Biluo tossed the scorching piece of roasted meat back and forth between her two small, floating hands, tilting her tall wizard's hat back. Her eyes, brighter than the stars, shimmered with a confidence entirely contrary to her usual timidity. “Qian Jin will definitely return!”

“Yeah.” The weeds blocking the cave entrance rustled, and Qian Jin climbed in, carrying two weapons, his entrance marked by a smile. “I’m back.”

Biluo’s raised head snapped down quickly, whether from shyness or apprehension overriding her demeanor. Her two tender little hands quietly presented a piece of roasted meat to Qian Jin. A voice, thin as a mosquito's buzz, drifted from under the wizard’s hat: “Not quite cooked.”

Qian Jin took the meat and studied Biluo, whom he hadn't seen for several days. He secretly wondered if Huangquan had managed to condense her spiritual energy into magical power, advancing to become a Great Mage. Outwardly, at least, Biluo seemed unchanged.

Sensing Qian Jin’s gaze, Biluo pulled her hat down even lower. After taking a few small bites of the meat held in her delicate hands, she retreated to the cloak woven from feathers and dried grass and resumed her intense meditation practice.

Biting into the nearly cooked meat, Qian Jin watched Biluo meditate. This girl was the most diligent person he had ever met. Despite having virtually no talent, she worked harder than anyone. Life in the Valley of Four Seasons had become monotonous; apart from necessary eating, sleeping, and physical conditioning, she dedicated every other moment to meditation and practice.

Such rare effort, however, yielded little reward. While Biluo’s spiritual power hadn't completely stagnated, the agonizingly slow pace of her progress was the antithesis of her dedication.

Looking at Biluo, Qian Jin felt as if he were looking at himself. A bloodline awakening happened only once. Before the ritual, or after—wasn't he just as dedicated in his efforts?

Shuilian Ying’er glanced at the meditating Biluo, shook her head, and sighed, a faint, unreadable smile touching her beautiful lips. She lightly shook her head and murmured softly to herself, “Why force yourself so? No matter how hard you try, success is impossible. Why?”

Qian Jin’s ears twitched slightly, catching Shuilian Ying’er’s low words. He looked up at her not far away and asked quietly, “Don’t you feel admiration?”

“Effort with a possibility of success is dedication,” Shuilian Ying’er said, sitting cross-legged to practice the Dou Jin within her body. “Effort with no chance of success is obsession.”

Qian Jin frowned slightly, an uncomfortable sensation rising in his chest. “As long as you don’t give up, no one can claim the right to define your success until it’s truly over.”

Shuilian Ying’er looked at Qian Jin, slightly perplexed. Why was he so serious about this? And growing more serious? Did he have some special connection with this girl? Yet, after spending a month together, there was no visible sign of anything unusual.

“If there’s no chance of success, giving up is just a matter of time.” Shuilian Ying’er glanced at the diligently meditating Biluo. “She’s a good person; why waste so much time on this? Wouldn’t it be better to do something else?”

“Since your bloodline awakening failed, why waste time on the path of a warrior? Wouldn't it be better to work in the family's storefronts? The Qian family has Ultimate Bloodline Warriors; they don't need so-called great warriors who lack bloodline power. Before the Qian family’s ultimate awakened bloodline warriors, any great warrior appears utterly insignificant.”

Qian Jin listened to Shuilian Ying’er’s retort, and the high-and-mighty, contemptuous expression of the branch family manager echoed in his mind from the first time he proposed his own ideas.

“Give up?” Qian Jin’s cold laugh seemed to rapidly drop the temperature in the entire cave. “I only know that when people were memorizing texts in school, some gave up on things they could have managed if they had just gritted their teeth. The endurance run test during the entrance exam—people quit when they just needed to push a little harder. If a ferocious magical beast suddenly appeared behind them, spurred by life or death, they would discover that holding on just a bit longer could have brought success.”

“Persistence?” Shuilian Ying’er looked at the faint air of—was it naivety or lingering childishness—around Qian Jin’s features, which had matured somewhat over the month of wind and frost. “Persistence requires willpower.” “Willpower lies in me, willpower lies in the person,” Qian Jin said, his eyes sparkling with clear admiration as he stared at Biluo nearby.

“Willpower isn’t omnipotent,” Shuilian Ying’er gently shook her head, her gaze, tinged with pity, falling upon Biluo. “It’s just wasting life.”

Qian Jin’s brow furrowed deeply. Biluo, still meditating under the great cloak, had opened her star-like eyes. A timid voice slowly sounded in the cave: “Maybe I really don’t have talent…”

Biluo’s starlike eyes dimmed slightly, then suddenly blazed with unprecedented confidence. Even her timid voice held a rare firmness. “But I will still work hard. I must become a Great Mage.”

“Yes! You must!”

As if encouraging herself, Biluo nodded vigorously, her huge wizard’s hat bobbing up and down. A sound thinner than a mosquito’s hum drifted from beneath the hat, but this time it was so faint that Er’er almost missed it. Only because Qian Jin was watching Biluo closely did he nearly fail to catch her soft murmur.

“For my sister, I must become a Great Mage!” In the dim cave, Qian Jin saw misty tears welling in her bright eyes. She bit her thin, red lip, revealing a stubbornness impossible to describe, utterly opposed to her usual timidity.

Shuilian Ying’er looked at Biluo and smiled faintly, shaking her head before closing her eyes to cultivate her Dou Jin, seemingly speaking to herself as well. “I also worked incredibly hard once, but… if effort could truly change everything, I wouldn’t have only this much ability today.”

Once? Qian Jin also shook his head. Past efforts didn't mean abandonment. If she hadn't seen it through to the end, how could she know if a change might have come with the utmost effort?

“Thank you…”

In the cave, Biluo’s faint, mosquito-like voice reached Qian Jin’s ears. He could see the shallow, grateful smile touching the corner of her lips.

Qian Jin scratched his head, looking at Biluo nearby, then touched the magic cores in his embrace.

“For my sister,” Qian Jin recalled Biluo’s whisper from moments ago, and then he pictured his father’s hunched, bowing posture. “I do this for my father; she does it for her sister.”

“Forget it! These magic cores are useless to me anyway until I can meditate and sense spiritual power.” Qian Jin stood up and walked step-by-step toward Biluo. He pulled out the cores from the Green-Skinned Three-Armed Ape and the Centaur from his robes, quietly placing them before her. He whispered, “Your meditation has begun; these might help you a little.”

“This…”

In the small cave, Biluo’s timid voice carried an indescribable surprise. Her thin cherry lips parted slightly, and she stared blankly at the magic cores in Qian Jin’s hands. Her small body trembled faintly, shock consuming her entirely.

Magic cores! These were magic cores! Even the best magic students in school didn't possess their own cores! Rumor had it that only promising students in advanced academies or high-ranking members of the Mage Guild had a chance to obtain them.

“Take them.” Qian Jin gently grasped Biluo’s hand—smooth and tender as congealed fat—and placed the two cores, clearly larger than her hand, into it. “If you have someone worth striving for, that is a very happy thing.”

“This is too valuable…”

Qian Jin waved away Biluo’s words, which were three parts timid and seven parts anxious. “To me, a pure warrior, a magic core is practically worthless. How can you call it expensive? Just become a Great Mage one day, stand behind me, and offer me support, that’s all.”

Biluo cupped the magic cores in her hands, gazing dazedly at the two cores shimmering with dark light. Her oversized robes couldn't conceal the trembling born of excitement.

Having persistence, having obsession, does not mean one stops doubting oneself. Biluo had tried her utmost for years, yet her magical progress was almost non-existent. She hadn't stopped doubting herself, but one conviction had always sustained her: For my sister Huangquan! I must show my sister, who has returned to the stars, that Biluo will not shame you.

What did two magic cores represent? Biluo quietly put away the Centaur core and held the Green-Skinned Three-Armed Ape core in both hands, re-entering meditation. The faint spiritual energy transmitted into the core, rather than perceiving the surrounding magical elements.

The magical elements gathered in the core stirred slightly upon contact with the faint spiritual energy, like a stone dropped onto a calm lake, sending out layers of ripples. They began to clash and vibrate around the spiritual power…

The spiritual power was growing! Biluo felt her stagnant spiritual power begin to reactivate and move forward with the aid of the magic core. Her pink eyelids fluttered uncontrollably.

“Magic cores? Those are magic cores!” Shuilian Ying’er stared at Qian Jin in shocked disbelief. Trading these cores, or even auctioning them off, would be a tremendous boost for any warrior. He just gave them away? And to a mere magic student? Didn't he know that an excellent magic student could derive far more benefit from magic cores than Biluo ever could?

Shuilian Ying’er could not fathom Qian Jin’s thinking. Had he been blinded by anger after their recent exchange? Most of the magical elements stirred up by Biluo in her hands couldn't be absorbed by her and would mostly dissipate uselessly into the air!

Qian Jin returned to his pile of straw, retrieved his own wizard's hat, and pulled it over his face without even looking at Shuilian Ying’er. He murmured under his breath, “As long as you don’t give up on yourself, the world won’t give up on you. The moment you choose to quit, you personally close the door to success. Even if a miraculous opportunity passes by you, you won’t see or find it, because you have already given up.”

The title of this chapter perfectly matches the author’s current mood. It is you who allowed me to achieve four updates in one day. Now, I am filled with fighting spirit, never to give up! Help me with a monthly ticket, and let’s ride the wind and waves! C