Chapter 48 Northern Wilderness (Part 3) Your magic artifact is quite novel, the top part...
Qingxing would never touch these roasted insects. Although she loves trying new things, these... clearly have no desire to try them, nor is there any need to try them.
She should just stick to fasting.
"Senior sister, eat this! This fried cicada nymph is so delicious!" Shen Wan returned from her wanderings and shoved a skewer of fragrant fried food in front of Qing Xing. She was chewing on something and her words were mumbled, "Ning Sisi!"
Qingxing: "?"
She was completely confused: "'Ning Sisi', who is that?"
"She meant, 'Let you try it.'" Guda flew back to Qingxing's shoulder, looking utterly satisfied after a good meal. It let out a burp. "You know what, you really have to believe it. Even though I only inhaled a little bit of the food's aroma, from that tiny bit, I got a glimpse of the whole picture. I could imagine the cicada nymph's flesh as tender, juicy, and flavorful..."
Qingxing remained expressionless, raising her hand to block Shen Wan's attack of exploding insects. She said calmly to the book spirit on her shoulder, "Stop spouting idioms to Tingzhu."
"Tch." Gudako immediately covered her ears. "You always talk about me like that. I'm going to sleep!"
After saying that, it instantly transformed into blue light and darted into the green apricot cloth bag.
Helpless, Qingxing had no choice but to fasten the cloth bag.
She had no intention of making friends, and after wandering around, the food at the banquet didn't particularly appeal to her. After greeting her fellow disciples, she quietly left Chang Le Palace with the spirit of the Heavenly Book.
Everyone went to the banquet, and Qingxing didn't encounter anyone on her way back. Seeing that it was getting late, she was bored staying outside, so she simply went back to the stilted house, closed the door, washed up, and went to bed.
She fell asleep quickly and slept deeply, completely unaware that in the latter half of the night, a purple butterfly climbed onto the windowsill and gently fluttered its wings in the darkness.
The next day, Qingxing got up very early. She opened the window, but after only a moment of contact with the scorching sunlight, she immediately withdrew her hand, wondering to herself: Is there no cloud cover over the Northern Wilderness Continent?
She looked outside and saw a clear blue sky, without a single cloud in sight.
With a sigh, Qingxing lay back down on the bed.
Oh well, let her sunbathe then. Anyway, she didn't like going out much when she was in Taihua Mountain, except for her meditation classes.
Perhaps because they had stayed up too late at the banquet the night before, Shen Wan and the others were still fast asleep, and the stilted house was completely silent.
As the sun set, a commotion arose outside the room, followed by the sound of knocking on the door. Soon after, Qingxing's door was banged on, startling her so much that she almost fell off the bed.
She was still putting on her shoes when Gudako, who was having a sweet dream, was abruptly awakened. It crawled out of the Heavenly Book and shouted, "Who is it!"
However, before they could open the door, there was a loud "bang" as the wooden door was kicked open. Shen Wan and Chen Mo stood outside, one knocking and the other eavesdropping, awkwardly staring at Qing Xing.
After a while, Chen Mo lowered her hand and said, "Sorry, I used too much force."
Qingxing: "...It's nothing."
She waved her hand, and the wooden door was pulled upright by the vines that grew from the ground. They skillfully set the wooden door in place and then obediently retracted into the ground.
Seeing that the door had been repaired, Qingxing turned to look at the two people who had barged in and asked, "What happened?"
"Nightclub, wanna go?" Chen Mo replied.
"Nightclubs?" Qingxing asked, puzzled.
Shen Wan quickly explained, "Oh, it's just a temporary training ground that the Qiushan Sect randomly set aside. This year's competition is in that snow mountain, right? There are a lot of demons there, so the Qiushan Sect went in a month in advance to clear the area for the safety of their disciples, and they didn't allow us to go in. Ji Kun was worried that we would be bored, so he set up a training ground for us to practice in."
Upon hearing this, Qingxing immediately exposed her: "You're just itching for a fight, aren't you?"
After all, there are so many disciples from various sects participating in the competition. Those who manage to squeeze in are all geniuses among geniuses. When a group of geniuses gather together, there will always be some who are not convinced. Qingxing does not believe that Ji Kunxiu did not have this intention in setting up the martial arts arena.
Sure enough, right in front of her was a genius swordsman who happened to strike right into Ji Kun's heart—the competitive Shen Wan.
Shen Wan said embarrassedly, "Oh, Senior Sister, don't say that."
"Hmph, there's Ji Kun's eldest disciple, Wei Du, there. Do you think you can beat him?" Guda, still grumpy from being woken up, continued to mock, "He's the rightful heir to the Miao Poison Sword Technique."
Qingxing said, "Junior Sister's swordsmanship is also quite good. Elder Qinghe is still the number one swordsman."
Shen Wan said smugly, "That's right! Although my master usually uses a whip, she's just as good with a sword as Elder Qinghe. I was trained by them together, and I even have my own self-created Chenshui Sword, so how could I not beat that Wei Du?"
Seeing that the two of them were attacking it, Guda pouted and scurried back into the Heavenly Book, leaving behind the words: "Fine, fine, do whatever you want."
Seeing this, Qingxing sighed helplessly. Before heading to the nightclub, she brought a plate of fresh flower cakes from downstairs, gently placed it on the table, and said to Tianshu beside her, "If you want something to eat, come out. Don't wander around. This is someone else's house."
Because the disciples from other places were not used to the weather in the Northern Wilderness, they all adjusted their schedules for the sake of their health, becoming nocturnal cultivators who were active at night and rested during the day.
Therefore, since they couldn't cultivate during the day, eight out of ten cultivators would come to crowd into the night market. When Qingxing and the others arrived, the night market was already packed with people.
"There are so many people," Wenren Xi exclaimed with a smile.
Looking at the magical artifacts flying around in mid-air, Qingxing exclaimed, "So many magical artifacts!"
Xie Yuzhou followed behind, looking on: "So many sword cultivators."
Meanwhile, Shen Wan had already flown into the sky on her sword with Duanmu Tingzhu, and began to search for her duel target.
Qingxing nudged Xie Yuzhou, and when he looked at her, she pointed to the two small dots and said to him, "Junior brother, keep an eye on them."
Xie Yuzhou didn't say anything, and flew away with a "whoosh" on Huiye, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Ahem!" Wenren Xi waved her fan, somewhat speechless, and complained, "Why is this Junior Brother Xie still such a tagalong? Didn't Shen Wan give him a proper title?"
Qingxing shook her head: "Who knows?"
She stepped into the training ground, intending to walk around and see if she could find some interesting matches to learn from.
However, just as she took a step, she suddenly felt an itch on the tip of her ear. Qingxing subconsciously gathered her spiritual power and reached out to touch it, but the itch disappeared instantly.
Qingxing turned around and met the gaze of a young man in purple with long, flowing black hair.
He held an extremely thin black sword in his hand, while a pale purple butterfly perched on the tip of the sword, fluttering its wings very slowly.
It's the same young man who flirted with Qingxing yesterday.
As for that itch just now... Qingxing glanced at the spirit butterfly.
I guess it's what caused it.
"Oh dear, junior sister, you've been entangled with someone." Wenren Xi whispered to Qingxing with a gossipy look on his face, "I inquired about it today. The young man who conveyed his feelings to you with the spirit butterfly last night is named Wei Du, Ji Kun's eldest disciple, and the current inheritor of the Miao Poison Sword Technique. He's very skilled and handsome too."
Judging from her tone, she sounds just like a matchmaker.
Qingxing didn't even look at him, and squeezed out the words through gritted teeth: "Senior brother, if you can't find anything to do, I can fight with you right now."
Wenren Xi immediately waved his hand: "Then forget it, I don't want to get completely confused by your various magic arrays."
He quickly closed his fan and wisely made his escape.
Qingxing didn't give Weidu another glance, but turned around and followed him away.
It's obvious they don't want to deal with this person.
But she didn't expect that Wei Du, who looked so gentle, would be so shameless. Before Qingxing could take two steps, he urged Lingdie to catch up and block Qingxing's way.
Qingxing, expressionless, said to Chen Mo, who had also stopped, "Senior Sister, you go first."
Upon hearing this, Chen Mo hesitated several times before glancing at Wei Du behind him, then blinked twice and quickly moved to the side.
"You have blocked my way time and time again. Is there something important you need?" Qingxing turned to meet Wei Du's deep, smiling eyes. "If not, then don't play these annoying tricks."
Wei Du was taken aback by his words: "Did these spirit butterflies offend you?"
Seeing his expression, Qingxing assumed he genuinely didn't know, so she patiently said, "Yes. Just say what you need to say. I don't like beating around the bush."
"Okay." Wei Du seemed to have taken it to heart. He looked at Qingxing and said quite seriously, "I like you."
Qingxing: "?"
She looked back and saw that Wenren Xi, who hadn't gone far, immediately looked away and gazed up at the sky.
Qingxing turned her head back, looking puzzled: "We've only met once. Do you even know my name? You like me?"
“Your name is Qingxing, and you are the disciple of the younger brother of the Taihua Mountain Sect Leader.” Wei Du walked towards her step by step. “You have a water-attribute book spirit by your side.”
He glanced to the side and said in surprise, "Huh, why didn't that book spirit come today?"
"It's not coming." Qingxing took a big step back and said calmly, "If you don't have anything important to do, I'll be leaving."
“I do.” Wei Du stopped in his tracks, reached out and caught the fluttering butterfly, and said, word by word, “Qingxing, I’m very interested in you. My spirit butterfly has recognized you. Can’t you give me a chance?”
Qingxing was taken aback: "What do you mean?"
Wei Du remained silent, only smiling as he looked at her.
Qingxing suddenly remembered the slight itch on the tip of her ear. She reached out and touched it, and sure enough, she felt a small bump.
She frowned slightly: "What did you do?"
“A little gift.” Wei Du casually stroked the butterfly’s wings. “Besides the successor of the Miao Poison Sword Technique, the Spirit Butterfly only recognizes his mate.”
"Green apricot, in its eyes, you are my partner."
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a chill on his neck. Wei Du looked up and saw Qing Xing pressing a wooden cane against him.
The wooden staff has a unique shape, with a constantly swaying blue tassel at the top.
"Untie it," Qingxing said coldly.
Wei Du ignored her words, seemingly having a strong interest in the Endless Wood.
Qingxing heard him say, "Your magic artifact is quite novel, and the tassels on it are also beautiful."
"I've already given you a gift, so why don't you give me this tassel in return?"
"No." Qingxing said expressionlessly, drawing a magic circle with her right hand and throwing it at him.
A hint of surprise flashed in Wei Du's eyes, and he quickly jumped away, but before he could regain his footing, Qing Xing swept her staff at him again.
"What's wrong?" Wei Du raised his sword to parry. "Miss Zhenxiu, would you like to fight me?"
Qingxing said calmly, "If you don't untie it, I can fight you a hundred times."
Wei Du asked in confusion, "Why? Am I not good-looking? Am I bad at swordsmanship?"
Seeing Qingxing's serious expression, a possibility flashed through his mind, and he joked, "Or... do you already have someone you like?"
Upon hearing this, Qingxing paused for a moment, but quickly resumed her previous attack speed.
Wei Du seized this opportunity, his eyes darkening slightly as he whispered, "It really is true."
He dodged Qingxing's attack, raised his hand to deflect a sword strike, and said, "Then I will fight you."
Qingxing didn't answer him, and continued to throw out magic arrays one after another, not intending to give Weidu any chance to retaliate.
Wei Du was no pushover either. He ran his fingers along the blade, and crimson blood flowed down from the hilt, turning the entire sword red.
He gave a wicked smile, and in the next instant, swarms of red spirit butterflies emerged from behind him, heading straight for Qingxing. Wherever they flew, the green grass and branches instantly lost their vitality, withered away, and some even turned directly into purple-gray dust.
“Miao Poison Sword Techniques can’t be fooled by a mere magic array,” Wei Du said.
Qingxing took dozens of steps back. She caught a glimpse of the tree stump behind her out of the corner of her eye, then turned her feet and leaped up onto the stump, heading straight for Lingdie.
She planted her staff directly below the fairy butterfly and softly recited: "The rice is fragrant, the bamboo is long, and the mountain fruits hang green and yellow."
"Spring blossoms and autumn fruits, life begins."
With each word Qingxing uttered, the Endless Tree grew stronger. When the word "life" landed, the Endless Tree burst forth with a "bang," sending several branches out from all directions. In a few moments, it transformed into a lush, towering tree.
In a few breaths, the tree sprouted tender buds, which immediately turned into broad leaves, and tiny flowers bloomed from the leaves, which in an instant turned into orange-yellow fruits.
The air was filled with the fragrance of fruit. The fruit, imbued with the spiritual power of the green apricot, materialized into a pair of harvesting hands, cradling the spirit butterfly in their grasp.
The next moment, the calloused hands clasped together, and the spirit butterfly vanished into thin air.
The area they had just passed through had already been smoothed out by the roots of the Endless Tree, restoring it to its original lush green state.
The once bustling martial arts arena had fallen silent, and everyone stared at Qingxing, their jaws practically dropping to the ground.
When did a Nascent Soul Array Master emerge from Mount Taihua?!
How come not even a whisper of it has leaked out!
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The author's note: "The fragrance of ripe rice...hanging green and yellow." — Fan Chengda, "Huanxi Sha: On the Road to Jiangcun"
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