BOOM—!
The desk, freezing over in an instant, made the hairs on Jiang Xu’s neck stand on end. He instinctively used the Light Body Spell and shot out of the study.
"That was close!"
Jiang Xu was drenched in sweat. After waiting a few seconds and seeing no other danger, he cautiously peeked back into the study.
The desk in the very center of the room was completely frozen solid, encased in a block of ice. The ice had even spread across a small patch of the floor.
Just monts ago, Jiang Xu had experienced a small breakthrough. He was on the verge of completing a Cold Ice Talisman, but he’d gotten impatient and made a mistake in the final few strokes.
This caused the nearly-finished, failed Cold Ice Talisman to erupt with seventy percent of a completed talisman’s power, almost freezing Jiang Xu himself.
’The panel can force my understanding to improve, but failures are still unavoidable. I need to be more careful!’
Although the scare had left Jiang Xu in a cold sweat, he was still in a good mood.
After all, he had been on the verge of successfully drawing a Cold Ice Talisman, if not for his last-minute impatience.
But with this experience, Jiang Xu was confident he could successfully create his first Cold Ice Talisman within the next ten sheets of Talisman Paper.
Once he succeeded, the rest would be easy.
’I can finally turn a profit! The Hundred Skills of Cultivation are truly difficult!’
...
’I’ve been in seclusion for over half a month. Qin Mo should have given up on pestering by now, right?’
Nie ngyun erged from her cave residence, cautiously looking around.
Seeing no sign of Qin Mo, she returned to her cave and let out a huge sigh of relief.
’He’s finally gone!’
Nie ngyun felt awful.
It would be one thing if Qin Mo were just ugly and old, but his reputation was abysmal. She’d heard he was a sinister character, and anyone he set his sights on was sure to et a terrible end.
This had scared Nie ngyun so badly she’d turned pale and imdiately gone into seclusion in her cave residence.
She focused solely on her Cultivation, shutting out the outside world.
She happened to have bought a few Qi Replenishing Pills before, so her seclusion wasn’t without gains. She had managed to advance a little within the Qi Cultivation Third Layer.
But now the Qi Replenishing Pills were gone, and Nie ngyun’s Cultivation speed had plumted back to a crawl.
’Spirit Stones, Spirit Stones... Without Spirit Stones, with my aptitude, I might never be able to break through to the Qi Cultivation Middle Stage in my entire life...’
Nie ngyun’s heart was heavy. Even the news of Qin Mo’s departure couldn’t cheer her up.
After brooding for a while, Jiang Xu’s image suddenly surfaced in her mind, her expression turning complicated.
’I wonder how Jiang Xu is doing now. His ridians were severely damaged. They could have worsened at any mont. He was likely not long for this world... perhaps he’s already...’
On a strange whim, Nie ngyun activated the Sound Transmission Talisman in her hand. To her surprise, it just flashed with a red light and then went silent.
Nie ngyun was stunned.
A Sound Transmission Talisman failing to work could only an one thing: the other person had destroyed it.
In other words, Jiang Xu had cut off all thought of contacting her, not even leaving the possibility open.
’Is he really that heartless?’
A sense of panic began to bubble up inside Nie ngyun. She had secretly been holding onto a sliver of hope, thinking that what Jiang Xu had said before was just said in anger.
But this situation made her understand completely. Jiang Xu had truly changed; he was no longer the sa person.
Only then did Nie ngyun recall the doubts she had before her seclusion about Jiang Xu’s strange transformation.
’It really is strange. Maybe I should go have a look.’
As if trying to convince herself, Nie ngyun muttered to herself for a mont, then stood up and prepared to head to Jiang Xu’s residence.
...
"Where is he???"
A cool breeze gusted past, leaving Nie ngyun standing there, utterly bewildered.
She had ntally prepared herself for a confrontation and even rehearsed what she would say to Jiang Xu.
But what she hadn’t expected was this:
When Nie ngyun arrived at Jiang Xu’s forr residence in the servant area...
...she found it completely empty. He was long gone.
The weeds in front of his door were nearly a foot high.
His Spirit Field was full of withered stalks, clearly indicating the crops had already been fully harvested.
’I was only in seclusion for about half a month! How could so much have changed?!’
The dumbfounded Nie ngyun was, well, utterly dumbfounded.
’That’s right! The information broker will definitely know!’
With that thought, Nie ngyun hurried toward the Outer Sect area.
...
"He entered... the Outer Sect?"
Nie ngyun was exceptionally shocked when she heard the news.
"Didn’t Jiang Xu suffer severe damage to his ridians? He barely even survived. How could he possibly have been promoted to the Qi Cultivation Third Layer and entered the Outer Sect?"
But no matter how much Nie ngyun questioned it, the fact remained that Jiang Xu had now been promoted to the Outer Sect.
It was a fact that Nie ngyun found very difficult to accept.
A mont later, after forcing herself to calm down and paying the information fee, she left, utterly dejected.
Her mind was a complete ss the entire way back, unable to make sense of the current situation.
She remained in this state until, just before reaching her cave residence, she had a sudden realization.
’Since Jiang Xu has beco an Outer Disciple, his Cultivation must have reached the Qi Cultivation Third Layer. That’s undeniable.’
’The strange part is how his ridians healed in such a short ti.’
’One possibility is that Jiang Xu lied to , and there was never anything wrong with his ridians. But I clearly perford an Investigation. I couldn’t have lied to myself, could I?’
’That leaves only one other possibility: Jiang Xu spent Spirit Stones to buy an Elixir and heal his ridians. As for how he got the Spirit Stones, he must have either borrowed them, put sothing up as collateral, or found so other way.’
The more Nie ngyun thought about it, the more she believed this was the case.
And the more she regretted her own actions.
If she had known he would be able to get promoted, she would have been better off lending him the Spirit Stones to help him out.
Nie ngyun wanted to go find Jiang Xu again, but then she had another thought.
After the way she had treated Jiang Xu, there was no turning back now.
Besides, if she went crawling back to him right after he got promoted to the Outer Sect, wouldn’t it make her look like a sycophantic, desperate gold-digger?
Nie ngyun had no Spirit Stones left now, which ant her future Cultivation progress would surely be excruciatingly slow.
At this mont, Nie ngyun deeply missed the old Jiang Xu, the one who used to give her Spirit Stones without asking for anything in return.
Now that Jiang Xu was an Outer Disciple, his ability to earn Spirit Stones was several tis greater than when he was a servant.
If Jiang Xu were still under her thumb, wouldn’t she be completely free from worrying about her promotion to the Qi Cultivation Middle Stage?
Nie ngyun sank into deep thought, her heart filled with conflict and turmoil. She believed she had made the wrong decision, leading to her current predicant.
The more she thought, the more she regretted it, until finally, unable to bear the emotional tornt, she slapped herself across the face.
SLAP—!
The sound was crisp. The sting made Nie ngyun instinctively clutch her face and grimace in pain.
This slap wasn’t to punish herself, but to release the pain and regret pent up inside.
She just hoped that this would help her calm down, re-evaluate her situation, and find a way out.
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