This little test of Xuanzhi's abilities will likely lead to a bleak future for him.
Everyone faces different challenges and cares about different things. Junior Brother Pei and the Sect Leader both have their own challenges to overcome, and so does she.
The silence between the father and son behind the gauze window continued until Yan Huanyue turned and left Pei Xuanzhi's courtyard.
Back in my little courtyard, I first took a bath and changed my clothes, and then went out to pick a few sprigs of jasmine.
She went back to the inner room to offer incense and flowers to her parents' and her own memorial tablets, and also put a few pastries she had brought back from Pei Xuanzhi into the offering dish.
After taking the Shouyuan Pill, he sat cross-legged on the bed and took out the small black box he had retrieved from the murdered servant of the divine messenger.
It was impossible to tell what kind of wood the small black box was made of; the entire box was carved with intricate and twisted incantations.
She never took it out to examine it carefully on the way; she just grabbed a mouse and put it in, feeding it some rice every day.
Using his mind to investigate, he found the rat lying sprawled out in the corner, gnawing on wood and sharpening its teeth.
The space inside the box is not large, about five steps wide and narrow.
In the spiritual community, there are many magical artifacts that can store inanimate objects, such as treasure pouches, but magical artifacts that can store living beings are rare.
Initially, there were some bloody teeth, hair, bones, nails and other things left behind here.
She collected them all and buried them for salvation, but it was obvious that the small box was used by that person to store the people or demons they had abducted.
She plucked a mouse hair to try and locate the mouse, but it didn't lead her to the box that was very close by.
Those who are imprisoned are tantamount to disappearing.
Yan Huanyue withdrew her thoughts, looked at the small box lying in her palm, and an undisguised indifference spread across her eyes as her thoughts drifted away.
No wonder the inner disciples are all eager to go out and experience the world. It seems that if one has the energy, one should go out and experience more things. It can benefit not only others but also oneself.
This thing was perfect for her to have it, as it was the thing she wanted to do.
After putting the box away, she circulated her spiritual energy, casually created a barrier, and used the Meridian Incantation to focus her mind on her dantian, preparing to probe her soul with her will.
Along the way, in addition to cultivating and circulating her spiritual energy, she also frequently tried to explore the reason for the surge of spiritual power beneath the intense pain stirred up by the death energy deep within her soul.
She realized that when the spiritual energy surged that night, there was no significant fluctuation in the innate spiritual energy within her body.
It would no longer cause her to lose her balance with the external spiritual energy as before, frantically absorbing external spiritual energy and causing it to backflow into her spiritual sea and veins, thus causing her to vomit blood.
When she was tormented by excruciating pain, the innate spiritual energy simply remained quietly in every inch of her blood vessels, cooperating perfectly with the introduced external spiritual power, inexhaustibly expending spiritual energy into her spiritual veins.
She almost didn't recognize that obedient and cooperative innate spiritual energy.
Once the Midnight-Noon Incantation was completed, the Three Pure Bells placed beside him rang three times.
The familiar pain, like several snakes, swiftly snaked across her neck and squeezed into her brain, instantly causing her to break out in a cold sweat.
Before the pain became completely uncontrollable, she tightly gripped the Meridian Mantra, forcibly suppressing her will into her soul.
In a short while, the pain caused her to dig a bloody mark into the palm of her left hand with her right thumb nail.
Deep within her soul lies a sky stained with blood.
The boundless sky seemed to have been torn open with countless large and small bloody holes, those bottomless, hideous holes silently looking down at her with howling winds.
Blood rained down from the sky, pounding on the scorched earth and dripping blood-red droplets from the withered green grass, lifeless and barren.
In the past, this place was not like this; it was just an ordinary landscape composed of the five elements.
Her thoughts continued to drift forward like the wind; she needed to run farther and farther than she had in the past few days once the bloodbath here had completely subsided.
The blood rain grew heavier, and her willpower was gradually overwhelmed by the pain in her body, beginning to waver.
She drifted forward desperately, and in the distance, she saw the outline of the immortal cauldron on the golden platform.
On the high golden platform, the celestial cauldron, glowing red-hot, was shrouded in thick smoke. The charred skeleton sat on the rim of the cauldron, watching her from afar, silent.
Despite the increasingly intense pain, Yan Huanyue cried out, "Yan Huanyue! Why don't you help me!"
She heard that charred, dry voice, as hoarse as dried-out old wood, say, "Yan Huanyue, what will you offer as a sacrifice to me?"
"Fragrant precious candles, flowers of the four seasons, meritorious deeds in protecting life, followers of the spirit, the head of the silver ring, the corpse of Yu Zhao... most importantly, repaying the debt of gratitude to Pei..."
The charred bones chuckled, a laugh as dull and hoarse as a seasoned musician playing a zither string that, like her, was nearing its end and about to crack.
"To offer sacrifices to me is to cultivate myself; to cultivate myself is to cultivate others; the way of humanity is vast and boundless, the way of Heaven is boundless and unfathomable, the Great Way is limitless..."
She sat on the edge of the cauldron, swinging her legs, thick smoke billowing around her feet, swirling and embracing her, and she continued to murmur softly:
"Those who abandon me and pity me will forever fall into purgatory; those who forget me and fear me will be slaves for eternity; their names will not be sung in sacrifice, they will ultimately sacrifice themselves..."
Enduring the increasingly intense pain, Yan Huanyue screamed with a ferocious expression, "I swear to sacrifice myself to the death, and never abandon you..."
She suddenly opened her eyes, blood dripping from her palm through her fingers. She raised her sleeve to wipe the cold sweat from her face.
Ah, to pity Fu Jiuyu, what kind of person could do such a thing?
Outside the courtyard gate, someone gently knocked on the bolt.
She cleansed herself of the bloodstains, dispelled the barrier, and opened the gate at the courtyard entrance.
The candlelight from inside the room spilled into the courtyard, blending with the moonlight to make the night less bleak.
Xue Jingnian, who was usually confident and flamboyant, was unusually a little flustered. "Yan Huanyue, I heard you're back."
"Um."
"I just arrived too. My master sent me to Linjiang a while ago. Would you like a drink...?"
Yan Huanyue didn't have any good drinks with him, but she keenly seized on the place name, "Supporting Yu Zhao? You're very happy, aren't you?"
Xue Jingnian nodded and said, "I'm going to support Senior Brother Yu."
So that's what they came here to show off.
Yan Huanyue thought for a moment and asked, "After the matter in Linjiang was over, did they go to Shendumen?"
Xue Jingnian narrowed his eyes. "Do you care about Senior Brother Yu, or Pei Xuanzhi?"
"Fine, don't tell me then."
She turned around and retreated back into the courtyard, waving and closing the gate.
Xue Jingnian stepped forward, wedging himself inside the door. He winced in pain, but still managed to grab her arm.
"Yan Huanyue! Guests are always welcome, and this is how you treat them? So rude! Who told me when I was a child that I should treat my fellow disciples with respect?"
Yan Huanyue smiled and shook off his hand, "These rules don't apply to you."
Xue Jingnian stared blankly at her smiling face, outlined by the moonlight and candlelight, until she shoved him away, at which point he gradually regained consciousness.
As the door slammed shut with a "bang," he couldn't help but touch his nose and grin. But as he laughed, his expression gradually turned dejected, and finally, he turned back to the peak with a very bleak look on his face.
No wonder she kept thinking about and paying attention to Senior Brother Yu's movements. He only realized how good Senior Brother Yu could be to women after he went to Linjiang this time.
He had been so busy complaining about and provoking Yan Huanyue that he never realized whether Senior Brother Yu treated her as well as Fellow Daoist Tan.
After meeting Tan Daoyou in Linjiang, he found her to be a very nice person—cheerful, generous, and like any other boy, she would call them brothers and drink and chat with them, unlike other girls who were coy and pretentious.
Fellow Daoist Tan was also very kind to him, showing concern in every way...
If Yan Huanyue had the same temperament as Fellow Daoist Tan, they would probably already be drinking wine under the moon and talking about what they had seen and heard along the way.
.
The following morning, after fighting for an hour at the Heavenly Stele, Yan Huanyue went to the Hall of Inquiry to complete her mission and received a low-grade water-based spirit stone.
There wasn't time to go to the canteen for breakfast, so I ate two pieces of pastry that I had brought back last night.
He rushed back to Xinzi Studio and carefully revised the record of his journey, handing it over to Han Shuangying. The record omitted the part about sending Wu Xinniang back to her husband's home.
During this ten-day break, only a few people from the entire Xinzizhai went home; the rest all took on tasks.
After Han Shuangying revised and annotated a stack of the original records, it was placed on a low table behind the study room before the end of get out of class in the morning for the students to study together.
As soon as get out of class ended, no one went to eat; instead, they all crowded around to read their classmates' writings and loudly discussed whether there was a better way to solve a certain task.
"Hahaha, Junior Brother Zhou, you were originally helping someone find their lost flock of sheep, but you ended up paying for a flock of sheep yourself. Hahaha, does that count as completing the mission?"
Zhou Jiao monopolized a stack of records, flipping through them, and said calmly, "Just tell me whether the problem is solved or not. Anyway, when I went to Wenshi Hall to hand in the task, Senior Brother Mu was very satisfied with me."
Mu Huaci loves money so much, how come he doesn't like this kind of spendthrift?
"My God, this is too bloody! Senior Sister Yan used the Five Thunder Talisman to blow the mountain demon's head off. Senior Sister Han's comment on this part was: Excellent, the Water-Generating Talisman can also be used."
"My goodness, the Life-Giving Water Talisman can turn human bones, flesh, liver, and intestines into a paste, leaving only a thin layer of skin to hold it. With the slightest touch, it will spray out corpse fluid. They are too ruthless."
“If we are not ruthless towards this scourge, we are letting down those who have been deceived and died tragically.”
The record would be there for a day or two, but Yan Huanyue wasn't in a hurry to see it now. Instead, she ate a meal first, and then went back to her room to absorb the low-grade water-based spirit stone completely.
As a spirit stone after all, even a low-grade one contains a purer spiritual energy than the spiritual energy of heaven and earth that usually needs to be neutralized. When it circulates in the spiritual veins, it is truly refreshing.
Most importantly, it seems that even after absorbing spiritual energy last night, the innate spiritual energy in her body has never been disordered again.
This was a huge change for her, and she knew inexplicably that it was because the charred skeleton was quite satisfied with her rebirth.
All her power stems from her past, but looking back, would I be satisfied with my present self and trust my future self?
She studied at the Xinzizhai until June. In addition to what she learned every day, she memorized a book of talismans and reviewed a collection of magic formulas.
He wielded his sword and entered the Heavenly Stele without interruption every day, and the spiritual energy that he could store in his spiritual sea was half a bit more than before.
If she could accumulate even a fraction more spiritual energy in a single breath, with her current level of training, she would probably not be far from reaching the mid-to-late Foundation Establishment stage.
But Jiao Gu wouldn't easily give her that extra bit; she knew she had to be worthy of it.
By the end of June, her ranking on the Heavenly Stele had improved by three places, but she was still in the bottom corner where no one paid attention.
As the lotus leaves sway gently in the breeze, we welcome the six-month trial period.
"This mid-year test will be conducted in pairs, as in previous years. The scores will be based on the speed of completion and the quality of the method. The top-performing group will receive two high-grade blood spirit stones, and the two average groups will each receive one high-grade blood spirit stone."
The remaining participants will receive high, medium, and low-grade spirit stones according to their completion status and score. Those who fail to meet the basic requirement will have one medium-grade spirit stone deducted from their score.
Inside the Heart-Character Studio, Gu Yuxiao finished reading the rules for the preliminary test, then tossed his sleeve and several rows of names, shimmering with ethereal light, into the air.
Yan Huanyue instantly found her name, with the words "Zhou Jiao" next to it.
"Today's test question: Taihui Formation to kill the Jia-character evil spirit. Range of movement: Thirty-six peaks of Tianyan and Shouzhuoyuan. Today you may fly and fly with your sword within this range."
The specifics of the Taihui Formation have never been taught, but the ability to quickly and accurately search for relevant texts is an extremely strong skill.
After receiving the exam questions, Mu Huage took the lead and led Li Ji, who was in the same team, to the library. Everyone else followed suit.
Zhou Jiao was so anxious that he rushed out of the courtyard to follow immediately.
Yan Huanyue grabbed him and said telepathically, "No need to join in the fun. Have you forgotten those 'Myriad Paths Paying Homage to the Truth' diagrams in the cave behind the Ancestral Hall? Isn't that cave called Taihui Cave Truth Cave?"
Zhou Jiao, who was about to get angry because he found her troublesome, suddenly brightened up upon hearing this and turned to run towards the Ancestral Hall.
Taihui Dongzhen Cave is a naturally formed cave in the mountain, which is spacious and accessible. The "Ten Thousand Paths Paying Homage to the True Ones" mural of the Tianyan Sect is the collective name for the countless murals in Dongzhen Cave.
These murals depict some of the cultivation methods, talismans, and formations that disciples have seen or comprehended since the establishment of the sect.
Logically, one should think of Dongzhen Cave first, but many disciples have been used to looking up scriptures in the library whenever they don't understand something since they entered the sect.
This habitual, subconscious choice made Yan Huanyue and Zhou Jiao the first group to arrive at Dongzhen Cave.
Yan Huanyue stood in front of the cave entrance and looked up. The entire hall was filled with murals and statues of the celestial masters, their jeweled belts and colorful robes flowing and intricate, magnificent and splendid. They seemed to have traversed countless years and three thousand worlds, waiting here for the visitors.
Amidst this magnificent splendor, Pei Xuanzhi, dressed in snow-white robes, stood atop a tall wooden frame, holding a fine brush and intently sketching the talisman that a venerable monk with lowered brows was about to toss into a magic array.
The inner hall of the cave was spacious and quiet. He was alone there, sketching and painting, yet he was accompanied by countless ancient masters in silence.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, he steadily put down his brush, turned his head and looked down at the two people at the palace gate. His gaze was calm as water, as if it had merged into the murals of the myriad paths of the heavens behind him.
The mural "Wan Dao Chao Zhen Tu" is found in every corner of Dongzhen Cave. Every year, several ancient murals are renovated. However, Yan Huanyue did not expect that Pei Xuanzhi would be the one renovating the murals this year.
Since that night, she had rarely encountered Pei Xuanzhi. Even when she went to the Broken Jade Waterfall before dawn and passed through the bamboo path of the library, she never met him again.
Sometimes, she would see him from afar, and before she could even say hello, he would quickly disappear from her sight.
If he wasn't deliberately avoiding her, she didn't know how else to explain his behavior.
However, she could figure out why he did that.
If someone were to see her in that state from head to toe, she would probably recall that incredibly embarrassing experience every time she couldn't sleep at night for the rest of her life.
Even if she has never had any blasphemous thoughts from then until now, this hurdle is probably not so easy for someone like Junior Brother Pei to overcome.
Therefore, she did not deliberately visit him or provoke him. She just did not expect that after avoiding each other for more than a month, they would meet here in the end.
Zhou Jiao, standing to the side, raised an eyebrow, thinking himself humorous, and pointed at Pei Xuanzhi, who was standing on the overpass, with a look of amusement. He grinned mysteriously and said:
"Senior Sister Yan, let your little brother test you. Who is this? Do you recognize him? Do you want me to introduce him to you? Oh, you're still pretending not to know him."
Zhou Jiao's mother was injured by demonic energy when she slew the demon, and his older sisters and brothers all died young as a result. Over the years, she has only been able to protect this young son, so he is naturally loved by everyone.
He was raised at home until he was fourteen or fifteen years old. If the head of the Zhou family hadn't heard about this and reprimanded his parents, they probably wouldn't have been willing to let him go out to be tempered in the sect.
Spoiled and carefree since childhood, he is still in a state of being disliked by everyone, even though he has just turned twenty this year.
If he weren't born into a prestigious family, making it difficult to get rid of him if he were offended, given his teasing and flirting behavior, who knows if some unbearable fellow disciple would have put him in a sack and hung him on a tree to swing on.
Yan Huanyue made a hand seal and greeted Pei Xuanzhi. With a casual wave of her hand, she sent a burst of spiritual energy to Zhou Jiao in front of the mural that read "Taihui Formation".
He conjured a small barrier to block out the sound, pressed down on the back of Zhou's neck with his spiritual power, and said, "Junior Brother Zhou, you like testing others so much. I wonder if you can get full marks in this quiz."
Zhou Jiao struggled secretly, but couldn't break free for a moment.
He was guessing that Senior Sister Yan was holding back her anger because of what happened last time, which was why she had been diligently cultivating until now, just so that one day she could take advantage of people not paying attention to deal with him.
He wasn't the kind of person who was resolute. After struggling a few times, he got angry and said, "Yan Huanyue, don't be too arrogant. When I go back this time, I'll have my father pass on ten years of cultivation to me, and when I come back, I'll pin you to the bottom of the Lake of No Fall and make you pull out the water plants!"
Yan Huanyue resisted the urge to kick him, and pouted, "Look at your pathetic self. Copy the murals for me! If you don't get a medium score in the preliminary test and drag me down, I'll throw you into the Lake of No Falls to give the fish a bath."
Zhou Jiao had never suffered much hardship since birth. In the past, when his teacher punished him at home, his father could argue with the teacher and put up a fight. The first twenty years of his life were spent suffering under the hands of Elder Feng Ye and his disciple Han Shuangying.
Today, he was being lectured by this senior sister who was younger than him. Not only was he embarrassed and frustrated, but she didn't care at all when he got angry.
He couldn't possibly expect Pei Xuanzhi, who would be sleeping in the same bed as Yan Huanyue in the future, to come over and comfort him or stand up for him, just like he did at home.
He struggled for a long time, but he couldn't win. He could only be suppressed in place by Yan Huanyue's spiritual power, wiping his eyes, holding his breath, and looking up at the mural.
Spiritual energy shouldn't be consumed like this. Yan Huanyue removed the barrier and loosened her suppression on him. Zhou Jiao tried to run away but was glared at coldly by her.
For some reason, that calm and expressionless gaze inexplicably chilled him, and he stood rooted to the spot, not moving an inch.
"Where should the imperial edict, 'May the Supreme Lord Sumeru live ten thousand years and his merits endure forever,' be placed?"
Zhou Jiao swallowed his anger and suppressed it. Right now, he was alone, while Yan Huanyue had Pei Xuanzhi who could help her spread rumors and distort the truth in front of outsiders.
He remembered his mother's teachings about avoiding strong opponents and launching surprise attacks when the opportunity presented itself, and he felt that he couldn't confront her head-on when he was outnumbered and outmatched.
Thinking this way, a sense of pride in my own composure arose spontaneously.
Hey, Yan Huanyue, I'm not afraid of you. This is taking advantage of the situation, going with the flow, lying in wait, and having a strategic mind.
Today, I'll learn and see more, and show you what true erudition is. I'm not afraid of being outmatched by you two vicious bullies who oppress our kind fellow disciples.
"Um... um... Senior Sister Yan, what did you just say about the imperial edict to Tai Mi?"
Pei Xuanzhi, unaware that he had become a vicious person, had indeed never forgotten the unbearable events of that night.
He would often inadvertently recall her calm eyes, so serenely looking down at him as he teetered on the brink of collapse, tormenting him in his dreams.
She discovered his most secret and unspeakable secrets, and he struggled, suffered, and even fawned over her.
She remained silently gazing down at his disheveled state, a result of his failed attempt to spread the fragrance, as if looking at a pitiful patient...
He was still not quite able to face Yan Huanyue, so he silently packed up his paints, stepped down the stairs, said goodbye from a distance, and then strolled out past the magnificent murals.
Seeing him lower his head and take the opportunity to leave, looking rather weak and frail even carrying a basket, Zhou Jiao couldn't help but feel sorry for him again.
He and Yan Huanyue don't speak to each other anymore. Their eyes are distant and they don't seem affectionate at all. They're so unfamiliar with each other that they probably don't like each other much and aren't on the same side.
With a ruthless Daoist partner like Yan Huanyue, Brother Xuanzhi's future is likely to be bleak.
After copying down the Taihui Formation, Mu Huage arrived with Li Ji just then, and was surprised to see them arrive first.
Li Ji thought to himself, "Sure enough, it's these people who are always running around looking for places to sleep who are more familiar with everything around them."
Yan Huanyue and Zhou Jiao bid farewell to them and headed to the training ground together.
The only places in the entire Tianyan Sect where you can find evil spirits are either the Heavenly Stele or the Plum Blossom Altar in the Trial Grounds.
Each person entering the Heavenly Stele can only see what is within their own realm of understanding. They must act in pairs to enter the Plum Blossom Altar.
Sure enough, when they arrived at the trial grounds, Han Shuangying was guarding the plum blossom altar that had already been opened.
They first found a place to check the talismans carried by each person, making up for any missing ones, before showing Han Shuangying the diagram of the Taihui Formation.
Han Shuangying was not surprised that the two of them were the first to arrive. She simply said, "The events within the secret realm are all true events witnessed by our sect's predecessors. The scenery and the people are evolved from the pure and evil energies. Among them, the Jia character evil with the character 'Jia' behind the ear is missing three times, which means that at least three teams cannot find the Jia character evil."
Zhou Jiao asked, "Does stealing count?"
"Calculate."
Without another word, the two entered the secret realm. As soon as they entered, they found themselves in a long, dark street lined with houses on both sides, with only a dim blue lamp swaying in the wind.
The cries of babies pierced the darkness.
The two looked in the direction of the sound and saw a child huddled under the dark eaves, crying.
Yan Huanyue summoned her sword and quietly floated to the child's side. Zhou Jiao then drew his sword and looked the child over, but he didn't see the character "甲" (jia) behind the child's ear.
Just as he relaxed for a moment, the child's head suddenly fell off and rolled to his feet.
Zhou Jiao was inevitably shocked. The next moment, he bent down and picked up the head and examined it carefully with Yan Huanyue. Sure enough, there was no "甲" character.
The head in his hand stared intently at the two of them, repeatedly saying, "Give me back my head..."
Yan Huanyue looked around, but it was empty and deserted. It seemed that they would have to find the Jia-character evil spirit themselves.
Not only did the head in his hand fail to frighten him, but he also started crying and wailing, calling for his mother and father.
Zhou Jiao casually shoved his head back into the child's arms, kicked him in the butt, and said listlessly:
"Cry, cry, cry! You scared me right off the bat, making me all excited for nothing. Who wants this thing? Go cry over there with your head in your hands, it's so annoying."
Yan Huanyue grabbed the crying child who was clutching his head, cast a silencing spell, and shoved him into Zhou Jiao's arms. "What if he's a whistle? Hold him, and if necessary, break him up."
The little head in the child's arms was instantly filled with fear.
Zhou Jiao muttered, "Ruthless."
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 00:57:41 on November 5, 2023 and 23:21:04 on November 6, 2023!
Thank you to the little angels who threw landmines: Plum Rain Sky Blue, Fish Startled at the End of the Year, Doesn't Eat Tangyuan, Xiaoman Yi 1;
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Black Sheep (23 bottles); Teacher's Dog (18 bottles); Tong Cang and Drink a Cup with Big White Pear (10 bottles); Did You Think Seriously Today? and Non-Stop Meat Bun (5 bottles); Wu Xue (3 bottles); Bu Jie, Wuhu, and WHY (2 bottles each); Yang Erniu, AAA Special Grade Chef, Mammonggg, Yu Xi, Zhou Man's Sword Bone, Hui Dudu, Kelvedon, Seven Days Without Eating, and Xia Minglang (1 bottle each).
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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