After seeing Zhao Cai off, Zhu Yi started contacting her girlfriends.
In Yu Lingtong's group chat, Zhu Yi's joyful voice rang out: "Sister Shanshan, Sister Weiwei, are your injuries healed?"
Zhu Yi prefers to call them "Sister Shanshan" and "Sister Weiwei," as it sounds smoother that way.
"Junior Sister Zhu Yi, you're awake!" Wei Weiwei was the first to answer her question. "How are you? You've been in seclusion for three months, are you feeling better now? Sister Shan Shan and I are both well now too."
"Thanks to Master Yujing for giving us the Nine-Turn Soul-Soothing Pill and the Jade Complexion Regenerating Pill! Otherwise, we would have been left with scars!"
Zhu Yi was slightly bewildered as she listened to Wei Weiwei spitting out beans.
"Wait, Sister Weiwei, you said I've been in seclusion for three months? I just took a nap, and it's already mid-August?"
"Yes, Junior Sister Zhu Yi, a lot has happened in the past three months. Let's talk about it when we meet at dinner later." Xue Shan was studying in her room today, so her reply speed was much slower than usual.
"Yes, after we were injured, Master Yujing went to the Tian Sha Sect and imprisoned those demonic cultivators. Then, during your seclusion, Master Yujing even suggested to the sect leader that we increase the cultivation tasks for our sect disciples and add more sect assessments!" Wei Weiwei patiently explained the situation to Zhu Yi.
"Well, I'll stop here for now, I'm going to memorize my books! Senior Brother Mu Yu said that I'll be establishing my foundation soon and need to learn some new cultivation techniques to deepen my cultivation. He assigned me two brand new cultivation techniques and a book called 'The Complete Collection of Plants and Trees in the Cultivation World,' all of which I have to memorize!" Xue Shan glanced at the three thick books on the table and felt a bit of a headache. She unconsciously sped up the speed at which she tapped her jade communication device.
"Let's meet at the canteen for dinner! Weiwei, stop looking at posts in the Jade Spirit Plaza all the time, hurry up and practice your swordsmanship and talisman drawing!" Xue Shan put down the Jade Spirit and continued to bury herself in her studies.
"Ah! I still have to memorize 180 talisman prototypes. Senior Brother Mu Yu said he'll be checking on me!" Wei Weiwei was a little unhappy. "Senior Brother Mu Yu assigned too much homework! This afternoon I also have to go to the Sword Sect to learn swordsmanship. The senior sisters at the Sword Sect are very strict. They make you practice each move a thousand times before learning the next one. My arms are so swollen from exhaustion!"
Wei Weiwei gritted her teeth unconsciously, her face filled with grief and indignation: she didn't want to be beaten helplessly again when she went out to play next time! But the high-intensity training she had been doing recently was really taking its toll on her.
Waaah, she was a little scared to see Senior Brother Mu Yu testing her talismans with a stern, dark face...
Xue Shan and Wei Weiwei didn't linger for long before going off to cultivate.
Zhu Yi was moved: her two best friends were working so hard, if she didn't work hard too, wouldn't she fall too far behind?
No! Her cultivation level has dropped to zero, so she was already inferior to them...
Zhu Yi quickly composed herself and strode towards the library. She decided to borrow a few books to read first, and then return to Lotus Lake to continue her cultivation that evening.
Just before Zhao Cai went to sleep, he told her that although she had almost recovered, it would be better for her to stay overnight at Lotus Lake every night.
The cool autumn breeze brushed against her cheeks. Zhu Yi put away the jade spirit and looked at the still lush and green Lotus Lake. Even though it was the season for withered lotuses to fade, the lotus flowers in Lotus Lake still looked like they had just bloomed.
Zhu Yi observed the array above Lotus Lake; no wonder she felt the spiritual energy within the lake was exceptionally abundant. The clear, spiritually powerful array shimmered with a pale purple light, hazy and beautiful.
Just like Tingting's dancer's skirt, Zhu Yi couldn't help but wonder if the scene before her would be even better with the moonlight.
On the way to the library, Zhu Yi noticed something different.
She was surprised to find that the disciples in the sect were now quite indolent.
For a moment, she felt as if she had returned to her college days, especially since the current atmosphere in the sect gave her the feeling of having to take final exams.
She would often see disciples sitting and discussing how to cultivate their techniques, or she would encounter disciples holding a thick book of runes, reciting and drawing at the same time. Even more so, some disciples would test their own spirit pets during their breaks!
She calmly walked into the library, where a large blackboard stood before her, with four lines of poetry written in elegant handwriting—it was indeed the work of Master Yujing!
The handwriting, imbued with the cultivation foundation of a Mahayana cultivator, can provide some inspiration for cultivators of lower cultivation levels.
Dozens of disciples in lake-blue robes sat quietly in front of the library, carefully studying Master Yujing's notes, their brows furrowed in contemplation, completely surrounding the library entrance.
Zhu Yi didn't want to disturb the other person's meditation, so he went around to the back of the library and entered through a small door.
Zhu Yi felt that although she inherited the original owner's memories after transmigrating, she still knew very little about the cultivation world. Therefore, she quickly selected several books she needed: "A Brief History of the Cultivation World Over Ten Thousand Years," "One Hundred Famous Figures Who Influenced the Canglan Continent," "Illustrated Introduction to the Regions of the Canglan Continent," "A Complete Collection of Rare Spiritual Plants and Beasts from the Six Realms," "Detailed Explanation of the Local Chronicles of the Five Cities of the Eastern Continent," and so on.
Each of these five books is twice as thick as the Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary that Zhu Yi memorized during her university years.
When she carried a stack of books as tall as her head to the library to "ascend the throne" to the senior student on duty, she was surprised by the senior student's astonished and self-assured expression.
"Junior Sister Zhu Yi, why are you working so hard as soon as you come out of seclusion? Have your injuries fully healed?" The senior brother on duty chuckled as he recorded Zhu Yi's borrowing information on the jade slip.
"I feel much better now, so I came out for a walk and also to borrow some books to read," Zhu Yi said with a smile.
"Junior Sister Zhu Yi truly lives up to her reputation as a disciple carefully protected by Master Yu Jing! She is indeed so diligent! However, the more books Junior Sister borrows now, the more content there will be in the test when she returns them!" The senior brother on duty kindly reminded her.
Zhu Yi asked curiously, "What kind of assessment will it be?"
"Ah, could it be that Junior Sister doesn't know?" The senior brother on duty asked with a hint of sympathy. "This is a new rule set by Master Yujing before he went on his travels. All disciples who are not on missions within the sect must borrow at least one book from the library each month. When returning the book, they also need to be tested on what they have learned in the book in the examination room set up by Master Yujing."
"It's just an exam, it's not that hard." As a member of the new generation of students who grew up under the red flag, Zhu Yi had been taking various assessments since childhood, so there was nothing to fear. She breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that as long as she paid more attention to the key points while studying, it wouldn't be that difficult.
Seeing Zhu Yi's confident demeanor, the senior brother on duty exclaimed in amazement: "Although Master Yujing's disciple is a cultivator with five spiritual roots, which requires a lot of effort to cultivate, he seems to work very hard!"
After registering the information, he pushed the large stack of books to Zhu Yi: "Alright, then junior sister, remember to come to the library to return the books and participate in the assessment room on September 19th. The assessment consists of one test paper and one book, with one hundred questions on each paper. You need to answer ninety questions correctly to pass the assessment."
Zhu Yi nodded, then bristled: scoring 90 out of 100 wouldn't be difficult for her, but she had borrowed five books in one go without knowing the truth!
Zhu Yi felt a little overwhelmed looking at the mountain of books! She asked somewhat guiltily, "What if I don't pass the assessment?"
"If you fail the assessment, you'll have to pay two mid-grade spirit stones for each book you borrow. Master Yujing said that in order for the disciples who come to borrow books to make progress, a heavy penalty is necessary..."
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