Xie Bing fell silent for half a second.
Yin Juanzhi smiled charmingly, standing tall and elegant like a fresh breeze under a clear moon—a perfect picture of radiant nobility.
Yet his deep gaze faintly held a hint of shadowy malice that no one else could perceive.
Xie Bing had been confined for three days, without washing or grooming. Her hair bun was somewhat loose, and from days of non-stop studying, her dark circles were stark when she lifted her head. With utmost sincerity, she said: “Eldest Senior Brother, did you wait three whole days just to take my medicine? Let me tell you, if you want medicine, go find Shifu. The medicine I have here was personally refined for me by Shifu. Not a single pill will I give to you.”
She emphasized the words “single pill,” then, as if cherishing it dearly, tucked the medicine bottle behind her back.
…The familiar wave of idiocy hit him full force.
Yin Juanzhi: “…”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Xie Bing was still the same Xie Bing. Moved to tears by Gu Monian’s tiny favors, willing to give her very life to Shifu if only shown a slightly pleasant expression. He had absolutely no doubt that if Gu Monian asked Xie Bing to die, she would slice her own neck, then wash it clean first, all to avoid staining Gu Monian’s hands with her blood.
Could it be… that the Xie Bing at the apprenticeship ceremony had merely given him an illusion?
When Xie Bing stepped onto the platform, his Divine Consciousness had already probed the viewing stand. He clearly saw Xie Bing, with her dog-like audacity, actually attack the Shifu she had always revered.
Yet by the time he himself arrived via Sword Riding, Xie Bing had instantly withdrawn all her sharpness, vanishing into the sea of ordinary people in the blink of an eye. He had nearly failed to lock onto her.
That skill… it was like those Devil Nightmare Beasts he kept, possessing the most terrifying sensitivity to danger.
She was deliberately minimizing her presence.
Those eyes, seemingly extremely weary, were clearly watching him. Yet she carefully hid her figure within the crowd, shrinking her presence to the smallest possible scope.
Xie Bing seemed… slightly different from before.
He was about to say something when, suddenly, a sword light flew in from afar. A woman in a red dress whooshed down steadily, grabbing Xie Bing excitedly: “Xie Ershui, I rushed and hurried, and finally made it back!”
[T/N: “Ershui” (二水) literally means “Two Waters.” It is a playful nickname Lu Chu uses for Xie Bing. In Chinese, the character for her name “Ice” (冰) is made by combining “two dots of water” (冫) with the character for “water” (水).]
Xie Bing looked at the hand Lu Chu was holding. In that instant, no words could come out. She just tightly grasped Lu Chu’s hand in return. “A’Chu, are you alright?”
Lu Chu was her only friend in the Taixu Sect. Bold, straightforward, and decisive, she was no less than any man. In her past life, Lu Chu had died under unclear circumstances during a mission. Looking at her now, Xie Bing felt a myriad of emotions welling up.
Lu Chu naturally pulled Xie Bing into her embrace, heartily thumping Xie Bing’s back with loud bang bang bangs. She said brashly, “Ershui, still such a fussbudget! I’m perfectly fine!”
Xie Bing’s face instantly paled, and she sucked in a sharp breath: “…”
Lu Chu’s strength was way too much, wasn’t it??
Lu Chu, acting without considering her own strength, instantly panicked. Grabbing Xie Bing’s arm nervously, she asked: “Ershui, Ershui, are you okay? Don’t tell me I slapped you to death again!”
“…Again?”
Lu Chu smiled sheepishly. “This mission was originally my best; I killed the most Demon Beasts. But just as I was returning, I ran into some villains. One careless move and I accidentally slapped someone dead…”
Their duty when descending the mountain was to slay demons and vanquish evil, upholding justice. Even for those with a murder history, they were generally handed over to local authorities. Sending someone straight into reincarnation was clearly another mistake.
Xie Bing: “…”
She sighed, signaling Lu Chu to let go. She rubbed her own arm first, then patted her own back.
Tsk. It really hurt.
Her body was merely that of an ordinary person; she hadn’t even reached the Qi Drawing Stage. It was only because she constantly took tonics that she hadn’t been slapped to death too. Although the medicine Shifu gave had an ulterior motive, at least on the surface, it truly nourished the body and was genuinely effective…
Which meant the ingredients inside were also genuinely good.
The red-dressed woman, Lu Chu, was a Body Cultivator!
As the name implied, Body Cultivators tempered their bodies, using their own physique as the most powerful attack weapon—extremely domineering! And she was one of the rare female body-refiners in the Taixu Sect.
In this Cultivation World, cultivators practiced a dazzling variety of cultivation methods, mostly Sword Cultivators, Body Cultivators, and so on. The most powerful among them were the Sword Cultivators, like Eldest Senior Brother, “Light of the Sect”—the undisputed Number One Sword Cultivator.
Xie Bing thought of her own cultivation path. According to the system’s progress, once she passed the assessments, she could cultivate immortality. So, what kind of cultivator would she be considered… a Book Cultivator??
In the entire Cultivation World, such a thing had never been heard of.
“Here, I went through a hell of a lot of trouble to get this. Don’t say this sister doesn’t treat you well.” Lu Chu tossed a bottle of medicine to Xie Bing.
Xie Bing: What’s this?
“Isn’t this the Five Aggregate Spirit Herb you asked me to find for Youngest Junior Brother? In my opinion, you spoil him way too much. Look how you’ve coddled him into someone lawless and out of control!” Lu Chu chattered on, then suddenly paused. “Where is Youngest Junior Brother?”
Xie Bing clenched the pill bottle, a cold sneer in her heart.
She remembered now. Before Lu Chu left on her mission, she had specifically begged her to bring this Five Aggregate Spirit Herb. The herb was rich in five types of Spiritual Energy, a rare herb with evenly balanced spiritual properties, perfect for gently nourishing a Spiritual Root.
She had painstakingly raised Youngest Junior Brother like her own son, always giving him the best of everything. Looking at it now, she had raised an ungrateful little wretch.
Ever since Youngest Junior Brother laid eyes on Xuan Yao three days ago, he had never appeared before her again. Not even when she was confined did he come to visit.
According to the memories of her last life, by now Youngest Junior Brother was already utterly bewitched by Xuan Yao. After Xie Bing gave him this hard-won Five Aggregate Spirit Herb, he had eagerly presented it to Xuan Yao!
Xie Bing put the Five Aggregate Spirit Herb away. “Forget about him.”
“Weren’t you going to give it to Youngest Junior Brother?”
“I suddenly decided to use it myself.” She also wanted to cultivate immortally! She also sought the Great Dao! Such a good item like the Five Aggregate Spirit Herb naturally couldn’t go to dogs or wantons. She would use it herself!
Lu Chu’s eyes lit up. She let out a hearty, unrestrained laugh. “You’ve finally come around! Rather than giving it to that fool, better to be a little nicer to yourself!”
As she spoke, Xie Bing rubbed her back, then suddenly froze. She seemed to have… forgotten someone???
Overwhelmed by the joy of reunion, she had completely forgotten that Eldest Senior Brother was still standing right behind her!
Lu Chu, apparently just like Xie Bing, only now noticed Eldest Senior Brother. Instantly, she choked up: “…E-Eldest Senior Brother?”
Like a screaming chicken whose throat had been seized, Lu Chu felt the throat of her destiny being strangled. Why did she have to make a fool of herself in front of Eldest Senior Brother?!
In a flash, her mannish, feet-splayed-out stance transformed into a demure pigeon-toed posture. Her shoulders caved inward slightly, her chin instantly tucked in, and her eyes twitched frantically as she stole glances at Eldest Senior Brother.
Xie Bing: “…”
She tried to identify the gesture… was this the legendary “casting flirtatious glances”?
…Wait, it had been a while. She suddenly recalled—she was the one who taught Lu Chu these maidenly poses! Unfortunately, Lu Chu didn’t quite pull it off. It didn’t look like flirtatious glances; it looked more like her eyes were having spasms.
But back then, she had only thought Lu Chu was chasing after Eldest Senior Brother. She hadn’t known that the man Lu Chu pursued was actually the bloodthirsty Devil Venerable!
Now, Yin Juanzhi was lingering in the Taixu Sect for reasons unknown to Xie Bing. If Lu Chu’s repeated harassment attracted the Devil Venerable’s vengeful attention, wouldn’t her life be in extreme danger? Perhaps Lu Chu’s unclear death in her last life had Yin Juanzhi’s hand in it!
Thinking of that scene, a chill ran through Xie Bing’s heart.
Yin Juanzhi’s eyes narrowed slightly, a cold glint flashing faintly within them.
Xie Bing made a snap decision. Grabbing Lu Chu’s hand, she bolted, leaving only a trail of dust behind: “Eldest Senior Brother, Lu Chu and I are off to the Scripture Library to study!”
In the blink of an eye, Yin Juanzhi was left abandoned in place: ??
He scoffed softly. …Study?
In the Scripture Library, once again, Xie Bing was all alone.
Most of the sect members had probably been charmed senseless by the Junior Sister Xuan Yao. Already not fond of studying, now, true to the name “Heartthrob,” they would be spellbound for at least a month.
This suited Xie Bing just fine. Xuan Yao drew everyone’s attention away; no one would disturb her studies!
One by one, she flipped through bamboo slips and ancient texts, immersing herself in the vast ocean of books, roaming, wandering freely!
There were four days left until the first exam. She hadn’t even found all the reference books yet; she had to redouble her efforts! Flipping through, suddenly her fingers paused. She stared, shocked, at the traditional characters on the book cover:
—The Plum in the Golden Vase??
Teacher, I know the answer to this one!
Xie Bing was delighted. Finally, a book she recognized! She flipped open the first page. There were only the three characters: “Jin Ping Mei.” According to the system’s pattern, she needed to recite it aloud to capture the correct answer.
Xie Bing was just about to recite…
Wait…!
She instantly covered her own mouth. Wait!
The Plum in the Golden Vase wasn’t from the High Antiquity stage!
When she “deciphered the question” earlier, she had analyzed the topic: “High Antiquity” was the early stage of Huaxia literary history. Yet The Plum in the Golden Vase, to Xie Bing’s knowledge, was one of ancient Huaxia’s “Four Great Marvelous Books,” and even later influenced the creation of Dream of the Red Chamber. If anything, it was at the tail end of Huaxia literature—how could it possibly be from the High Antiquity stage?
Trash system! Deceiving me! Misleading me! Trying to trip me up! I almost fell for it!
She decisively tossed The Plum in the Golden Vase aside.
“Not reading it!”
“Even if you try to lure me with a Little Yellow Book, I’m not reading it!”
System: …
Learning her lesson, Xie Bing knew the system would deliberately insert wrong answer options. She proceeded much more cautiously in her book search. As expected, she also encountered Journey to the West and Water Margin.
Xie Bing looked down upon them with contempt: Did the system think she hadn’t watched TV dramas as a kid? These were all literary works from Huaxia’s later periods!
After this battle of wits with the system, suddenly, her eyes lit up.
The book in her hand had two characters on the cover: “Book of Songs.”
Simply gazing at the title, verses from The Book of Songs involuntarily surfaced in Xie Bing’s mind. For example: “Peach tree, young and tender, its blossoms bright,” or “Guan-guan sing the ospreys, on the river isle. The gentle, graceful maiden, a gentleman’s good mate,” or “A single day without seeing you is like three autumns passing,” or “In life or death, together we swore. I took your hand, to grow old with you”…
She vaguely remembered Confucius saying, “If you don’t study the Book of Songs, you have nothing to speak with.” Since Confucius himself said one must study it, it was certainly earlier than Confucius. Therefore, it definitely fit the “High Antiquity” criterion!
She recited the line that surfaced: “Reeds and rushes are lush and green, white dew turns to frost.”
As the final sound faded, the Book of Songs in her hand vanished into thin air. Simultaneously, the system’s voice echoed in her ear:
[System: Key text The Book of Songs found. The Book of Songs is Huaxia’s first poetry anthology, divided into three categories: Airs, Elegance, and Hymns. Acquired “Airs” category spell—”Reeds and rushes are lush and green, white dew turns to frost!”—”Frost Transformation Spell”]
Xie Bing: …Wait, what did you say? As an uncultured illiterate, I didn’t understand a thing!
Another broadcast followed:
[System: Three spells accumulated! Achievement Unlocked: “First Step”!]
[Unlocked Reward: Skill Book unlocked! Points Exchange Shop unlocked!]
A book suddenly materialized in Xie Bing’s hand!
She shot to her feet!
It was an extremely ordinary-looking book with a plain, pale yellow cover. Opening it, the first page’s skill was the first spell she had acquired: “Speech Ban Spell.” Below it were lines of densely packed small text, detailing an introduction to Nineteen Ancient Poems. The second page’s skill was “Disarming Weapon,” with a detailed introduction to River City Song below it. The third page’s skill was the newly acquired “Frost Transformation Spell,” followed by an introduction to The Book of Songs.
Scanning through it, she thought in disbelief: It was truly inconceivable. Knowledge really could change destiny!
She tested how to use the Skill Book and discovered she needed to open the book and recite aloud to launch an attack! However, meditating wouldn’t trigger the spell, meaning there were still limitations. But for Xie Bing, this was already a delightful surprise.
After putting the Skill Book away, she went to investigate the Points Exchange Shop, discovering she currently had thirty-four points:
Nineteen Ancient Poems +10 points, sudden quest +20 points, 4 days of study +4 points. A total of 34 points! Unfortunately, the shop only had one page, and most items were grayed out. The cheapest pill required 100 points. She needed to keep working hard.
After finishing her research, Xie Bing closed the system. Only then did she realize another night had passed.
She took out the small mirror she always carried and looked. Sure enough, the dark circles had deepened again, exuding an aura of haggardness thoroughly ravaged by insomnia.
Forget it. She had already given up on beauty. After all, she possessed knowledge!
Exiting the Scripture Library, Xie Bing was stopped by a youth.
The youth’s eyebrows and eyes curved in a smile, his face a cute baby-faced visage. “Eldest Senior Sister, didn’t you say you’d give me the Five Aggregate Spirit Herb?”