Encountering the Woman in White Again

But he quickly came to his senses. Although he had abandoned his post without permission, it was hardly this woman's place to interfere, was it?

"May I ask who you are, Senior Sister?" He raised his head and fixed his gaze on the Mysterious Woman.

The Mysterious Woman raised a brow. "Who I am is not something you are qualified to know yet."

Lu Nan frowned. "What is your purpose, Senior Sister?"

When the woman remained silent, irritation rose in his heart.

But unable to gauge her identity, he could only force down his impatience.

"Although I did abandon my post without permission, hardly anyone comes to the Book Collection Pavilion in ten days or half a month. What difference does it make whether I'm here or not?"

Seeing the Mysterious Woman's face turn cold as though she was about to speak,

Lu Nan cut in first. "Don't talk about reporting me. At worst, I'll go to Steward Mo and accept my punishment myself!"

"Give me a few Spirit Talismans you drew!"

Spirit Talismans? Lu Nan froze. Where would he get any Spirit Talismans right now?

Still, he secretly sighed in relief. It seemed this woman's target was the Spirit Talismans.

That made things easy!

"Senior Sister, your timing is unfortunate. I don't have any on me right now. How about next time? I'll save two for you?" Lu Nan said with a light smile.

"What about the ones you drew earlier?"

"Those were custom orders!" Lu Nan rubbed the tip of his nose.

"From whom?"

Lu Nan hesitated briefly. "Spirit Treasure Pavilion!"

The moment he said it, he clearly saw surprise appear on the woman's face.

So she could make expressions too?

"Body Tempering Ninth Layer, and you can draw Spirit Talismans as well. Why have I never heard your name before?"

The woman in white stared at Lu Nan, examining him closely.

Lu Nan's pupils contracted. The woman before him could see through his true cultivation?

Did that not mean she was a Nascent Soul powerhouse?

"You jest, Senior Sister. If Junior Brother truly were at the Body Tempering Ninth Layer,

I would have reported it to the sect long ago. Why would I hide it?"

"Your Breath Concealment Technique may be subtle, but it still falls a little short!" Having been exposed so directly, Lu Nan said nothing more.

At the same time, he became certain that this stunningly beautiful sixteen-year-old woman before him

was at least a Nascent Soul powerhouse!

Seeing that he did not refute her, the woman in white said blandly, "What Spirit Talismans can you draw now?"

"Strength Talismans, Speed Talismans, and Ice Arrow Talismans!" Lu Nan did not hide anything.

"A First-Rank Talisman Master?" The woman in white studied him. "A pity your cultivation is a little low, and your Spiritual Root is no good either..."

Lu Nan's face darkened. Did she not know that was incredibly rude?

"Still, to cultivate to this point with such talent, you must have encountered your own fortuitous opportunity..." Lu Nan's heart tightened, his thoughts becoming a tangled mess.

Was she after his Mysterious Space?

"Never mind! Cultivate diligently, and enter the Qi Condensation stage as soon as possible!" The woman in white shook her head and waved a hand, leaving behind a bottle of pills.

Then she vanished. Only after waiting quite a while and confirming that she was truly gone did Lu Nan's legs go weak, and he collapsed onto the ground.

"Pant... pant..." He gasped in great mouthfuls of air.

Suddenly facing a suspected Nascent Soul powerhouse was still far too much for him.

Fortunately, she did not seem to harbor any ill intent. Otherwise, he truly would not have known what to do.

At the same time, he secretly made up his mind to improve his strength as quickly as possible.

Only after resting for quite some time did Lu Nan recover.

Wearing an exhausted expression, he climbed up from the ground and staggered toward his room.

"Fuck! My luck is truly something else. I actually ran into a powerhouse like that."

Cursing under his breath, he shut the door and hurried to the bed.

He fell backward onto it, staring at the ceiling. Only after resting for a while did he feel much better.

"I wonder what cultivation that woman has. She comes and goes like a ghost."

Muttering, he took out the Qi Condensation Pills from his Ring and struggled to sit up cross-legged.

He opened the bottle, poured out a pill, swallowed it, and began refining it.

One pill, two pills... then one bottle, two bottles, until Lu Nan swallowed the third bottle.

His body suddenly trembled, and then everything around him seemed to open up.

An indescribable sense of comfort flooded his heart. At the same time, the image of the entire room gradually emerged in his mind.

This meant that he had developed Divine Sense. He instinctively looked inward at his dantian.

Sure enough, spiritual energy had begun gathering there. All of it signified that he had entered the Qi Condensation stage.

After stabilizing his cultivation, Lu Nan did not rest and continued swallowing pills.

Once he had consumed all the Qi Condensation Pills, he began absorbing the spiritual energy within the Spirit Stones.

Only after absorbing every last bit did his cultivation finally settle at the second layer of Qi Condensation.

"Huu..." After a long while, Lu Nan opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

He rose to his feet, brimming with vigor, sensing the strengthened power within his body.

He could not help grinning. "So this is the Qi Condensation stage? It really is far stronger than the Body Tempering stage!!!"

After moving about a little, Lu Nan began contemplating Basic Swordplay again.

After all, he would be taking part in the trial in a month. Any improvement he could make now was worthwhile.

After contemplating it for one or two hours, he looked at the setting sun on the horizon.

Lu Nan stopped what he was doing and turned toward the house.

Only after washing up simply did he sit down at the table.

He took out the four items he had bought from the Market stall earlier.

Of them, he tossed the book and wooden stick directly aside.

Then he picked up the Broken Copper Piece and examined it carefully.

At first glance, the copper piece in his hand seemed utterly unremarkable.

But upon closer inspection, it possessed a unique charm. Yet beyond that, it had no other notable quality.

It was likely precisely because of this that it had ended up on that Old Man's stall.

Unable to see anything unusual, Lu Nan tried examining it with his Divine Sense.

He still found nothing, and his brow furrowed.

"Could it really just be a piece of scrap metal?"

As soon as that thought surfaced, Lu Nan hurriedly shook his head.

He trusted his instincts. After thinking for a moment, he bit open his index finger.

He let the blood that seeped out drip onto the Broken Copper Piece.

His eyes remained locked on its changes, but unfortunately, the copper piece still showed no reaction whatsoever.

Lu Nan's heart sank. "Looks like I really misjudged it!!!

That makes sense! If it truly were some kind of treasure, how could it possibly fall into my hands?"

Disappointed, he set the copper piece back on the table and prepared to look at the sheet of paper with blurred writing.

But just as his hand touched the paper, a soft glow rose from the Broken Copper Piece.

It immediately transformed into a streak of light and shot toward his forehead.

Before Lu Nan could react, it hit him squarely.

Greatly alarmed, Lu Nan hurriedly sat down cross-legged.

Before he could even mobilize his Divine Sense, an unfamiliar memory exploded through his mind like thunder.

Struck by the vast torrent of memories, Lu Nan cleanly passed out.