Regardless of whether Gu Baiying’s appearance was arranged by the original storyline as a romantic interest, Zanxing didn’t have the time to bother with it. For now, developing her career line was more important.
In the entire Taiyan Sect, all inner disciples, regardless of seniority, had to undergo assessment every four months. The top performer would receive rewards, while the bottom performer would face penalties. Zanxing didn’t care much about rewards or fear punishments, but there was also the constant trouble from Hua Yue.
While maintaining peace and acting cautiously could temporarily avoid trouble, considering the ruthless nature of the original storyline, she might have already been set up with a pitfall, waiting for her to fall into the fixed ending of cannon fodder supporting female character. After much consideration, she decided to focus on cultivation because strength was the ultimate determinant.
Hua Yue had already formed his core, and Zanxing was close to entering the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. There was still a considerable gap between them. Challenging opponents of higher levels wasn’t always successful. Before the next inner disciple assessment, she needed to narrow the gap between them.
Therefore, during these days, Zanxing studied tirelessly, often neglecting rest, and tirelessly devoted herself, even more so than when preparing for a challenging exam.
Within the sect, apart from Daoist Yueguang’s major theoretical courses, there were also minor courses taught by various Senior Uncles for the inner disciples. For example, Third Senior Uncle Cui Yufu taught talismanic arts, Fourth Senior Uncle Li Danshu taught alchemy, and Fifth Senior Uncle Zhao Mayi taught divination… Such comprehensive education aimed at cultivating virtues, intelligence, physical fitness, artistic skills, and all-around development.
Among these, Zanxing particularly enjoyed the alchemy class.
In the alchemy class, the spiritual herbs and fruits, as well as the alchemical materials, were provided by the sect. As new disciples, they used mostly low-grade spiritual herbs. However, Zanxing had a very low failure rate in alchemy, thanks to the help of the Xiao Yuan Pearl.
In alchemy, mastering the heat was crucial. The Xiao Yuan Pearl acted like an automatic temperature heater, precisely controlling the heat. Zanxing only needed to throw the materials in. While others could only produce one Qi-boosting pill from a pile of materials, she could produce three, even drawing praise from Li Danshu.
After successfully refining the pills, they could be taken back for personal use. After accumulating a boxful, Zanxing would bring them back to the small wooden tower to feed the cat.
Once, Tian Fangfang saw Zanxing putting three Qi-boosting pills into Mimi’s food bowl and was shocked, “Are you feeding it these?”
“Isn’t that how you raise a cat? Give it the good stuff.” Zanxing shrugged nonchalantly, stroking Mimi’s chubby chin. “Consider it a nutritional supplement.”
Mimi didn’t eat Zanxing’s Qi-boosting pills in vain. Quite spirited, in just over a month, its body doubled in size. It no longer looked like a kitten but more like a chubby cat. However, its affectionate nature remained unchanged. Recently, in the early mornings, Zanxing was often awakened not by the crowing of the rooster but by the thump of Mimi’s enlarged butt.
She thought that while Mimi might not develop into a Silver Moon Lion, it could at least reach the weight of one.
In addition to attending classes, stroking the cat, and practicing at the Chu Hong Terrace, Zanxing also liked to visit the sect’s library.
The library, known as the Book Repository, was different from the Martial Arts Hall, which contained only martial arts manuals. The Repository housed a wide range of texts, covering various topics. There were books on the customs and cultures of different countries on Duzhou, exclusive gossip from the cultivation world spanning hundreds of years, literary works, social laws, medicine, hygiene, natural sciences, and even children’s literature.
Aside from its fast-paced narrative, another selling point of “At the Summit of the Nine Heavens” was its rich and expansive world-building. To truly understand every aspect of this world, one had to delve into these texts. In recent days, whenever she had free time, Zanxing would make her way to the Book Repository to supplement her incomplete understanding of the world.
The Book Repository was usually sparsely populated. As the wind lamps lit up outside, indicating the onset of evening, Zanxing glanced out the window to see the night descending.
Standing up from the floor, she brushed off the dust from her clothes, returned the book to its shelf, and left the Book Repository. At this hour, she could have dinner and then head to the Chu Hong Terrace for self-study and cultivation.
After Zanxing left, a figure jumped down from the shelves upstairs in the Book Repository. Clad in white with crimson embroidery, it was none other than Gu Baiying. He walked to the spot where Zanxing had just been standing and pulled out the book she had been reading all afternoon – “Astonishing! 100 Fantastical Stories of the Cultivation World.”
Gu Baiying: “…”
The young man slammed the booklet back onto the shelf with a smack and cursed, “What’s wrong with her?!”
In recent days, he had seen Zanxing frequenting the Book Repository. After much hesitation, he decided to follow her, thinking that since she had been chosen by the “Qing’e Flower-Picking Staff, she might have some special qualities. However, every time Zanxing came here, she was either reading “Practical Advice for Mountain Flower Cultivation in Winter” or “Map Collection of Northwest Transportation Routes in Duzhou,” completely unrelated to cultivation.
Gu Baiying was highly suspicious that the book “Qing’e Flower-Picking Staff” had picked the wrong person.
He walked out of the Book Repository and headed towards the Elysium Hall where he resided. The Elysium Hall was adjacent to Miaokong Hall. In the past, it was where the Qinghua Fairy resided.
At night, the Elysium Hall was enveloped in clouds and mist, with the Qinghua Fairy’s palace hidden within, appearing even more ethereal and dreamlike, like a sea of flowing clouds.
But Gu Baiying didn’t actually like it.
Compared to the ethereal fairyland of the immortal realm, he seemed to prefer lingering in the vibrant and vivid mortal world. Over the years, he had spent little time in the sect, perhaps not only because he had to gather herbs to repair spiritual veins but also because he genuinely disliked these celestial illusions from the bottom of his heart.
Too beautiful, too fragile, and too unreal.
He returned to his own hall, unlike his fellow senior brothers, Gu Baiying did not like to leave servants or young boys to serve in his hall. Therefore, the Elysium Hall was often empty, giving off a somewhat desolate feeling.
He stood for a moment, about to return to his room, when Men Dong rushed in, shouting as he ran, “Senior Uncle, something bad happened!”
“What’s going on?” Gu Baiying impatiently asked, “Stop yelling, you’re annoying.”
The child stopped in front of him, perhaps having run too fast, his face flushed red, making him look even more like a young servant serving under an immortal. Men Dong said, “Senior Uncle, today I wanted to go to the Black Marsh to see how the Qinchong seeds were doing, and then, and then…”
Qinchong seeds immortal grass obtained by the former sect leader, Shaoyang Zhenren, from a secret realm ten years ago. Legend has it that thousands of years ago, an immortal ascended to immortality and left behind a spiritual herb seed on a divine qin. This spiritual herb resembled a worm in appearance but was actually a type of immortal grass. When consumed by a person, it would germinate in their spiritual roots. As the Qinchong grew, it would gradually repair any deficiencies in their spiritual veins.
Qinchong seeds were rare, and Shaoyang Zhenren had gone through great hardships to obtain one. This spiritual herb needed to be cultivated in a place rich in miasma. Only the Black Marsh on the Gufeng Mountain had dense miasma. Shaoyang Zhenren placed the seed at the bottom of the Black Marsh and sealed it with restrictions, making it impossible for ordinary people to enter the marsh. However, even if an ordinary person entered the Black Marsh, the miasma inside would immediately take their life.
Those who knew about it, like Zhao Mayi and others, never doubted that there would be any problems with the Qinchong. In addition, Men Dong would check on the seed’s condition every now and then.
Now it had been ten years, and the seed was about to mature.
Men Dong cried and said, “Senior Uncle, the Qinchong seeds are gone!”