Chapter 124: The Reversal of Cultivation

Nine Swords Peak.

"Master, you have returned..."

Qu Youyou, who had just entered the grand hall, was beaming with joy. However, the moment she saw Chi Yushu standing to the side and the icy expression on Su Xichen’s face, a sense of trepidation instantly welled up within her.

Su Xichen’s gaze was as cold as frost. "I am already aware of your actions. Do you know where you went wrong?"

Qu Youyou dropped to her knees, biting her lower lip stubbornly. "Master, your disciple knows she was wrong!"

Su Xichen tapped his jade-like fingertips lightly against the sandalwood armrest and said indifferently, "Your eyes are filled with resentment. You have no idea what you actually did wrong."

Chi Yushu pulled back his robes and knelt down as well, looking up. "Master, it is a failure of my supervision that allowed Junior Sister to commit such an error. If you must punish her, I am willing to bear the punishment alongside her."

Qu Youyou’s eyes suddenly welled up with tears, and she whispered, "Senior Brother..."

"Punishment? I have no need to punish you," Su Xichen said coldly.

Chi Yushu and Qu Youyou were slightly stunned, staring at him in confusion.

Under their gaze, Su Xichen rose slowly. "I confined you to the Cliff of Seclusion back then to make you understand how foolish your plans were. If destroying a single spiritual field were enough to ruin a cultivator’s path, then she would hardly be worthy of being your opponent."

Having said this, he turned away from them, transforming into a streak of purple light as he departed.

Chi Yushu stood up without a word, turning to gaze in the direction where Su Xichen had vanished, his expression complex.

Qu Youyou was dazed. "An opponent?"

"She is not my opponent!" she suddenly stood up, shouting toward the empty throne in the grand hall.

However, the vacant seat offered no reply.

Chi Yushu’s expression remained calm and unruffled as he stated, "I remember that you and Junior Sister Yiqiu have been at odds since childhood; you have been fighting for over ten years now. But I have heard that Junior Sister Yiqiu, who was cast into the desperate circumstances of Lesser Flat Peak, has already reached the Foundation Establishment stage."

"What did you say, Senior Brother? Qu Yiqiu reached Foundation Establishment? By what right?" Qu Youyou’s voice rose, her eyes widening in fury.

Chi Yushu’s calm expression did not flicker; he merely shifted his gaze toward Lesser Flat Peak, curious. "With low-grade, five-element spiritual roots, to reach Foundation Establishment before the age of nineteen... what kind of fortuitous encounter could she have found outside in these past three years?"

Qu Youyou wore a look of utter disbelief.

Upon returning from the Feiling Secret Realm, she had rushed into seclusion to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage. She believed that with the talent of a single Water spiritual root, reaching this stage at her age was truly spectacular. Who would have thought that Qu Yiqiu, whom she regarded as nothing more than a lowly servant, would also have succeeded!

"I don't believe it. How could someone with such pathetic aptitude succeed in Foundation Establishment!!" Qu Youyou shook her head violently, as if trying to convince herself.

Chi Yushu watched Qu Youyou’s near-manic state and frowned slightly. "Junior Sister, you always place too much importance on natural talent. Diligence can make up for lack of aptitude, and with a bit of luck and fortune, even someone with low-grade five-element spiritual roots might find a path to ascend to the Immortal Realm."

Qu Youyou bit her lip until it bled, covering her ears with her hands and hanging her head low.

A faint, almost imperceptible sigh came from nearby.

Qu Youyou tasted the blood in her mouth, remaining silent with her head bowed.

"Junior Sister, I believe Master’s intention was to make you realize that your petty tricks cannot escape anyone's eyes. Furthermore, no matter how many such useless things you do, you cannot block her path to immortality. Rather than wasting time on her, you should focus on your own cultivation. Perhaps by the time you form your Golden Core, you will no longer cross paths."

Chi Yushu’s gaze was deep and complex as he stared toward Lesser Flat Peak. *Will Qu Yiqiu truly stop at Foundation Establishment and fail to form a Golden Core?* he wondered. He seemed to be developing a different perspective on this younger junior sister.

Qu Youyou’s lowered eyes flickered.

She slowly lifted her head and lowered her hands, only to turn and find that Chi Yushu was already gone.

...

As Qu Yiqiu continued to refine her cultivation technique, a sudden realization struck her.

She finally understood why she had suddenly gained the cultivation level of an early-stage Divine Transformation realm, yet found it impossible to control at will.

This cultivation and spiritual power were not truly hers.

It was spiritual power transferred from someone else.

One could even say it had been forcibly snatched.

She surmised that the design of every level in the Red Tower was intended to prepare for the three stone platforms on the third level. Once someone learned the three fragmented techniques, the three red jade platforms would be activated, triggering a hidden array that would transfer the "sacrificial" power into the body of the cultivator practicing the technique.

But clearly, this secretly laid array was a failed product.

She had not perfectly acquired this power; instead, because of the crushing force of that immense energy, her meridians would frequently swell and ache, as if they were about to explode within her.

After delving deeper into the Ancient Yellow Star Transfer Immortality Method, Qu Yiqiu couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.

According to the circumstances at the time, if a practitioner of this method could not withstand the infusion of external power, they would immediately explode and die.

Fortunately, she had barely managed to survive it.

However, the situation was not optimistic. As time passed, the pain in her meridians began to occur more frequently.

"No wonder Little Yan said I had survived a 'mini' lightning tribulation back then. It seems Su Xichen was breaking through to the Divine Transformation realm at that very moment!"

Everything made sense now.

Qu Yiqiu’s eyes sparkled.

If the "sacrifice" was Su Xichen, then his ready agreement to help her find a cure made perfect sense.

"Very well, so it was all for his own benefit. Indeed, Peak Master Su never acts without profit!"

Qu Yiqiu grumbled to herself.

She had actually thought Su Xichen was a decent person for agreeing to her request so readily. It appeared now that everything he did was merely to retrieve his own lost cultivation, and it had nothing to do with her.

"That old fox, Su Xichen, kept his silence about his lost cultivation while we were in the Red Tower. What is he plotting?"

Qu Yiqiu narrowed her eyes, realizing immediately that Su Xichen must have used some artifact to conceal his cultivation and deceive her divine sense at the time.

Now that he had lost his Divine Transformation power, how much of his actual cultivation remained?

She suddenly found herself very curious.

Qu Yiqiu flashed a cunning smile, a mischievous idea budding in her mind.

...

"Peak Master Su, why were you gone for so long? Did something happen on the way?" Luo Tangyu looked at him with concern.

Su Xichen remained expressionless, saying coldly, "I am fine. It is just that the Sect Leader of the Supreme God Sect had long been controlled by Wu Dingshan. They set this trap specifically to lure me there."

"The Sect Leader of the Supreme God Sect is at the late Nascent Soul stage. What method did Wu Dingshan use to control him... could it be poison?" Luo Tangyu gasped as the thought crossed his mind.

Su Xichen nodded slightly, his gaze sharp. "Wu Dingshan’s insidious nature is impossible to guard against."