It's been a little over three years since Wen Mingna's arrival. Her adjustments thus far were impeccable as she regulated her schedule and adapted to the unique environment of the Myriad Monarch Sect. Unlike most sects, the Myriad Monarch Sect's internal competitions weren't fierce and allowed those of lower rankings, like herself, to earn stable earnings and resources with hardwork and dedication.
In the Myriad Yore Continent, sects, clans, palaces, or countries adopted a much crueler and vicious environment that bred scheming and conflict. Countless cultivators would meet their untimely end at the hands of others, or even their allies, seeking wealth and resources.
While this was still commonplace outside of the Myriad Monarch Sect, especially its continental flat earths and two planets, Wuyu and Jinai, it wasn't as prevalent in the sect with its fierce rules and clear punishments. Therefore, she hankered down and diligently cultivated while simultaneously improving her Qi Control.
Keeping her relations and presence to a minimum, she truly skirted through the radar and set-up her own place. At the moment, she worked consistently as a secretary to a female human Mortal Captain Elder. The job was demanding, but the rewards were sufficient and easily covered the required earnings of her daily quota and cultivation needs. Furthermore, she slid easily beneath the protective wing of this elder.
Her moves were praise-worthy for someone without backing or family, etching out her own reputation as a reliable worker.
Wen Mingna was currently out acquiring a meal for the elder. She wore a white mask that covered her scar, adding an allure to her appearance, but she wasn't entirely unknown. Many knew from rumors and word-of-mouth, that she herself spread, that she was horrifically disfigured beneath her mask.
'It's been three years, and I can feel myself approaching the Seventh Stage of Qi Condensation. Just a little more.' She set herself a series of goals, training her qi control and cultivation base simultaneously to one day take the trial to become a Nascent Dust Disciple. After obtaining this status, her jobs will reward her with a raise in salary. This meant more resources and wealth in her pocket.
Null Disciples and Nascent Dust Disciples were often seen doing the same jobs, however, Nascent Dust Disciples received a stipend of resources and wealth automatically by the sect monthly, and the pay for each job was nearly three times bigger. This was the main driving force for Null Disciples to seek discipleship, official discipleship.
Moreover, they were considered disciples with the Power of Authority. This provided a form of protection and power to themselves, allowing them to order around Null Disciples freely and live an easier life.
After picking up the meal, she rode a hawk back to her boss's home. While cultivators at the Astral Core Realm could substitute sustenance with essence, these meals weren't normal. They were meals made with alchemical products, such as elixirs, paste, or crushed pills. With these meals their cultivation basis and physical bodies standard functions such as digestion, blood circulation, and essence intake can be enhanced. This could similarly promote skin and hair care, rejuvenate appearances, and energize the mind.
They were beneficial meals to the utmost limits. They were quite expensive as well, with each costing several hundred thousand essence stones. That was in the price range of a full sixth-grade product! Only Astral Core Realm experts or those of exceptional backings could afford such a thing.
If she wanted to, she would have to expend a full year's salary for a single meal; it was simply too much. However, one day, she promised that she'll be able to enjoy three-courses every day for the entire year! It was merely a small goal of hers, but one she carried in her heart to overtake the envy.
When she returned, entering the building that her boss operated out of, who regulated permissions to use the Void Gate, she noticed that there was a visitor in her closed-door office. She quietly sat outside, using the light heat from fire qi to slowly keep the food warm.
After several minutes, the door opened and a figure garbed in black martial robes slowly walked out of the office. Her eyes beneath the mask shifted and her pupils shrunk slightly. The person who arrived was a young man of unearthly quality. His silver eyes were resplendent like the stars in the night sky, drawing in one's attention fully, and his faint smile was suffused with exceptional confidence and a bit of alluring attractiveness.
She gulped slightly.
This figure and those eyes that seemed capable of piercing through all the secrets of the world was unmistakable. She had heard his name countless times, even mentioning it to those she was acquaintances with herself in idle conversation. That calm gait, that aura of boundless charisma, and his tall, imposing, and impressive figure.
He punctured a hole in the sky and was given permission to do so! With a single sentence, it was said he rooted out traitors in the sect and annihilated clans. With a mere declaration, factions fell and kneeled before him. She heard rumors mixed with facts that he had the Knights of Enforcement within his pocket, and he even had the backing of the Grand Imperial Sages behind him.
Wei Wuyin!
The last time she physically saw him, it was over three years ago. He had summoned nine elemental dragons to dominate the scene, taken the arm of an Astral Core Realm cultivator while telling him to scram out of his sights forever lest he take his head, and revealed his talent as a King Alchemist! Before, she was merely mildly impressed, but largely ignorant to the immense significance of these actions. At the time, she believed she would be able to reach such heights in time with the opportunity of joining a higher-tiered force.
As she became aware of the cultivation disparity, difficulties, power differences, and vast scope of the starfield, she swiftly and harshly realized how wrong she was. He was an unprecedented talent that established himself in under four years.
When he walked in front of her, her fire qi went somewhat out of control, and she unintentionally caused the food she held to burn into ash in that momentary lapse of focus. While it was made from exceptional materials, it was incredibly fragile. The smell of burnt meat, wood, and plastic instantly wafted out.
"Fuck!" She realized her mistake and tried to save what she could, but it was useless. As she watched the food burn, she also saw all her efforts to establish herself as a reliable person vanish into the thin air. This was a year's salary gone just like that!
"Woah, don't burn yourself naked." A voice resounded as a hand appeared at her arm and seemingly created a gentle watery force that dowsed the burning flames on her right sleeve that she had completely ignored in her moment of despair.
While the voice contained a series of chuckles, they held no malice or disdain to her ears. She lifted her gaze and saw Wei Wuyin's earnest eyes as he swept his gaze to make sure she wasn't burning any further.
'I wonder if he remembers me...' Perhaps this was the thought of meeting a former classmate turned famous, wealthy, and powerful, and it was the thought or desire to be remembered.
"Wen Mingna! You!" A elderly female voice quaked with a berating and a wisp of anger. This was especially so when she noticed the smell of burnt food and lingering ash. But she saw Wei Wuyin and hurriedly calmed her expression. She was a human woman that looked to be in her early forties, but her voice seemed to originate from a woman in her eighties. One could easily tell her efforts to retain her looks were ample and constant. Unfortunately, products of a certain grade can only help so much until it would cease being effective and required higher-grade products for maintenance.
"I-I'm sorry. This is my fault, Elder Li. Please, punish me as you see fit." Wen Mingna hurriedly admitted fault and was about to kowtow for forgiveness on the spot. She had long since prepared her heart to withstand any and all indignities to ensure a smooth path to a higher realm. This type of determination and decisiveness required a very praise-worthy level of courage.
However, as her body bent, a hand reached and grabbed her shoulder. It wasn't an actual hand, but one that contained an invisible spiritual force.
Wei Wuyin spoke up at this moment: "This was my fault, not hers. How about we forget this incident?" His words were casual yet it caused Elder Li to hurriedly change her expression and she immediately nodded, her eyes softening instantly.
Wei Wuyin smilingly said with a light nod, "Good. How about I pay for the damages with this." With those words, he flipped his palm and a bottle emerged. A liter of pink-colored lotion-like alchemical paste was within, and faint starry points were flickering within. Around the bottle was a faint blue ring that swirled like an illusion.
"Here's a liter of Youthful Star Ring Paste." He sent it over to Elder Li. She hurriedly accepted it with a flustered stance and her eyes were rippling as her heartbeat raced. This was a seventh-grade paste known for helping promote youthful looks, ridding one of wrinkles and adding a unique luster to one's skin.
She had commonly used low-tier, sixth-grade paste, but a single application of this paste would be ten thousand times better! She gripped the bottle and forgot entirely about the incident. In fact, she was thankful for Wen Mingna's actions, and she even hoped she would burn more!
Wen Mingna was startled. She wasn't an ignorant individual like before where she didn't recognize the importance of a seventh-grade product. Regardless of what it was, most seventh-grade products were worth a single astral essence stone, and that was equivalent to ten million essence stones!
"Then, I'll take my leave." Wei Wuyin gave Wen Mingna a smile before walking off. Elder Li gave an impassioned gesture and words of departure, her flattering look was completely unknown to the majority of her friends or family, but was completely displayed today.
Wen Mingna felt that, as she watched his back figure leave, a slight void was appearing in her heart. Unfortunately, she didn't have the qualifications to say anything to this man, and even since the beginning, she had merely cursed. Others might even think she turned mute.
Fortunately for her, those eyes that seemed to contain the world had seen something no one else did, and it stopped Wei Wuyin's footsteps as he turned back with eyes that contained a trace of sharpness.
"Oh?"
It was merely a sound, but it was the first sound that would ignite a future path that would soon cause all sorts of adventures, misfortunates, and collapses of entire worlds!
Wei Wuyin walked over, his tall figure and physical presence was suffocating in a good way. Her entire body stiffened slightly and she could feel her yin energies circulate a tad bit faster than before. She never truly realized how handsome Wei Wuyin was until today, when he stood no more than a few feet away from her.
"Wen Mingna, right?" Wei Wuyin asked.
She nodded absentmindedly. Her will was normally exceptionally strong, but it was like being before a demigod, and her heart could barely remain calm enough to hear and react. How do people do it?
From his eyes that radiated brilliance, soul-seeing light, and unfathomable depths of intelligence to his devilishly sculptured body that carried the seemingly perfect male ratio of muscles and flesh, or his bodily scent that was like the mythological seven-colored immortal flower fragrance that could help circulate her cultivation base, Wei Wuyin's entire presence was overwhelming to the senses.
Wei Wuyin nodded, "How about we talk and get something to eat, hm?"
Wen Mingna was startled. She unintentionally blurted out in confusion, "Huh?"
Wei Wuyin chuckled lightly and asked, "Are you hungry?"
