Special training
She and Chen Wanqian could hardly be called friends, but that did not stop her from enjoying his efforts to please her in every possible way.
Whatever she wanted, even dragon liver or phoenix marrow, Chen Wanqian would find some way to get it for her.
He had previously promised her a precious flowing-cloud pearl hairpin, but before she could get her hands on it, he had been expelled from the sect. She had wanted that hairpin for a long time and was annoyed, which was why she had come to pick a fight.
She cleared her throat. "He and I weren't exactly friends, but we did have some acquaintance, so-"
"So, you want to know what he said before he died-no, before he left?" Qiaoqiao guessed. "He said his father had dragged him down, and that he would definitely be back. Ah, I forgot to tell him that people who say that in storybooks always meet a miserable end."
Yue Liuqin: ...
Enough already!
Everything she had wanted to say was forced back down her throat, leaving her face livid. Just then, Xuan Sheng whispered something in her ear.
Yue Liuqin raised an eyebrow. "I heard you failed the secret realm trial ten times?"
Qiaoqiao suddenly understood why she had come. "So you're here to make a bet with me too?"
So this young miss had gone around in such a huge circle just because she wanted to make a bet!
As she spoke, she looked at her with a gently reproachful expression that said, "Why didn't you say so sooner? If you'd said so, I would've agreed."
Yue Liuqin nearly spat blood in anger.
"I'll bet with you!"
"If you fail this trial, you'll kneel in front of me and slap yourself ten times, then post 'I'm trash' on the Jade Slip forum. Do you dare?"
"And if I pass? Will you do the same?"
"Heh, you can't possibly pass." Yue Liuqin sounded certain, the corners of her lips lifting. "Because I'll be taking part in this trial too. Do you think I'll let you pass?"
"I think you will."
Yue Liuqin: ...
Enough out of you!
"Then it's settled," Qiaoqiao said earnestly.
Yue Liuqin smiled as though victory was already in her grasp. "Qiaoqiao, once the trial is over, I'll make you cry your eyes out."
With that, she breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, she had managed to say a line befitting her status. It had not been easy!
"Oh."
Qiaoqiao answered and smiled at her.
Meeting her smiling, crescent-shaped eyes, Yue Liuqin shivered for no apparent reason.
W-what was going on?
Was there something wrong with her brain? Could she not understand a threat?
Having watched Yue Liuqin arrive with her nose in the air and leave with smoke pouring from all seven orifices, Wen Zhi could not help finding it funny.
She looked at Qiaoqiao and smiled. "Little junior sister, come on. I'll teach you to identify spirit herbs."
As a genius Alchemist, Wen Zhi knew every spirit herb in the entire Flowing Cloud Sect.
She took Qiaoqiao to the area near Hidden Plum Peak. Disciples seldom came here, and spirit herbs grew abundantly. She patiently taught Qiaoqiao how to distinguish the different types and roughly how many points each herb was worth.
Qiaoqiao listened very attentively.
When they reached a river, her eyes suddenly lit up. "Senior sister, would you like to visit the place where Elder Chen hid his Spirit Stones?"
Wen Zhi: ?
Elder Chen's affair had caused such an uproar that even she had heard about it, but the details had not spread. Her little junior sister actually knew where Elder Chen had hidden his Spirit Stones?
She followed Qiaoqiao to the cave, but unfortunately, only its ruins remained. The barrier and concealment formation had disappeared, and the Spirit Stones had long since been cleared out. Somewhat unwilling to give up, Qiaoqiao circled the area, but failed to pick up any overlooked treasures. She could not help crouching beside a patch of grass and sighing.
[Sigh, as a good person chosen by the Heavenly Dao, why don't I have the luck to pick up overlooked treasures?]
Beside her, Wen Zhi suddenly said, "Little junior sister, move aside."
Puzzled, Qiaoqiao shifted over.
Wen Zhi's eyes lit up. "Junior sister, look! This is a seventh-grade Yang-Restoring Grass!"
Qiaoqiao looked back. Where she had been crouching, a palm-sized herb swayed in the breeze, looking utterly unremarkable. "Is it very valuable?"
Wen Zhi sounded excited. "Even sixth-grade Yang-Restoring Grass is rare. A single stalk can sell for as much as sixty thousand Spirit Stones. This is my first time finding a seventh-grade one! Little junior sister, you're so lucky!"
She had visited Hidden Plum Peak several times without ever seeing a spirit herb above fifth grade, yet the moment her little junior sister came...
[Ha!]
[Sure enough, wherever I go, there's a fortuitous opportunity!]
Wen Zhi could not help smiling. Her little junior sister was so amusing.
Watching her senior sister carefully dig up the seventh-grade spirit herb, Qiaoqiao felt a lingering fright. That was close. I nearly crushed sixty thousand Spirit Stones underfoot!
"I don't know how many Spirit Stones this seventh-grade Yang-Restoring Grass will sell for, though."
At the mention of Spirit Stones, Qiaoqiao became extremely enthusiastic. She opened her Jade Slip and searched for a while. "Senior sister, someone is offering eighty thousand for seventh-grade Yang-Restoring Grass!"
"Then let's sell it."
"Senior sister, didn't you say Yang-Restoring Grass is rare?" Qiaoqiao's eyes shone with lively light as she stressed, "Shouldn't we make a tidy profit from it?"
Wen Zhi watched her little junior sister's fingers fly as she exchanged messages with the buyer. Before long, she had sold the Yang-Restoring Grass for the hefty price of one hundred and ten thousand Spirit Stones.
Holding the Communication Jade Slip, Qiaoqiao said with a beaming smile, "Done. He's coming to collect it now."
Her third senior sister felt a surge of admiration for her. Her little junior sister was amazing.
After a short wait, a black-robed cultivator came bounding swiftly toward them. He froze at the sight of Qiaoqiao. "Why is it you?!"
"Oh." Qiaoqiao sized him up, a glint of mischief flashing in her eyes. "So it's you."
Chapter 12: Special training
The person who had come to collect the spirit herb was none other than Xuan Sheng, whom she had met earlier.
"Looks like Yue Liuqin wants the spirit herb," Qiaoqiao said. "Makes sense. She's going into a secret realm. How could she not stock up on pills?"
Xuan Sheng stared at her with fierce eyes and a hostile expression.
Qiaoqiao waved the Yang-Restoring Grass in her hand. "Want it? If you do, say, 'Qiaoqiao will definitely pass the trial,' and I'll sell it to you."
"You-"
The girl before him watched him with a beaming smile, looking utterly certain that he would do as she said.
Damn it!