The poison arts competition had passed in the blink of an eye, several days ago.
What happened at the Hall of the Wild Dragon’s main headquarters hadn’t spread much news.
However, recently Lingyin Valley discovered that the high-ranking members of the Hall of the Wild Dragon seemed to have lost their minds, continuously selling off their affiliated Medical Halls and Poison Shops, as if they had completely abandoned those two businesses.
There was no choice. Lingyin Valley was forced to expand the scope of their Medical Halls and Poison Shops throughout the Great Sima Nation, boosting their revenue by one and a half times, and ending up with a full and overflowing profit.
“I just don’t get it!” Early in the morning, Jiang Ke’er saw Senior Sister Yiqin sigh heavily while looking over the monthly accounts.
Who knew what on earth had happened at the Hall of the Wild Dragon!
The two sects had been fighting for hundreds of years, yet in recent days, the Hall of the Wild Dragon was crazily coming over to send warmth, even thoughtfully delivering a whole range of supporting services.
Yiqin even suspected that maybe the Hall of the Wild Dragon’s Sect Leader had fallen in love with someone from the Taiming Sect and wanted to gift the entire Hall of the Wild Dragon over to win their favor.
Jiang Ke’er had a rough idea of what was happening at the Hall of the Wild Dragon’s main headquarters but didn’t voice it—she felt there was no need to say it out loud.
Because the entire Taiming Sect’s revenue had suddenly increased, the disciples of Lingyin Valley were forced to receive double their monthly living expenses. Jiang Ke’er reluctantly accepted nearly a hundred Magic Crystal Stones, feeling quite pleased inside.
“I just don’t get it!” At noon, during the lunch break, Jiang Ke’er again heard Senior Sister Yiqin sigh.
Jiang Ke’er couldn’t help but cover her mouth to laugh quietly, a faint sense of accomplishment in her heart.
Senior Sister Yiqin’s concern for her was obvious. She wasn’t ungrateful, so naturally, she thought of repaying that kindness.
Although she didn’t understand why no matter how hard she tried to teach Sacred Light Technique, she couldn’t teach the other Senior Sisters of Lingyin Valley or Senior Sister Yiqin, this little matter with the Hall of the Wild Dragon could be considered a small gift.
At night, after the last class, Senior Sister Yiqin called Jiang Ke’er over.
“Your Black Jade Flute is ready. Go to Qingjin Peak to collect it later. Tomorrow morning, you’ll start learning music theory with me.”
“Mm-hmm! Thank you, Shifu!” Jiang Ke’er happily nodded her little head, wagging her tail as she skipped toward the Flying Sword Platform.
She had barely turned and walked a short distance when she heard Senior Sister Yiqin sigh deeply again behind her: “Really, I just don’t get it!”
Jiang Ke’er boarded the flying sword and headed to Qingjin Peak, the department responsible for refining instruments in the Taiming Sect.
As soon as she landed, she could smell the strong scent of fire and metal.
The whole mountain was piled with all sorts of strange materials for magical artifacts.
Compared to the clean and tidy Lingyin Valley, this place was obviously much rougher and messier.
“Ah! It’s Junior Sister Qing Yi!”
Someone shouted first, and immediately the senior brothers at Qingjin Peak all lifted their heads, enthusiastically greeting Jiang Ke’er.
Jiang Ke’er was now a celebrity! She had risked her life to save the Taiming Sect twice in critical moments. Plus, she was naturally adorable and charming—completely irresistible to the male cultivators—so “Junior Sister Qing Yi” had become an unsurpassed figure known throughout the Taiming Sect!
Jiang Ke’er wearily returned each greeting one by one, then escaped quickly to the pickup location.
The disciple at the counter took out a long silk pouch and handed it to Jiang Ke’er.
Jiang Ke’er opened the pouch and pulled out a jet-black jade flute, translucent and radiant.
The flute was about as long as her forearm, and the moment she drew it out, Jiang Ke’er was stunned by its beauty.
Intricate and profound dragon patterns were engraved all over the flute, their lines shimmering faintly.
When Jiang Ke’er tried to infuse it with spiritual power, the glowing patterns seemed to come alive, flowing gently across the surface of the flute!
At the end of the flute was a symbol Jiang Ke’er recognized—the Peach Blossom Emblem of Lingyin Valley.
But this Peach Blossom Emblem looked somewhat special, different from the one on Changsun Qingyue’s letter; instead, it matched the mark on Senior Sister Yiqin’s guqin.
“I didn’t expect Senior Sister Yiqin to value you this much!” The disciple at the pickup counter exclaimed upon seeing the emblem.
Jiang Ke’er’s heart skipped a beat, a bit puzzled. “Excuse me, Senior Brother… is there something special about this emblem?”
“This is the Valley Master’s personal emblem, which means Senior Sister Yiqin has already begun nurturing you as a candidate for Valley Master. Congratulations, Junior Sister Qing Yi!” The disciple smiled broadly as he said.
“…Thank you for explaining, Senior Brother.”
Jiang Ke’er only smiled politely and didn’t say more. She carefully put away the flute and hurried off.
Her heart was not as joyful as the disciple assumed.
Instead, she was deeply worried.
Her purpose for coming to Lingyin Valley was to hide, to escape the Tribulation Immortal Hall’s pursuit.
Once she reached the Five Elements Realm, she planned to leave and head to the Realm of No Regret.
By all logic, she should keep as low a profile as possible and avoid contact with anyone.
But the arrival of the Hall of the Wild Dragon had forcibly pushed her into the spotlight.
Moreover, the concern from her Senior Sister and Senior Sister Yiqin made her feel increasingly attached to Lingyin Valley.
This couldn’t go on—she was a calamity star.
Jiang Ke’er took a deep breath and stood on the flying sword returning to Lingyin Valley, lifting the corner of her mouth into a forced smile.
She couldn’t continue like this, or it would become difficult to let go.
She decided to find an opportunity to be honest with Senior Sister Yiqin, and in the meantime, she would repay Lingyin Valley’s kindness as much as possible.
She tucked the flute at her waist beside the Shuangying Sword and returned to her small bamboo hut.
A long-missed crane was perched outside the window, and Jiang Ke’er flinched slightly.
The crane hadn’t come these past two days, and she hadn’t been able to contact Luyia.
Since the poison arts competition, she hadn’t seen Luyia for three days.
Though the meat hidden in her inventory wouldn’t spoil, Jiang Ke’er still worried about what might have happened to Luyia.
Mounting the crane, Jiang Ke’er dove into the clouds and soon arrived at the familiar little cave.
Luyia was as ravenous as ever, shouting, “I’m starving, I’m starving!” even before Jiang Ke’er’s feet had touched the ground.
“Senior…” Jiang Ke’er began, only to be rudely interrupted.
“What senior, what junior, I’ve told you a thousand times, don’t be so formal! Call me Sister Luyia!” Luyia complained unhappily.
“Honestly, you’re the most boring fox I’ve ever met!”
“Sorry, Sister Luyia,” Jiang Ke’er said helplessly.
Seeing Jiang Ke’er’s expression, Luyia sighed instead: “But considering you’ve been hunted down by the Tribulation Immortal Hall until now, that’s really not easy… Good thing you have a steady temperament. If you were like me—carefree and reckless—you’d probably be dead ten thousand times over.”
Jiang Ke’er didn’t know how to continue the topic, so she asked, “Sister Luyia, why haven’t you called me these past few days?”
“I went to check the north,” Luyia said. “There’s been some big movement there lately.”
After a pause, Luyia continued, “You’ll probably get news soon. It’s a secret realm, a major secret realm! There are very rare opportunities inside. Even I want to check it out, but there’s a power limit inside just like the Realm of No Regret—I can’t enter… But you? Your strength is just right. You should be able to go in as a Taiming Sect traveling medical cultivator and take a look around.”
A traveling medical cultivator, huh.
Nice, time to slack off~
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.