515: One Month
The person knocking was Zhu Baiyi. She hadn't slept all night, and after Qingyu left, sleep beca even more elusive.
Sect Leader Zhu had been despondent for a while, and sitting alone in her room, she couldn't help her wandering thoughts, so she opened the window to watch the rain. Coincidentally, shortly after she opened the window, the spiritual energy vortex above the guest room dissipated.
The surrounding spiritual energy beca abundant again, but Sect Leader Zhu had no interest in cultivation. The spiritual energy vortex simply reminded her of her suspicions from the previous night. Already troubled, this thought made her feel even worse, but because of last night's speculation about dual cultivation, even though the spiritual energy vortex had now dispersed, she didn't imdiately go to confront them.
After all, people needed ti to tidy up before receiving visitors. So Sect Leader Zhu patiently waited outside for a while before going to knock on the door, though her poor mood made her knock rather loudly.
Unfortunately, the ti that Sect Leader Zhu had considerately left for them ended up interrupting the intimate mont between the two.
Of course, she wasn't aware of this, and the door opened even sooner than she had expected. When she saw Yun Qingyue open the door and noticed her lips were rosier than usual, she beca even more convinced that her suspicions from last night were correct.
Sect Leader Zhu was sowhat angry because the little tiger had taken away her daughter without warning. Had Qingyu not discovered it, they might still be waiting for Jiang Mo's confession. On top of that, last night the tiger cub had caused such a disturbance, it seed that one or two beatings wouldn't resolve the matter anymore!
Yun Qingyue noticed her mother's grim expression and, seeing where her gaze fell, instinctively covered her lips. Her ears reddened slightly as she circulated spiritual energy to remove the unusual color from her lips before lowering her hand.
Even so, Yun Qingyue knew the other had clearly noticed sothing, which made her sowhat embarrassed.
Before Yun Qingyue could ask about her purpose, Zhu Baiyi shifted her gaze past her to the guest room and asked, "Where's Jianbing? Is she still planning to challenge us today?"
To Yun Qingyue's ears, this naturally translated to: "Where's Jianbing? Is she ready to co out and take her beating today?"
Yun Qingyue was unusually at a loss for words, not knowing how to respond.
At this mont, the dejected little tiger, hearing the question, also ca out. She gave her mother-in-law a glum look, feeling sowhat resentful, but imdiately beca timid under the other's piercing gaze. She secretly hid behind her Senior Sister and respectfully greeted her: "Good morning, Sect Leader. Why have you co so early?"
As for Sect Leader Zhu's question about the challenge, Jiang Mo wisely chose to avoid answering—though she was reluctant to give up the system rewards, under her mother-in-law's watchful eye, she felt that agreeing would lead to serious consequences.
Hearing this, Sect Leader Zhu's gaze swept over her, looking at the cowardly little tiger, and coldly snorted: "Early? It's not early anymore. Everyone has already begun attending to important matters."
Jiang Mo felt she was being nitpicked and dared not speak.
Yun Qingyue also sensed the awkward atmosphere. She uncomfortably cleared her throat and changed the subject: "What's happened? Did sothing occur this morning? And where is my master?"
Zhu Baiyi wanted to lecture the two, but the words wouldn't co out. Was she supposed to say, "Go ahead with your dual cultivation, just keep it quieter so others don't notice"? In the end, she could only make a vague comnt: "Keep your cultivation quieter. You attracted all the surrounding spiritual energy, and no one else could cultivate last night."
After saying this, Zhu Baiyi didn't give the two ti to respond and continued based on Yun Qingyue's previous question: "It seems Peak Master Qingyuan and the others have research results. They called for Qingyu early this morning to et with Sect Leader Qingxiao."
Yun Qingyue and Jiang Mo were both confused by her jumbled topics, especially Jiang Mo, who completely didn't understand why Zhu Baiyi had to insert that hint before answering. Yun Qingyue, on the other hand, thought for a mont and seed to understand sothing, her ears—which had just cooled down—imdiately flushing hot again—she and Jiang Mo had indeed been dual cultivating, but not at all in the way Sect Leader Zhu imagined!
But there was no way to explain this. Yun Qingyue vaguely acknowledged it and quickly followed up on Zhu Baiyi's latter statent: "Specifically seeking the Sect Leader for discussion—are the research results unfavorable?"
Zhu Baiyi shook her head. She didn't know, but considering the situation, she doubted the news would be good.
If it were truly good news, Xuanqing Sect would have likely announced it to everyone to boost morale. Why would they need to discuss it in secret?
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Zhu Baiyi very much wanted to give Jiang Mo a beating, but lacking a suitable excuse, she temporarily postponed it—after all, since Jiang Mo wanted rewards from her for completing tasks, this beating would co sooner or later.
Yun Qingyue and Jiang Mo were called out by Zhu Baiyi's knock, but it was indeed quite late by the ti they left the room. When the three arrived at the front hall, they found that almost everyone who had stayed at Lingyun Hall the previous night was already present. Even the Xuanqing Sect mbers who were holding the eting had arrived early in the main hall, making the three relatively late.
Zhu Baiyi's gaze swept over Qingyu, but her steps never faltered as she walked to her place in the hall and sat down.
Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue weren't originally ant to participate in the discussion, and there were no seats for them in the hall. However, as latecors, several gazes fell upon them.
Yun Qingyue was typically forthright, but their cultivation thod from the previous night was indeed inappropriate, and after Sect Leader Zhu's reminder, that inappropriateness was now mixed with a hint of intimacy. Her gaze shifted slightly, showing so discomfort, but ultimately, since they hadn't done anything the previous night, she straightforwardly bowed to the elders, offering a slight apology.
Naturally, no one held it against her. Yun Qingyue then took Jiang Mo's hand and habitually walked to stand behind her master. Qingyu turned to look at the two, her gaze falling on their clasped hands, but said nothing.
The attention from those in the hall extended no further than this, as the discussion moved on to more important matters.
Sect Leader Qingxiao sat at the head, and with a slight raise of his right hand, Peak Master Qingyuan voluntarily stood to explain the situation to everyone: "The rain outside has been falling for a day and night. I'm sure everyone knows that starting yesterday, Junior Brother Qinglan and I have been researching this strange rain."
As he spoke, he glanced at the pile of miscellaneous items in one corner of the hall and continued: "The two of us researched throughout the night. To prevent the strange rain from continuing and seeping into the ground to damage the foundation of the earth veins, I originally wanted to find a way to block the rain. But it's not possible—no spiritual tool can withstand the erosion of the strange rain, and I cannot forge a treasure that contains no spiritual energy yet can cover the entire Xuanqing Sect."
This was unavoidable, after all, in the cultivation world, every blade of grass, every tree, every brick, and every stone contained spiritual energy. How could artifacts forged from these be devoid of spiritual energy? And even if Peak Master Qingyuan truly managed to forge sothing without spiritual energy, given the vast area of Xuanqing Sect, how many materials would be consud, and how much ti would be spent?
Everyone remained silent. In truth, apart from the Xuanqing Sect mbers, everyone was far more concerned about their imdiate interests than the foundation of Xuanqing Sect. Peak Master Qingyuan also didn't seem inclined to elaborate and instead continued: "That approach being infeasible, Junior Brother Qinglan subsequently researched the strange rain itself and discovered that it's not naturally ford but likely the work of the demon race."
This wasn't difficult to deduce, as such rain that could erode spiritual energy had never been seen before. Everything happened after Xuanqing Sect was surrounded by the magical barrier, making it easy to speculate that the strange rain was also related to the demon race's thods.
After hearing this, no one was particularly surprised, though they couldn't help but frown, more concerned about another issue: "Previously, we worried that rain falling from outside would mix with the magical barrier. Now that the strange rain and the magical barrier share the sa origin, wouldn't it similarly infect disciples and cause them to beco demonic?" Everyone present had seen plenty of the demonized people outside the formation.
Fortunately, Peak Master Qingyuan's previous words had been gloomy enough, and what followed offered so reassurance: "You needn't worry about that. According to our research, although this strange rain is also the work of the demon race, it contains no demonic energy. It simply erodes spiritual energy to destroy the foundation of spiritual energy, with no other harmful effects."
Hearing this, everyone relaxed slightly, though it still felt like receiving a suspended sentence—not much better.
Zhu Baiyi was in a poor mood this morning and had little patience, so she asked directly: "If that's the case, then don't keep us in suspense. I've heard that both Peak Masters are quite skilled. Surely you haven't researched all night just to reach this conclusion?"
Peak Master Qingyuan wasn't displeased by the interruption, but his brow furrowed slightly, his expression never lightening: "This strange rain likely won't stop, and in such a short ti, we have no way to neutralize it. Finally, Junior Brother Qinglan took a different approach and refined a batch of dicinal pills that, when taken, might help people resist the effects of the strange rain."
Everyone present was sharp-minded and imdiately identified two issues from his statent. First, the word "might" indicated that the efficacy of the pills hadn't been verified. Second, while people could take pills to resist the rain's effects, inanimate objects like magical treasures had no defense, and the spiritual veins hidden underground had even less protection.
In other words, this last sanctuary couldn't be preserved, and the ti they had left might not be much.
After a brief silence, Fei Yuan asked, "How long do we have?"
Peak Master Qingyuan answered: "One month."
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