at the Golden Core stage was assigned to escort him the whole way.

This Golden Core cultivator’s surname was Feng, a man of extraordinary talent, who had once elevated the entire Feng clan. But as he entered old age in his second life of reversed cultivation, the family declined once more.

To ensure that the Feng family would not be cast out from the circle of Cloudsky Palace’s noble houses after his death, this Grandmaster Feng undertook the task of sending Xiao Qingpei to Reversed Yang Spring not only without complaint, but also with the utmost haste—he delivered Xiao to the destination within just two days.

This gave Xiao Qingpei a firsthand taste of a Golden Core cultivator’s pure yang escape technique!

As for that time the Nascent Soul elder from Xianyao Manor brought him to Cloudsky Palace, Xiao Qingpei never even knew how he arrived in Yunni City. The powers of a Nascent Soul cultivator were already close to immortal.

But after delivering Xiao Qingpei, this Grandmaster Feng, who had barely spoken a word along the journey, handed him a jade talisman and a scroll and suddenly spoke: “Nephew Xiao, are you aware that soon it will be time for the Pure Yang Transmission, the event Cloudsky Palace holds only once every ten years?”

“Uncle Feng, I did not know,” replied Xiao Qingpei in surprise, unsure why the grandmaster would suddenly bring this up.

Did the Pure Yang Transmission have anything to do with him?

Besides, he had already established his foundation; his body was nearly sixty years old, his bones set, his form already beginning to decline.

Under such circumstances, even if given the highest Pure Yang techniques, he had no chance to retrain himself.

He had only managed before because he hadn’t yet established his foundation. Besides, if he were to switch to the Pure Yang path, his two greatest talents would be rendered useless!

“You have clarity of sword heart, and you are still so young. If you could cultivate a superior Pure Yang technique, your achievements in the future would be no less than that of Junior Brother Jianlin the Great Sage,” Grandmaster Feng continued, regarding Xiao Qingpei with meaningful eyes.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Qingpei instantly understood.

“Uncle Feng, is it possible that my spot at Reversed Yang Spring was acquired in this way?” He saw the Golden Core master had more to say, so he asked outright.

“This was originally the Xu family’s quota—Xu Jiansheng offered it to you of his own accord,” Grandmaster Feng nodded.

“Thank you, Uncle. May I ask if there is any favor you wish of me? As long as it is within my power, I shall do my utmost,” Xiao Qingpei said with a cupped fist, repaying kindness in kind, for no one shows favor without hoping for some return.

Hearing Xiao’s words, and especially when he addressed him as “Uncle” directly, Grandmaster Feng smiled—Xiao Qingpei was showing closeness.

Grandmaster Feng then produced a dusty sack. “This is a treasure I found among the ruins of an ancient sect, the Square-Inch Hundred-Treasure Bag. It can store over a hundred items at once! Inside is a token of my family and a half-scroll of a superior cultivation technique that I obtained in my youth—The Sword of Knowing Retreat. Though it is only half, it will suffice to take you to Golden Core.”

He paused, then grew solemn, fixing Xiao Qingpei with a grave gaze. “Nephew Xiao, if you are willing to swear upon your clarity of sword heart that, once you achieve success in cultivation, you will take one disciple from my Feng family, or marry my daughter, then this treasure and all within shall be yours. Do not worry—my little girl is only six. Ten years hence, when you emerge from Reversed Yang Spring, she will not yet be of age, and my Feng family is strict in its ways. You need not fear any embarrassment.”

It was clear Grandmaster Feng intended to entrust his legacy.

But for Xiao, such an oath was as good as a gift for free.

To swear upon the clarity of sword heart?

He didn’t possess such a thing!

Still, with the pressure of a Golden Core cultivator upon him, Xiao Qingpei adopted a solemn air and declared, “If I one day form a golden core, I will take one of Uncle’s blood kin as my disciple! If I break this vow, my clarity of sword heart shall shatter and my cultivation stall forevermore!”

Grandmaster Feng, hearing such a “ruthless” vow, was convinced he had chosen well.

He had made particular inquiries into Xiao Qingpei: a solitary practitioner, sent to repay a favor by a Nascent Soul patriarch of Xianyao Manor. Those of such origin, if they attained foundation, were often ruthless. Yet this Nephew Xiao always “showed mercy”!

When faced with Xu Jiansheng’s provocations, though he could have cut Xu down with a flick of sword qi, he chose instead to use his least adept magical treasure to modestly discipline him.

When his fellow sword cultivators made things difficult, he delivered a stroke of sword qi; seeing the other unable to withstand it, he stepped in to save him.

Such a loyal and upright soul was rare indeed in the world of cultivation!

“Good, good, good!” Grandmaster Feng exclaimed, his smile returning.

He was not long for this world.

This second life of reversed cultivation was nearing its hundredth year.

He had meant to entrust his legacy to others in the sect, but no matter how they remembered old friendships, no matter how much he offered, it would only be a gesture of adding flowers to brocade.

Hence his own attempt to provide “timely help in the snow.”

Pleased, Grandmaster Feng laughed, “Nephew Xiao, you’re still young and bashful! My little girl’s mother is a famous beauty, and my daughter has inherited her looks. Won’t you reconsider?”

Ten years from now, I’ll be an old uncle…

Xiao Qingpei silently grumbled, but aloud he replied, “Uncle, the deeper I cultivate, the harder the path appears. I have long made up my mind.”

“What decision? Are you taking the path of emotionless cultivation?” Because of Xiao’s vow, Grandmaster Feng now regarded him as family.

“Uncle, you see truly. I have indeed chosen the emotionless path for this life!”