The next morning, first thing.
Xiao Mo headed for the Dragon Spring Sword Sect's Library Pavilion to see whether there was any way to improve Jiang Qingyi's condition.
At this rate, never mind what realm Jiang Qingyi's cultivation might reach fifty years from now—
it might not be long before she lost heart and gave up on cultivation altogether.
And in the Library Pavilion, he actually did find a book.
It was called the Sustaining Heaven Formula.
It dealt with how a person whose foundation had been destroyed could break it down and build it anew.
Jiang Qingyi's sword bone had been extracted, which counted as one kind of ruined foundation.
But the Sustaining Heaven Formula came at a price.
For the vast majority of people, that price was far too steep.
Xiao Mo, however, could not have cared less.
He was only here to experience a life for fifty years, after all.
The higher Jiang Qingyi's cultivation realm rose, the richer the rewards he would receive.
He traded his contribution points for the book, then followed its prescription to the Medicine Hall to collect a batch of herbs, and only then returned to the peak.
In front of the courtyard, the fourteen-year-old girl was still practicing the sword art her master had taught her.
"Qingyi," Xiao Mo called.
"Master!"
Hearing her master's voice, Jiang Qingyi stopped, ran up in front of Xiao Mo, and looked up at him with shining eyes.
Xiao Mo patted her head. "Qingyi, your master found a book in the Library Pavilion today. In a bit I'll brew you a dose of medicine according to its method, and then help clear out your meridians. It'll be good for your cultivation."
"Really? Thank you, Master!" Jiang Qingyi said happily.
Xiao Mo smiled. "Go practice for now. I'll call you in a bit."
"Yes, Master." Jiang Qingyi went on practicing with her wooden sword.
Once he had the dose brewed, Xiao Mo called her over and had her drink it.
The moment Jiang Qingyi took her first sip, the girl's brows knitted tight, she nearly gagged and threw it back up, and her hand clutched hard at her collar.
"Is it that bitter?"
Xiao Mo dipped a chopstick in and put it to his tongue.
It really was bitter.
Extremely bitter.
Just that tiny taste left his tongue numb.
"I'll go buy you some candy," Xiao Mo said, standing up.
"No need, Master. I can get it down." Jiang Qingyi took the bowl from her master's hands and gulped it down mouthful after mouthful.
Even when she nearly threw it up several times, she forced herself to hold it in and swallowed it down for dear life.
"Master... Qingyi finished it..."
Jiang Qingyi wiped her mouth and gave him a radiant smile. Not a drop was left in the bowl.
Looking at that smile, Xiao Mo felt a pang in his heart.
She was only fourteen, but she was truly tough.
Maybe... she's afraid that if her cultivation keeps stalling, I'll throw her out of the sect and she'll be back to a life where she can't be sure of tomorrow.
Little does she know, if I hadn't transplanted her sword bone, she'd be the Holy Maiden of some sect by now, a woman sword immortal famed throughout the world, someone millions look up to.
Xiao Mo patted her head. "Qingyi, sit cross-legged. I'll clear your spirit meridians for you."
"Yes, Master."
Jiang Qingyi nodded and sat down obediently in front of Xiao Mo.
Xiao Mo silently recited the incantation and channeled his spiritual power into Jiang Qingyi's body.
"Mm... ngh..."
Jiang Qingyi straightened her back and felt warmth spread through her whole body.
Her master's spiritual power was surging wildly this way and that inside her, as though something in her were about to be forced open.
Beads of hot sweat broke out on Jiang Qingyi's forehead.
Xiao Mo's face was ashen; his vital essence was draining away without pause.
This was the price of using the Sustaining Heaven Formula to let Jiang Qingyi break down and rebuild—Xiao Mo's lifespan.
"Whoo..."
An hour later, Xiao Mo withdrew his power, his back already soaked through with sweat.
"Master... I..."
Jiang Qingyi slowly opened her eyes. She could distinctly feel the spiritual power circulating inside her, and her body seemed much lighter than before.
"Congratulations. You've entered the first layer of Qi Refining," Xiao Mo said with a smile.
"Thank you, Master!" Jiang Qingyi was overjoyed.
But the smile on the girl's face quickly vanished, replaced by worry. "Master, you look awful..."
"It's nothing." Xiao Mo shook his head. "I'm just a little tired. Come on, let's go outside, and you can run through that sword art I taught you again."
"Yes, Master."
Xiao Mo walked out of the hut. The girl picked up her wooden sword and practiced the Cursive Sword Formula her master had taught her.
She had only just entered the first layer of Qi Refining, yet every move and every stance of hers had begun to carry a keen, sharp sword intent.
And the moment she gripped the long sword, the apricot eyes beneath those sword brows turned clear and resolute.
The truth was, she really did have talent.
She thrust out the last strike of the first form of the Cursive Sword Formula.
A drifting leaf was split clean in two, and a tree not far off had a small hole punched through it, bark spraying.
"Very good." Xiao Mo stepped forward and patted her head lightly. "You really didn't disappoint me."
Jiang Qingyi hugged her wooden sword and gazed up at Xiao Mo from below. "It's only because of Master that Qingyi can cultivate at all. Qingyi will never let Master's hard work go to waste."
Xiao Mo was about to encourage her a little more when, high in the night sky, streaks of shooting stars went sliding past.
Jiang Qingyi followed her master's gaze up to the sky, and the dazzling meteors lit up the girl's eyes. "Master, what is that? It's so pretty..."
"Those are shooting stars." Xiao Mo rested his hand on her head. "Qingyi, make a wish."
"Make a wish?" Jiang Qingyi tilted her head, puzzled.
"Mm." Xiao Mo watched the meteors. "Where I come from, there's a saying: if you make a wish on a shooting star, the wish comes true."
"Really? Then Qingyi wants to make a wish." The girl hastily pressed her palms together and silently made her wish.
A few minutes later, the girl slowly opened her eyes and looked at her master beside her. "Master, did you make a wish too?"
"I did."
"What did Master wish for?"
"What did Qingyi wish for?" Xiao Mo asked back.
"Qingyi wished that Master's wish will come true."
Xiao Mo was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "The wish I made was that fifty years from now, Qingyi will become a very, very great sword immortal."
"Eh?" Jiang Qingyi blinked blankly.
"Master..."
Jiang Qingyi's fingers closed lightly on the hem of Xiao Mo's robe.
"Qingyi will work very hard! I'll definitely become a very, very great sword immortal!"
The Myriad Sword Sect.
A woman stood in a courtyard, her head raised toward the vast, endless field of stars.
The woman had sword brows, star-bright eyes, and a tall, slender figure.
Yet more striking to the world than her world-toppling beauty was her station: sect master of the Myriad Sword Sect, the foremost sword immortal in the world.
"Sect Master, it's late," a maid said, coming to the woman's side.
"Ah, Xiayue."
Watching streak after streak of meteors cut across the sky, the woman slowly spoke.
"I've heard that if you make a wish on a shooting star, the wish comes true. Do you believe that?"