The Outer Sect Female Dormitories were a different world from the Waste Sector.

  Here, the ground wasn't mud; it was paved with clean white stone. Instead of sulfur and rot, the air smelled of blooming plum blossoms and faint cosmetic powder. The Qi density was decent, fed by a minor branch of the spirit vein.

  Mingzhi walked through the courtyard, his worn grey robes standing out like a stain on a silk sheet.

  A group of female disciples washing clothes by the well paused to watch him pass.

  "Who is that?" one whispered, eyeing his patched sleeves. "A servant?"

  "Look at his face, though," another giggled behind her hand. "If you ignore the rags... he has quite the jawline. A fallen young master, perhaps?"

  "Don't waste your time. No Spirit Stone, no romance."

  Mingzhi ignored them, walking straight to Cottage 12.

  He heard giggling from inside—the carefree sound of teenagers who hadn't yet realized how cruel the cultivation world could be.

  Knock. Knock.

  "Come in!" Rou’s voice called out, bright and cheerful.

  Mingzhi pushed the door open.

  The laughter cut off instantly.

  Three girls were sitting on the floor, playing a spirit-card game. When they saw the boy in the dusty, patched robes standing in their doorway, two of them recoiled slightly, clutching their cards.

  But Rou’s face lit up. She scrambled to her feet, abandoning the game.

  "Ming'er!" she cried, rushing over. She stopped just short of hugging him, conscious of her roommates, but her smile was blinding. "You finally came out of your cave!"

  She turned to her roommates. "This is Mingzhi. The one I told you about. We... we have things to discuss."

  The roommates exchanged glances—This poor guy is the genius she talks about?—but they took the hint. Gathering their cards, they shuffled out, shooting curious looks at Mingzhi’s muddy boots.

  Once they were gone, Rou sighed, gesturing for him to sit at the small tea table.

  "I'm sorry I haven't visited," she said, pouring him a cup of tea. "It’s been crazy. I joined a team, we went on a hunting mission for Horned Rabbits... I just got back. How is... the 'Other Place'?"

  "The Waste Sector?" Mingzhi took a sip. "It's a trash dump. It smells like sulfur and dead dreams. But... it's quiet. No one bothers me."

  He leaned in, lowering his voice. "I’ve been helping Qingyu. Secretly."

  Rou’s eyes widened. "The Sect Master? How?"

  "Maintenance," Mingzhi said vaguely. "And... supplies. I made some pills for her to fix her foundation."

  Rou nearly dropped her teacup. "You? Making pills? But... alchemy costs a fortune! I only have 40 points after a whole week of hunting. How did you afford the herbs?"

  "I didn't buy them," Mingzhi smiled, tapping his temple. "I scavenged. The Alchemy Hall throws away 'failed' pills. I found a way to extract the leftover essence and refine it. Qingyu provided the main herbs, I provided the recycled essence."

  Rou stared at him, processing this. "You... recycle pills? Is there anything you can't fix?"

  "Broken hearts, maybe," Mingzhi joked. "But seriously. If you need cultivation resources, I can make them for you too. But you need to provide the Monarch Herb. For your Water constitution... can you get Tide-Caller Root?"

  "Tide-Caller Root?" Rou bit her lip. "That’s 20 points a stalk in the Exchange Hall. I can't afford enough to make it worthwhile."

  "That’s why I'm here," Mingzhi said, sitting back. "I found a mission. High pay. 100 Contribution Points. Plus Spirit Stones."

  "100?" Rou gasped. "Is it a suicide mission? Hunting a Tier 2 Beast?"

  "No. It’s a technical mission. The Liu Family Request. Curing a sick mortal."

  Rou’s jaw dropped. "That one? Mingzhi, that’s been on the board for months! Everyone knows about it. The Liu boy is cursed or something. Inner Sect healers failed. Wood Cultivators failed. Are you... are you a doctor now too? Do you know the Medical Dao?"

  Mingzhi smiled—a confident, slightly arrogant smile that made him look very unlike a trash disciple.

  "We'll see," he said.

  He pointed at her. "I need an Assistant. The pay is 50 points for the helper. That’s enough for your herbs. Are you in?"

  "50 points..." Rou hesitated, then nodded firmly. "I'm in. But I can't heal people. I'll just be your bodyguard."

  "Deal. I'll make you earn those points," Mingzhi stood up. "Meet me at the Main Gate tomorrow at dawn. We're going to Silver-Leaf City."

  "I have one last thing to settle," he added, heading for the door.

  "What?"

  "Garbage duty."

  An hour later, Mingzhi was back in the smog of the Waste Sector.

  The Foreman looked up from his nap as Mingzhi walked into the Slag Pit, grabbing his rusted shovel.

  "You again?" the Foreman grunted, squinting at the setting sun. "You finished your quota this morning. Can't get enough of shoveling dirt?"

  "I'm going on a mission tomorrow," Mingzhi said, driving the shovel into a pile of metallic scraps. "I'm doing the next two days' work in advance so I don't get evicted while I'm gone."

  The Foreman shook his head, spitting on the ground. "Crazy kid. You're working yourself to death for a shack that should be condemned."

  Mingzhi didn't answer. He just worked.

  Shovel. Store. Dump.

  He cleared two carts in record time, filling his Eye Space with enough scrap metal to start experimenting with Array Flags later.

  Early the next morning, the mist was still clinging to the mountain peaks.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Mingzhi stood under the massive white marble archway of the Sect Gate. He wore his clean grey robes, his scavenged ironwood staff (cleaned and polished) strapped to his back.

  Rou arrived a moment later, looking fresh and eager, her blue sash fluttering in the wind.

  "Ready?" she asked.

  "Ready," Mingzhi said, looking down the mountain path toward the mortal world below.

  "Let's go cure a hopeless case."

  The descent from the Azure Cloud Sect was a journey through layers of reality. They started in the eternal spring of the peaks, but as they descended the stone steps, the air grew humid, heavy, and loud with the buzzing of insects.

  Mingzhi walked with a steady, rhythmic pace, his ironwood staff tapping the stones. "The route to Silver-Leaf City cuts through the Whispering Woods," he explained, scanning the treeline. "It’s safer than the Swamp Road, but the canopy is dense. It hides sound."

  "My last team just walked through," Rou said, gripping her sword hilt. "We didn't see anything."

  "Because a team of five radiates too much Qi," Mingzhi corrected. "Predators hide from groups. But two low-level disciples? We look like a snack."

  He glanced at her. "Tell me, Rou. If a Wind-Wolf attacks from the left, what do you do?"

  "I... blast it?" Rou offered, raising her hand.

  Mingzhi sighed. "If you blast a Wind-Wolf, it dodges, and you hit the tree behind it. Then it eats you while you're recharging. You have to predict the path, not chase the target."

  “Spirit,” Mingzhi projected his thought. “Scan our six o'clock. Maximum range.”

  “Scanning...” The Spirit’s voice was crisp. “Two energy signatures detected. Cloud Gathering Level 4. Following at 300 meters. They are hiding their aura poorly.”

  Mingzhi didn't break stride. "Wang Hu's lackeys. But no Wang Hu?"

  “Negative.”

  "He’s arrogant," Mingzhi deduced coldly. "He thinks I'm walking to my death in the city. He wants me to fail, lose face, and then—on the way back, broken and tired—his dogs will ambush us."

  Scene Shift: 300 Meters Behind

  Two burly disciples in grey robes crept through the underbrush. One was tall and lanky (Li), the other short and squat (Zhou). They moved with the grace of falling boulders, snapping twigs with every step.

  "Why don't we just attack now?" Li whined, slapping a mosquito on his neck. "They are right there. Two Level 2 trash. I could break the Xie kid's legs before he blinks."

  "Idiot," Zhou hissed, smacking the back of Li’s head. "Don't you remember Boss Wang's orders? 'Let them taste despair first.' If we beat them now, they have an excuse for failing the mission. But if we wait until they fail and are walking back in shame... then we break them. Total humiliation."

  "Oh," Li scratched his head, looking dull. "Yea, yea. That makes sense. Boss is smart."

  The Whispering Woods

  They stepped off the paved stone steps and into the Whispering Woods.

  The transition was instant and suffocating. It was as if they had crossed an invisible line where the laws of the mountain ceased to apply. The air here was no longer the crisp, thin ether of the peaks; it was a heavy, humid soup that tasted of wet loam and decaying leaves.

  This was not a normal forest. The trees were Hollow-Trunk Ironbarks—ancient, gargantuan pillars of wood with grey, metallic bark that twisted upward like strained muscles. Their canopy was so dense it strangled the sunlight, turning high noon into a perpetual, bruising twilight.

  But it was the sound that gave the woods their name.

  The Ironbarks were riddled with natural bore-holes, carved over centuries by wood-eating beetles. As the valley wind filtered through these thousands of tiny flutes, the forest didn't just rustle; it spoke. A constant, dissonant chorus of low moans and high-pitched whistles drifted through the mist, sounding uncomfortably like human voices murmuring just at the edge of hearing.

  Strange, bioluminescent fungi clung to the exposed roots, pulsing with a toxic violet rhythm that matched the beating of a slow heart.

  "It feels..." Rou shivered, rubbing her arms as the damp cold settled on her skin. "It feels like we walked into a throat."

  "Focus," Mingzhi ordered.

  Later…Snap.

  A shadow blurred in the canopy above. Not a bird. Something heavier.

  "Twelve o'clock high!" Mingzhi shouted. "Dodge left!"

  Rou flinched, but she obeyed. She threw herself to the left just as a blur of grey fur and razor-sharp claws slammed into the spot where she had been standing.

  CRASH.

  Standing in the crater was a Wind-Razor Wolf. It was sleek, its fur matted with green moss for camouflage, and its eyes burned with a feral yellow hunger. Wind currents swirled visibly around its paws.

  "Tier 1 Middle Stage," the Spirit analyzed. "Equivalent to Cloud Gathering Level 4."

  The wolf snarled and lunged at Rou.

  "Panic Fire!" Rou screamed. She thrust her hands out. "Tidal Blast!"

  A massive wall of water erupted from her palms. It destroyed a bush and stripped the bark off an Iron-Bark tree—but the wolf was already gone. It had sidestepped with unnatural speed.

  "I missed!" Rou panicked.

  "Stop aiming where it is!" Mingzhi yelled, stepping forward. "Aim where it's going!"

  The wolf turned on Mingzhi. It saw the weak Aura. It leaped, jaws snapping for his throat.

  Mingzhi didn't run. He planted his feet. Earth Root.

  He swung his ironwood staff. He didn't use brute force; he used the leverage of his waist.

  WHACK.

  He caught the wolf in the ribs mid-air. The impact knocked the beast sideways, but didn't break bone. The wolf landed, shook its head, and growled, now truly enraged.

  "My strength is too low," Mingzhi gritted his teeth. "I can't kill it alone."

  "Rou!" he shouted. "Charge a Water Spike. Condensed! Wait for my signal!"

  The wolf charged Mingzhi again. Mingzhi waited. The jaws opened. The stench of rot hit his face.

  3... 2...

  He stomped. Earth Tremor.

  The ground beneath the wolf’s front paw liquefied. The beast stumbled, pitching forward, its chest exposed.

  "NOW!"

  Rou thrust her hands. A high-pressure spear of water shot out.

  THWACK.

  It slammed into the wolf’s chest, piercing the heart. The beast convulsed and collapsed.

  Mingzhi leaned on his staff, breathing hard. Suddenly, a violent heat surged in his Dantian. The combat pressure had cracked his bottleneck.

  CRACK.

  "Breakthrough Imminent," the Spirit warned. "You cannot hold it."

  "Now?" Mingzhi gasped.

  He heard crashing in the brush behind them. The lackeys were coming to investigate the noise.

  "Spirit, find cover!"

  "Vine-covered cave. Fifty meters East."

  "Oh heavens!" Mingzhi shouted loudly, feigning terror. "Sandstorm!"

  He channeled his remaining Earth Qi into the dirt. A massive plume of brown dust exploded into the air, blinding the clearing.

  He grabbed the wolf corpse (Store!) and grabbed Rou’s hand. "Run!"

  They dove into the brush, scrambling into the small, hidden cave behind a curtain of thick vines.

  The Lackeys Arrive

  Seconds later, Li and Zhou burst into the clearing. They saw the dust settling. They saw the claw marks. But no bodies.

  "What happened?" Li stood there, mouth open, scratching his head. "Did the beast eat them?"

  "There's no blood," Zhou frowned, looking around stupidly. "They must have run away during the fight."

  "So... they escaped?"

  "They can't go back up," Zhou reasoned with a sneer. "They have to go to the City. Let's not waste time searching the woods. We'll go ahead to the Third Marker on the main road. It's a choke point. We'll wait for them there."

  "Smart," Li grinned. "Let's go."

  The two lackeys ran off toward the main road, completely bypassing the cave where their targets were hiding.

  The Cave

  Inside, Rou blinked, wiping dust from her face. "Ming'er? Why did we hide? We won."

  "I... I'm breaking through," Mingzhi gasped, sitting down heavily. Steam rose from his shoulders. "Guard the entrance."

  Rou’s eyes went wide. "Okay!"

  Mingzhi closed his eyes. He guided the torrent of energy. His Earth Seed pulsed, adding a second ring of density.

  Two Meals worth of time later.

  Mingzhi opened his eyes. Cloud Gathering: Level 2.

  They crept out of the cave. The lackeys were long gone.

  The City of Silver Leaves

  They emerged from the oppressive gloom of the woods onto a high limestone ridge, and the world suddenly ignited.

  Below them, nestled in the center of a perfectly circular caldera, lay Silver-Leaf City.

  To understand the city, one had to understand the valley. The basin was home to a rare, endemic species of flora: the Spirit-Silver Maple. Millions of these trees carpeted the valley floor, but their leaves were not green. They were a pale, metallic white, coated in a fine layer of natural mineral dust.

  As the wind rolled down from the mountains, the forest rippled. Millions of silver leaves turned in unison, catching the afternoon sun and reflecting it in blinding, shimmering waves. It looked as if a sea of liquid mercury was crashing against the city walls.

  The city itself was a jewel set in this metallic ocean.

  It was a monument to aggressive opulence. The outer walls were fifty feet high, clad not in stone, but in polished steel plates that blazed like a mirror shield. Inside, the architecture was a harmonious clash of wealth and industry. Three-story pagodas with roofs tiled in dark grey slate dominated the skyline, their eaves hung with silver bells that chimed in the wind.

  A river—the Quicksilver Run—bisected the city. Due to the high mineral content of the riverbed, the water sparkled with an unnatural, glittery sheen, winding through the merchant district like a vein of ore brought to life.

  It was beautiful, blinding, and intimidating. It was a city that didn't just display wealth; it weaponized it against the eye.

  "It’s... so bright," Rou whispered, shielding her eyes against the glare bouncing off the valley floor.

  "It’s rich," Mingzhi corrected, adjusting his pack. "And where there is wealth, there is opportunity.""

  He looked down at the tiny figures lining up at the massive silver gates. Somewhere in that sea of metal and money was the Liu family—and his ten High-Grade Spirit Stones.

  "Come on, Assistant Chen," Mingzhi smiled. "Time to go to work."