"Looks like that's our only option. But should we do something before Master Yixuan gets here? We can't just wait around," Belle said helplessly.
"Why are you looking at me? Don't tell me you're coveting my body? No way. I'll tell your brother."
Why did that face somehow look a little infuriating now? She wanted to smack it.
As for Belle's martial arts, Xu An's verdict was: I could take out two hundred Belles with one punch.
"Wahaha, I never knew you were so smart~ You're just amazing~ You really think I'm interested in you? Hmph (.-`ω´-)" Belle sounded impressed, but her expression was pure mockery.
Xu An found that a little grating.
"What do you mean, you never knew? I'm smart, hey! I'm clearly so handsome, dashing, charming, and suave (・_・)ヾ. I'm more than good enough for you, okay?" As he spoke, he raised his right hand, looking very much like he would smack her if she kept talking nonsense.
"Hahaha, my bad, my bad! Xu An's the best. ㄟ(≧◇≦)ㄏ" Belle said.
"Hmph, I'll forgive you since you're so cute. So what's your Inter-Knot ID?"
"Tomato Beef Brisket," Belle said.
"Oh. Can you get us out of here now, then?" Xu An asked.
"...No. This was unexpected, so I didn't bring my gear, and Eous isn't here either," Belle said, puzzled.
"Oh, and then?" Xu An stared at Belle with dead-fish eyes.
Belle: ...
Why does this guy get so obnoxious once you get to know him? They're clenching. My fists are clenching.
How this guy knew she was a Proxy no longer mattered, because she kind of wanted to hit him.
"Hm? What's that over there?" Belle turned away and stopped paying attention to Xu An, looking thoughtfully at the Ether-corrupted growth not far away.
"That should be the Corruption Master Yixuan mentioned," Xu An replied, hands on his hips.
"Eugh, then we'd better stay away from it." Looking at the plant giving off that uncomfortable aura, Belle couldn't help feeling a little sick.
"Let's go. Good thing you woke up. We should hurry and find Master Yixuan together. If you hadn't woken up just now, I was going to carry you on my back. I even heard Ethereals crying out just now."
Hearing that, Belle inwardly regretted it. If I'd known, I would've closed my eyes and slept a little longer. Why didn't you say so sooner? Why couldn't you have said so sooner?
The two crept along the passable paths, afraid of alerting the Ethereals.
But no matter how careful they were, the wandering Ethereals still noticed them. Seeing this, Xu An had no choice but to step forward, intending to crush these few small fry outright. After all, his Strength of over two hundred points was no joke.
But just as Xu An was about to act, streams of black-and-gold ink descended from above, dispersing every one of those Ethereals.
Seeing those arts, Xu An's eyes widened, and he looked at the Mount Yunkui Arts entry on the attribute panel beside him. [Mount Yunkui Arts: 0+]
Holy crap?! Xu An hurriedly poured in all the points he had saved up for so long, and the Mount Yunkui Arts entry became 1362 in the blink of an eye. This was Xu An's first attribute to break a thousand, though rather than an attribute, shouldn't this have been a skill?
Whatever. This system can't talk anyway, so a few glitches are normal. As long as it works, that's a good thing.
As he was thinking, Yixuan descended from the sky. The ink wings on her back were so cool they practically hit Xu An in the face.
"Ah! Master!" Belle couldn't help calling out when she saw Yixuan.
"Belle! Xu An!"
Then Yixuan raised a hand, and the few remaining scattered Ethereals were dealt with by those golden talismans as well.
She then hurried over to the two of them.
"I finally found you two. How are you? Are you all right? Are you hurt?" Yixuan sounded anxious, her expression a little tense.
"We're fine, thanks to you getting here in time, Master. We almost got beaten up by Ethereals." Belle hurried over and acted spoiled.
"I'm fine." Xu An merely gave a calm reply, though his gaze was rather eager as he looked at Yixuan.
"Master Yixuan!" Xu An called.
"I think I've learned the arts you just used!" As Xu An spoke, he began demonstrating.
[Ding, Yixuan is shocked by your talent. Attribute points +35] [Ding, Belle is shocked by your talent. Attribute points +100]
Holy crap, that demonstration got me so many more points.
I deliberately held back, too, and still got that many. Would I get even more points if I showed everything?
Then Xu An abandoned the idea. Hiding his abilities was still necessary, to avoid anything unexpected happening later.
"You?!" Yixuan was somewhat lost for words. He comprehended this much just from watching me use the arts? And he can perform something similar? Though he still seems a little unpracticed, it's already enough to surpass me. His talent is even greater than Xiaoguang's...
"Xu An, would you like to become my disciple?" Yixuan asked somewhat solemnly.
Hearing this, Xu An immediately stepped back and dropped to his knees. "Master, please accept your disciple's bow!"
Yixuan helped him up. "Normally, according to our rules, you would first need to return to Mount Yunkui and study for two years, then choose an auspicious day to hold a ceremony before the mountain gates, where master and disciple would swear an oath together. Only then would you become a cultivator recognized by Mount Yunkui. But with me, there's no need for all that trouble. You are a disciple I, Yixuan, recognize. That is enough."
Xu An couldn't help recalling that the video-rental siblings seemed to have gone through something similar in the story. And Belle had overslept, letting Wise become the senior disciple. Wahaha, Belle had been the younger sister her whole life and thought she could finally turn things around and become a senior sister one day. Hahaha, but she still ended up a rung below.
But now, they'll both have to call me Senior Brother someday. Heh heh (.-`ω´-).
"You're so badass, Master!" Xu An flattered her.
"You've only just started, and you've already learned to flatter people. Your talent really is quite good," Yixuan teased.
"Ehehe..." Xu An scratched his head, playing innocent.
"All right, back to business. We should find a way out of the Hollow," Yixuan said, her expression returning to normal.
"There's something I need to tell you. I just inspected the crashed airship and found traces of an explosion. From the looks of it, someone seems to have attacked us with a ranged weapon while the airship was in flight."
"So this wasn't an accident? Someone was trying to kill us?" Belle mused, touching her chin.
"Correct. A few figures appeared in the distance earlier, too. They seemed to be watching this area. I originally wanted to chase them and see who they were, but your safety mattered more than investigating them."
"Master, that's a little mushy," Xu An said, raising his hand.
"So I searched several spatial rifts near the crash site first, hoping to find where you'd gone." As Yixuan spoke, she shot Xu An a sharp look. If you can't say anything worthwhile, keep quiet.
"Then how do we get out now, Master?"
"Yeah, Master?" Belle chimed in.
Yixuan had been a little displeased by Xu An interrupting her, but when the adorable Belle chimed in, she let it slide.
Okay, so I, an actual disciple, can't even compare to someone who hasn't joined yet? Fine, fine, fine.
"I prepared a copy of the Carrot Data for the Lemnian Hollow in advance. That's why I wasn't delayed for very long."
"Wahaha, that's our master! You're so well prepared," Belle and Xu An exclaimed together.
"But who exactly were the people who attacked us..."
"As long as you're safe, none of that matters. Now that I'm here, they no longer dare approach. As for their exact identities, we'll get to the bottom of it sooner or later, but that will have to wait."
"Master, when we catch them, can I beat them up first? They made us fall from so high up. We almost died!" Xu An said indignantly, his fists clenching.
"Do as you like when the time comes. But for now, let's find a way out of the Hollow and head to Waifei Peninsula."
As she spoke, Yixuan walked over to the Corruption Xu An and Belle had seen earlier. Energy gathered in her hand, forming a talisman, and the Corruption before her dissipated in an instant.
"Master... was that one of Mount Yunkui's arts just now?" Belle asked.
Beside her, Xu An appeared to watch Yixuan perform her arts very attentively, even nodding, as though expressing that he shared Belle's thoughts and had the same question.
In reality, he was considering what to eat once they reached Waifei Peninsula and what to do about dinner tonight. He remembered that, in the game, his senior brother seemed to know how to make stir-fried pork intestines. He definitely had to try it and learn the recipe while he was at it. After all, he didn't seem to have made stir-fried pork intestines before.
"Correct. The principles behind the arts actually aren't complicated.
"The corruptive substances within a Hollow each have different activity frequencies.
"As long as you manipulate them to produce resonance or change their frequencies,
"you can cause the corruptive substances to undergo a phase transition."
"It sounds pretty easy, but I don't know exactly how to do it..." Belle was a little puzzled, while Xu An beside her went-
"Master, like this?" As he spoke, he opened his hand toward the Corruption to one side.
A surge of energy flowed from his hand, dispersing the Corruption before him.
"Later, I'll teach you how to sense activity frequencies. As for Xu An, he seems to have already understood and applied it.
"Of course, this also depends on your own potential and comprehension."
Afterward, the master and her two disciples chatted as they cleared away the Corruption along their route out.