Chapter 27: The heroine chats up the junior sister
Wang Shouren did not dare to advise him any further. Mr. Qi was quite enamored with Pei Lianxue.
In Wang Shouren’s recollection, Mr. Qi rarely showed interest or fondness for any disciple. On regular occasions, he would even display a displeased expression towards the head of the Xuanxing Sect.
“Sir, this…” Wang Shouren paused and asked, “You seem to be quite taken with Pei Lianxue?”
“Yes.” Qi Baishi glanced at him and nodded, “After all, Feng Yudie is under the guidance of Tai Xu. If she can’t provide the right answer, I have to discipline her. But the other girl is different. When I examined her meridians during the heart inquiry, that girl…”
“Well…” Qi Baishi coughed and continued, “In any case, she practiced ascetic cultivation. During body tempering, she used the method of bone-breaking and knee-smashing, and she even ingested poisonous insects and immersed herself in cold water.”
Wang Shouren’s jaw dropped, “Ingested… ingested poisonous insects? Why?”
“Why?” Qi Baishi sighed and said, “It’s similar to the principle of elixirs. The more elixirs you take, the less effective they become. The more insects she ingests, the harder it is for them to affect her. In other words, those demonic cultivator’s insects are useless against her now.”
“Ah…” Qi Baishi flattened his lips and sighed, “It’s the same principle as elixirs. The more elixirs are taken, the lower the effect. The more voodoos eaten, the harder it will be for them to attack her. To produce an effect, in other words, those demonic cultivator’s insects are of no use to that girl now.”
“…” Wang Shouren was speechless.
“Because of this, that girl surpasses cultivators of the same realm in both will and energy. If she can learn a better technique and encounter a few opportunities, she will definitely be no worse than those cultivators with single spiritual roots.”
Upon hearing this, Wang Shouren inexplicably thought of Ye Anping.
When he had previously examined Ye Anping’s meridians at the Hundred Lotus Sect, he was surprised to learn that Ye Ao, being so ruthless, made his son undergo ascetic cultivation.
Now, listening to Mr. Qi, he felt that Ye Ao was heartless not only for making his son undergo ascetic cultivation but also for forcing a girl to accompany his son in the practice.
“So that’s it…”
Qi Baishi exhaled heavily and said, “But I still don’t understand.”
“What’s the matter?”
“I can understand Feng Yudie’s answer as something Tai Xu realized and then taught to her. But Pei Lianxue’s answer, she claims her senior brother dictated it to her.”
“Really? What’s the issue?”
“Who is her senior brother that taught her?”
“Her senior brother is undoubtedly the young master of the Hundred Lotus Sect.”
“Ye Ao?” Qi Baishi gave him a disdainful look. “Impossible. I’ve met that boy. He’s dull-witted and has mediocre spiritual roots. He couldn’t have taught her.”
At this point, he glanced at the towering pile of exam papers in the room, stood up abruptly, and said, “Come, the technique Pei Lianxue practices seems a bit peculiar to me. I need to check it in the library.”
“Ah… yes.”
After watching Qi Baishi leave the room, Wang Shouren didn’t think too much and sat back to continue correcting papers. However, after correcting a few more papers, he changed his mind.
It was not right!
Qi Baishi was gone. There were more than 10,000 papers in this room. He had to take care of them all…
In an instant, black lines appeared one after another on Wang Shouren’s forehead, but there was nothing he could do. He was just a deputy elder.
“Ah…”
Wang Shouren sighed and honestly picked up the next paper and started reading it.
…
Early next morning.
While Feng Yudie was still sleeping in bed, Pei Lianxue had already gotten up early and was studying her Leaves Shadow Sword Technique in the outer courtyard of the triple courtyard.
As she swung the wooden sword in her hand, the fallen leaves at her feet seemed to be alive for an instant. Following the direction of the wooden sword, they either rushed forward or rolled sideways and finally pointed directly towards the point pointed by her sword.
There was a click. She picked up a piece of bamboo, and the leaves she called away were cut into pieces and fell into pieces.
Pei Lianxue nodded with satisfaction, then quickly held the wooden sword behind her back and calmed down her breath.
“I wonder what senior brother is doing now? Didn’t senior brother say he would come to me later?” She curled her lips and puffed up her cheeks as if complaining, “It’s already the second day of selection. Why hasn’t the senior brother come yet? It’s really annoying!”
At this time, a female voice came from behind her.
“Are you going to use this bamboo as a stake?”
“Ah?!”
Pei Lianxue was startled and quickly looked behind her, only to see that the person speaking was the young lady of Xuanxing Sect whom she and Feng Yudie had met yesterday.
Xiao Yunluo was now wearing a purple skirt, carrying an expensive-looking sword on her back, and leaning against the fence as if she had been watching Pei Lianxue’s sword dance from a long time ago.
“… …” Pei Lianxue looked at her blankly, then glanced at the dozen or so bamboo sections he had cut out next to her and asked in a low voice, “Isn’t it okay?”
Xiao Yunluo stepped forward, sighed, and said, “This bamboo is a Cloud Thunder Bamboo seedling. Each one is worth two thousand spiritual stones. You cut it down before it has grown up.”
“Two thousand spirit stones!!”
Pei Lianxue’s eyes suddenly popped out when she heard this number.
“This… This…” She looked at the bamboo, then at Xiao Yunluo, then at the bamboo again, and then lowered her head with a guilty look on her face, “I don’t know.”
“Can you just cut it if you don’t know?”
“Ah…”
Pei Lianxue was a little confused. How did she know that this ordinary-looking bamboo was so expensive?
After being stunned for a moment, she suddenly thought of the elixir that the Nascent Soul cultivator had given her yesterday, so she took it out of her storage bag and asked, “Can I use this to offset it?”
“This?” Xiao Yunluo looked at the elixir bottle in her hand with the Xuanxing Sect’s logo and immediately furrowed her brows, asking, “Where did you get this bottle of elixir?”
“It was given to me by the senior Yuanying, who invigilated the exam yesterday.”
“Mr. Qi…”
Xiao Yunluo’s frown deepened. She had grown up in Xuanxing Sect since she was a child. How come she didn’t know that Mr. Qi would give pills to others?
She paused, took the elixir, unscrewed the cork, and took a look.
“A top-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, well… it’s worth a lot.”
Pei Lianxue asked innocently, “Is it enough to pay for this bamboo?”
Xiao Yunluo looked at the serious look on her face and, wanting to compensate, and couldn’t help but chuckle and said, “Pfft – do you really believe I’m bluffing you? If it’s really Cloud Thunder Bamboo, how could it be planted in a place like this and not let someone look after it?”
“…” Pei Lianxue looked embarrassed. She had never seen any Cloud Thunder Bamboo…
“Okay, just kidding, the sword technique I saw you dancing just now was really weird. What sword technique was it?”
“Yes…”
Pei Lianxue was stunned for a moment and suddenly recalled that her senior brother had told her when she left the Hundred Lotus Sect – if anyone asked her about the sword technique, just say that her senior brother taught her.
So, she said: “My senior brother taught me.”
“What kind of sword technique is that?”
“It’s the sword technique taught by my senior brother.”
Xiao Yunluo glanced at the leaves on the ground, then shrugged nonchalantly and said, “Forget it. The sword test is about to begin. Quickly call your little escort and go to the sword test platform.”
“My little companion?”
Xiao Yunluo tilted her head and asked, “What? Isn’t that silver-haired girl your escort?”
“This…” Pei Lianxue was stunned for a moment and replied, “I am her escort.”
“…”
This time it was Xiao Yunluo’s turn to be stunned. She had just seen that the person’s swordsmanship was so good, so she took it for granted that she should be the one to participate in the selection, but…
She pursed her lips in embarrassment, nodded, and asked, “Okay then. I forgot to say hello to you yesterday. My name is Xiao Yunluo, and you can just call me Senior Sister Xiao.”
“Well, Elder Wang told us yesterday.” Pei Lianxue nodded, cupped her hands, and said, “Thank you, Senior Sister Xiao, for the reminder.”
After saying that, Pei Lianxue was ready to go back to the house and wake up Feng Yudie.
However, seeing her leave, Xiao Yunluo looked embarrassed and quickly grabbed her shoulders and asked, “Hey – tell me what your name is!”
“Oh… Pei Lianxue.”
…
