Chapter 36: The Man in the Pool

The moon hung high in the sky. A young maiden, draped in white gauze, bathed up to her waist in the hot spring, her slender arms lifting gracefully, scattering droplets of water into the air. It seemed as if she held the water in her palms, molding it into shifting shapes. Though water, that unruly fluid, ought to be uncontrollable, in her hands it became as pliant as dough: she rolled it into spheres and pressed it flat at will. The translucent water danced along her pale arms as if alive, the pure moonlight casting a silken veil over her figure, dazzling the eyes of the two hidden observers in the nearby woods.

The young cultivator concealed to the left swallowed nervously, his face flushing crimson. Attempting to mask his discomfort, he turned and whispered to his companion, “Do you think she’ll notice us?”

His companion to the right, glad for the distraction, replied in a hushed, excited tone, “Of course she will! That’s obvious! Senior Sister Yun has already reached Foundation Establishment. How could she not sense the two of us, still at the Qi Refining stage?”

“Ah... then what should we do?” The young man on the left fumbled, ready to flee, but his companion coolly pressed him down.

“Idiot! This is a chance Senior Sister Yun is giving us on purpose! She’s not only beautiful and gifted, but a genius with a single spiritual root. Everyone on our peak knows she comes here every evening to meditate on the essence of water!”

“Actually, it was all thanks to Senior Brother Li—he was the first to discover her practice. Senior Sister Yun didn’t punish him; she even kindly told him to come ask her if he had questions. Since then, all of us have taken turns to secretly observe her water manipulation techniques. But we made a pact: we only watch from afar, never disturbing her or causing her trouble.”

“Oh... then I suppose it’s lucky I just left closed-door cultivation and got to see this.”

“Hush now, you blockhead. Be quiet.”

Amidst the ripples, the maiden heard their whispers. With her back to them, a smile played at her lips, pride swelling in her heart. Her hands continued their graceful movements, but her mind wandered through memories of the past few years.

After the grand competition that year, she had fallen into despair. She thought her cultivation, now a level above Lu Tanxian’s, and her thorough knowledge of that woman’s tricks would be enough to finally redeem her humiliation. But once again, she was outmaneuvered and nearly succumbed to self-doubt, believing she would never escape Lu Tanxian’s shadow no matter how hard she tried. Yet, seeing that Lu Tanxian failed to become the disciple of the Jade Measure Daoist as in their previous life, and instead apprenticed herself to a mere Golden Core master, gave her a sliver of hope. At last, things were changing.

Later, she advanced smoothly to Foundation Establishment, became the disciple of the Miao Yi Daoist, and joined the Spirit Pool Peak.

The first time she caught a junior disciple spying on her water practice, she intended to teach him a lesson. But recalling how Lu Tanxian had once drawn followers with small acts of kindness, she decided to let him go. She never expected that a few gentle words would inspire those juniors to revere her as if she were a goddess—an unexpected delight.

Su Yunmo rose slowly from the water. The young disciples, mindful of the rules, had already slipped away some time ago. The now-empty woods brought a peculiar loneliness. She was just about to take flight on her sword when, all at once, a small dagger whizzed past her ear.

With a light touch of her feet, she nimbly sidestepped, but the dagger seemed to have eyes, altering its course to chase her. Yet Su Yunmo paid it no heed; her gaze fixed on the figure who had thrown it. With a flick of her wrist, a jet of water shot toward them. Strangely, the person did not dodge, but stood smiling as the stream traced a long line down his body.

Su Yunmo’s delicate face flushed with anger. With a sweep of her hand, she knocked away the dagger, then leaped lightly forward. The water arrow coiled into a rope, binding him fast. Watching him stand unflinching, his eyes filled with laughter as he met her glare, she could not help but spit, “What are you doing now?”

The newcomer tilted his head, his eyes narrowed in mirth. “I came straight to see you as soon as I returned. How could you still not be satisfied?”

Looking into his gaze, so openly brimming with affection, Su Yunmo’s heart softened. The water rope lost its spiritual force, fell to the ground as ordinary water, and seeped into the earth. Just as the killing intent from moments before had vanished, not a trace of it remained.