Chapter 117 Carrying You Back: Unbearable

Two people appeared in the library.

One person strolled leisurely, while the other followed closely behind, stepping into the room and constantly looking around at the study filled with jade slips and scrolls.

It looks much larger inside than it appears from the outside, at least three times the size it appears from the outside.

The hall was tall and filled with bookshelves. Su Wenxin, who had never seen so many books before, was very surprised and suddenly wondered if Xi Congshuang had read all the books here.

If you've read them all, then you've really read a lot of books.

The figure walking ahead paused, and Su Wenxin quickly stopped and turned to look.

Xi Congshuang said, "I have already told you the technique for concealing demonic energy, but if you want to learn it thoroughly and master it, you must first change your mental cultivation method."

As she spoke, she raised her hand to cast a spell, and all the jade slips on one of the bookshelves flew up. Her divine sense swept over them all in an instant, then fell back down, and then repeated itself.

In a few breaths, Xi Congshuang had finished reading the contents of the jade slip and categorized them according to the required information.

After many trials, she discovered a pattern—as long as she was fast enough, she could use her spiritual power to accomplish what she wanted in a shorter time, and the excruciating pain would not be able to catch up with her.

"Why won't you let me use the incantation now? Can't I use it now?" Su Wenxin asked.

“It’s possible, but the effect isn’t that good, and it’s easy to see through… I’ve found it.” Xi Congshuang raised her hand.

A jade slip landed in Xi Congshuang's palm. With a flick of her fingertips, a new jade slip flew out of the other drawer and into her other hand. She closed her fingers and clenched them tightly.

Xi Congshuang: "Help me find a place to sit for a while. I've found a cultivation method that suits you."

"Oh, okay." Although Su Wenxin was a little reluctant to change her cultivation method, she felt it would be ungrateful to refuse since she had already said so.

But she had never helped someone before. She raised her hands and hesitated for a moment, unsure of where to put them.

The person beside her was as white as snow, spotless. Placing your hand on her anywhere would be a desecration.

Arm? Hand? Elbow?

When playing with peers, we used to put our arms around each other's shoulders. I'm afraid the young master won't be able to accept walking in this posture.

The silence lasted a while, and Xi Congshuang turned to face her: "What's wrong?"

Su Wenxin was startled and blurted out, "Where should I put my hand on you to help you?"

I didn't expect that she had been pondering this question; I thought she was unwilling.

Xi Congshuang chuckled as she watched the ever-expanding and shrinking ball of light in her eyes. It seemed she was really torn. She offered a hand: "Just take me anywhere."

She added, "I'm a little tired after playing hide-and-seek."

Su Wenxin noticed that her face was a little pale, and without further hesitation, she reached out and grabbed her wide sleeve, pulling her away forcefully.

Guangxiu was grabbed and held in someone's arms, and walked forward. Xi Congshuang followed her and walked forward as well, her smile becoming more pronounced.

Pulled forward for a while, Xi Congshuang stopped in place with Su Wenxin's help and turned around.

Then Su Wenxin said, "Wait a moment."

After a series of patting and moving noises, Xi Congshuang heard her say, "Okay, just sit back."

Xi Congshuang readily agreed and sat down. At this moment, Su Wenxin did not understand the significance of being able to stand behind a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, so she walked around to face her.

After she sat down, she was much shorter than me, and it was a bit tiring to keep looking down like that. Su Wenxin, who had a rustic air about her, wouldn't make herself suffer, so she chose the most comfortable way to be herself.

Su Wenxin squatted down in front of her knees, looked up and asked, "Are you in a lot of pain right now?"

As everyone knows, the young master of Feixian Palace has a damaged spiritual palace, and the pain he experiences when using spiritual power is no less than that of breaking bones and cutting flesh.

This was said by the Palace Master of Feixian Palace herself. Her beloved daughter's condition caused her great distress, and within a few years, the news spread throughout the entire Xuankun Continent.

However, Xi Congshuang in front of her did not seem to be seriously ill; her face was just a little pale.

On second thought, the person sitting in front of her was a cultivator at the late Nascent Soul stage. He couldn't use his spiritual power, but his spiritual power was still circulating slowly throughout his body. What could make her turn pale with pain... couldn't be an ordinary ailment.

The pain must be unimaginable to ordinary people.

"It's alright, I can tolerate it." Xi Congshuang said casually.

Her slender hands held two jade slips, each faintly emitting an icy blue light. Su Wenxin couldn't tell what she was doing, so she fell silent again.

Not knowing what to say, Su Wenxin looked down at the dark patterns on Xi Congshuang's hem.

She found five complete frost flower patterns inside, as well as intricate and mysterious runes. Looking up along the interwoven runes, she thought to herself, "As expected of the young palace master, even the robes he wears are embroidered with magic arrays."

For some reason, looking at the dark pattern on the hem of my clothes, I felt a desire to find the source of the pattern. I searched faster than my will, and kept looking until I reached my arm, without realizing that something was wrong with me.

Completely absorbed in the mysterious runes, he didn't even realize when Xi Congshuang raised her hand to cover his eyes.

Xi Congshuang said, "Don't underestimate your cultivation. You are still shallow and easily affected by the runes, which could lead to you going into a state of demonic possession."

With her view deliberately blocked, Su Wenxin blinked her dazed eyes. Her thick eyelashes brushed against her palm, and she smelled the familiar cold fragrance again.

A cool sensation came before my eyes, and my overly deep thoughts gradually returned.

After a while, she realized that she had been so engrossed in studying the runes on Xi Congshuang's clothes that she had almost lost her mind.

She raised her hand and pulled it off her eyes, revealing her dark eyes. Su Wenxin asked curiously, "Can you see or not?"

Xi Congshuang smiled faintly: "Guess?"

I can't guess, so I won't guess.

Su Wenxin stopped looking at the runes on her robes and turned to look at the floor tiles. In a moment of impulsiveness, the hand pressed down on her head, forcing Su Wenxin to look up at her.

Xi Congshuang: "Take a guess?"

Su Wenxin tried to guess, recalling her interactions with Xi Congshuang over the past few days. Sometimes she felt that Xi Congshuang could "see" her, and other times she felt that Xi Congshuang could not. Human instincts cannot be faked.

Besides, she herself has nothing. Her most valuable asset is her status as the orphan of Immortal Venerable Su, but that's only in the eyes of outsiders. Xi Congshuang herself is the young master of the Flying Immortal Palace, born at the top, and possesses countless things.

Looking at it this way, I realize that I have no value to the other party at all.

Therefore, Su Wenxin shook her head, causing the hand on her head to shake as well: "I can't guess. Sometimes you can see it, sometimes you can't. You jumping down from the Immortal Pavilion scared me to death. I haven't recovered yet."

Xi Congshuang said apologetically, "I was too impatient. I'm sorry."

This was the first time Su Wenxin had been apologized to by a prestigious sect. Her eyes widened slightly, but she still shook her head.

It probably means it's okay.

“I can only see a part of it, but I can’t see more.” Xi Congshuang could guess that the other person’s face was full of doubt. She added, “To be precise, I can only see the truth, not the appearance.”

"Really? What's real?" Su Wenxin didn't quite understand.

Xi Congshuang gave an example: "I can see the trajectory of spiritual power circulated by cultivators with lower cultivation levels than me, as well as their spiritual roots. For cultivators with higher cultivation levels than me, I can discern the direction by the spiritual power exposed when they cast spells, but I can't use this method too often."

"The unseen appearances are the unseen shapes of tables and chairs, the words on paper, the mountains, rivers, lakes and seas of the world, and your appearance."

These are things she cannot see; no matter how hard she tries, she can only see blurry outlines, with all the details covered by dark shadows.

Su Wenxin was surprised. She hadn't expected Xi Congshuang to see things in this way, which confirmed that her previous feelings had indeed been correct.

Xi Congshuang raised her hand and waved one of the jade slips: "I can see the text on the jade slips that can be viewed through divine sense, which is a benefit."

"What about mortals without spiritual power?" Su Wenxin raised her hand and took the jade slip she handed over.

The Flying Immortal Palace was full of cultivators, the worst of whom were at the Qi Refining stage, but in her eyes they were just colorful orbs of light.

It's hard to say. Xi Congshuang answered truthfully, "I haven't seen it. If you remind me next time you see it, I'll tell you what it is."

The young palace master is a born princess, high above all others, so it's normal that she can't see the mortals on the ground.

But why would she say something like that to me? It's as if I'd go out with her.

It should be noted that the young master of Feixian Palace has not left her home for over two hundred years, and she herself is only about three hundred years old.

Never mind, he raised his hand and pressed the jade slip in his hand to his forehead, then felt speechless.

"The 'Burning Wood Technique'?" Su Wenxin looked puzzled. "Are you sure what you gave me is a legitimate technique?"

“Very serious.” Xi Congshuang placed the jade slip in her other hand on her forehead.

A icy sensation flashed by, and a large number of obscure characters flashed through Su Wenxin's mind. She then saw the true name of this mental cultivation method—"Burning Heart Hard Heart Method".

The characters in the jade slip were much more ancient, and were significantly different from the characters Su Wenxin had learned when she first entered the mortal private school. They were more convoluted, lengthy, and obscure, and were completely unsuitable for Su Wenxin, who had only studied in a private school for a few years.

Let alone whether you can understand it or not, you can't understand five or six out of ten words in a sentence. Those who can understand it are just guessing based on the shape of the characters.

Her bird demon foster mother only said that she was going to cultivate immortality in the future, not to become the top scholar, and that it was enough for her to understand.

In retrospect, it seems that she actually couldn't understand the book Su Wenxin brought home either, and was just making up an excuse to fool her.

Su Wenxin fell completely silent, thinking that burning wood was a good idea, at least it was easy to understand.

It turns out that Xi Congshuang had been silent all this time because she was translating and composing, and she had also highlighted the key points of cultivation.

She had a feeling that this mental cultivation manual was quite old.

In fact, this was indeed a Heaven-Rank 3 cultivation manual, something that other fire-elemental cultivators would kill for. Yet, Xi Congshuang casually gave it to Su Wenxin and even simplified it.

Xi Congshuang: "You have experience in guiding qi into the body, so it won't take long for you to master it."

"Once you've learned the first chapter and mastered it, the jade slip will automatically trigger the second chapter. Don't rush, there's still plenty of time, you can do whatever you want."

His restless heart, which had been turbulent for many days, gradually calmed down in front of Xi Congshuang.

Su Wenxin, however, lacked confidence and asked hesitantly, "Can I do it?"

Everyone said that she was inherently unruly and useless, a fish eye disguised as a pearl, and that any good resources would be wasted on her.

Otherwise, he wouldn't still be at the Foundation Establishment stage at fifteen years old.

Xi Congshuang: "Let's make a bet. If I can't do it, you can use me as firewood..."

Before he could finish saying the word "burn," Su Wenxin, unable to bear it any longer, covered his mouth.

"Who's going to burn you!" the furious man exclaimed. "You should at least cherish your own life!"

Xi Congshuang chuckled softly despite her mouth being covered.

*

The mountains and forests behind the Immortal Pavilion.

The spirit beasts were alarmed again, for they sensed a familiar yet terrifying aura approaching.

The terrifying aura was accompanied by a murderous-looking young girl, with a sharpened machete slung over her shoulder.

The wood-chopping knife was as long as a fingertip to the elbow, and extremely sharp. It was a bit heavy for a fifteen-year-old girl, so Su Wenxin carried it with her.

Xi Congshuang stood under the shade of a tree, sensing the spirit beasts fleeing nearby: "The Immortal Pavilion has long been protected by a spirit-replenishing array that blocks the outside spiritual energy, so the cultivation of these spirit beasts is slow to grow, and they pose no threat to you."

Su Wenxin, carrying a wood-chopping knife, asked, "Can we eat that?"

She saw a fat rabbit hop and dart into the bushes, which reminded her of the rabbit meat she used to eat.

Even the most delicious spiritual fruits can become tiresome, and sometimes one might crave a rabbit devoid of spiritual power to fill the void.

“If you can catch it, you can do whatever you want with it,” Xi Congshuang replied.

The people around her moved, and Su Wenxin, carrying the wood-chopping knife, walked forward: "Then I'll go."

Xi Congshuang: "Go ahead."

The first chapter of "The Art of Burning Wood" involves silently reciting the incantation, circulating all the spiritual power in one's body, cutting a piece of driftwood, and burning it.

This wood is as hard as iron, growing only an inch every fifty years. It is impervious to swords and spears, and water and fire. Its only weakness is that it can be burned by spiritual fire.

Ordinary fire cannot ignite the Wuding Wood. Only a cultivator with a fire-type spiritual root can continuously ignite it by using a high concentration of fire spiritual power. To cut down the Wuding Wood, one must attach fire spiritual power to the blade and continuously supply spiritual power to cut down the tree until it is felled.

Coincidentally, there was a tree called Wudingmu in the mountains behind Xi Congshuang Immortal Pavilion. It had been transplanted there when the pavilion was first built, and Su Wenxin could use it to practice.

Thus, in the mountains and forests, in the eyes of the spirit beasts, the two lived peacefully on their own.

One person was chopping down trees with great effort, while another sat cross-legged on a boulder, peacefully entering a meditative state amidst the clanging sounds of chopping wood.

The clanging sound lasted all day, and it wasn't until the afternoon that Xi Congshuang called for it to stop.

"It's about time, let's stop."

Su Wenxin collapsed to the ground, lying on her back on the grass, completely exhausted.

Looking up, she was met with a sudden darkness. She had worked hard all day, draining her spiritual veins, yet all she had left was a tiny dent on the Wuding Wood.

Even with the machete dulled, there's only a one-inch-deep dent!

This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!

She heard footsteps echoing through the grass. Su Wenxin turned her head, and Xi Congshuang walked to her side, raising her hand to touch the marks on the tree, her brows twitching slightly.

The Wuding tree had been continuously chopped down all afternoon, and the areas burned by the fire elemental energy were still very hot to the touch.

Xi Congshuang could sense that Su Wenxin was chopping down trees effortlessly. Based on her wild intuition and the effortless way she swung her knife, Xi Congshuang had already decided what kind of cultivation technique she should prepare for her next.

Xi Congshuang remained silent for quite a while.

Su Wen sat up abruptly, panting, a little nervous.

Wasting an entire afternoon to only get an inch deep, isn't that incredibly incompetent?

“Not bad, you really do have talent,” Xi Congshuang said. “With your current cultivation level, it’s already quite good that you can leave a scratch. Even a small dent is better than many beginner cultivators.”

"..."

Su Wenxin didn't answer for a moment. She wasn't sure if Xi Congshuang was just fooling her or if it was the truth.

Beside the tree, the ethereal young palace master reached out to her and leaned slightly forward: "Can you still stand up? I'll help you."

Su Wenxin stared at the hand for a while, gritted her teeth and got up, earnestly promising: "I will cut deeper tomorrow and cut this branch off within three days."

Xi Congshuang was surprised: "This is as thick as a thigh, wouldn't three days be too much of a stretch?"

Su Wenxin stopped making boastful claims, realizing that Xi Congshuang genuinely cared about her, and changed her mind, saying, "I want to try and see if I can do it."

This time, Xi Congshuang did not object: "Okay, let's give it a try."

Su Wenxin didn't realize that she smiled after hearing those words.

It was afternoon, and evening was approaching; it was time to return to the Immortal Pavilion to cultivate.

The new cultivation method can be practiced even when not chopping wood, but the effect is greatly reduced because it doesn't allow for precise control of the spiritual energy circulation as it does when chopping wood.

Full of energy, Su Wenxin planned to meditate and cultivate for a few hours before going to sleep.

But things didn't go as planned. Having exhausted all her spiritual power, her legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground.

As she fell, she instinctively grabbed onto something nearby, trying to steady herself.

She did indeed regain her balance, not because of what she was holding onto, but because she was being held onto.

“It would be difficult for you to walk back like this, as your spiritual energy is exhausted,” Xi Congshuang said.

After thinking for a moment, she lifted Su Wenxin's wrist and put it on her shoulder, half-squatted down, pulled the weak woman onto her back, supported her thighs with both hands, and stepped forward.

So naturally, he picked her up and carried her on his back. Before she could react, Su Wenxin was carried a few steps before she came to her senses and exclaimed in panic, "Put me down! I don't want you to carry me!"

She was told to crawl back, but it was absolutely out of the question for Xi Congshuang to carry her.

"If you don't want me to carry you, then let's change positions." Xi Congshuang stopped where she was, preparing to change her position to take the person back.

Realizing what position Xi Congshuang was about to change from carrying her on her back to, she resolutely stopped moving: "If you're going to hold me like a child, I'll just smash my head against a tree and die!"

Xi Congshuang really stopped moving, and said in a low voice, "That's really too much. Although I'm three hundred years old, I think I look quite young."

"..." Su Wenxin was on the verge of collapse. "I didn't mean to look down on you at all. I... I've never been carried before..."

In the end, Su Wenxin stopped talking and buried her face in Xi Congshuang's hair with the resolute determination of someone about to kill themselves, not daring to let go of the hands wrapped around her.

It's one thing to slip and fall on your own butt, but don't drag others down with you.

"I've never tried it before, but it's worth a try now."

Xi Congshuang can remember the route she has taken even once, and now she can find her way back to the Immortal Pavilion even if she is carrying someone on her back.

but……

Xi Congshuang carried the person on her back and passed by the teleportation array she had set up without changing her expression.

Anyway, she's blind, so it's perfectly normal that she can't see the teleportation array.

*

Below the Immortal Pavilion, Lan Hui, having finished answering her junior sisters' questions, is about to return to her cave to cultivate.

As the senior disciple of the palace, she has many things to do every day. Previously, these were all done by the young palace master before he went astray.

She ran into Yu Se on the way, and her eyes lit up: "Senior Sister, there's something I don't quite understand. The other senior sisters said that when I play the zither to defend against enemies, the killing intent isn't strong enough, and the power isn't strong enough. How should I improve it?"

Lan Hui was about to say that the reason she wasn't heavy enough was because her fingers weren't strong enough, and that she should tie lead weights to her ten fingers and practice playing the zither. Once she had enough strength, she would have enough power.

A surge of spiritual energy came from behind her, and she stopped speaking and turned around.

A familiar paper crane came from afar and landed on Lan Hui's shoulder.

Yu Se also looked up, and the familiar paper crane reminded her of the young master of the Immortal Pavilion.

Lan Hui raised her hand to touch the paper crane, and Xi Congshuang's voice came from inside: "Send up some low-grade pills for an emergency replenishment of spiritual energy."

As soon as she finished speaking, the paper crane fell from her shoulder and was caught by Lan Hui.

Yu Se recognized the voice as that of the young palace master. She still felt lingering fear from that day; the young palace master was a very quick woman.

Riding a crane, flying swiftly.

"No way?" Lan Hui murmured, staring blankly at the paper crane in her hand.

Since the young palace master went mad with cultivation, he has had a great need for spiritual medicines and has prepared a lot of pills on the site.

However, none of them are suitable for use by Su Wenxin, whose cultivation level is low.

How could Su Wenxin, who was perfectly fine, be injured? Could it be that the young master has lost control again?

No, we have to go up and take a look.

Lan Hui grabbed Yu Se's shoulder and ran towards the crane: "You, come with me to the Immortal Pavilion to stop the young master from acting impulsively."

Yu Se was shocked: "I went with Senior Sister to stop the Young Palace Master?!"

At this moment, after Xi Congshuang picked and chose, she felt that these spiritual herbs were too nourishing and could not be given to Su Wenxin.

She pondered for a moment, then folded a paper crane and placed it in the fairy pavilion.

After releasing the paper cranes, Xi Congshuang said to Su Wenxin, who was exhausted and limp, "I forgot that the spiritual energy flow in the Immortal Pavilion is slow, and it is impossible to recover quickly after a large amount of spiritual energy is consumed."

"But don't worry, Lan Hui will bring the medicine up soon."

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Senior Sister: [Scared]