Chapter 7

Between Muyong Peak and Qianya Peak, it’s hard to say whether the distance is far or not, and it’s indeed not close either. After Yu Xizhi traveled all the way, although she didn’t feel very tired, she still let out a long sigh of relief.

Upon reaching the foundation establishment stage, she could start learning to fly using a sword. Watching those figures of sword cultivators shuttling in the clouds every day, Yu Xizhi couldn’t help but envy them.

In the deep night, the starlight couldn’t illuminate the road. Although the visual senses of the Qi Refining Realm practitioners were not affected by the darkness, Yu Xizhi still couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.

While the disciples of other peaks diligently weeded and maintained their internal grounds, Taiqing Peak of the Kunwu Main Peak was not to be mentioned. Even Zhiyuan Peak, with the largest number of people, had tree canopies from the foot of the mountain to its peak at the same height. When Yu Xizhi first saw it, she thought it was neatly split by some grandmaster’s sword, only to find out it was actually maintained daily by the disciples.

…How boring.

Speaking of which, cultivating immortality is something that requires enduring loneliness.

“Ugh, this road is too difficult.”

Yu Xizhi complained softly as she kicked away a stumbling stone.

It was fine during the day, but at night, Qianya Peak seemed like a forest that had never been touched by humans.

Yu Xizhi couldn’t help but grip Yanxiao Sword tightly. She looked up to see where she was, only to realize that, from her perspective, all she could see were forests.

So where exactly was the “foot of the Qianya Peak” that the ancestors spoke of?

Yu Xizhi was a bit uncertain.

She didn’t want to stand alone in this seemingly endless forest waiting, nor did she want to wander aimlessly on the legendary traps of Qianya Peak. She was caught in a dilemma for a moment.

The dense forest obscured the already pitch-black sky. In the thick darkness that couldn’t be dispersed, Yu Xizhi couldn’t quite make out the path. She marked a few trees, but after walking for a while, she found herself back where she started when she looked up.

Yu Xizhi couldn’t tell if she was hitting a dead end or simply getting lost in the irregular forest. She scratched the bark with her fingernails, sighed, and was about to change direction for another attempt when her footsteps suddenly paused.

She swiftly raised her hand, pressing against her chest.

The pain that had nearly disappeared before swept through her viscera in an instant. Yu Xizhi almost lost consciousness, kneeling on the ground, her knees colliding with the ground crisply.

She was oblivious to it all, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Her mouth still tasted of blood, and her vision was blurred with dizziness. Suddenly, a cold white hand and a white sleeve appeared abruptly in her sight. In that hand was a handkerchief. “You should wipe the blood first this time,” the person said.

Yu Xizhi stared at the handkerchief, the pattern and folding of which seemed somewhat familiar, feeling a bit numb all over, her mind somewhat muddled. Yet she heard this sentence crystal clear.

So, when did he come?

Had he been here long ago, deliberately watching her wander around foolishly?

Or did he catch the scent of her blood and come here?

As if sensing her thoughts, the other person continued, “The Qianya Peak is so vast, and you just had to barge in here. If you hadn’t spit out this blood, I would never have expected to find you here.”

…Oh, he smelled it.

“Young hero has a keen sense.”

Yu Xizhi finished complaining secretly. Yu Xizhi, having spit out that mouthful of blood, inexplicably regained some strength.

She took the handkerchief and wiped the bloodstains from the corner of her mouth, her voice slightly hoarse. “Why can’t I barge in here?”

“At night, Qianya Peak, the forest.” The white-clad youth briefly mentioned three keywords.

Even without looking, one could imagine the disdain that might appear on his handsome face. After saying these three words, he coughed a few times, which made the effect even better. “Would any sensible person just barge in?”

Yu Xizhi: …

She wanted to say, Besides the forest, what else was there beneath the Qianya Peak? The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she suddenly remembered.

The Sword Tomb.

But the Sword Tomb was guarded by the rumored junior martial uncle. How dare she go there? Wasn’t she afraid of being struck down by the junior martial uncle’s sword?

Yu Xizhi wanted to ask, but the faint mockery in the other’s tone made her silently swallow back the question.

She tried to stand up but failed. When she looked up again, the white-clad youth had already casually squatted down and even used his finger to dab at the bloodstains on the ground, then lifted it up to examine them closely. “You broke through in these past few days?”

This action resembled too much those people in Xuecan Peak’s medicinal field pulling up a plant to study.

Yu Xizhi became more convinced that the other party was probably an elder from Xuecan Peak. She couldn’t stand up anyway, so she gave up. After all, kneeling on the ground and spitting blood was embarrassing enough.

She didn’t need to care about her image anymore, so she just sat slumped on the ground. “Broke through? What do you mean?”

The white-clad youth tilted his head, looking at her thoughtfully. The night was dark, but it couldn’t conceal his delicate features. His gaze was too focused, even carrying a hint of hidden warmth. Yu Xizhi felt a bit embarrassed being looked at like this; her ears were slightly red. She couldn’t help but be thankful for the darkness at this moment.

“To break through without being noticed is extremely rare, even among the outer disciples of Kunwu.” The white-clad youth shifted his gaze to her robes. “And you—not only are you an inner disciple, but also one of Huaiyun’s direct disciples. You should be the center of attention.”

Pausing for a moment, he seemed to see something incomprehensible, coughed twice, and slowly added, “…although you do seem too weak.”

Yu Xizhi originally wanted to retort, saying something like, “You, coughing like that, don’t seem strong either,” but when she followed his gaze and saw the hem of her robe, she silently shut her mouth.

Kunwu Mountain had standard robes. The robes of the inner disciples were uniformly deep blue with white, wavy borders. Direct disciples would have an additional red line on the outer edge of the white, wavy border.

On the white wavy border, six-petaled Kunwu flowers would be embroidered with different colors, each color and number of flowers carrying different meanings. In summary, the more flowers and the deeper the color, the more contributions and a higher cultivation level one has.

With a little recollection, one could remember that Yu Si’s robes were already embroidered with nearly half a face of Kunwu flowers, surpassing peers. As for her, Yu Xizhi, the pitiful little yellow flower on the white border was barely visible to the naked eye.

And at this moment, the white-clad youth’s eyes full of complex emotions fell on her little yellow flower.

For the first time, Yu Xizhi felt the urge to hide her robes.

The white-clad youth showed no sense of discomfort toward her slight embarrassment, or perhaps he simply didn’t care. He watched as Yu Xizhi wiped the blood from her lips, seeming not to mind the somewhat awkward and wretched positions they were in. He raised two fingers straight up. “Two things, one good and one bad. Which one do you want to hear first?”

Yu Xizhi began to feel anxious, not having had time to consider which one to listen to first, when the other party spoke again after some thought.

“Well…the good thing isn’t particularly good, and the bad thing isn’t particularly bad.”

Yu Xizhi: “…then let’s hear about the not particularly good good thing first.”

“Although no one noticed, you did indeed break through. You’ve advanced from the Qi Refining Early Stage to the Qi Refining Middle Stage. Your foundation is quite stable; there are no problems there.”

Yu Xizhi couldn’t remember when she had broken through.

These days at the Kunwu Mountain Sect, she had seen others break through. Admittedly, her cultivation level was particularly low, but it was just a difference between early, middle, or late stages, or complete mastery. However, even so, when breaking through, there would usually be some commotion, big or small.

Gales, auspicious clouds, and colorful lights were all standard operations. Even with smaller movements, at least a little gust of wind could be conjured up. But looking at her, the most attention-grabbing thing she had done these past few days was either argue with Gao Xiande, or… cook overly fragrant food.

“Breaking through… isn’t that good?” Yu Xizhi scratched her head in confusion.

“Huaiyun’s direct disciple, Qi Refining Middle Stage, isn’t that good?” The white-clad youth raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

Yu Xizhi thought it was quite good. Every day, she progressed a little bit, showing visible signs of growth. She subconsciously nodded, then, seeing the look in the other’s eyes, silently shook her head.

“Then… what’s the not particularly bad bad thing?” She swallowed nervously and cautiously asked.

The white-clad youth looked at her as if she were a completely lifeless fish. “Besides me, no one can perceive your cultivation level.”

Yu Xizhi was stunned.

“Although I don’t know why this is the case, it seems that my blood has covered all the senses that should have fallen on you. So when you broke through, just like me, there were no earth-shattering changes, no tribulations, but… it was also… unnoticed.”

The other bent down his two fingers, his voice carrying a hint of mockery and playfulness.

“Theoretically, this effect should disappear after a while, but unfortunately, my blood is poisonous. If you don’t come to drink a bowl regularly, like just now, you’ll keep spitting and spitting until you die.”

This passage contained too much information, especially the last sentence, “spitting and spitting until you die,” which was particularly impactful.

Yu Xizhi’s brain had a momentary crash.

The white-clad youth watched her with great interest, observing her expression enter a blank and stunned state. The smile in his eyes gradually faded, and his fingers slightly tightened. The darkness concealed the sword intent twirling between his fingers and suppressed the killing intent behind his cheerful demeanor.

Of course, he had long since realized that Yu Xizhi seemed to have not recognized him as the owner of Qianya Peak, the junior apprentice brother of the Kunwu Mountain Sect, Xie Junzhi.

When Senior Brother Huaiyun led her and Yu Si back, he glanced at her from a distance. At that time, the chubby little bean had grown quite a bit, although her features were still immature. But her facial features were proportionate, and coupled with her smiling eyes and dimples, she was more pleasing to the eye than the little girl Senior Brother later brought back.

Perhaps it was this pleasing appearance that made him willing to spend a little more time on her rather than snapping her neck at the first opportunity.

Xie Junzhi absentmindedly rubbed his fingers, as if he had forgotten that he was only a few years older than the other party.

He was very curious and also very puzzled. How did she enter his illusory realm a few days ago?

Was she a spy sent by the Demon Realm?

Or was it a… test from the Taiqing Peak?

So he deliberately mentioned the problem with his blood, explaining it clearly and in detail, even revealing some information that others were not aware of. Any thought Yu Xizhi had of doing something would surely not escape his eyes.

He stared at Yu Xizhi without blinking, the slightly scattered gaze of the girl slowly refocusing on him, blinking again.

For a while, she looked at him with admiration and sighed slowly, “—what an awesome blood.”