The two arrived at Xueji Peak by evening.
The setting sun dyed the icy crags of Xueji Peak a faint gold, and the lingering snow on the stone steps reflected the warm light like a layer of crushed gold.
Bai Qingxue and Lu Xueqing didn't return directly to their courtyards; instead, they headed to the Affairs Hall to turn in their mission.
The Affairs Hall, located at the foot of the main peak, was a blue-gray stone palace with two spiritual lamps hanging at the entrance, casting a dim, amber glow.
There weren't many people inside. A few disciples turning in missions stood around, speaking in low voices. The registering deacon sat behind a desk flipping through a ledger, his fingers stained with cinnabar as he wrote meticulously.
Lu Xueqing walked ahead and pushed the door open, the hinges letting out a soft creak.
Several disciples looked up at them before lowering their heads again.
The deacon took the mission token and their identity tokens, checking them against the records.
“Investigating monster disturbances, mission complete. One hundred contribution points each.” He wrote a few lines in the ledger, then looked up, his gaze lingering on Bai Qingxue for a moment. “You’re the disciple who took a mission at the fourth level of Qi Refining?”
Bai Qingxue nodded.
Seeing this, the deacon said nothing more and was about to stamp the record when a voice muttered nearby.
“Fourth level of Qi Refining? You can actually coast through a mission like this?”
The speaker was a male disciple from Cangsong Peak at the sixth level of Qi Refining. He leaned against a pillar with a broad-bladed sword hanging from his waist, arms crossed, his tone dripping with dismissiveness. A fellow disciple standing next to him smiled upon hearing this.
“Just good luck, following Senior Sister Lu,” the companion added. His voice wasn't loud, but the hall was quiet enough for everyone to hear.
Bai Qingxue’s expression remained unchanged. She didn't look at them or respond.
Lu Xueqing, who had been organizing her gear, paused at the remark.
She looked up at the two disciples. Her gaze was calm, and though her smile faded slightly, she didn't lash out immediately.
The male disciple felt a bit uncomfortable under her gaze but steeled himself to speak. “Senior Sister Lu, I’m not targeting you. I just think some people overestimate themselves. Relying entirely on you to carry them through a mission and then taking a share of the contribution points is unfair to those who actually work hard.”
Lu Xueqing set down her gear and turned to face him.
“You think she hid in the back the whole time?”
“Is that not the case?” the male disciple challenged, his neck stiffening.
Hearing this, Lu Xueqing stopped paying him any mind.
Instead, she reached into her storage bag and pulled out the fragment of the black wooden stake, placing it on the registration desk. The fragment was the size of a palm, with jagged edges and remnants of dark red runes still visible on its surface, emitting a faint burnt smell.
“This is a fragment of a Soul Control Formation core,” Lu Xueqing said solemnly to the deacon.
“This mission wasn't a simple monster disturbance; someone was using a Soul Control Formation to manipulate the beasts. Junior Sister Bai was the one who destroyed the core. Please make sure to note that in the mission report.”
The deacon picked up the fragment and examined it, his brow furrowing slightly. He nodded and added a few notes to the ledger.
The Affairs Hall fell silent.
The male disciple’s mouth hung open. His gaze lingered on the fragment for a moment before shifting to the bandage on Bai Qingxue’s shoulder. His face paled, and he finally fell silent. His companion also looked down, pretending to study his mission token.
Bai Qingxue stood to the side, having said nothing from beginning to end. She glanced at Lu Xueqing, who happened to look over at the same time and gave her a slight smile, as if to say, “Don't worry.”
Bai Qingxue looked away, her expression as indifferent as ever.
As the mission handover was finishing and they were about to leave, footsteps echoed at the entrance of the Affairs Hall.
Liu Ningshuang walked in.
Her gaze swept over the crowd, lingering for a second on the two disciples from Cangsong Peak.
The two immediately lowered their heads, looking as if they wanted to bury their faces in their collars.
After all, she was a Perfected One of Xueji Peak. The words they had just spoken had likely reached her ears.
However, Liu Ningshuang said nothing. She walked to the registration desk, took the mission report from the deacon, and read it from start to finish.
“Well done.” She closed the report and looked at Bai Qingxue. “Your performance in this mission exceeded expectations. The sect has an additional reward for you.”
She took a jade box from her sleeve and placed it on the table. The box was translucent white, with delicate frost patterns carved around the lid's edge—clearly an item from Xueji Peak.
“Spirit Gathering Pills and a bottle of Snow Spirit Powder. Go back and rest well. Resume your cultivation once your injuries have healed.”
Bai Qingxue took the jade box; it felt cool to the touch. She gave a slight nod. “Thank you, Elder.”
Liu Ningshuang glanced at her, her eyes pausing on the bandage on her shoulder for a moment. She then looked at Lu Xueqing, nodded, and turned to leave without another word.
The Affairs Hall was quiet for a few heartbeats before returning to its previous bustle. The two disciples from Cangsong Peak had slipped away at some point without a sound.
Lu Xueqing walked over to Bai Qingxue and patted her uninjured shoulder, her tone light. “Let’s go, Junior Sister. We’ll head back to the courtyards together.”
Bai Qingxue nodded.
The two walked out of the Affairs Hall together. Twilight had completely faded into night, leaving only a final streak of dark red on the horizon. The spiritual lamps on either side of the stone steps had been lit, swaying gently in the night breeze.
...
By the time Bai Qingxue returned to her courtyard, it was pitch black.
Most of the petals from the old plum tree had fallen, covering the ground in a layer of silvery-white that shimmered faintly in the moonlight. A few lingering blossoms remained on the branches, trembling in the night breeze as if refusing to wither.
Bai Qingxue pushed open the door to her meditation room, lit a lamp, and placed the jade box on the table.
Then, she unwrapped the bandage on her shoulder and checked the wound in a bronze mirror.
The area where the ironback bear had grazed her had already scabbed over, but a large patch of greenish-purple bruising stretched from her shoulder to her collarbone. It looked quite alarming, but the bone was intact, and the flesh wound wasn't overly severe.
She reapplied the Snow Spirit Powder. The powder felt cool against the wound, carrying a faint herbal scent that quickly dulled most of the pain.
Bai Qingxue re-bandaged it with a clean strip of cloth, her movements practiced, as if she had done this many times before.
While she was busy, a knock came at the courtyard gate.
“Junior Sister Bai, mountain-side someone asked me to bring you something.” It was the voice of the peak-guarding senior sister, sounding cheerful through the gate.
Bai Qingxue rose to open the door. The senior sister stood outside, handing over a small cloth bundle and a folded slip of paper. She smiled and said, “A junior sister from Qingyun Peak waited at the gate for quite a while. She said she didn't want to disturb your rest, so she wouldn't come in. She asked me to pass this to you.”
Bai Qingxue took the bundle and the note, offering her thanks. The senior sister waved it off and turned to leave.
Closing the gate, Bai Qingxue returned to the meditation room and opened the cloth bundle on the table. Inside was a small porcelain bottle labeled “Heart Nourishing Pills.”
It was a healing medicine of modest grade, but perfectly suited for external injuries at the Qi Refining stage.
The bottle wasn't large, fitting snugly in her palm. The porcelain still held a trace of warmth, as if it had been held tightly for a long time.
Bai Qingxue opened the note. It contained only four words, written in neat, careful strokes. The final stroke of the last character paused slightly, as if the writer had hesitated to say more before finally pulling the brush away.
“Just stay safe.”
There was no signature.
After staring at it for a moment, Bai Qingxue put the porcelain bottle and the note away into her storage bag.
Outside the window, the moonlight was cold, and the plum blossoms continued to fall.
A single petal was blown into the room by the wind, landing on the table.
Bai Qingxue sat cross-legged on the stone dais and closed her eyes to regulate her breathing.
Spiritual power flowed slowly through her meridians. The injury on her shoulder felt cool as the Snow Spirit Powder's medicinal power seeped in. The spiritual power in her dantian had become a bit more condensed than before the journey.
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