Make the Immortal Sect Great Again

Wang Ping stayed at the Su Family Estate that night. As for what he had said to Madam Su... he had merely stated the facts.

Why had Madam Su treated the city's prominent families and the constables so coldly? To Wang Ping, it was a deeply pragmatic issue.

The two sides were completely mismatched.

The city's prominent families and the County Yamen's constables shared the exact same goal: they wanted both her wealth and her person.

One unavoidable truth loomed over her: the prominent families and the constables held an overwhelming advantage. Madam Su possessed absolutely no leverage against either group. She could only drift with the current, and would likely be used up and discarded.

This was the real reason behind her icy demeanor.

Though she lived as a recluse, she hailed from the Capital and possessed the sharp eyes and worldly experience to match. She might harbor fantasies, but she would never deny reality.

Because of this, she could clearly see how Wang Ping differed from the rest.

'He's an orphan. His parents are dead, he's all alone, has no children, and has no background. All he has is decent talent and his martial arts.'

She knew perfectly well that with Chen Haoyan dead, her estate and businesses could not be kept. The only question left was how to sell them for the best possible price.

That ruled out the city's prominent families immediately.

Those people intended to swallow her whole; no matter how she bargained, she would suffer a total loss.

Next were the constables. They were highly skilled and deeply rooted in the county town, but for that exact reason, they all already had families of their own.

Selling out to them would end just as poorly.

As for the young constables with no background, they were too weak to offer her any real protection. She might be willing to sell, but they simply couldn't afford her price.

If Wang Ping hadn't shown up, she had already planned her next move: choose the friendliest constable available, hand over all her businesses, and fight to keep this current estate. It was the first home she had ever purchased on her own, and her final sanctuary.

But Wang Ping had appeared.

A young constable with no background, no roots, and no wealth, who yet possessed formidable martial strength, dazzling talent, and a bright future.

The perfect buyer.

He was at least a far better choice than the rest. If she sold to him, how much could a single man spend? The medicinal meals required for his martial arts training were expensive, but they wouldn't drain her dry.

With him, she might be able to keep this estate and enough money to live comfortably, buying herself the precious time she needed to reestablish contact with her family in the Capital.

Naturally, Wang Ping had also sworn never to treat her with disrespect or impropriety. Madam Su didn't believe a word of it; she assumed he was merely putting on a gentlemanly act to win her trust. Not that she cared anymore. As long as she wasn't left completely destitute, what did this bit of sacrifice matter?

Just as Madam Su sat pondering her future...

Step... step... step...

Outside her bedroom, the steady rhythm of footsteps suddenly approached. It was the tread of a man. Madam Su was instantly jolted from her thoughts, instinctively looking up toward the door.

Immediately after, a man's voice drifted through the wood.

"Are you still awake, Madam? Rest assured, I have chased off the emissaries sent by the city's prominent families. They will not come to harass you anymore."

Wang Ping had spent the entire day dealing with this.

Since Madam Su had taken him in, driving away the uninvited guests trying to swallow the Su Family properties was his task. He had even engaged in a few brawls to make his point.

As things stood, unless a martial artist at External Arts Perfection personally intervened, absolutely no one was his match—especially not when he was cloaked in his official uniform.

"...Madam?"

Frowning slightly at the prolonged silence, Wang Ping gently pushed the door open. Bright moonlight immediately spilled like water into the bedroom.

There, a gentle, elegant woman sat on the bed in pure white mourning robes. Tears shimmered in her beautiful eyes, making her look like a blooming snow lotus with morning dew clinging to its petals. She stared at him with a cold, desolate expression, and the moment their eyes met, she squeezed them shut in total resignation.

It was as if she were silently saying, 'Do with me as you will.'

Wang Ping couldn't help but shake his head. Instead of stepping into the bedroom, he took a deliberate step back. "My apologies for the intrusion, Madam."

"Please rest easy, Madam. Since I gave you my word I wouldn't cross any lines, I will never break that promise."

With that, he pulled the door shut.

"I'll be staying in the room next door. Call me if you need anything."

Madam Su's eyes snapped open in sheer astonishment. Through the door, she heard footsteps once again, but they were slowly fading away until the figure vanished completely.

...

The County Yamen, the stables.

After leaving Madam Su's room, Wang Ping hurried straight back to the County Yamen without a moment's pause. There, he fetched his prized Curly-Maned Horse and led it back to the Su Family Estate.

Naturally, he swept his surroundings with his spiritual sense the entire way, ensuring no one was following him.

Once safely inside, he circulated his spiritual sense and applied a few bowel-loosening techniques, prompting the Curly-Maned Horse to pass the small bottle of pills it had swallowed earlier.

Wasting no time, Wang Ping selected the pills he needed for the night, tightly resealed the bottle, and fed the rest right back into the Curly-Maned Horse's stomach.

When he was finished, he patted the horse's neck. "Sorry about that. Just bear with it a little longer."

"...Neigh!"

For some reason, Wang Ping could have sworn his horse actually rolled its eyes at him. It snorted a few times, displaying far more intelligence than when they had first met.

After carefully cleaning up the mess and properly settling the horse in—keeping his spiritual sense fully extended the entire time to ensure no one was watching—Wang Ping slipped into his own room. He took out his pill, dissolved it in water, downed it in one gulp, and continued to digest the medicinal energy, feeling his body undergo its transformation.

As for Madam Su, she had long been thrown to the back of his mind.

What a joke. How could a woman possibly feel as good as practicing martial arts?

Besides, he truly wasn't here for female companionship. The martial arts in Chen Haoyan's possession were his actual target. Why would he waste precious time on such matters?

Furthermore, if Chen Haoyan really had secretly hoarded any martial arts manuals, Madam Su was the person most likely to know where they were hidden.

Given that, he definitely couldn't resort to force.

He had to boil the frog in warm water. He had to take it slowly.

And so, the night passed in silence.

...

The following morning, Madam Su stirred from her slumber, realizing she had just enjoyed her most peaceful rest in seven days. She had even slept in late.

Pushing her door open, Madam Su stepped out into the courtyard, only to see a strong young man practicing with a long saber. He moved with heavy steps, his blade flashing in a crisscrossing net of steel, radiating a bone-chilling aura. Every slash tore through the air with a sharp whine, interspersed with sudden punches and kicks. His very tendons and bones cracked in unison, as if a dragon and tiger were moving alongside him.

Madam Su stood frozen, staring blankly at the scene.

Memories of the past came rushing back. For a moment, she was thoroughly entranced, her fingers unconsciously shifting to trace the changes in Wang Ping's saber forms.

The Great Shun Dynasty had been founded upon martial prowess.

Though she was a woman, she hailed from the Capital. In a world where martial arts were so highly revered, how could she possibly be uninterested in them?

Long ago, she had also been a young girl who loved playing with swords and staves.

Yet as the old saying went, the poor studied literature and the rich studied martial arts. Ever since she was cast out of her family and forced to flee to a distant land, she no longer had the conditions to practice.

The martial arts she had once practiced had long since gone to waste.

Had she kept it up, with the talent she possessed back then, she could have easily defended her estate and businesses on her own when Chen Haoyan died.

Alas, the martial path was such that to stop advancing was to fall behind.

After years of neglect, her martial arts were a shadow of what they once were. Her physical constitution might still be robust enough to easily live to a hundred, but it could no longer sustain a life-and-death struggle.

When she first arrived in Longxing County, made a fortune, and established her own businesses, she had dreamed of picking up her training again. But that man's arrival had shattered all those hopes.

"Chen Haoyan..." Madam Su slightly gritted her teeth.

That bastard. When he first sought her out, he really had offered her a lot of assistance. But it wasn't long before he lost his patience and revealed his true colors.

Not only had he seized the businesses she had spent years building, but he had also locked her inside this estate as his private plaything. He had reduced her to a mere bookkeeper, giving her nothing else to do day in and day out. The slightest misstep or foul mood on his part resulted in beatings and harsh punishments, all while she still had to tend to his daily needs.

At that thought, Madam Su suddenly felt a wave of gloom.

She glanced around the sprawling courtyard. She knew this large estate so intimately she could identify every flower and blade of grass, yet right now, the sight of it filled her with an inexplicable fury.

What made her even sadder was that a second later, sheer instinct forced her to violently smother that fury. She buried all her emotions deep in her heart and simply stood there, numb and dazed.

It felt like a caged canary briefly fluttering its wings, only to realize it couldn't fly out, forcing it to drop back to its perch... It made sense. She was already a domesticated bird now. What right did she have to dream of one day breaking out of her cage and soaring into the sky?

Madam Su lowered her gaze, her presence turning all the more fragile and desolate.

"Madam?"

A soft call yanked her from her grim reverie. Madam Su looked up, realizing the young constable had stopped his saber practice and approached her without her noticing.

"Care to join me for a few forms?"

Wang Ping smiled warmly. "I saw your fingers moving just now. It seems you've trained in the martial arts before. That saves me a lot of effort trying to convince you."

"Convince me?" Madam Su frowned.

Wang Ping nodded. "I was planning to urge you to practice some martial arts, no matter what. After all, I can't stay in this estate to protect you forever."

"Therefore, it's best you learn some martial arts. That way, you'll have the power to defend yourself. Even if I'm not around in the future, you'll still have the strength to survive on your own."

As his words washed over her, Madam Su was suddenly thrown back to the day Chen Haoyan first locked her in this estate. He had said something vaguely similar.

Except the core meaning had been the exact opposite.

'Why would a woman practice martial arts? You'll ruin your figure and embarrass me when I bring you out. Just stay in the house and behave. Don't worry, I'll take good care of you.'

Complete and utter bullshit.

And now, here was another man reaching a hand out to her. But instead of telling her to stay obediently in her cage, he was telling her to pick up the things she had long discarded.

Madam Su couldn't describe the maelstrom of emotions swirling inside her.

Yet as the memories of the past and the reality of the present overlapped, she took a subconscious step backward, desperately trying to bury her head in the sand like an ostrich.

But before she could speak, Wang Ping stepped forward. Her pale, delicate hand was firmly gripped by another, much broader and thicker hand lined with calluses. The sudden contrast—one smooth and delicate, the other rough and hardened—sent a faint tremor through both of their hands.

Madam Su's body instantly went rigid.

Wang Ping, however, looked completely unfazed. He didn't seem to notice anything inappropriate at all. Instead, he stared at her with deep seriousness. "Madam, you must banish all distracting thoughts when cultivating."

"..."

A fierce blush instantly burned across Madam Su's typically snow-white cheeks.

Guided by Wang Ping's firm instructions, she obediently assumed the starting stances. She stretched her limbs, stimulated her blood and qi, and began her martial training right there in the courtyard.

'I didn't want to do this. He forced me. I have no choice...'

Even as she frantically tried to convince herself, Madam Su wove her ten fingers into a hand seal. She pressed the lotus-like seal against her flat lower abdomen, and her tense body instinctively began to relax.

Wang Ping was teaching her the Planting Lotus in Fire Seal. It was an ideal foundational technique for beginners. Madam Su practiced earnestly; as her blood and qi completed cycle after cycle, a healthy, rosy flush spread across her face, and a soothing warmth bloomed through her entire body. Throughout the process, Wang Ping frequently reached out to point out how to adjust her hand seals.

This only made Madam Su's cheeks flush an even deeper red.

Because every single time Wang Ping adjusted her hand seals, his thick, heavy palm would brush lightly against her lower abdomen, radiating an astonishing heat.

At the thought of it, Madam Su involuntarily squeezed her thighs together.

"It's... it's a bit hot..."

By the time Madam Su finally snapped out of her daze, she was already dripping with fragrant sweat. She couldn't resist stealing a nervous glance at Wang Ping, only to find him staring straight ahead, completely focused.

'Was he doing it on purpose, or was it just an accident?'

"Madam?"

Suddenly, Wang Ping frowned. He finally looked down at her, genuine dissatisfaction written across his face. "Focus. Your hand seals are a mess, and your blood and qi circulation is completely wrong."

Smack!

A slap that was neither too heavy nor too light landed squarely on Madam Su's lower abdomen. In that instant, a jolt of electricity seemed to shoot through her entire body.

Her mind spun into total chaos. She could only frantically comfort herself with the fact that he knew martial arts and was young and virile. If he truly wanted to do something, she wouldn't have the strength to stop him anyway.

Over the next three days, Wang Ping diligently guided Madam Su's martial arts training every single day. He took his responsibilities seriously, constantly stepping in hand-in-hand to correct any mistakes in her posture.

Madam Su tried her best to resist this, but her resistance grew noticeably weaker with each passing day.

'I can't trust him...'

She tried hard to recall the past, desperately using Chen Haoyan's example to convince herself not to be seduced. But the moment she snapped back to reality, she saw Wang Ping's face again.

"Madam, you can rest now."

The young constable gave her a warm, approving smile. "You're progressing beautifully. From now on, you shouldn't need my guidance anymore."

With that, he took a polite step backward on his own.

In that instant, the burning heat that had lingered just inches away from her for days completely vanished. Madam Su swayed slightly, almost stepping forward to close the distance herself.

But a second later, she caught herself.

The healthy flush instantly drained from her face, leaving her deathly pale. A violent surge of emotion—whether shame or anger, she couldn't tell—trembled through her body, causing the Jade Hairpin in her hair to rattle.

That Jade Hairpin had been a gift from Chen Haoyan.

She despised it, yet she had never dared to take it off, because every time she did, it would enrage Chen Haoyan. To her, that hairpin was no different from this estate: it was just another cage trapping her.

"It's a pity, really."

Wang Ping's voice interrupted her thoughts again. "I don't actually know many martial arts. Archery requires a great deal of raw strength, so it's not suitable for you to learn just yet. My saber arts were bestowed by the imperial court, so they cannot be taught to outsiders. These minor body-strengthening tricks are all I can offer you. I hope you won't take offense, Madam."

"...Is that so?"

Madam Su stared at him, caught off guard. Before she could stop herself, the words spilled from her mouth. "If that is the case, Lord... before he died, Chen Haoyan hid a few manuals in the butcher shop on the west side of the city..."

"Oh?" Wang Ping turned back to look at her.

Only then did Madam Su realize what she had just blurted out. Her delicate, pale cheeks flushed crimson once again; she was breathtakingly beautiful.

Panicking, she quickly tried to explain herself:

"I-I'm only temporarily lending them to you to read! Since you said you have no more martial arts to teach me... once you learn them, you must come back and teach me."

There was nothing technically wrong with what she said, yet at the same time, everything about it felt wrong.

She had known about those martial arts manuals for a long time, but she had never intended to tell a soul. Her original plan had been to secure her estate, quietly retrieve the manuals, and see if she could practice them herself...

'What is happening to me?'

Burning with humiliation, Madam Su couldn't bear to stand there a second longer. She covered her flushed face and hurried away, only to pass by the mourning hall where Chen Haoyan's coffin rested.

'Is his coffin still in there?'

'Has it been seven days yet? How long until the formal burial?' These past few days had passed like a dream. She actually couldn't remember, her mind drawing a complete blank.

'Forget it. It's not important anymore...'

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