CH 23.3

every word was clear, but the blade edge had not pierced through this thin leaf.

it could be seen how high the cultivator who set this question was.

“the divine thoughts on this are the same as the stone bridge beast carvings we passed by just now.”

huangfu yuan picked up one of the withered leaves and examined it closely.

“this should be a third-grade spirit treasure. it’s said that when disciples perform exceptionally well, the elders in charge of setting questions will leave behind guidance for traversing zhenchuan.”

meng zi, who had just seen fellow sect members die tragically and was still filled with anger, suddenly had stars in his eyes.

“a third-grade spirit treasure? huangfu senior, how much can we sell this for at rongbao pavilion?”

lin shuang’s eye twitched.

huangfu yuan seemed to have forgotten what he originally wanted to say.

he turned away and smiled as he explained to lin shuang, “junior sister lin, zhenchuan’s cave changes every year.”

“disciples may not enter the same trial for a hundred years.”

“this guidance leaf is for us to use in the future. when we reach the soul refining stage, have the power to ascend above the 9,000 levels, and activate the spiritual energy, it will directly guide us to the challenge set by this elder – ‘life or death’.”

lin shuang immediately understood, “a guide token, exclusive to zhenchuan. did it also bind our in-game ids?”

huangfu yuan was taken aback.

but he quickly nodded with a wry smile, “junior sister means, it’s bound to our unique aura as passing disciples, right? yes, that’s right.”

“junior sister lin is indeed sharp.” huangfu yuan nodded elegantly.

lin shuang modestly smiled.

“hey, hey, hey, are you two just going to ignore me?” meng zi paced back and forth between the two of them with his big knife.

“okay, i get it. we can’t sell it! we can only use it ourselves! this stingy elder, why is he so miserly?”

“hey! you two, can you look at me when you’re talking? where are we going for the next level?”

“not right… you haven’t explained everything to me yet—”

huangfu yuan and lin shuang moved in harmony towards the exit of the cave.

“junior sister lin, how about taking a break?”

“sure.”

“why take a break? are you two mortal warriors?” meng zi grumbled.

while the three of them were talking, they entered the teleportation array outside the cave and arrived in the middle layer—the zhenchuan resting courtyard.

“would you two like to take a look at the cave… oh, it’s you.”

a woman in pink approached them with a smile, but as soon as she saw the faces of lin shuang and the others, she was taken aback.

“you guys are pretty lucky.”

one in cyan, an outer disciple.

one with an illness, a coughing disciple.

only one was a normal essence condensation stage blade cultivator.

and they had reached the 800th level of zhenchuan.

the woman in pink looked closely at lin shuang and then took out the seventh and eighth jade slips strung together from her waist.

“little sister, want to take a look at cave number 800?”

“after entering the inner sect, you can’t stay at the mountaintop. the price of the cave remains the same for a consecutive hundred years!”

“i’m not lying, strike while the iron is hot.”

lin shuang halted her steps and seemed somewhat interested, “how far is cave number 800 from the transmission hall to the grand martial hall?”

the woman in pink remained silent for a moment.

meng zi chuckled, “about an hour on a flying sword.”

“ah!”

lin shuang looked at the woman in pink in distress. cave number 300 from before was just a ring further away, wasn’t it?

five rings.

really, whether it’s five rings or six, they both meant a journey of more than two hours round trip.

lin shuang grimaced in pain.

huangfu yuan also showed disdain, “let’s go. those places don’t even have immortal cranes perching… not to mention fire spirit chickens are unwilling to land there.”

a vein on the woman in pink’s forehead popped up, but she forced a smile.

“if you continue upwards, you’ll reach the thousandth level.”

“there may be casualties. for ordinary disciples with low combat power, i wouldn’t recommend going any further. right now, you can buy cave number 800—”

but before she could finish, lin shuang and her group had already left.

“thank you, i’ll come take a look next time.” lin shuang waved politely.

the woman in pink took a deep breath.

just as she was about to turn around in anger, she looked up and saw the two beast heads on lin shuang’s chest, faintly showing the water patterns. she was stunned.

one beast head embroidered with 349, and the other with 841.

these were the marks of the two fastest completions of the zhenchuan trials!

the expression on the woman in pink’s face changed rapidly.

[reward settlement for level 841:]

lin shuang and the others went to check their rewards.

[841 contributions have been distributed.]

[as for the fastest completion of this level, reward settlement—]

in a flurry of movement, the stone monument spewed out another long string of game-completion coupons, which shot toward lin shuang and her group.

lin shuang reached out and found an additional withered leaf compared to last time.

—9999 spirit stones, can be used for caves numbered 1 to 800…

—2000 spirit stones, can be used for inner sect spiritual energy expenses… and other living expenses;

—1000 spirit stones, can be used for second-tier treasures from the heaven and earth treasures… and other purchases;

—500 spirit stones, usable by the entire sect.

all three of them had glimmers in their eyes.

on this level, there were discounts available for the entire sect.

as they progressed up the levels, the rewards were upgraded.

lin shuang silently manipulated the water patterns on the stone monument and checked for other items that could be exchanged.

– “headmaster lv’s notes, volume two of the 132nd generation of the clearwater sect (with signature)” – 200 spirit stones

– “headmaster lv’s sayings (abridged)” – 500 spirit stones

– “how to cultivate in pairs (incomplete)” – 1000 spirit stones

– …

– “shao ke’s second volume of creating seals with you” – 1000 spirit stones

lin shuang’s eyes glittered; it seemed that inspirational literature had also leveled up. as for shao ke’s talisman crafting manuals, they appeared every five hundred levels.

if they followed this pattern, “creating seals with you,” volume twelve, could be exchanged for a level six thousand?

while she was contemplating this, huangfu yuan had already exchanged for a copy of “headmaster lv’s sayings (abridged)” with great interest, which cost only 500 spirit stones, quite affordable.

normally, these kinds of texts, which contained the wisdom of predecessors, were only available to those who had made significant contributions to their sects. lin shuang hadn’t even considered buying them from rong baozhai.

huangfu yuan received the book and opened the first page.

lin shuang and meng zi both leaned in curiously to take a look.

[chapter one: how to cling to an elder’s thighs]

“!”

all three were dumbfounded.

they hadn’t expected the current clearwater sect’s headmaster to be this kind of headmaster lv.

huangfu yuan’s eyes flickered, and he quickly turned to the next page.

[you fool, do you want to take shortcuts?! thighs, thighs, i’ll twist your legs off and make you sleep while hugging them!]

with a puff, the insulting words turned into water swords and shot out from the book.

huangfu yuan’s hand trembled.

the water sword splashed out with a whoosh, like a rushing stream, spraying onto meng zi’s face nearby.

meng zi: “…!”

lin shuang: “…”

huangfu yuan swiftly closed the book. “well, it’s quite good, this collection of sayings.”

meng zi gritted his teeth.

he’d remember this.

headmaster lv, he’d remember it!

in the future, he absolutely wouldn’t buy books written by headmaster lv; they were all just scams.

are you buying this to wash your face?

and huangfu senior…!

“let’s go, let’s go up a few more levels!” meng zi took a deep breath and held back his words.

but huangfu yuan’s expression turned apologetic. “i’m sorry, junior brother, i’m a bit tired.”

he lowered his phoenix-like eyes.

five hundred levels was the annual record for the frail huangfu yuan in the past.

“then let’s take a break.”

lin shuang pressed her chest, which was pounding. she needed some adjustment too.

“it’s also my lunchtime now.” with that said, she took out her wooden lunchbox.

meng zi: “!”

huangfu yuan: “…?”

lin shuang calmly returned to the tea table where they had rested earlier and took out a square meal cloth with red and white checkers from her mustard seed bag.

with great ceremony, she spread it out on the table, then arranged three bowls, three plates, and three pairs of chopsticks.

she also very ceremoniously opened the lunchbox containing today’s meal.

inside were five qi-blocking pills, arranged in the shape of a smiling face.

huangfu yuan: “…”

meng zi: “…?”

“oh, by the way, mealtime is also a time for building friendships.”

“??”

“so, meng senior brother, i can now answer your question.”

lin shuang glanced at the tomato-shaped hourglass on the tablecloth and carefully divided one of the thumb-sized qi-blocking pills into four pieces using her chopsticks.

with a cup of spirit tea, she happily ate one-fourth of it.

“i don’t have any secrets.”

“entering zhenchuan, i just want to compete for a spot as an elite inner disciple.”

huangfu yuan raised a teacup to his lips, and the tea lid clanged disharmoniously.

“what?! an elite inner disciple, you?”

meng zi choked, and the bit of qi-blocking pill he had just swallowed went down the wrong way.

the nearby pink-robed woman, with several pieces of jade slips for her cave mansion hanging from her waist, blinked in disbelief.

meng zi forced a smile.

he had misunderstood her before.

he used to think that she was lazy and had low cultivation.

now he realized that she was sick.

at that moment, he picked up the bamboo chopsticks in front of him and drew a triangular-shaped mountain with them on the red and white checkered cloth.

one-third and two-thirds of the way up, his chopsticks traced across the mountainside.

“this is zhenchuan.”

“we are currently here.”

he circled the area from the mountain’s base to one-third of the way up with his chopsticks.

meng zi’s eyebrows jumped.

“going higher, from three thousand to six thousand, only advanced qi-condensation cultivators can go.”

“beyond six thousand, it’s for advanced qi-condensation to foundation establishment disciples…”

with that, meng zi tossed his chopsticks away dejectedly.

he picked up one of the qi-blocking pills and bit into it with a crunch.

“elite inner disciples can’t be obtained just because you want to be one. do you think there’s no one above the three thousandth level in zhenchuan?”

lin shuang listened, and even the speed of her flipping through the book of quotes slowed down.

she found it quite enjoyable to listen to.

“senior brother, you’re right on the money. but after what happened just now, i realized my mistake and adjusted my original goal.”

you’re spot on!

meng zi crunched the qi-blocking pill. “knowing when to retreat, i’ll give you that.”

“let me tell you, inner disciples who challenge up to the ninth thousandth level are almost a hundred years old.”

“got it.”

lin shuang’s eyes sparkled.

she crushed the last few pieces of the qi-blocking pill into powder, gathered them with her chopsticks, scooped them up with a small spoon, and swallowed the entire mixture.

she wiped her mouth clean and then took out her paper and ink, and the brush danced nimbly.

long-term plan: zhenchuan 9,000 levels, life or death.

medium-term plan: zhenchuan 6,000 levels.

short-term plan: zhenchuan 3,000 levels.

after finishing writing, she nodded, “long-term plan, over ten years; medium-term, five to ten years; short-term, one year.”

just as meng zi was about to mock, she continued writing.

current plan for entering zhenchuan:

1. become an outer sect elite.

2. become an inner sect disciple.

3. become an inner sect elite (?? get new information, to be corrected).

meng zi stared, “what does this mean?”

huangfu yuan approached with his hands behind his back and quickly noticed his thin lips twitching. “one arrow, three targets… sister, coming to zhenchuan… i see now.”

lin shuang gave huangfu yuan a look that said “you understand me.”

meng zi: “??? wait a minute, what does this all mean?”

the pink-robed woman quietly approached, holding the jade key to her cave mansion.

lin shuang continued writing.

[plan adjustment]

this line was underlined.

“after the two layers of trials just now, the information provided by senior brother, and the advice from the elder, i have made new additions and adjustments to my plan.”

lin shuang finished speaking, and the delicate small characters leaped onto the paper.

“before, i was wrong, short-sighted, only focusing on the short-term goal of becoming an inner sect elite.”