Chapter 30
Shi Anxu felt that Mu Qingzhou was very different from before. In the past, he gave people the feeling that he took everything lightly and that other people's affairs had nothing to do with him.
He is more human now, knows how to care for people from the bottom of his heart, and even did something he would never have done before—punished him.
Shi Anxu was very pleased with Mu Qingzhou's change, so he wouldn't have to worry about whether Mu Qingzhou could get along well with others after he left.
However, by then he would have become the number one person in the cultivation world, and no one would dare to offend him, so Shi Anxu's worries would no longer exist.
Mu Qingzhou didn't use any comfortable spells like Shrinking the Earth to Travel a Thousand Miles when taking Shi Anxu back. Instead, he carried Shi Anxu onto Qingyuan and flew back on his sword.
When Mu Qingzhou put him down, Shi Anxu was so captivated by the beautiful scenery in the air that he could hardly walk.
He wanted to bury his face in Mu Qingzhou's chest while he was in the air, but Mu Qingzhou's posture was not quite right. His head was positioned at the arm's position, so he could only enjoy the scenery from the air.
Seeing that Shi Anxu was a little unsteady on his feet after he put her down, Mu Qingzhou stepped forward and pulled Shi Anxu into his arms, revealing a triumphant smile.
Shi Anxu was completely stunned when Mu Qingzhou pulled him like that, and his first reaction was to subconsciously struggle.
Mu Qingzhou wrapped his arm tightly around Shi Anxu and said, "I saw that you were walking unsteadily and wanted to help you. It's not a punishment for you."
Upon hearing Mu Qingzhou's explanation, Shi Anxu pulled back his strength and bumped into Mu Qingzhou's chest. He blushed and touched Mu Qingzhou's waist, saying, "I'm not dizzy anymore, Junior Brother, you can let go now."
Mu Qingzhou found Shi Anxu particularly interesting and released him with a smile, saying, "Okay."
The moment Mu Qingzhou released him, Shi Anxu immediately took two steps back to create distance between himself and Mu Qingzhou.
Mu Qingzhou noticed Shi Anxu's action, and his smile widened.
Because of the heat on his face, Shi Anxu didn't look up, which meant he didn't notice Mu Qingzhou's expression at all.
He just wanted to distract himself, so he brought up the matter of Mu Qingzhou's punishment for him, saying, "Now that I'm back on the peak, Junior Brother, punish me however you want."
Mu Qingzhou was quite surprised to hear Shi Anxu's words, "Senior brother wants to punish me now?"
Shi Anxu glanced at Mu Qingzhou and thought to himself.
That's all because of you. If you hadn't held me so tightly, would I have needed to use punishment to distract myself?
Is it strange that I'm going to punish him now?
"No."
"Then stop talking nonsense and start the punishment."
Mu Qingzhou thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll punish my senior brother by making him cultivate with me for a month."
Shi Anxu originally thought it would be a punishment like whipping, but he didn't expect it to be this. Mu Qingzhou really knew how to hit his sore spot.
Seeing Shi Anxu immediately deflated, Mu Qing felt a longing for Shi Anxu's head. He reached out and stroked Shi Anxu's head, saying, "Senior brother, come back with me to cultivate now. The punishment begins."
Knowing he couldn't resist, Shi Anxu nodded in agreement with Mu Qingzhou and followed him back to the Spirit Abode to cultivate.
——
When Jiang Linyu saw the cultivator he had hired attacking Shi Anxu from the shadows, he did not immediately appear to save Shi Anxu.
He suddenly felt that it would be better to let Shi Anxu suffer a minor injury before he could play the hero and save her, which would also make Mu Qingzhou feel more uncomfortable.
He stared intently at the point where the axe blade would strike Shi Anxu's throat, ready to appear and save him the moment the axe touched his throat.
However, no matter how closely he watched, he was still a step too late for Mu Qingzhou, and his carefully designed scheme benefited someone else.
It was said that Mu Qingzhou was seriously injured, so how could he have come out of seclusion so quickly? How could his recovery ability be so strong!
Did he take some kind of banned drug?
Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to recover so quickly and rush over to save Shi Anxu.
Another point is how Mu Qingzhou knew that Shi Anxu was in danger. Shi Anxu knew that Mu Qingzhou was in seclusion, so it was impossible for him to actively seek Mu Qingzhou's help. So how Mu Qingzhou was able to "coincidentally" come to save him is quite intriguing.
Jiang Linyu was very familiar with this kind of technique. He already had an answer in his mind, and he just needed to find a suitable time to verify it.
The biggest flaw in this spell lies in the recipient; it can be discovered simply by using spiritual power to examine them.
He would find an opportunity to visit Shi Anxu, since he was quite good at inviting people for tea anyway.
——
Shi Anxu and Mu Qingzhou cultivated in the spiritual realm until it got dark, truly forgetting to eat and sleep.
Although he had been slacking off, Mu Qingzhou had been cultivating diligently, and his cultivation level must have increased considerably during today's practice.
Seeing that Mu Qingzhou had almost finished his cultivation, he asked the question that he had been most eager to ask and concerned about for the past few days.
"Junior brother, I have a very serious question now, and I hope you can answer it seriously."
"I noticed something very strange when I went to the sect to hand out flyers yesterday," Shi Anxu said, then stopped there.
“You’ve noticed that the people in the clan treat us very strangely,” Mu Qingzhou said confidently.
"Junior brother, did you make some secret agreement with the sect leader while I was unconscious?" Seeing that Mu Qingzhou could no longer explain his findings, he asked directly.
"No," Mu Qingzhou replied calmly.
"Really not?" Shi Anxu asked incredulously.
"No, the sect leader helped us because he felt he had mistreated us over the past five years, so he wanted to make it up to us," Mu Qingzhou explained.
"Hasn't what we've been through these past five years been with his tacit approval?" Shi Anxu wasn't so easily convinced by these things.
“No, he said he’s been in seclusion for the past five years and knows nothing about what’s happening outside. When we first went to him to report on Zhang Xuexin, he had just come out of seclusion.” Mu Qingzhou explained more clearly this time.
"So his attitude towards us now is just to compensate us?" Shi Anxu asked, still somewhat uncertain.
"Don't worry, senior brother. I was able to finish my seclusion so quickly thanks to the pills the sect leader gave me," Mu Qingzhou said.
Upon hearing Mu Qingzhou's words, Shi Anxu immediately began to lift Mu Qingzhou's clothes, wanting to see if there were any signs of poisoning on Mu Qingzhou's body.
He remembered that in this world, any potent, slow-acting poison would have signs of its effects on the body.
Mu Qingzhou was currently in a state of mind where he couldn't wait for Shi Anxu to strip him of his clothes, so he complied with Shi Anxu's actions and let Shi Anxu help his disciple remove his clothes layer by layer.
Shi Anxu was incredibly fast at this moment, and in just a few minutes he stripped Mu Qingzhou of all his clothes, leaving him only in a pair of trousers.
He circled around Mu Qingzhou again and again, carefully looking at Mu Qingzhou's body for any markings.
Even Mu Qingzhou, who always had a cold face, blushed and asked, trying to remain calm, "Senior brother, have you finished checking?"
Shi Anxu was still carefully checking the remaining areas, not feeling at all that there was anything wrong with what she was doing. "Almost done, just check the area under your arm."
After he finished speaking, he lifted up both of Mu Qingzhou's arms to examine them.
After checking both sides of his arms, Shi Anxu finally took pity on Mu Qingzhou and let him go.
"I won't check your legs and feet for you; you can check them yourself later."
Mu Qingzhou quickly put his robes back on. "Well, there's no need to be so cautious. The fact that the pill is good for my injuries proves that it's not poison."
Shi Anxu disagreed with Mu Qingzhou's point of view, mainly because the difference between the two sides was too great. It was better to be cautious at this time and not to let one's guard down too much.
"It's hard to say. Maybe it's poison that's actually good for your injuries, or maybe it's just a temporary respite before you die."
"Okay, I'll be careful. Today's punishment is over, Senior Brother can go and attend to his own business."
"What are you planning to do next, Junior Brother?" Shi Anxu asked Mu Qingzhou instead of leaving immediately.
"I'm reading," Mu Qingzhou replied.
“Since you don’t have anything important to do, junior brother, why don’t you go and check on my learning progress?” Shi Anxu looked at Mu Qingzhou with bright eyes.
"What results?" Mu Qingzhou asked.
"Of course it's the formation you asked me to set up in the reading area," Shi Anxu said with a strong voice.
Mu Qingzhou looked stunned for a moment and asked, "Did you learn this while I was in seclusion, Senior Brother?"
Shi Anxu nodded, looking for praise, "Yes."
Mu Qingzhou praised, "Senior brother is amazing. He taught himself such a large formation. Of course I have to go and see his achievements."
"Walk."
The two arrived together at the reading area, which had been mostly set up by Shi Anxu.
As soon as Shi Anxu arrived, he stood in the center of the reading area and used his spiritual power to draw an array diagram on the ground. After the entire diagram was completed, he stood at the position of the array eye in the diagram, and the array eye automatically turned into a small point of light and disappeared into Shi Anxu's body, thus setting up the entire array.
He asked Mu Qingzhou, "How is it?"
Mu Qingzhou's eyes never left Shi Anxu as he set up the formation, and now he immediately began to comment.
"The technique is skillful, and the array drawing skills are excellent. Very good."
Shi Anxu was overjoyed to receive Mu Qingzhou's praise, but he still had to maintain the composure of a senior brother. He humbly said, "Junior brother is too kind. Now let's test the effect of the formation."
Mu Qingzhou nodded, took a cultivation manual from the bookshelf, and walked out the door.
He was blocked by the formation as soon as he stepped out of the door. He tried many methods but could not get out. Finally, he summoned Qingyuan and slashed at the formation, but the formation remained unmoved.
After Mu Qingzhou finished cutting the technique, he put it back on the shelf, then walked up to Shi Anxu and said, "The formation is very effective. Senior Brother, you've done a great job setting up a formation for the first time. You're very impressive."
Shi Anxu smiled and said, "No, I spent a little over a day learning and copying the array diagram. This result is worthy of my efforts."
Mu Qingzhou felt that Shi Anxu was the person he should be now, someone who would strive to do something instead of constantly running away.
How could he let go of Shi Anxu in this situation?
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