Dongfang Che said, “Senior Brother went into qi deviation three years ago while cultivating, and he’s been bedridden in a coma ever since.”
“I went to Alchemy Medicine Peak and begged several Medical Cultivators to take a look, but they all said there was no cure. Senior Brother has an incurable disease—even immortals couldn save him. He’ll never wake up again.”
Luo Qingyan: “…”
A bucket of cold water poured over her head.
So, this incredibly handsome Senior Brother was a vegetable?
“Wait—that’s not right!”
Luo Qingyan suddenly noticed something off.
She pointed at the young man on the bed and demanded loudly, “You said Senior Brother has been bedridden in a coma for three years, but look—his hair is spotless and neatly styled, like he just got a fresh haircut! How can anyone go three years without washing their hair and still look this clean and put together?”
Dongfang Che said, “That’s because Senior Brother has a cleanliness obsession. He cultivated a Cleansing Art, and as long as he’s alive, it automatically activates every day.”
No sooner had he spoken.
A ring of water-blue light rippled outward from the white-robed young man, meticulously cleansing his entire body and the room inside and out.
Since Luo Qingyan and Dongfang Che were standing in the room, they got washed along with it.
Both of them were refreshed from head to toe.
Dongfang Che: “See that? That’s Senior Brother’s Cleansing Art.”
Luo Qingyan: “Nice.”
Senior Brother must be a Virgo—even on his deathbed, he still had to satisfy his cleanliness obsession.
Dongfang Che sighed. “Our Senior Brother was so outstanding originally. It’s a pity that he spent his whole life keeping himself pure and refined, elegant and otherworldly, sly and mischievous… and yet he ended up like this, lying here waiting to die. What a waste!”
“…”
Luo Qingyan was already choking back tears.
Master was dead, and Senior Brother had become a vegetable…
The entire Joyful Peak was now just her and Second Senior Brother, both at the First Level of Qi Refining—two noobs helping each other!
How were they supposed to deal with Mo Chenxue’s massacre?
“Ah—”
Luo Qingyan couldn’t help but roar at the sky: “Mo Chenxue, I hate you so much, ahhhhhh!!”
A flock of crows startled and flapped noisily off the branches.
…
Mystic Sword Peak.
The system’s voice echoed once again in Mo Chenxue’s Sea of Consciousness.
[Favorability -1]
Mo Chenxue’s face remained expressionless.
Heh, he was used to it by now.
But that girl really was detestable—she’d made him lose his composure in front of everyone twice. Over the years, he’d been careful to conceal the darkness in his heart, always calm and gentle in his dealings. Today, however, he’d crushed two teacups, and his junior brothers and sisters had all been frightened.
Even the Sect Master had specially summoned him after learning of it, asking if he’d deviated in his cultivation and become restless, warning him to keep a level head and be careful of qi deviation…
Mo Chenxue closed his eyes.
He didn’t want to see that damned girl right now. He’d leave her alone for a few days, then send another disciple to check on the situation.
…
On the other side, Luo Qingyan refused to give up.
Nothing could stop her passion for cultivation.
She pushed open the doors of Joyful Peak’s library, hoping to find some Cultivation Manuals.
—Since no one would teach her, she’d just have to teach herself!
Her gaze swept across row after row of bookshelves. Luo Qingyan saw all kinds of novels, essays, poetry, and prose—all recreational reading, not a single textbook related to cultivation.
So Joyful Peak just wasn’t a place for studying.
No one to teach, no one to supervise, and no study materials either.
Luo Qingyan’s face was covered in black lines.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
In the farthest corner, there was actually a… smutty book!?
The title was: My Years as a Cultivation Cauldron
“What the hell…” Luo Qingyan was indignant.
Cursing under her breath, she pulled the smutty book off the shelf.
Then she started reading it with great relish.
Hey, you know what? This little storybook from the Cultivation World wasn’t bad at all. The main thing was that the content was described in great detail—every process, every detail, every sound and image was depicted, holding nothing back.
Luo Qingyan praised it repeatedly. If she could rate it, she’d give it five stars!
Before she knew it, she’d read through the entire night.
When dawn broke, Luo Qingyan finally remembered, dark circles under her eyes, that she’d originally wanted to cultivate diligently—but instead she’d spent the whole night reading a novel?
Luo Qingyan was annoyed, her frustration with nowhere to go, not knowing who to blame.
So…
Mo Chenxue had barely opened his eyes in the early morning when he received the system notification:
[Favorability -1]
Mo Chenxue smiled calmly.
Just routine.
Nothing to be surprised about at all.
On Joyful Peak.
Luo Qingyan had read through the smutty book day and night, and refused to believe that this entire mountain didn’t have a single cultivation manual.
She snuck into her master’s room, hoping to get lucky, and sure enough—she discovered a thick set of secret manuals on the table, titled The Great Art of Survival.
Luo Qingyan was instantly drawn to the title.
The Great Art of Survival!
Heavens! This was exactly what she needed most!
Trembling, she flipped through several volumes, and her shock grew even greater.
This was practically an encyclopedia of cultivation, covering movement techniques, sword arts, formation arrays, talisman arts, medical arts, mental arts, astronomy, geography, history, and general knowledge… protecting your sorry life from every possible angle!
Luo Qingyan fell in love with it instantly!
She grabbed Dongfang Che excitedly: “Second Senior Brother, we’re saved this time!”
Dongfang Che: ?
Luo Qingyan was so excited that tears welled up in her eyes. “I found Master’s legacy, the Great Art of Survival! Starting today, the two of us will cultivate this Great Art of Survival. We’ll practice every technique in it, and we’re sure to find a survival profession that suits each of us!”
Dongfang Che: “Huh? This…”
They had agreed to be useless together, but now the other party suddenly wanted to strive for greatness. Dongfang Che was a bit flustered.
Dongfang Che possessed a Lightning Spirit Root, a rare single spirit root that should have made him a treasure of the sect. Unfortunately, his spirit root’s grade was too low. The elders all said his spirit root was inadequate, and no matter how he cultivated, it would be useless.
When Dongfang Che heard that, he thought, if others say I can’t do it, then maybe I really can’t.
From then on, he simply stopped cultivating altogether and chose to give up.
As for Luo Qingyan, she had a Five Elements Spirit Root, possessing all of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. This kind of aptitude was utterly hopeless. Cultivating five spirit roots simultaneously was impossible to master, as the attributes countered each other. As a result, her cultivation was even worse than Dongfang Che’s…
At this moment, Dongfang Che felt that the junior sister must be crazy to want to work hard, so he began making excuses to dodge.
“Junior sister, it’s not that I don’t want to cultivate, but the conditions just don’t allow it.”
Luo Qingyan asked, “What do you mean?”
Dongfang Che said, “We lack the necessary resources. For example, learning to draw talismans requires a wolf-hair brush and talisman paper, learning medicine requires silver needles, and alchemy requires herbs… Joyful Peak has none of these things, so there’s simply no way to learn.”
Luo Qingyan thought for a moment and said, “Talisman paper, silver needles, and such—the trading halls at Mage Peak and Alchemy Medicine Peak should sell them. I’ll go get some right away.”
Dongfang Che said, “Those things have to be purchased with Spirit Stones. Do you have any Spirit Stones?”
“No.”
“Exactly!” Dongfang Che clapped happily. “Joyful Peak doesn’t have a single Spirit Stone. We can’t buy any cultivation supplies, so we simply can’t cultivate!”
Luo Qingyan said, “That’s fine. I’ll go buy them without spending any money.”
Dongfang Che: “What?!”
He widened his eyes. “Buy things without spending money? What kind of joke is that!”
Luo Qingyan gave a sly, charming smile. “I have my ways.”