Yu Qingya’s tone was crisp and cool, carrying a hint of doubt.
“I was worried that Senior Sister might not be accustomed to the living arrangements here, so I specifically came along to accompany her.”
Qingxu also spoke indifferently without much expression, though Qin Yu, who was always well-acquainted with her personality, could sense the underlying meaning.
Looking at Yu Qingya’s examining gaze and Qingxu looking at her from the side, Qin Yu felt for the first time the awkwardness of being caught in the middle.
“Is this what she said?”
Yu Qingya slowly spoke up.
Since Qin Yu had brought Qingxu along, she could only nod silently.
This time, Yu Qingya did not say anything else; she simply nodded to indicate that she understood.
Yu Qingya’s personality was such that she generally disliked having others around her, so Qin Yu had no choice but to go out, find someone to help settle Qingxu, and return to Yu Qingya’s room once more.
“Could it be that my taking care of your daily life made you uncomfortable, prompting you to bring someone along?”
Yu Qingya’s tone was filled with a trace of an unclear and indefinable emotion.
Hearing Yu Qingya’s slightly strange tone, Qin Yu could only force a dry laugh, stepping closer with a flattering expression. “How could that be? Elder Sister takes wonderful care of me.”
Although her tone was fawning, what Qin Yu said was the truth.
Even though Yu Qingya always appeared cold and aloof, during those days at Qinglian Pavilion, she had attended to Qin Yu’s daily needs in every possible way.
“Oh? Since that is the case, you will sleep with me tonight.”
Qin Yu already knew that Yu Qingya was always straightforward when speaking, but to someone harboring secret feelings for her, hearing such words always felt rather bizarre.
Yet Qin Yu did not think anything else of it at the moment, because as one of the two major harems of the male protagonist, how could Yu Qingya possibly harbor romantic feelings for her?
As for why she herself had such feelings, it was simply because the soul inside this shell had been replaced.
Qin Yu roughly understood Yu Qingya’s mindset. It was like a child dealing with a friend, always afraid that their friend might find someone better and grow distant from them.
“Doesn’t Elder Sister usually dislike having people close to you?”
Qin Yu asked with a smile.
She felt quite good inside that Yu Qingya would invite her like this.
However, before fully understanding the situation, she did not know whether Yu Qingya said this out of simulated annoyance or if she genuinely wanted to sleep together.
In truth, Qin Yu felt both a desire and an inclination to refuse regarding this matter. For someone she loved, she naturally wanted to take things a step further, but at the same time, it was a sweet form of torture.
“What? Are you unwilling?”
A glimmer of obscure light flashed through Yu Qingya’s eyes as she looked at Qin Yu.
Qin Yu waved her hands repeatedly. “How could that be? Of course I am very willing.”
Qin Yu made amends over and over again, terrified of showing even a shred of reluctance in front of the person she loved.
Only then did Yu Qingya nod in satisfaction. “Right, we have not seen each other in several days, and I have not checked what stage your cultivation has reached yet.”
In fact, Yu Qingya had an ulterior motive in bringing Qin Yu back to Qinglian Pavilion. Ever since Qin Yu refined the Seventh Elder that day, her spiritual power had remained somewhat stagnant and blocked, so she wanted to see if there was any way to resolve it upon returning.
Hearing that her cultivation was about to be examined, Qin Yu felt like a student called upon by a teacher during class, shaking her head repeatedly. “Better not, Elder Sister. Isn’t it a bit unfair to spring a spot-check on me right now?”
Though she found Qin Yu’s coaxing tone quite pleasant to hear, this matter concerned Qin Yu’s safety, so how could Yu Qingya possibly be negligent?
“Xiaoyu, do not be unruly.”
Although Yu Qingya’s tone was gentle, her expression was extremely serious.
Qin Yu had always been deathly afraid of Yu Qingya in this regard, so she had no choice but to let the other party inspect her cultivation and release her spiritual energy.
Having not seen her for a while, she had already reached the Nascent Soul stage, and Yu Qingya was quite satisfied with this.
Yu Qingya had never worried about Qin Yu’s cultivation speed.
After inspecting her spiritual energy, Yu Qingya finally asked the question she had been meaning to ask.
“What about your spiritual power?”
Yu Qingya inquired.
“This…” Qin Yu looked at Yu Qingya with some hesitation, looking as though she wanted to speak but stopped herself.
“What is wrong?”
“Elder Sister, there is really no need to check the spiritual power.”
Qin Yu wore a reluctant expression.
Had it been in the past, Yu Qingya would have let the matter rest, but today was different. Checking was precisely intended to inspect the state of Qin Yu’s spiritual power.
“Xiaoyu, be obedient.”
Yu Qingya always spoke with such conciseness, leaving Qin Yu no choice but to obediently release her spiritual power.
Just as she had anticipated, there were no spiritual power fluctuations whatsoever.
Since ancient times, very few people cultivated spiritual power, so it was not classified as clearly or advancedly as spiritual energy.
It was simply divided from level one to level nine, with each level further split into early, middle, and late stages.
Qin Yu’s spiritual power should have been at the late fourth-stage, and it should not have been completely devoid of any fluctuation like this.
“What is going on here?”
Yu Qingya asked softly.
Qin Yu smiled bitterly. “It is just as Elder Sister imagines. Ever since that day when I forcefully used the Flames of World Purification, it became like this. It is probably due to severe overdrawing, and it will get better after some time.”
How could Yu Qingya possibly believe such an explanation? If it truly only took a few days of rest to recover, Qin Yu would not have kept it hidden from her.
On that day, the Seventh Elder’s primary target had been Yu Qingya, so Yu Qingya undoubtedly felt an immense sense of guilt.
“Is there any way to resolve this?”
Yu Qingya had never understood spiritual power deeply.
Qin Yu sighed. “Finding the Three-Element Holy Fruit should solve it, only…”
Yu Qingya understood what Qin Yu meant. Finding the Three-Element Holy Fruit was difficult enough on its own, but it was also guarded by a beast possessing late Out-of-Body stage strength.
That was not even the hardest part. Because it was a fruit that guarded spiritual power, anyone attempting to take it had to possess active spiritual power fluctuations on their body.
“Then how can one obtain spiritual power fluctuations?”
Yu Qingya asked.
Since this matter concerned Qin Yu, Yu Qingya could not possibly afford not to care. If there was even a shred of a way, she would strive to carry it out.
Not only because Qin Yu was her best friend, but also because she refused to let such a talented person lose the ability to use their strength over this issue.
Hearing Yu Qingya’s question, Qin Yu’s complexion revealed a hint of awkwardness, accompanied by an indescribable sense of strangeness.
“What is the matter?”
Seeing that Qin Yu remained silent for so long, Yu Qingya grew somewhat curious.
After all, she was quite anxious about this matter. If Qin Yu had any method to induce spiritual power fluctuations, she was willing to give it a try.
Right now, she was already on the verge of stepping into the Out-of-Body stage. If she pushed her strength to the limit, she might just be able to secure the Three-Element Holy Fruit.
“Elder Sister, perhaps we should just forget about it.” Qin Yu faltered a bit; the method was simply too difficult to say aloud.
If it were anyone else, it might have been fine, but the person in question was Yu Qingya, which made Qin Yu feel rather troubled, and she certainly did not want to drag Yu Qingya into danger.
“Since there is a way, hurry up and tell me.”
Seeing Qin Yu act this way, Yu Qingya grew even more impatient.
Seeing Yu Qingya show such persistence, Qin Yu ultimately relented. “This method requires both parties to transmit breath mouth-to-mouth.”