The Cold And Aloof Senior Sister Keeps Flirting With Me - Chapter 31

Yan Jue: “…”

Want something… different?

Yan Jue looked at the frozen, frost covered cold pond before her and couldn’t help but twitch the corners of her lips. Could Qi Xianqing possibly be planning another way to torment her? For instance, making her walk around the cold pond while tied up with sandbags.

Yan Jue stared warily at Qi Xianqing, only to see her let out a faint, cool smile and slowly say, “This footwork, watch closely.”

Qi Xianqing stood with her hands behind her back, stepping steadily, actually walking out onto the cold pond. A thin layer of ice covered the pond not nearly thick enough even throwing a fish onto it would shatter the thin ice. Yet, Qi Xianqing’s expression was calm as she slowly paced across the surface, taking eight steps forward and back before returning.

Yan Jue was stunned by the sight.

“This is called ‘Floating on Snow’,” Qi Xianqing looked up and asked, “Did you see it clearly?”

The weather was bitterly cold. Yan Jue stared at the mist rising from the water, a thin layer of sweat beading on her forehead, as if warmth was steaming out of her collar. The reason it was called the Cold Pond was precisely its extreme cold, especially in winter. Although the pond was rich in spiritual energy, living things were scarce because if any creature fell in during the depths of winter, it would be instantly consumed by the massive amount of cold energy!

This time, the task was a hundred times more difficult than before.

Head and tail martial arts. Middle section literature. Beginning seventy. Ending ten.

Yan Jue closed her eyes, sending her qi down to her dantian, and stepped onto the ice. A faint crunch came from under her feet, and the ice actually seemed on the verge of shattering! Yan Jue settled her mind and took a second step, and suddenly the ice beneath her feet completely shattered. Her pupils instantly contracted, and losing her balance, she was about to fall!

In an instant, a golden rope flew out from who knows where, wrapping tightly around her waist several times and hoisting Yan Jue up. Dangling in the air and swaying, Yan Jue swallowed, looked up, and saw Qi Xianqing, who had taken out her immortal sword, Zhuying (Candle Shadow), at some point, standing steadily on the sword while dragging her.

Yan Jue managed a strained smile, “Thank you, Eldest Senior Sister.”

Qi Xianqing looked down from her sword, a slight smile unconsciously curling her lips, “It’s nothing, continue.”

This time, with the rope wrapped around her waist, Yan Jue felt much safer. She began to calm down and ponder the meaning of the lightness skill.

The human body contains turbid qi. The process of tempering the body is to expel this turbid qi. When a person’s body is filled with spiritual energy, the body will naturally become lighter.

Yan Jue closed her eyes, gathering qi in her dantian. This wasn’t very difficult for her, as the mountain climbing she did for the past month was essentially doing this. Breathe in… exhale…

Qi Xianqing watched from above and couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned.

Yan Jue silently recited the mind mantra, stepping steadily on the thin ice. Pure spiritual energy gradually converged in her dantian, flowing through her entire body like sweet dew from the top of her head… Inhale… exhale…

Under Yan Jue’s feet, streams of cold energy began to rise. The thin ice on the cold pond shattered beneath her steps, and new frost spread out from under her feet! Thick frost spread out around her, creating dazzling ice flowers on the pond.

Mimicking Qi Xianqing’s earlier move, Yan Jue stepped forward eight paces, then retreated, suddenly opening her eyes and looking up at Qi Xianqing, smiling, “I think I got it!”

Qi Xianqing rested her chin in her hand and fell silent: “…”

It seemed she did get it, but in reality… it was less like learning and more like this little monkey had created her own technique. Qi Xianqing had taught so many junior brothers and sisters, but she had never seen anyone produce ice while practicing lightness skill.

Qi Xianqing pondered for a while, “Try again, let me watch.”

Yan Jue silently recited the mind mantra, arranged her “Five Dragon Lightness Skill” stance, and stepped out lightly. Wherever she went, frost condensed. The girl stepped steadily on the ice, walking back and forth more than ten steps.

Yan Jue leaped up lightly and landed gently on the shore, looking up at Qi Xianqing, “Eldest Senior Sister.”

Qi Xianqing: “…”

Qi Xianqing jumped off her sword and stood in front of Yan Jue, coughed lightly, and said coolly, “I will teach you one more move today.”

Yan Jue was startled, looking at Qi Xianqing, her heart suddenly accelerating. What what what, I can learn a second move?! Is this a buy-one-get-one bonus for learning lightness skill?

Yan Jue smiled at Qi Xianqing, “Mm-hmm, thank you, Eldest Senior Sister.”

In the sunlight, the girl’s face was like powdered jade, her clear amber eyes fixed on Qi Xianqing, sparkling with tiny glints of light. Qi Xianqing paused slightly, not expecting learning martial arts to be such a happy occasion for Junior Sister Yan. She seemed to have developed a different understanding of Yan Jue.

Qi Xianqing took a stance, signaling Yan Jue to watch carefully. Yan Jue stared at her intently.

Qi Xianqing, who was standing beside her, vanished in an instant! Yan Jue was startled, suddenly hearing a soft clap from a distance. Qi Xianqing had appeared next to a large rock several zhang away! This time Yan Jue saw clearly: Qi Xianqing merely shifted her body slightly and moved several zhang in an instant, her white skirt flapping wildly in the strong wind.

Such speed of movement… Yan Jue’s heart couldn’t stop accelerating. This movement technique was too familiar to her. That day at the Zui Chun Tower, Qi Xianqing used this same technique to subdue the culprit in an instant. And the bloody demon slaying scene in Nanxing Town. Too powerful… Is this what Qi Xianqing is going to teach me?

Yan Jue was lost in thought, only to hear Qi Xianqing’s calm voice sound beside her, “This is called ‘Instantaneous Thousand Li’ (Shun Xi Qian Li), a mid level lightness skill, which most Five Dragon Gate disciples know.”

Yan Jue was stunned, “Most Five Dragon Gate disciples know it? But…” No one uses ‘Instantaneous Thousand Li’ as powerfully as you do.

Qi Xianqing seemed to know what she was thinking, slightly curling her lips, “This is a very basic skill that most people know, but whether one can master it depends on fate.”

Perhaps due to spending more time with Qi Xianqing, Yan Jue was seeing more lively expressions on her face. In Yan Jue’s eyes, Qi Xianqing was no longer that aloof, ice cold Eldest Senior Sister…

Yan Jue took a stance like Qi Xianqing’s, about to circulate her qi, but saw Qi Xianqing turn as if to leave. Yan Jue was startled, “You…” Aren’t you going to practice with me?

Qi Xianqing turned back, a smile of interest in her dark eyes, “What? You want me to accompany you?”

Yan Jue: “? I don’t want you to accompany me at all.”

Qi Xianqing walked away without looking back, “Junior Sister Yan has always been intelligent, learning lightness skill with energy to spare, even having time for romance. This ‘Instantaneous Thousand Li’ is easy, so you should ponder it yourself.” She left behind a remark that seemed sarcastic and then departed.

Yan Jue: “…”

Woman, I don’t understand you.

Qi Xianqing taught Yan Jue the mind mantra and then left. She was the first disciple of the Zhenhuo Sect, and when not in seclusion, she always had many matters to attend to. Yan Jue was used to it. However, Yan Jue didn’t understand the last sentence Qi Xianqing said before leaving. Having energy to spare, I don’t!

Yan Jue tried practicing ‘Instantaneous Thousand Li’ for a while but couldn’t grasp its essence, so she returned to the dormitory to start memorizing and transcribing the new mind mantra Qi Xianqing had just taught her. After copying the mantra for ‘Instantaneous Thousand Li’ into her study book, Yan Jue took her Qiankun Pouch and went out. She had a very important task to do.

The path up Qiwu Peak was very steep. Yan Jue, wearing the common light blue Daoist robe for outer disciples, walked with flowing sleeves, carrying the Qiankun Pouch, her face not red, her breath not labored, moving as if carried by the wind. After descending a long, steep slope, she soon arrived at her destination.

It was early winter, but the Hundred Flower Valley was as warm as spring. Flowers of different colors swayed and bloomed in the valley, like a vibrant rainbow against the clear sky.

Yan Jue took out a long, thin “nectar collecting tube” from her Qiankun Pouch, squatted down in front of a cluster of flowers, and began sucking nectar from flower after flower. The nectar from different colored flowers in the Hundred Flower Valley had different effects. For example, the ivory white “Moli” flower nectar, when made into tea, had a beauty-enhancing effect. Or the dark purple “Yesi” flower nectar, which made one run faster when consumed. The crimson Crane Grass, eaten, allowed one to go without sleep, and so on.

Yan Jue slowly poured the collected nectar into her glass bottle. The bottle lit up with a bright, fluorescent green color. The Ghost Fireflies were happily feasting.

Yan Jue: “Eat slowly… there’s plenty more, everyone will get some.”

The nectar Yan Jue fed the Ghost Fireflies was collected from a type of bluish-green flower called “Jiaoshui”. Yan Jue had discovered a few days prior that feeding the Ghost Fireflies with “Jiaoshui” nectar seemed to strengthen their lightning attribute. Initially, the electric shock attack from the Ghost Fireflies when Yan Jue first cultivated them only caused a light tingling sensation on the skin’s surface. But now, after feeding them with Jiaoshui nectar for half a month, the Ghost Fireflies seemed to have evolved. Dozens of Ghost Fireflies connected together could form a powerful lightning field, equivalent to connecting five or six layers of lightning, resulting in immense power. Moreover, a month of continuous feeding had allowed Yan Jue to achieve a mental connection (tong shen xing) with the Ghost Fireflies, greatly extending their lifespan. Now, Yan Jue could use her divine sense to make the Ghost Fireflies do things for her.

After feeding the Ghost Fireflies, Yan Jue collected a small bag of Jiaoshui nectar and left with her Qiankun Pouch.

Yan Jue reached the steep slope she had descended earlier and looked up at the seemingly endless slope above. In the sunlight, her narrow phoenix eyes narrowed slightly; she felt a bit lazy. There was a protruding cliff among the rocks overhead. If she could use sword control (yujian), going up from there would be much more convenient.

A thought suddenly flooded Yan Jue’s mind, tempting her to try. So, Yan Jue silently recited the mind mantra and circulated the ‘Floating on Snow’ taught by Qi Xianqing. One step… two steps…

Yan Jue’s divine sense sank, and a patch of frost suddenly condensed under her feet! As Yan Jue took a step, countless frost spread out from all around, and with every step she took, more ice flowers bloomed. The Hundred Flower Valley gradually became small beneath her feet, and her body felt lighter than ever before. She seemed to be flying in mid-air!

Yan Jue’s heart was about to leap out of her throat. She clenched her right hand into a seal, exerted force with her legs, and leaped upward violently. The frost under her feet flickered, almost exploding. In an instant, that patch of frost began to shatter from the middle! Yan Jue’s body swayed, and she violently reached out to grab a piece of broken rock in front of her. Her legs dangled in the air, barely managing to pull herself up onto the cliff edge, kneeling there to breathe heavily.

Although her brief flight lasted only for an instant, it proved that her assumption was reliable. The ‘Floating on Snow’ taught by Qi Xianqing was a lightness skill mantra, and also the basic mantra for sword control in the Kaiguang Realm (Light Opening Realm). The fact that she could now briefly soar into the air for a period of time meant that her current cultivation level… Could it be that she was already at the early stage of the Kaiguang Realm!

Yan Jue immediately sat cross-legged on the cliff, circulated her mind technique, and probed the spiritual power within her chest. Sure enough, a mass of spiritual energy was surging wildly inside her. Yan Jue found it somewhat strange. Logically, if a cultivator felt they were about to break through, they would sense a distinct fluctuation of spiritual power deep within their body. If the spiritual power was too turbulent, they would even need to spend the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to sit in place, circulate the mind mantra, and disperse the spiritual energy. For example, the last time by the cold pond, Qi Xianqing went from the Great Perfection of the Kaiguang Realm to the Ronghe Realm (Fusion Realm) of the Fourth Realm. Even in the perilous moment when she was attacked by the black snake, Qi Xianqing did not want to give up the rare opportunity for a breakthrough, even risking her life to use ten breaths to soothe the spiritual energy in her body!

But if her cultivation level was already in the Kaiguang Realm… why hadn’t she dispersed any spiritual energy for so long? If there was no spiritual energy fluctuation, there would naturally be no “Qi Mechanism” (Qiji). Every cultivator has a ‘Qi Mechanism,’ also known as an aura field. For example, the Fusion Realm has the aura field of the Fusion Realm, and the Kaiguang Realm has its own… Others could also investigate someone’s cultivation level by sensing their ‘Qi Mechanism.’

Since she had no Qiji, even though her cultivation was in the Kaiguang Realm, others couldn’t detect it. Could it be… Because she was a demon, this human ‘Qi Mechanism’ simply didn’t apply to her!

Yan Jue stared blankly at her palm, feeling no joy at all. Instead, she felt a chilling dread. Her Qiji would not increase with her cultivation level. But she had already displayed power inconsistent with her Qiji. At first, when her cultivation was low, she could barely fool heaven and man, but as her cultivation increased, it would be impossible to hide. A little demon sneaking into the righteous Five Dragon Gate…