Chapter 102 reveals the devastation beneath the surface.

The cultivation techniques were arranged according to their grade, and some unidentifiable fragments were stored separately.

Since this place can only be opened by the sect leader and those with special authorization, the cultivation techniques inside are naturally rare and valuable items that would be considered priceless on the market if one randomly picked one. Most of the time, cultivation techniques don't restrict cultivation level, only their rank; however, the higher the cultivation level, the greater the power. If one possesses a sufficiently good technique, it's not difficult for a low-level cultivator to overcome a major realm barrier to kill an enemy.

Shen Lixia and Lu Changqing had no target yet, so Qiao Yanshen turned around first and asked, "Where is the movement technique located?"

She had clearly already decided on her choice, so she didn't intend to waste time flipping through them one by one—after all, she could only look at the names and descriptions; reading the content would be equivalent to choosing the cultivation technique. Si Changxi pointed her in the right direction, and Qiao Yanshen thanked him before quickly walking over and focusing on reading the descriptions one by one.

After some thought, Lu Changqing decided to go and explore the area herself. Being a medical cultivator, she faced many limitations, so she focused only on the basic techniques. As for movement techniques, Ruan Luoying had already given her a good one, so she didn't need to choose another.

Shen Lixia quickly scanned the various cultivation techniques, hesitant to make a decision. She cultivated five paths simultaneously: array formations, talismans, swordsmanship, alchemy, and bowing. She found them useful in the past, but upon reflection, she realized they were actually quite complex. She should choose one to master and use the others as supplementary techniques. After eliminating options in this way, she quickly made a choice and began to search around.

Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice and bumped right into someone. The boy turned his head and met a pair of gentle, dark eyes, shimmering with a dark gold that converged in the pupils. She couldn't look away for a moment, feeling as if those strangely colored pupils were almost drawing her in, her mind swaying involuntarily, and she even sensed a bewitching and eerie aura about them.

It wasn't until Si Changxi blinked and gently patted her shoulder that Shen Lixia came back to her senses. She shook her head, stared at Si Changxi, and was about to speak when Si Changxi gestured for her to be quiet.

"Shh," Si Changxi whispered, "I can sense without me even trying that you might have an unusual bloodline. It's best not to make such things public."

So it was some kind of innate illusion? Shen Lixia nodded, feeling the young man before her even more mysterious and unpredictable.

Perhaps she also has some connection to my mysterious past life, or knows something about it. Isn't it said that like people attract each other? She and Si Changxi seemed to have felt a special connection just now.

So she changed the subject and asked, "Sect Master, I've looked around, and I feel... there isn't a single cultivation method that suits my taste."

There were many books, many of which she wanted to learn from, but if she could only choose one, none of them would catch her eye.

Si Changxi was not surprised by this, but simply smiled and asked, "Then, young friend, why don't you tell me what kind of cultivation method you want?"

Without hesitation, Shen Lixia answered, "Bow and arrow."

Upon hearing her reply, Si Changxi raised his hand to stroke his chin, his eyes darkening as he pondered. After a long while, he said, "There is indeed one, but it is only a fragment. Whether one can cultivate it depends entirely on fate and comprehension."

"Then this one will do."

"Young friend, have you thought it through? The next time you have the chance to come here, it might be during the grand competition."

“Of course,” Shen Lixia smiled, “I believe I have a connection with it. Besides, there are countless opportunities in the world. If it really is just a piece of waste paper, I can just wait for the next one.”

"This is the first time I've heard such words. Cultivators have always valued opportunities highly, and they will fight tooth and nail to seize even opportunities that are not their own, often resulting in bloodshed. But you say 'thousands upon thousands'. If someone else heard you say that, they would probably scold you for being ungrateful."

"Oh! It's alright, at least you didn't scold me like that, Sect Master." The boy blinked. "Anyway, I won't change my mind."

Si Changxi waved her hand, and two bluebirds took flight from her shoulders, bringing back a tattered cultivation manual a moment later. It was as if a section had been randomly torn from a book, with the beginning and end removed, its name unknown, and its exact contents unknown.

Nevertheless, it is still clear that it was copied by someone else.

The young man handed the manual to Shen Lixia and said regretfully, "When I obtained it by chance back then, it was no longer the original and was in very poor condition. It took me a long time to sort out the errors and ambiguities and rewrite it."

Even after doing so, they still couldn't deduce the name of the technique or any further details.

Shen Lixia's heart stirred, and she took the cultivation manual and put it away, intending to look at it again after returning to her courtyard.

She solemnly cupped her hands and said, "Thank you, Sect Master."

Si Changxi said, "Young friend, you can call me Changyi. You are a disciple of Xueya Sect, so there's no need for you to be too formal with me."

The boy hesitated for a moment, then looked away and whispered, "Changyi...Master Aunt."

"Yes, that's good." Si Changxi smiled and reached out to pat her head.

On the other side, Qiao Yanshen and Lu Changqing had also made their choices. Shen Lixia glanced at the books in their hands; one was titled "The Dragon's Wandering Technique," and the other was a mental cultivation manual, a famous work called "The Clear Mirror and Still Water."

As Lu Changqing put the cultivation technique into his storage bag, he couldn't help but ask, "If we just take it like this, don't we have to return it?"

“It’s alright. I’ve read all the cultivation techniques,” Si Changxi raised his hand and tapped his temple with his fingertips, “and I can write them down from memory.”

Upon hearing this, a phrase immediately came to Shen Lixia's mind—human-shaped printing press.

However, the ability to remember everything at a glance is something that has been heard of everywhere. So, while it is rare, it is not as strange as those unusual eyes.

After leaving the library, Lu Changqing, still on a mission, waved vigorously to them from his sword before hurrying off towards Guyu Peak. Shen Lixia and Qiao Yanshen remained, and just as they were about to leave, the young man behind them asked, "Young friends, why don't you come with me to Frostblade Peak?"

After undergoing grueling training day and night before the competition, Shen Lixia felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing those three words. She stiffly turned her head and asked, "Did Master call us for something?"

Seeing her reaction, Si Changxi found it quite amusing and laughed, "It seems Xueya is very strict with you. Alright, it's just a small matter. Speaking of archery, I just remembered someone on Frostblade Peak who can pierce through dewdrops with an arrow from a hundred paces away."

However, there was always only one person on Frostblade Peak. Although she had long known that Yan Xueya was a cavalryman from the snowfield side, Shen Lixia had never imagined that she was also skilled in archery. After all, sword cultivators usually only pursue one path of cultivation, and to avoid distractions in their Dao mind, most of them travel the world with their swords and have never changed their weapons.

She then eagerly summoned Liu Huo and nodded repeatedly, "Let's go, let's go."

A gentle breeze carries the tart fragrance of flowers; perhaps the osmanthus will bloom soon. However, they still need to investigate the plague-stricken village, and who knows how long they will be gone—perhaps several years.

As she left, Shen Lixia's gaze fell on the tree covered with dense flower buds, but she quickly turned her head away.

I wish there could be more days like this, and that they could last longer.

Ideally, forever and ever...

-

On Frostblade Peak, wind and snow howled.

Although it was freezing cold, the sky above the peak had actually cleared considerably, no longer obscured by the blizzard. Halfway up, Si Changxi sheathed her sword and picked up a fallen plum blossom branch. The plum blossoms, vibrant and seemingly influenced by the rich spiritual energy emanating from her, bloomed even more intensely in an instant. Si Changxi gently stroked the petals, examined them for a moment, and then planted them on a nearby flowering tree.

A flash of emerald green light appeared, the original gap disappeared, and the flower branch seemed to have grown on it from the beginning, becoming an integral part of the tree without any incongruity.

The two followed behind her in silence. For some reason, apart from the time they fooled around on Frostblade Peak without knowing anything, they had lost all interest in playing around after hearing Tang Huairou's explanation.

The deep-seated sorrow, like water, seeped into the snow, letting even the snow know the taste of grief. And so the snow fell, and the person who came also knew the sorrow within.

Amidst the soft rustling sound, Qiao Yanshen finally spoke and asked, "Master Changyi, why hasn't the snow on Frostblade Peak... stopped?"

Master Mingming's condition has improved a lot recently, and he is no longer as silent as when we first met. When he smiles, there is warmth between his brows, and his slightly deep features no longer seem cold and harsh.

Upon hearing her words, Si Changxi stopped in his tracks, turned around, and sighed softly.

"It's much better than at the beginning. When it first started snowing, those disciples below the Golden Core stage who came in almost froze to death."

Now, the only thing I feel is the lack of spiritual protection.

She magically produced a plump fruit from her hand, presented it to the two of them, and said, "Isn't it beautiful?"

After they nodded, Si Changxi held the fruit in both hands. With a soft "crack," the moist and bright exterior split open, revealing the view inside.

It was a rotten mess, with bright red juice slowly trickling down, thick and viscous like blood. The pit and flesh had rotted into a heap, a truly horrifying sight.

"On the surface, everything seems fine, but inside, the heart is a scene of devastation." The young man casually tossed the rotten fruit on the ground, his black hair fluttering in the wind. His voice gradually faded and became indistinct in the snowstorm. "It will probably get better, but that depends on whether we can truly let go of the past."

Her expression quickly returned to normal, and she smiled broadly.

"Of course, I think she's really happy to have you all here. As for the past, let's give her some more time."

Qiao Yanshen and Shen Lixia exchanged a glance and nodded silently.

The three followed the familiar path to the front of Frostblade Peak Hall, and Si Changxi pushed open the door and went inside. A warm atmosphere greeted them, and the hissing sound of burning flames reached their ears. As if knowing they were coming, several cups of steaming butter tea were already laid out on the table.

Yan Xueya sat at the table, holding a book whose contents were unknown, and occasionally made a few strokes with her pen.

After they sat down and drank tea, the woman put down her book and turned to Qiao Yanshen, saying, "Now that you've broken through to the Golden Core stage, it's time to think about your Daoist name. Have you decided yet?"

A Daoist name is a pseudonym that a cultivator chooses for themselves when they reach the Golden Core stage of cultivation. Most people adopt such pseudonyms, either to conceal their true names or to make a name for themselves in the cultivation world. For example, Yan Xueya's honorific name is Mingji, and Si Changxi's is Changyi. For Qiao Yanshen, this could probably also be considered a kind of "courtesy name".

If she hasn't decided yet, her teacher's wife will do it. That's usually how it's done.

Upon hearing this, the boy beside her seemed to prick up his ears, listening intently, quite curious about what kind of Daoist title his senior sister would have. Thinking about it, she realized she should also start planning her own.

It must be sufficiently deterrent.

Qiao Yan pondered for a moment, then lowered his eyes. The howling wind and snow outside the hall, mixed with the crackling sounds of burning, seemed to fade into the distance. The silence, therefore, became warm.

A certain name came to mind again. She hesitated for a long time before finally saying softly, "I have already thought it through. I won't trouble you, Master."

Yan Xueya nodded, signaling her to continue.

"Luoyang," Qiao Yanshen said, "Let's call it that. The vast Luo River, with its boundless waters, perfectly suits my wishes."

In this way, at least it won't be just the two of us remembering you. Perhaps your old friends will also weep with joy upon hearing your name again.

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Author's Note: In the next chapter, we'll all have a farewell meal together before starting a side quest!