The Cold and Aloof Palace Master's Daily Demon-Slaying Life

If I don't leave, at best I can only become a decent Purple Mansion cultivator under the Zuo family's rules, but I still won't be able to truly protect you or control your destiny.

Only by leaving, only by becoming stronger, stronger than the Zuo family, can I have a real voice and truly protect the people I want to protect.

Therefore, forgive my sister's selfishness.

I promise you, I will become strong as soon as possible and I will definitely come back for you.

for sure.

The next day, she found the clan elder Zuo Xiuxian, her face calm, but her eyes were as firm as a rock.

"I agree."

"I'm going to take the assessment."

"I'll leave my younger sister in the family's care."

Zuo Xiuxian gave her a deep look and nodded: "The family will arrange a flying boat and manpower to send you to Taihua Gate. May you... have a bright future."

A few days later, a small flying boat belonging to the Zuo family, carrying twelve-year-old Zuo Qingqiu, left Cuiwei Mountain and flew towards the distant Taihua Gate.

As the airship took off, Zuo Qingqiu stood by the porthole, watching Zuojiayu below shrink rapidly, and the house where she had lived for four years gradually become blurred and eventually disappear into the clouds.

She didn't turn around.

The fingernails dug deeply into the palm, leaving crescent-shaped blood marks.

Sister, wait for me.

-

The entrance examination for Taihua Sect was not too difficult for Zuo Qingqiu, who was already at the fifth level of Qi Refining and had a solid foundation.

She entered the mountain gate with the highest score in the assessment.

To her even greater surprise, she was spotted at first glance by Yuan Lei Peak Master, who was then searching for a successor and was a late-stage Purple Mansion Real Person, and was taken in as his personal disciple.

From then on, her life entered a new phase.

The atmosphere at Taihua Gate is indeed much more open than that of the Zuo family. Here, strength and potential are valued more. Although gender and background do have an impact, they are not as insurmountable barriers as family background.

If you are strong enough and work hard enough, you will gain the corresponding resources and respect.

Master Yuan Lei treated her extremely well, imparting all his knowledge to her and even regarding her as his own daughter. Most of her fellow disciples were also kind. Here, she felt a long-lost, pure atmosphere of cultivation, where she could single-mindedly pursue the Great Dao.

She eagerly studied more advanced thunder techniques, practicing relentlessly, and her cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds.

But in the quiet of the night, she would always think of Cui Weishan, that mansion, and her sister's lonely figure.

She would write to her younger sister regularly, entrusting the letters to be delivered by traveling caravans. She would also include some elixirs and materials that she had saved up and that would be useful for the Qi Refining stage. In the letters, she would recount her experiences at Taihua Sect, her insights into cultivation, and urge her sister to cultivate diligently and take good care of herself.

Replies always came slowly, and were mostly brief. My sister's handwriting changed from crooked and messy at first to neat and beautiful later on.

The letter recounted trivial matters at home, the slow progress of cultivation, and longing for his sister. His tone gradually shifted from initial complaints and grievances to a calm, even somewhat... distant one.

Zuo Qingqiu knew that her younger sister was resenting her.

He resented her for leaving him alone back then, and he resented her for being thousands of miles away now, only able to contact him through cold letters.

She could understand, but there was nothing she could do.

She could only turn this guilt into motivation to train even harder.

She needs to become stronger as soon as possible, strong enough to bring her younger sister over, strong enough to protect her sister from any harm.

At the age of twenty-five, she successfully established her foundation.

Having successfully established her foundation, her lifespan increased to three hundred years, officially placing her among the core members of the Taihua Sect. Master Yuan Lei was overjoyed and granted her a long leave to return to her hometown.

With a mix of excitement and trepidation, Zuo Qingqiu returned to the Zuo family home of Cui Weishan, which she had not visited for thirteen years.

She thought that her success in establishing her foundation was a small achievement, and that her family might look at her with more respect, and her sister might be happy for her and forgive her for "abandoning" her back then.

However, reality dealt her a harsh blow.

The family's reaction to her return was lukewarm. In the Zuo family, which had many Purple Mansion cultivators, and even late-stage Purple Mansion cultivators, a Foundation Establishment cultivator was indeed not a big deal. The elders merely received her as a formality, offered a few words of encouragement, and then told her to make herself at home.

What saddened her even more was her sister's attitude.

When she arrived at the old house with great excitement, she found the gate tightly closed.

She knocked on the door, and her sister's indifferent voice came from inside: "Who is it?"

"Leng Qiu, it's me, sister." She tried to make her voice sound gentle.

There was a long silence inside.

Then, the gate to the courtyard opened a crack.

Her younger sister, Zuo Lengqiu, stood behind the door, watching her.

Thirteen years had passed, and my younger sister had grown from a tearful little girl into a graceful young woman. However, her face was thin, her eyes were cold, and there was even a hint of resentment and aloofness in them.

"Sister," she called out, her tone as flat as a stranger's, "you're back."

"Yes, I'm back." Zuo Qingqiu forced a smile, wanting to step forward and hug her. "I've successfully established my foundation, Leng Qiu."

Zuo Lengqiu slightly turned her body to avoid the hug, and simply nodded: "Oh, congratulations."

Zuo Qingqiu's arm froze in mid-air, her heart sinking deeper and deeper.

"Won't you invite me in?" she asked softly.

Zuo Lengqiu pursed her lips, but finally stepped aside and said, "Come in."

The courtyard was still the same courtyard, kept clean and tidy, but it exuded a desolate feeling of being uninhabited.

My younger sister lives here alone and is clearly not happy.

The two sisters sat in the hall, speechless.

Zuo Qingqiu tried to find topics to talk about, asking her younger sister how her cultivation was going, how her life was, and if anyone was bullying her.

Zuo Lengqiu's answers were all brief, mostly "It's alright", "It's so-so", or "Nothing".

The atmosphere was awkward and heavy.

Finally, Zuo Qingqiu took out a storage bag filled with pills, materials, and some immortal money that she had prepared for her sister.

"Take these; they will be helpful for your cultivation."

She pushed the storage bag over.

Zuo Lengqiu looked at the storage bag with a complex expression, a mixture of longing and struggle, which finally turned into a self-deprecating smile.

"Sister, you don't need to do this." She didn't answer. "I'm doing fine now. Although the family doesn't value me, they've still given me the cultivation resources I need. My aptitude is very poor; no matter how many resources I use, I can't catch up with others. Why waste your good things?"

"Leng Qiu..." Zuo Qingqiu felt a pang of pain in her heart.

"Sister, you should leave." Zuo Lengqiu stood up, her back to her, her voice trembling slightly. "You are already a top disciple of the Taihua Sect, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, with a bright future ahead. I... I am just an insignificant Grade E aptitude from the Zuo family, and this is all I'll ever be. We... are no longer on the same path."

"But you're my sister!" Zuo Qingqiu stood up as well, raising her voice, "We're family!"

Zuo Lengqiu turned around, her eyes slightly red, but she held back her tears: "Family? Would a family abandon me for over ten years without a word? Would a family be thousands of miles away when I needed my sister the most?"