Chapter 4756 — A Thousand Reluctances

An hour later, dusk had fallen outside, and Huo Yudie finally came back humming a little tune, pushing the door open cheerfully—only to look up and find Liu Ziqi sitting upright in the room.

"Master, were you waiting for me?" Huo Yudie froze for a moment, then skipped over on light feet and clung to Liu Ziqi's arm, her voice turning wheedling: "Die'er hasn't come back for days—you won't blame her, will you, Master?"

"You little minx, your heart's all set on playing now. Off enjoying yourself, and you toss your master right out of your head." Liu Ziqi tapped her fondly on the forehead and asked with a smile, "Well? How are you getting along with Feifei and the others?"

"Wonderfully! We're like sisters now—Feifei, Jingjing, and Lan'er, every one of them a kind and lovely girl, so much better than the ones at our academy." Huo Yudie wrinkled her nose as she said it.

"Heh, the girls at our academy weren't born loving to scheme and undercut one another either—the environment forced them into it. People, you see, sometimes have no choice but to bow their heads. You have to learn to let things take their course. You have to learn to accept your lot." Liu Ziqi guided her with a meaningful look.

"Hm? Master, doesn't everyone say the ultimate purpose of cultivation is to defy heaven and change one's fate? So why should we accept our lot?" Huo Yudie blinked and asked.

"Defy heaven and change your fate?" Liu Ziqi shook his head with a bitter smile and sighed with feeling. "Heh. Just empty words. Where in this world is there any true defiance of heaven and fate? All things under heaven have a destiny that is hard to resist, and we cultivators—though we break past the natural limits of our lifespan—are merely lingering on, gasping between submitting to fate and defying it. If anyone truly could defy heaven, the heavens would have collapsed long ago. On what grounds would we still be alive?"

"Oh." Huo Yudie nodded, half understanding. She did not have Liu Ziqi's experience or breadth of vision; at best she could grasp the literal meaning of his words, but their true import was not something she could comprehend yet.

"That reminds me—I haven't asked you. You must have seen Wei Zhao these past few days, haven't you?" Liu Ziqi turned the conversation.

At those words Huo Yudie's face flushed scarlet at once, and she gave a faint, timid sound of assent. For all her shyness, her face was radiant with happiness. These past days she had found no chance to be alone with Wei Zhao, but simply being near him, with close friends like Ning Xuefei at her side, she still felt from the bottom of her heart a joy she had never known before.

Seeing his disciple's helplessly smitten expression, Liu Ziqi felt a pang of headache. He thought it over and said, "Since you've seen him, then the matter between you two ought to be settled once and for all—call it a weight off your mind. In a couple of days, after we return to the Eastern Continent, you and he will have no further dealings."

"What?!" Huo Yudie had still been steeped in bliss; now it was as if a basin of ice water had been poured over her head. She stared blankly at her master, at a loss for how to react.

"Die'er, don't think your master is heartless. You and Wei Zhao are fated to meet but not to be together; forcing it will bring no good end. Take your master's word for it—let him go." Liu Ziqi sighed, then went on: "Ren Zhongyuan came today, and he saw the Lei Xuan Vine on the table. So he came up with a proposal—he means to ask his father to step in and refine Lei Xuan Pills for us. He guarantees four can be refined, two of which go to us."

"He's that generous? There's no other condition?" Huo Yudie's brows knit at once. She might not know the finer points of the trade, but she knew that this little bit of Lei Xuan Vine being traded for two Lei Xuan Pills was like picking them up for free—and she did not believe such good fortune existed under heaven.

"There is indeed one condition. He wants to become your cultivation partner, Die'er." Liu Ziqi's tone was calm.

"What?!" Huo Yudie was struck dumb, staring at Liu Ziqi in utter disbelief. It was a long while before she asked, her voice trembling, "Master, did you... did you agree to him?"

"No." Liu Ziqi shook his head and sighed. "This is your lifelong matter, Die'er. Your master won't be so unfeeling as to decide it with a single word. But I hope you will agree."

Huo Yudie let out a breath of relief, then stared at her master, dazed. "Why?"

"Die'er, I said it just now—Wei Zhao may be fine, but there is destined to be no outcome between you and him. Rather than suffer deeply for it later, better to let go now while you can." Liu Ziqi paused, then drew Huo Yudie to him with affection. "Breaking through to the Xuan Ascension is no small matter—it is a crucial watershed on our path of cultivation. Only after Xuan Ascension does a bright future truly begin. But if you meet with a setback at this juncture, then you may never succeed at the breakthrough in this lifetime. You'll be stuck at Nascent Soul Great Perfection forever, unable to advance a single step—and you may even slip backward without end."

"Your disciple knows all this, but..." Huo Yudie bit her lip, at a loss for words for a moment. To her mind, breaking through to Xuan Ascension was indeed important, but if it meant she could not be with the one she loved, then never mind Xuan Ascension—even if she could ascend to immortality on the spot, she would not be happy.

"Don't be so quick to refuse. Think it over carefully—Ren Zhongyuan is a fine match, isn't he? And his terms are generous. Not only does he promise us two Lei Xuan Pills, but the remaining two he'll split evenly with you. That means three of the four come to us. If we took this bit of Lei Xuan Vine to any other seventh-rank alchemist, four Lei Xuan Pills would be far from certain—let alone three handed straight to us." Liu Ziqi urged her with earnest patience.

Huo Yudie fell silent. Of course she knew Liu Ziqi meant well and that everything he did was for her sake—otherwise, why would he lower himself to haggle with the likes of Ren Zhongyuan?

And yet she had never liked Ren Zhongyuan—not before, and even less now. Even without Wei Zhao, she would not be willing to become the cultivation partner of such a man, much less now that her heart already belonged to another.

A thousand reluctances filled her heart, but Huo Yudie could not turn a blind eye to her master's painstaking care. In this world where a master's command outweighed heaven itself, the fact that Liu Ziqi had not made the decision for her and pledged her to Ren Zhongyuan outright, but instead counseled her to her face with such patient earnestness, was in itself the height of indulgence.

"Die'er, this matter bears directly on your future—on your whole life. Consider it well, and give me a definite answer before the day after tomorrow." With that, Liu Ziqi patted Huo Yudie gently on the shoulder and went out. (Yunhai Shuku wishes everyone a happy weekend!) (To be continued.)