Ice Spirit Flower

After breaking through to the sixth level of Qi Refining, Bai Qingxue spent a few days in her courtyard stabilizing her cultivation.

Liu Ningshuang had mentioned that the transition from the sixth to the seventh level was a watershed moment, far more difficult than the stages before it, and urged her to practice diligently. Bai Qingxue naturally took these words to heart.

However, the pills provided by the sect each month were limited. The Spirit Gathering Pills previously bestowed by Liu Ningshuang had long been exhausted, and her absorption of spiritual energy from the cold pond had reached a plateau.

Now, Bai Qingxue needed more spirit stones and pills to support her subsequent cultivation.

With this in mind, she visited the Affairs Hall to look around and eventually accepted a collection mission: there was a spirit herb called the Ice Spirit Flower that grew near cold ponds in the northern section of the Luoyun Mountain Range, which could be used to refine ice-attribute pills.

Each stalk rewarded fifty contribution points, and the mission required three.

The mission order also included a note: a Tier 1 mid-grade monster beast, the Ice Crystal Python, occasionally appeared in that area. If encountered, it could be slain at the disciple's discretion, and its monster core would grant additional contribution points.

Bai Qingxue considered it for a moment and found that this mission seemed quite suitable for her.

Although there were monster beasts, they were only Tier 1 mid-grade, which shouldn't be a major problem. She accepted the mission immediately.

When she walked out of the Affairs Hall, dawn had just broken.

The morning mist had not yet fully dissipated, and remnants of snow hung from the withered branches on both sides of the stone steps.

Bai Qingxue walked down the mountain path with the Frost Condensation Sword hanging at her waist, her pace neither fast nor slow. Her storage bag contained only a few Qi Recovery Pills and some dry rations; she was traveling light.

The northern section of the Luoyun Mountain Range was much colder than the southern section. The forests were sparse, replaced by vast stretches of snowfields.

After walking for about an hour, she discovered the first Ice Spirit Flower on a rock wall beside a stream.

The flower's stem was half a foot long, and its ice-blue petals shimmered faintly in the dim forest. She carefully dug it out by the roots and placed it into a jade box.

Just as she was about to continue upward, she heard a sound ahead.

However, the sound didn't come from a monster beast; it was people talking.

Bai Qingxue lightened her footsteps and moved through a thicket of shrubs, seeing three people standing on a mountain path.

Two women and one man, wearing the disciple robes of Qingyun Peak with swords at their waists, seemed to be arguing about something.

One of them was Ye Qingyao.

She stood in the middle of the group, holding a map and looking down at it. Beside her, a round-faced youth was pointing at the map and saying something, while another female disciple chimed in.

The three of them went back and forth. Their voices weren't loud, but it was clear they were discussing their route.

Bai Qingxue glanced at Ye Qingyao but didn't make a sound, intending to bypass them.

But Ye Qingyao looked up.

She spotted Bai Qingxue and froze for a moment, her eyes lighting up immediately.

She opened her mouth, wanting to call out, but then looked at her teammates and held back.

However, Ye Qingyao quickly said something to her teammates and trotted over to stand before Bai Qingxue.

“Sister Bai.” Her voice was kept very low, carrying a hint of joy and surprise. “Are you here for a mission too?”

Bai Qingxue nodded.

“What mission? Do you need my help?” Ye Qingyao asked.

“Gathering herbs.” Bai Qingxue glanced at her, then at the two teammates behind her. “And you?”

“Collecting spirit herbs and hunting monster beasts along the way,” Ye Qingyao said. “A Tier 1 mid-grade ironback bear. The three of us teamed up to be safe.”

Bai Qingxue said nothing more and turned to leave.

“Sister Bai.” Ye Qingyao called out to her again, hesitating. “Are you alone? You don't have any teammates?”

“I am enough on my own,” Bai Qingxue said. She gave a slight nod and then walked away.

Alone. Ye Qingyao bit her lip, wanting to say something but not knowing what. She watched Bai Qingxue’s back disappear into the woods and stood there for a moment before turning back.

“Who was that?” the round-faced youth asked.

Ye Qingyao lowered her head, her voice softening. “A sister from... Xueji Peak.”

The round-faced youth didn't ask further. The other female disciple peeked in the direction where Bai Qingxue had vanished and muttered, “Disciples of Xueji Peak really are different, coming to do missions all alone.”

Ye Qingyao didn't respond to that. She just lowered her head to look at the map, but her mind was no longer on it.

Bai Qingxue continued up the stream and found the second Ice Spirit Flower in a crevice between rocks.

As she crouched down to dig it out, she noticed several fresh marks on the muddy ground nearby.

Bai Qingxue frowned, a sense of vigilance rising in her heart.

Only after confirming there was no immediate danger did she place the Ice Spirit Flower into the jade box and continue toward the upper reaches of the stream.

The third Ice Spirit Flower grew by a low-lying wetland, but as soon as Bai Qingxue approached, she sensed danger.

An Ice Crystal Python was coiled around a dead ancient tree, its body entirely silver-white with scales that shimmered coldly against the snow.

The Ice Crystal Python was over ten feet long, its body as thick as a water bucket. It flicked its tongue, its vertical pupils staring coldly at her.

The Ice Spirit Flower was only a few feet away.

Before Bai Qingxue could strike, the Ice Crystal Python acted first. Its body launched from the tree trunk with incredible speed.

Bai Qingxue stepped aside to dodge, the Frost Condensation Sword bringing up a cloud of frost mist. The Ice Crystal Python’s scales gleamed silver within the mist as it swept its tail in a horizontal strike. Bai Qingxue leaped up, the tip of her sword tapping against the snake's tail. She used the momentum to flip through the air, landing ten feet away.

Then, with a thought, cold energy seeped from her palm, condensing into several ice needles in the air.

The ice needles shot out, pinning themselves into the Ice Crystal Python’s head and neck.

The Ice Crystal Python writhed in intense pain, its body twisting violently as its scales stood on end, and it spat out a cloud of freezing air.

However, Bai Qingxue did not retreat. Instead, she lunged forward. The Frost Condensation Sword, saturated with spiritual power, pierced straight into the Ice Crystal Python’s vitals.

The sword tip sank into the gaps between the scales, and her spiritual power exploded.

The Ice Crystal Python’s body stiffened abruptly, then slumped down, crashing into the mud and splashing water everywhere, silenced forever.

Worried the beast might be faking, Bai Qingxue added two more ice needles. Seeing that the Ice Crystal Python truly had no reaction, she finally extracted a silver-white monster core from its belly and put it in her storage bag. Then, she carefully dug out the Ice Spirit Flower. She had collected all three stalks and gained an extra monster core. The entire process had taken less than half a quarter of an hour.

...

The ironback bear’s monster core was in hand, and they had collected enough spirit herbs.

At this moment, Ye Qingyao and her group were walking back along the mountain path. As they passed a forest, Ye Qingyao suddenly heard the sounds of combat. The ring of a sword, the collision of spiritual power, and the roar of a monster beast mingled together, drifting from deep within the snow.

Ye Qingyao’s footsteps faltered. She suddenly remembered meeting Bai Qingxue by the stream earlier. Bai Qingxue had said she was looking for Ice Spirit Flowers, and those seemed to grow in this direction. Thinking of this, Ye Qingyao felt a strange tightness in her chest.

She immediately said to her teammates, “You guys go ahead.”

“What’s wrong?” The round-faced youth looked back at her.

“I’m going to take a look. I want to make sure no one has run into trouble.”

Her teammates didn't ask further and waved as they left. Ye Qingyao followed the sound and hid behind a large tree, witnessing the scene of Bai Qingxue slaying the Ice Crystal Python.

Striking, dodging, condensing ice, and the killing blow—the entire process was clean and efficient, without a single wasted movement.

That Ice Crystal Python was a monster beast at the sixth level of Qi Refining, yet it didn't even have a chance to fight back before Bai Qingxue.

The ice needles had been pinned precisely into the snake’s vital points, and the final sword strike had pierced through its heart.

Ye Qingyao stared blankly at the scene, an indescribable feeling suddenly welling up in her heart.

She remembered how she had just been hesitating about whether to help. Help? She had needed a team of three just to deal with that ironback bear, while Bai Qingxue, alone, had faced such a terrifying monster beast and finished it in less than half a quarter of an hour.

Even if she had stepped forward, what could she have possibly helped with? She would probably have just been in the way...

Ye Qingyao clenched her fists. Even though her nails dug into her palms, she couldn't feel the pain.

“Are you following me?”

Bai Qingxue’s voice suddenly rang in her ears. Ye Qingyao looked up sharply. Bai Qingxue had approached her at some point, holding the silver-white monster core and looking at her.

“I...” Ye Qingyao opened her mouth, her face flushing slightly. “I heard the sounds of fighting and thought someone might be in danger, so I came to check.”

Ye Qingyao paused and added, “We finished our mission and were just about to head back.”

Bai Qingxue glanced at her and didn't say anything more. She put the monster core into her storage bag, wiped the blood from her sword, and sheathed it.

“Where are your teammates?” Bai Qingxue asked.

Ye Qingyao pointed in a direction—the area her teammates were returning to, not far to the north.

Bai Qingxue nodded and, without further words, turned and walked in the other direction.

Ye Qingyao stood in place, watching that back disappear into the forest.

The light from the sky fell on Bai Qingxue’s shoulders and hair, making those few strands of white hair look almost transparent.

Her back was cold and aloof, as if she were one with this snowy ground.

Ye Qingyao clenched her fists tightly.

Then she turned and ran quickly toward her teammates.

At this moment, a thought was clearer in her mind than ever before: she had to become even stronger.

Not just a little bit, but a lot.

Strong enough that one day, she could stand beside that person, instead of following behind.

By the time Bai Qingxue walked out of the Luoyun Mountain Range, it was nearly noon.

Standing on the mountain path, she checked the three Ice Spirit Flowers and the monster core before putting them into her storage bag.

The Ice Spirit Flowers could be exchanged for one hundred and fifty contribution points, and the monster core added another one hundred and twenty.

Combined with what she had saved before, it should be enough to exchange for quite a few pills for her cultivation on the peak.