Chapter Thirty-Eight: Renovating the Azure Cloud Sect

Before Wen Xinyao’s tears had even fallen, the “Milk Gate” fans in the livestream were still shouting loudly, cheering for their idol. But as her almond-shaped eyes reddened and tears began to swirl, the tone in the chat shifted instantly.

The merrymakers quickly logged in, ready to show what it meant to “add insult to injury.” In less than a minute, fresh memes began to circulate. In these memes, Wen Xinyao wore her hair in a bun, eyes brimming with tears, head tilted slightly upward, the background edited into a shoddy expanse of ocean, as if she were gazing toward the moon.

“Don’t cry, goddess of great milk from ancient Greece!”
“How could you treat Milk Yao like this, truly savage—meme +1!”

Where once serious comments had discussed Liu Shuangling’s astonishing prowess, now the jokers overwhelmed the feed. The netizens preferred teasing and playing with the trending jokes over earnest analysis of the match results.

Tia watched this unfold in silence, deciding to ride the wave of popularity. Later, she would instruct the hired supporters to cement Liu Shuangling’s image as the “Great Demon King” and then raise the banner of the Liu Sect. She would rally for external challenges, compare battle prowess, and attract more people to spar with Cloud Gate. After all, among the nine-tier spirit masters, not everyone was a gentleman. In a world where strength determined everything, hot-tempered powerhouses were the norm.

“The champion of the sixth Stellar Scripture Showcase is Miss Liu Shuangling of Cloud Gate!” The hostess maintained her professional composure, her voice ringing with excitement as she closed the event.

As for the winner’s speech, she considered Liu Shuangling’s sharp tongue and decided it was wiser not to let her speak, lest Wen Xinyao’s already broken spirit shatter even further.

With a glance, she indicated for the staff to hand the five hundred thousand check to Liu Shuangling, then bowed and said, “That concludes this livestream. Thank you all for your support. See you next time—if there is a next time.” She joked self-deprecatingly at the end.

The stream ended.

Disciples from the Wonderful Scripture Pavilion quickly surrounded Wen Xinyao, like mother hens shielding their chick, keeping her safe in the center. Someone handed her tissues, softly comforting, “Yao, don’t be sad. You did great.” Another gently patted her back, trying to soothe her emotions. Because Liu Shuangling hadn’t left yet, none dared say anything harsh, bottling their dissatisfaction and anger.

At that moment, a female disciple suddenly noticed Bai Yuijing’s presence and whispered in surprise, “Huh, why doesn’t he look injured at all?”

“Has our master turned over a new leaf?”
“Impossible. How could our master care about his dignity?”

These words silenced the others. Su Li was certainly not one to care about men’s feelings.

“Could it be Elder Su lost?”
“What nonsense! How could our master lose to a mere man!”

Wen Xinyao, her eyes red from crying, quickly refuted this, glaring, “It must be that our master had urgent matters and let him escape by luck.”

No one dared respond further. Even if they knew things weren’t so coincidental, Wen Xinyao’s attitude mattered more than the truth—no one wanted to be on Elder Su’s bad side.

Tia sneered, “Big breasts, little brains.”

“People cannot imagine what lies beyond their understanding, just as you cannot picture what it would look like if I lost,” Bai Yuijing remarked casually, then added, “Shuangling, congratulations on your victory.”

“That was only to be expected,” Liu Shuangling replied with a smile, slipping the check into her pocket. “Let’s head back.”

“Perfect. I have something to discuss with you all,” Bai Yuijing said. In a blink, he vanished from the scene.

He didn’t appear in the main hall, but returned to his bedroom. The furnishings were simple and neat: a wooden bed, a desk, a bookshelf, and nothing more.

He approached the desk, opened a drawer, and took out a roll of yellowing blueprints. These were the designs his master and fellow disciples had drawn when leaving Cloud Gate, envisioning its future.

The current Cloud Gate lacked the grandeur befitting the greatest sect and needed reconstruction.

…

In the main hall, the three women stood together. Tia noticed a cup of tea on the table, full to the brim—not meant for Su Li, but indicating another guest had visited. She made this judgment silently.

Bai Yuijing suddenly appeared in the hall, spreading the blueprints across the table. “Come take a look. The hundred million funds will arrive soon. I want to rebuild Cloud Gate. These are the designs jointly crafted by the previous master and disciples. See if there’s anything you’d like to add.”

They walked forward.

The blueprint brimmed with fantastical imagination. For the mountain area, cherry blossoms, phoenix trees, osmanthus, and plum trees were to be planted in sequence for spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and maintained in perpetual bloom. Thus, whenever visitors arrived at Cloud Gate, they would see a dazzling array of flowers, as if all seasons converged there.

The planned staircase had six thousand six hundred steps, each engraved so that stepping on any one would allow a person to ascend instantly to the summit through advanced scriptures—a truly extravagant demand.

Above the stairs stood two tower pavilions a hundred meters tall. Behind them, the main Cloud Gate building would have three floors, resembling a majestic palace.

The main hall would not be enclosed by walls; the ground paved with blue stone. Behind it, a nine-floor scripture repository for storing various spirit arts, and to the east, a rectangular practice room for spell, scripture, martial arts, and sword-spirit enlightenment. The west side would house the disciples’ dormitory.

To the northwest, a massive stone cliff would be erected, the faces of previous masters carved upon its surface. At the foot of the mountain would be the ancestral hall, for honoring masters and future meritorious disciples.

Tia finished examining the design, and though she didn’t want to add anything, she asked curiously, “Is Cloud Gate really this large?”

Bai Yuijing explained, “We’ll use scriptures like the ones in the main hall to expand the space.”

Liu Shuangling’s face showed surprise. “But that would require constant spirit pressure to maintain the expanded space, and we’d have to consider the supply issues for those leaving the sect.”

“I can solve it with energy storage and remote spirit pressure input,” Bai Yuijing replied, a smile brightening his face, clearly in good spirits.

Tia was astonished—maintaining such a vast space at all times, what level of spirit pressure did a master possess?

Bai Yuijing continued, “Before construction starts, if you have any requests, speak up so we can incorporate them.”

Liu Shuangling thought for a moment. “Considering future disciples, we’ll need toilets and bathrooms, changing rooms, and a dining hall—a proper kitchen for me.”

“Agreed.”

“And add the Cleanse Dust scripture. Cleaning such a huge place would be too much trouble otherwise.”

“I support senior sister’s suggestion,” Tia nodded repeatedly.

Bai Yuijing, annoyed, said, “Sweeping Cloud Gate is meant to foster your sense of belonging to the sect. The Cleanse Dust scripture can be included, but I won’t use it—you’ll still have to sweep.”

“Tsk,” Tia grumbled unhappily.

Ignoring her, Bai Yuijing continued, “Tia, you’ll take charge of contacting suppliers for the materials. Only the best will do.”

“In that case, a hundred million might not be enough.”

“If it isn’t, we’ll take out a loan,” Bai Yuijing replied unconcerned.

In life, if you never borrow or owe, how will you find motivation to accomplish things?