The cave dwelling’s gate was tightly shut.

Thick, azure jade doors glowed with a restrained spiritual light, separating the world within from the world without.

In front of the cave dwelling lay a small, smooth platform carved from a single piece of mountain rock.

Night had fallen.

The cool moonlight shone down, casting an eerie, blue-green luster upon the stone platform, like a frozen, cold pond.

At the edge of the platform was a bottomless cliff.

The wind wailed like a lament.

Chen San stood in the center of the platform. He dared not get too close to the cave dwelling’s gate, fearing he might displease its owner.

In the moonlight, he seemed to be immersed in a cold pond.

At this moment, his lean body was stiff and straight, yet he habitually hunched his back slightly, his head bowed, like a stone statue frozen in shadow.

The return message had already penetrated the doorway and vanished without a trace. Chen San didn’t know if any cultivators inside the cave dwelling had received his message.

The night wind, carrying the chill from the mountaintop, spiraled up from beneath the cliff, wailing and moaning, raising a layer of tiny goosebumps on his exposed neck.

The cold seeped into his bones, but he was oblivious to it.

Each time the wind paused, he instinctively held his breath and pricked up his ears, trying to catch any sound that might emanate from within the door—footsteps, a light cough, or even the subtle hum of spiritual energy flowing.

However, all he received was a deeper silence.

The cave dwelling’s entrance before him was like an indifferent, gaping maw, swallowing all his hopes.

“Then I’ll wait until dawn, to show my sincerity,” he sighed inwardly, his hands and feet gradually growing cold. His gaze no longer fixed on the doorway, but slowly drifted.

On the cliff face beside the cave dwelling, he saw a clump of incredibly tenacious vines squeezing out of a rock crevice.

The dark brown stems were rough and twisted, clinging tightly to the meager damp soil in the rock cracks. Most of the vines were heavily pressed down by a protruding, jagged, massive rock, managing only to squeeze out a few slender, weak tendrils from the edges and bottom of the crevice, twisting as they stretched upwards.

A few sparse rays of moonlight fell, illuminating the tip of one tendril. Two tender new leaves crowned the tip, not yet fully unfurled, imbued with an almost humble vitality under the moonlight.

Chen San’s gaze gradually fixed on these two green leaves, and the techniques of his past emerged in his mind.

In the mine shaft, his young, humble body huddled like a rat in a dark corner.

Only a hole above his head cast down a ray of sunlight.

Chen San was not born into a cultivation family, nor even an ordinary household. He was the illegitimate son of a mine slave, living in the spirit stone mines since childhood.

To survive a few more days in the harsh environment of the mine, the old miners secretly learned many incomplete and rudimentary breathing techniques, as well as some local methods to increase strength and tolerance to pain.

Chen San, like a parched sponge, greedily absorbed these “junk” teachings and secretly grew.

The cruel survival environment made him acutely aware of his surroundings from a young age, enabling him to utilize all resources around him to their perceived utmost, and to rack his brains, even risking his life, for a tiny fragment of ore containing faint spiritual energy!

Before his death, his father pointed a finger at the sunlit hole: “Little brat, you’re unlucky, you’re my child. I’m a mine slave, and so are you.

“I have a low-grade spiritual root, and so do you.

“Heh heh, it’s useless. Our entire lives, even if we’re only at the Qi Refinement stage. At most, we can only reach Foundation Establishment.”

“Do you see that vine?”

“Learn from it!”

“By ourselves, we can only be at the very bottom of cultivators. But if we can attach ourselves to a certain power, a certain organization, we can reach heights impossible in this lifetime.

“Just like that fat, foolish overseer, his cultivation is utterly insufficient, but he’s a distant relative of Steward Zhang. So, he can become an overseer!”

“Did you hear that, little brat!”

Chen San gritted his teeth, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the dark green vine, and hissed in a low voice: “I heard you, Old Man!”

When the forest is vast, all kinds of birds are found.

Among countless cultivators, if there are high-ranking ones, there are naturally middle and lower-ranking ones.

Chen San had no talent; his aptitude for cultivation was at the very bottom, and he lacked any cultivation resources.

He was like a vine, like a leaf, striving with all his might to grow upwards, reaching towards the towering cliff face.

But the cliff was too high, too steep, too rigid. The vine’s tip touched it in vain, like a pilgrim extending trembling fingers, yet never truly able to cling.

It wasn’t that Chen San hadn’t tried to attach himself to powerful figures.

He once presented a meticulously drawn treasure map to Steward Zhao. Steward Zhao threw the treasure map on the ground and ground it under his boot. The harsh mockery and unrestrained laughter from around them felt like countless needles piercing Chen San’s eardrums.

He also once built an automaton bird capable of nocturnal reconnaissance. He offered it to Captain Wang of the City Guard as a stepping stone for promotion. The automaton bird was then used as evidence, with Captain Wang framing Chen San as the culprit of a major case. The stench of the prison, the excruciating pain of flogging, and then he was tortured into a confession.

He had a stroke of luck, just happening to save a young master of a family. In the end, he held a light bag of low-grade spirit stones, standing outside the grand vermilion gates of the family. From within, Young Master Lin’s voice faintly drifted out with disgust: “How unlucky…” The steward’s gaze at Chen San was cold, filled with condescension, as if looking at a stray dog begging for food on the street.

He even spent almost all his savings at an auction, buying a treasure at a high price, and publicly presented it to a young lord. The young lord gently pushed away the magical artifact he offered with a folding fan, as if swatting a buzzing fly. He looked down at Chen San, his face full of undisguised disdain: “What are you? Do you even deserve to offer me a gift? It’s a pity this treasure, having passed through your hands, is now tainted.”

Each humiliation burned Chen San’s memory.

But no matter how intense the burning pain, it couldn’t extinguish his desire to cling.

“By myself, even if I exhaust my entire life, I will only twist and struggle in the dirty, muddy crevices of the bottom, growing a few insignificant leaves.”

“At any moment, I could be completely crushed by a larger rock, or stomped by an unintentional foot.”

“By myself, it’s absolutely impossible, but that doesn’t mean there’s no other hope!”

“I was born a weed. A humble vine can only reach a certain height, receive more sunlight, and see more scenery by clinging to a tall mountain.”

“They look down on me simply because I don’t have much value. Who would recruit a low-grade spiritual root, a weed-like vine with no potential, as a subordinate?”

“How can I make myself more valuable?”

“Perhaps being rooted at the bottom is both my weakness and my strength—”

The vine named Chen San, from the sunlight in the mine shaft of his childhood, gradually grew to this place, nestled in the crevice of the giant rock beside the Qingshi Cave Dwelling, under the clear moonlit night, its leaves trembling in the night wind.

What would be the outcome of this attachment?

Would the person behind this door be another Steward Zhao, another Captain Wang? Would that young lord’s folding fan from the auction house push him away again?

At the same time, anticipation flickered like a faint, tenacious firefly in the darkness.

What if? What if this time was different?

What if the owner of this Shushi Cave Dwelling truly needed a sharp pair of eyes and ears, a helper who moved in the shadows?

Worry, anticipation, tension, and a touch of panic, like invisible vines, coiled around Chen San’s heart, tightening with each passing moment.

Amidst the wailing night wind, his body and mind were taut, accumulating a growing chill.

Silence, still boundless silence.

The azure jade gate remained motionless, like ten-thousand-year-old profound ice.

Chen San instinctively looked at the ordinary vine in the crevice again, as if he saw his own destined, shattered end in the wind.

Just then, from inside the cave dwelling’s gate, there seemed to be an extremely faint “click” sound of jade rubbing together.

Chen San’s pupils suddenly constricted, all his muscles tensed, and he instinctively held his breath.

The doorway gradually opened a tiny crack.

Then, under Chen San’s intense gaze, this crack gradually widened, revealing the figure of an elderly cultivator.

“Chen San greets Senior,” Chen San immediately bowed.

Chef Lao scrutinized him from head to toe, then nodded slightly: “The Young Master has summoned you; follow me.”

Chen San’s heart immediately filled with joy. In the past, it was always the subordinates of the powerful who dealt with him perfunctorily. He never expected this time to be personally summoned by Ning Zhuo.

Although he had just attended Ning Zhuo’s banquet in the restaurant, the difference between public and private… Chen San, who had always struggled at the bottom, knew too well the huge distinction!

Thump, thump, thump—

As his anticipation grew, so did Chen San’s nervousness, and his heart rate quickened.

The training formation opened a doorway, and Chen San stepped through. Seeing Ning Zhuo sitting in meditation from a distance, he immediately bowed respectfully.

Ning Zhuo: “Chen San, how did you fare with the task I gave you?”

Ning Zhuo’s tone was not polite, but Chen San was even more pleased. This was because the attitude towards fellow cultivators and subordinates was naturally different.

Chen San concisely reported Ah Huo’s performance and other details to Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo did not respond but fell into a brief silence.

Chen San stared at the floor tiles at his feet, his heart pounding even faster, his mouth dry, and time passing like years.

Ning Zhuo took out a bag of spirit stones and tossed it at Chen San’s feet: “I’ve seen your intelligence report. You are also participating in the Feiyun Grand Assembly, so the Wanxiang Sect conducted more investigations into your situation. Therefore, I also learned quite a bit.

“Since you are skilled in intelligence gathering, use this money first to do something for me.”

Chen San was delighted, immediately kneeling on one knee: “Please, Young Master, command as you wish; your subordinate will surely do his utmost.”

Ning Zhuo then said: “I want you to spread some rumors—”

Chen San listened carefully, immediately memorized it, then repeated it back to Ning Zhuo, word for word, almost without a single error.

His memory was outstanding; otherwise, he couldn’t have handled intelligence work. In fact, having grown up in the mine shafts, if he didn’t have an exceptional memory, how could he distinguish the correct paths in the complex, similar underground tunnels and mine shafts?

Ning Zhuo nodded slightly: “Go.”

Chen San: “Your subordinate takes his leave.”

Behind him, the array opened a passage the size of a doorway. He bowed, retreated several steps, and then turned to leave.

Chef Lao stood outside the array. Seeing Chen San emerge, he stretched out his arm: “This way.”

The two walked out of the cave dwelling, one after the other.

Chen San bowed again to Chef Lao to bid farewell: “Thank you, Senior.”

Chef Lao grunted expressionlessly: “Since the Young Master values you, then do your job well.”

“Your subordinate will certainly do his utmost!” Chen San finally dared to speak a little louder, making his assurance.

Chef Lao closed the cave dwelling’s gate.

Chen San turned to leave, walked to the edge of the stone platform, then stopped and turned to face the cave dwelling, bowing once more.

He left by cloud, and halfway through, as the night wind continuously blew, he finally calmed down slightly.

He shook his head slightly, still feeling a bit dazed.

Recalling what had just happened, it felt surreal, like a dream.

He hadn’t expected Ning Zhuo not to lecture him at length but to directly give him a new task.

“Could this be another test from Young Master Ning Zhuo?”

Thinking this, Chen San finally used his divine sense to probe into his storage bag.

“There are so many spirit stones?!” The number of spirit stones in the storage bag exceeded his expectations.

He had already prepared to use his own funds, but Ning Zhuo had provided far more money than the activity itself required. This was an experience Chen San had never had before!

“Doesn’t he fear I’ll take this money and just run?” Chen San wondered.

“Or is he of noble birth and doesn’t know how much it costs to spread rumors?”

Chen San shook his head again, his eyes becoming resolute: “No matter what, I must seize this excellent opportunity!”

Ban Family Ancestral Hall.

Creak, creak—

A group of Grand Elders surrounded the Clan’s Destiny Nexus Chain, their faces all ashen.

The Clan’s Destiny Nexus Chain once again underwent a transformation, revealing some secrets of Ning Zhuo’s fortune.

“That fellow still got this fortune!”

“Even before he obtained it, he already suppressed Ban Ji. Now his fortune is even stronger, what are we to do?”

“Ban Ji’s king’s mandate needs to be activated step by step, but Ning Zhuo has stalled Ban Ji, which also means stalling the entire Ban family’s path to advancement.”

“We must free Ban Ji from this tribulation!”

“But the Wanxiang Sect cannot be provoked—”

“We need to plan this carefully!”

“First, let’s use the Clan’s Destiny Nexus Chain to create some trouble for his fortune. This kid’s fortune was only half measured, but it has already shocked me to the core. We must suppress him in this aspect!”

“Seconded.”

“Seconded.”

“Seconded!”

One day later.

In his cave dwelling, Ban Ji met with Monk Wangyan, Rust Calamity Craftsman, and Liu Qingyan.

His face, too, had turned ashen.

“What are you doing? Has Ning Zhuo scared the wits out of you?!” Ban Ji sneered, staring at the three demonic cultivators before him.

Monk Wangyan clasped his hands together at his chest: “This Ning Zhuo has already obtained the stone tablet and is a genius even stronger than you, Ban Ji. Behind him, there’s a mysterious and powerful force backing him. Your meager reward is absolutely insufficient for me to contend with such a favored child of heaven.”

Ban Ji’s expression softened slightly: “Ning Zhuo’s strength indeed exceeded original expectations. If it’s about money, that’s easy! I’ll just add more.”

But the response he received was the trio’s摇头 (shaking of heads).

Rust Calamity Craftsman said: “I’m afraid I’ll earn the money but not live to spend it. Madam Panshi has been missing for many days. She previously used Che Zhuzi to deal with Ning Zhuo, and now with no news, she must have met a terrible fate.”

Liu Qingyan: “Even if we could deal with Ning Zhuo now, how would we face the retaliation from the forces behind him in the future?”

“What’s even more terrifying is that he has already secured the first place for Qinghuangzi; he now holds four first places.”

“And you, Ban Ji?”

Ban Ji’s face instantly flushed red, revealing his anger.

He roared: “I was just thrown off my rhythm! If I were truly allowed to perform, without that brat Ning Zhuo interfering, I would have certainly been a stone tablet holder long ago.”

“Don’t you know my strength?”

The three fell silent, exchanging glances.

Rust Calamity Craftsman: “It’s precisely because we know your strength and prospects that we initially agreed to help you deal with Ning Zhuo.”

“But the struggle between you and Ning Zhuo is not something we can meddle in.”

Monk Wangyan: “A large wave of rumors has already emerged in the market, saying that the three of us were dispatched by you to obstruct Ning Zhuo.”

“If we continue to make trouble for Ning Zhuo, it will be too dangerous; the Wanxiang Sect might even step in to deal with us!”

Ban Ji fell silent.