After Wen Shubai left, Ji Zhaoxi trained even harder.
Aside from her required training every day, she had even started putting in extra hours. The other disciples at the practice grounds were startled, wondering if something had happened to her.
“She’s already so talented, yet she trains and trains every day,” Gu Wuyou said mournfully.
Was she trying to leave the rest of them no chance to live?
Because Ji Zhaoxi practiced overtime at the training grounds every day, his master had started scolding him again.
“Just look at Ji Zhaoxi! When she first joined the sect, she couldn’t even control her spiritual power properly. Look at how much she’s improved now, and she still takes the initiative to train extra every day. What about you? The moment training ends, you disappear!”
And so, Gu Wuyou—the Heavenly Ultimate Sect’s last-place disciple—was forcibly kept behind for extra training.
Liu Fuyin leaned against a tree, panting heavily. She gripped her sword, utterly exhausted.
Ever since Ji Huahua had obtained the Swordheart Stone, her progress had become even faster than before.
She shoved away the person crowding around her and drew in great gulps of air. The chill kept pouring straight down her throat.
“I’m done, I’m done. I’m exhausted.”
Ji Zhaoxi moved closer again, refusing to let her leave.
Liu Fuyin was furious and tried to push her away, but Ji Zhaoxi’s strength was astonishing. Liu Fuyin simply couldn’t budge her now.
“Liu Fuyin, just practice with me a little longer. I haven’t even reached my usual training intensity today.” Ji Zhaoxi clung to her arm.
Liu Fuyin laughed despite herself. How could that be the same? Normally, Ji Zhaoxi trained with Senior Brother, and those two had strength to spare.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and rejected her coldly. “No. If we keep going, I won’t be able to get out of bed tomorrow morning.”
Her hands were already trembling, and she could barely keep hold of her sword.
Ji Zhaoxi let out a deep sigh and walked away dejectedly. “I thought you were the only one who could trade blows with me evenly. I didn’t expect you to be no different from the other disciples.”
Liu Fuyin: “…”
“Come on. I’ll fight you one last time.”
She refused to believe she couldn’t beat Ji Zhaoxi today.
The wind howled through the rear mountain, bending the thinner tree trunks this way and that.
The Second Elder was freezing. Huddled behind a tree, he waited until he was certain no one was around before quickly stepping out.
“Hurry, hurry. Give me my food box first.” The Second Elder hopped over to the errand disciple from the Hundred Flavors Kitchen, sneaking around like a thief.
The instant he got his hands on the food box, a familiar voice came from nearby.
“Second Elder!”
The Second Elder groaned inwardly. He had just been about to brush Liuli off with some excuse when he looked up and saw Ji Zhaoxi standing behind her. He jumped in fright.
“You two young ladies are here to collect the food box?” The Second Elder forced a stiff smile.
Liuli held the food box and smiled sweetly. “Second Elder, my lady would like to ask you about a few things.”
The Second Elder didn’t dare go anywhere near Ji Zhaoxi. He chuckled a few times and quickened his pace.
Ji Zhaoxi followed closely beside him, her brows tightly furrowed. “Second Elder, where exactly did Senior Brother go to train? Why did he go alone?”
The Second Elder bared his teeth in an awkward smile. “Miss Ji, I’ve just remembered that I have something to—”
Ji Zhaoxi blocked his path at once and threatened him. “Second Elder, if you keep this up, I won’t deliver any more gold to you!”
The corner of the Second Elder’s mouth twitched. That boy had kept her in the dark, but he was the one suffering for it now.
“Uh… The matter is… well, that is… um… it’s just… so, basically…”
Ji Zhaoxi was nearly beside herself with anger. “Second Elder, which one is it?”
Seeing her eyes grow redder by the second, the Second Elder had no choice but to tell her the truth.
Making money in this world really wasn’t easy…
He even had to take responsibility for his clients’ love lives.
The air on the Shattered Melting-Snow Mountain was incredibly thin, and the wind was unnaturally sharp, lashing straight at the face. The immortal herbs here were exceedingly difficult to care for—they absorbed only cultivators’ spiritual power.
Wen Shubai’s eyelashes were covered in frost. As he infused the immortal herb with spiritual power, he pondered his plans for the future.
He couldn’t stay on the Shattered Melting-Snow Mountain forever.
After leaving the Heavenly Ultimate Sect, he would probably buy a courtyard in Junior Sister’s town.
His parents had sent him to the Heavenly Ultimate Sect when he was young, and he had rarely kept in touch with them over the years. He had gone back to visit the previous year, only to discover that his parents already had another child. If he returned now, he would surely disturb them.
Strand by strand, Wen Shubai sent his spiritual power into the immortal herb. Tiny cracks appeared in the skin of his hands.
“Junior Sister…”
He murmured the words under his breath.
Would Junior Sister’s parents like him? From what he knew, they seemed to hold the Heavenly Ultimate Sect in high regard. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sent their daughter there.
If he were no longer a disciple of the Heavenly Ultimate Sect, would Junior Sister’s parents object to them being together…?
Wen Shubai lowered his eyes, his heart clenching with pain again and again.
Meanwhile, Ji Zhaoxi was already packing her things.
“Liuli, guard our courtyard well.” Ji Zhaoxi spoke solemnly.
Liuli nodded vigorously. “Don’t worry, my lady!”
She would take good care of their home.
The Heavenly Ultimate Sect’s Crane Garden was near the cliffs in the rear mountain.
The sky was dark, and the wind was raging. Ji Zhaoxi hurried to find the immortal crane.
The crane had delivered a letter to her before, so it definitely knew where Senior Brother was.
At that moment, the immortal crane was already asleep. Ji Zhaoxi approached it quietly and immediately stuffed a Spirit-Gathering Pill into the largest crane’s beak.
The sleeping crane was startled awake. Its wings flapped wildly, and it instinctively tried to jab her with its beak.
Ji Zhaoxi was startled too and quickly shoved another Spirit-Gathering Pill into its mouth.
The immortal crane silently swallowed the pill. A human and a bird stared at each other with wide eyes.
“Take me to Senior Brother.”
The immortal crane lazily rose from the ground and moved to the side. Ji Zhaoxi climbed onto its back and grabbed hold of its feathers.
“Caw—!”
With a cry, the immortal crane beat its enormous wings. The wind grew stronger and stronger, whipping against Ji Zhaoxi’s face as the Heavenly Ultimate Sect below gradually shrank into a scattering of tiny dots.
It was especially dark in the sky. Because they were flying so high, the wind only grew fiercer, making her lungs ache.
The immortal crane flew on and on. Ji Zhaoxi huddled into its feathers, with no idea how long they had been traveling. At last, she saw a crude wooden hut on a snow-covered mountain.
The hut was extremely simple. These past few days, Wen Shubai had exhausted his spiritual power supplying the immortal herb, and he was sleeping fully clothed on a hard wooden bed, his rest far from peaceful.
Bang!
The tightly shut wooden door was suddenly slammed open. In his sleep, Wen Shubai let out a muffled groan as a sudden weight landed heavily on him.
He instinctively tried to summon his sword aura, but then he sensed a familiar presence mixed with the cold. It rushed straight into his arms.
Wen Shubai opened his eyes halfway, still unable to fully process what was happening, but his hands instinctively wrapped around her.
“Senior Brother…”
The choked, tearful voice sounded right beside his ear. Wen Shubai woke completely. He stared at the person in his arms in disbelief, his trembling hand lifting her head.
