She was only planning to change locations.
Her cultivation was already stable. Pushing further to the late Foundation Establishment stage would take at least eight months.
The Soul-Severing Cliff had rich lightning spiritual force, making it indeed a sacred training ground, but she couldn't just cultivate behind closed doors.
The Way of the Sword was forged through killing. Simply practicing forms without experiencing life-and-death struggles would never hone true skill.
The pack of Purple-Necked Lightning Vultures had been terrified by Shen Qingci. Now, they would turn and fly away the moment they saw her from afar, not even qualified to be her sparring partners.
Higher up, the territory of early Golden Core stage lightning birds was too dangerous. For her, a mid Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, going up there was practically suicide.
Training was meant for tempering oneself, not a “head-disappearing act.”
After weighing her options, Shen Qingci felt it was time to change locations.
Having fully exhausted the gains from the outer perimeter of the Soul-Severing Cliff, she might as well climb toward the cliffs on the edge of the inner perimeter.
Having made up her mind, she delayed no further.
Packing up her miscellaneous belongings in the cave and slinging Shiyi onto her back, she climbed down from the other side of the cliff face...
In the blink of an eye, four years passed.
Shen Qingci rarely descended the cliff.
She scaled the cliffs on the edge of the Soul-Severing Cliff's inner perimeter section by section, climbing from over four hundred zhang to seven hundred zhang. The higher she went, the denser the lightning spiritual force became, and the dangers multiplied exponentially.
After four years, her cultivation had reached the peak of Foundation Establishment, only a thin sheet of paper away from forming her core.
The purple qi in her dantian almost completely filled her qi ocean, and just one more step would allow her to condense a core. However, for this step, no matter how dense the lightning spiritual force was, it wouldn't help; she had to rely on a moment of sudden enlightenment between life and death.
In the late autumn of the third year, she had almost died at the hands of an early Golden Core stage lightning-patterned python.
The python had lunged out of a cliff crevice, its tail sweeping away and shattering the last protruding rock beneath her feet.
Hanging suspended on the cliff face, Shen Qingci's left arm was scorched by lightning fire, her flesh charred...
Immediately after, the python's body wrapped around her right leg, its barbed scales sinking into her flesh as it dragged her down into the abyss below the cliff.
She didn't struggle. Instead, she rode the downward dragging force, reversing her grip on Shiyi and thrusting it into the softest gap between the scales of the python's belly.
All her lightning spiritual force was concentrated at the single point of the sword's tip...
After falling more than ten zhang, the sword's tip had sunk halfway in. The python's body suddenly writhed violently, and its grip abruptly loosened.
After that, she only remembered the whistling wind in her ears, her back crashing against a reef, and her vision turning black...
When she woke up again, she was lying on a reef at the bottom of the cliff, her bones feeling as if they had shattered.
Shiyi was stabbed into the sand three paces away. This was Shen Qingci's very own first style of the Seven Styles of Awakening, and it did not yet have a name.
Afterward, she recalled that moment countless times. She only remembered that when she struck with her sword, her sea of consciousness was completely empty; even if the heavens were to collapse, it wouldn't have mattered. There was only one thing left: “striking with the sword.”
The moment the sword was unleashed, she felt as if she had grasped something, yet upon closer inspection, there was nothing there.
But from that day on, Shiyi became as natural to use as an extension of her own arm.
She named that style “Startling Thunder.”
When the sword was unleashed, all sound in heaven and earth faded, leaving only a single flash of lightning!
Over the years, she had collected many scales and bone spikes from Foundation Establishment stage sea beasts on the cliff. Every time she went down the cliff for supplies, she would head to Haiyue Pavilion to exchange them for spirit stones and pills.
The female cultivator at Haiyue Pavilion had long since become familiar with her.
Whenever Shen Qingci showed up covered in wounds, the woman would simply say, “Fellow Daoist! There's a hot spring inside. Go wash off the blood first before we talk business...”
On this day, Shen Qingci descended the cliff as usual.
As she walked toward Leiyuan Market, her hair was slightly curly.
Having been struck by lightning too many times recently, her newly grown hair always had a bit of a curl to it, and no matter how she tried to smooth it out, it wouldn't straighten.
She had long since stopped caring, simply tying it back with a strip of cloth for convenience.
When she entered Haiyue Pavilion, the female cultivator was standing behind the counter.
Shen Qingci didn't say much. She placed the scales and bone spikes of several peak Foundation Establishment stage sea beasts onto the counter. The female cultivator inspected the goods as usual and offered a fair price.
Once the spirit stones were counted, Shen Qingci turned and left.
After leaving Leiyuan Market, she looked up at the sky and planned to return to her inn first to clean herself up.
She had stayed on the cliff a bit longer this time, and her inner robes had been soaked in beast blood a dozen times over. Even a cleansing spell couldn't wash away the stench.
She lowered her head to sniff her sleeve and frowned.
Fortunately, Senior Sister isn't by my side, or else I really would have become a smelly A-Ci!!!
As she was walking toward the inn, two figures suddenly flickered into view ahead of her.
At that very instant, Shiyi unsheathed with a ring. Shen Qingci held the blade horizontally in front of her, her killing intent surging forward.
Wait, Aunt???
Strange, has my trial ended early?
Today, Shen Tinglan had changed into a moon-soul long robe. Her entire outfit was exceptionally simple and clean, yet the plain color only served to highlight her ethereal, otherworldly face.
Compared to her little niece in front of her, Shen Qingci looked as if she had just rolled in the mud.
Her face was still covered in quite a few scars that hadn't fully healed.
The woman standing beside her was about half an inch taller than Shen Tinglan, with sharp, elegant brows and eyes like cold stars.
Even from a dozen meters away, when that gaze swept over, Shen Qingci couldn't help but feel a surge of wariness.
“A-Ci, snap out of it.” Shen Tinglan took half a step forward and raised her hand, signaling her to sheath her sword. “Aunt is taking you back to the Azure Cloud Sect.”
Shen Qingci didn't budge.
Her divine sense shifted from her aunt's face to the face of the woman beside her, and then back to the side of her aunt's neck.
Although Shen Tinglan's collar was high today, a small patch of skin near her earlobe was still exposed. There was a faint red mark there, not deep, looking as though someone's lips and tongue had pressed against it for a long time.
Shen Qingci knew exactly what that mark meant.
Her killing intent didn't dissipate; instead, a sliver of it leaked out!
“Don't you miss your senior sister?” Shen Tinglan added out of the blue.
The sword in Shen Qingci's hand lowered by half an inch, and her entire killing intent vanished without a trace—so fast that even she herself was momentarily stunned.
She sheathed her sword and bowed respectfully. “Qingci greets Aunt, and greets Senior Ji.”
Ji Linlang raised her brows slightly. “Oh? The Eldest Young Lady recognizes me?” Her voice was clear and cold, indeed carrying the air of a stern, solemn senior expert.
Shen Qingci straightened up, her expression proper and polite. “Qingci has heard Aunt mention Senior Ji's name.”
Ji Linlang chuckled softly. Without reining in her formidable aura, her gaze toward Shen Qingci was filled with appreciation.
She was naturally handsome and heroic, and this bright, hearty laugh made her look exceptionally upright, noble, and open-hearted.
Anyone who saw her would think she was a lovable and respectable “senior”!
“Good child.” Ji Linlang walked forward, her hand pressing against her storage ring.
“For our first meeting, Auntie Ji doesn't have anything too rare. A-Ci, you primarily practice lightning arts. This Lightning Marrow Bead was taken from a Soul Transformation stage lightning whale. It is perfect for nourishing your sword.”
With a flick of her finger, a bead the size of a longan drifted in front of Shen Qingci.
The bead was blue-violet, with two arcs of lightning spinning endlessly inside it.
Shen Qingci looked at her aunt.
“Ahem, ahem, ahem...” Shen Tinglan coughed lightly and turned her head away, pretending to look at the sky.
Shen Qingci understood!
No point in passing up a freebie.
Her aunt was tacitly giving her consent.
Since it was a gift, she would accept it. As the heir of the Shen family, she wasn't about to be bought over by just this much, anyway.
She accepted the Lightning Marrow Bead with both hands and thanked her earnestly.
Seeing how readily Tinglan's relative accepted the gift, Ji Linlang's expression relaxed. She added another storage bag, saying it was filled with lightning-attribute spiritual materials she had collected from the West Sea on this trip.
Shen Qingci politely declined twice, but on the third time, she didn't push back anymore.
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