"Qingyi, time for your medicine."
"Master, I can do it myself."
"Look at the state you're in. How are you going to drink it yourself? Open up."
"Thank you, Master..."
In the courtyard at the top of Lingqian Peak, Jiang Qingyi lay in bed and parted her lips; Xiao Mo fed the herbal medicine into her mouth a little at a time.
Jiang Qingyi had taken first place in the New Blood Tournament, but her injuries were no small matter.
If she hadn't grasped the "Nine-Leaf Sword" move of the Cursive Sword Formula at that final, critical moment, there was a very real chance she would have been wiped out entirely.
"You," Xiao Mo sighed. "Don't ever go trying to be a hero like that again."
Jiang Qingyi didn't answer; she just stuck out her tongue impishly.
When the medicine was done, Xiao Mo set the bowl on the wooden tray and handed Jiang Qingyi a storage pouch.
"Master, what's this?" Jiang Qingyi asked curiously.
"This is the spirit stones you earned by winning first place in the New Blood Tournament. The ones I staked are in there too, along with the Dragon Spring Sword Sect's reward. It's all in there."
"Master, I don't need any of this. You keep it." Jiang Qingyi handed the storage pouch back to Xiao Mo.
"How can you not need it?" Xiao Mo said with a smile. "You've still got Foundation Establishment ahead of you, and after that there's the Cave Mansion realm, the Dragon Gate realm, and more. Every one of them takes spirit stones."
"But you need them too, Master."
"Me...?" Xiao Mo reached out and patted Jiang Qingyi lightly on the head. "Your master's cultivation has reached its end, I'm afraid."
"How could that be? Master, you're only twenty! There's still plenty of time ahead of you. I've heard many of the elders say you're the youngest Nascent Soul cultivator to date—that you'll at least attain the Immortal realm one day." Jiang Qingyi said excitedly.
Xiao Mo only smiled and gave no answer.
In truth, Xiao Mo knew his own capacity.
If he had never used the Sustaining Heaven Formula to reshape Jiang Qingyi's root bones and clear her spirit meridians...
...then, Xiao Mo felt, this body of his, backed by the sword bone, could at least have attained the Immortal realm.
But a year had passed. The sword bone in Xiao Mo's body was fine, yet his foundation had already been damaged.
And he didn't have many years left to live.
Xiao Mo said, "When I tell you to keep it, keep it. If your master needs any, I'll come ask you for it."
"All right... Then your disciple will keep your little purse safe for you. If you ever need anything, Master, you have to come to me—everything I have belongs to you."
"Good."
Xiao Mo smiled.
Two months passed, and Jiang Qingyi's injuries had mostly healed. Xiao Mo kept helping her reshape her root bones.
Because Jiang Qingyi was missing a sword bone, Xiao Mo had essentially forced a false bone into shape for her.
That bone was formed from Xiao Mo's spiritual power, so it needed regular upkeep from him.
Once Jiang Qingyi reached the Golden Core realm, the false bone would be set firm.
Another half year passed.
Jiang Qingyi had already perfected the ninth layer of Qi Refining and could now attempt Foundation Establishment.
Xiao Mo personally stood guard over her breakthrough.
After taking the Foundation Establishment Pill, Jiang Qingyi broke through.
In an instant, thunder rolled across the heavens, and bolt after bolt of lightning came crashing down at Jiang Qingyi.
An ordinary cultivator facing the Foundation Establishment tribulation drew only three bolts.
Jiang Qingyi drew nine.
If Xiao Mo hadn't prepared thoroughly and used every kind of treasure and pill for tribulation crossing, Jiang Qingyi would have been in deadly peril.
After entering the Foundation Establishment realm, Jiang Qingyi cultivated faster than ever before.
That was a good thing.
The faster Jiang Qingyi cultivated, the higher her realm would be fifty years from now.
But Xiao Mo also used the Sustaining Heaven Formula on Jiang Qingyi more often.
At this rate, Xiao Mo reckoned he might have only forty years of life left.
One day, the Dragon Spring Sword Sect assigned Jiang Qingyi a mission.
Foundation Establishment disciples of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect were all required to take missions beyond the sect.
Jiang Qingyi was no exception.
As her Dao protector, Xiao Mo followed her in secret.
Still, unless it came down to life or death, he could not step in—and it wasn't just the sect's rule.
It was that only a cultivator who had faced life and death could advance faster.
Nor did Jiang Qingyi ever give Xiao Mo a chance to step in.
She completed every mission exceptionally well.
She was strong, and she even showed a real talent for leadership.
Before anyone noticed, Jiang Qingyi had become the face of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect's new generation of disciples.
Her name was even beginning to spread across the world.
In the year she turned seventeen, Jiang Qingyi stepped into the Cave Mansion realm.
One realm every year and a half—Jiang Qingyi was leaving the cultivators of her generation further and further behind.
On the day the girl turned eighteen, Xiao Mo found an excuse and sent Jiang Qingyi into Dragon Spring Town to buy wine.
While Jiang Qingyi was gone, Xiao Mo hurriedly set things up in the courtyard.
When it was ready, he waited on the only path up the mountain for Qingyi to come back.
More than an hour later, Jiang Qingyi came up the mountain carrying the wine her master had asked for, and saw him standing in the moonlight, smiling in her direction.
Joy flashed in Jiang Qingyi's eyes. She ran over happily and lifted the jar. "Master, the wine you wanted—Auntie Wang's twenty-year osmanthus brew. There was just one jar left."
"Mm, thanks." Xiao Mo took the wine jar, and with his other hand held out a piece of black cloth to Jiang Qingyi.
"Master, what's this for?" Jiang Qingyi asked curiously.
"Cover your eyes."
Jiang Qingyi blinked, then took the black cloth and tied it over her eyes.
She had no idea what her master was up to, but whatever her master said was law.
"No peeking."
Xiao Mo took Jiang Qingyi's small hand and led her forward.
"All right, take the cloth off."
Once they had walked into the courtyard, Xiao Mo said.
The girl untied the black cloth over her eyes.
What met her eyes was an enormous osmanthus cake.
A slender candle stood in the cake, and on it were written the words "Happy Birthday, Qingyi."
"Master... this is..." Jiang Qingyi's eyes wavered.
"It's a custom from my hometown—you eat cake on your birthday. These past few years, whenever your birthday came around, either I was off on a mission or you were.
"This year we both happened to be here, and it's your eighteenth birthday besides.
I meant to use a real cake, but the cooks in Dragon Spring Town don't know how to make one, so your master used an osmanthus cake instead."
Xiao Mo explained to Jiang Qingyi.
"Make a wish, then blow out the candle, and it'll come true."
"Mm-hmm."
Jiang Qingyi closed her eyes, pressed her palms together, and made her wish.
Three breaths later, the girl opened her eyes and blew out the candle.
"Does Master want to know what Qingyi wished for?" Jiang Qingyi turned around, her eyes curving into crescents.
"Let me guess—you wish you'd reach the Golden Core realm as fast as possible?"
"No."
"Then you want to eat Drunken Immortal Restaurant's roast fish every day?"
"Not that either."
"Then what is it?"
"It's... I'm not telling Master~"
Jiang Qingyi turned away playfully, gazing tenderly at her own birthday cake.
It was that one day when Master would be more than just Qingyi's master...