From a certain point of view, it was the disciples posted in the mortal world that led more enviable lives compared to their brothers and sisters back at the Sect.

  Here, there were no seniors or teachers to regiment their days. They weren’t bound by the severe rigours of the monastic life. So long as they timely fulfilled their duties and didn’t act in a way that would bring shame onto the Nine Peaks, they were free to do as they wished.

  Most idled their days away in comfortable luxury. Since they were - nominally, at least - the Sect’s representatives in the secular world, it was necessary that they looked the part. From the most basic needs to the most lavish wants, everything was provided for them.

  Still, even as they languished in beautiful mansions, they never mistook the true reason for the treatment they enjoyed.

  It was indifference.

  Back at the Sect, the elders were almost fanatical in making sure that the dao of the disciples conformed with that of the hallowed ancestors. Mind and spirit were cultivated almost as rigorously as qi. But this care and attention didn’t extend to the failures who had abandoned the Path.

  Although they retained the right to wear the white robes of outer disciples, their relationship with the Sect was effectively severed. Their names were stripped off the active roster and they would never gaze upon the holy Nine Peaks again.

  In exchange, they got to indulge in all the mortal pleasures denied to them back at the Sect.

  Some thought it was the best trade they’d made in their lives.

  And others recoiled.

  Rather than succumb to the fleeting pleasures of mortal life, they chose the harsh reality of the mine.

  They cloistered themselves in its dark caves, enduring ravages of foreign qi, driven by a desperate hope that through this tempering they might glimpse a way back onto the Immortal Path.

  Sister Xiao Ling belonged to that second group. And even within that minority, her determination made her stand alone.

  The cave she had chosen for her home was so barren, it made the Sect’s cultivation chambers seem cozy in comparison. It lacked even a meditation mat. She, herself, was the only object that occupied it. Her toiletries and spare clothes were stashed with a mortal family in the town above.

  Every day, once her duties were complete, she retired to her cave. In its perfect darkness, she sat on the ground, bitterly meditating, reciting mantras, searching for epiphanies. She paused only when her next shift began, and resumed as soon as it was finished.

  It was in this manner that the first three months of her life in the mine had passed. The only measurable effect of her efforts could be found on the walls of her cave - a faint layer of water appeared on the rock, the result of her aura seeping into the environment. The injury that forced her out of the Sect showed no signs of improvement.

  Sometimes, when the stubborn fire that burned within her dimmed a little, Xiao Ling would open her eyes. She would stop reciting mantras and instead listen to the sounds of the mine. The whisper of her breath. Her eyes would trace the colourful streaks of minerals snaking within the dark rock that entombed her from from all sides.

  It was in those quiet moments that she would allow her mind to wander - and face the realisation that if nothing changed, this was how the rest of her life would pass.

  But something did change.

  “Broken remembrance, sudden fate, river, nine petals…”

  The light was blinding, but Xiao Ling didn’t avert her gaze. Even as tears streamed down from her reddened eyes, she stared straight on, unwilling to look away for even a moment.

  In front of her, about a foot above the ground, hovered a small crystal. It was no larger than a grain of rice, but the light it produced was so spectacular, it seemed like a piece of the sun. Minerals embedded within the walls of her cave shone like iridescent pearls under its white light.

  If Jin Sou was present here, he would’ve immediately recognised it. It was one of the two crystals he had unearthed on that fateful day when Lil’ Lu was executed.

  Strange symbols flickered across the crystal’s surface. They were turbulent and ever-changing. Sometimes they flowed like river currents, other times they writhed like the nest of snakes.

  Xiao Ling diligently transcribed each and every one. A bamboo pen in her hand glided across a piece of silk, covering its white surface in a dense forest of tiny characters.

  The complex signs were broken down into their basic elements and further arranged in a complex web of associations. Some nodes formed so many connections that they were barely visible from within the tangle of the links they sprouted, while others existed in isolation - solitary dots on a madman’s map.

  The piece of silk Xiao had prepared was two feet long, but already the small characters filled it so completely, that there was barely any empty space left. Only rare areas of white were visible from beneath a sea of black ink.

  When a tremble of her hand caused the last sign she was transcribing to come out smudged, Xiao Ling took a deep breath and paused.

  It took her a moment to stabilise herself. It wasn’t easy to disengage yourself from a trance that seemed to lay bare all of dao’s mysteries. Her fingers twitched awkwardly as if unwilling to abandon the work.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Slowly, her breathing changed, and when she opened her eyes again, the strange shine that inhabited them dulled a little bit.

  She waved her hand and remade the seals that concealed the crystal’s aura.

  The brilliant light was immediately extinguished. The crystal continued to hover in place, but it looked perfectly ordinary otherwise.

  Xiao Ling relaxed her hand and put down the bamboo pen she was gripping all this time. She looked over the notes she made in this session.

  “This time I’ve managed to hold out for about twelve minutes and transcribed seven runes. At this rate, I should be able to finish transcribing the whole thing in… about sixteen months?”

  The long timeframe didn’t dampen her mood. Conversely, she found her gaze returning to the crystal again. There was a deep affection in her eyes.

  In fact, she still didn’t even know what the actual nature of this treasure was. She only knew roughly its grade, Upper Sky!, and that she could never sell it.

  For one, she did not have the means. As an outer disciple, she never came into contact with organisations that traded goods of this caliber. She wasn’t sure if they even existed. Sects had waged wars over less. It was hard to imagine such treasures changing owners without bloodshed.

  And even if, asking a better connected Senior for help was out of question as well. There wasn’t a fool alive who wouldn’t immediately guess the origin of such a treasure in her hands. It would only be the question of whether her contact thought it more worthwhile to report her or to kill her and snatch the crystal for themselves.

  No, the treasure could never be sold. But Xiao Ling did not despair. After studying the crystal, she wouldn’t separate with it, even if it cost her life.

  It made no difference that she did not understand its nature. There was no end to the creativity of Heavens, and there wasn’t a Sage who claimed to know every treasure that appeared in the world. She just needed to slowly study it.

  She rose from the ground and started cleaning after herself. Her usually empty cave had become uncharacteristically cluttered in the recent weeks. Besides the crystal and her notes, there was also a separate sealing formation set up within the room. It had cost her most of the reward she had received from Elder Xi, but it was a necessary expense.

  Without it, she would have never dared to unseal the crystal to study it. Not with Elder Xi staying in the same mine. And even with the formation in place, for the first few days she only let out short pulses, quickly undoing and redoing the seals, just to make absolutely sure that not a sliver of the aura escaped.

  Thankfully the formation held steady.

  She couldn’t imagine what would happen if she was discovered.

  A cramp set in her thigh and she circulated her qi to help loosen it. The spiritual energies responded well, better than before. Although her Immortal Sigil still bore deep fissures, teetering on the edge of fracturing, the qi in her meridians showed signs of improvement for the first time since the accident.

  The change was minor, small enough it would normally take a master healer to even notice it, but to Xiao Ling it felt almost like having her body rise back from the grave.

  She finished the cleanup by stashing the evidence in a secret compartment she had carved out in the floor. It would not do much if someone actually searched her cave, but if things got to this point, Xiao Ling thought, there would be no hope for her regardless.

  If she truly came under suspicion, there wouldn’t even be a need to conduct a search. All it would take would be Elder Xi mobilising a sliver of his qi when questioning her, and she would be compelled to answer truthfully.

  Still, they were disciples not slaves, and an Elder would not use his cultivation base to force out an answer - not without a sufficient reason, at least - and she’d made sure that everything appeared proper.

  To this point, she had even left a witness alive. It was already suspicious of her to remove one of them. If in response to a great boon that was finding a treasure, she executed all the miners involved, it would be no different from directly inviting the Elder to ask about it.

  “Thankfully, at least one of the workers showed a bit of sense.”

  Her brow knitted slightly as the image of the young miner surfaced in her mind. It should have been a faded memory, she barely took notice of him compared to the treasure, but there was something in his expression that made the face imprint itself on her mind.

  “Now should be the right time to tie up the loose ends. A cave-in or a fiend attack should do the job.”

  She didn’t view the danger as all that great at this point. If something was going to happen, it would’ve happened by now.

  Back then, although the elder didn’t question her, she couldn’t completely discount the possibility of someone being sent down to investigate.

  Unlikely though it was, if it did happen, she’d be done for, regardless if the miner was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. A mortal could not resist a cultivator even if he staked his life on it.

  In those initial days after taking the treasure she was unable to even meditate, so great was her dread. She went through the motions of her duties, perpetually on edge, and retreated to her cave, bracing for the inevitable confrontation.

  Yet, no one came for her.

  When whole week passed, she knew she was in the clear.

  Still, it would be a good idea to check in on what was happening in the mine. At the very least, she needed to take the mine’s pulse and ensure that losing another miner would not cause too much of a slowdown.

  “I’ve been putting it off for too long already. I need to come out and socialise, for appearances sake, if nothing else.”

  The prospect of leaving her cave didn’t fill her with joy. For one, it distracted her from studying the treasure, but it wasn’t even the main point.

  Even back at the Sect you had to be careful about the company you kept. Their relations and connections were important, of course, but not actually paramount.

  What truly mattered was their disposition.

  You could also call it their mindset or even spirit. It was all too easy to get pulled into orbit of some treasured niece, son, or daughter, but if they spent their time on frivolities, so would you.

  It didn’t seem like a big thing. No one in the Sect actually fell into debauchery, the elders would never allow it, but even a small concession could have great consequences when it came to igniting your Immortal Sigil.

  She’d witnessed it herself. A clique of “companions” would coalesce around a single individual, flaunting their camaraderie for all to see. But when it came to crossing the Gate, only the leader would pass.

  Her dao would be powerful and firm, strengthened through the influence she had exerted on others.

  And her companions would either perish or barely scrape through, igniting Sigils that were so weak and frail, they had no hope of ever making progress in the Path.

  It didn’t even need to be so extreme. According to Xiao Ling, there were just two rules.

  A good person to befriend was someone who challenged you without dominating, someone who pushed you to improve.

  And a person to avoid was someone who had given up on the Path. Cowards who ran away from their own dao. Cultivators with eyes like dead fish, burrowing in mortal dirt, pining for the dullard’s tranquility.

  If she wanted to learn the recent goings-ons of the mine, it was that second group that was best informed. Luckily, birds of a feather flock together, and she knew just where to find them.

  “It’s time I paid a visit to the Golden Goose.”