On the celestial ship heading for the Long family world.
Ning Bi woke up in her chambers early in the morning.
First, she silently prayed for the safety of her master. While she was aware that this was a mortal habit and was looked down upon by cultivators, she couldn't help it.
Every morning she prayed for her master's safe return. Every night she prayed that whoever dared to go against her master to die the most painful death. Often, she would find herself praying for everything to go his way so that he could return more quickly.
Then, she headed to her private training grounds without delay. As per her usual routine, she reviewed her Cosmic Destruction Scripture, wrote her thoughts on a scroll, then practiced without using her Breach skill. At this stage, only an hour of training was enough to cover her with sweat.
'This isn't working, I won't be able to overcome the bottleneck with just this…'
She left the training grounds in deep thought.
'If only master were here…'
Even a casual conversation with her master was more beneficial than going to public lectures every day for a month. As she thought back, Ning Bi realized how her master guided her with only simple offhand remarks. His random words were enough to let her go through enlightenment!
"Esteemed Master! Madam is getting ready for breakfast and asks for you to join in an hour."
Ning Bi's thoughts were interrupted by the servants. They were assigned to her, and to her parents, by the Long family. Ning Bi looked at the reverent bows of these girls without expression.
"Prepare the bath."
"Yes! Esteemed Master!"
Servant girls left in a hurry. Ning Bi was raised in a remote village all her life. Ordering servants would've been an alien concept just a few months ago. Living as an 'Esteemed Master' became a regular part of life after spending 16 days on the Han family's celestial ship.
'Master had many servants too.'
Ning Bi shook her head. Her master did have many servants, but it was rare for him to order them around. The servants would usually tend to the estate on their own and try not to disturb their master. Senior Peng and his subordinates were under her master's orders, but they weren't mere servants.
In the absence of her master, Ning Bi subconsciously wanted to emulate her master's way of life, so she could better understand his teachings.
'... Maybe I didn't notice master giving them orders before. Surely he must've used servants frequently.'
Her master was a peerless genius. His stature was so great, even Transcendent masters didn't dare anger him. Would such a personage deign to handle mundane affairs of daily life? It was unthinkable!
'...That day, master had cooked and even cleaned the dishes by himself…'
Ning Bi stopped in her tracks. During the voyage inside the small spiritual boat, her master didn't live extravagantly. He cultivated, tended to his spiritual herbs, meditated, wrote scriptures, answered their questions. Even the immortal chef, sister Meng Xue, was forced on him by his mother, Long Xiu.
Of course, Ning Bi had no idea. Han De was bored out of his mind during the voyage. Cultivation was boring. Tending to his spiritual 'garden' was his only hobby. His 'meditations' were actually him getting reports about the defensive measures, and giving orders to strengthen them through voice transmissions. Writing down thousands of plants, formations, and pill recipes was almost painful. His only solace was eating good meals 3 times a day. He would've slept away half the voyage if he could have his way, but that was impossible due to the Vigil quest.
In Ning Bi's mind though, her master never did something without a reason. She continued to walk with a frown until she finally reached the baths.
Reviewing her master's teachings, actions, or even habits, became a regular part of her private morning routine some time ago.
Ning Bi herself didn't notice, but every time she remembered her master's last moments, it was as if the weight on her soul would ever so slightly increase.
"E-Esteemed Master, the bath is read-"
"Leave."
Servants flinched after hearing a hint of anger within her voice. They deeply bowed and left in a hurry.
Just like the estate of her master, baths here were quite an experience for someone raised as a mortal. The illusions produced by the arrays were similar, but their content was different.
Ning Bi used her spiritual sense to switch it to a random one. Usually, it was the servants' job to select a suitable illusion for the mood, but they gave up after the first week. Besides, using her spiritual sense like this gave no small amount of relief to Ning Bi. She was a cultivator! She had spiritual sense! Just like the stories!
The scene changed. The baths were now on top of a mountain. Clouds down below were covering everything with white. In the distance, there were series of floating islands that formed symmetry with the mountain peaks.
Ning Bi found the unnatural symmetry quite eerie, but the thought of switching to another illusion never crossed her mind. This alien landscape completely mesmerized her. Individually, everything looked normal, but on the whole… Ning Bi realized she didn't have the vocabulary to convey her true feelings.
She noted the sequence of the illusion formation and finally entered the pool. Her eyes wandered around the illusion before getting fixated on the tall and thin tower, far, far away.
* * *
Servants sent away by Ning Bi were a group of 13 girls. Each and every one of them had pale faces even after running back to the servant building.
"Haaaa, I thought we were done for! What is wrong with that girl?!"
"Hush! If you know what's good for you don't ever speak ill of her!"
The elder sister of the group, Gao Niu closed her eyes while warning her junior. She was only a year older than her junior, but that single year of experience wasn't something they could scoff at.
While one group had come back, another was about to be dispatched to take their place. Coincidentally, the two groups met.
"You are early, why didn't you send for a new group before coming back?"
"Esteemed Master dismissed us early. Sister Yu Daiyu, your group should head for the baths, Esteemed Master was invited to Madam's breakfast. Getti-"
"Why are you talking respectfully when that brat isn't even here? I didn't expect the 3rd princess of the Gao family would turn into the dog of a backwater farm girl!"
Silence fell after sister Yu Daiyu's words. A few of the girls nodded in approval, some of them visibly swallowed their sighs. Sister Yu Daiyu was the elder sister of the 2nd group, just like the Gao Niu, she had a year-long experience already. Her family was one of the most influential among the servants as well.
Gao Niu didn't look perturbed by Yu Daiyu's words. She talked to her with a calm demeanor while desperately trying to prevent herself from rolling her eyes.
"Although our families do not get along very well, as a fellow servan-"
"Gao Niu, don't take it too far. Everyone starts as a servant, but not everyone stays as a servant. I advise you not to say something that you will regret later!"
Gao Niu faintly smiled upon hearing the icy tone of Yu Daiyu. She continued talking to her with patience.
"Sister Yu Daiyu, we are serving a disciple that is on the top deck of this celestial ship. You of all people should understand the intentions of the Long family through this action. This ship has hundreds of decks, yet she was given a palace at the top."
Yu Daiyu's frown transformed into a crooked smile.
"It seems your information is out of date, Gao Niu. Perhaps your elders do not feel the need to inform their princess anymore after they saw you become a loyal dog so easily."
Yu Daiyu continued with fervor.
"She has a special constitution, that is her only value. Status gained quickly will fall just as quickly. She will be married off to some branch family and we'll never hear from her again. Still at Qi Condensation stage at the age of 13? Don't make me laugh! Even her master is missing!"
Other girls looked at each other with surprise. At the end of the day, they were only servants. Contact with their families was extremely limited, rumors were their only source of news. Their sister Yu Daiyu's words both confirmed the rumors and provided new information at the same time.
Gao Niu looked around and sighed. She had a guess as to what was going on. Just in case, she decided to lend a helping hand to the Yu family.
"Sister Yu Daiyu, do you know who her master is?"
Gao Niu continued without waiting for an answer.
"He is the son of Long Xiu. Yes, that Long Xiu. If you had asked your elders about the situation properly, you wouldn't be talking like this right now.
Listen well. I will only say this once. If you still want to spread baseless rumors after that, don't say I didn't warn you."
Long Xiu's status was too high for these servant girls to know. However, seeing how their elder sister Yu went silent, they realized she wasn't someone that they could afford to offend.
"Long Xiu's son is called Han De. One of Shao Bai's guards is an elder uncle of the Gao family. Due to some events that my elder uncle couldn't explain, he came to serve Han De under orders from Long Xiu."
Shao Bai was a well-known name among the families that served the Long family. Servant girls were no exception. Their eyes started shining after hearing his name. The girl that originally grumbled about Ning Bi started talking without reservation.
"Elder sister Gao Niu! Your elder uncle is serving under Shao Bai?! Why didn't you tell us?! I heard he was on this ship! Is he?! Is he really here?!! Can we see him?! Your uncle still works as his guard, right?! Right?!?! Hey stop tryin-mmMMmM!!!"
The girl was forcefully silenced by her sisters, but her questions had impacted everyone present. They were all giving their undivided attention to hear every syllable of elder sister Gao's response!
Their intentions of the girls weren't lost on Gao Niu. At the same time, she didn't want to tease or disturb Yu Daiyu too much. She could get implicated by proxy if Yu Daiyu's behavior became too erratic. Which was a highly likely possibility!
"The affairs of Shao Bai cannot be known by the Gao family. Elder uncle only mentioned this event as a warning. I'm sure other families will learn of this soon, and many others are probably already aware. As such, there is no harm in letting you girls know early.
According to my elder uncle, Han De is a true genius, able to create a heaven-defying sword technique on a whim. He is completely ruthless, able to give the order to burn the souls of millions, and cripple and castrate even more without blinking an eye. He is young, but makes plans as if he is an old monster. Even events that were unforeseeable by Celestial Realm masters were predicted by him."
"T-Those are just rumors. Gao Niu! I expected better from you!"
It was against her intuition, but Yu Daiyu spat out a denial anyway. These girls were chosen specifically for Ning Bi, because they were closer to her age. Despite being young, the lowest cultivation among them was at the early stage of the Foundation Establishment realm. Their cultivations were superior to Ning Bi, but their world experience was every bit as lacking.
This wasn't an accident. Neither was Yu Daiyu's antagonism. She was only following orders, and hearing such information from Gao Niu went against her better judgment.
Yu Daiyu's denial turned the air heavy. While Gao Niu was explaining, there were some doubts in the hearts of the servants. Now that Yu Daiyu came out and confirmed that she had heard of this as well, the situation became different.
Gao Niu lightly shook her head.
"Do you know the price of spreading false rumors about the Long family? It seems the Yu family obtained this information through other channels, which further strengthens the authenticity of it, wouldn't you say?
Elder uncle also mentioned one final thing. It seems he is especially protective of his disciples and his servants. He didn't let them out of his sight until the final moments of their voyage."
Gao Niu looked at the servant girls around her.
"If you offend her and her master doesn't come back, you will not gain anything. But if he does come back, you will lose everything. Be mindful of the way you act and what you say. We are just servants, and no one pays any attention to us. Everyone should work hard to keep it that way!"
Yu Daiyu wanted to deny it due to her contrarian nature, but she held her tongue. Still, she felt the need to one-up the Gao princess, so she "hmphed"" and headed for the main estate without saying another word. The second shift of the day quickly followed their elder sister under the pitying gaze of the first shift.
Unfortunately for Yu Daiyu, she couldn't go against the orders of her family, even if that meant offending someone she shouldn't offend.
* * *
"Little Bi! We've been waiting forever! Come come, lady Meng Xue made these things called… Crepes? They look amazing!"
"Dear, don't just run around! Bi, say something to your mother!"
Ning Bi's mother dragged her to a seat nearby. Mother Ning tried, but in the end, she couldn't ignore her husband and spat out her thoughts.
"Shut up! I'm the one who's pregnant! I've been through it once already! Little Bi, don't mind your him. Let's eat!"
Father Ning could only awkwardly smile at his wife. As they sat in their seats, mother Ning spoke in a loving tone.
"Oh my, I forgot that sweet sauce in the kitchen, dear, could you-"
"Of course! Anything for my Bu- ehm, I'll get it right away!"
When father Ning was finally out of sight, mother Ning gave a huge sigh.
"Ugh, he is getting worse and worse! He doesn't even want me to take a stroll in the garden! Can you believe it?!"
Mother and daughter Ning weren't alone after father Ning left. Yao Qing and Jin Shu were also present. As she was complaining, mother Ning was suddenly reminded of this fact.
"Ehm, I'm sorry, words just came out on their own, I didn't mean to bother you two as well…"
Jin Shu elegantly put the teacup down before responding.
"Madam Ning, please. Ning Bi is our sister, that means you are our family too. Don't treat us as outsiders."
Jin Shu and mother Ning smiled at each other.
Yao Qing and Jin Shu had witnessed the father Ning's excessive doting firsthand while waiting for Ning Bi. He even used her pet name a few times, which was the final straw that got mother Ning angry. Yao Qing asked out of curiosity.
"Madam Ning, your husband adores you very much. I'm sure he will do his best if you tell him not to fuss over this much…"
Madam Bing sighed with exasperation.
"I know, but whenever I do that, he looks at me with that cute face and I forget what I was talking about..."
Mother Ning hugged Ning Bi.
"Little Bi! You must help me! He won't dare to do show that stupid cute face while you are present!"
"O-Of course! D-don't worry mom!"
Ning Bi accepted without thinking after seeing her mother's desperate face. She regretted it before she even finished her sentence, but it was already too late.
"My little Bi is so amazing! As expected of my daughter! *Haaa*, he wasn't like that during your pregnancy, you know."
Mother Ning hid her triumphant smile and decided to switch subjects while she was ahead.
"Oh, I was wondering. Lady Meng Xue is amazing, but is it really alright for your master's concubine to cook for us?"
The air turned odd. Mother Ning looked at the weird expressions of the three disciples. The first one to break the silence was Jin Shu.
"Meng Xue isn't master's concubine. She is only his personal immortal chef. Nothing else. May I ask why madam thought she was a concubine?"
"…I think it was the Queen that mentioned it. She seemed conf-"
Heavy panting noises interrupted their conversation. Father Ning had returned with the jar of jam and immediately resumed doting on his wife. The servants watched from far away and didn't dare make a peep. The Ning family plus the disciples ate and enjoyed their breakfast of crepes.
* * *
After breakfast, the disciples of Han De decided to take a stroll inside the palace reserved for Ning Bi. Their personal attendants followed them from a respectful distance.
"Ning Bi, what are you going to do about those mortal relatives of yours?"
"Elder sister Shu, what do you mean?"
Ning Bi was in the middle of Jin Shu and Yao Qing while they were walking. Yao Qing took Ning Bi's arm while answering the question in Jin Shu's stead.
"We are about to summon our tribulations; you need to set your house in order. They are mortals, not idiots. Royalty is the same whether they are cultivators or mortals. They will attempt to do something to regain some semblance of being in control."
Jin Shu took the other arm and continued where Yao Qing left off.
"That's right. Blood relation is just an excuse for the likes of them. They are already working on your parents. You've noticed it yourself already."
Ning Bi nodded.
"I did notice mom and dad are getting anxious every time they meet their relatives, but isn't that normal? My dad ran away with mom, and they didn't have any contact with their family before."
Jin Shu answered in a calm manner. She had experience with these matters.
"Yes, it is normal. Which is exactly why it isn't normal. Ning Bi, this is a celestial ship. Your palace on the top deck can make large sects envious, you have thousands of servants that are selected specifically for you to fulfill your every whim, and as if that wasn't enough, you are a cultivator. Meanwhile, your relatives witnessed the destruction of their world, they stay at the bottom decks purely out of your grace. They lost everything. Every time they visit here, they witness the difference in status."
Ning Bi's understanding look made Jin Shu smile.
"Your parents are mortals as well. They have no spiritual roots, they cannot cultivate. They also have difficulty holding on, but they stay silent because they fear it will make you worry. How could your parents not be aware of what is happening?"
Ning Bi clenched her fists. She didn't notice how Jin Shu's reminiscent expression turned into a bitter smile. That bitter smile turned cold as she continued.
"The queen talking about Meng Xue being master's concubine is their attempt to gain control. They do not have any power, so they approach your parents with false pretenses. This is them getting a feeling of the overall situation."
Yao Qing saw Jin Shu looking at her and understood that this was her cue.
"Sects and families pay great attention to a person's merit. Right now, we are in the honeymoon period. Not many people dig around for dirt after all that happened. Once the dust settles people will pay more attention to other matters.
Wars in higher realms never wage for too long at full power. Some of them never really end, but their destructive power would be greatly reduced.
We need to prepare for a variety of different scenarios and do our best for our master. Before entering seclusion, I already gave the order to leak some of the details master's exploits. Even the servants should be talking about his achievements right now.
The Long family is different from other families, sects, or empires. Only females can inherit the family name. Male offspring are used for political ties."
Both Jin Shu and Ning Bi were strangers to the workings of the ancient hidden families. Obviously, Yao Qing was different. She had spent tens of thousands of years as a loose cultivator. Knowing about the important families, sects, and empires was essential for her survival. She was clueless about the political structure of her homeworld, but now, she had the home-field advantage. There was a strange spark in Yao Qing's eyes as she continued talking.
"There should be a few marriage candidates for the master already. The Han family and the Starfall Mountain Sect survived because of the Long family. We cannot allow others to disrupt this process for their own gain."
Yao Qing didn't go into further detail to keep the discussions about their master at a minimum.
Truthfully, the disciples' actions didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. However, being familiar with the Whispering Realm's history, Yao Qing knew some of the important figures that could have an impact, especially on their master.
Among the fiancé candidates, there was one particular person that Yao Qing was hoping for, and that was the lost heir of the Li family. Yao Qing only found out about her while studying the past of the Shen family. Her disappearance was the beginning of a secret blood feud between the Li and the Shen families.
Li Ling was a once-in-a-million-year genius that was betrothed to some unidentified person. For reasons unknown, she had an intense dislike for her fiancé. According to the recorded rumors, she wanted her husband to be as talented as her, as beautiful as her, and as pure as her.
Of course, those were only rumors that were circulating tens of thousands of years ago from Yao Qing's past timeline. Still, the timing fit perfectly, and she was confident that her master could meet Li Ling's requirements.
Li Ling was talented enough to leave a mark in history, and her family was influential enough to prevent the Grand Path Library from taking action. Without a doubt, the Long family would try to marry off their master to Li Ling.
Unfortunately, Yao Qing didn't know too much about the Long family. In the previous timeline, they had already left the Whispering Realms by the time she joined the Grand Path Library. According to historical records, the Long family tended to keep to themselves aside from arranging marriages for their offspring. Yet they were powerful enough that none of the primordial families or sects dared to offend them.
Two families and the two offspring were similar enough to be called fated.
Of course, Yao Qing wasn't under any illusion that their actions as disciples could have any impact. The thoughts and plans of Ning Bi's mortal relatives were meaningless. What was important was their behavior as disciples.
Everything arranged by the Long family was a test. The attitude of their servants, the resources they've been given, the attention they've received. Would they try to defend their master? Would they use brute force to silence dissenters? Would they simply stay silent and cultivate?
The best response that both Yao Qing and Jin Shu agreed, was to leak information about their constitutions. If their value as disciples increased, so would their master's. Though Long Xiu's influence seemed high, no ancient family would have a shortage of greedy elders.
Jin Shu saw Yao Qing fall into deep thought and took over the conversation.
"Once, I thought blood relation was enough to ensure the safety of my parents. I didn't realize it was the opposite until it was too late.
The elders of the Long family are testing us for their own purpose, but that doesn't mean we can't benefit from their hubris.
Ning Bi, why do you think master ordered this many of your relatives to be brought over?"
Ning Bi knew about the circumstances of Jin Shu's family. Her expression turned grim.
"Thank you, elder sisters. I will absolutely handle this matter."
Yao Qing was finally relieved at Ning Bi's answer. Still, she hurriedly averted her gaze from Ning Bi's red eyes. After a few seconds, she cleared her throat. Originally, they were supposed to discuss their tribulations today.
There was no fear in Ning Bi's eyes when Yao Qing mentioned tribulation. She trusted her elder sisters and herself. Even then, there was a touch of reluctance in her gaze.
Talking about their master's disappearance, or his return had… unsettling effects on Ning Bi. Whenever they talked about their master, Yao Qing and Jin Shu would eventually have to steer the conversation away.
Yao Qing shook her head.
Yao Qing remembered her master's warning. It seemed long ago, but only 2 months have passed since then. Now, she had gained a better understanding of her circumstances. She was on a different path, and no longer had to worry about changing the future.
What she worried about was the alternate past. Did "Han De" really die in the previous timeline? It didn't make any sense for someone like him to die out of nowhere. In the past few weeks, Yao Qing thought about this often, but she couldn't come up with an explanation.
However, now wasn't the time to think about such things. She lightly shook her and changed the subject to their cultivations.
Normally, a Qi Condensation disciple of the 13th stage would possess a calm spiritual sea. They would then condense this sea into a mountain. That mountain becomes the Foundation. During Core Formation tribulation, that mountain would be refined into a Core. The quality of the Core is very important since it will be fully absorbed during the Immortal Realm tribulation. We have already diverged from the norm. All of our spiritual seas are variants. My spiritual sea is a maelstrom. Jin Shu's is a swamp, and yours is a yellow sun. When you condense your mountain, be sure of how stable it is. Let your instincts handle the rest. Our triple tribulation will be at least 27 times powerful than a normal tribulation. Our foundations will need that amount of energy to form without hidden problems. I will be handling the tribulation lightning, but we still need to keep up appearances.> The three disciples started talking about the tribulation and the formations they 'needed'. In the end, they decided to go through 5 days later. After she sent off her sisters, Ning Bi didn't go back to her room. She continued to roam around the gardens. Living on this celestial ship gave her confusing feelings. She was happy to see her family living well, but was furious with the Long family for not doing enough to bring her master back. The Long family's apparent lack of action was only from her perspective, and in some sense, she was also aware of this. But she couldn't help but feel vexed every day as she witnessed her own extravagant living conditions. Then, she remembered her sisters' warnings and her blood ran cold. The sooner she dealt with the problem, the better. Whether they were her relatives or not, she wasn't going to allow them to turn her parents into their pawns! Rather than letting the wound fester, it was better to cut it off completely! Ning Bi looked around and spotted some servants. "I want to see my relatives. Lead the way." The servant in the front answered with impeccable dignity. "We will bring them to you, which ones would you like to see first?" Ning Bi wasn't expecting this response from the servant, who was a year younger than herself. Long Xiu had told her that they were specifically selected to be closer to her age to prevent others from influencing her. This servant was a year younger, but her cultivation was at the mid-stage Foundation Establishment realm. "Servant Yu Daiyu apologizes to Lady Bi. A person living on the 1st deck should not visit the lower decks." The servant's attitude was impeccable. She was respectful and thoughtful. However, Ning Bi was also able to identify the pride hidden within those words. Using the phrase "Lady Bi" was the dead giveaway. While referring to herself the servant used her family name, but when she referred to Ning Bi, she used the first name only. This distinction was something she learned from her elder sister Jin Shu. What the servant really meant was, she was doing this for "Lady Bi's" own good, and "Lady Bi" should be happy about it, even though "Lady Bi" doesn't deserve this level of treatment. She was "Lady Bi" because the Ning family didn't amount to anything. This touched a sore spot that Ning Bi didn't even know she had. Something snapped inside her head. She lost control of her aura and the Cosmic Destruction Scripture started circulating on its own. * * * Old Peng ran to the 4041st deck as soon after he heard about the movement from disciple Ning Bi. The 4041st deck was reserved for the relatives of the anomalies. Merry and Pippin had outdone themselves and collected everyone related to the known anomalies before the destruction of the previous Han family homeworld. Since the order was technically from the young master of the Han family, the Long family elders 'reluctantly' agreed to reserve the last two decks specifically for this purpose. Since then Old Peng had carried out the task to keep track and observe any and all anomalies. Though the disciples weren't considered for the anomaly program, their status was obvious. They were still disciples though, so Han De's lackeys only recorded their abnormal movements, and did not disturb their normal lives. Before coming here Old Peng saw the unrecognizable body of one unlucky servant girl. The aftermath of that event was also recorded and sealed. Hence why, Old Peng was not surprised to see the bloodbath on the 4041st deck. After half an hour of investigation, Old Peng finally confirmed that all of the mortal royals were personally killed by disciple Ning Bi. Severed limbs and burnt bodies took some time to identify and catalog. During that time, he also received multiple voice transmissions about disciple Ning Bi's request to fake the relocation of her distant relatives. The request was for the benefit of her parents. Although the dead were all distant branch relatives, mortals like disciple Ning Bi's parents could still be affected by the truth. Instead, they were going to fake a goodbye by using illusions to give her family a sense of closure. Old Peng was touched. This girl really took care of her family in a decisive manner! She really could've transferred them to another world, but instead took action to solve the root cause once and for all! If he were to grade her performance, he could only take points away because she did not extinguish their souls. Mortals or not, they were the distant, very distant relatives of an anomaly still. Taking half-measures would only increase the future headaches according to their young master's teachings! Luckily for the royal family's souls, Old Peng and other lackeys were not allowed to interfere with affairs of the anomalies without proof of extenuating circumstances. Depending on their souls' original condition, they could still enter the cycle of reincarnation in peace. Old Peng's only regret was that she didn't ask for help earlier. The disciples seemed adamant about solving problems on their own. Surely, this was young master Han De's design, but Old Peng couldn't help but worry due to the interference of the Long family elders. Unless the disciples asked, they couldn't do anything!