CH 13

◎ the so-called exemption exam, hitting two birds with one stone ◎

“which lin junior sister are you talking about?”

in mid-air, lin shuang’s figure paused.

indeed, exposing her cultivation progress in front of zhou xuanwu would lead senior brother xu rui, the lineage master, and others to be aware of it. this could potentially affect matters like the selection of elite disciples and sect participation in battles.

ignoring their conversation, lin shuang gritted her teeth and sped back to wood house number ninety-nine.

after enjoying some time in the self-made wooden barrel sauna, she slid into the fragrant warm bed.

fortunately, she was clever. as a seasoned scheduler, she allocated 20% of her daily time as a flexible space to deal with unexpected events.

currently, things are still within her control.

thinking of this, lin shuang stopped worrying and drifted into a deep sleep.

after all, when water comes, the earth will hold it back, and when soldiers arrive, they will be repelled.

worrying too much about events that haven’t happened yet is a waste of energy and time.

she slept soundly.

“zhou junior brother, what do you mean?”

inside the management hall.

xu rui senior brother still raised his brows and questioned persistently.

however, zhou xuanwu had a frustrated expression and seemed to be out of words. he turned his head and left on his sword.

“senior brother, let me think about it and i’ll talk to you later.”

“…”

the outer sect disciples of the clearwater sect numbered around twenty thousand, with turnover happening every year due to eliminations and new admissions.

the disciples’ living quarters were also frequently adjusted.

three years ago, zhou xuanwu lived very close to lin shuang.

however, this year, as he was about to break through to the foundation establishment stage, he was reassigned by the management hall to a room closer to the lineage master.

“zhou senior brother…”

zhou xuanwu flew on his sword, his expression cold and aloof. despite being relatively handsome, his aura of aloofness kept many junior brothers and sisters at a distance.

“zhou junior brother seems to be in a really bad mood?”

“no big deal, he’s always in a bad mood. he never gives a friendly expression to lower-ranking disciples, and he can’t be bothered to talk to us.”

the whispers made zhou xuanwu’s expression even colder.

he rushed into a quiet room beside the lineage hall, pushed open the door, and walked swiftly to a potted orchid on the table by the window.

he immediately closed the door with a gesture.

his aloof expression crumbled the moment he saw the orchid.

his ears turned red, and he slumped in the wooden chair as if all his strength had been drained.

just now, on the way, a total of eleven unfamiliar disciples had greeted him.

in the past few days, he had traveled with lin shuang and xiao qi, people he wasn’t familiar with, for five days and nights.

he felt uncomfortable, and his vision seemed to darken.

now, he was alone in the room, and he could finally cover his face with both hands and slump onto the table.

“xiao lan, did i say something wrong again just now?”

“senior brother xu rui doesn’t know about junior sister lin’s strength.”

“i blurted something out in front of senior brother just now. i’m terrible at speaking.”

“junior sister lin will be angry, won’t she?”

“i stopped halfway through speaking, and senior brother xu rui got angry, right?”

“what should i do, what should i do?”

“i guess i’ll just focus on cultivation. enter the inner sect early. i heard that a three-year seclusion means you won’t see anyone! right, only the strong like the elders can be aloof and don’t need to talk to others!”

“ah, but what if senior sister lin and senior brother xu rui are not angry? how will they think of me? should i apologize?”

“but what if they’re not mad and i apologize? that would be so awkward!”

“what should i do, what should i do? i guess i’ll just focus on cultivation… if i become number one, no one will be angry with me, right?”

zhou xuanwu’s face was pale as he struggled within himself.

a communication stone at his waist vibrated.

【senior brother xu rui】: junior brother zhou, the elite disciple you recommended just now, is it junior sister lin shuang? you look pale; are you injured? they say the foundation stage hammer has been suppressed; did you guys encounter it? what happened?

zhou xuanwu: “!”

senior brother knows too?

inside the management hall, xu rui was seated, his gaze fixed on the communication stone, his expression serious.

soon, he noticed the activity on the other end.

【zhou xuanwu】: senior brother, it’s…

xu rui’s eyes widened.

but in an instant.

【zhou xuanwu has withdrawn the previous message. 】

“…”

xu rui took a breath and continued to watch the communication stone.

【zhou xuanwu is typing. 】

five breaths later.

still typing…

xu rui sighed, picked up a book, and started studying the eight trigrams formation.

when his eyes grew sore and the sun was setting, he looked at the communication stone again.

【zhou xuanwu is typing. 】

xu rui: “…”

junior brother, are you still struggling with your words?

*

lin shuang woke up from her nap and began tidying up the room.

she shifted from full vacation mode to her usual student mode.

“senior sister, did you use up all the revival pills?”

zhao keran was also organizing her belongings and was surprised to see the medicine pouch lin shuang took out of her mustard seed bag.

lin shuang’s medicine pouch was different in shape from the other disciples, not the uniform one provided by the sect.

rather than a pouch, it was more like a medicine chest.

she had it crafted by a craftsman before leaving the mountain.

the outer shell is made of sturdy and insect-resistant pear wood, with a transparent crystal lid that allows you to see the quantity and types of pills inside at a glance.

when opened, it reveals a clever three-layer double-opening structure.

the emergency healing and revival pills were placed in the first layer for easy access and convenient retrieval.

so, zhao keran could see at a glance that the wooden compartments with revival pills notes attached were all empty.

“well, i gave them all to senior brother zhou.”

while checking the consumption and compiling a shopping list, lin shuang casually replied.

zhao keran was organizing her clothes and paused at her words.

senior brother zhou, why did he have to take senior sister’s revival pills when he went out?

but she quickly shook her head; never mind. among fellow disciples, sharing a few pills could be considered an act to strengthen their friendship. she shouldn’t be stingy.

zhao keran readily took out pills from her mustard seed bag and replenished the medicine chest for lin shuang.

“senior sister, use these for now. i’ll go to the management hall to get more tomorrow.”

with a joyful smile, lin shuang turned around. “thank you, junior sister. tonight, senior sister will buy food at the cafeteria.”

assisting each other to enhance efficiency.

warm friendship spread joyfully in the no. 99 cottage.

but in the next moment, it was interrupted by a sudden knocking on the door.

“junior sister lin, are you inside the room?”

the stern voice of senior brother xu rui came from outside.

“it’s been a while since senior brother checked your cultivation progress.”

“!”

the vial of pills slipped from zhao keran’s hand and rolled off the wooden table.

lin shuang’s expression remained as calm as she had predicted, but it quickly turned to resignation.

senior brother came so quickly.

couldn’t they discuss this a bit more?

“junior sister, i know you’re inside.”

“…”

*

“senior brother, it seems like she’s making a first-grade talisman, but she’s making a third-grade one, it’s true!”

mountain and sea sect.

xiao qi, who returned to his quiet room looking dusty, rushed to senior brother zhao ming, who was transcribing the disciple list.

zhao ming’s brushwork smudged as he was startled by the sudden intrusion.

“…”

indeed, it was true.

he had encountered that ‘table’ during the assassination mission for the annihilation pavilion. he had even personally used it, fighting twenty-four rounds with the foundation stage hammer. it was extremely convenient and effective.

he even wanted to buy one for himself.

but that was zhao ming of the annihilation pavilion at night.

what connection did he have with zhao ming, the steward senior brother of the mountain and sea sect during the day?

“oh?” zhao ming raised an eyebrow slowly, dragging out his words, trying to look surprised.

xiao qi held a cloth sword in his arms, his heart surging. “that’s right, i also know how she did it!”

trying to differentiate between night and day, zhao ming’s eyebrows twitched for a moment.

“oh?”

this time he was genuinely surprised.

“yes, she divided her divine sense into 108 strands, controlled them simultaneously, and directed them into twelve talismans and the bottom of the table…”

zhao ming: “???”

what in the world?

*

annihilation pavilion.

meng zi carefully stored the square wooden table, tucked it into his mustard seed bag, then touched his mask that concealed his face and entered the attic.

“delivery. foundation stage hammer, right arm.”

the attendant in front of the treasure rack lowered his head, inspected the item, and then glanced at the jade slip, verifying the details of the arm.

“well, it’s genuine. two thousand spirit stones.”

he handed over two middle-grade spirit stones.

meng zi took them but didn’t leave.

he took out the second arm from his mustard seed bag and threw it out.

“delivery. foundation stage hammer left arm. two thousand spirit stones.”

“?”

“delivery. foundation stage hammer, the main hammer.”

“?”

“delivery. foundation stage hammer, deceased.”

“???”

behind the mask, meng zi revealed a triumphant smile. “three tasks. a total reward of ten thousand spirit stones, hurry up.”

he wouldn’t miss any opportunity to earn spirit stones.

being as clever as he was, he chuckled, “one task, triple the earnings!”

under the disdainful gaze of the attendant, meng zi happily stuffed ten high-grade spirit stones into his waist and walked out of the annihilation pavilion.

today’s been quite fruitful, enough to spend three spirit stones on tea~

【i’m the most generous】: fastest female cultivator, third-level swift talisman, 1999 spirit stones, i want it, three sets, no, four sets!

【i’m the most generous】: when would be convenient for you, esteemed one? i’m available at any time, waiting for you~

meng zi’s fingertip rapidly tapped the communication stone, conveying his message with utmost respect.

*

【the fastest female cultivator】: today is fine, collect your items at the rong treasure pavilion later.

after sending a brief response, lin shuang sat up straight and looked at senior brother xu rui, who was currently receiving a cup of tea from zhao keran.

senior brother xu rui had gentle brows and eyes, and a simple temperament. his ash-gray robe and hairpin were orderly, and he had six cloud-patterned embroideries on his collar, signifying a practitioner of the sixth level of the foundation stage.

according to reason, one at the foundation stage should be in the inner sect.

however, for more than a decade, senior brother xu rui had persistently managed the affairs of the outer sect. he was as diligent as an outer sect crane, singing every day without fail.

lin shuang had always admired him.

she stood up and took a plate of apricot blossom cakes from her lunch box in the room, placing it in front of senior brother xu rui.

【ding! 38 steps have been taken today, and 9962 steps remain to complete the walking journey. 】

the lion dog talisman’s report sounded.

zhao keran lowered her gaze and quickly looked at her toes.

xu rui, who bore the eight trigram sword, felt his brow throb.

the lion-dog-shaped talisman seemed somewhat similar to his voice…?

“well, senior brother’s voice always makes people want to be more disciplined,” lin shuang said with a face that wasn’t flushed from being caught by the original owner.

with the fourth version of xiao ai, she added two different voice tones last month.

one was zhao keran’s loli voice, which she found relaxing to listen to.

the other was xu rui’s authoritative teaching tone. she was worried she might relax too much sometimes, so she specifically created it to make her want to get up and do her work immediately.

of course, to respect the individual’s human rights, she made some adjustments, not completely the same, but taking only the essence.

“… junior sister, if you focused your energy on cultivation, you might have already broken through—”

xu rui rubbed his forehead and seemed quite frustrated with lin shuang’s lack of progress.

but he soon halted his words.

before him, his junior sister had a smooth, egg-like complexion, radiant like jade. her phoenix eyes sparkled, capturing the light subtly.

he couldn’t help but recall zhou xuanwu’s words, which he had interrupted earlier.

and, both of them were still below the foundation stage. if they were to meet the adamantine hammer head-on, how would they escape from its attacks, even… win?

although the possibility of winning was minuscule, xu rui still cautiously maintained a conjecture.

“junior sister.”

having finished his thoughts, xu rui stood up, summoned the eight trigram sword from his back, and let it hover in his palm.

“we have some time today. let’s exchange a few moves.”

zhao keran looked up in surprise, “senior sister just completed a mission and returned exhausted.”

xu rui gazed at lin shuang; his thin lips slightly parted.

“well. let’s make it four moves then.”

“senior brother!”

zhao keran wanted to intervene, but he quickly retreated under his stern gaze and dared not speak up again.

lin shuang sighed helplessly.

ah, it’s all because she’s outstanding.

inadvertently, her brilliance had triggered an unexpected turn of events.

shaking her head, lin shuang checked the 20% flexible time she had reserved each day. in her eyes, a mixture of pain, attachment, and determination flickered.

“senior brother, is it possible that these four moves could serve as the year-end assessment for my discipleship at the transmission hall?”

“if i can finish these four moves with senior brother, does that mean i’ll be exempt from this year’s assessment?”

zhao keran: “…”

xu rui: “…………….”

what are you even thinking?

xu rui, who was already at the sixth level of the foundation stage, took a deep breath. “if junior sister can pass these four moves under my guidance, then how about you being exempt from the outer sect assessment for the next ten years?”

lin shuang’s pupils quivered.

“senior brother, let’s get started quickly!”

“!”

author’s note:

lin shuang: i’m truly clever. being exempt from assessments for ten years means no need to review, saving time for exams and waiting for scores. who understands this kind of happiness?

《zhaoren’s journal 13》: “at that time, i thought, should i learn from senior sister and try it next year?”

xu rui: you try, you die!

zhao keran: …

*