When Wu Ming saw Zhu Ying, she looked up and saw him too.
The girl's face instantly lit up with a mixture of delight and worry. She took a step toward Wu Ming and couldn't help complaining.
"Why are you covered in blood?! A few days ago, you wrote that you'd be staying here a few more days. Master was so worried about you that she sent me to check on you. And sure enough, without anyone watching you, you..."
Before she could finish, a feeling called joy came rushing toward her like a gale. Then a pair of strong arms wrapped around her.
The girl stiffened. "Y-you! What are you doing? Let go..."
But after a great victory, seeing a loved one brought Wu Ming even more joy. He couldn't help hugging her tighter and laughing. "Hahaha, Senior Sister! It's been so long! How come you're still so tiny?!"
"!? Have you lost your mind? Let go!"
"Senior Sister, I just broke through a major bottleneck! Everything went just as I expected. When we get back to the mountain, I'll show you my walkthrough!"
"You! I'm going to get angry!"
"Hahaha, don't be angry, don't be angry. Senior Sister, let me lift you up!"
Thud!
The next moment, Wu Ming, carried away by his excitement, was slammed face-first into the dirt by a chilling Heaven-Turning Seal. Half his body sank into the ground, and frost instantly crusted over his clothes.
The Gujian Sect's eldest senior sister, at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, hovered in midair, furious. Her invisible pressure seemed to solidify into tangible gravity, choking the air around her.
Meanwhile, the five Qi Refiners from Luohuang Mountain who had been about to rush to the rescue shrank back like quails, not daring to say a word.
As if! Though they were at the peak of Qi Refining, and three of them working together could even capture a Peach Blossom Li Yao at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage for Wu Ming to finish off... this woman was simply beyond their league. No matter how many lives they threw at her, it wouldn't help. All they could do was hope Wu Ming could take care of himself!
Liu Sanlang was so startled he nearly bit his tongue. The greeting he'd prepared died on his lips.
Only Zhang Miao, watching Zhu Ying and Wu Ming, the senior sister and junior brother, let her eyes shift slightly, a hint of delight at discovering a new dessert reflected in them.
So... this could be eaten too?
A moment later, Zhu Ying finally let her anger dissipate of her own accord. She hauled Wu Ming out of the dirt and wiped the blood from his face, her delicate brows knitting with a trace of heartache.
"You really... You're injured and still acting like a lunatic! Are you all right?"
Wu Ming had finally calmed down too. He shook his head and smiled. "I'm fine. Senior Sister went easy on me. That icy seal just now was much better than the one you used when you woke me up before..."
"...I can see you really don't want to get better!"
"Actually, I'm doing pretty well right now. I'm already more than halfway through the fourth level of Qi Refining!"
"!?"
Zhu Ying was genuinely shocked. At his words, her catlike pupils narrowed. A gleam of spiritual light swirled through them, and she instantly confirmed Wu Ming's cultivation: he really had advanced an entire stage in just ten days! It was comparable to months of hard cultivation!
For a moment, the girl was dazed with disbelief.
Th-this was possible?!
Wu Ming smiled and was about to show his senior sister his progress in other areas when a helpless cough sounded behind him.
It was Yi Yi. Though he tried his best to suppress it, he still coughed in muffled bursts, a trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. Clearly, the backlash from forcibly taking the old scholar of Qinghe Village had been severe. After traveling at full speed all the way here, even with the deep foundations of the people from Luohuang Mountain, he had been utterly spent.
Wu Ming's smile faded, and he looked apologetic.
"Sorry, I forgot you were all still injured. Let's hurry back and rest and recover. Once you're better, I'll introduce you to my eldest senior sister!"
Yi Yi looked at Wu Ming and could only sigh. "As expected of a young Dao Seed. Your energy really is enviable... We do need to recuperate as soon as possible. See you tonight."
He then managed a cupped-hand salute toward Zhu Ying, only to break into another violent coughing fit. His companions in black had to support him to keep him on his feet.
Liu Sanlang and Zhang Miao weren't injured, but they knew better than to linger.
"Then I won't interrupt the two of you catching up. See you tonight... Miaomiao, be good. See you tonight!"
Only after Zhang Miao had left reluctantly did Wu Ming turn back to his senior sister with a smile.
"Have you eaten, Senior Sister? There are a few good restaurants in town..."
Zhu Ying cut him off rather stiffly. "No need. I'm not hungry."
Wu Ming glanced down at his senior sister's conspicuously flat stomach and tilted his head.
Zhu Ying snapped, "I said I'm not hungry! And my stomach didn't growl!"
Wu Ming said, "Well... wok-fried noodles, diced pork in bean sauce, shrimp with cabbage, braised pig's trotters..."
Gurgle!
Embarrassment and fury flashed in Zhu Ying's catlike eyes, and it looked as though she was about to summon the Heaven-Turning Seal again. But Wu Ming seized her hand and tugged her toward a restaurant in the center of town.
"Since you hardly ever get to visit, Senior Sister, you have to try some local specialties."
Zhu Ying sighed and said quietly, "I looked around on my way here. This town was built beside an Immortal Mansion, so the prices are truly exorbitant... I brought dry rations. There's no need to waste money."
Wu Ming said, "Put it all on Liu San's tab."
Zhu Ying still objected. "You can't just take advantage of an Aristocratic Clan like that."
Wu Ming smiled. "At worst, we'll have the Liu Family raise the tariffs on the Gujian Sect. Come on, Senior Sister hardly ever comes here. I should at least play host."
Zhu Ying was half exasperated, half amused. "...You've only been here ten days. How does that make you a host?"
Though she said that, after several rounds of back-and-forth, the girl finally stopped refusing. Curious, she followed Wu Ming deeper into the center of the small town. When she had arrived not long ago on the cheapest Qingluan Imperial Carriage, she hadn't dared venture into the bustling areas.
In terms of scenery alone, this remote town could never compare to the Prefecture City of Wu Prefecture. Though Zhu Ying rarely came down from the mountain, she'd seen her fair share of splendor.
But a town built beside an Immortal Mansion, with nearly everything designed to serve it, was truly a novelty!
They hadn't gone far before Wu Ming turned into an unassuming little restaurant. The moment they crossed the threshold, a whole new world opened up before them. A clear, damp breeze swept over them, making Zhu Ying shake her head.
Nearby, a middle-aged shopkeeper in a brown robe greeted them with a smile. "Isn't this young hero Wu? What brings you to my little shop at lunchtime today? Is the young lady beside you your junior sister?"
Wu Ming quickly corrected him. "My senior sister. My eldest senior sister!"
The middle-aged man hurriedly cupped his hands and apologized. "This humble one has poor eyes. I failed to recognize a Foundation Establishment expert. Please forgive me, fellow cultivator."
The formality made Zhu Ying uncomfortable again. She instinctively took half a step behind Wu Ming, not wanting to exchange pleasantries with the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper asked, "Young hero Wu, your usual table?"
Wu Ming nodded. "That's right. As for the dishes, please ask the chefs to put in a little extra effort. My senior sister has refined tastes!"
"We'll do our utmost!"
A maid soon came to escort them. After walking along a covered corridor for a while, they arrived at an elegant private room. Not long after Wu Ming and Zhu Ying took their seats, a stream of exquisite appetizers was brought in.
Wu Ming urged his tense senior sister to dig in while explaining what made each dish special. The more he talked, the more animated he became, as if he hadn't just been through a life-and-death struggle.
But Zhu Ying seemed able to see how exhausted Wu Ming really was. For a while, even the delicacies before her tasted like nothing.
Seeing this, Wu Ming stopped pressing her. He simply dismissed the idle staff, shut the door, and asked, "Are you worried about my safety, Senior Sister?"
Zhu Ying said, "Everyone's worried about you. The plan was to take advantage of the Immortal Guiding Envoy opportunity to get a preview. Usually it only takes three to five days, but you've been gone ten. You did send letters, but they were rather vague."
Wu Ming explained, "Some things are extremely important, and the mail service here isn't all that secure. So your timing couldn't have been better. There are things I need to tell you in person."
Zhu Ying immediately tensed, worry spreading across her face. "Did you run into some kind of trouble?"
"On the contrary, I've stumbled upon an Immortal Fate beyond my wildest dreams..."
After that, Wu Ming recounted everything that had happened over the past ten days.
Zhu Ying's expression changed several times along the way. Whenever she heard one of Wu Ming's wild ideas, she clenched her teeth, holding back a scolding. But when she finally heard that Wu Ming had successfully absorbed the old scholar of Qinghe Village's remnant echo and broken through a barrier that had stood for centuries, one almost no one had managed to break...
Only then did Zhu Ying finally let out a breath. Then she realized that at some point, she had bitten her lip until it bled.
Wu Ming handed her some tea and smiled. "Thanks for not treating what I told you like some made-up story."
Zhu Ying sighed. "A story wouldn't be as... outlandish as the things you told me!"
After taking a sip of tea, Zhu Ying asked, "So you're planning to stay here and keep at it until you break through the Immortal Mansion?"
Wu Ming said, "There are still a lot of details to prepare, but that's the general idea. This opportunity is too rare. The few Immortal Guiding Envoys from Luohuang Mountain can save me at least a few years of trouble! On my own, I'm afraid I'd have to grind my way to late-stage Qi Refining before I had a chance to break through."
Zhu Ying pondered for a moment, then said, "Since you've made up your mind, there's no point in my trying to talk you out of it. Besides, every time I've tried to persuade you before, it's only proved that you were right."
Wu Ming said in surprise, "Please, Senior Sister, don't lose heart. Without your stern lectures, your character setting won't be complete!"
Zhu Ying ruffled his hair in exasperation. "Of course I won't lose heart! No matter what you achieve, I'll always be your senior sister!"
After that, Zhu Ying took off her small backpack and set it beside the table. "Master figured you might not be able to return to the mountain for a while, so she asked me to bring these things to you."
Inside the backpack were two thin booklets and a bottle of pills.
"These are some follow-up cultivation notes for the Spring Encounter Book. There's also the Searing Autumn Scripture. It's another one of the Three Pure Ones Orthodox Methods, and it complements the Spring Encounter Book. As for the pills, they're Spirit Gathering Pills. Nothing special, really—they were made by Junior Sister Ling Xi herself. Once her Spirit Field matured, she harvested several kinds of spirit herbs and used them to make a batch of pills. No one else can use them for now, so she thought you might as well have them."
After a pause, Zhu Ying continued, "Also, your Mana has surged lately. How are your Root Stance and Green Pine Stance coming along? Before I left, Master specifically told me to keep an eye on your cultivation and teach you a few body-tempering techniques if I got the chance. There's no Rootless Path here, so you'll need to supplement your Root Stance with unorthodox body techniques..."
Listening to his senior sister's soft, rambling words, Wu Ming felt as if a pair of gentle hands were kneading him... The triumph of their great victory at the Immortal Mansion and the unexpected delight of meeting a friend in a foreign land all melted into a warm, blissful comfort.
Without realizing it, his head had begun to droop, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier.
Ah, sure enough... No matter how good someone was at concentrating, they couldn't withstand their homeroom teacher droning on like that.
Thanks to Mengzhikai'en, Chi Bao Bao Shui Bao Bao, and Bengxing Jueyuan for the tips!
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