She put away her storage bag, turned to walk to the side, and called out to the empty air, “Shadow Division!”
A female secret guard stepped out from the shadows and knelt on one knee. “Subordinate Shadow Sixty-Six greets the Eldest Young Lady.”
“Deliver a token to Haiyue Pavilion and hand it to the shopkeeper.”
“Tell her that Shen Qingci of the Northern Region Shen Family thanks her for her fair treatment over the past four years. If she encounters any difficulties in the future, she can use this token to send word to Qinghe County.”
The secret guard bowed, her figure flickering before vanishing.
Shen Tinglan watched this and nodded secretly.
A-Ci was becoming increasingly methodical in her actions.
For that female cultivator at Haiyue Pavilion to offer fair prices day in and day out for four years in a place like Leiyuan Market, her discernment was certainly not lacking.
In a chaotic place like Leiyuan Market, many would jump on the bandwagon of success, but few would offer help in times of need. It was only right for A-Ci to accept this favor.
Four years had passed, and A-Ci had grown quite a bit taller, her eyes deeper than before. Standing there amidst the wind and sand, she truly carried the aura of a “true boss.”
“Alright, alright, let's go.” Shen Tinglan cleared her throat and lightly patted Ji Linlang's lower back. “Back to the Azure Cloud Sect.”
Ji Linlang's body stiffened slightly. Her earlobes turned a traitorous shade of red for a brief moment as she pressed her waist closer to Shen Tinglan's palm.
“Alright, we will do as Tinglan says.”
Shen Qingci felt a twinge of sourness in her heart, turning another page in the ledger of grudges in her sea of consciousness.
Tsk, Aunt has certainly figured out how to live her life over these past four years.
Shen Tinglan whipped out two lengths of flowing sleeves. One wrapped around her little niece's waist, lifting her into the air, while the other wrapped around Shiyi.
Shen Qingci: “...”
She pouted. “Aunt! Qingci knows how to fly on a sword.”
“Your master sent a transmission yesterday saying that A-Yuan might emerge from the Sword Tomb early, so she wants you to wrap up your trial quickly.”
“Early?” Shen Qingci's body tensed. “Could something have gone wrong in the Sword Tomb? Why else would it be early?”
“I don't know. Jinglian didn't go into detail in the transmission.”
Shen Qingci was on the verge of panicking.
Any petty thoughts she had vanished instantly, her mind completely filled with her senior sister as she hurriedly urged her aunt to return to the flying vessel.
“Don't worry, the Shen family's flying vessel will make it in time.”
Shen Tinglan carried her little niece back onto the flying vessel and tossed her straight into a hot spring chamber.
This pool had been prepared four years ago on her orders. The hot spring water was drawn from a spiritual vein at the bottom of the West Sea, and the bottom of the pool was lined with a thick layer of Mind-Focusing Jade Sand.
Three items had already been blended into the pool: Nine Heavens Lightning Marrow, Primordial Lightning Crystal, and Purple Extremity Divine Lightning Fluid.
Taking out even one of these three items would be enough to make Void Refining powerhouses fight to the death.
Blended together in precise proportions, they were specifically meant to cleanse and refine a Lightning Spiritual Root, capable of forcefully elevating a high-grade Lightning Spiritual Root to a supreme one.
Shen Tinglan set down Shiyi, turned to leave, and tossed a sentence over her shoulder at the doorway: “Since there's still some time before the flying vessel reaches the Azure Cloud Sect, condense your core first.”
“Lest your senior sister emerges from the Sword Tomb as a Nascent Soul while you're still at peak Foundation Establishment. When the two of you get all cuddly and intimate, you'll still be on the bottom, unable to handle it!”
“As your elder, of course I want my niece to rise to the occasion.”
Shen Qingci: “ζζ´◉◞౪◟◉ζζ”
On the surface, her aunt's words sounded like a joke, but upon closer thought, they were pure horror.
She didn't even have the energy to retort. Stripping off her tattered robes, she sank into the pool.
As the hot spring water rose past her shoulders, the Nine Heavens Lightning Marrow was the first to take effect. The medicinal force felt like tens of thousands of bone spikes stabbing into her spiritual root simultaneously.
A few gasps escaped Shen Qingci's lips, her entire body stiffening like a wooden chopstick.
If she had soaked in this medicinal bath a few years ago, this single impact would have knocked her unconscious for half a month.
Now, Shen Qingci merely furrowed her brows and gritted her teeth, enduring it.
The Primordial Lightning Crystal dissolved next, breaking down into fine powder that flowed through her meridians to every corner of her body. Her old injuries were slowly ground away, and even the deep-seated congestion accumulated over years of trials was forced out.
The Purple Extremity Divine Lightning Fluid took effect last. As the fluid entered her body, her spiritual root vibrated violently, being reshaped inch by inch from root to tip by the Purple Extremity Divine Lightning.
Under this spiritual force, her original high-grade Lightning Spiritual Root rapidly mutated, its impurities stripped away... until the spiritual root emitted a deep purple, chilling glow.
Shen Qingci trembled all over. The hot spring water surged violently, and the Mind-Focusing Jade Sand was swept up by the spiritual force, clattering loudly against the inner walls of the pool.
With her forehead pressed against the edge of the pool, her fingernails dug into the wall, her fingertips scraped raw and bleeding.
Over the past four years, she had suffered countless injuries.
Torn by lightning vultures, constricted by lightning pythons, smashed against cliff faces, bitten by sea beasts...
Pain was something she had long since grown accustomed to.
Trading this small amount of pain for a supreme Lightning Spiritual Root was more than worth it.
After more than six hours, the pool water gradually calmed down.
Shen Tinglan had been keeping her divine sense fixed on the hot spring chamber. Seeing that her niece was about to condense her core, she raised her hand and deactivated the flying vessel's protective shield.
A moment later, a small tribulation cloud gathered above the flying vessel, barely half an acre in size. Purple lightning flickered within the cloud, appearing somewhat hesitant.
Ji Linlang stood beside Shen Tinglan, looking up at the sky.
The tribulation cloud brewed for quite a while before finally releasing a bolt of lightning.
The lightning bolt was pitifully thin. It had barely traveled a few yards from the cloud when it suddenly twisted in midair, as if frightened by something, and retreated back into the cloud.
After shaking a few times, it swapped for an even thinner bolt and struck down, barely brushing the tips of Shen Qingci's hair.
The foundation she had accumulated over four years of life-and-death battles instantly poured forth at this moment. The purple qi inside her dantian surged like a tide, collapsing frantically toward the center.
Her spiritual root then completed its transformation. The purple qi condensed into liquid, gathering into a core... A purple sphere the size of a thumb hung suspended right in the center of her dantian.
The tribulation cloud hesitated for a long while before simply shaping itself into a hand. It hovered in the air, giving her a distant pat on the head, and then dispersed completely.
Early Golden Core stage, achieved!
Shen Tinglan: “???”
Ji Linlang: “???”
Shen Qingci: “???”
Could the Heavenly Dao actually do trade-ins now?
Shen Tinglan silently reactivated the protective shield and exchanged a look with Ji Linlang. Ji Linlang turned her head, pretending to look at the scenery outside.
The same thought occurred to both of them simultaneously: Could the Heavenly Dao really be treating this little niece of ours as the daughter of destiny?
A quarter of an hour later, just as Shen Qingci finished changing into the new robes her aunt had prepared beforehand, she suddenly heard a strange noise from the direction of the sword chamber, followed by the hum of a sword drawing closer.
She turned her head to look.
Jinglei shot over from the sword chamber, discarding its scabbard halfway. With its bare blade slashing through the door curtain, it charged into the hot spring chamber.
It caught sight of Shiyi resting by the edge of the pool at first glance.
Its blade paused for a brief second. Then, lightning flared brilliantly as it whipped its hilt, sweeping Shiyi into the corner.
Shiyi collided with the cabin wall and slid to the floor, lying there in absolute silence.
Jinglei circled the room triumphantly before flying back to Shen Qingci's side, its hilt rubbing affectionately against her palm.
Just as Shen Qingci gripped the hilt, before she could even speak, Jinglei suddenly stiffened. Sensing that its master possessed an additional sword intent, the blade stood bolt upright, freezing for another moment.
“Jinglei,” Shen Qingci called to it.
Jinglei's tip drooped as it let out two aggrieved hums.
The meaning was very easy to understand: Master has a new love and has forgotten her old sword. And the new love is just a dead sword without even a sword spirit.
Are delicacies no longer to your liking, and now you want to taste plain porridge and side dishes?
Helpless, Shen Qingci picked up Shiyi from the corner and placed both swords side-by-side on her lap.
Jinglei refused to cooperate, using its hilt to nudge Shiyi away.
“Stop it,” Shen Qingci said, reaching out to press down on it.
Jinglei stopped moving, its blade trembling slightly as if it were a child who had just had their candy stolen.
Shen Qingci sighed, setting Shiyi aside to focus on comforting Jinglei. “It doesn't have a sword spirit, nor can it speak. As the big sister, what pride is there in bullying it?”
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