Luo Qingchen held the Foundation Building Pill, feeling delighted.
Just as she was about to swallow it and begin a new chapter of her cultivation journey, she froze mid-motion.
‘Something’s not right.’
She reconsidered.
She was currently in the middle of the wilderness.
If she reached the most vulnerable moment of her breakthrough and that black bear decided to double back, wouldn’t she be serving herself up on a silver platter?
She had broken that bear’s arm with one punch earlier, and it seemed intimidated, but who knew if the beasts of this cultivation world held grudges?
The cultivation world was full of traps and constant danger; her Cheap Master and the entire sect were proof of that.
If she died, no one would bury her body, let alone break the curse.
No, she couldn’t bet her life on a bear’s sense of honor.
With that thought, Luo Qingchen carefully put the Foundation Building Pill back into her pouch.
She stood up, resumed her refined expert persona, brushed the dust off her clothes, and decided to head out to eliminate the potential threat.
You had to pull a weed out by its roots to prevent future trouble, after all.
However, when she marched heroically to the cave entrance, she was stunned.
The outside was completely empty.
Aside from the sound of the wind and a few fallen leaves, there was no sign of the black bear.
Only a patch of blood and a few strands of black fur remained on the ground; the bear had long since fled.
Luo Qingchen stood at the entrance in silence.
She had just been thinking about recruiting a little brother to be her guard, but the guy hadn’t even considered joining her; he had run faster than anyone.
“Sigh, I’m still too naive.”
She let out a sigh, feeling that her corporate slave mindset from her past life still hadn’t fully transitioned to the law of the jungle in this world.
Fine, let it run.
Luo Qingchen didn’t bother giving chase.
Her main priority now was her breakthrough.
She scanned her surroundings and eventually settled on a boulder weighing several thousand pounds.
Luo Qingchen walked up to the massive rock, took a deep breath, and poured all the spiritual energy of Peak Qi Condensation into her arms.
“Rise!”
With a low shout, her slender arms forcibly uprooted the boulder from the soil.
She then pushed it toward the cave entrance, sealing it tight.
Now, unless it was a Foundation Building cultivator, no one would be able to enter easily.
After finishing this, Luo Qingchen clapped her hands and returned to the depths of the cave with satisfaction.
She did a quick cleaning of the interior and used stones to build a simple meditation cushion before sitting down cross-legged once more.
Everything was ready.
She took out the Foundation Building Pill again, and this time, without hesitation, she tossed it directly into her mouth.
The pill melted instantly, transforming into a surging warm current that rushed through her limbs and bones.
Luo Qingchen quickly focused her mind.
Following the cultivation technique in the original owner’s memory, she began to guide the medicinal power to strike her meridians, preparing to reach Foundation Building in one go.
Right then, the jade box she had swindled from Ling Xiyue suddenly opened on its own.
The Thousand-Year Cold Marrow drifted out, hovering before Luo Qingchen and emitting a bone-chilling cold.
Luo Qingchen was startled.
She had been worrying about how to handle this thing, but she hadn’t expected it to activate automatically.
Suddenly, the Heaven-Deceiving Jade Slip in her dantian trembled violently.
An invisible suction force erupted from the jade slip, and the Thousand-Year Cold Marrow instantly transformed into a crystal-clear liquid, surging into her nose and mouth.
It was a world of ice and fire!
The power of the Foundation Building Pill was incredibly hot, while the spiritual energy of the Thousand-Year Cold Marrow was piercingly cold.
The two polar opposite forces clashed wildly within her meridians.
Luo Qingchen nearly screamed from the pain, feeling as if she were being torn apart.
But soon, the Heaven-Deceiving Jade Slip in her dantian emitted a gentle light once more.
Under the guidance of this light, the two violent energies miraculously began to merge, transforming into a purer, more massive wave of spiritual energy that gently washed over and widened her meridians.
Her body, which originally had mediocre talent, became tougher and broader under the nourishment of this power, as if she were being reborn.
‘Holy crap, there’s even a benefit like this?’
Luo Qingchen was both shocked and delighted.
This Heaven-Deceiving Jade Slip couldn’t just issue tasks and rewards like a system; it could actually assist in cultivation! It really was a treasure.
‘This is a win-win — I win twice.’
***
Meanwhile, 1,000 miles away at Hidden Sword Mountain, inside a mist-shrouded cave dwelling.
An old Daoist in green robes with a transcendent air was pacing back and forth anxiously, muttering to himself.
“Foolish! Utterly foolish!”
“My silly disciple, how could she be tricked by a few words!”
This person was a high-ranking elder of Hidden Sword Mountain and the master of Ling Xiyue, Daoist Wangyou.
Before him, Ling Xiyue stood quietly in her purple robes, her face still devoid of expression.
“Master, that physiognomist said her sect has only one successor. It’s normal that you haven’t heard of it.”
Daoist Wangyou was so angry at his disciple’s peculiar logic that his beard twitched.
“I have cultivated for over 700 years. What strange or bizarre sects haven’t I seen? This Physiognomy Sect sounds like something a common swindler made up to fool people!”
“And what Heavenly Solitary Star or changing fate against heaven! Absolute nonsense! Pure rubbish!”
Daoist Wangyou said with deep grief, “That was the Thousand-Year Cold Marrow! Do you know how much effort I spent retrieving that from the 10,000-Year Ice Cave for you? You just gave it away to some girl of unknown origin?”
Ling Xiyue remained silent.
Seeing his precious disciple’s stubbornness, Daoist Wangyou felt a lump in his chest that he couldn’t swallow.
He hesitated to speak, and finally, he could only let out a long sigh.
“Forget it, forget it.”
He waved his hand, looking completely drained.
“We’ll treat it as paying tuition to learn a lesson.”
“From now on, use your head more so you don’t get tricked again.”
After saying that, Daoist Wangyou shook his head with an expression that said ‘my silly disciple is hopeless’ and turned to leave.
The cave dwelling became quiet once again.
Ling Xiyue walked to the window and watched the surging sea of clouds, but Luo Qingchen’s smiling face surfaced in her mind.
‘But the feeling she gave me was truly different.’
She murmured to herself.
That feeling of having her loneliness seen through, and the solemn promise that someone would help her, was something she had never experienced before.
***
One week passed in the blink of an eye.
Ling Xiyue continued to practice her sword and eat alone.
Whenever her fellow disciples saw her, they still avoided her from a distance or whispered behind her back with complicated gazes.
The promised change of fate showed no effect at all.
That day, Daoist Wangyou found her again.
“Well?” The old Daoist stroked his beard with a ‘see, what did I tell you’ expression.
“I told you she was a liar.”
“Instead of believing in those illusory claims of changing fate, you’d be better off spending more time learning social graces from your fellow disciples. That would be better than anything else.”
Ling Xiyue remained silent and did not argue.
The facts were right before her.
Seeing that she seemed to be listening, Daoist Wangyou nodded in satisfaction and was about to give a few more words of instruction.
Suddenly, Ling Xiyue raised her hand.
She closed her eyes, sensing something carefully.
A second later, she snapped her eyes open.
The tracking mark she had left on Luo Qingchen had been detected!
The location was clear!
“Master, I have something to attend to. I shall take my leave.”
Before her voice could fade, Ling Xiyue transformed into a purple light, instantly charging out of the cave dwelling and vanishing into the horizon.
Daoist Wangyou was left standing there with his hand outstretched, stunned.
“Hey! I haven’t finished talking yet!”
The old Daoist looked in the direction his disciple had disappeared, slapped his thigh, and looked distressed.
“Sigh, this girl is always like this. She has no social graces at all. But her talent is extraordinary… I hope she becomes sharper in the future.”
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