It took only a moment for Yang Kai to return, carrying a bowl of plain white rice, which he handed to Zhao Ya.
Zhao Ya took it and looked up at him. "Just one bowl?"
"Not enough?" Yang Kai frowned.
"But there's also Brother Xiaobai!"
Zhao Yebai hurriedly shook his head. "It's fine, I'm not hungry."
Zhao Ya gazed at Yang Kai with pitiful eyes. "Master, can you give us one more bowl?"
"No!" Yang Kai said, then flashed away and vanished.
"Stingy!" Zhao Ya was furious. This master of hers was not only devoid of any human warmth, but was stingy to an extreme degree. Still, at least there was something to eat now, and her impression of him had already soured beyond repair. She regretted ever taking him as her master—a grown man bullying two children was simply outrageous.
After some back and forth, the two children wolfed down the single bowl of white rice, eating until they were thoroughly satisfied. Though they were still far from full afterward, at least they had regained some strength.
On the Void Continent, spring turned to autumn, summer ended and winter arrived, year after year.
Zhao Ya's aptitude was of the highest calibre, and the leadership of the Seven Star Market had placed great expectations on her, believing that with such talent, her path of cultivation would be smooth sailing, and that within a few short years she would easily break through to the Sovereign Realm.
Yet ten years had passed, and Zhao Ya had only reached the Zhenyuan Realm.
The martial path, from bottom to top, comprised thirteen major realms: Body Tempering, Kaiyuan, Qi Movement, Separation-Union, Zhenyuan, Shenyou, Transcendence, Sage Entry, Saint King, Void Return, Void King, Dao Origin, and Sovereign.
Though reaching the Zhenyuan Realm in ten years was not slow by any measure, it fell far short of what one would expect from Zhao Ya's top-tier aptitude.
After all, Miao Feiping, who had entered the Seven Star Market in the same batch, had already reached the Transcendence Realm—two full major realms ahead of Zhao Ya.
When word spread, everyone assumed that the Supreme Elder of the Seven Star Market residing on Jade Peak was doing his disciples a disservice. His own cultivation might be lofty, but he clearly had no idea how to teach. There were such people in this world—those who understood cultivation themselves but were not cut out to be teachers. A fine piece of jade had been ground into an ugly shape under his hands, and people couldn't help but feel sorry that Zhao Ya's brilliance had been wasted.
As for Zhao Yebai, the menial worker who had entered Jade Peak alongside Zhao Ya, he had long since been completely forgotten. Only the disciples of the Seven Star Market still occasionally saw him bustling about up and down the mountain.
Ten years had passed. The seven- or eight-year-old children of back then were now seventeen or eighteen. Over a decade of menial labour had sculpted Zhao Yebai into a lean, agile young man with sharp, spirited eyes.
At the base of Jade Peak, by a small pond, Zhao Yebai came hurrying over with two large buckets. He filled them with water, and before he could leave, he spotted a crowd of people bustling toward him.
They were all disciples of the Seven Star Market. At their centre strode a fair-faced young man with rosy lips and white teeth, surrounded on all sides like the moon cradled by stars. He was a few years older than Zhao Yebai, twirling a folding fan in one hand with an air of dashing nonchalance, heading straight toward the pond.
Hearing the commotion, Zhao Yebai looked up, and his expression stiffened.
The group arrived and, deliberately or not, encircled him. The fan-wielding youth snapped his fan shut with a crack, tucked it behind his head, and regarded Zhao Yebai with casual indifference. "The item I asked you to pass on to Junior Sister Xiaoya the other day—did you give it to her?"
Zhao Yebai scratched his head. "I did."
The youth raised an eyebrow. "Handed it to her directly?"
"Mm." Zhao Yebai nodded.
The youth leaned in eagerly. "What did Junior Sister Xiaoya say?"
Zhao Yebai answered, "Nothing at all."
The youth's face went blank with surprise, and he pressed further. "Did she at least look at it?"
"Should I tell you the truth or lie?" Zhao Yebai asked cautiously.
The youth glared. "The truth, of course!"
Zhao Yebai said cheerfully, "She didn't look at it. She tore it right up and told me never to talk to you again!"
The eager anticipation on the youth's face crumbled into boundless disappointment, and his complexion turned pale, as though he had suffered a devastating blow.
"Senior Brother Liu," Zhao Yebai called softly, "I still need to carry water. I'll be going now."
The youth named Liu snapped out of it, gritting his teeth. "You must have said something bad about me—otherwise how could she have torn up the letter without even reading it?"
Last time he'd seen Junior Sister, she'd even smiled at him. If she had no interest in him, why would she have smiled so sweetly?
Zhao Yebai waved his hands frantically. "I didn't! I said nothing at all! I just told her it was from Senior Brother Liu, and then Xiaoya asked, 'What Senior Brother Cow or Senior Brother Dog?'—"
"You're still making excuses!" Senior Brother Liu flew into a rage, waving his hand. "Get him!"
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Yebai dropped into a crouch with practiced speed, curling into a ball and shielding his head. "Not the face!"
His movements were so smooth and well-rehearsed that it was obvious he had been through this countless times.
Over the years, as she grew older, Zhao Ya had bloomed into a stunning beauty. Which of the senior and junior brothers in the entire sect who had been fortunate enough to lay eyes on her hadn't been smitten?