In the dim light of the streetlamps, a young woman sat outside a tavern. The tavern had closed for the night, and she was alone on the deserted street.
A tight-fitting black outfit showed off her perfect figure. A clear red mark stood out on her fair cheek. From behind, she seemed a little lonely as she sat with her back to the street, drinking one cup after another. Liquor trickled down her neck.
Qingxi stopped. After a brief silence, she walked straight over.
"Why are you sitting here drinking alone? Aren't you supposed to have a team battle tonight..." She pulled out a chair and sat opposite Zhu Zhuqing. The moment her gaze fell on the slap mark on Zhu Zhuqing's face, her voice trailed off.
Zhu Zhuqing looked up and saw a familiar smiling mask. "Why is it you?"
"Who hit you?" Qingxi asked. In a flash, she seemed to realize something. "Was it because you lost a match?"
"I'm not wearing my mask right now. How did you recognize me?" Zhu Zhuqing didn't answer Qingxi's question. Instead, she poured herself another cup and downed it.
She stared at the empty street and the pitch-black night, a trace of confusion in her cold eyes.
Being left out didn't feel good. What would tomorrow bring?
"Those masks of yours only cover your eyes. What's the difference between wearing one and not?" Qingxi picked up a bottle and twirled it beneath her fingers. "Who hit you? I'll teach him a lesson."
She might not like Shrek Academy, but she liked men who hit women even less.
"No need. It was my own fault." A flicker of surprise crossed Zhu Zhuqing's eyes. She hadn't expected Qingxi to say that.
"Was it your teacher?"
She could tell that the members of Shrek Academy were close. They wouldn't have done it, so the only possibility was their supervising teacher.
Surprise flashed in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes. She lowered her head and drank in silence. "I didn't do what the teacher told me. I should have used a Hidden Weapon to beat you, but I wanted to win fair and square..."
"A Hidden Weapon?" Qingxi giggled as though she'd heard the biggest joke in the world. "Forget Hidden Weapons. Even if you all attacked me together, I wouldn't be afraid."
"Do you even know what a Hidden Weapon is?" Zhu Zhuqing glanced up at the boastful woman across from her. She'd seen the power of the Godly Zhuge Crossbow herself. "If I use the Godly Zhuge Crossbow, even a Soul Ancestor above level forty wouldn't be my match."
"Of course I know what a Hidden Weapon is. They're just despicable tricks, trash that can't even compare to mecha and puppet arts. Only rats in the gutter use Hidden Weapons to launch sneak attacks," Qingxi said with a beaming smile.
In the world she'd lived in before, there'd been a sect in the martial world that loved using Hidden Weapons. They were like rats in the gutter.
She hadn't expected Hidden Weapons to exist in this world, too. They must have come from that soul from another world.
"You!" Anger flared across Zhu Zhuqing's face. She slapped the table and sprang to her feet. "What gives you the right to insult Third Brother?"
"Insult him? Your Hidden Weapons are poisoned, aren't they?"
"How do you know?" Zhu Zhuqing's pupils widened slightly.
"Don't people usually coat Hidden Weapons with poison? Otherwise, why would they be called something only cowards use?" Qingxi stood and looked at Zhu Zhuqing. "If that's why you got hit, then next time we meet, use your so-called Hidden Weapons on me. Let's see if they can kill me."
Qingxi raised a hand and sent a wisp of spiritual power into Zhu Zhuqing's cheek. The red mark gradually faded, and only then did she stop.
"Go back soon, or your friends will worry. Don't hold back next time we meet."
She turned and left. She hadn't gone far, though. Instead, she hid nearby and only left after seeing Zhu Zhuqing return.
Back at her lodgings, Qingxi took out a pile of Soul Tools and removed all the rare metals.
As if sensing something, the Universe Staff appeared of its own accord. Seeing the rare metals scattered across the floor, it wiggled with delight and looked ready to plunge right in.
"Wait!!" Qingxi grabbed the little staff and picked out a few of the better-quality pieces from the pile. Only then did she let it go. "I need to keep these for crafting. The rest are yours."
The Universe Staff bent slightly and affectionately rubbed against Qingxi. Then it happily plunged into the pile of metal and began to eat.
Qingxi summoned the Chaos Fire Seed and sat cross-legged. With her divine sense, she made the metal pieces float one by one.
Using the heart's flame as a furnace to forge weapons and refine spirit medicines was one of the Daoist sect's great arts.
Meanwhile, at Shrek Academy...
Ning Rongrong stood anxiously at the village entrance, pacing back and forth. Not far behind her, Oscar kept nodding off.
"It's already this late. Why hasn't she come back? This is too much." Ning Rongrong's face was full of anger. She was deeply disappointed in Grandmaster's actions.
He'd lied so brazenly, claiming that Zhu Zhuqing had turned down the final team battle because she was upset about losing.
It was clearly him who had hit Zhu Zhuqing.
Ning Rongrong had once viewed Grandmaster through a veil of admiration, but now she only felt disgust. If she hadn't known the truth, she would have believed his excuse.
But she'd promised Zhu Zhuqing not to tell anyone.
Besides, Grandmaster had forbidden them from going to look for Zhu Zhuqing, saying she'd come back on her own once she'd calmed down.
"Rongrong, Zhuqing just went out to clear her head. You don't have to be so angry," Oscar said, leaning against the railing and fighting sleep. He thought Ning Rongrong was angry with Zhu Zhuqing.
"You don't know a damn thing!" Ning Rongrong glared at Oscar. "Do you think Zhuqing is that kind of person?"
Oscar said nothing. After all, anyone could have a bad day.
He remembered how, after the Fatty lost a match, he'd spent the whole night with a swollen face, ordering four women to vent his frustration.
"Zhuqing!" At dawn, Ning Rongrong finally saw the slender figure approaching from a distance. She hurried to meet her. "Are you all right?"
"Mm. Thank you, Rongrong." Zhu Zhuqing was still as reserved as ever, but seeing Ning Rongrong's worried expression stirred a little warmth in her heart.
"As long as you're all right." Seeing that the swelling on Zhu Zhuqing's face had gone down, Ning Rongrong patted her chest in relief.
Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, two days and two nights had passed. Qingxi slowly opened her eyes and looked at the long whip floating before her. Though it was called a whip, it gleamed with a metallic sheen. It was crimson and gold, with black patterns, and its body consisted of thirty-six flat, razor-sharp segments as thin as dragon scales.
"An immortal-grade treasure?" Qingxi gripped the handle and casually swung it at the table. In an instant, the table split into five pieces, and a long gash appeared in the floor.
She pressed the mechanism on the handle. The central shaft contracted, and the long whip instantly transformed into a fishbone-like sword.
"Not bad." Qingxi put away the whip and looked at the room, now stripped of every scrap of metal. Qiankun had returned to her body and was pretending to be dead in her sea of consciousness.
"Damn!" She immediately sensed something was wrong. Her Soul Power had broken through level thirty on its own, even though she hadn't cultivated it at all.
Qingxi summoned the Universe Staff and stomped it to the ground. The little staff struggled for two seconds before lying still, like a dead stick.
"Who told you to break through?" She kicked the Universe Staff.
A faint emotion drifted through her mind from the staff: full...full...
Qingxi sighed, picked up the staff, and weighed it in her hand. It had grown just a little heavier. She closed her eyes and sent her divine sense inside. In a world filled with gleaming metal, Soul Power pulsed slowly at the very center. Within it, a red glow was gradually taking shape.
Qingxi withdrew her divine sense and looked at the little staff gently touching her fingertip. In the end, she couldn't bring herself to scold it.
Fine.
She put away the Universe Staff and the whip, got dressed, washed up, then flew into the air and sped away.
An hour later, Qingxi had arrived near Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
She didn't fly straight into the school. Instead, she landed at the foot of the mountain and walked up.
After climbing the long staircase, she reached the gates of Heaven Dou Royal Academy. The grand, ornate buildings looked resplendent as far as the eye could see.
At the school gates, several students in pale-yellow uniforms were setting up easels to paint.
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