Chapter 36 : That Seemed to Be My Maid

Chapter 36: That Seemed to Be My Maid

The moment True Person Zhiying spoke those words, it was like a massive boulder crashing into a deep pool.

What it stirred up was not mere ripples—it was a towering, sky-high wave!

It was not only the disciples around the plaza who had stretched their necks to watch the spectacle.

Even Sect Master Zhuge and the various elders, who had been striving to maintain dignified composure the entire time, completely lost their restraint at this moment! Everyone’s gaze, as if pulled by invisible threads, once again snapped uniformly onto the short-haired girl who had claimed to be a maid.

This time, the looks of doubt and curiosity had been replaced by something far deeper—probing scrutiny and utter disbelief.

Why such shock?

Throughout the entire Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect, or rather, throughout the entire Cultivation World, who did not know of True Person Zhiying’s fearsome reputation?

From the moment she reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, she had roamed freely across all directions, slaying enemies across realms as casually as eating or drinking.

Her greatest reliance lay precisely in that mysterious, unfathomable art that made cultivators across the world both envy and fear—

Time-based cultivation techniques!

What was even more terrifying was that this peerless genius had, by her own strength alone, fused the most elusive force of time into her sword path, forging it into a sword technique that stood alone under heaven!

What kind of concept was this?

Time-based techniques were universally acknowledged as the pinnacle of the Cultivation World—and also its most despair-inducing existence.

They could not be mastered through diligence or bitter training, but only through that vague and intangible thing called “comprehension”!

Among the great sects, there were always rumors that some place had produced a person who could vaguely sense the flow of time—yet alas, without spiritual roots, they ultimately remained mere mortals.

Yes, those capable of perceiving time were already rarer than phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

Yet the probability of such people possessing spiritual roots was no higher than that of ordinary folk.

It did not increase simply because of that perception.

Someone like True Person Zhiying—who possessed both the talent to comprehend time and heaven-defying aptitude in the sword path—had odds so low that they were enough to drive any sect into despair!

And yet, Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect had inexplicably stumbled upon this overwhelming stroke of dog-shit luck, obtaining Zhiying, this once-in-hundreds-of-millions priceless treasure.

That was why, no matter how eccentric she was in daily life, no matter how much she flouted the rules, the sect—from top to bottom—was willing to turn a blind eye and indulge her temperament.

There was no other reason.

This treasure was simply too rare, too important!

And now, this treasure among treasures was actually claiming that she had found a successor?

A disciple who could likewise perceive time, who could even comprehend her unfathomable heart method and sword intent in a single go? And moreover… this child even possessed spiritual roots?!

What? Just Five Spiritual Roots?

Oh! And what did that matter!

Before the earth-shaking fact of “being able to inherit True Person Zhiying’s true legacy,” spiritual root aptitude was simply not worth mentioning! Did the sect lack those meager resources? Spend them! Spend them ruthlessly! Spiritual pills, heavenly treasures—supply them without restraint!

Even if she were truly a rotten log, there would be no shortage of people in the sect willing to pour cultivation into her through transmission and empowerment!

At the very least, they could pile her up to the Late Foundation Establishment Stage!

In an instant, the atmosphere before the grand hall changed completely.

The fatigue, helplessness, and astonishment on Sect Master Zhuge’s face and those of the elders vanished without a trace.

One by one, their eyes lit up, and the most benevolent, kind smiles piled unconsciously onto their faces—smiles wrapped around excitement and wild joy that nearly overflowed!

To a sect, geniuses were precious, yes—but what they feared even more was the loss of top-tier, unique techniques!

The three personally transmitted disciples that True Person Zhiying had previously taken in were each one-in-ten-thousand geniuses, yet not a single one had been able to truly inherit her core time-based sword intent.

And now, this hope that the sect’s upper echelons had awaited for a hundred years—some even to the point of despair—had appeared in such an utterly unexpected way, on the body of a small Five-Spiritual-Roots maid!

This was no longer mere surprise.

This was nothing short of auspicious fortune descending from the heavens!

……

Watching the great figures on the high platform grow so excited they were nearly losing their composure, Long Tao and Dong Jiayuan, these low-tier disciples, instead felt somewhat bewildered, unable to empathize at all.

And that was hardly their fault.

Any techniques or divine abilities at the Golden Core Stage or above were like stars in the sky to them—so distant that even dreaming about them felt extravagant.

Things like “time-based sword intent” or “exclusive supreme arts” sounded impressive enough, but exactly how impressive they were, or how difficult they were to inherit, they had no concept whatsoever.

Naturally, they could not feel the shock or the difference.

“Old Dong, looks like we were both completely wrong,” Long Tao smacked his lips, feeling somewhat deflated.

“She really is just a maid, relying on some special talent that has nothing to do with spiritual roots. Definitely not the Second Young Lady of the Zhu Family.”

“Yeah,” Dong Jiayuan also sighed, his brows knotting together.

“Now the range is huge. Qinglin Town is so big—there are plenty of maids and servant girls. Any household suddenly producing a Five-Spiritual-Roots one wouldn’t be strange. The key is, what kind of connection could the two of us possibly have with someone else’s maid? Trying to climb that relationship… the difficulty isn’t ordinary at all.”

Dong Jiayuan came from a genuinely poor family.

Aside from his parents, he only had an elder brother and an elder sister—no life of being waited on by maids whatsoever.

Long Tao’s family was somewhat wealthier, but in Qinglin Town they were merely a branch family.

Aside from his parents and a younger sister, the household barely maintained appearances with a single little maid and an old steward.

The probability of something this heavenly falling into his own home was so low that it had never even crossed his mind.

Just as the entire venue was aflame with excitement and the upper echelons were surrounding the girl with warm concern, that “fortunate one,” who had kept her head lowered all this time, finally turned around timidly under the benevolent gazes of the sect master and elders.

Although there was some distance, cultivators’ eyesight far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Almost simultaneously, Long Tao and Dong Jiayuan clearly saw that delicate yet incomparably familiar face!

The two of them froze on the spot as if struck by a fixation technique, eyes bulging wide.

“Lo… Long Tao…” Dong Jiayuan’s voice seemed to be squeezed out of his throat, trembling with disbelief.

“Th-th-that… am I seeing things? Is that… is that your family’s Xiao Ying?”

“Old Dong…” Long Tao’s voice was no better—dry and hoarse.

“I also think my eyes might be playing tricks on me… but it really seems… it’s fucking Xiao Ying!”

Their voices were pressed extremely low, drowned out by the surrounding clamor and drawing no attention.

Yet the two of them simultaneously rubbed their eyes hard, afraid that over-cultivation had caused hallucinations.

Xiao Ying!

The little maid from Long Tao’s household.

More precisely, Long Tao’s personal little maid.

She was a small refugee he had picked up in the wilderness when he was young—starved until she was nothing but skin and bones, yet her eyes were frighteningly bright.

Because after being brought back she always followed silently behind him like a little shadow, she eventually received the name “Xiao Ying.”

If not for the sect’s strict decree forbidding menial disciples from bringing servants, this little girl would probably have stayed by his side for all five of those years.

In fact… one of Long Tao’s ulterior motives for desperately striving to advance to the Outer Sect and urgently wanting a private courtyard was to scheme whether he could someday find a way to bring her over and keep her hidden away…

But now…

The girl had indeed come.

Only in a way he could never have imagined, appearing under the focused spotlight of the very core of Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect’s power, in a posture that made his scalp go numb!

“F-first, don’t scare yourself,” Long Tao tried hard to stay calm, though his voice betrayed him.

“Maybe she just looks similar? The world is vast—nothing is impossible…”

“Enough, Long Tao. Stop deceiving yourself,” Dong Jiayuan cut him off, his tone far more certain.

“In the entire Qinglin Town, where else are you going to find a maid as pretty as Xiao Ying? Nine times out of ten it’s her! Besides… didn’t we go back together two years ago? It hasn’t even been that long—how could we possibly be mistaken!”

The “two years ago” Dong Jiayuan referred to was when several of them, hometown natives of Qinglin Town, had painstakingly scraped together money to rent a battered cloud vessel, picked a day when everyone could rotate rest, and returned home together to visit family.

Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect was not the kind of cold-blooded place where entering the immortal path meant severing all mortal ties.

As long as one completed the required sect tasks, disciples were allowed to return home to visit relatives.

It was just that for menial disciples, long and flexible vacations were an extravagant luxury.

In five years since entering the sect, Long Tao had only gone back that single time.

And on that return to their hometown, the two of them had naturally seen Xiao Ying.