“It’s okay,” Lauren said with a warm smile, crouching slightly to meet Briar’s eyes. “You just haven’t dealt with people much. We’ll take it slow. Once you get used to it, you won’t be nervous anymore.”

  Briar froze.

  She didn’t mind. She was the first person who didn’t mind.

  “Waaah—”

  Without warning, it wrapped itself around Lauren’s leg and burst into tears.

  Lauren jolted. “Briar? Briar! What the hell are you doing?”

  “Waaah—” It just wanted to cling to her and cry.

  Wayne gnced around and immediately stiffened when he noticed the crowd staring.

  “Briar, stop crying. Everyone’s watching.”

  That only made it cry harder.

  Lauren tried to peel it off her leg, but the little pnt demon clung like it had rooted into her bones. She couldn’t move it an inch.

  If anyone misunderstood this, she’d look like she was bullying a child.

  “Miss, the child’s so small—don’t push so hard,” a passerby chided gently. “What if she falls and gets hurt?”

  “That’s right. Children don’t cry without a reason. Don’t get angry—ask her nicely.”

  Lauren forced a strained smile.

  “Thank you for your concern. It’s nothing serious. She just wants candied hawthorns. I’m worried she’ll get a toothache from too much sugar.”

  She grabbed Briar’s paw. “Come on. I’ll buy you candied hawthorns. Stop crying.”

  Briar sniffled loudly. “I don’t want candied hawthorns. I want meat.”

  Lauren’s jaw tightened.

  The smile on her face, however, only grew gentler.

  “Of course,” she said sweetly. “Let’s go buy some meat.”

  Sunspire had no shortage of restaurants. Briar wasn’t picky—it actually preferred slightly rotten meat. Near-spoiled cuts, discarded offal—anything rich with decaying nutrients made it absurdly happy.

  Compared to Edmund, it was cheap as hell to feed.

  Edmund, on the other hand, was always whining, I want high-level inner cores. I want to devour a Nascent Soul.

  At this rate, even the richest cultivator would go bankrupt raising him.

  Lauren bought a storage pouch stuffed with spirit beast meat and handed it over.

  Briar accepted it solemnly. Then it dug into its sleeve and pulled out a few spirit stones, offering them to her with both hands.

  “This is all I have.”

  Lauren blinked. “What’s this for?”

  “I earned them helping Wayne with missions,” Briar said seriously. “You need spirit stones to feel safe giving me meat.”

  Lauren stared at the handful of low-grade stones.

  “You’re… buying this bag of meat from me?”

  “Yes.”

  She almost ughed. Almost.

  “Alright,” she said, taking the stones. “Then this bag of spirit beast meat belongs to you.”

  Briar’s face lit up. It grabbed Wayne’s hand and skipped forward, swaying happily.

  Lauren couldn’t help chuckling. “If you’d known you could buy meat like this earlier, you wouldn’t have gotten beaten up before.”

  Briar turned around earnestly. “No one told me I could trade spirit stones for meat.”

  Lauren had no response to that.

  ......

  From Sunspire, they headed straight to the Calcution Sect.

  Standing before its gates, Lauren tilted her head back.

  The Heavenly Ladder rose straight into the clouds, endless stone steps vanishing into mist. Disciples of the Calcution Sect moved calmly up and down its heights like drifting cranes.

  She had heard long ago that the Calcution Sect was built higher than any other sect—closest to heaven itself.

  Ordinary cultivators rarely visited.

  Why? Because the Heavenly Ladder prohibited flight.

  Anyone who wished to enter had to climb it on foot.

  Just looking at it made Lauren’s calves ache.

  After presenting her visiting card, she waited in the reception tea room at the foot of the dder. The sect had thoughtfully built it there so guests wouldn’t be left standing awkwardly outside.

  Briar inhaled deeply. “The spiritual energy here is clear. It’s a good pce.”

  “Of course,” Lauren replied. “The Calcution Sect is one of the three righteous sects. It would be strange if it weren’t impressive.”

  Wayne blinked. “So which is better—this or Starfell Summit?”

  Briar tilted its head. “Starfell Summit has denser spiritual energy. Here, it’s not as abundant… but it’s clean.”

  “Clean?” Wayne frowned. “What’s the point of that?”

  Briar hesitated shyly. “I… don’t know.”

  Then it spread its hands happily. “But my leaves like it here.”

  Lauren shot it a sideways gnce. “I thought you liked eating carrion.”

  “My roots like that,” Briar corrected seriously. “Roots absorb nutrients from flesh and blood. Leaves prefer clear energy and bright sunlight.”

  After a while, a familiar figure appeared descending the dder.

  Xavi came down personally, robes fluttering in the wind.

  She quickly nudged Briar. “Don’t get nervous.”

  “Lauren!” Xavi called out cheerfully. “We’ve been waiting for you! Please, come in.”

  He actually jogged down the final stretch.

  Lauren immediately pulled Wayne to bow. “You didn’t need to greet us personally. A message would have sufficed.”

  “How could that be?” Xavi waved it off. “You are a distinguished guest. A rare guest. Of course I had to come myself.”

  His gaze shifted to the two children.

  “And these two?”

  “My senior brother’s disciples,” Lauren expined smoothly. “He’s away from the mountain. My master asked me to bring them along.”

  “Ah—Tarot’s disciples.” Xavi nodded approvingly. “They look promising. Good seedlings.”

  Lauren smiled politely, though the expression felt a bit stiff.

  Then Xavi turned and began ascending the Heavenly Ladder.

  They followed.

  The moment Lauren stepped onto the first stone stair, she felt it.

  A pressure.

  Subtle at first—like a hand resting lightly on her shoulders.

  With each step upward, it grew heavier.

  Invisible force pressed down from above, testing bone and spirit alike.

  Even at Lauren’s cultivation level, lifting her legs required effort.

  Her brows furrowed.

  If this pressure already felt this heavy to her— What about Wayne?

  Lauren turned to look at Wayne.

  Though both he and Briar were clearly struggling against the pressure of the Heavenly Ladder, neither of them had fallen behind.

  Ahead of her, Xavi gnced back with a smile. “Lauren, don’t worry. The higher the cultivation, the heavier the pressure. The lower the cultivation, the lighter it is. It’s all retive.”

  She let out a quiet breath of relief.

  “Wayne, are you alright?”

  He was sweating, face pale with strain, but he still straightened and gave her a steady smile.

  “Miss Lauren, I can manage.”

  Briar, panting beside him, nodded seriously. “Me too.”

  Xavi chuckled. “This little girl isn’t pretending at all. Very likable.”

  Lauren could only give an awkward smile in response.

  He watched Briar hike up her little skirt, grit her teeth, and keep climbing without compining. Not a trace of theatrics, not even a whimper.

  With a soft ugh, he stepped forward and scooped her up.

  Briar froze. Its entire body went rigid, hands trembling.

  Lauren and Wayne both stared. “Xavi?”

  Lauren’s gaze dropped to Briar’s feet.

  The soles of her reinforced shoes were nearly splitting open under the pressure.

  Xavi ughed it off. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Little girls should be pampered. I’ll carry her.”

  Then he gnced at Wayne. “A real man needs to be strong.”

  He lifted his foot to take another step—

  And stopped. His foot wouldn’t move. It felt like it had been nailed to the stone.

  Lauren’s heart skipped.

  Xavi had just expined it himself—the higher the cultivation, the heavier the pressure.

  Briar’s cultivation, even suppressed and crippled by injury, was still terrifyingly high. A starving camel was still bigger than a horse.

  If Lauren guessed correctly, Xavi was now bearing not only his own pressure—but Briar’s as well.

  “Ah—ugh—!”

  He forced himself forward.

  His face twisted. The next second—

  He stumbled and fell ft on his face.