Chapter 13 Test (Part 4) Master's Healing, Li Xu's Escape, First Encounter...

Qingxing was fast asleep, her consciousness hazy. She seemed to have been taken somewhere, and after a brief period of noise, everything quieted down, leaving only the steady breathing beside her.

On a spring morning, the dew still carried a chill, and her hands, placed at her sides, curled up slightly from the cold.

"Disciple? You're awake?"

"Owner!"

Jiuquchen and Guda chattered away beside her. Qingxing's head felt heavy. She tried to open her eyes, but it felt as if her eyelids were sewn shut, and she couldn't open them no matter what she did.

"Don't worry, don't worry, it's normal that you can't open your eyes." Jiu Qu Chen put his right index and middle fingers together and gently tapped her eyelids. "Your body can't withstand such a large consumption of spiritual energy, so you should just rest."

A cool sensation spread across her eyes, and Qingxing felt a little better. Her eyes moved slightly, her eyelashes trembled, and she tried to open them again very slowly.

Just as the sun was rising, she opened the door a crack and was momentarily blinded by the white light. Once her eyes adjusted to the brightness, her blurry vision cleared, and the first thing she saw was Jiu Quchen's silver-white hair ornament... and Guda's big face.

Qingxing remained expressionless as she reached out and ripped the Guda flying above her face away.

"Ouch!" she cried out, but out of consideration for her being a patient, she didn't struggle too much. "I've been keeping vigil here for a whole day and night without sleep, and this is how you treat me!"

"A day and a night?"

Qingxing was stunned. Had she slept for so long?

“Yes.” Jiu Qu Chen sighed softly and took out a small porcelain bottle. “When Wenren Xi brought you here after you fainted, I almost fainted from fright.”

The thought of Qingxing covered in blood sent a chill down his spine: "My disciple, is it really necessary for us to risk our lives for an inner sect test?"

Qingxing propped herself up on her hands and sat up in bed. Before she could even get halfway up, her whole body felt like it had been brutally beaten, with pain as if her tendons were being pulled out and her bones were being broken.

She gasped. "I just wanted to give it a try."

"Oh dear, I told you not to rush. Even if you lie in bed for another ten days or half a month, no one will say anything to you." Jiu Qu Chen supported her arm so she could lean against the headboard. "What are you trying? A spirit summoning array? To summon a high-level divine beast that can directly deplete the spirit network?"

At this point, as if remembering something, he chuckled again: "If I had known you would act so recklessly, I shouldn't have given you the key to the bookstore so early."

During Qingxing's coma, the glorious story of her summoning the roe deer to devour the Sword Domain had already spread throughout Mount Taihua. Although she only won the 100th place, her talent in formations was beginning to show, and everyone talked about her with envy, even praising her good-for-nothing master.

Whenever the elders encountered Jiu Quchen, they would always look at him with disdain, their eyes clearly saying, "There's even a master clinging to his disciple's leg."

Jiu Qu Chen ignored them, always pretending to be very busy, but actually quickly escaping the scene.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with it. After all, Qingxing's success was the result of her own efforts and had nothing to do with him, her nominal master.

I just feel a little guilty for not paying attention to Qingxing for so long.

"Next time, let's choose a simpler magic array. If we use a high-level magic array blindly, the spirit network will be ruined." Jiu Qu Chen sighed, then added, "However, you can inform your master in advance. After all, I cultivate the path of medicine and can help you prepare some medicine."

Qingxing: "...Okay."

Before she made her move, she tested the spiritual energy within her body. At most, it would deplete her spiritual network, but she could recover in a few days; there was no danger to her life. So she verbally agreed, but next time, she would still act first and ask questions later, using all her strength before speaking.

Jiu Quchen gave a few more instructions on how to take the pills before leaving Tingyu Garden. Before leaving, considering that Qingxing had not yet abstained from grains, he also left a pile of food on the table.

Not a single green apricot was touched; they all went to the book spirit, Guda.

"Qi Yun Peak has been quite lively these past few days while you were unconscious." Guda lay among the pastries, letting out a happy burp. "Everyone's talking about you. That Su Lin has locked himself in the courtyard and won't come out. He's probably furious!"

Qingxing slowly put on her shoes: "What's it to him?"

Although Su Lin dislikes her, it shouldn't be enough to make him this angry just because she showed off once.

"Oh, I haven't told you yet." Gudako grinned mischievously. "Remember those clumps of lifeless water I threw out?"

Qingxing had some recollection: "I remember."

"They hit Su Lin squarely on the back of the head, and he fell face-first into the mud!" Guda chuckled at the thought of Su Lin's disheveled state. "On one hand, the people he dislikes are enjoying all the glory, and on the other hand, he's completely lost face. How could he not be angry!"

Besides teaching demons to return to their original state in a short time, the Water of No Life can also temporarily shield cultivators' spiritual power and consciousness. Su Lin probably didn't expect Guda's spell to fly so far.

Recalling Su Lin's shameless behavior when he brought the Myriad Killing Sword Domain, Qingxing said regretfully, "It's a pity I fainted."

I didn't get to see him get his comeuppance.

The next test is in seven days. Qingxing has basically not left Tingyu Garden in the past few days. She takes the pills sent by Jiuquchen, meditates on time every day, and reads some leisure books when she is bored.

Fearing that her recovery would be slow, Jiu Quchen specially cleared out the lotus pond for her to use. After a few more days of adjustment, Qingxing's waist no longer ached, her legs were no longer sore, her spiritual network was full, and she even felt that she could draw a few more high-level magic arrays to play with.

"Take it easy." Looking at Qingxing's eager appearance, Jiuquchen was very puzzled. He was so lazy, how did he end up with such a diligent disciple? "Tomorrow is the second round, and I don't want to see you being carried back again."

Qingxing silently put the Endless Wood back: "Okay."

"However... in the fellow disciples' competition, it seems there are my elder sister's disciples involved? Those two young sword cultivators." He exclaimed, "Oh dear, this is terrible! My disciple, you absolutely mustn't go head-to-head with them. Those two fight like madmen. This is your first time participating in the inner sect test, so let's just focus on participating, focus on participating!"

When Qingxing told him that he was going to participate in the inner sect test, Jiuquchen was so surprised that his eyes almost popped out.

You see, the year he took her as his disciple, there were many competitions, both big and small, inside and outside Mount Taihua. He had asked Qingxing: "Do you want to go out and gain some experience? Just think of it as a trip."

Even though he hadn't taught Qingxing anything at that time, he had given her quite a few magical artifacts, enough to keep her alive. Moreover, the elders were present during the spring hunt and the competition, so there was generally no chance of anyone dying.

But Qingxing just grunted in acknowledgment and went about her business, not taking it to heart at all. Jiuquchen never brought it up again.

This year, she volunteered to participate, and Jiu Quchen naturally supported her. However, even though she was highly talented, he was still worried that Qingxing would be at a disadvantage against Xie Yuzhou and Shen Wan, who had been focusing on their cultivation for two years.

"……OK."

Qingxing nodded in agreement.

Although she really wanted to spar with the male and female leads and test their skills.

"There's one more thing, quite important." Jiuquchen pushed the mung bean cake in front of Guda and took the opportunity to pinch its cheek, unsurprisingly receiving a slap from Guda. "It's best not to wander around alone these days, and light the Soul-Binding Lamp at night."

The Soul Lantern is a unique lantern made with dragon bone flowers as the medium and ghost vines as the thread. When lit at night, it can ward off nearby monsters.

Jiu Chaoying distributed some to each disciple of Taihua Mountain, but Qingxing did not recall ever having a situation where she needed to light lamps.

Qingxing was stunned: "What happened?"

Jiuquchen: "Do you remember Li Xu? The one who attacked you before. Elder Musheng originally imprisoned him in the dungeon of Liulong Peak, but recently, for some reason, his demonic energy surged, and he directly injured the disciple guarding the dungeon, broke through the formation and rushed out."

“Demonic energy is different from other things. If he were to transform back into human form, even the sect leader would not be able to find him.”

Therefore, Jiu Chaoying had already sent Bailu to inform the disciples of Taihua Mountain to avoid traveling alone as much as possible and to be sure to light the Si Po Lantern at night.

Qingxing didn't say anything more, but silently noted it down. Guda wasn't so calm. Even after returning to Tingyu Garden, it kept muttering, "This didn't happen before. Could it be that you changed the trajectory of your destiny and influenced others in this life?"

Qingxing: "I don't know."

To be honest, she lived a very comfortable life in Mount Taihua in her first three lives. She rarely saw demons, let alone monsters.

Li Xu, who inexplicably turned into a demon... I wonder if it's related to that evil book that disappeared into thin air.

With eight years until the end of the world, could the villains have already begun their lurking?

These thoughts lingered in Qingxing's mind. She sighed softly and listed them one by one in her mind.

I have a feeling... that things aren't as simple as they seem.

That night, she fell asleep to the unique fragrance of the Sipo lamp.

The next day, Qingxing got up early again, carried the Heavenly Book out the door, and went to the martial arts training ground behind Qiyun Peak.

Since the "flight test" had eliminated many people, the training ground wasn't very crowded. At most, it was just a few disciples with some free time who, driven by curiosity, wanted to come and see what was going on.

"Junior Sister Qingxing!" Wenren Xi spotted Qingxing from afar. He pushed through the crowd and came to her side. "It's been a long time. Are you feeling better?"

Qingxing turned her head: "Thank you for your care, senior brother. I feel much better."

"It seems Ninth Uncle's medical skills are quite good." Wenren Xi looked around, then suddenly exclaimed, "Huh? Where's Little Guda? Why isn't she here today?"

Qingxing patted the cloth bag at him: "Sleeping."

Wenren Xi glanced at the white cloth bag embroidered with green apricots and praised, "Junior Sister's cloth bag is quite unique."

Qingxing: "Thank you."

Fortunately, there was nothing else to do, so the two chatted casually. They stood on high ground, and as time passed, they watched as more and more people gathered in the training ground.

"Oh dear, the list of participants for the martial arts competition is out." Wenren Xi looked at the huge scroll slowly rising in front of her. "Junior sister, would you like to go take a look?"

Qingxing nodded and followed him closer.

The second test had only one hundred disciples. The elders unanimously decided to use a one-on-one format to eliminate half of the disciples first. The winners would then compete in the next round, and so on, until the top ten were selected to enter the final test.

A blue and white scroll stood in the center of the training ground, and many disciples crowded around it. Qingxing didn't want to experience the feeling of being squeezed by people again, so she looked at it from a distance and started looking for her name from the scroll.

"Although I really wanted to fight with my junior sister, it seems there's no chance now." Wenren Xi looked at the unfamiliar words next to her name with some regret. "I hope we can meet again someday."

"Maybe."

Qingxing was still quickly browsing the list when she suddenly heard the crowd ahead grow louder and more lively.

"Hey, there it is!"

One person turned and pointed at Qingxing, and immediately dozens of eyes followed and fell on her.

At the same time, Qingxing found her name.

Opposite the glowing "green apricot" is a diagonal line connecting three large characters—

Xie Yuzhou.

A note from the author:

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There will be another chapter tonight.