Chapter 41: Testing My Sword Skills?

"Is it perhaps because of Han'er's Clarity Pill?"

At Cloud Mist Peak, Pei Qingshuang, who had been lost for an entire day, finally delivered the pill to Elder Liu at Spirit Orchid Peak. Then, under the speed of flying three miles for every section she glanced at, she made her way back to Cloud Mist Peak.

She couldn't understand it. She had been at Xuantian Sect for at least a thousand years. She could walk around with her eyes closed, so how could she have suddenly become directionally challenged?

Her first thought was that she might have gone into qi deviation. But after returning and checking herself, she found no signs of it...

Pei Qingshuang replayed her day, comparing it to normal. After half a day of analysis, the only difference was that today she had taken Luo Han's Clarity Pill...

Could it be that something was wrong with Luo Han's pill?

But that idea was quickly dismissed...

Forget that she was a Refinement Void Realm cultivator—would she even be affected by the side effects of a mere second-grade pill? Even if the pill made someone lose their sense of direction, no one would believe that...

"Maybe I'm just upset with those two rebellious disciples..." Pei Qingshuang pinched the bridge of her nose. "Sigh... At least I still have Han'er as a treasure..."

Yes...

That must be it. It was definitely because of those two rebellious disciples. It absolutely wasn't because of Luo Han's pill...

...

"My sister's pill is fine."

On the other side, after going through his own analysis, Luo Xing ruled out the possibility that Luo Han's pill had turned him into a directional mess. "She just can't cook. Alchemy is completely different from cooking."

Alchemy requires selecting the right spiritual herbs...

(Choosing ingredients)

Using the proper cauldron...

(A good pot)

Strictly controlling the spiritual flame's size and intensity...

(Temperature control)

And then condensing the extracted liquid into a pill...

(Reducing the sauce over high heat)

Luo Xing: "..."

Damn... It really does seem just like cooking...

But he still didn't think there was a problem with the pill Luo Han had refined. He had taken this Clarity Pill so many times. Wouldn't he know if something was wrong?

He took one every time he cultivated, and nothing had happened after all this time, right?

Yes, it definitely wasn't his sister's pill that was the problem.

But...

If it wasn't the pill, then what could it be?

Luo Xing thought long and hard, and finally determined...

It was ninety-eight percent likely that Ye Li was up to her tricks again!

Otherwise, why didn't he get lost on Duan Tian Peak? Why didn't he get lost at Xuantian Sect? Why did he only get lost in that valley?

Maybe there was something wrong with the valley itself, and Ye Li deliberately didn't tell him, just to mess with him...

The more Luo Xing thought about it, the more sense it made, and the angrier he got. Especially when he remembered that he had to massage her feet today to stay alive...

Massage her feet...

Feet...

Luo Xing lowered his head to look at his own hands, and the scene of massaging Ye Li's feet today involuntarily came to mind...

The way she was wrapped in that sheer fabric was vividly imprinted in his mind, deeply etched into his brain. He could almost smell the damp mist carrying that faint, chilling fragrance...

Thump... thump... thump...

Luo Xing's heart started pounding violently. As the effect of the Clarity Pill faded, the emotions that had been suppressed all burst out at once.

His breathing became ragged. Without thinking, he moved his fingers, as if savoring that incredibly soft, warm touch...

"Ah... Ah!"

When Luo Xing snapped back to reality, his hand was already right in front of his face. "Damn! What am I doing!"

He yanked his hand away and cried out in his mind: 'What are you doing, Luo Xing! Are you some kind of pervert! She was clearly humiliating you! Bullying you!'

That was true, but only Luo Xing knew what he really felt...

Was it really just humiliation?

'Calm down... calm down...' Luo Xing took a few heavy breaths and closed his eyes, trying to convince himself. 'Don't think about it... Don't let your mind wander... This is humiliation... And that woman is Ye Li...'

'Don't think...'

'Those feet were so soft... would they just sink right in?'

'Don't imagine...'

'Would there be teeth marks?'

'That woman is Ye Li...'

'That woman is Ye Li, you know~'

Luo Xing: "..."

Damn! What's wrong with me?!

He clutched his head, inwardly breaking down...

Was his true self some sort of pervert with weird fetishes?!

...

On the other side, at Wanyi Peak.

"Junior sister, these are the sword technique spirit skills I selected for our junior disciple."

Bai Li Qin Mo smiled as he handed several jade slips to Ye Li. "The lowest are Mystic-grade, and the highest are Earth-grade. None of them are particularly difficult to cultivate. Their power is considerable once mastered, which should meet your requirements."

'Sigh, to find these sword techniques, I had to go through every single spirit skill in the entire Scripture Depository. But for that "Hundred Battles" chess manual... ahem... I mean, to help our junior disciple, to help my junior sister, it was all worth it.'

"Mm."

Ye Li gave a slight nod and accepted the jade slips.

Now that Luo Xing had broken through to the initial stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm, once he mastered some basic sword stances, he could begin cultivating spirit skills.

Bai Li Qin Mo was used to Ye Li not saying thank you. She had been like that since she was a child. The only person she would ever thank was probably their master who had ascended to immortality.

But after putting away all the spirit skills, Ye Li didn't leave immediately as usual. Instead, she stared straight at Bai Li Qin Mo...

"Uh... Junior sister?" Bai Li Qin Mo felt a bit uncomfortable under her gaze. "Do you... have something else to discuss?"

'She's not going to take back the chess manual, is she?'

Bai Li Qin Mo didn't know that while he was feeling puzzled, Ye Li was staring at his face and fantasizing in her mind...

'Junior sister? Junior sister? Junior sister...'

'Junior sister~'

'Your big brother will take care of you~'

'Let big brother massage your feet, okay~'

Boom!

"Junior sister! What are you doing!?"

Bai Li Qin Mo's startled shout snapped Ye Li back to reality. When she came to, she realized she had slashed a sword aura at Bai Li Qin Mo. Fortunately, he managed to block it with his Wen Chen sword in time!

The clash between the invisible sword aura and the tangible blade sent a shockwave through the entire hall, throwing everything into chaos. The overflow of sword energy pierced countless holes in the surrounding walls and carved deep sword marks into the unyielding stone pillars...

"Junior sister, what's wrong?" Bai Li Qin Mo gripped Wen Chen tightly, his expression urgent. "If I did something wrong, just say it! What's with suddenly attacking me with a sword?"

'Has my junior sister's "Tyrant Sword" become so unreasonable? That she would strike even at her own senior brother?'

Ye Li: "..."

'Tsk... I couldn't help but attack just from imagining it...'

"Senior brother..." Ye Li casually withdrew her sword aura, her tone indifferent. "Your swordsmanship has regressed."

"Uh... Huh?" Bai Li Qin Mo lowered his Wen Chen. "You... were testing my sword skills just now?"

'From the look of it earlier, I thought you were trying to kill me!'

After tanking Ye Li's strike, Wen Chen also transmitted his voice to Bai Li Qin Mo: "I agree. Her attack today was completely different from the usual 'sparring'."

"I just wanted to test your swordsmanship, nothing else." Ye Li turned around. "Make sure to practice more in the future. Don't slack off."

It wasn't until Ye Li's figure had disappeared for a while that Bai Li Qin Mo slowly came to his senses: "Was she... really just testing my swordsmanship?"

Wen Chen materialized into a human form in front of him. "Do you want to go ask her?"

"Go away!" Bai Li Qin Mo rolled his eyes. "If you're not afraid to die, you go!"

Maybe...

Junior sister really was testing his swordsmanship. After all, he had indeed been neglecting his sword practice lately while studying the chess manual...