Li Nanzhu looked down at the talisman in her palm, watching the faint moonlight flowing across the paper. It was cool to the touch, yet carried a trace of warmth.
She carefully placed it against her forehead, and the talisman instantly transformed into flecks of fluorescent light that merged into her body.
In a flash, she felt her spiritual altar become crystal clear, the spiritual energy within her flowing even more smoothly, and even her breathing felt light.
"This is..." Li Nanzhu looked up in surprise.
Feng Yi's lips curled slightly. "A clearing heart and nature talisman. It will help you maintain clarity in your spiritual altar while you cultivate."
As soon as he finished speaking, Duan Xianxing jumped out eagerly.
He held a thick stack of jade slips in his arms, each one carefully tied with gold thread, gleaming with a warm luster under the candlelight.
"Little Junior Sister!" He presented the jade slips to Li Nanzhu like a precious treasure. "These are all my sword dao insights from over the years!"
Li Nanzhu took them in surprise and flipped through one at random. Inside were dense records of various sword moves and variations, and there were even crooked little diagrams of stick figures drawn by Duan Xianxing.
Most precious of all, every key point was annotated with the exact date and time of his sudden enlightenment.
"Seventh Senior Brother..." She stared blankly at the gift.
She knew that Duan Xianxing possessed a Natural Sword Physique, and most of his insights into the Dao of the sword were incredibly abstract. To materialize these realizations into words must have cost him an immense amount of mental effort.
Duan Xianxing scratched his head, looking uncharacteristically embarrassed. "It's not written very well, and there are parts I don't even understand anymore..." Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "But that's okay! I'll teach you personally from now on!"
Zhu Yinxi stepped forward slowly and took a crystal-clear pendant from his sleeve, gently hanging it onto Li Nanzhu's jade hairpin.
"The illusion-breaking mind-clarifying pendant," he said softly. "Crafted from the core of a mirage beast, it can pierce through any illusion in the world."
The crystal pendant and the green jade sparrow-head hairpin complemented each other perfectly, shimmering with a hazy radiance in the candlelight. Li Nanzhu tilted her head slightly, and the pendant let out a crisp tinkling sound.
Jiang Yifan came forward, holding two items—one was the Six-Combination Continuous-Bead Gun he had refined today at the Refining Great Competition, and the other was an exquisite bronze compass.
"I've readjusted the Six-Combination Continuous-Bead Gun." He handed the magic tool to Li Nanzhu. "It is now completely modified to match your spiritual energy characteristics; the resonance frequency of the thirty-six spirit pearls is consistent with your own spiritual energy fluctuations."
He then held up the compass. "This is the star-positioning compass. No matter where you are, it will guide you home."
Li Nanzhu took the two magic tools and noticed that the body of the Six-Combination Continuous-Bead Gun had several more intricate patterns, and a tiny character for 'Li' was engraved on the handle of the bronze bell.
Feng Qingping took out a jet-black array disk, its surface densely covered in complex runes. "A Tiangang Disha array disk. It can instantly set up a protection array."
As she spoke, her face was full of pride. "You only need to inject a sliver of spiritual energy, and it will automatically evolve into the most suitable array combination based on the enemy's characteristics."
Li Nanzhu carefully took the array disk and stroked it gently.
Feng Weilan stepped forward silently and took a jade box from his robes. Inside was a jade pendant wrapped in ten silver threads.
"Blade qi." He handed the box to Li Nanzhu. "Sealed within the jade pendant, to be activated with spiritual energy."
Li Nanzhu knew that these ten strands of blade qi were formed from Feng Weilan's life-bound sword intent. Condensing even a single strand required months of arduous work.
This gift was truly precious beyond measure.
Mu Wenyan finally stepped forward and produced a scroll of jade slips glowing with a green light. "This is the brush cultivator manual I have compiled over the years. It happens to pair well with your Wanxiang Brush."
Li Nanzhu took the jade slips and saw that the surface was covered in fine runes, each containing a profound brush intent.
She gently injected a sliver of spiritual energy, and the jade slips instantly transformed into a green jade brush rest, perfect for holding her Wanxiang Brush.
"Thank you, Eldest Senior Brother." She solemnly tucked the brush rest away. This gift was not only precious but also perfectly suited to her path of cultivation.
Just then, Suisui, who was in Li Nanzhu's arms, suddenly became rowdy. The little skeleton struggled to climb onto her shoulder, its bone claws pressing gently against her forehead.
A speck of emerald life force separated from Suisui's soul fire and slowly merged into Li Nanzhu's brow.
The little skeleton's soul fire dimmed significantly, but it still rattled its head back and forth, expressing its heart.
"Suisui!" Li Nanzhu hugged it, her heart aching. "You didn't have to do this..."
Suisui tilted its head, its soul fire flickering weakly but steadily. Its bone claws gently touched the sparrow-head hairpin in Li Nanzhu's hair, then pointed at the surrounding gifts, and finally made a hugging gesture.
Feng Yi watched this scene, a soft light flashing in his eyes.
He raised his hand and brushed it lightly, injecting a gentle stream of spiritual energy into Suisui's body. The little skeleton's soul fire immediately brightened again.
"Alright." Feng Yi's voice held a rare tenderness. "Accept everyone's blessings."
Holding the pile of gifts, Li Nanzhu finally couldn't help but let her tears fall. The sparrow-head hairpin in her hair trembled slightly, and the ruby at the lark's eye shimmered with a warm glow, as if it were also rejoicing in this moment.
With a wave of his wide sleeves, a long table laden with delicacies suddenly appeared in the center of the hall. "Let us eat."
Li Nanzhu carefully held a glazed cup—this was the first time she had been allowed to drink alcohol. As the liquid went down her throat, a spicy taste with an underlying sweetness bloomed on her tongue, making her eyes turn red from the sting.
Zhu Yinxi timely handed her some spirit spring water, while Feng Qingping silently pushed a plate of spirit fruit over to help her sober up.
The alcohol gradually began to take effect, and Li Nanzhu's cheeks turned crimson. The sparrow-head hairpin in her hair also glowed faintly. Whenever she turned her head, the ruby at the lark's eye would shimmer with different colors, sometimes like the morning glow, sometimes like the sunset.
After three rounds of drinks, Feng Yi stood up. "Your master has one more thing to give you."
He walked up to Li Nanzhu and took out a green lamp. "This is a heart lamp. It can illuminate one's true heart. I give it to you today, wishing that you will always have clarity of mind and nature."
Li Nanzhu took it with both hands. The lamp was entirely jasper-green, with a single dot of vermilion at the wick, identical to the eye of the lark on her hairpin.
She carefully injected a sliver of spiritual energy, and the wick instantly lit up with a soft glow, making the clearing heart talisman on her forehead shine slightly in response.
"Thank you, Master." Her nose felt sore again.
Feng Yi's gaze lingered for a moment on the sparrow-head hairpin in her hair. "This jade hairpin..."
Li Nanzhu looked up at Feng Yi.
"It suits you well," Feng Yi finally said. He raised his hand to gently brush her hair, and the lark on the jade hairpin suddenly brightened for a moment before returning to normal.
Inside the hall, laughter and joy continued unabated.
Li Nanzhu's cheeks grew increasingly flushed. Her little head nodded bit by bit until she finally leaned against the edge of the table and fell into a deep sleep.
In a daze, someone gently picked her up—when the sleeve brushed her cheek, she could faintly hear the rattling of Suisui's bone claws.
That night, Li Nanzhu's dream was exceptionally peaceful.
There were no schemes, no slaughters—only a room full of warm candlelight and the sincere smiles of her fellow disciples.
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