The Cold And Aloof Senior Sister Keeps Flirting With Me - Chapter 55

Qi Xianqing and Yan Jue came down from the mountain. After walking for a while, they soon arrived at Fengxian Town.

The two found an inn to stay at.

Qi Xianqing said, “Fengxian Town has a lot of good food. After I finish my seclusion, we can walk around the market.”

Yan Jue froze for a moment, then smiled. “Okay!”

In fact, Yan Jue wanted to tell Qi Xianqing that she didn’t need to force herself to take her sightseeing especially since Qi Xianqing had been badly injured just a few days ago.

Yan Jue had to admit that Qi Xianqing was truly a very responsible senior sister.

Bringing junior brothers and sisters on missions didn’t just mean doing missions she also acted as a part-time tour guide taking them around mountains and rivers.

Qi Xianqing must be very tired.

Yan Jue didn’t want her to be so exhausted.

Qi Xianqing looked at her and nodded lightly.

Qi Xianqing still needed to go into seclusion to stabilize the spiritual power in her body. Yan Jue estimated she would need at least two days.

Yan Jue didn’t want to disturb her.

She sat in the room and opened Lesser Yin Ice Soul Art to practice on her own.

She had already practiced most of the basics.

Next: expanding spiritual sense.

Every cultivator, after reaching the Aperture Opening Realm, would begin to develop spiritual sense.

Spiritual sense was the ability to perceive.

For example, those with strong spiritual sense could detect the presence of living beings around them even without sight.

Yan Jue closed her eyes and thought carefully.

This was done mainly through “qi gazing.”

Where there are people, there is qi.

Where the population is dense, qi becomes thick.

Where people are sparse, qi is like thin clouds.

Yan Jue sat cross-legged on the bed, carefully comprehending the book’s words.

She took a deep breath in, then exhaled, and opened her eyes again.

She could actually see faint wisps of cloudlike vapor swirling outside the inn.

Yan Jue flipped off the bed and looked outside, seeing a vendor pulling a donkey cart slowly passing below.

“……”

Expanding spiritual sense was far easier than other arts! Yan Jue was thrilled spiritual sense expansion was a natural development once a cultivator reached a certain level. One only had to read a bit and grasp the idea.

Yan Jue climbed back onto the bed, closed her eyes, and continued expanding her spiritual sense.

After she was done, there was still plenty of time, so Yan Jue went downstairs for a walk.

If this world had a Myriad Demon Pavilion everywhere, Fengxian Town should have one too.

She planned to visit again.

After all, she would be escaping soon. She needed to prepare some things.

Yan Jue walked down from the inn. Just as she was about to leave, her peripheral vision caught sight of a notice posted at the inn’s entrance.

Government Notice:

Recently, Fengxian Town has been plagued by malevolent spirits.

The flower courtesan Jiang Mengwan of Tanchun House has gone missing. The eldest madam of the Xu family in the north of town has gone missing. The madam of the Song family has also disappeared in recent days three women missing in a row!

Nanlou cultivators have arrived in Fengxian Town to deal with this matter. Please do not go out at night. Do not panic.

Yan Jue froze.

Then she heard a sigh behind her. “Those who went missing are great beauties of Fengxian Town…”

Yan Jue turned to see a man stroking his beard and shaking his head.

“Excuse me,” Yan Jue asked, “what do you mean by… great beauties?”

The man looked surprised. “You don’t know? The number-one beauty of Fengxian Town is our Tanchun House’s flower courtesan, Miss Jiang. The second is the eldest madam of the Xu family in the north. And the Song family has always produced beauties especially their young madam, a true fairy descended to the mortal world.”

“But starting a month ago, these beauties began disappearing one after another. The culprit must be a typical lust driven monster.”

Yan Jue blinked. “The notice says Nanlou cultivators are already here. Has this case been resolved?”

The man shook his head. “No.”

“I heard Nanlou dispatched a master, but for some reason, despite patrolling every night, he hasn’t seen the culprit even once.”

“They say the culprit’s movement is extremely fast and his whereabouts unpredictable not easy to catch.”

“And… he only targets the greatest beauties of Fengxian Town.”

It seemed many places were troubled these days…

Yan Jue only glanced once, then turned to leave. This wasn’t something she could interfere with.

She had just stepped out when she saw a fat figure enter the inn.

A burly man in a blue-green robe swaggered inside and sat at a table.

He was huge, with pitted skin, layers of fat on his face, and eyes squinting into slits.

The waiter hurried over obsequiously. “Master, what would you like to eat?”

“He’s a cultivator from Nanlou,” someone whispered to Yan Jue.

Yan Jue tugged at the corner of her mouth. Though she knew this was rude… this man looked…

If he went out to catch monsters, the monsters might be frightened away first.

Yan Jue had already visited many times.

Today, familiar with the route, she quickly located the Myriad Demon Pavilion.

This pavilion was in a forest outside Fengxian Town.

In this world, the demon race had long been suppressed by humans. Other than the five noble demon clans, most demons were forced to hide in remote mountains and forests.

In this forest lay a huge crater likely smashed open by a powerful spiritual strike.

The pit was filled with demonic qi. All kinds of demons set up stalls along its edge.

Yan Jue once again found the round, plump pheasant spirit.

The pheasant-spirit clan truly lived off alchemy no matter where one went, one could see them.

“Cold smoke grass… and Yin grass.” The pheasant spirit stroked its chin. “These herbs aren’t cheap. Is Miss planning to sell them or refine them?”

Yan Jue said, “I want to turn these two herbs into something that can help my spiritual roots mutate toward the ice attribute.”

Back at the cold pool, she had asked Qi Xianqing.

Qi Xianqing said the Dark Ice Flower could help her water-earth dual roots mutate into ice roots.

Meaning: to alter spiritual roots, one needed special heavenly treasures.

Later, Yan Jue researched and found that not only Dark Ice Flower other celestial herbs could also promote mutation.

For example, extremely cold Cold-smoke Grass.

But root mutation was complex and often failed.

Yin Grass could stabilize and increase the success rate.

The pheasant spirit said, “I’ll take one Yin Grass and one Cold smoke Grass as material, and refine a Nine Curve Mutation Pill Price: eight mid-grade spirit stones.”

It was expensive Yan Jue only had eight mid-grade stones in total.

But she knew it would cost much more elsewhere, so she gladly handed over the stones.

The pheasant spirit carefully placed the herbs into its mortar and pounded them, then pulled out common herbs from a drawer.

The alchemy beast beside it sat motionless, watching.

The pheasant spirit handed the mashed herbs to the beast, chanting softly.

Yan Jue blinked.

Then the pheasant spirit took out a ball of deep-red flame. Yan Jue sensed its spiritual fluctuations it was no ordinary fire.

The flame swayed violently.

The alchemy beast opened its mouth and swallowed the fire whole.

Yan Jue frowned. “The process seems complicated.”

“Of course!” the pheasant spirit said. “Not only complicated without great skill the pill would easily fail. Wasting such precious herbs would be a sin!”

Yan Jue trembled. “Well said.”

“But don’t worry,” the pheasant spirit added proudly. “Our clan almost never fails.”

After about one incense stick’s time, the alchemy beast finished meditating. It looked completely drained and expelled a pale blue pill.

Cold mist drifted from it, a layer of frost forming on its surface.

Yan Jue: “Thank you.”

With this pill, she could attempt root mutation once she returned to the inn.

If she gained an ice root, ice element techniques would become much easier.

Yan Jue asked, “White Ancient Crystal and Soul-Nurturing Wood how much can they sell for?”

Though rare and useful for future breakthroughs, those realms were far away for her.

She was very short on money now.

Soul Nurturing Wood was useful only to demonic cultivators for raising ghosts Yan Jue would never use something like that.

But she kept one backup item for herself the strange icy fruit whose use she did not yet know.

The pheasant spirit estimated, “Together, Soul Nurturing Wood and White Ancient Crystal can sell for five thousand high-grade spirit stones.”

Yan Jue’s eyes lit up.

She was rich again!

She handed the wrapped items over and received the stones.

The five thousand gleaming high-grade stones went into her storage pouch.

Then she browsed around, eventually reaching a boar spirit’s stall.

It had a small stand: “Specializing in crafting rare artifacts.”

Yan Jue looked at the fat head of the boar spirit and fell silent.

If she remembered correctly, the one who bought her North Sea Profound Iron before was also a boar spirit.

“Have you been to the Greenleaf Town pavilion?” she asked. “I bought a piece of metal from your stall.”

The boar spirit opened its eyes, startled, then laughed. “That was my elder brother. Our boar-spirit clan specializes in artifact crafting!”

It seemed demon clans valued family greatly.

Myriad Demon Pavilion vendors ran businesses by clan boars handled artifacts, pheasants handled alchemy, badgers sold miscellaneous goods…

Yan Jue asked, “I collected some spider silk with good stickiness. Can you appraise it?”

She took out a thick roll of silky, glossy spider silk from the cave treasure haul.

The boar spirit stroked it. “Ten Thousand Soul Ghost Spider silk…”

“Huh?” Yan Jue said.

“It’s from the Ghost Spider,” the boar spirit explained. “How it’s refined depends on what you want.”

“For example, it can become a Soul Binding Rope, using its stickiness to trap creatures.”

“Or it can be fused into a weapon to make it sticky for grabbing people.”

Yan Jue imagined her North Sea Profound Iron covered in sticky strands and shook her head. “Please make it into a Soul Binding Rope.”

The boar spirit hesitated. “Miss, aside from the silk, I will need extra materials to craft it. The price… will be higher.”

“How much?” Yan Jue asked.

“Ten mid-grade spirit stones.”

A fortune a few days ago now nothing to the wealthy Yan Jue.

She handed over a high-grade stone; the boar spirit made change and went to work.

Yan Jue wandered the pavilion, buying camping supplies.

When she returned, the rope was ready.

A white rope, its tip inscribed with complex runes, the body faintly glossy and slightly sticky to the touch.

“Try it,” the boar spirit said.

“Huh? Try… like this?” she asked.

“Try tying me up.”

Yan Jue flicked her hand sending the rope flying, guided by spiritual sense. The boar was instantly bound like a twist of dough.

It struggled madly but the rope secreted more spider silk the harder it struggled, wrapping it tighter and tighter.

Soon only its snout and ears stuck out.

Demons passing by stared.

Yan Jue quickly retrieved the rope. “Are you okay, elder?”

“No problem! Your first time making an artifact here come again next time!”

“Thank you,” Yan Jue said.

In the inn.

Qi Xianqing sat cross-legged and finished running the Six Yin True Fire Thunder Technique of the Five Dragon Gate through her body. Her spiritual power gradually calmed.

She opened her eyes and exhaled.

Wearing only a simple white inner robe, she slipped on her shoes, sat at the desk, propped her chin with one hand, held a brush with the other, and began writing something on a sheet of paper.

Before leaving the mountain, she had done research on Fengxian Town’s culture and attractions.

She knew its specialties were milk cakes and grape wine.

In the north of town was a commercial street that became lively every night.

Qi Xianqing had looked forward to it for a long time.

She often traveled for training over the years, visiting many places.

Before visiting anywhere, she always did research especially on local food and customs.

She had seen a lot, eaten a lot.

But somehow, the thought of taking Yan Jue the little rascal out to stroll made everything feel different.

A faint smile flashed in her eyes.

In one hour, she would take the rascal to the night market. Tomorrow they would have milk cake and wine…

Suddenly, the command token in her arms vibrated.

Qi Xianqing took it out and heard an old man’s voice: “Xianqing, is the mission resolved?”

She blinked. “Uncle Master.”

A few days ago when she asked Elder Yun Zhenzi, he said the Five Dragon Gate’s sect master, Wood Middle Daoist, was in seclusion.

She didn’t expect him to come out so quickly.

Qi Xianqing said, “It’s done.”

The man asked, “Are you in Fengxian Town now?”

“Yes.”

“I originally thought you would take Chu Fu with you on this mission. I didn’t expect you to choose an obscure outer-sect disciple… quite surprising.” His old voice continued, “How did you choose her?”

“In the outer-sect classroom,” Qi Xianqing answered.

This was why she arranged a classroom sparring selection instead of simply naming Yan Jue directly.

As the top disciple, too many people cared about her.

If she openly named Yan Jue, people would ask questions.

And it would cause trouble for Yan Jue.

Wood Middle Daoist said, “I thought even among the Water Cloud Sect’s outer sect you would choose Chu Fu.”

Qi Xianqing stared at the token silently, expression unreadable.

He continued, “That child recently broke through to mid-Foundation Establishment quite a talent. He will enter the inner sect next year. He needs more training tasks.”

“Chu Fu’s spiritual roots match yours perfectly an ideal dual cultivation partner. And do you know he is closely connected to the former Chu clan?”

“When his father sent him to our mountain, he asked me to take care of him…”

“But now the boy seems troubled in his cultivation listless and depressed. Since I just came out of seclusion, I assigned him the case of the missing women in Fengxian Town.”

“He should have already taken the command token and set off. He ought to arrive tonight.”

“You just act as the senior sister you are. Take care of him. Bring him on missions. Consider it a favor to me.”

Qi Xianqing turned off the token and sat in silence.

Her carefully arranged plans were suddenly ruined.

She was not happy.