By the time the two of them emerged from the Luoyun Mountain Range, the fog on the mountain path had mostly dispersed.
Bai Qingxue walked in front, with Ye Qingyao following behind.
The wound on Ye Qingyao’s left leg had stopped bleeding, but she still walked with a slight limp.
As they neared the mountain gate, Bai Qingxue stopped and looked back at her.
“Go to the Affairs Hall to turn in your mission.”
Ye Qingyao nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, “Sister Bai, aren’t you... going to the Affairs Hall?”
“I have other matters,” Bai Qingxue said before turning to walk toward Xueji Peak.
Ye Qingyao stood in place, watching Bai Qingxue’s retreating figure ascend the stone steps, her white robes glinting coldly in the sunlight.
After a while, Ye Qingyao turned and headed toward the Affairs Hall.
There weren't many people in the Affairs Hall. When Ye Qingyao pushed the door open and entered, the deacon was sitting behind a desk, flipping through a register. He looked up at the sound of footsteps and frowned slightly when he saw the bandages on her left leg.
“Ye Qingyao?” The deacon set down the register, his tone carrying a hint of surprise. “You again? Didn't you just take a mission for the third level of Qi Refining? Why did you go off and do a fourth-level one this time?”
Ye Qingyao was stunned for a moment, not expecting the deacon to remember her name. She had visited the Affairs Hall quite often, but she had never spoken much with this particular deacon.
“Injured?” the deacon asked, his gaze falling on the bandages on her leg.
“Just a superficial wound, it’s nothing.” Ye Qingyao placed the gathered spirit herbs on the table.
The deacon counted them and made a note in his ledger. “Forty contribution points. Mission complete.” He glanced at Ye Qingyao and shook his head. “Taking a solo mission at the fourth level of Qi Refining... you’re lucky to have come back alive. Be more careful next time; don’t overreach.”
Ye Qingyao lowered her head and said softly, “Thank you, Deacon. I understand.”
She took her contribution point token and walked out of the Affairs Hall.
Standing at the entrance, Ye Qingyao looked up toward Xueji Peak.
Xueji Peak was hidden amidst ice and snow, its details blurred.
She thought to herself that Sister Bai should have arrived there by now.
Then she withdrew her gaze and headed toward Qingyun Peak.
...
The door to the main hall of Xueji Peak was slightly ajar.
When Bai Qingxue pushed the door open and entered, Liu Ningshuang was sitting at a desk with a bamboo scroll in her hands.
Hearing the door open, Liu Ningshuang looked up. Her gaze lingered on Bai Qingxue for a moment; Bai Qingxue’s robes were stained with dirt and blood, and there was a shallow claw mark on her left shoulder, though she otherwise appeared unharmed.
“Did you get the Ice Ganoderma?” Liu Ningshuang asked.
Bai Qingxue took the jade box from her storage bag, placed it on the table, and opened it.
The Ice Ganoderma was snow-white throughout, with the edges of its leaves glowing with a faint blue light. Cold air spilled from the jade box, condensing into a thin white mist in the air.
Liu Ningshuang took a look and nodded. “Good. Was the guarding monster beast an ice-fanged tiger?”
“Yes. At the seventh level of Qi Refining.”
“Killed?”
“Killed.”
Liu Ningshuang didn't press further. She leaned back in her chair, her gaze fixed on Bai Qingxue, and remained silent for a few breaths.
“Do you know why I sent you to get the Ice Ganoderma?” she asked.
Bai Qingxue looked up at her but did not answer.
“The transition from the sixth to the seventh level of Qi Refining is a watershed. Bitter cultivation alone isn't enough; you need an external force to break through the barrier.” Liu Ningshuang pointed at the jade box on the table. “The medicinal properties of the Ice Ganoderma are gentle and compatible with your constitution, making it the perfect external force. Your foundation is solid enough; all you lack is a catalyst.”
Bai Qingxue nodded slightly.
“Go back and settle your state for a few days, adjusting yourself to your peak before consuming it.” Liu Ningshuang paused. “Go to the cold pond when you break through. The cold air there will help you stabilize the medicinal power.”
Bai Qingxue nodded. “Understood.”
Returning to her courtyard, Bai Qingxue sat on the stone bed and emptied her storage bag to take stock: one Ice Ganoderma and three monster cores—besides the ones from the ice-fanged tiger and the wind wolf, there was another core from an unknown monster beast.
The Ice Ganoderma was the core of this mission, while the rest were extra gains.
Bai Qingxue then stored the monster cores and spirit stones separately, planning to exchange them for pills or artifacts later.
She left the Ice Ganoderma in its jade box by the stone bed.
Cold air seeped from the cracks of the jade box, making the temperature in the quiet room several degrees lower than usual.
Bai Qingxue was in no hurry to consume it.
Liu Ningshuang was right; settling for a few days and reaching her peak state was the proper time for a breakthrough.
Bai Qingxue stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open.
Dusk had deepened. The withered branches of the old plum tree swayed gently in the wind. The buds on the branches were larger than they had been a few days ago, and a few had already split slightly, revealing the tender green new growth within.
At the peak’s main hall.
Liu Ningshuang emerged from the side hall, walked along the corridor to the entrance of the main hall, and paused.
The hall doors were open. True Lord Shuanghua sat on a meditation cushion, the unfinished game of Go spread before her. Cold air swirled through the hall, and within three feet of her, even the air was condensed with tiny ice crystals.
Liu Ningshuang stepped inside and bowed.
“True Lord, Bai Qingxue has returned with the Ice Ganoderma.”
True Lord Shuanghua picked up a white stone and placed it gently on the board without looking up.
“Is she injured?”
“Minor injuries, nothing serious. The ice-fanged tiger has been slain; it was at the seventh level of Qi Refining.”
True Lord Shuanghua nodded slightly but said nothing.
Liu Ningshuang stood to the side, silent for a moment, before finally speaking: “True Lord, there is something I do not understand.”
“Speak.”
“We do not lack Ice Ganoderma in the spirit garden. If you wished to grant her one, you could have simply taken one. Why did you specifically plant one deep in the Luoyun Mountain Range, have a monster beast guard it, and make her go and get it herself?”
True Lord Shuanghua’s fingers hovered over the board, not yet placing the stone. The hall was silent for a few breaths, save for the faint sound of cracking ice crystals.
“What do you think?” she asked back.
Liu Ningshuang lowered her eyes. “I am dull-witted.”
True Lord Shuanghua put the stone back into the stone jar and leaned back on her meditation cushion, her gaze fixed on the deep night outside the hall. She did not answer, only shaking her head slightly.
“You may leave.”
Liu Ningshuang was startled but didn't press further. She bowed and withdrew from the main hall.
The hall doors slowly closed behind her. She stood on the corridor, looking at the silhouette of Xueji Peak hidden in the dusk, her brow slightly furrowed.
The True Lord hadn't answered her.
Why?
Liu Ningshuang didn't know, and she dared not surmise further.
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