Expelled from Lübing Abyss

After practicing Tai Chi Swordplay a few times, the sky was already fully bright.

Lin Qi wiped away her sweat and prepared to head to Qingyun Palace.

The moment she stepped out of the courtyard, she ran into Luo Ci, whose eyes were red and swollen.

"Third Junior Brother, did you stay up all night cultivating? Why are your eyes so swollen?"

Luo Ci pulled out a handful of mint leaves from his pocket and stuffed them into his mouth, his whole body shuddering uncontrollably.

After waking up a little, he gazed gloomily at Lin Qi. "Senior Sister, the lamp in your room didn't go out all night."

Lin Qi nodded. "So?"

Luo Ci's face immediately turned a little green.

He had meditated for an hour that night and gotten up to relax, only to see the light shining in Lin Qi's room. Spurred on by it, he went back to practice his sword.

After going back and forth three or four times, he could not help bursting into tears, practicing his sword as he cried.

He cursed Lin Qi countless times in his heart, yet did not dare pause for even a moment.

As a result, his eyes were swollen when he woke up in the morning.

Only then did Lin Qi belatedly guess the truth. The look she gave Luo Ci carried a few traces of pity.

"Junior Brother, was that really necessary...?"

Luo Ci twisted his little face away, straightened his small waist, and headed directly for the Stone Steps to practice swordsmanship.

This time, Senior Sister Yuan Xi did not descend into Lübing Abyss with Lin Qi.

After seeing Lin Qi to Slaughter Ice Peak, True Monarch Qingyun took Senior Sister Yuan Xi to have a private discussion with True Monarch Tinghan.

Perhaps her own master had taken a fancy to some plot of land in True Monarch Tinghan's territory again.

Upon entering Lübing Abyss once more, Lin Qi discovered that more than half of the Qi Refining cultivators in this batch were unfamiliar faces.

So far, she could only find two familiar faces: Tan Yueqing and Chen En.

After Elder Yue and the Foundation Establishment cultivators moved farther ahead, Lin Qi approached Chen En and asked, "Is the competition really this fierce? Everyone who came in this time is different from last time."

Chen En let out a lingering, fearful sigh. Her gaze swept over Lin Qi and Tan Yueqing, and she could not help sighing emotionally. "You two truly don't know the hardships of the world."

"You're both disciples of peak masters, with talent among the very best. Naturally, you don't have to crack your heads open fighting for cultivation resources like we do."

Lin Qi wanted to explain that she had traded her life for her spot, but unfortunately, she could not speak fast enough. She could only, like Tan Yueqing, keep a calm face and look as though nothing in the world could startle her.

However, Tan Yueqing clearly did not truly know nothing of the world's hardships. She was silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"They say the sect's disciples this year have excellent potential. There are more than twenty with spirit root values above nine on average, and over a hundred above eight—a grand sight never seen before."

Chen En looked as though she had found a kindred spirit and nodded furiously. "The more that's the case, the greater the pressure on disciples like us, whose aptitude is decent but not outstanding. If we're the slightest bit careless and cultivate a little slower, someone might surpass us."

"In the days before the list was finalized, I didn't even dare close my eyes at night, terrified that I wouldn't be chosen."

Lin Qi slowly patted her shoulder. "You don't need to be afraid now. Stay here for another half month before going out, and you won't have to worry anymore. Lübing Abyss's cultivation enhancement effect is still quite remarkable."

Gratitude filled Chen En's eyes. "Come to think of it, I really have to thank you two. Without Little Qi's array disk and the encouragement of your diligence, I would never have been able to break through to the Qi Refining Second Stage before leaving Lübing Abyss."

Lin Qi understood.

For disciples in the early stages of Qi Refining, judging strength by the outcome of fights was clearly unreliable. The simplest and clearest method of evaluation was to look at cultivation level.

If one stayed in Lübing Abyss for fifteen days and was about to break through a stage, or perhaps had already broken through one, it meant their aptitude was good and their cultivation results were significant, giving them a chance to enter again.

If there was no breakthrough in cultivation level, then sorry—someone else would be sent in instead.

For ordinary disciples to break through one stage within fifteen days, they would likely have to suffer quite a bit.

Lin Qi waved her hand generously. "As long as you bring enough Spirit Stones, it's not a problem."

Chen En could not help laughing. She deliberately clasped her fists and said, "Then many thanks to Senior Sister Lin for your generous help!"

The shortest of the three, Lin Qi calmly waved her hand. "A small matter, a small matter."

Even Tan Yueqing could not help curling her lips at the sight of her acting like an adult despite being a child.

Tan Yueqing said, "All right, let's get to work!"

The three skillfully walked to the ice passage from before, each finding a suitable spot and beginning to chisel ice.

The sounds of clanging rang out one after another.

Lin Qi returned to her regular cultivation routine.

Chiseling ice—cultivating the Pure Spirit Art—chiseling ice—practicing Tai Chi Swordplay—chiseling ice—practicing sword techniques...

In Chen En's words, she used nearly every last minute of the twelve double-hours in a day.

Even Tan Yueqing and Chen En found themselves unconsciously working twice as hard alongside her.

Cultivating day and night, time slipped away in the blink of an eye.

After Chen En consumed a bottle of Spirit Nurturing Pills, she finally broke through to the Third Stage Qi Refining on the fifteenth day.

During that time, Tan Yueqing broke through to the Fourth Stage Qi Refining.

Lin Qi was still just a little short of the Fifth Stage Qi Refining. Instead, her physique and movement technique improved greatly over the half month.

Where it had once taken half an hour to chisel out a single cold stone, Lin Qi could now easily chisel one out in just a quarter of an hour.

Something else happened during those fifteen days.

Lin Qi accidentally bumped into an ice wall, and it collapsed outright. This time, the supervising cultivator arrived especially quickly, his face dark and grim.

"Cultivator Lin Qi, you have gravely violated the rules. You are expelled from Lübing Abyss!"

Chen En and Tan Yueqing's expressions changed drastically.

Lin Qi, however, was unhurried. "Which rule says that knocking down an ice wall warrants expulsion from Lübing Abyss?"

Some ice walls contained a great deal of cold stone. Once the cold stones had been mined out, only a thin layer of ice remained. One poke of a finger was enough to bring it down.

She refused to believe no walls had ever collapsed in the ice tunnels.

Did every disciple have to be driven out whenever an ice wall collapsed?

To Lin Qi, this was a disaster that had fallen from a clear blue sky!

She did not believe Tianyi Sect would establish such an inhumane rule.

There were dedicated patrol cultivators in the ice tunnels. Whenever a nearby ice wall was at risk of collapse, they would continue expanding inward, and the formation runes would immediately follow, ensuring that the collapsed wall would not affect the entire tunnel.

Thus, whether these abandoned ice walls fell or not had little impact on the ice tunnels.

Lin Qi had seen this supervising cultivator hand out warnings at the slightest disagreement before, and knew he would not listen to her explanation.

She said directly, "Where is Elder Yue? I was brought in by him. Whether I am punished or expelled should be decided by him!"

Having been in the ice tunnels for so long, this was the first time the supervising cultivator had encountered such an arrogant junior disciple—one who dared to talk back to him outright.

"Impudence!"

His face cold, he barked, "Do you think Elder Yue is someone you can see whenever you please?!"

After saying that, he sneered. "Which one of those who can enter Lübing Abyss is not a genius? Don't think that having decent aptitude means you can be so ignorant of the height of heaven and the depth of earth. Disciples these days are truly growing more and more arrogant—committing grave mistakes without remorse, yet still daring to make a clamor here!"

He reached out and grabbed through the air. An invisible force bound Lin Qi, hoisting her small body into midair.

Tan Yueqing and Chen En tensed, crying out, "Senior Brother, please show mercy!"

"Stop!"

A stern, weighty rebuke rang out, drawing nearer and nearer.

Made it! A fresh new chapter is out.

Thanks to Wei Ci and Su Yuqing AS for the tips, ε(><)з