When the White Moonlight Holds the Script - Chapter 17

Zhu Zhihan swung the wooden sword in her hand, repeating the movements over and over.

Her arms felt as heavy as lead, sweat trickling down her slender neck, but she did not stop.

From a long time ago, she had understood that everything came at a cost.

Her body was frail, and she had no particular talent for the way of the sword. If she wanted to grow stronger, the effort and pain she endured now were the price she had to pay.

With constant repetition, her movements grew more refined. She could feel them etching themselves into her muscle memory, and one day, they might become as natural as breathing.

Thinking this way, the training didn’t seem quite so unbearable.

And…

Zhu Zhihan’s gaze shifted to the translucent system panel in the corner.

It displayed a side quest the system had recently issued.

[Quest Objective: Please complete a total of 500 basic sword movements, including drawing and wielding the sword, within one day.]

[Quest Reward: Health Points (HP) Limit +1, restore half of Stamina Points (SP).]

Health Points!

It was Health Points! The very thing that could make her as healthy as a normal person!

As if drawing strength from this thought, she tightened her grip on the sword hilt and resumed her movements, silently counting in her heart: four hundred and twenty-five, four hundred and twenty-six.

Five hundred!

Zhu Zhihan felt as though she had been fished out of water, her arms hanging limp, utterly drained of strength.

Just then, a pleasant mechanical chime sounded in her ear.

[Ding! Congratulations on completing the quest.]

[Rewards are being distributed: Health Points Limit +1. Your current Health Points Limit is now 45. Stamina Points have been restored. Please check.]

As the mechanical voice faded, Zhu Zhihan felt her body grow noticeably lighter, and much of her exhaustion vanished!

If before her arms had been too tired to lift, now they were merely sore, but the discomfort was bearable.

She could even manage another two hundred swings!

Was this what the system meant by restoring half of her Stamina Points? It was incredibly useful for her current state.

“Shi, Shimei…”

An extremely weak voice came from behind her. Zhu Zhihan turned around.

Three men were lying flat on the ground.

She was startled.

“Shixiong!? What happened to you?”

Third Shixiong, Wan Mengchen, weakly waved his hand and forced a strained smile. “Haha, the scenery here is quite nice.”

Zhu Zhihan glanced at the other two shixiong and saw them nodding in agreement.

She was baffled. “Is that so?”

What was there to see here? The trees? Or the vegetable field in the distance? And why were they lying down to look?

Ah, she couldn’t understand it.

She nodded, refraining from commenting on her shixiong’s peculiar habits, and simply advised, “Then I won’t disturb you any further. It’s almost noon, and the sun is getting harsh. If you’ve had your fill of the view, you should head back soon.”

She noticed that after she spoke, Shixiong Wan Mengchen’s expression grew even more twisted.

Thus, Zhu Zhihan spent her days practicing with the sword and her nights cultivating her inner energy and absorbing spiritual qi.

After several days, she felt that the unstable foundation caused by her sudden breakthrough to the peak of Qi Refinement was gradually solidifying.

During this time, the system continued to issue random quests, but none were as rewarding as the first. The Health Points Limit rewards dwindled from +1 to +0.5, then to +0.25. It took Zhu Zhihan several days to accumulate a single point.

This actually put Zhu Zhihan’s mind at ease nothing worthwhile was achieved overnight, and she enjoyed the process of gradual accumulation.

While Zhu Zhihan spent her days busily and contentedly practicing with her blade, Wan Mengchen and the others were on the verge of collapse.

They had never pushed themselves so hard! One day was manageable they could endure it but this was day after day!

After three days of training, Wan Mengchen felt as though his bones were about to fall apart. Though the eldest senior brother and the sixth junior brother didn’t say it outright, Wan Mengchen could sense their desperation.

On the fourth day, the three of them tacitly chose to shut their doors tight, they weren’t going!

They needed a good night’s sleep!

But…

Bang, bang, bang! Early in the morning, someone was pounding heavily on the door.

Wan Mengchen was forced awake.

He now regarded anyone who disturbed his precious sleep as an enemy and yelled in frustration, “Who is it?!”

A woman’s voice came from outside the door: “Your Second Elder.”

Wan Mengchen pulled the blanket over his head.

A moment later, he threw the blanket off and sat up abruptly.

Damn.

What was the Second Elder doing here at this hour?!

With a pained expression, he scrambled to tidy himself up and opened the door for Tu Meng.

As soon as he saw the Second Elder, she remarked with a teasing tone, “Oh, so all three of you are slacking off?”

“I thought you were pretty capable at first, but in the end, you can’t even keep up with a newly admitted junior sister. Tsk, tsk, what will people think? That all the senior brothers are weaklings?”

Wan Mengchen: !!!

The Second Elder roused all three of them one by one and taunted them relentlessly.

Wan Mengchen could tell it was a deliberate provocation, but…

He rubbed his flushed face, it was the truth, after all.

If it had just been a private competition among the three of them, it wouldn’t have mattered. But now the Second Elder knew, and if she knew, it meant the other elders would too.

No way!

They had to go!

What if their junior sister found out? Where would their dignity as senior brothers be then?

In the end, three figures appeared in the training grounds as if on cue.

When Zhu Zhihan saw them arrive, she nodded naturally. She had grown accustomed to her senior brothers “admiring the scenery” there.

Outside the training grounds, Tu Meng watched the young girl skillfully wielding her wooden blade and the three young men persevering despite their pain. She turned to Elder Shi beside her and said, “I thought it would take much longer to get them back on track. I didn’t expect the turning point to come so soon.”

Elder Shi maintained a stern expression, but his eyes revealed a hint of relief. “Don’t speak too soon. Who knows how long they’ll last?”

Tu Meng sighed. “If only they could all be as sensible as Zhihan, I’d have a lot less to worry about.”

As she gazed at the young girl in the distance, she felt a wave of emotion.

Truly worthy of being the one her senior sister had chosen.

With such a resolute gaze, clear goals, and strong execution, her temperament was unlike that of an ordinary fourteen-year-old girl.

Tu Meng couldn’t help but recall what she had been doing at fourteen probably running around everywhere and raiding bird nests?

She shook her head.

Sometimes, she saw traces of her young senior sister in the girl.

Although the girl’s constitution was a tricky issue, with such determination and talent, given time to grow, the cultivation world might one day welcome another formidable expert.

Spurred on by Tu Meng’s provocations, Wan Mengchen and the other two persisted for a few more days.

Their bodies had gradually adapted to this intensity, but as time went on, what hindered them was no longer just physical exhaustion it was mental fatigue.

There was no other reason practicing with the blade was simply too monotonous!

Repeating the same movements they had done thousands of times over and over again who could endure it for long?

They glanced at the young woman not far away: Perhaps there really was someone who could endure it.

But they couldn’t take it anymore!

The three of them huddled in a circle, whispering conspiratorially.

Wan Mengchen spoke gravely, “No, we can’t go on like this.”

Sixth Junior Brother chimed in, “But we already made bold promises to the Second Elder.”

The Eldest Senior Brother nodded earnestly.

Wan Mengchen snapped, “Fools!”

Sixth Junior Brother looked at him, “Do you have an idea?”

Wan Mengchen declared righteously, “Little Junior Sister just arrived at our Blade Sect and has only been practicing in the training grounds. She hasn’t seen the diverse sights of this cultivation world yet. Shouldn’t we take her out to get familiar with everything?”

Thus, when Zhu Zhihan arrived early at the training grounds and had practiced for a while, she was called over by Third Senior Brother Wan Mengchen.

“Cultivation market?” Zhu Zhihan asked, puzzled.

Wan Mengchen nodded enthusiastically, “It’s not good to keep your head buried in blade practice all the time. The cultivation market is really interesting there are many rogue cultivators, materials, and fun trinkets for sale.”

Seeing that Zhu Zhihan seemed tempted, Wan Mengchen assured her, “Junior Sister, since you just joined our sect, you probably haven’t received your monthly allowance of one mid-grade spirit stone yet. For this outing, whatever catches your eye, I’ll buy it for you!”

Speaking of spirit stones, Zhu Zhihan actually had some.

The system had been issuing random tasks these past few days with various rewards, including quite a few spirit stones.

After hesitating for a moment, she agreed.

It was about time she went out to see the world.

Over these days, her daily routine had stabilized, and the bottleneck in her cultivation showed signs of loosening. She felt it was time to pick up alchemy again.

This was a perfect opportunity to buy some raw materials for alchemy at the cultivation market.

After reporting to Tu Meng, the elder glanced at Wan Mengchen and the other two with a knowing smile.

Under Wan Mengchen’s nervous gaze, she relented, “Since Zhihan is curious, you may go.”

Tu Meng took out a pouch from her sleeve, fiddled with it for a moment, and handed it to Zhu Zhihan.

“Since you’re going shopping, Auntie will give you this storage pouch. It contains ten mid-grade spirit stones. Buy whatever you like, alright?”

Sixth Junior Brother stared at the storage pouch with indignation, “Why didn’t I get such treatment when I joined the sect!?”

Tu Meng shot him a glance and scolded jokingly, “Nonsense! Are you the only girl in our sect? Go take a gender-change pill, and the Second Elder might give you one too!”

Sixth Junior Brother stuck out his tongue.

Zhu Zhihan smiled faintly, accepting the pouch with sincere thanks.

She noticed that everyone in the Blade Sect loved showering her with gifts. Well, she would use this money to buy plenty of raw materials!

The cultivation market was in the neighboring town. Tu Meng lent them one of the sect’s only two mounts primarily for Zhu Zhihan to ride.

Wan Mengchen benefited slightly from this and nearly wept: In the past, he had to walk over ten kilometers on foot. So, this was what it felt like to have a mount!

Stepping into the cultivation market.

Zhu Zhihan looked around with a sense of novelty.

In her previous life, she had never been to such a place Master Dan Qi never allowed her to visit these markets and mingle with rogue cultivators.

If she needed any materials, Master Dan Qi would procure them directly, which meant she rarely left the sect except when exploring secret realms.

She asked Wan Mengchen, “Third Senior Brother, is there a place that sells materials like spirit herbs?”

Wan Mengchen was very familiar with the area and confidently replied, “Junior Sister, are you interested in spirit herbs? Leave it to me! I not only know where to find them, but I also know where to get the cheapest ones!”

Zhu Zhihan followed closely behind Wan Mengchen.

Unfortunately, their journey didn’t go smoothly. On the way, they were stopped by a few young cultivators dressed in green disciple robes.

Zhu Zhihan heard Wan Mengchen mutter under his breath, “Damn, what bad luck, it’s those guys from the neighboring sect.”

Judging by Wan Mengchen’s expression, Zhu Zhihan thought: It seems these people have some unresolved issues with Senior Brother and the others.

Support When the White Moonlight Holds the Script