“Luckily, Ruoyu was ill and unfit to participate in Kongming Academy’s trial. The three of you must work together so that the Yun family will continue to prosper for generations to come.” The Yun matriarch glanced somberly at her three grandchildren, her eyes doting.

“Grandmother, don’t worry. We’ll honor the Yun name,” Yun Moxiao promised.

“Sister, you really must stay home for a few more days this time!” Yun Ruoyu nudged Yun Ruoyan. “I’m the only girl left in the Yun manor now, and there’s no one at all for me to talk to!”

“That’s right, Second Miss,” Qin Jianmei added, smiling. “Ruoyu was originally quite lively, but now that she’s been living with me, reciting Buddhist mantras at dawn, spending time with her grandmother in the afternoon, and remaining in her own rooms at night, I’m worried that she’s smothering herself.”

“Ruoyu has indeed been visiting me a lot lately.” The Yun matriarch beamed at her youngest granddaughter, having gotten much closer to her. “I’m simply afraid that I might be boring her too much.”

“I don’t feel bored, Grandmother!” Yun Ruoyu replied. “I enjoy spending time with both Grandmother and Mother, but now that Sister Ruoyan’s home, I’ll be visiting her quite a bit as well!”

Yun Ruoyu seemed to have become a different person entirely: not only had her personality changed, so had her taste in clothing. In the past, she had always dressed in bright reds and pinks, but she had now switched to far plainer greens and browns.

And Qin Jianmei, who had always secluded herself in her cottage, now seemed more amiable and friendly.

“I might not be able to stay for a long time during this visit, but I’ll be home in the mornings these two days. Sister Ruoyu, if you’re bored, please feel free to come find me.”

The skies grew dark as they chatted. Because the Yun matriarch could only eat soft foods and was concerned that her grandchildren wouldn’t be able to stomach her usual fare, she didn’t bid them stay for dinner. Instead, they left her residence and each returned to their own cottage.

Yun Ruoyan walked together with Yun Moxiao. As they passed by Madam An’s cottage, she could hear a woman’s laughter, wavering sharply between high-pitched and low-pitched, which somehow turned into shrill shouts and cries.

As she cried, she began to wail in lament, her voice melancholy and desolate.

Yun Ruoyan frowned and looked toward Yun Moxiao, who told her, “It’s Madam An. Right after Yun Ruoyao’s death, she grew deathly ill. Father sent for quite a number of physicians, none of which were able to help. In the end, it was Madam Qin who slowly nursed her back to health, but her mental faculty has been in decline ever since. Now, it looks as though she’s gone completely mad.”

Yun Ruoyan nodded. Yun Ruoyao and Madam An’s downfall was neither something that left her happy or overly concerned; she hadn’t been and wasn’t willing to expend any more effort on them than was necessary.

She returned to her own cottage, where her maids were overjoyed to have her back. Xi Lan and Peony prepared a feast for Yun Ruoyan, each dish something that she liked. Her brother accompanied her for dinner at her cottage before leaving.

After dinner, Yun Ruoyan took a bath before proceeding through her daily cultivation routine. That night, she prepared to concoct poison. She took out her cauldron and successfully concocted a fifth-grade cultivation-dissociating pill, one which Qiuqiu had promised would be able to completely destroy the cultivation of an eighth-rank or lower blademaster.

“It’s that strong?” Yun Ruoyan clutched the dark gold surface of the pill.

“This is nothing! All the poison pills you’re able to make at the moment are only able to deal with cultivators of the same or lower rank than you. Against someone as strong as Li Mo, your poison would be all but useless!” Qiuqiu warned.

“Qiuqiu, I remember you telling me that I’d be able to study from that tome of poison that you have once my cultivation’s high enough…”

“I did mention it,” Qiuqiu replied, “but I believe my exact requirement was for you to become a ninth-rank blademaster first, Mistress. As of the moment, it seems like you’re merely an eighth-rank blademaster.”

“Alright,” Yun Ruoyan deflated, seeing that Qiuqiu wasn’t about to give in.

“Someone’s coming,” Qiuqiu suddenly called out. Yun Ruoyan could also feel an aura drawing near her back window, one that she found familiar but not overly so.

“Miss Yun, long time no see.” The man who entered her room through her back window was draped in a black robe exactly like Li Mo’s—the third prince Li Qianhan, whom she hadn’t seen for quite a while.

“I regret that I’m unable to welcome you properly so late at night, Third Prince.” Yun Ruoyan smiled mischievously.

Yun Ruoyan and Li Qianhan had known each other even before Li Mo; for a very long period of time, Li Qianhan had been their courier, and his sudden appearance today undoubtedly had something to do with Li Mo.

“Is something wrong with Li Mo again?”

“Yes. He had to leave the capital for a few days, but he’ll be back as soon as possible.” Li Qianhan sat languidly at her table, glancing at the tea and snacks still on it.

Now that it was winter, however, the cold tea was unsuitable for drinking. Luckily, there was still a platter of snacks set on her table, and Li Qianhan began snacking on a small piece.

“What’s so urgent?” Yun Ruoyan hugged her knees, a slight frown marring her face.

“Uncle’s gone to prepare a betrothal gift,” Li Qianhan replied, between bites.

“A betrothal gift? For what?”

“What else? To marry you, of course!” Li Qianhan glanced askance at Yun Ruoyan. “He understands your father, Yun Lan, very well. In order for him to agree to this marriage, one which could very well make him lose face, Uncle has to offer him a gift he can’t refuse—some high-rank beast cores, for example, or even high- or sage-grade spiritual pills and herbs. These aren’t so easy to procure, even for a man like Uncle.”

Li Qianhan swallowed another bite of a pastry, then wiped his hands against each other and stood up. “Uncle told me to tell you to stay here and wait for him to come for you.”

Li Qianhan left after delivering his message, leaving Yun Ruoyan curled up in bed. She blinked for a few moments, then slowly began to smile.

A thousand miles away from the Yun manor, in the beastkin valley deep within the Yueli Mountains, an ancient castle stood stark against the winter night. Beneath the castle was a secret vault, and within the vault was a jade-white statue of a woman.

“Your son greets you, Mother.” Li Mo bowed toward the stature.

“Rise,” came a pleasant but cold voice. “Mo’er, are you here for something important?”

“Mother, Yun Ruoyan is now an eighth-rank blademaster, and I plan on taking her as wife next spring. I came here to inform you of the matter.”

“That girl still isn’t of age, is she?”

“She will attain her majority next spring.”

“An eighth-rank blademaster before the age of fifteen… an uncommon sight on the Chenyuan continent, surely.”

“In one of Kongming Academy’s training grounds, a forest of giant trees, we obtained a heavenly spirit fruit. She managed to break through after consuming the fruit,” Li Mo explained.

“Even so, that she managed to reach such a realm with a single heavenly spirit fruit is remarkable. Taking her as your wife will be no issue, Li Mo, especially since her constitution will help advance your cultivation. I shall, of course, aid your efforts. Su Nan, bring over the fruit of cloud and sky.”

Su Nan bowed and walked into an antechamber, quickly returning with a box lined in gold and jade. Empress Xue Tong nodded almost imperceptibly, allowing Li Mo to open the box. The moment he did so, the room became bathed in multicolored light.

The fruit of cloud and sky was a potent spiritual treasure even above the heavenly spirit fruit itself, able to help a peak ninth-rank blademaster break into the realm of a sword saint. However, it also had a significant drawback: one who consumed such a fruit would always remain the lowest rank of sword saint, never to improve once more.

Despite this drawback, the fruit was a treasure beyond compare. Even Li Mo hadn’t expected Empress Xue Tong to bring out such a valuable gift.

“I have some understanding of this Yun Lan. He might appear to be honorable, respectable, even old-fashioned, but he’s shrewd and wily deep inside. As long as you can pay the price, he’s certainly willing to break a rule or two,” Empress Xue Tong continued mildly.

Lin Mo knew that Yun Lan was an early ninth-rank blademaster, one hardly likely to reach the realm of a sword saint on his own might alone. However, with this fruit of cloud and sky, this realm would no longer be a dream. All cultivators sought to advance their cultivation, and Yun Lan was no exception.

“I thank you for your generosity, Mother.” Li Mo bowed deeply.

“Mo’er, we share a common goal: to raise your cultivation as high as possible, then to slaughter the silver dragon clan in revenge for your father. All that we’ve done, we’ve done for this goal. I will give all that I have to this end, and I expect the same of you, my son.”

“Yes, Mother. I will spare no effort to slaughter the silver dragon clan.” Li Mo’s eyes were steely with resolve.

“You may leave.”

Li Mo followed Su Nan out. After they left, a person walked out from another side chamber—Li Mo’s master, the first elder of Kongming Academy.

“You claim that Mo’er doesn’t know that Yun Ruoyan’s a descendant of the demonic dragon clan?”

The first elder mulled it over for a moment. “I think he only suspects that Yun Ruoyan might be connected to the demonic dragon clan. After all, he’s not as familiar with them as we are, and it’s not an easy fact to ascertain.”

Long before Yun Ruoyan had been possessed by the demonic ring, the first elder had already begun suspecting her identity. During this period of time, he had focused his efforts on investigating her background—that she had once been poisoned, that despite her status as a wife-born heir, she wasn’t particularly liked by her father.

These findings only deepened the first elder’s suspicions of her identity. When he sent someone to investigate her mother’s tomb, he finally confirmed his hypothesis. Yun Ruoyan wasn’t Yun Lan’s child; her birth father was someone else, and her mother, Lin Yuemei, was likely still alive...