Chapter 2
"What?"
"Junior brother, may I smear some mud on your clothes and clean it for you?"
Mu Qingzhou was taken aback when Shi Anxu made such a request. He paused for a moment, then began to cover himself with mud.
Shi Anxu began to perform hand seals as Mu Qingzhou moved, ensuring that the mud remained on Mu Qingzhou's clothes for no more than ten seconds.
After they had played enough, Shi Anxu began to discuss the Fuyuan Grass with Mu Qingzhou.
Shi Anxu: "Fuyuan Grass is a divine object. The place where it grows is guarded by guardian beasts, and we have no way of harvesting it with our strength. However, I heard that the first place in this sect competition is rewarded with Fuyuan Grass."
Mu Qingzhou: "We must participate in this sect competition."
Thinking that there was still a long time before the sect competition, Shi Anxu asked worriedly, "Are there any other ways to deal with demonic cultivators now?"
Mu Qingzhou paused for a moment, then said, "Master taught me a few illusion arrays. Although they can't trap demonic cultivators, they can buy us time. I will set up illusion arrays on the peak in the next few days, so Senior Brother doesn't need to worry."
Hearing Mu Qingzhou say this, An Xu finally felt relieved and focused her mind on taking care of Mu Qingzhou and cultivating every day.
The days spent immersed in cultivation passed quickly, and the annual sect competition slowly began.
Shi Anxu and Mu Qingzhou followed the other participating disciples to the sect gate to gather and wait for the leader, the Immortal Venerable.
This sect competition is being held by the Xuan Yuan Sect, which is ranked second. They need to set off two days in advance to arrive at the venue before the competition begins.
Shi Anxu and Mu Qingzhou mostly stayed on Qinnian Peak and rarely interacted with other disciples, which resulted in a large group of disciples gathering in front of the sect while the two of them stood alone to the side.
Even though Shi Anxu and Mu Qingzhou were standing to the side, their ears were constantly listening to the other disciples gossiping.
Disciple A: "Hey, have you heard? The senior disciple from Xuan Yuan Sect who just returned from his travels is also coming to participate in the competition."
Disciple B: "That senior brother? I've never heard of him before."
Disciple C: "You must be a disciple who joined the sect in the last two years, right? Gu Yu, the senior brother of Xuan Yuan Sect, was a household name five years ago. Back then, he was known as the second Qin Yi Immortal Venerable."
Disciple B: "He's that powerful. It seems like only Senior Brother Jiang can rival him this time."
Disciple A: "That's right. Five years have passed, and I wonder how far that senior brother's cultivation has progressed."
After listening, Shi Anxu mentally spat, thinking that if his master hadn't brought Mu Qingzhou back directly from outside, with his talent, would Gu Yu even be worthy of calling him "the second Qin Yi Immortal Venerable"? He thought Mu Qingzhou would surely defeat him during the competition.
After several days of cultivation, Mu Qingzhou's cultivation had reached the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage. Although Shi Anxu knew of Mu Qingzhou's extraordinary strength, they had been out of the world for a long time and did not know the overall strength of other cultivators, so they were still somewhat worried.
"Junior brother, are you confident you can get first place? Actually, it's okay if you don't. We can think of another way. Just don't risk your life!"
"Yes, I'm confident."
As soon as he finished speaking, Immortal Venerable Yunyang arrived on his sword with Jiang Linyu.
As soon as Jiang Linyu landed, he noticed the two people standing out from the crowd. He walked over with a smile and greeted them, "We meet again, Senior Brother Shi and Junior Brother Mu."
Shi Anxu returned a smile, "We meet again."
Mu Qingzhou nodded slightly to Jiang Linyu and then stopped moving.
Jiangnan Yu: "Master is about to start lecturing on the precautions. Let's go to the front to listen."
Shi Anxu nodded and pulled Mu Qingzhou back into the crowd.
Gu Yunyang: "The sect competition concerns the reputation of the entire Qingyun Sect. I hope all Qingyun Sect disciples will give it their all and not bring shame to the sect. Furthermore, the competition emphasizes genuine talent and skill; do not use any underhanded methods, or you will be disqualified. I hope you think carefully: do you want to bear infamy or achieve immortality? Do you understand?"
The disciples all replied, "We understand!"
Gu Yunyang nodded in satisfaction, raised his hand to summon a flying boat, and said, "Alright, let's go!"
The flying boat that Gu Yunyang summoned was not large, and the number of rooms was limited, so the rooms were arranged for two people to share.
Mu Qingzhou and Shi Anxu were from the same sect, so they were naturally assigned to the same group.
Shi Anxu was very satisfied with this, since they slept together on Qinnian Peak anyway, which made it easier for him to take care of Mu Qingzhou.
There was no entertainment during the flight, so Shi Anxu and Mu Qingzhou spent the whole day cultivating in their room.
Because of Shi Anxu's useless physique, his body contained many impurities, and after completing cultivation, his body was completely black. So he boiled two buckets of water to bathe.
Mu Qingzhou and I each soaked in a bucket of water, and our whole bodies relaxed.
Shi Anxu kept his eyes closed, his mind filled with the image of Mu Qingzhou taking off his clothes and getting into the bathtub.
Although he was shorter than him now, he had everything he should have: smooth, unbundled shoulder and back muscles; water droplets slid down his wheat-colored skin, slowly flowing towards his abdomen...
The more Shi Anxu thought about it, the hotter her face became. She immediately shook her head, trying to shake off the lewd thoughts in her mind.
Before he could even shake himself off, Mu Qingzhou suddenly got up, lunged at Shi Anxu's bathtub, and pressed his entire body against him.
Shi Anxu felt the heat emanating from her skin, her face instantly turning bright red, her heart pounding as if it were about to leap out of her chest.
He had just opened his mouth to tell Mu Qingzhou to get off him when Mu Qingzhou covered his mouth and gestured for him to be quiet.
Shi Anxu then noticed a dark figure standing outside the window. He winked at Mu Qingzhou, indicating that he couldn't speak.
Mu Qingzhou then released his grip, stood up, summoned the Qingyuan Sword, twirled it, and unleashed a burst of sword energy towards the window.
The dark figure dodged the sword energy in a flash. Shi Anxu looked out of the bed and only saw a glimpse of a black hem.
Everyone else on the flying boat was startled by the enormous commotion caused by Mu Qingzhou's sword strike.
There was a commotion outside their room, so the two of them quickly got out of the bathtub and changed into clean clothes.
Shi Anxu inadvertently caught a glimpse of Mu Qingzhou's red earlobes. He hadn't expected that his junior brother was so innocent beneath his cold exterior.
Gu Yunyang knocked on the door a few times and asked, "Shi Anxu, Mu Qingzhou, what's the situation up ahead?"
Knowing Mu Qingzhou's taciturn nature, Shi Anxu opened the door first and replied, "Just now, there was a dark figure standing suspiciously outside the window, and Junior Brother Mu directly slashed at him with his sword. That person was extremely skilled; we only saw a glimpse of his clothes."
Mu Qingzhou snorted coldly, "I bet it's some sect trying to take crooked paths again. Everyone be on guard these next two days and don't let them take advantage of any weaknesses."
The disciples all replied, "Yes!"
Nothing happened the next day, and Shi Anxu and his group arrived at Xuan Yuan Sect without incident. The sect's leader and disciples led them to their temporary accommodations.
Shi Anxu's residence happened to be next to Mu Qingzhou's. He sighed that he was lucky to always be so close to Mu Qingzhou, which made it so convenient for him to take care of him.
He put down his luggage and ran next door to help Mu Qingzhou tidy up his accommodation.
The sect competition officially began the following day.
Gu Yunyang led his disciples to the competition venue and sat down in the seats belonging to the Qingyun Sect.
Once everyone had arrived, Yunxiao, the sect leader of the Xuan Yuan Sect, explained the competition rules.
Yunxiao: "In previous years, the sect competition has always been decided in one round, and this time is no exception."
After speaking, he raised his hand, and a small jade pagoda appeared in his palm.
"The rules for this competition are quite simple: whoever kills the most magical beasts in the Jade Spirit Tower wins. At that time, I will open the Jade Spirit Tower together with the elders and immortals of each sect to teleport you inside. Remember, before entering, each of you will be given an identity token. If you encounter danger, crushing it will teleport you out, but your points will be reset to zero. If you understand, you can go to the arena to collect your identity tokens now."
Mu Qingzhou was the first to step forward to collect his identity token, followed closely by Shi Anxu.
When the disciples of Qingyun Sect saw someone from their sect step forward, they rushed forward as if they were not going to back down, and the disciples from other sects also stepped forward to receive their identity tokens without showing any weakness.
The elders and immortals activated the Jade Spirit Tower when someone went to collect their identity token. As long as a disciple touched the identity token, they would be teleported into the tower.
When Shi Anxu received the identity token, he felt dizzy. When he opened his eyes again, he was already inside the tower.
He was teleported with Mu Qingzhou, Jiang Linyu, and two disciples from other sects.
The tower was vast, like being in a huge underground palace. It seemed that Sect Master Yun had also placed several potted flowering trees inside the tower to provide cover for the magical beasts, further confusing their vision.
Jiang Linyu surveyed the surroundings and said, "They must have scattered us across different levels of the Jade Spirit Tower. After killing the monsters on one level, we should be able to plunder the other levels."
Gu Yu continued, "It seems that this underground palace-like layout is also buying time for the people on other levels."
The monk standing next to him didn't say a word, just kept nodding, looking extremely obsequious.
This aroused Shi Anxu's particular curiosity about Gu Yu, as he wanted to understand the other party so that Mu Qingzhou could prepare a countermeasure.
"Since we've been teleported together, it must be fate. Let me introduce myself: Shi Anxu from the Qingyun Sect."
"Qingyun Sect Jiang Linyu".
"Mu Qingzhou".
Seeing that Mu Qingzhou was still unwilling to say much as usual, he pulled him to his side and smoothed things over by saying, "He is also from our Qingyun Sect."
Gu Yu nodded: "Gu Yu of Xuan Yuan Sect."
"Qin An of Xuan Yuan Sect."
Shi Anxu was startled, not expecting to encounter Gu Yu, the genius they had been talking about, right at the beginning.
Just as he was about to ask for information, Mu Qingzhou stepped inside.
Shi Anxu didn't bother to find out any information and said, "We're leaving now," before chasing after Mu Qingzhou.
"Junior brother, why did you leave so suddenly? Didn't you wait for your senior brother?"
"Sorry, I sensed the presence of a monster. I'll come back to you after I've finished fighting it."
Shi Anxu knew that Mu Qingzhou was worried about his safety, but going to kill the monster alone was not a good choice.
He spoke cautiously, "Junior brother, it's best not to act alone in this situation, or you'll inevitably be ambushed. Besides, I'm not without strength, and I believe you can protect me. So, next time, please don't rush forward blindly alone, okay?"
Mu Qingzhou nodded and continued walking forward.
Shi Anxu was still thinking about how to persuade Mu Qingzhou if she didn't agree, and didn't even notice Mu Qingzhou nodding.
Seeing that Shi Anxu was still standing there and hadn't followed, Mu Qingzhou stopped and said, "Senior Brother."
Shi Anxu snapped out of her thoughts and saw Mu Qingzhou waiting for her ahead. Knowing that she had succeeded in persuading him, she jogged after him.
They walked forward with Mu Qingzhou for a long time, and the surroundings were quiet, with no trace of the magical beasts he had mentioned.
Could it be that Mu Qingzhou was lying to him, and that he just thought the others were too noisy and didn't want to walk with Jiang Linyu and the others?
Mu Qingzhou seemed to know what Shi Anxu was thinking and explained, "I detected its aura earlier, and now I'm following the aura to catch up with it."
Shi Anxu knew that "it" referred to a magical beast, but shouldn't magical beasts all be warlike? Why would it run away? Could it be that he and Mu Qingzhou were too powerful?
Perhaps because he was so eager to know why the monster had escaped, Shi Anxu actually asked the question that had been on his mind.
Mu Qingzhou replied, "It's not running away; it's a highly intelligent magical beast."
"A highly intelligent magical beast!" Shi Anxu exclaimed excitedly. "Then we've hit the jackpot!"
As soon as they finished speaking, a soft rustling sound came from behind the flowerpot on their left, as if something was about to emerge from behind...
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