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"What is this?" A voice suddenly sounded near her ear.

Qin Shu was startled and instinctively turned her head, only for her forehead to bump directly into Xie Shiyuan's chin.

This time, Qin Shu truly felt like crying. It hurt so much.

She thought for a moment that her skull might no longer be intact. Was this even a human chin?

But just as the thought surfaced, she immediately dismissed it.

How could she forget? He wasn't human to begin with.

Xie Shiyuan didn't feel any pain. For beast-like beings, physical strength and durability were paramount. Even top-tier weapons couldn't pierce his scales.

Otherwise, the eight great sects wouldn't have waited until the thunder tribulation to strike against him.

The slight bump from Qin Shu didn't even register for him. Yet, when he saw the little human girl on the verge of tears again, his tail effortlessly lifted him back to his original reclining position.

"Such weakness, utterly fragile. You should spend more time training your body," he remarked casually.

Xie Shiyuan's words were offhanded, but they immediately caught Qin Shu's attention. She quickly asked, "Training the body? Can you teach me?"

Xie Shiyuan glanced her over from head to toe before replying with a faint smile, "You are not of my kind. The methods of the serpent clan are not suitable for you."

Qin Shu sighed in disappointment.

Seeing her reaction, Xie Shiyuan added, "If you tell me what you were using just now, I might consider giving you a human body-training manual."

Hearing the words "training manual," Qin Shu's eyes lit up. She pulled out her communication jade slip and asked, "Are you talking about this?"

Xie Shiyuan nodded, and Qin Shu eagerly explained, "This is a communication jade slip. By leaving someone's spiritual imprint on it, you can send messages to them no matter where they are. You can also use it to see what others in the cultivation world are talking about, or even take on tasks and bounties..."

After her explanation, she tilted her head to look at Xie Shiyuan. "You've never used one of these?"

Xie Shiyuan shook his head. He had lived his entire life without friends or anyone he needed to contact regularly. Although the device seemed intriguing, it served no purpose for him.

Qin Shu assumed he must have just descended from some remote mountain, a complete bumpkin. Considering the jade slip wasn't expensive, she casually offered, "Next time I go to Chijin City, I'll get one for you."

Xie Shiyuan's steady heartbeat wavered slightly.

Throughout his life, others had only sought to take things from him. No one had ever offered to give him something without expecting anything in return, even if it was just a small trinket.

He pulled out a jade slip and tossed it to Qin Shu. "This body-training manual was acquired from a human cultivator," he said.

Qin Shu caught it, placed it against her forehead, and absorbed its contents. She quickly understood its value.

She jumped off the stone bed, cupped her fists in gratitude, and said, "Thank you, Big Snake!"

Seeing Xie Shiyuan nod slightly, she added, "I'm out of spiritual energy today, so I can't heal your wounds. I'll go practice swordsmanship now."

As soon as she stepped out of the stone door, a fine drizzle enveloped her.

The rain had lightened by now, so it didn't hinder her sword practice.

Normally, she should have been afraid of snakes. Yet, when faced with this half-serpent, half-human being, she found herself strangely unafraid.

Qin Shu knew herself too well—if he didn't have such a strikingly handsome face, her reaction would have been completely different.

This was a classic case of courage dictated by appearances. A beautiful face could make her forget her fear of cold-blooded creatures.

She drew her white jade sword and assumed a starting stance in the rain.

As soon as she got into position, her mind automatically cleared of all distractions, leaving only two words: "Thrust sword."

The fine rain made the air slightly viscous, adding resistance to her thrusts.

But it was precisely because of this resistance that Qin Shu could detect the subtle discrepancies between her movements and her mental image, allowing her to adjust in real time.

From a window, Xie Shiyuan watched the young girl practicing her swordplay with her eyes closed. To him, it seemed as though she were playing a child's game.

Just then, a powerful divine sense swept across the area. Xie Shiyuan waved his sleeve, cloaking himself from detection.

Being two major realms above Lingxu, Xie Shiyuan was easily undetectable.

Lingxu's divine sense eventually settled on Qin Shu, who was practicing a basic sword form in the courtyard.

Her movements were surprisingly disciplined. She alternated between thrusting forward and thrusting backward, practicing these two moves the entire night.

Lingxu ended up watching her for the entire night as well.

He felt a bit confused. This was Dan Sect, wasn't it? Why would a disciple spend more effort on swordsmanship than alchemy?

The rain drizzled throughout the night, and Qin Shu gradually familiarized herself with the trajectory of her sword through the resistance of the air.

The night passed quickly, and when morning came, she finally sheathed her sword.

Only then did she feel the soreness in her arms, as though they might stop working altogether.

Circulating the recovered spiritual energy into wood-element spiritual energy, she directed it to her arm, alleviating some of the discomfort.

She then took out the green leaf and five lower-grade spirit stones that Wen Chi had given her. After activating the formation, she eagerly sat on the leaf.

With just a small input of spiritual energy, the green leaf flew toward Dream Camel Peak.

It's worth noting that the green leaf came with a protective barrier to shield her from wind and rain.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed its difference from her master's flying artifact.

Her master's artifact depended entirely on the user's cultivation level—the higher the cultivation, the more passengers it could carry and the faster it flew.

Wen Chi's green leaf, on the other hand, functioned more like a children's ride. As long as one had spirit stones, it could fly. However, it could only carry one or two people and moved relatively slowly.

Still, for someone like Qin Shu with low cultivation, Wen Chi's flying artifact was more practical.

Watching her head toward Dream Camel Peak, Lingxu couldn't help but reflect. No wonder her cultivation had improved so quickly—if one used the time others spent sleeping for cultivation, the results would naturally follow. But that flying artifact she just used... why did it seem familiar? Wasn't it Wen Chi's old one?

This time, upon arriving at Dream Camel Peak, Qin Shu didn't bow in reverence. Instead, she recited the incantation Wen Chi had taught her at the entrance.

Immediately, the painting hanging before her disappeared, revealing a new scene. The previously visible space transformed into an empty room that seemed endless, with rows upon rows of bookshelves stretching into the distance.

Qin Shu was stunned, blinking a few times to pull herself out of her amazement. She then stepped forward.

The bookshelves towered over her, and the books at the top were beyond her reach.

She first browsed casually, then eventually found the section containing training manuals. Carefully, she examined each one.

Wen Chi had instructed her to choose a manual that suited her. When she asked what "suited her" meant, he had left her with a vague answer:

"Just follow your heart."