Page 31

The commotion outside the cave quickly caught the attention of the people inside. They rushed to the courtyard and saw Qin Shu climbing out of the pond.

At that moment, Qin Shu had a lotus leaf on her head, her hair and clothes sticking to her body, and her face was a colorful mess. She looked as miserable as one could possibly imagine.

The jealousy that Chi Yu felt earlier when she saw Second Senior Brother personally fetching Qin Shu suddenly vanished upon seeing this embarrassing scene.

Lingxu Zhenren's face was full of anger. "Wen Chi!"

A golden light flashed, and Wen Chi reappeared in front of everyone.

He casually opened the folding fan in his hand and gently fanned himself. His face carried a roguish charm, with a hint of a smile.

"Master, you called for me?"

Lingxu Zhenren's face darkened as he said coldly, "Is this what you meant by welcoming your junior sister?"

Just when he had been relieved to see Wen Chi finally showing some kindness toward his fellow disciples, he pulled off this stunt instead.

Wen Chi glanced at Qin Shu, who was dripping wet, and lazily cast a cleansing spell on her. "Junior Sister was exhausted from climbing the mountain, so I helped her wash up."

Hearing this, Qin Shu rolled her eyes dramatically while keeping her head lowered. She gritted her teeth and said, "Thank you so much."

Her clothes were now dry, and the mess on her face had disappeared, but there was still a scratch on her face from a branch. The neatly tied hair she had earlier was now a bit disheveled.

Lingxu Zhenren glanced at the petite girl who barely reached his waist and tossed a porcelain bottle to her. "This is Jade Face Balm. It's better not to let a girl's face have scars."

Qin Shu, being someone who cared about her appearance, instinctively reached out to take it. But before she could, Cheng Yan made a gesture, and the porcelain bottle flew into his hand.

He walked over to her and began applying the balm to her face.

The moment his fingers touched her skin, Qin Shu felt as though she had been struck by lightning. She stiffened and immediately stepped back.

Cheng Yan frowned and said disapprovingly, "Don't move. You can't see the wound on your face; I'll do it for you."

Suppressing the urge to flee, Qin Shu forced herself to stay rooted to the spot.

The scratch wasn't large, and Cheng Yan finished applying the balm quickly.

He capped the bottle and handed it to Qin Shu. Turning around, he met Wen Chi's amused expression.

As Qin Shu felt the coolness on her face and the diminishing pain, she hurriedly stepped forward, clasped her hands, and said, "Disciple Qin Shu thanks Master for the medicine!"

Lingxu Zhenren examined the young girl in front of him. She was dressed in men's clothing and wore a high ponytail. It was hard to connect her to the person who had written the scroll on the Eight Trigrams algorithm.

While Lingxu Zhenren was observing her, Qin Shu was lost in thought.

Just now, she realized that the little black snake that had always been coiled around her wrist was gone!

Her heart felt strangely empty. It wasn't that she had a deep bond with the snake, but she had been treating it daily. For it to leave without even saying goodbye felt... rude.

Hmph! One day, when she became a top cultivator, she'd catch that little snake and make it into snake soup!

While Qin Shu was secretly plotting, Lingxu Zhenren spoke up. "Did you climb all the way up the mountain?"

Qin Shu looked up and met his slightly cloudy but curious eyes.

She nodded, her ponytail swaying with the motion. "Yes, Master. There was no path up the immortal mountain, so I made one myself!"

Her tone carried a hint of pride.

Lingxu Zhenren chuckled. "Not bad."

Qin Shu noticed Chi Yu standing beside him. Just by standing there, Chi Yu naturally attracted the fire elemental aura from the surroundings. Compared to Chi Yu's overwhelming fire elemental value of 99, Qin Shu's measly 71 made her feel like an adopted child, barely able to absorb any fire energy at all.

Her admiration was so obvious that Chi Yu couldn't help but notice.

Chi Yu blinked in surprise before giving Qin Shu a small nod as a greeting.

Lingxu Zhenren said, "Let's talk inside."

Lingxu Zhenren's cave dwelling was as simple as could be. A single futon lay on a stone bed of unknown material. Aside from that, there was only one table. The large cave felt almost empty with just four disciples standing inside.

Lingxu Zhenren began introducing the disciples. Apart from Second Senior Brother Wen Chi and First Senior Brother Cheng Yan, there was also Third Senior Brother Si Xuan, who was out on worldly training after breaking through to the Golden Core stage.

"You two, Qin Shu is younger and her cultivation is... Hmm? You've reached the second level of Qi Refinement?" Lingxu Zhenren sounded surprised.

Hearing this, Chi Yu turned sharply to look at Qin Shu.

When they both joined Lingxu Zhenren's sect, Chi Yu had inquired about Qin Shu.

Three spiritual roots, none of which were particularly outstanding. Her fire root value was only 71, and her other two roots were a mix of low and impure values.

Though she didn't understand why Lingxu Zhenren accepted Qin Shu as a disciple, perhaps it had something to do with her exceptional talent in alchemy. However, her cultivation progress would undoubtedly be a hindrance.

Yet now, Qin Shu was at the same cultivation level as her? How was that even possible?

While Chi Yu was filled with questions, Lingxu Zhenren simply laughed and said, "Good, good. Even though you're both at the same level, Chi Yu is older and will be the fourth disciple, while Qin Shu will be the fifth."

"Yes."

"Yes."

Both girls answered in unison.

Lingxu Zhenren then brought out a spiritual testing stone. "Let's reassess your aptitude."

This testing stone looked far more refined than the one used during the sect's entrance examination. Chi Yu went first, pressing her hand onto the stone.

Immediately, the stone glowed brightly with red light.

Her fire root value was still 99.

Chi Yu smiled in satisfaction and stepped back.

Next, Qin Shu stepped forward. This time, the light emitted was much dimmer, and the result was unremarkable.

"Fire, wood, and earth spiritual roots, with values of 73, 57, and 49."

The others showed little reaction, as such values were hardly noteworthy.

However, Qin Shu was slightly stunned. She clearly remembered her spiritual root values as 71, 56, and 48 when she first joined the sect.

Could it be that the previous test was inaccurate?

Chi Yu thought the same.

Still, whether it was 71 or 73, it made little difference to her.

With this thought, Chi Yu stood straighter, her chin slightly raised.

Lingxu Zhenren's expression remained unreadable as he put away the testing stone. He instructed them to follow the First Senior Brother for their cultivation training and to refrain from attempting alchemy until they reached the third level of Qi Refinement.