Suddenly turning into a woman who disregarded rites, righteousness, and shame to elope with another man gave Qin Zhizhi a bit of indigestion.
In her memory, the original owner had never even spoken to another man. During her childhood, she would still go out with her younger brother and sister to meet guests. However, the original owner was taciturn and did not possess a pleasing personality, so as time went on, her father rarely called for her. Even when Jun Wuya came to visit, they were prevented from meeting four out of five times. Her stepmother would invariably take her younger sister along to entertain him, using the excuse that the original owner was ill and it was inconvenient for her to see guests.
After every meeting, Qin Zhijie would always run over to boast about what Brother Jun had gifted her, where he had taken her to play, where he had gone, how high his cultivation was, and just how incredible he was. Because the original owner had never received any gifts or even a word of greeting from Jun Wuya, her heart gradually grew cold, likely out of low self-esteem.
For a person like that, you are claiming she disregarded rites, righteousness, and shame to pull off an elopement? If that were true, Qin Zhizhi could fly right up into the sky and blow up the moon.
Su Qingyi shielded Qin Zhizhi behind her. “You are talking absolute nonsense! Miss Qin was clearly deceived by a villain. If we hadn’t happened to rescue her, her life or death would be uncertain right now. Stop spitting blood at people here!”
“That is because she herself was blind, foolishly trusting the words of others. She cannot blame anyone else.” Qin Zhijie laughed so hard her posture shook. “She herself is stupid, so who else can she blame?”
Oh, so that was how it was. Qin Zhizhi finally understood.
While Qin Zhijie and her mother were planning to sell Qin Zhizhi off, they also ran to the Heguang Sect to slander her, claiming she had eloped with someone else. The Wudu City Lord was naturally furious as well. Regardless of whether anyone else believed it, Qin Zhizhi’s reputation was already ruined. Leaving aside the fact that Qin Zhizhi was never supposed to make it back, even if she did manage to return by some one-in-a-million stroke of luck, she would no longer have the face to live in this world, and her marriage to Jun Wuya would naturally be out of the question. Furthermore, as long as Qin Zhizhi remained absent, there was no witness to testify against them, meaning Qin Zhijie and her mother could call black white and get away with it.
Who would actually care about such a quiet young girl?
Even if someone believed Qin Zhizhi’s words and acknowledged it wasn’t an elopement, what of it? After all, no one could produce any evidence. It would merely result in them locking horns exactly like Qin Zhijie and Su Qingyi were doing right now.
It seemed that back at Fotan, Su Qingyi had still been considerate of Qin Zhizhi’s feelings, phrasing the situation much too gently. No wonder while walking along the path earlier, Qin Zhizhi felt that the gazes and whispers directed at her by the other disciples were somewhat strange, and she had wondered if it was just her imagination.
It had to be said that Qin Zhijie had truly played a brilliant hand.
“Qin Zhizhi, if I were you, I would take my own life early to save trouble. At least then, people might praise you as a woman of fierce chastity.” Qin Zhijie fixed her gaze on Qin Zhizhi, her eyes filled entirely with mockery.
Qin Zhizhi found it utterly preposterous. “Why on earth do I need others to praise me as a woman of fierce chastity?”
“In your current state, what face do you have left to live in this world?”
Before Qin Zhizhi could respond, Su Qingyi’s face was already entirely masked in fury. To actually step forward and tell someone to commit suicide; since her childhood at the Heguang Sect, everyone she interacted with had been noble and pure, and she had never seen someone as cold-hearted as Qin Zhijie. No matter what, Qin Zhizhi and Qin Zhijie were biological sisters!
Su Qingyi felt deeply indignant, but she was truly unwilling to continue entangling herself with such a malicious woman. Grabbing Qin Zhizhi’s hand, she placed it onto the Azure Spiritual Stone. “Zhizhi, let’s test your spiritual roots. Don’t pay any attention to her.”
“Some people have stopped acting human just to steal their older sister’s fiancé. If even she can live, why can’t I live?” Compared to Su Qingyi’s anger, Qin Zhizhi was considerably calmer. She calmly spat out this single sentence, following Su Qingyi’s turn before slowly placing her hand onto the spiritual stone.
Qin Zhijie instantly flew into a violent rage. “What kind of thing do you think you are, how dare you speak to me like that?!”
Saying this, her feet left the ground as she flew into the grand hall, standing right in front of Qin Zhizhi. Gathering her energy, she raised her palm and prepared to strike her. Su Qingyi had originally been staring solely at the spiritual stone, so her reaction was half a beat too slow. By the time she turned around wanting to intercept, it was already too late. Qin Zhijie’s slap was about to land directly on Qin Zhizhi’s face.
It just so happened that the Azure Spiritual Stone began to operate, emitting a soft click as a pale green light penetrated and rose upward. Qin Zhizhi only felt a slight stir in her heart as a faint, warm current rose from her dantian and flowed into her limbs and bones. This incredibly familiar sensation made her entire body feel thoroughly comfortable.
Her brow smoothed out. Her right hand clenched tightly to concentrate her strength, and she abruptly threw out a punch, kicking up a gust of fierce wind. It appeared as though dragons were soaring and tigers were leaping, swift as a startled dragon, and with a booming crash, it hit Qin Zhijie square in the nose. Qin Zhijie collapsed instantly, and under the massive impact, she smashed through and broke the threshold of the grand hall with a loud bang, flying straight out.
Qin Zhizhi muttered, “Holy crap!”
That punch seemed a bit too powerful.
Su Qingyi stood open-mouthed, staring at Qin Zhizhi as if she were looking at a deity.
Lu Yuandao, who had just come out from the Sect Master’s quarters to look for Qin Zhizhi, happened to arrive outside the hall. Hearing the booming crash, he watched a figure fly out from inside the hall like a broken kite, giving him a fright. Once he got a clear look at the unconscious Qin Zhijie, whose face was completely covered in blood, he feared something major had happened inside and hurriedly strode into the hall.
Yet upon entering, he only saw Su Qingyi and Qin Zhizhi staring wide-eyed at each other, with Qin Zhizhi’s hand still resting on the Azure Spiritual Stone.
Seeing that the two of them were unharmed, Lu Yuandao let out a sigh of relief and said, “What are you two doing here? Is Miss Qin testing her spiritual roots?”
Mentioning the spiritual root test, Su Qingyi hurriedly smacked her own head. “Right! To be able to throw such a powerful punch, Miss Qin’s spiritual roots must be exceptionally rare.”
Shouldn’t it at least be much better than Qin Zhijie’s?
Saying this, the three of them looked toward the Azure Spiritual Stone together. After the green light surged dramatically, the spiritual stone became completely chaotic, and after a brief moment, it slowly revealed a jumbled mess of five different colors.
Qin Zhizhi was speechless.
Although she knew early on that this body was a bit of a waste, seeing the variegated five spiritual roots still left her a little disappointed.
Su Qingyi was thoroughly bewildered, staring at the spiritual stone and murmuring to herself, “How is that possible? How could it be five spiritual roots?”
In immortal cultivation, a single spiritual root was the rarest, allowing for an extremely rapid cultivation speed. Among single spiritual roots, they were further divided into ordinary single spiritual roots and mutated single spiritual roots. A mutated single spiritual root was the highest tier of the highest tier, a occurrence hard to come by in a hundred years, exactly like Xie Yutai. Below a single spiritual root was a dual spiritual root, which was likewise rare and usually allowed one to become a core disciple of the three sects and six factions, with a cultivation speed second only to a single spiritual root. Below that was a triple spiritual root, followed by a quadruple spiritual root, with cultivation speeds decreasing in turn. By the time it reached five spiritual roots, it was basically a useless waste incapable of cultivation, lacking the qualifications to even be a sweeping disciple in the three sects, six factions, and twelve cities.
Lu Yuandao also rubbed his nose. “The Azure Spiritual Stone shouldn’t make a mistake. Miss Qin, do not be too sad.”
Qin Zhizhi was not sad. She released her hand and nodded. A waste always had a waste’s method of cultivation. Furthermore, based on the sensation from just that single instant, she believed that even if she was a waste, she was at least a chosen waste—a confidence born of being a salted fish. Even if Qin Zhizhi’s foundation was poor, Qin Zhizhi was at least someone who had achieved Foundation Establishment before. A woman of the Tiantong Sect would never admit defeat!
Su Qingyi still found it unbelievable. “Senior Brother Lu, did you see that? Based on the punch Miss Qin threw just now, it wouldn’t be surprising even if she had a mutated spiritual root. How could she possibly have five spiritual roots?”
Lu Yuandao closed the hall doors while ushering the two of them out. Seeing the broken threshold of the grand hall, he thought to himself that they would have to spend money again, and let out a soft sigh. “Who knows? Perhaps Miss Qin possesses an extraordinary natural gift.”
He had never felt that Qin Zhizhi was a simple character. She knew the amplifying talisman of the three sects and six factions, a thing even Qin Zhijie had never seen before; would the Wudu City Lord actually teach it to her? To look at it from another angle, would the Wudu City Lord, who favored martial force, be bored enough to memorize such a thing meant for children’s games?
Hearing Lu Yuandao’s words, Su Qingyi’s eyes shone brightly as she stared at Qin Zhizhi. “It must be so!”
Qin Zhizhi felt a shiver of disgust from her gaze, truly fearing that she would thrust a thumb in front of her face in the next moment and say, “You’re the man.”
Qin Zhijie was already nowhere to be seen, presumably carried off by other disciples to receive medical treatment. Since she could not see her silhouette, Qin Zhizhi was saved from feeling annoyed. However, she would inevitably be pointed at along the road again. She truly did not know what kind of tales these people had spread among themselves. Thinking about it, she actually felt a little expectant.
Before long, the three of them arrived at the main hall of the Heguang Sect. The Heguang Sect Master He Lingfeng, Elder Nanfeng, and the Yasheng Sect Master Zhang Baimei were sitting together discussing something. Completely different from the short-statured Elder Nanfeng, He Lingfeng was of moderate height, appearing to be only in his forties, with gentle brows and eyes. Zhang Baimei, true to his name, was not old but possessed two snow-white eyebrows, making him unforgettable at first sight.
“Master, I have brought the guest,” Lu Yuandao saluted.
He Lingfeng nodded, looking toward Qin Zhizhi with a gentle tone. “Miss Qin, we have already heard about your matter. You have been frightened.”
Qin Zhizhi shook her head. “Thank you for your concern, Sect Master He.”
Zhang Baimei was already intensely curious, craneing his neck and asking impatiently, “I wonder if the location of the Corpse-Freezing Talisman is convenient to view?”
Fortunately, it was right on the back of her neck. If it were on her body, it might truly be inconvenient.
Thinking this, Qin Zhizhi walked in front of the three men, turned her back to everyone, and lowered her head slightly. At the back of her neck, a faint gold miniature sword emerged, firmly pinned to her skin like a birthmark. Qin Zhizhi’s complexion was already quite fair, making this miniature sword appear exceptionally distinct now.
Nanfeng asked, “Old Zhang, can you undo it?”
Zhang Baimei frowned and scrutinized it for a long time, extending a finger to sense it with his spiritual energy. To his surprise, he instantly felt a wave of rejection strike his fingertip, as if a sword blade were cutting his hand. The more spiritual energy he injected, the more intense the pain became.
He hurriedly withdrew his hand, a bit of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead, speaking with some uncertainty, “This matter is completely unheard of. I am afraid I must return to my sect to consult the ancient texts before I can give a definitive reply.”
To put it bluntly: this question was too difficult, and he didn’t know how to solve it either!
“Ah, it truly is a tumultuous time… and young friend Xie is currently in that state again.” Thinking of the previous events, Elder Nanfeng could not help but sigh repeatedly.
Hearing this, Qin Zhizhi did not feel any ripples in her heart. This was, after all, a talisman of a demon race ghost cultivator. If it were that easy to undo, Dan Wuning wouldn’t be able to survive in his line of work. The demon race’s methods for refining talismans were inherently different from those of the immortal cultivation world, and Dan Wuning’s methods were the most sinister of the sinister. It was not surprising at all that Zhang Baimei did not know how to handle it.
It seemed she still had to rely on Xie Yutai. She wondered how the situation at the Shapo Sect was progressing?
Seeing that there was no immediate solution, He Lingfeng and the others comforted Qin Zhizhi once more, telling her to settle down peacefully within the sect for the time being to await news from Xie Yutai. They then instructed Su Qingyi to take her to get settled first.
Exiting the doors of the main hall, Qin Zhizhi let out a long sigh of relief, turning to chat and laugh with Su Qingyi while discussing where she would stay. Su Qingyi wanted Qin Zhizhi to live closer to her to make chatting convenient, and also to keep her distance from Qin Zhijie. Qin Zhizhi was naturally a hundred percent willing. She was just about to express her thanks with a smile when she felt a shadow loom over her from above, causing even Su Qingyi’s face beside her to freeze slightly.
Qin Zhizhi retracted her smile. “What’s wrong?”
Su Qingyi looked toward her side without a moment’s delay, pointing her finger and whispering close to her ear, “Senior Brother Jun has arrived.”