The night was as dark as ink, and the clamor of Yunze Market gradually fell silent after the first day of the Alchemy Conference came to a close.

Ruan Se sat cross-legged in the courtyard. The White Crane dozed beside her with its neck tucked in. Her eyes were closed, and Spiritual Power flowed slowly through her Meridians.

Although her methods today had paid off in a successful gamble, the price was not small.

Forcibly feeding back into the Pill Embryo depleted her Divine Sense far more than ordinary fire-controlling techniques. At this moment, a trace of pain still lingered in her Sea of Consciousness.

However, she did not regret it. She had used the method the Senior taught her, and she had succeeded. This sense of triumph left her feeling exhilarated.

Suddenly, the White Crane jerked its head up and let out a cry of warning. Ruan Se opened her eyes, her pupils shrinking slightly in the moonlight.

At some unknown point, a figure had appeared on the courtyard wall.

The person was tall, her long dress fluttering gently in the night breeze. The moonlight clearly outlined her cold, sharp features.

Ruan Qin.

Ruan Se stood up, the aura around her turning ice-cold in an instant.

The two sisters stood in a silent standoff across the courtyard. The White Crane looked back and forth between them before finally shrinking back behind Ruan Se.

“Why are you here?”

“There is a seat for me on the judging panel of the Alchemy Conference,” Ruan Qin landed lightly on the ground, her gaze sweeping across the rather mediocre courtyard. “What do you think I am here for?”

“A judge?” Ruan Se sneered slightly. “Since when were you interested in showing your face in public like this?”

“I’m not interested, but I came anyway.” Ruan Qin ignored the sarcasm in her tone and scanned the surroundings. “It’s shabbier than I imagined, but it passes.”

Ruan Se’s expression did not soften in the slightest. “If you’re here to persuade me to go back, save your breath.”

Ruan Qin was not annoyed. She merely walked slowly toward the White Crane, extending her long, fair fingers to gently stroke the smooth feathers on the crane’s neck with soft, practiced movements.

The White Crane froze for a moment but did not dodge; instead, it slightly tilted its head to rub against her palm.

Ruan Qin said lightly, “I was the one who picked it out for you.”

Silence spread wordlessly between the two. The White Crane was the Spirit Pet that Ruan Qin had personally chosen for Ruan Se many years ago. Back then, they were still at the Alchemy Sect Main Branch, living in the same courtyard and practicing in front of the same Alchemy Cauldron.

“Come back, and I can teach you many things.” Ruan Qin withdrew her hand and turned around. Her amber eyes, identical to Ruan Se’s, carried a hint of tenderness. “I single-handedly laid the foundation of your Alchemy Dao. The so-called ‘unorthodox methods’ you’ve fumbled out on your own all these years are full of flaws.”

Ruan Se’s fingers clenched tightly within her sleeves. What she hated most was Ruan Qin’s matter-of-fact attitude.

Since childhood, her older sister had always been right, always looking down at her from on high, saying “I will teach you” in a tone of condescending charity.

It was as if all of Ruan Se’s achievements were nothing more than scraps handed down by her sister.

“You are always so high and mighty.” Ruan Se kept her voice very low. “How could someone like you ever understand me?”

Ruan Qin’s movements paused, and her hand that had been stroking the White Crane hovered in midair.

“I don’t want to go back, and I need you even less.” Ruan Se looked straight into her eyes, refusing to yield an inch. “Where I practice Alchemy, what methods I use for Alchemy, and who I learn Alchemy from are all my own business. Didn’t you say it a long time ago? You won’t interfere with my path anymore.”

“……”

Ruan Qin’s fingers curled slightly before slowly relaxing again.

“If you don’t want to go back, then so be it.” Surprisingly, she did not press the issue aggressively. “I didn’t come here today solely for that.”

She turned around, facing Ruan Se directly.

“Tell me, that man surnamed Lai, how long have you known him?”

Ruan Se’s heart skipped a beat, but her face remained completely impassive. “That is my business. It has nothing to do with you.”

“None of my business?” Ruan Qin’s voice finally carried a hint of anger. “You don’t even know his background, yet you dare let him teach you Alchemy? Just now in the corridor, when I asked who he was, he dodged the question and tried to brush me off with a simple ‘just a Rogue Cultivator.’ I’ve seen plenty of Rogue Cultivators, but his aura is so restrained that I can’t see through him at all. He has secrets; it’s entirely possible he harbors ulterior motives toward you.”

“I won’t allow you to speak of Senior that way.” Ruan Se’s expression suddenly darkened.

Ruan Qin’s gaze focused slightly. She knew her sister well; although Ruan Se’s temperament was aloof, she rarely defended anyone like this.

“What kind of bewitching potion did he feed you?” Ruan Qin’s tone grew more complicated. “How long have you even known him to protect him like this?”

Ruan Se turned her face away and did not answer. What could she say?

Say that she watched with her own eyes as Senior gave his all in the Alchemy Room to refine a Sixth-Grade Pill to save his disciple? Or say that Senior is clearly an unfathomable Alchemy Dao Grandmaster, yet he never puts on airs, willing to squat on the steps and chat with her about trivial matters?

Or say… she envied Su Wan’er.

Envied the girl lying unconscious in that room, who could have such an Honored Master.

These feelings were something she could not voice, nor did she intend to tell anyone.

“I don’t need to explain myself to you.” Ruan Se raised her eyes again. “I can see clearly what kind of person Senior is. You think he has secrets, but what supreme expert in this world doesn’t have secrets?”

Ruan Qin fell silent. Looking at her sister’s stubborn face, she suddenly realized just how much time had passed.

The person before her was no longer the little girl who used to timidly follow behind her calling “Sister.” Her Cultivation Base might be much lower than her own, but that stubborn temperament of never turning back once she had chosen her path was exactly the same as her own.

“I understand.” Ruan Qin slowly turned and walked toward the courtyard wall. “If that man surnamed Lai dares to hurt you, I won’t spare him, no matter his background.”

With that, her figure swayed slightly, leaving behind only an azure afterimage under the moonlight.

Ruan Se stood in place, her tightly clenched fingers slowly loosening. She stared in the direction her sister had disappeared and remained silent for a long time before turning and walking toward the Alchemy Room.

She knew clearly in her heart that her sister’s persuasion came from a place of good intentions, but ultimately, some paths could only be walked alone.

She no longer wanted to live her days hiding under her sister’s protection, nor did she want to be boxed in by the title of “Ruan Qin’s sister” for the rest of her life.

She quietly fished out the small white jade bottle from her sleeve. Inside it rested the Azure Wood Qi-Harmonizing Pill; its pill patterns faintly flowed, and a clear, refreshing medicinal fragrance slowly wafted out.

Ruan Se rested the jade bottle in her palm in silence for a moment. After thinking for a while, she carefully tucked it back into her sleeve.

The Senior had said that pills did not distinguish between good and evil, and the same was true for people.

One day, she would stand before her sister and personally prove herself.

Her future in the Alchemy Dao never required her to rely on anyone; she could forge her own path all the same.

Ruan Se raised her head and looked at the sinking moonlight outside the window, her gaze gradually sharpening.

She was determined to win tomorrow’s finals.

Not for empty fame, but only to let that person see with her own eyes that the path she had chosen was never a mistake.