Song Mu was indeed a man of vision. By using something he had discovered himself as an apology, he preserved the Qingling Sect's reputation, silenced Tiance Palace, and made Tang Yiran owe him a massive favor in the process.
However, if this Shattered Snow Congealing Lingzhi had remained in his hands, a natural treasure of this level would typically have to be handed over to the sect. Who it would ultimately be given to would be up to the Qingling Sect to decide.
Now that it was given to Lin Zhiyue, the one who truly suffered a loss was not Song Mu himself, but Cui Yu'er, who was originally the most likely to receive it.
Given Cui Yu'er's status as a personal disciple with an Ice Spiritual Root, if Song Mu had kept the lingzhi, it would have almost certainly gone to her.
Now that the lingzhi had changed hands, Cui Yu'er had essentially lost a massive opportunity to break through her bottleneck for no reason, despite having done nothing wrong from start to finish.
Lin Zhiyue was not the type of person who liked owing others.
From beginning to end, this whole mess had been caused by Tang Yiran.
If she, Lin Zhiyue, gained a massive benefit for nothing at the cost of offending a personal disciple with an Ice Spiritual Root, it would not be a good deal no matter how she looked at it.
She sent her divine sense into her system space to look around.
Inside were only some hundreds-of-years-old spiritual herbs and ores.
Thus, she opened the system Point Shop. After flipping a page, her gaze landed on an item priced at 1,200 points—the Ice Marrow Jade Pendant. It was of Green quality. Once worn, it would continuously filter impurities from ice-element spiritual energy. The longer it was worn, the purer the spiritual energy would become, providing a long-term boost to the cultivation speed of an Ice Spiritual Root cultivator.
Cui Yu'er had been stuck at the mid-stage Golden Core Stage for five years. To her, this Ice Marrow Jade Pendant might not be much worse than the Shattered Snow Congealing Lingzhi, and it might even be more suitable for her long-term use.
One thousand two hundred points. Lin Zhiyue winced slightly at the cost, but she did not hesitate for long.
She exchanged her points for the jade pendant, took it out of her space, held it in her palm, and walked over to Cui Yu'er.
Cui Yu'er was standing at the edge of the crowd, her eyes red as she stared intently at the ground.
Feeling someone approach, she raised her head, her eyes still rimmed with red. She froze when she saw what Lin Zhiyue was holding out to her. Her gaze locked onto the Ice Marrow Jade Pendant—it was translucent and pure white, with faint frost-colored spiritual runes floating on its surface. Its spiritual energy was restrained and crisp. Even from an inch away, she could feel the faint coolness radiating from the jade pendant, smoothing out the spiritual energy fluctuations in the surrounding air.
“This is the Ice Marrow Jade Pendant,” Lin Zhiyue said in a soft, calm yet sincere voice. “Wearing it can continuously filter impurities from your spiritual energy. It's beneficial for Ice Spiritual Root cultivators looking to break through their bottlenecks.
I felt bad about taking your Eldest Senior Brother's lingzhi. You've probably been stuck at the mid-stage Golden Core Stage for a long time, right? I hope this will be of use to you.”
Cui Yu'er froze. She stared at the jade pendant for a long time, her lips twitching slightly, the redness in her eyes deepening. Instead of taking it immediately, she asked in a raspy voice, “You... know about me...?”
“I guessed,” Lin Zhiyue replied, nudging the jade pendant closer to her hand. “Take it. I do indeed need the Shattered Snow Congealing Lingzhi, but I also don't want to owe anyone a favor.”
Cui Yu'er reached out and took the jade pendant. Her fingers trembled slightly when they brushed against its surface. A cool sensation seeped from her palm into her meridians. As an Ice Spiritual Root cultivator, she felt the positive impact of the jade pendant on her body's spiritual energy flow almost instantly.
She looked down at the pure white jade pendant in her palm, her mouth opening slightly. When she spoke, her voice was completely different from before, carrying a low, raspy tone that she was desperately trying but failing to suppress. “...Thanks.”
Once Cui Yu'er clutched the jade pendant and stepped aside, the way the other Qingling Sect disciples looked at Lin Zhiyue changed noticeably.
Initially, they had only thought of her as a lucky Tiance Palace disciple who had taken advantage of the situation thanks to their Eldest Senior Brother's intervention.
But now that she had produced this jade pendant, the same thought occurred to all of them—someone who could casually give away a spiritual artifact of this caliber could absolutely not be just an ordinary personal disciple.
Song Mu watched this unfold. He walked up to Lin Zhiyue, paused for a moment, and spoke in a tone that was noticeably more formal than before. “Junior Sister Lin, the Qingling Sect was in the wrong regarding today's matter. Not only did you accept our apology, but you also gifted a spiritual artifact to Yu'er. The Qingling Sect will remember this favor. If you ever need the Qingling Sect's assistance in the future, just send word.”
This was exactly what Lin Zhiyue had been waiting for.
Showing nothing on her face, she merely curled her lips slightly and replied in a casual tone, “Senior Brother Song is too polite. In a secret realm, everyone relies on their own luck. It is better to forge a good relationship than to make an enemy.”
She glanced at Cui Yu'er, who was still staring down at the jade pendant in her hand, and softened her voice. “If this helps Senior Sister Cui with her bottleneck, then my gift was well spent.”
Song Mu nodded and said no more, raising his hand to signal his disciples to withdraw.
The Qingling Sect disciples turned and left the valley one after another. Quite a few of them cast lingering, calculating glances at Lin Zhiyue as they passed her by.
Walking in the middle of the group, Cui Yu'er had carefully tucked the jade pendant close to her body, her expression much calmer than before.
Lin Zhiyue stood where she was and watched the Qingling Sect group disappear into the distance. Cen Xi'er leaned in from behind and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Junior Sister, you're amazing. Cui Yu'er's attitude did a complete 180. And what Song Mu said is basically an official promise in the context of the Six Sects. The Qingling Sect will definitely treat you with the utmost respect in the future.”
Lin Zhiyue patted the Shattered Snow Congealing Lingzhi in her space. Remembering the 1,200 points she had just spent, she still felt a twinge of pain, but on second thought, exchanging them for a favor from the Qingling Sect was well worth it.
She mentally tallied up the ledger, then looked up and smiled at Cen Xi'er. “Let's go. Let's head deeper and see what other good things we can find in the depths of the snowy plains.”
The two of them continued walking side by side toward the depths of the snowy plains.
The frozen earth crunched beneath their feet as the wind swept past them, carrying fine flurries of snow.
Before they had gone very far, three notifications popped up on the system's light screen in quick succession, golden light flashing repeatedly and bringing a touch of warmth to the freezing world.
【Obtained top-grade Shattered Snow Congealing Lingzhi (thousand-year-old). Evaluated value: extremely high. Reward: Premium Draw Ticket ×3.】
【Tang Yiran apologized in public. Behavior categorized as malicious framing. Reward: Premium Draw Ticket ×3.】
【Forged a good relationship with Qingling Sect personal disciple Cui Yu'er through the Ice Marrow Jade Pendant, and Qingling Sect's Eldest Senior Brother Song Mu made a public promise of a favor. Reward: Premium Draw Ticket ×5.】
Lin Zhiyue kept walking, doing some quick mental math. She originally had about ten tickets saved up, and with the eleven new ones, she now had a grand total of twenty-one Premium Draw Tickets.
Her palms grew slightly warm with excitement, but she showed none of it. When Cen Xi'er asked what she was thinking about, she shook her head and said it was nothing, just that she felt this path was quite lucky.
They walked for another stretch before stopping to rest behind a wind-sheltered ice wall at the edge of the snowy plains.
Cen Xi'er went to the stream to fetch some water. Lin Zhiyue leaned against the ice wall and sat down, using this brief interval to summon the system panel.
Twenty-one Premium Draw Tickets were neatly lined up on the interface, glowing with a soft blue light.
Rate on N.U.
