How could Nangong Yu have known what kind of commotion she had caused?
She merely closed and opened her eyes, feeling as though she had attended a single lesson—and she had broken through again!
Not only that, all one hundred and eight of her acupoints had been successfully cultivated. They shone brilliantly within her body. With a thought, she stored a spirit stone in one of them.
A bottle of spirit-replenishing pills went into another.
A spirit fruit was randomly stored in one.
Then a storage bag.
Then another storage bag filled with items.
A spatial button.
The quantum lightsaber.
She took them all back out.
Checked them over. Perfect.
She stored them again.
Took them out.
Checked them over again. Perfect.
She continued storing them.
…
Only after repeated experiments did she carefully store the [Universal Key] inside one of her acupoints.
The [Universal Key] had originally been an item the system had somehow lost. Because she shared a deep bond with it, she had managed to find it again.
An item so powerful that even the system had grown jealous and despicably thrown it away surely had an extraordinary purpose. Aside from the “unlock doors” function listed in its description, it might even possess hidden abilities.
After all, the system had eaten part of the instruction manual for its “unlock doors” function. Who knew what other abilities might come after “unlock doors”?
For such an important item, one could never be too careful.
After properly securing the [Universal Key], Nangong Yu was in an excellent mood. She paid no attention to Elder Ling Heng’s attempt to pour cold water on her.
“Both master and disciple broke through. Isn’t that a double celebration?”
Her eyes shifted mischievously.
“Master, you accepted me as your disciple, but we still haven’t held an initiation ceremony. Since I’ve broken through and you’ve broken through too, that makes three celebrations in one!”
“Why don’t you take this opportunity to send invitations to the other elders, the peak masters, and even your friends from other sects?” Her eyes sparkled. “A genius like me, who even brings good fortune to her master—you have to show me off a little, don’t you?”
Elder Ling Heng cast her a sidelong glance.
The girl had only just awakened from her state of enlightenment, yet her entire body was overflowing with spiritual energy. She looked extraordinarily lively, like an uncut jade gem.
“If someone asks me about your spiritual roots, what am I supposed to say?” Elder Ling Heng asked.
Her spiritual roots were abysmal. Not only did she possess three spiritual roots, but the aptitude values of those roots were shockingly low—to the point that revealing them would astound the entire Canglan Realm.
Nangong Yu was surprised. “Say whatever you want. If you don’t want to tell them, then don’t.”
Elder Ling Heng’s lips twitched. “They’ll bring congratulatory gifts and ask about your spiritual roots. How can your master refuse to answer?”
“Then just tell them.” Nangong Yu grinned. “Tell them, ‘My disciple is truly pitiful. Her spiritual roots are terrible. If you feel sorry for her, give her a few treasures that can extend her life, cleanse and transform her meridians, or help her escape and save her life. That way, it won’t be a waste for her to call you Martial Uncle or Martial Aunt.’”
Elder Ling Heng fell silent.
“…”
What on earth was growing inside that head of hers?
Had all the talent missing from her spiritual roots been put into her schemes instead?
“I have no time for this!”
He flung his sleeve and walked away.
Nangong Yu immediately became unhappy. “I just broke through. Forget not praising me—you’re actually giving me the cold shoulder? How can you call yourself a master—”
Before she could finish, a flash of light appeared before her eyes, and a fragrant, soft hand covered her mouth.
“Shh!” Luo Qingyuan’s voice sounded beside her ear. “You mustn’t say that.”
Nangong Yu’s eyes widened, but Elder Ling Heng did not even turn his head as he walked away. She tried to speak, but Luo Qingyuan had covered her mouth so firmly that not a sound could escape.
“Elder Brother has always treated you very well.” Only after he had gone far away did Luo Qingyuan release her, her expression filled with emotion.
Nangong Yu asked, “In what way? Or did something happen that I don’t know about?”
Luo Qingyuan pressed her lips together and gently nodded.
“Second Master, how much time has passed?” Nangong Yu hurriedly asked.
A master was one who transmitted the Dao, taught skills, and resolved doubts. Luo Qingyuan had taught her how to temper her acupoints, giving her a reliable place to store the [Universal Key], so Nangong Yu had acknowledged her as her master.
Luo Qingyuan replied, “A full eleven days.”
Her expression was complicated. She truly had never expected that a sudden impulse to grab a child and give her a lesson in the middle of the night would turn into something like this.
“What?!” Nangong Yu was stunned. “What date is it today?”
“September seventeenth,” Luo Qingyuan replied.
“Oh no!” Nangong Yu let out a cry and stomped her foot.
“What is it, Little Yu?” Luo Qingyuan asked in surprise. “Do you have something important to do?”
“I do, I do.” Nangong Yu took out a section of white jade flute and tried to play it, but nothing happened.
As Zhegu had said, it had exhausted all its energy. It could now only serve as a token and had no other use.
“What is it?” Luo Qingyuan asked, puzzled.
Nangong Yu put away the white jade flute and looked at her. “I made an appointment with someone to meet in Cloudfall City on September fifteenth.”
“Oh, that?” Luo Qingyuan said, confused. “Only two days have passed. If you go now, the other party should still be waiting for you in Cloudfall City.”
It was merely a meeting. Was being two days late really so unusual? Everyone had things come up from time to time. For cultivators, getting delayed by all kinds of unexpected incidents was perfectly normal.
Nangong Yu thought about it and realized she was right. “Then I’ll go find him tomorrow.”
For such a huge deal, Zhegu should wait for her a few more days, shouldn’t he?
As for today, she had only just finished tempering her acupoints and had yet to ask Luo Qingyuan to check the results. There was no need to rush out of the sect.
Sure enough, the next moment Luo Qingyuan could no longer hold back her question.
“How did your acupoint cultivation go?”
“They’re about as big as bowls!” Nangong Yu replied.
“All of them?” Luo Qingyuan’s eyes widened as she stared at her in disbelief.
Nangong Yu scratched her forehead. “More or less?”
“Little Yu, you really are a genius!” Luo Qingyuan excitedly stepped forward and gripped her by the shoulders. “Elder Ling Heng’s efforts on your behalf have not been in vain!”
She was only at the Qi Refining stage, yet she had achieved such astonishing results!
Only then did Nangong Yu remember to ask, “What did he do while I was cultivating?”
“You entered a state of enlightenment, drawing the spiritual energy of the entire Hengxu Peak toward your cave dwelling. The spiritual energy of the whole peak was drained by you, and that still wasn’t enough. The spiritual energy from the surrounding peaks was drawn over as well…”
Luo Qingyuan told her everything that had happened over the past several days.
Nangong Yu listened in a daze.
Enlightenment? She had entered a state of enlightenment again?
It felt different from last time, though. And wasn’t she using the Great Rejuvenation Art?
Still uncertain, she asked, “So, how many spirit stones did the sect leader use on me?”
Luo Qingyuan sighed. “I don’t know the exact number, but judging by the scale of it, there must have been at least ten million spirit stones.”
“That many?!” Nangong Yu was dumbfounded.
She did not actually have a clear understanding of the purchasing power of spirit stones. However, the treasures she had previously sneaked out of Elder Xuanqing’s cave dwelling had only been worth a little over a million spirit stones, and Zhegu had lowered his head and spoken gently to her for that deal.
Yet this time, her breakthrough had cost more than ten million spirit stones?!
No wonder her master NPC had looked so displeased just now.
Nangong Yu’s heart felt heavy.
Debts owed to NPCs were not easy to repay. They would always find some other way to get their money back.
“That’s why I told you not to curse him.” Luo Qingyuan shook her head. Seeing Nangong Yu’s solemn expression, she consoled her, “It’s fine. Elder Ling Heng has plenty of spirit stones. Spend as much as you like. Who told you to take him as your master?”
Parents were duty-bound to provide for their children.
And a master spending spirit stones on his disciple was much the same.
“I understand.” Nangong Yu finally settled down, and her expression became much more respectful. “I’ll go apologize to Master later.”
It was getting late. Luo Qingyuan had not returned to her own cave dwelling for over ten days, so she said, “Get some rest. I’ll teach you how to use these acupoints another day.”
Nangong Yu nodded. “Yes, Second Master.”
“By the way, Disciple Peak has been rebuilt, so you still have to attend classes every day.” Just before leaving, Luo Qingyuan remembered something. “Sect History, Canglan History, mathematics, alchemy, talisman crafting, array formations… You’ll have to learn all of them.”
It was as if she had been struck by lightning!
The enormous workload instantly extinguished Nangong Yu’s joy. She stood there in a daze for a full two minutes before drooping her head and walking out of the cave dwelling.
She put on the Starry River Flowing Light Robe and flew toward Elder Ling Heng’s cave dwelling.
At that moment, Xu Wanzhong was in the Sword Forge.
“What exactly does she have?” Xu Wanzhong was asking his master.
Elder Ling Heng sat cross-legged, his expression indifferent. “What exactly does she have?”
“There’s something strange about her.” Xu Wanzhong said, “That much spiritual power would be enough for a Golden Core cultivator to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. Yet she only went from the fourth level of Qi Refining to the sixth?”
Anyone capable of drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and entering a state of enlightenment was undoubtedly favored by the heavens.
Someone who entered enlightenment time and again was practically the heavens’ own daughter.
But the heavens’ own daughter had entered enlightenment twice and was still only a Qi Refining cultivator?
Absurd.
Simply inconceivable.
Elder Ling Heng cast him a faint glance. “Her spiritual root aptitude is poor. You already knew that.”
Most people had aptitude scores in the eighties or nineties. Hers was only in the single digits.
What determined a spiritual root aptitude score? The ability to absorb and convert spiritual energy.
One drew spiritual energy into the body, circulated it through a complete cycle, and then measured how much remained. That amount determined one’s spiritual root aptitude.
The more spiritual energy one retained, the higher one’s spiritual root aptitude.
Someone like Nangong Yu was essentially a giant sieve. She could barely hold on to any spiritual energy at all, and most of it simply leaked away.
“I know,” Xu Wanzhong said. “That’s exactly why I’m puzzled. Why did you take her as your disciple?”
For a disciple with such poor aptitude, Elder Ling Heng had actually accepted her.
Not only had he taken her in, but after seeing Nangong Yu break through, he had been willing to spend tens of millions of spirit stones to help her cultivate.
What difference was that from throwing money into the water? Could throwing money into the water actually be fun?
“I have more spirit stones than I can spend,” Elder Ling Heng replied. “If you don’t spend them, and neither do your senior brothers and sisters, what am I supposed to do with them?”
The words left Xu Wanzhong speechless. He grew indignant. “Why don’t I spend them? Give me some! I want some too!”
“None left,” Elder Ling Heng said blandly. “Your junior sister spent them all.”
Did he think that made him feel any better?!
Could he admit that he regretted it?!
She had only been his disciple for a short while, yet she had already taken tens of millions of spirit stones from him.
He had even fought Sect Leader Cangjing for the chance to become her master. Looking back, Elder Ling Heng was filled with regret!
“Sit down. Don’t leave.” Elder Ling Heng called out. “You’ll find out why I accepted her in a moment.”
Sensing that Luo Qingyuan had left, he sent her a voice transmission.
“Master, I’m here.”
Before long, a dejected young girl landed outside the Sword Forge.
With her head lowered and her eyes downcast, she entered the Sword Forge and knelt. “I’m sorry, Master. I spent so many of your spirit stones.”
Elder Ling Heng said indifferently, “It wasn’t that much. Only tens of millions.”
The White Dragon Jade Pendant and the Starry River Flowing Light Robe he had given her—either one was worth more than ten million spirit stones.
He had taken four disciples, but only she was like a gluttonous beast. In just over a month since joining him, she had already taken an incalculable amount from him!
“I have a small favor to ask of you,” he said.
Nangong Yu had just spent a fortune of his spirit stones, so she hurriedly said, “Please speak, Master. I’ll do anything within my power.”
“Your senior brother…” Elder Ling Heng raised his hand and pointed to the person sitting beside her. “He hasn’t broken through for decades. Help him.”
Nangong Yu: “...?”
She widened her eyes in disbelief, pointed at her own nose, then looked at Elder Ling Heng and Xu Wanzhong in turn.
“Master?” she said incredulously. “Do you think I’m some kind of turtle in a wishing pond?”
