The system obediently popped up a line of text: 【Would Host like to try using the remaining six single draws? Single draws can bring miracles, you know.】
Lin Zhiyue took a deep breath and threw the six single draw tickets in one by one. The first one, duplicate. The second one, duplicate. The third one, duplicate. The fourth one, duplicate.
Her fingers began to tremble. The fifth one—a moon-white glow burst open, and a gorgeous, radiant dress slowly unfurled from the center of the light screen. The gold-threaded phoenix embroidered on the hem seemed poised to take flight, and the entire dress looked as if it were enveloped in a layer of soft moonlight, with fine golden specks of light flowing through every single fold from the neckline to the hem.
【Congratulations on obtaining: Jinyao Fairy · Moonlight Flowing Fairy Dress (Main Dress). Quality: Red Grade. The complete Jinyao Fairy set has been collected! The set skill “koi-fish constitution” has been unlocked. Randomly triggers lucky events within a five-li radius. Active passively, no need to manually cast.】
A circle of gorgeous special effects burst on the light screen, and a moon-white stream of light welled out from the screen, flowing over her fingertips. A warm, cozy aura enveloped her entire body.
She slowly exhaled, leaned back against the chair, and closed her eyes.
“Koi-fish constitution...” she murmured, the corners of her mouth slowly curving up. “Getting lucky within a five-li radius... Even finding spirit stones works?”
The system popped up a line of small text: 【Theoretically, yes. However, Host should note that the scope of lucky events includes, but is not limited to, finding spirit stones, discovering spiritual herbs, avoiding danger, encountering a tailwind while traveling, and so on. The effects are random; please maintain a calm state of mind, Host.】
On the morning after her coming-of-age ceremony, Lin Zhiyue arrived at the martial arts field before it even opened, a rare occurrence indeed.
The morning mist had not yet fully dispersed, and a thin layer of dew condensed on the green jade stone surface. She stood by the edge of the field, rotating her wrists with the Azure Scale Sword strapped to her back. Her enthusiasm for practicing swordplay was more than ten times greater than usual.
When Qi Yan walked up the stone steps, he saw from afar a dark green figure pacing back and forth along the edge of the field, drawing her sword to make a few passes every now and then before sheathing it again, looking like a cat warming up.
As he walked over, Lin Zhiyue immediately turned and stood at attention, offering a proper bow. “Good morning, Master.”
Qi Yan glanced at her, his gaze sweeping between her energetic face and her sword-holding stance. The corner of his mouth twitched imperceptibly, but he said nothing, walking to the center of the field and drawing his long blade, gesturing for her to begin.
This round of practice went exceptionally smoothly.
Lin Zhiyue ran through the set of footwork she had figured out and modified herself over the past few days twice from start to finish. She then took the initiative to have Qi Yan correct three minor transition details for her. After she finished, she even voluntarily practiced basic slashing and piercing techniques for an extra fifteen minutes.
By the time she sheathed her sword, the sun had already risen halfway into the sky. Wiping a handful of sweat from her forehead, she cradled her sword and walked to the edge of the field to drink water, her face clearly showing a satisfied look that practically screamed, “I did pretty well today, didn't I?”
Qi Yan returned his blade to its sheath and walked over to stand beside her. Looking down at her as she threw her head back to gulp down water, he spoke after a moment, his voice flat. “Obedient only when given benefits. You are certainly practical.”
Lin Zhiyue almost choked on her water, bending over and coughing twice before she could straighten up. She looked up into Qi Yan’s unreadable eyes, unable to tell for a moment whether he was praising or teasing her.
Pursing her lips, she stowed her waterskin away and replied righteously, “Master gave me such wonderful things. I can't very well slack off after receiving gifts; that would be far too ungrateful.”
Qi Yan looked at her for a brief moment, the faint curve at the corner of his mouth deepening imperceptibly before quickly vanishing. He turned and walked out of the field, his hair tracing a sharp arc in the morning light as his voice drifted back from ahead. “Come at this hour tomorrow as well.”
“Understood—” Lin Zhiyue called out after his retreating figure, drawing out her voice. She looked down and patted the scabbard of her Azure Scale Sword. Recalling the Sifang Courtyard and the Soul Jade Plaque she had received yesterday, and then thinking of the completed Jinyao Fairy set in her system space, she couldn't suppress the curve of her lips no matter how hard she tried.
Bending down to pick up her waterskin, she turned and walked toward the exit of the martial arts field. After only a few steps, her foot suddenly caught on a protruding gap between the bluestones, nearly causing her to stumble.
Steadying herself, she looked down. A glint of something shiny was peeking out from the edge of the stone gap. She squatted down and brushed away the loose gravel; lying inside was a thumb-sized fragment of a spirit stone. Its quality was decent, emitting a warm glow under the sunlight.
Lin Zhiyue pinched the spirit stone fragment, freezing in place for two seconds before the corners of her mouth slowly curled upward.
The koi-fish constitution. It had worked.
Lin Zhiyue practiced her swordplay diligently for five days, but the system remained quiet.
She had only managed to save up a few scattered draw tickets, which were hardly worth mentioning. The task panel only refreshed with mundane daily chores like “go eat a meal at the dining hall” or “greet three fellow disciples.” Completing them only rewarded one or two ordinary tickets; she couldn't even catch a glimpse of a Premium Draw Ticket.
When she complained to Liu Fengyao that things had been “too quiet” lately, Liu Fengyao assumed she was referring to sect affairs and comforted her, saying that everyone was like this at the end of the year, but things would get lively once spring arrived.
On the morning of the sixth day, Lin Zhiyue was woken up by the cold.
Drowsily, she reached out from beneath her blanket, found the windowsill, and pushed open a crack. A gust of biting cold wind rushed in, blowing fine white particles all over her face.
She snapped wide awake and poked her head out to look—the entire world was white.
The branches of the old pines were bent low under the weight of the accumulated snow. A thick layer of snowy fluff was piled atop the courtyard walls, while the stone steps and stone tables were all covered in rounded, white contours. Even the gaps between the bluestone slabs in the courtyard were filled with fine snow.
The sky was a serene blue-gray, and large snowflakes were rustling down from the depths of the heavens, dense and silent. They landed on the windowsill, on the treetops, and on her forehead as she leaned out of the window, melting with a cool sensation.
Lin Zhiyue stared at the courtyard for a long time without moving.
In her previous life, she had been a southerner, growing up in a city where it never snowed, and she had attended university in a southern coastal city as well.
The only time she had ever seen heavy snow was during the winter break of her sophomore year, when she traveled to Beicheng with her classmates. They had viewed a city snow scene in a downtown park, where the dusty streets and roadside trees were weighed down by dirty, accumulated snow. Though she had seen it, it lacked that sense of “heaven and earth blending into one.”
Now, as she pushed open the courtyard gate and stepped out, her boots sank into the soft snow, making a crunching sound.
The entire side peak was covered in heavy snow. In the distance, the three mountain peaks showed faint, hazy outlines through the snowy curtain, and the stone bridge suspended in midair stretched like a silver thread across the sea of clouds, the snow on its surface swept by the wind into long, slender ripples.
Nearby, crystalline icicles hung from the treetops, reflecting a soft luster in the blue-gray morning light.
The air was so clean it tasted almost bitter. Inhaling it into her lungs made her shiver from the cold, yet it was so crisp and refreshing that she couldn't bear to stop breathing it in.
She walked slowly down the stone steps of the side peak, her boots leaving a neat trail of indentations in the snow.
The pine trees on both sides of the mountain path were each draped in a thick white robe. Occasionally, there would be the soft rustle of snow sliding off a branch, startling a pair of unknown gray-feathered birds that flapped their wings and vanished into the snowy curtain.
Reaching the bend in the stone steps, her field of vision suddenly opened up.
The entire valley unfolded before her. Nearby were layers of snow-capped roofs and curling columns of cooking smoke, while in the distance, stretching white mountain ranges blended with the grayish-white horizon. It was impossible to tell where the mountains ended, where the sky began, or where the falling snow was.
The entire world was enveloped in a soft, white halo, so quiet it felt as though even the wind was holding its breath.
Lin Zhiyue stood on the stone steps and went no further, simply standing there and watching for a long time.
Snow fell on her shoulders and the top of her head, accumulating into a thin layer of white fluff.
Her exhaled breath formed small puffs of mist in the air, which were quickly swept away by the wind.
She had never seen such a complete snowscape in such a clean place. In her past life, the snow she saw in the city turned into grayish-black slush the moment it hit the ground. But the snow before her fell from the sky, landing on tree branches, on rooftops, and on her eyelashes—every single flake was pristine, white and untainted by a speck of dust.
She stood on the stone steps for a good while before turning to head back, planning to call Cen Xi'er to watch the snow with her.
She wrapped her collar tight and ran through the snow toward Cen Xi'er's courtyard.
Her boots made a crunching sound on the snow, stretching all the way to the corner before vanishing, leaving behind only a long trail of crooked footprints.
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