Stealing Luck from the Heavenly Dao's Favorite

When Xiamo entered the room, she bowed respectfully and looked slightly confused.

"Miss, is there something you need?"

"Did anything unusual happen during your night watch?"

Xiamo froze for a moment, then immediately knelt on the floor.

"Please forgive me, Miss. I... fell asleep during the latter half of the night."

Chunyu's eyes widened with anger. "Xiamo! How could you be so careless? Didn't I tell you to rest ahead of time during the day?"

Xiamo's face turned pale as she stammered, "I—I don't know what happened, I've never dozed off like that before…"

Wei Yunxi already had a guess in mind. She didn't blame Xiamo. After all, she was just a mortal. The methods of cultivators weren't something an ordinary person could detect or resist. So Wei Yunxi simply waved her hand. "It's fine. I already have a good idea of what happened. Chunyu will take the night watch tonight."

"Yes, Miss."

After breakfast, Zhenzhu arrived to escort Wei Yunxi to the cultivation hall.

Wei Yunxi wore a bright, expectant expression as she left Zhuóhuá Courtyard, with her four maids watching her go.

Once her identity was verified, Wei Yunxi entered the cultivation hall alone. Zhenzhu wasn't permitted inside and returned to Zhuóhuá Courtyard at Wei Yunxi's request.

Right at the entrance of the hall, Wei Yunxi ran into Wei Yunqing.

Wei Yunqing's eyes were filled with pride, while Wei Yunxi greeted her with a sweet smile. "Sister Yunqing, you're here too? Did your new maid escort you today?"

Wei Yunqing, visibly uncomfortable, took a step back to widen the distance between them. With her chin lifted, she answered, "Father assigned me a maid at the sixth layer of Qi Refining. What about you?"

Wei Yunxi immediately pouted and put on a pitiful expression. "Father is so biased. I'm going to complain to him—I want a sixth-layer maid too!"

Just then, the Sixth Elder in charge of the cultivation hall opened his eyes. He had heard every word between the two girls, though he understood perfectly well why Wei Lingyue had made such arrangements.

He coughed lightly and said, "The hour is upon us. Everyone, find your seats."

Wei Yunqing, confident in her superiority, held her head high and was the first to enter. Wei Yunxi followed behind, still looking aggrieved, and chose a seat in the far corner to sit in silence.

The Sixth Elder said nothing more and began the lecture on qi intake. "Today's lesson is on the fundamentals of drawing qi into the body. The first step is to perceive spiritual energy as light particles, which vary depending on your spirit root attributes…"

Wei Yunxi pretended to stay distracted, even though she had already heard this same lesson in the Feng household. Still, she kept one ear open to see if the Wei clan's teachings differed. She could always combine the strengths of both approaches.

Part of her mind, however, remained focused on last night's incident. She suspected it was Zhenzhu who had moved her storage pendant, and the motive wasn't hard to guess.

If Zhenzhu was working for Du Ruolan, then her target was likely the resources left behind by Feng Jiayun. Her mother, after all, had been a second-tier alchemist, and the pills she'd left behind were enough to support Wei Yunxi's cultivation all the way to the Foundation Establishment stage.

To Du Ruolan, those were extremely valuable resources. Even if she didn't need them herself, she'd surely want to funnel them toward her daughter, who had exceptional potential.

Since she couldn't trust the maid assigned to her, Wei Yunxi knew she couldn't risk letting Zhenzhu guard her while she attempted qi intake. What if Zhenzhu sabotaged her? If her foundation was damaged, who could she even cry to for help?

As she was turning over her plans, a child's excited voice broke through her thoughts. "Look! What's that around Sister Yunqing?"

Everyone in the cultivation hall turned to look. Sure enough, two types of glowing lights—blue and green—were circling around Wei Yunqing like a dreamlike aura.

"Silence!"

The Sixth Elder's sharp voice cut through the whispers, though his gaze softened as he looked at Wei Yunqing. Dual spirit roots were indeed remarkable. For her to sense spiritual energy particles on the very first day of training was a promising sign.

The other children looked at her with envy and admiration. It was only day one, and someone had already made progress? Unfair!

Wei Yunxi, however, muttered quiet prayers. Hopefully, the girl wouldn't succeed.

Whether it was divine intervention or simply a twist of fate, something caused Wei Yunqing to open her eyes moments later. The light particles dispersed as soon as she did.

She scratched her head, looking a bit frustrated, then glanced at the Sixth Elder.

He gave her a kind smile. "Yunqing-girl, no need to rush. Just being able to sense the particles on the first day is excellent. Drawing them into your body will take some time. Keep working at it."

"Yes, Sixth Elder. I'll remember."

Wei Yunqing glanced around and saw the awe in her peers' eyes. That frustration of hers vanished in an instant.

At noon, the Sixth Elder gave everyone half an hour for lunch. The afternoon would be spent trying to sense spiritual energy again.

When Zhenzhu came to escort Wei Yunxi back to Zhuóhuá Courtyard, the girl acted a little disheartened.

"Zhenzhu, how long did it take you to draw qi into your body?"

Zhenzhu answered respectfully, "Replying to Miss, this servant has four spirit roots. It took three months to succeed in qi intake."

"So long?!"

"Yes. My aptitude is far lower than yours, Miss, and I had limited resources. That's why it took me so long.

With your talent, you should be able to succeed within a month. Please don't be anxious. The more anxious you are, the harder it becomes."

"…I understand."

That evening, after dinner, Wei Yunxi had Zhenzhu wait outside her door to stand guard. She then sat cross-legged on her bed, pretending to meditate.

But the moment she closed her eyes, she could see shimmering, multicolored spiritual energy all around her. She could feel it—if she reached out with warmth and goodwill, the particles would approach and enter her body.

But she couldn't do that.

With her three-root aptitude, qi intake on the first day would be too suspicious. Wei Lingyue might begin to question it. Du Ruolan and Wei Yunqing would fixate on her. And if they became desperate enough… she could be stripped of her spirit roots or even have her golden core forcefully extracted someday.

She didn't want that. Not now, not ever. So for now, she had to play it safe.

Zhenzhu, ever vigilant, watched from outside the room. She saw Wei Yunxi sit in a meditative pose for fifteen minutes before getting restless. The girl opened her eyes, fiddled with her fingers for a while, then pulled out items from her storage pendant and started playing with them.

She had clearly forgotten all about cultivating.

Zhenzhu's lips curled into a satisfied smile. This job had turned out much easier than she'd expected. She didn't even need to intervene. The child was hopeless on her own. That made her job much more convenient.

And since her only responsibility was to ensure the girl's safety, she saw no reason to interfere with Wei Yunxi's sluggish progress.

For the next three days, Wei Yunxi maintained the same routine.

Then on the fifth day, news came from the cultivation hall—Wei Yunqing had successfully drawn qi into her body.