Chapter 28 The Crimson Beauty Known Only to Close Friends
"Beauty Zhao, eat." Firebird's fair hand gently touched Zhao Chi's hand, which was resting on the table. The owner of that hand was still staring blankly at the steamed dumplings in the bowl.
Firebird, assuming it was her tacit consent, pressed its advantage, reaching its fingers to pry open between her fingers. Zhao Chi suddenly snapped back to reality, pulled her hand away, and moved her chair away in disgust.
Firebird rested her chin on her hand and teased Zhao Chi, "Your hands are even smoother now. Looks like you had a good time at Qingxi Mountain."
All eyes turned to her, with Hai Gu's gaze being particularly meaningful. Zhao Chi's ears turned bright red, and he immediately buried his head in his food, avoiding eye contact. Huo Que, seeing this, became even more excited, moving her chair closer to her and deliberately pressing her chest against her elbow while picking up food. "I can't reach it, Zhao Meiren, could you give me a shumai?"
Zhao Chi forcefully pulled his hand back and moved closer to Li Chang. Li Chang, a kind-hearted woman who had no sense of romance, inadvertently saved Zhao Chi from the situation: "I'll serve you some!"
Even Ling Shu couldn't help but chuckle. Zhao Chi had been secretly watching Ling Shu and, upon seeing her smile, felt a pang of disappointment.
Firebird smiled and accepted Li Chang's kindness with the bowl in hand. After thanking her, she heard Li Chang say, "There's a monthly exam in mid-February. Are you coming?"
Zhao Chi replied without hesitation, "I'm not going."
Ling Shu thought the opportunity had come, and asked, "Is this trial important?"
Li Chang said, "The monthly exam is held once a month. It affects the participation grade and accounts for one-third of the total grade. The other third is counted in the attendance and coursework. There is no need to worry about that. Just complete the coursework on time and attend classes normally."
Zhao Chi: "You don't need to worry?"
Li Chang: "Um... let's get down to business! Don't mention me."
Zhao Chi: "Oh."
Li Chang continued, "The important things are the monthly exams and the final exams at the end of the quarter. If you do well on the monthly exams, you can still pass even if you only get a grade below C in the final exams."
Ling Shu exclaimed excitedly, "I'll go! I'll go! I'll go!"
Hai Gu hurriedly said, "Miss Ling, your memory has not yet been restored, so you cannot participate in the trial! Besides, it doesn't matter whether you pass or not. The Immortal Venerable will not send you down the mountain. Anyway, those disciples recognized by their masters just learn casually and go through the motions. You don't need to compete to participate in the monthly exam."
Ling Shu said to Hai Gu, "No, no, I'm so bored on Qingxi Mountain. I want to go to the training grounds. Anyway, the elders of each sect cherish their inner disciples. No one will die in the trials. I want to go!"
Hai Gu's attitude was firm: "No way!"
Ling Shu turned to look at Zhuang Jinfu. She had more say in important matters, but Zhuang Jinfu's eyes were fixed on a certain spot on the table. Ling Shu followed her gaze, grinned, and got up to pick up the crab-stuffed orange and place it in front of her. She shook Zhuang Jinfu's arm, trying her best to act like a sixteen-year-old girl, and imitated Li Chang's sweet voice, calling out to her, "Master, can I go?"
When the crab-stuffed orange was placed in front of him, and he heard Ling Shu's sweet voice, Zhuang Jinfu felt comforted and said, "Okay."
Ling Shu was overjoyed. She suddenly moved closer to her, kissed Zhuang Jinfu on the cheek, and tilted her head to say to her, "I knew Master understood me the most!"
Zhuang Jinfu watched her silently. After she finished speaking, he left, leaving her alone in the main seat, trying to calm her emotions.
Hai Gu gave her that meaningful look again. Zhuang Jinfu quickly snapped out of his daze and saw her. He immediately picked up a slice of bitter melon, which Hai Gu hated the most but which Li Chang liked, and put it in her bowl. He said gently, "Hai Gu, you've worked hard cooking."
Hai Gu understood that this was a blatant retaliation. She retorted without backing down, "That's right! I work so hard making breakfast! You have to give me a raise, don't you?"
Zhuang Jinfu pretended to be deaf and said, "What? You want to eat bitter melon too?"
Li Changru was overjoyed: "What?! Hai Gu also likes bitter melon? Here, here, I'll give you everything."
Hai Gu: "..."
After finishing breakfast, Li Chang was about to leave, but when she saw Ruixue licking her fur on the stone railing surrounding the fish pond, she decided not to go.
Hai Gu was busy, Xian Zun Xi Jing had gone to his study, Ling Shu had nothing to do, but don't expect her to learn any of the customs of welcoming and seeing off guests, so Zhao Chi had no choice but to go and keep the guests company.
Ling Shu sat on the stone table, her long legs dangling lazily as she tossed her magic around, seemingly deep in thought.
A pinkish-purple demonic power gathered in her palm, forming a ball which she tossed up and down. Ling Shu felt that although she could control this demonic power, every use came at a price. After using a large amount of demonic power, it would run rampant within her body. Why was that? Ask Zhuang Jinfu.
Inside the study, Zhuang Jinfu sat behind a desk on the west side, which was decorated with a row of Qilin figurines. The white paper that had been on the table had been removed and replaced with six dark, irregularly shaped stones.
When Ling Shu entered the study again, she remembered the disrespectful painting she had made there and her argument with Zhuang Jinfu. Feeling a little uneasy, she tried to calm herself down and asked, "Master, although I can control the demonic power my mother gave me, it goes berserk every time I use it. Why is that?"
Zhuang Jinfu slowly and methodically fiddled with the cold iron, her fingers tapping on its surface. "Well..."
Zhuang Jinfu faced two choices: one was to keep her in the dark about the reason, causing her cultivation to stagnate; the other was almost tantamount to going against Wang Lifu, letting her know the reason so that she would inevitably choose to cultivate. As her master, she could not remain indifferent to her disciple's cultivation; she would definitely help her.
"Because you are only at the Foundation Establishment stage, the amount of magical power that can be controlled at the Foundation Establishment stage is limited, and the power of a thousand-year-old demon is far beyond your control."
She chose to inform them.
Ling Shu suddenly realized: "So, I can solve this problem by raising my cultivation level."
"yes."
"Master, when will you start teaching me cultivation?"
"Now is fine."
"What?"
Zhuang Jinfu lightly tapped her fingertip in the air, leaving a trace of ice crystal where her fingertip touched. Then, the surroundings began to distort, and she was pulled into a block of transparent ice. When she looked again, all she could see was ice blue.
Beneath his feet lay a crisscrossing ice surface, from which he could vaguely see flowing water below. The sky was a clear blue, cloudless, and there was nothing around him except Zhuang Jinfu standing two zhang away.
Zhuang Jinfu stretched out a hand, in which was a jade unicorn.
"Today I will teach you movement techniques."
"Take this jade unicorn; it is now considered合格 (qualified/acceptable)."
Ling Shu was eager to try; she was only two zhang away, she could just run over there.
As soon as Ling Shu took a step, several square blocks of ice rose up in front of her, blocking her way, and began to move. Ling Shu rushed into them.
The ice blocks moved haphazardly, left and right, forward and backward. Just as she dodged one, another appeared on her right, forming a pincer movement with the one coming from the left. Ling Shu took a step back, hearing the sound of ice blocks moving behind her. Turning around, she saw the ice block heading straight for her.
Before the ice block on the right could collide with the one on the left, it rushed forward, and just as its foot escaped, a loud "bang" rang out behind it.
First level passed.
The "swish swish swish" sound made her heart skip a beat. She looked to her upper left and sure enough, ice spikes were flying towards her.
The ice spikes emitted white magical energy. Zhuang Jinfu's ice spikes were no joke. Last time, she only touched them lightly and almost had her flesh cut open to the bone.
Ling Shu quickly dodged.
However, the ice spikes came too fast, and the ice blocks moved erratically, leaving her somewhat overwhelmed. She gathered demonic power in her palms, but Zhuang Jinfu stopped her, saying, "You can't use demonic power."
Seeing the ethereal figure behind her through the ice, Ling Shu made up her mind to obtain the Jade Kirin.
Having withdrawn her demonic power, she used her agility to dodge the ice spikes and blocks of ice. She realized that the ice spikes were intentionally designed to prevent her from charging too aggressively or retreating too much, fixing her movements within a range that allowed her to advance while defending and retreat while advancing.
Having grasped this feeling, Ling Shu successfully dodged the attack and moved on to the next level.
Zhuang Jinfu's figure became clearer.
Ling Shu looked at her, feeling happy. Without paying attention, the ice cracked as soon as her foot touched it, and she fell down. A magical force surrounded her body, and she floated in the air.
Zhuang Jinfu's voice came from not far away: "In the formation, you must be observant and attentive to all directions, and pay close attention to the changes in the formation at all times."
"Don't make the same mistake again."
"Okay, Lingbao understands."
The magic power carried her forward a step. Ling Shu touched the ground with her toes and stood firmly. The ice block was still moving. Then, cracks appeared on the ice under her feet. She quickly jumped up and moved to the next spot. She couldn't stay in any spot for long. The ice block she was sandwiched between was moving faster than in the previous two levels.
Ling Shu was thinking about how to dodge, but she was too late. The ice was moving too fast, and ice blocks were moving from both in front and behind her. The ice under her feet also broke, and Ling Shu fell directly into the water.
The icy water was bone-chilling, but thankfully there was ground beneath her feet. As the ice blocks were closing in from all sides, Ling Shu held her breath and plunged into the water.
There were two loud "bangs" above her head.
Zhuang Jinfu's clear voice rang out: "If you were in a real killing formation, you would already be dead."
Ling Shu, unwilling to give up, climbed out of the icy water: "Again!"
She didn't linger in any place she could stand, overcoming the damp chill of her clothes, and ran swiftly through the formation like a nimble wild fox.
Only by moving around and stepping on the ice one block at a time can we prevent it from breaking and falling into the water.
She realized it.
There's only one trick to this: "Don't hesitate."
Once you've settled down, don't hesitate. Even if you take the wrong turn, don't stop and think about turning back. Move forward quickly, correct your mistakes, and progress through your errors.
Choose the ice you choose with conviction.
This is what Zhuang Jinfu wanted to teach her.
She understood, and from then on, she walked quickly. Finally, soaking wet and looking a little disheveled, she walked up to Zhuang Jinfu.
He proudly declared, "Master, I've arrived!"
Zhuang Jinfu raised her fingertips, and a white magical force surrounded Ling Shu, drying her wet clothes.
Zhuang Jinfu raised his hand, revealing the jade unicorn in his palm. Ling Shu rushed over without saying a word. Zhuang Jinfu grabbed the jade unicorn, then pulled his hand back and hid it behind his back, avoiding her grasp.
Ling Shu, beaming with confidence, declared, "I can't use magic, and neither can you!"
"No, no need."
Ling Shu reached behind her to grab her, while blocking her with her other hand. Her elbow was strong, and Ling Shu was blocked twice. She said angrily, "Master is bullying a child."
Zhuang Jinfu smiled with delight: "You're nineteen, not a child anymore."
Zhuang Jinfu's every move was based on solid fundamental skills, demonstrating mastery of both strength and gentleness. Ling Shu, on the other hand, had never studied martial arts, and any attack she considered fierce was nothing more than a kitten's scratch to Zhuang Jinfu.
Ling Shu is no match for him!
Ling Shu was practically jumping around, and Zhuang Jinfu was in an unusually good mood.
"Let me teach you a couple of tricks."
A cool body flashed behind her, grasped her wrist with one hand, and taught her the range of motion, how to strike, and how to block.
Zhuang Jinfu was serious. Her voice was clear and firm. The jasmine scent in her hair was the only gentle fragrance she exuded, which could only be felt and smelled when one was close.
Ling Shu, as if bewitched, wanted to look at her black hair, but when she turned her head, her gaze was drawn to something else.
She saw a smooth profile, with a high, delicate nose and smooth lines. Below her left ear, where the jawline met, there was a red mole, as red as her lips.
She stared intently at the red dot, a hidden, vibrant red that only those close to her could recognize.
"Did you remember?"
"I've got it."
"Demonstrate it for me."
Ling Shu did as she was told, and she remembered it, but when she struck out, she deliberately didn't hit the target height.
As she wished, Zhuang Jinfu held her wrist again and taught her again. When the movement stopped, the instant Zhuang Jinfu let go, Ling Shu turned her head and moved extremely fast, supporting her right side of the neck with her left hand and standing on tiptoe.
I tilted my head back and kissed the mole.
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