"Qingyi, time to take your medicine."
"Master, I can do it myself."
"Look at the state you're in. How are you going to drink it yourself? Quick, open your mouth."
"Thank you, Master..."
In the courtyard at the summit of Lingqian Peak, Jiang Qingyi lay in bed, her mouth slightly parted as Xiao Mo carefully fed her the herbal medicine, bit by bit.
Although Jiang Qingyi had won first place in the new blood competition, her injuries were severe.
If she hadn't comprehended the "Nine-leaf Sword" technique from the Grass Character Sword Intent at the last critical moment, she might have been completely wiped out.
"You... from now on, you absolutely must not overexert yourself," Xiao Mo sighed.
Jiang Qingyi didn't answer, merely sticking her tongue out playfully.
After she finished the medicine, Xiao Mo placed the bowl on a wooden tray and handed Jiang Qingyi a Storage Pouch.
"Master, what's this?" Jiang Qingyi asked curiously.
"These are the Spirit Stones you earned from winning the new blood competition, including the ones I won from betting on you, and the reward from the Longquan Sword Sect. It's all in there."
"Master, I don't need these. You should just take them." Jiang Qingyi tried to return the Storage Pouch to Xiao Mo.
"How could you not need them?" Xiao Mo said with a smile. "In the future, you still need to reach Foundation Establishment. After that, there are Realms like the Cave Mansion Realm, the Dragon Gate Realm, and so on. You'll need Spirit Stones for all of them."
"But Master needs them too."
"Me..." Xiao Mo reached out and gently patted Jiang Qingyi's head. "My Realm... has likely reached its limit."
"How is that possible? Master, you're barely twenty years old! You have so much time ahead of you. I've heard many Elders say you're the youngest Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator to date, and you're guaranteed to reach the Immortal Realm in the future," Jiang Qingyi said excitedly.
Xiao Mo just smiled and didn't reply.
In truth, Xiao Mo knew his own limits.
If he hadn't used the Heaven-Continuing Technique to help Jiang Qingyi reconstruct her Root Bone and clear her Spirit Veins...
...then Xiao Mo felt that with the help of his Sword Bone, this body of his could have at least reached the Immortal Realm.
But a year had passed. Although the Sword Bone in his body was fine, his foundation had already been damaged.
And he didn't have many years left to live.
Xiao Mo said, "I told you to keep it, so keep it. If I need them, I'll ask you for them."
"Alright... Then this disciple will watch over this little purse for Master. If you need anything, you must come to me. Everything I have belongs to Master."
"Deal."
Xiao Mo smiled.
...
「Two months passed.」 Jiang Qingyi's injuries were mostly healed, and Xiao Mo continued to help her shape her Root Bone.
Because Jiang Qingyi was missing a Sword Bone, Xiao Mo had essentially been forced to construct a false bone for her.
This bone was formed from Xiao Mo's Spiritual Power, so it required his constant maintenance.
Once Jiang Qingyi reached the Golden Core Realm, that false bone would be stabilized.
「Another half a year went by.」
Jiang Qingyi had already reached Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer Perfection and was ready to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Xiao Mo personally stood guard for her.
After taking the Foundation Establishment Pill, Jiang Qingyi initiated her Realm Breakthrough.
In an instant, thunder rolled across the heavens, and bolts of lightning struck down towards Jiang Qingyi.
When an ordinary person undergoes the Foundation Establishment Tribulation, there are only three lightning bolts.
But for Jiang Qingyi, there were a full nine bolts.
If Xiao Mo hadn't been thoroughly prepared, using all sorts of treasures and Elixirs for Crossing the Tribulation, Jiang Qingyi would have likely met a grim fate.
After entering the Foundation Establishment Realm, Jiang Qingyi's cultivation speed became even faster than before.
This was a good thing.
The faster Jiang Qingyi cultivated, the higher her Realm would be in fifty years.
But this also meant Xiao Mo had to use the Heaven-Continuing Technique on Jiang Qingyi more frequently.
'If this keeps up,' Xiao Mo thought, 'I might only have forty years of my lifespan left.'
One day, the Longquan Sword Sect assigned Jiang Qingyi a mission.
Disciples of the Longquan Sword Sect at the Foundation Establishment Realm were all required to go out on missions.
Jiang Qingyi was no exception.
As her Guardian, Xiao Mo secretly followed Jiang Qingyi.
However, Xiao Mo would not intervene unless it was a matter of life and death. This wasn't just a rule of the Longquan Sword Sect.
It was also because a Cultivator could only improve faster after experiencing life-and-death situations.
But Jiang Qingyi never gave Xiao Mo a reason to act.
She completed every mission perfectly.
Her strength was immense, and she even displayed a certain talent for leadership.
Before long, Jiang Qingyi had become the representative of the new generation of disciples in the Longquan Sword Sect.
Her fame even began to spread throughout the world.
In the year she turned seventeen, Jiang Qingyi stepped into the Cave Mansion Realm.
Jiang Qingyi was advancing a Realm every year and a half, leaving the Cultivators of her generation further and further behind.
On the day the young woman turned eighteen, Xiao Mo found an excuse to send Jiang Qingyi to Longquan Town to buy wine.
While Jiang Qingyi was away, Xiao Mo hurriedly set up decorations in the courtyard.
After everything was ready, Xiao Mo waited for Qingyi to return on the only path up the mountain.
More than an hour later, Jiang Qingyi came up the mountain carrying the wine her master wanted. She saw him standing under the moonlight, smiling in her direction.
A flicker of joy crossed Jiang Qingyi's eyes. She ran over happily, lifting the wine jug. "Master, here's the wine you wanted! It's Aunt Wang's twenty-year-old osmanthus wine. This was the last jug."
"Mm, thanks." Xiao Mo took the wine jug, then pulled out a black cloth with his other hand and offered it to Jiang Qingyi.
"Master, what's this for?" Jiang Qingyi asked, curious.
"Blindfold yourself."
Jiang Qingyi blinked, then took the black cloth and tied it over her eyes.
'I don't know what Master is planning, but whatever he says, goes.'
"No peeking."
Xiao Mo took Jiang Qingyi's small hand and led her forward.
"Okay, you can take off the blindfold now," Xiao Mo said once they were inside the courtyard.
The young woman untied the black cloth covering her eyes.
What greeted her eyes was a very, very large osmanthus cake.
A single, thin candle was stuck in the osmanthus cake. On it were written the words "Happy Birthday, Qingyi."
"Master... this is..." Jiang Qingyi's eyes wavered.
"It's a custom from my hometown. We eat cake on our birthdays. For the past few years, on your birthday, either I was away on a mission, or you were.
This year, it just so happens we're both here, and it's your eighteenth birthday, no less.
I was supposed to use a real cake, but the cooks in Longquan Town don't know how to make one, so I used an osmanthus cake as a substitute," Xiao Mo explained to Jiang Qingyi.
"Make a wish, then blow out the candle, and your wish will come true."
"Mhm."
Jiang Qingyi closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, making a wish.
After three breaths, the young woman opened her eyes and blew out the candle.
"Does Master want to know what Qingyi's wish was?" Jiang Qingyi turned around, her eyes curving into crescents.
"Let me guess. You wished to reach the Golden Core Realm as soon as possible?"
"Nope."
"Was it to eat the grilled fish from the Drunken Immortal Tower every day?"
"That's not it either."
"Then what was it?"
"It was..." Just as Jiang Qingyi was about to say it, she turned around playfully. "I'm not telling you, Master~"
Xiao Mo: "..."
Under the moonlight, Jiang Qingyi gazed at her birthday cake, her eyes filled with gentleness. "Master..."
"Hm?"
"Thank you."
Xiao Mo reached out and gently patted his disciple's head.
"Well, I am your master, after all."