Zhou You had actually wanted to warn Su Tingxue long ago, but she would not listen to anything he said. She only had eyes for Nuomi.
Zhou You held his forehead. His reputation was ruined.
What had he done to deserve this?
Su Tingxue had never been so embarrassed in her life. For a moment, she had no idea what to do.
Seeing this, their classmates became even more convinced of their earlier suspicions. Rumors flew, backed by seemingly irrefutable evidence.
"So that's the kind of relationship those two have?"
"I never would've guessed."
Zhou You called Su Tingxue several times, but she did not respond. As the classroom grew increasingly rowdy, he realized this could not go on and had no choice but to pull her outside.
"Hey, wait for me!" Nuomi hurried after them. She could miss other spectacles, but she absolutely had to be there for anything involving Su Tingxue.
As they left the classroom, they ran straight into Chu Xiaoyao, who had just returned from the restroom and was shaking the water off her hands.
Seeing Zhou You hurrying toward her, Chu Xiaoyao froze. "Where are you going?"
"You come along too." Zhou You grabbed the bewildered Chu Xiaoyao.
Su Tingxue could see Nuomi and was even confident she could deal with her. Clearly, her background and abilities were unusual. She might be an immortal cultivator from this world, and Chu Xiaoyao was the expert on that subject.
"Hey, hey, don't pull me. I can walk on my own."
Chu Xiaoyao saw Zhou You holding Su Tingxue's hand and the suggestive looks on their classmates' faces. Even with the Free and Unfettered Female Emperor's intelligence, she could not figure out what had happened.
"He's holding another girl's hand now."
"He's got some nerve."
"What a scumbag."
Their classmates chattered away, leaving Chu Xiaoyao utterly confused.
I only went to the restroom. How did you end up holding hands with Su Tingxue in that time?
The three humans and one ghost reached a downstairs corridor. Classes had not yet started for the first- and second-year students, so the place was deserted.
Without an audience, Su Tingxue gradually calmed down and regained her usual cool composure. She bowed to Zhou You. "Thank you for helping me out of that situation."
Zhou You was clearheaded and showed no sign whatsoever of being bewitched by a vengeful ghost. She had misjudged him.
Zhou You was just about to say something when Nuomi rushed over, eager to mock her. "Never thought you'd see this day, did you? How embarrassing!"
Su Tingxue ignored Nuomi's childish provocation and said calmly, "What is embarrassment but another trial for the Dao heart?"
"If your feeble mockery is merely an attempt to make me fight you, then attack me directly."
Nuomi could not withstand that sort of provocation. She immediately lost her temper. "You think I'm afraid of you?!"
Nuomi lunged at her. Su Tingxue had expected this and raised her hand, drawing a talisman from her trouser pocket between her fingers so quickly that Zhou You could not react.
The yellow paper talisman ignited on its own, turning into a ball of yang fire that flew toward Nuomi. This was the Life-Bound Yang Fire Su Tingxue had nurtured with her heart's blood, the perfect counter to ghosts.
Zhou You stared in surprise at the talisman in Su Tingxue's hand. This was his first time seeing an immortal cultivator's methods. There was no doubt that Su Tingxue was a cultivator, just like him.
Noticing how calm Chu Xiaoyao looked, Zhou You asked in puzzlement, "Looks like Su Tingxue is an immortal cultivator. Aren't you surprised?"
"What's there to be surprised about?" Chu Xiaoyao shook her head. "Didn't we already know that?"
"You already knew?" This time, Zhou You was the surprised one. Hadn't Chu Xiaoyao only returned from her transmigration two days ago?
"The Tao Te Ching is a top-tier cultivation method on the Primordial Continent. That means Laozi was an immortal cultivator, and it also proves that cultivation is possible in our world. There's nothing strange about other cultivators existing."
"True." Zhou You nodded. Chu Xiaoyao really did think clearly. Bringing her along had been the right choice.
Su Tingxue's Life-Bound Yang Fire reflected in Chu Xiaoyao's eyes. She scoffed. "Back in my day, I forged ice into a sword and cut down nine suns with a single strike. Heaven and earth fell silent, and the powers of supreme yin and supreme yang bowed at my feet. This tiny flame is hardly worth mentioning."
Nuomi moved nimbly, tilting her head to dodge the Life-Bound Yang Fire.
Although her Life-Bound Yang Fire missed Nuomi, Su Tingxue revealed a rare smile.
Naturally, her technique was not that simple.
The Life-Bound Yang Fire abruptly halted in midair, then shot straight toward Nuomi's back!
As though she had anticipated it, Nuomi swayed and easily evaded the Life-Bound Yang Fire behind her with uncanny footwork.
Unwilling to give up, Su Tingxue directed the Life-Bound Yang Fire to pursue Nuomi.
The yang fire chased Nuomi through the narrow corridor at tremendous speed, but Nuomi reacted even faster, dodging every attack. Controlling the flame took a heavy toll on Su Tingxue, and before long, sweat began to bead on her forehead!
Suddenly, Nuomi dodged the yang fire and accelerated sharply toward Su Tingxue.
Su Tingxue tried to defend herself, but her attention was still focused on the yang fire. Flustered, she was a moment too late in drawing a defensive talisman. Nuomi touched a finger to her forehead and used a secret art to draw out the fear buried deep within her heart.
"Hey!"
Su Tingxue's mind went blank.
The next instant, Su Tingxue dropped to her knees with a thud, without any warning.
She clutched her chest and gasped for breath, greedily sucking in fresh air as though she had just endured a separation by death. The arms supporting her body shook uncontrollably.
I lost. Nuomi brought out my deepest fear again.
"Hmph. You want to fight me? Go train for another couple of years." Nuomi made a face at Su Tingxue.
Seeing that Su Tingxue was too weak even to stand, Nuomi was very pleased with the outcome. This was how someone affected by their inner fears should react. Chu Xiaoyao's case had been nothing but an exception.
Nuomi turned back and flashed Zhou You a victory sign, grinning smugly with two rows of white teeth. Her figure looked insubstantial in the sunlight.
Zhou You reluctantly walked over to help Su Tingxue up and asked with concern, "Are you all right? I thought you were pretty strong."
Zhou You meant it sincerely. Su Tingxue had made an imposing entrance, like a snow lotus on a lofty mountain that inspired respectful distance. She looked like an expert at first glance. He had never expected Nuomi to defeat her so easily.
Zhou You glared at Nuomi. "Couldn't you be more careful? You don't know when to hold back."
Nuomi looked at Zhou You innocently. "I didn't know she was this weak either."
"Cough, cough, cough-" Su Tingxue felt as though someone had suddenly stabbed her and broke into a violent coughing fit.
Although Zhou You sounded concerned and seemed to be on her side, the words of thanks hovering on her lips simply refused to come out.
Zhou You, is it? I'll remember you.
She offered a traditional bow and introduced herself. "I am Su Tingxue, a disciple of Perfected Person Mu Yu of Dragon-Tiger Mountain. And you two fellow Daoists are?"
During the fight, she had noticed out of the corner of her eye that neither Zhou You nor Chu Xiaoyao was surprised by her methods. That meant they were like her-fellow cultivators.
Dragon-Tiger Mountain? Zhou You froze.
Of course Zhou You had heard of Dragon-Tiger Mountain. It was one of Daoism's seventy-two blessed lands and the ancestral seat of the Zhengyi Celestial Masters lineage. It had become famous when Zhang Daoling, the founder of Zhengyi Daoism during the Eastern Han dynasty, refined pills there. Ever since, worship had continued without interruption, and it had wielded great influence among both the common people and the imperial court throughout successive dynasties.
He suddenly realized he had not fully adjusted his way of thinking. He could cultivate using the Tao Te Ching, and Nuomi was a real ghost. This world was probably not as simple as he had once believed.
If so, Dragon-Tiger Mountain's standing was truly as the records described: renowned and home to an endless succession of experts.
Taking that thought further, what were the other famous Daoist and Buddhist holy sites like?
Zhou You imitated Su Tingxue's traditional bow and introduced himself with a convincing air. "I am Zhou You, a disciple of my deskmate, Chu Xiaoyao."
Chu Xiaoyao handled it even more naturally. "His deskmate, Chu Xiaoyao."
Su Tingxue: "?"
She had heard of senior disciples teaching junior disciples on their master's behalf, but what kind of tradition involved deskmates teaching each other?
Suppressing her confusion, she politely asked Chu Xiaoyao, "May I ask who your master is, Fellow Daoist Chu?"
Chu Xiaoyao smiled proudly. "No master, no sect. I taught myself."
Self-taught? Su Tingxue was filled with respect. Only those who had cultivated knew how difficult it was to take the first step into immortal cultivation. Even someone as talented as her would have remained outside the threshold without a master's guidance, unable to find the way in. Yet someone had actually managed to teach herself.
She had heard Chu Xiaoyao's name before. Like her, Chu Xiaoyao had become famous at No. 2 High School for her looks alone. With her aloof personality, Su Tingxue had never paid her much attention. She had not expected her to be an immortal cultivator too.
"May I ask what realm you have reached?" Su Tingxue's words and manner now carried a measure of respect. Someone who had taught herself without any guidance was an even more terrifying genius than she was.
Is she at the Qi Refining Stage like me, or could she be... at Foundation Establishment?!
"I haven't started cultivating yet."
Su Tingxue forcibly suppressed the urge to hit her.
When I'm away from the mountain, I represent Dragon-Tiger Mountain. I must not forget my manners.
When I'm away from the mountain, I represent Dragon-Tiger Mountain. I must not forget my manners.
When I'm away from the mountain, I represent Dragon-Tiger Mountain. I must not forget my... no, the more I think about it, the angrier I get. Maybe I should just kill them to shut them up.
Su Tingxue decided she needed a distraction and turned to Zhou You. "Then what realm have you reached, Fellow Daoist Zhou You?"
"Half-step Qi Refining Stage." Zhou You was quite proud of his cultivation realm. His aptitude had earned the Free and Unfettered Female Emperor's approval.
"So you're at half-step Foundation Establishment... wait, half-step Qi Refining Stage?"
Seeing Zhou You's proud expression, Su Tingxue had assumed from the outset that he was a mighty expert at half-step Foundation Establishment.
What sort of realm was half-step Qi Refining Stage?
She racked her brains for quite a while, but could not recall any such realm.
Did Master forget to teach me about it?
Before you continue