The Steward Family's Request

"There's still a year to go. First place is a bit of a stretch, but we should be able to make it into the top ten!"

In the past, Su'en wouldn't even dare to think about joining the Heavenly Domain Ceremony. But now that he had the system, winning first place didn't seem so difficult anymore!

As long as he used the system well, he was very likely to defeat the prodigies of the high-level sects a year later–and crush them, even!

"There is one other thing," Zhao Ritian added.

"What is it?"

"The Chens of Guanyu City have asked us for help. They hope we can support them."

The news dragged Su'en into contemplation. The Heavenly Domain ruled over the entire Jing Region, so families from the outside world would often try their best to establish friendly ties with them. The simplest way to achieve this was to directly serve a sect in the Heavenly Domain, and fork out costly fees daily. Disciples of exceptional talent would also occasionally be born to one of these families, who would then join the sect. That, or the families would simply sponsor the sects with precious cultivation resources.

These families were essentially the sects' stewards. But the sects in the Heavenly Domain didn't just passively accept money from them. If one of these families produced a disciple of decent potential, the sect would accept them unconditionally. Additionally, if these families encountered difficulties, the sect would consider sending their disciples to help them.

The Chen family in Guanyu City was currently in service to the Dao Sect–them, and no others.

A long time ago, the Dao Sect had had many service families. However, as the strength of the Dao Sect declined, some of these families had felt that there was no need to continue serving them, so they simply cut off all contact with the sect. Now, only the Chen family still chose to serve the Dao Sect.

"What do the Chens need?" Su'en asked.

"According to our sources, they seem to have discovered a spirit stone mine. However, the mine is situated in between the two cities, and resulted in a dispute," Zhao Ritian said. "They finally decided to use a duel to determine who would gain ownership of the spirit stone mine. So the Chens asked us to send a combatant to represent them."

"A spirit stone mine." Su'en nodded.

Spirit stones were an important cultivation resource. They were manifestations of crystallized Qi in the world. But Qi was scarce in the outside world, so cultivators there were dependent on spirit stones. Therefore, once a spirit stone mine appeared, it was a recipe for conflict.

"Do you know anything about the other party?" Su'en inquired.

"They are the Wang family of Black Cloud City, who serve the Nether Saber Sect," Zhao Ritian replied.

"The Nether Saber Sect." Su'en searched his memory. Just like the Dao Sect, the sect was from the Heavenly Domain. However, they were slightly more powerful than the Dao Sect; their master's cultivation level was of the Spirit Convocation Realm.

"Senior, the Nether Saber Sect is stronger than us. Shall we refuse?" Zhao Ritian glanced cautiously at Su'en.

"And ignore the Chens' request for help?" Su'en fixed Zhao Ritian with his stare. The disciple met his gaze for a second before quickly lowering his head. He didn't know why, but he felt an invisible pressure from his normally-gentle senior that stifled the breath in his lungs.

"The Chens are the only family that has followed us since the very beginning," Su'en enunciated slowly. "How can we leave them to fend for themselves, now that they're in trouble? So what if it means going up against the Nether Saber Sect? Refusing requests for help like this can have harsh consequences. Is that understood?"

Rather than turning the Chens away, Su'en chose to accept their request–not that it was ever really a question anyway. This had nothing to do with cultivation. Even if he didn't have the system, even if he hadn't broken through to the Crystallization Realm, he would still choose to help those in need.

"Of course." Zhao Ritian raised his head and bowed, slightly ashamed of himself. He was such a fool. His senior greatly valued the reputation of the Dao Sect–how could he turn his back on the steward family which had always followed the sect with such loyalty?

"You're dismissed." Su'en waved Zhao Ritian away.

"Of course."

After Zhao Ritian left, Su'en activated the Divine Lightning Breath in his body, feeling it swirl in his Energy Sea. The ebb and flow of the energy in his body occasionally caused a sound like rumbling thunder from Su'en.

Since they were going head to head with the Nether Saber Sect, he could only play a supporting role in the conflict this time. But he would have to leave the Heavenly Domain. Su'en thought: There were no more opportunities in the Dao Sect. If he went to the outside world, he might encounter opportunities there.

The Heavenly Domain Ceremony was approaching–he had to accelerate his growth so he could perform well in the contest.

After deep consideration, Su'en decided that his plan would work, so he packed up and prepared to leave the sect.

When he left the courtyard, he bumped into Ye Lingyun. As soon as they met, she spoke.

"Senior, take me with you!"

"How did you know I was going out?" Su'en looked at her, smiling.

"I met a disciple from the Hall of Labor on my way here. He told me about what happened." Ye Lingyun was dressed in green, her long hair swaying about her face. According to Su'en's observations, his junior was a little more lively than usual, compared to her usual taciturn manner.

When Su'en said nothing, Ye Lingyun explained, "I haven't made any progress in my cultivation recently, so I hope to take this chance to relax."

"Sure, let's go together then!" Su'en nodded. Having someone to accompany him while he was out would make things less boring.

And if he encountered an opportunity, he could give it to Ye Lingyun directly. She was close to him, and if he could choose, he would certainly rather pass the opportunity down to someone he knew well.

After hearing her senior's agreement, a smile appeared on Ye Lingyun's lovely face. For a moment, Su'en was stunned. This was the first time he had seen Ye Lingyun smile, and it was a very pleasing sight.

"You look pretty when you smile. You should smile more often."

When Su'en came back to his senses, he brushed past Ye Lingyun with a grin and kept walking.

Smile more?

Before Ye Lingyun could react, Su'en had already left. She hurried after him, hand drifting to her cheek as she gave chase. Had she really smiled just now? She couldn't even remember the last time she had smiled–when she was a child, perhaps.

But that didn't matter. Her senior had told her to smile more frequently, so she would do just that.