Path of the Sect Leader

Chapter 20: Water Within the Stone of Life

He Yu stared at the jade slip in his palm, then at Qi Xiu, eyes asking permission.

Qi Xiu’s thoughts raced. A second-rank manual at the very least, and clearly tailored. The gift was far too heavy for a passing acquaintance. Yet Kan Lin’s demeanor carried no malice he could sense.

He gave a small nod.

He Yu’s forehead touched the floor in a full kowtow of gratitude. When he raised the slip, five silver characters gleamed across the cover:Scripture of Caverns, Mountains, and Mysterious Waters

His hands shook. The name alone sang to his veins.

Kan Lin accepted the bow with a gentle smile, then turned to the room at large.

“Since I’m already imposing, shall we speak of the Dao a while longer?”

No one needed asking twice.

For the second time in half a month, a Foundation Establishment cultivator poured pure insight into ten Qi Refinement ears. Questions flew; answers arrived patient and luminous. Night fell unnoticed.

When Kan Lin finally rose, Qi Xiu once again offered the inner chamber. This time the visitor added quietly, “A private word afterward, Sect Leader Qi?”

Qi Xiu agreed.

Dawn found another talisman on the table and the cyan figure already gone.

Qi Xiu sat alone in the lamplight, turning the new healing talisman between his fingers, heart tasting both sweet and bitter.

Last night Kan Lin had spoken of three matters.

First: he possessed the rare gift of “Recognizing Life-Bound Treasures.”

Every sect prized such people. Qi Xiu himself had been misjudged as a child—ordinary technique saw a single spiritual root and mistook his life-bound treasure for a common monkey. Only decades later did a true master identify the truth: Scarlet-Bottomed Horse Monkey, one of the rarest and most difficult to cultivate life-bound treasures in all the realms. By then the damage was done.

Kan Lin offered his services. Should Chuqin ever need accurate identification again, send word. Payment could be discussed when the time came.

Second: He Yu’s life-bound treasure had also been misread.

The sect had seen Blue Stone and Stream Water—respectable dual water-earth roots.

Kan Lin saw the deeper truth: Water Within Stone—a single yet dual-natured treasure formed from the fusion and mutation of both elements.

Slower than a true single spiritual root, yes—but the talents it could awaken were broader, deeper, and fiercer in battle. Paired with the Scripture of Caverns, Mountains, and Mysterious Waters and He Yu’s instinctively chosen Spirit Water Jade Pendant, the fit was heaven-ordained.

No wonder the boy had crossed the third-layer bottleneck despite practicing the wrong method for ten years.

Kan Lin’s fondness had turned to genuine intent. He wished to take He Yu as direct disciple—but he was too upright to poach openly. Instead he extracted a promise: if Chuqin Sect ever truly collapsed, Qi Xiu must not stand in the way. Until then, not a whisper of the offer was to reach He Yu’s ears. The boy’s character still needed testing.

Qi Xiu had swallowed the bitterness and agreed. A sect leader who chained a heaven-sent talent out of selfishness deserved extinction.

Third: Kan Lin mapped the local powers for him—east, west, north, south—like handing a blind man a torch.

West: Southern Chu Gate, already known.

East: Beast Taming Sect’s enclave under Zhao Liangde, a Foundation Establishment cultivator greedy for small advantages.

North: the tiny overlap with Qi Yun Sect proper, governed by an upright senior named Wang Wan whose lifespan was running out and who loved playing matchmaker for the next generation.

South: the Death Swamp and, beyond, White Mountain’s mixed bag of rogue cultivators.

Armed with real names and real personalities, Qi Xiu silently rewrote his plans.

Dealing through Chu Youmin now looked like handing meat to a wolf. Better to approach the kind-hearted Wang Wan, ask him to mediate the red array-disk trade with Flowing Blossom Sect. Cleaner, safer.

Morning assembly.

Qi Xiu announced He Yu’s true life-bound treasure (keeping the apprenticeship offer sealed behind his teeth).

Zhang Shishi laughed loudest. “Three out of ten southern refugees with freakish life treasures—maybe the miasma mutates them!”

He and Qi Xiu shared a wry glance and burst out laughing together, the sound echoing off bare stone walls like it belonged to a real sect.

He Yu practically glowed. With correct method and matching accessory, Foundation Establishment had gone from distant dream to smooth road—provided they ever got spirit qi to walk it.

“Leader, let’s start again tomorrow!” he pleaded. “One day’s rest is enough!”

Zhang Shishi frowned toward little Qin Weiyu, pale and listless beside Gu Ji. “The youngest pushed too hard last time. Two more days at least.”

He Yu’s brows knotted. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again—clearly dying to argue.

Qi Xiu’s headache bloomed. Sweep the boy’s excitement under the rug and risk dimming the light in those eyes forever; override Zhang Shishi and undermine his new enforcement elder on day one.

Then inspiration struck.

“The tantric array runs straight through the mountain, yes? Top to bottom.”

He tapped the prayer mat hiding the hole. “We’ve been drilling down. Why not drill up?”

Four pairs of eyes widened.

“The pool at the bottom is where the qi actually comes from,” Qi Xiu continued, voice rising with real excitement for the first time in weeks. “Clear the channel from below and we solve two problems at once: spirit qi and drinking water. Plus we’ll know exactly how large a ward we need to buy next.”

He Yu’s face lit like sunrise.

Zhang Shishi exhaled, half-relieved, half-impressed. “Why didn’t we think of that sooner?”

Because, Qi Xiu thought, we were all so tired we could barely think at all.

But he only grinned.

“Pack light. Tomorrow we descend into the black mist and open the mountain from the roots.”

For the first time since the shuttle doors closed behind them, every disciple in the hall looked eager for dawn.