CHAPTER 31: FINALLY BACK

Yu Tian thought to himself that it made sense. Unlike Xueling who valued their relationship, the others didn’t care about anything. He would probably just receive some gifts, but he wouldn’t be able to keep them with his weak cultivation.

"So... how are you going to take out the sect master?" he asked.

She was surprised by his straightforward question. "Aren’t you curious why I’m after my father?" she asked.

"Maybe, but I don’t think the reason matters," Yu Tian said. "You must have your reasons. When you feel like telling me, you can. If you don’t feel like it, you don’t have to."

Yu Tian thought to himself that the chances of taking out the sect master were zero at the moment, and knowing the reason wouldn’t change this.

"So, what’s the plan? At the moment, you can’t even come close to beating him," he said.

She remained silent.

"Could it be that you really don’t have a plan?" he asked.

"I just thought I could defeat him if I was stronger. But I’m still far from being able to reach his level. And even if I got stronger, he might already have advanced even more," she said.

Yu Tian thought to himself that that made sense. "What’s the level of the sect master?" he asked.

"He’s stronger than the Grand Elder but not enough to enter the Golden Core realm, so probably peak Core Formation," she explained.

Yu Tian nodded. He wondered if the sect master was close to breaking through to Golden Core realm.

[20%]

That wasn’t much, he thought. He wondered what were the chances he broke through this year.

[0%]

He smiled. They still had a lot of time.

"The gap between Core Formation and Golden Core is pretty huge, right? Do you think he can breakthrough within this year?" he asked her.

"Of course not. Not everyone can enter the Golden Core realm. Many people run out of their lifespan long before they can reach peak Core Formation, let alone Golden Core," she said.

"Then doesn’t that mean you have lots of time to catch up?" he asked.

"What are you saying? Didn’t you hear me? People die before they can ever reach the peak," she said.

"Aren’t you forgetting something?" he asked.

Her expression brightened as she realized what he was saying. "You mean..." she began.

Yu Tian smiled. "I’ll help you reach peak Core Formation by the end of the year," he said.

Xueling was surprised by his words. She thought to herself that there were just four months remaining till the end of the year. People normally took years to breakthrough a layer in Core Formation, but he was saying he could help her breakthrough nine layers in four months?

That was a rate of about two layers a month. But remembering how he had helped her stabilize her cultivation before, a process that usually took a few weeks, she felt it might be possible.

Yu Tian held his chin, thinking to himself that to be honest, he felt four months was too long. Well, there was no harm in giving a longer timeframe.

At that time, Xueling spoke up. "We’ve arrived," she said as she began losing altitude.

...

The two descended and landed in front of a huge sect gate. Some people seemed to be standing guard at the sect gate, their cultivation was about early Foundation Establishment. When they saw the two descending, they were about to request for identification before they noticed who the person was. They bowed and cupped their fists.

"We greet Lady Su," they said.

"Move," she commanded.

The guards looked at each other, then instantly made way. As Yu Tian and Xueling passed, the disciples on guard duty began discussing among themselves. Yu Tian could hear what they were saying due to his enhanced senses.

"Was that a flying sword? Lady Su is really impressive," one said.

"She managed to breakthrough to Foundation Establishment after just going out for a few days. And that aura..." another said.

"It’s a pity... although she is a genius, compared to her brothers..."

Yu Tian remembered that back in the sect, Xueling was known to be at the peak of Qi Gathering.

As the two walked, drawing gazes from other disciples, they were suddenly stopped by someone standing in their way.

"Well, if it isn’t my little sister," the man spoke, walking closer.

"What do you want?" Xueling asked, her expression hardening.

"How harsh. Can’t a brother see his younger sister who has returned?"

Xueling just stared at him.

Yu Tian observed the man before them. He recognized him as Xueling’s eldest brother, Su Ming. He checked his cultivation to be at the first layer of Core Formation. In the sect, he’s known to be at the peak of Foundation Establishment, he thought to himself.

This family really liked to hide.

He wondered if this was the same for the second brother who was known to be in the same realm as his brother.

[100%]

They really were all in the Core Formation realm? To be able to birth three children with such talent, the sect master was really impressive.

"Get out of my way," Xueling said coldly.

Su Ming looked at Yu Tian. His clothes seemed to be from the outer sect, specifically the servant clothes. He wondered what Xueling was doing with a servant. Or could it be that he really wasn’t a servant?

His qi showed that he was at the Qi Gathering first layer, meaning he should be an outer disciple. Then again, it seemed he had broken through recently, so maybe he hadn’t become an outer disciple yet. He felt something suspicious was going on and stretched his hand towards Yu Tian.

Before he could touch Yu Tian, a hand grabbed his wrist.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He was surprised by the power in the grip - he couldn’t move at all.

Impossible, he thought.

He forced a smile. "I was just checking who my younger sister brought home," he said.

"He’s a servant who broke through to the Qi Gathering realm. I thought he had some talent and took him in as one of my people. Is there a problem with that?" she asked.

He smiled. "Not at all," he said as she let his hand go and he pulled it back.

"If that’s the case, then I’m leaving," she said, grabbing Yu Tian and flying past him using the flying sword.