Chapter 23 Test (XIV) Master Turned into a Handkerchief? ...

"I..." Qingxing said uncertainly, "Should be?"

She had never paid attention to these things before. Gudako had mentioned it to her once, and she thought only her master was on the list. She didn't expect to be on it herself.

Gudako raised an eyebrow upon hearing this and shouted disdainfully, "Of course she is!"

"So it is you!" Duanmu exclaimed at the same time, his tone extremely excited, as if he had discovered a mine of movable spirit stones. "I was worried that you wouldn't be able to repay your debt, but now it seems that was all just needless worry!"

"Is that how you use that word?" Shen Wan woke up at some point. Hearing their conversation, she curiously peeked out. "Senior Sister Qingxing is so rich? Then when I invited you to dinner before, I said I had plenty of spirit stones. Wasn't that a joke?"

“Hey, you can’t say that. Junior Sister Qingxing is very kind.” Wenren Xi looked at them with a smile. “But next time, don’t take so much. Once you leave, I’ll be the only one left to clean up the mess.”

Thinking of the pile of food he had thrown to feed the little spirit beast, Wenren Xi shook his head helplessly.

“…Okay.” Qingxing finally found a moment to interject. Remembering what Qiao Su had told her, she was about to remind him, “We should still…”

Before he could finish speaking, a powerful surge of spiritual energy emanated from Weisheng Hall, accompanied by Qiao Su's impatient voice: "You little brat, what are you doing standing around in front of my hall? Go play somewhere else!"

All five of them were startled. Qingxing thought to herself that he was indeed the imposing Elder Qiao Su, and quickly took a step forward, thinking that it would be better to leave as soon as possible.

"Senior sister, wait for me!"

Shen Wan hurriedly followed, with the other three close behind.

"Do you... want to go to Tingyu Garden? My master gave me some pills before he went into seclusion." Qingxing sat on the Endless Wood, flying slowly, and glanced at the people behind her.

As the saying goes, "No fight, no friendship." Although they fought others, the five of them inexplicably developed a bond after the battle, as if an invisible chain was connecting them.

Having been alone in her previous lives, Qingxing didn't know how to define the scope of "friends," but based on her observations of the other disciples, the four of them should be considered friends.

Since they were friends, it was only natural for her to show concern. Besides, they had just come from Jade Tiger Peak and hadn't even packed up. A group of people dressed in tattered clothes and covered in injuries flew in unison over the peaks of Mount Taihua... The scene looked incredibly eerie.

“I also want to go…” Shen Wan pouted, somewhat regretfully, “But Master previously told my senior brother and me that the appearance of this demon on Jade Tiger Peak is suspicious, and we still need to cooperate in the investigation.”

"Yes." Xie Yuzhou nodded and added, "Senior Brother Su is still unconscious."

The thought of their former fellow disciple inexplicably turning into a universally hated demon and being killed by the elders without leaving a trace filled the two with sadness, their expressions becoming somewhat unnatural. Qingxing promptly shifted her gaze to Duanmu Tingzhu and Wenren Xi.

Wenren Xi smiled and said, "I only learned about what happened to you after I left Jade Tiger Peak... I wasn't injured, and Junior Sister must be tired too. It's too late to disturb you today."

"If they're not going, I'm not going either." Duanmu had no sword, so he could only stand behind Wenren Xi, his hands tightly gripping his sleeves. "I'll come back for more talismans tomorrow, I need new ones!"

After thinking for a moment, he lowered his voice and added stealthily, "If you find my talismans useful, I can draw some for you. We've been through thick and thin together, so I'll give you a friend's price! They're guaranteed to be both effective and beautiful, no cheating on anyone!"

“…Okay.” Qingxing didn’t say anything more, but silently thought to herself: Judging from how greedy this child is, he should be “deceiving both the young and the old.”

Below was Qi Yun Peak. She bid farewell to the others and flew towards Tingyu Garden.

“Mo Tingyu gave them the pills, so you don’t need to worry.” Guda tugged at her sleeve and yawned. “Ah… I have to say, the power of the protagonist’s halo is really strong. They were delayed by the demons for so long, but they were still able to get the Mirror of the Past.”

"Did they all get them?" Qingxing touched the medicine bottle in her bag, then turned the Endless Wood around and flew towards the back mountain, muttering to herself, "Including me, there are five in total... Who's the other one?"

"Of course it's our Body Cultivation Senior Sister!" Gudako glanced at the unfamiliar surroundings and asked疑惑地, "Where are you going? Aren't you going back?"

Qingxing stopped in front of a cave, collected the Endless Wood, and waved the white medicine bottle in her hand at Guda: "Deliver the Qi-Strengthening Pill to Master."

"Oh right, you also have a master."

Guda didn't control its volume, and the sentence went straight into the dark cave entrance, echoed around, and then hit its ears. It seemed to have discovered something interesting and started chattering and making strange noises.

Just as Qingxing was about to reach out and cover its mouth, it suddenly raised its voice, glared, and pointed ahead: "What is this thing!"

Hearing the sound, Qingxing looked over and saw a huge shadow cast on the stone wall. The shadow was square and upright, with light and shadow shimmering on its surface, and it was swaying as it "walked" towards the cave entrance.

"I don't know." She was a little puzzled. Logically speaking, such a secluded cultivation cave is usually only for one person to use. Before a cultivator goes into seclusion, a restriction is placed on it, so others should not be able to enter, let alone such a strangely shaped monster.

"Your master... could he be in some danger?" Guda felt a little scared when she thought of the demons on Jade Tiger Peak.

"With the sect leader here, it won't come to that."

Qingxing stared intently at the shadow. It moved silently, getting closer and closer, but its size was getting smaller and smaller. When it reached the corner, it was only the size of a palm.

The Endless Wood had begun to glow. Qingxing extended her right hand forward, but paused slightly—the little "monster" emerged. It was pure white, with a blue lotus flower in the upper left corner, resembling a handkerchief with a strong Jiuquchen style.

"Heh." Gudako rolled her eyes and sneered, "Your master really has a lot of tricks up his sleeve."

"Ah..." Qingxing was speechless. She reached out and touched her handkerchief. "Did Master send you?"

With the handkerchief folded at one corner, she put her hands on her hips, nodded, and said in a shrill voice, "I am your master!"

"Yes, Master." Qingxing's ears were assaulted by its sharp tone. She covered one ear with one hand and handed over the Yuan-stabilizing pill with the other. "This was given to me by Uncle-Master Qiao Su. It can help stabilize the primordial spirit."

The handkerchief used its other two folded corners to "hug" the bottle: "Good disciple, please thank your senior sister for me!"

"My senior master said there's no need to thank me, and asked you to help gather herbs after you finish your seclusion," Qingxing relayed truthfully.

"I knew she wouldn't be that generous..." the handkerchief murmured to herself, then suddenly realized something and exclaimed, "Wait a minute! Why would Senior Sister be looking for you? My dear disciple, you didn't get seriously injured again and were carried to Senior Sister's place, did you?"

“You only just realized it now?” Gudako couldn’t help but interject. “You’re not even as good a master as I am.”

"Hey, you little book spirit!" The handkerchief pointed at it, then realized it made sense and accepted the criticism. "My fault, my fault."

"Master is not wrong. Guda just likes to talk nonsense. There's no need to pay attention to it." Qingxing felt a little guilty and tried to change the subject. "The inner sect test is over, and I have obtained the qualification for the provincial examination."

"Well done!" the handkerchief praised, but was not swayed by her at all, and continued, "Didn't I just say before I went into seclusion? Don't... Oh well, senior sister's medical skills are superb. You can still come to me now, so there shouldn't be any major problems."

Qingxing breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and the handkerchief spoke again.

"But! Don't do that again next time!" It reached out and tapped Qingxing's forehead in the air, saying emphatically, "The imperial examination isn't anything particularly important. If you want to gain experience, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future, and your teacher has plenty of ways to help you."

"OK."

"You always agree with 'okay, okay, okay,' and you still do what you want to do." Handkerchief sighed. "Although there are many demons on Jade Tiger Peak, they shouldn't have hurt you to the point that you had to go to your senior sister... Could something have happened?"

“Li Xu somehow managed to sneak in,” Qingxing paused, deciding to temporarily conceal the fact that Li Xu was following her, “I happened to run into it on my way to the mountaintop.”

"Li Xu?! That demonized disciple who ran away?" Master's tone rose another notch, and Qingxing could imagine Jiu Quchen's chaotic facial expressions.

The handkerchief hovered in the air, clearly showing some anxiety. "Jade Tiger Peak has restrictions; even cultivators need an elder's token to enter... Sister even cleared it beforehand..."

"Strange! Very strange!"

"Elder Mo Tingyu has already killed it," Qingxing added, trying to put her master's mind at ease.

“The monster isn’t the big problem,” the handkerchief paused, stroking its non-existent chin with one corner. “The problem is: how did it get into Jade Tiger Peak? And why did it go there?”

Qingxing didn't speak, but thought to herself that there was actually another question, which was also the answer to the second question: Why was it following her?

When Qingxing first encountered it on the mountain path, she didn't think much of it, taking it as a coincidence. But as strange events continued to occur, she began to suspect that perhaps the initial encounter was deliberately orchestrated.

Furthermore, the fact that Li Xu became a demon is very strange. Qingxing was not familiar with him, but there was obviously no such scene in her memories of the previous three lives.

Could it be related to the "Demon-Subduing Formation" that appeared and disappeared out of nowhere? Was Li Xu's demonic possession actually caused by someone?

Two terrifying thoughts flashed through Qingxing's mind, and she couldn't help but shudder.

"I have to ask my elder sister." The handkerchief was puzzled and could only sigh in the end. She then turned to other matters and said, "My disciple, I should not be able to leave seclusion until the spring. It will be about time to set off for the Northern Wilderness by then. Don't worry, I will definitely try to get a spot to accompany you."

"Okay." Qingxing nodded.

"Oh dear, I can't stay in this form for too long." The handkerchief gradually retreated, waving at Qingxing, "It's getting late, you should go back soon too! You've worked hard these past few days!"

Only after the white handkerchief disappeared into the distance did Qingxing turn around and leave, returning to Tingyu Garden.

Having been away for only two days, Qingxing felt as if she had been gone for half a year. She changed into clean clothes, lay on the bed, opened the window, and looked at the twinkling stars in the sky.

"I'm exhausted." Gudako buried her head in the covers, tossing and turning until she was wrapped up like a big bun. "I want to sleep!"

"Sleep now." Qingxing placed the wordless book beside it and watched it transform into blue water and fly into it.

Today is the start of summer, and the weather isn't as cool as before. She stood in the breeze for a while, then felt sleepy, so she blew out the candle by her bedside, hugged the blanket, and drifted off to sleep.

She had slept for so long, and the next morning she was awakened by a series of muffled noises.

Ding ding! Ding ding! Ding ding!

It felt like something was tapping on her window. Qingxing slowly sat up in bed, still not fully conscious, staring blankly out the window.

A white egret perched on the windowsill. Seeing that she was awake, it stopped pecking at the window with its beak. Instead, it raised its neck and uttered a clear voice: "Congratulations, Qingxing, on qualifying for the imperial examination! However, given that you have not received any sect courses before, and for the sake of the sect's image, the elders have unanimously decided to initiate the 'Remedial Study Plan.' The course materials have been placed at the door. Please complete your studies on time and do not be late!"

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Author's Note: I changed the titles of the first few dozen chapters today, please don't worry about them~