Chapter 8

Finally, thanks to everyone’s unintended interference, Li Yunxian closed up her stall even earlier than she had expected.

Looking at the generous sum of 3,023 coins in her account, Li Yunxian felt as though her entire world had brightened.

After packing up her materials, the crowd at her stall reluctantly dispersed. But before leaving, someone passed along a piece of news to her.

The Changguang Guild had been looking for her.

“The leader’s name seems to be Sheng Yu. They didn’t say what they wanted, but when they came to ask about you, their expressions weren’t good.”

The implication was clear: trouble was headed her way.

Li Yunxian heard this but paid it no mind.

In reality, she was aware of the troubles surrounding Liu Chen and wasn’t afraid to confront them directly. This was just a game, after all—if she died, she’d only be unable to log in for three days.

She thanked them and leisurely returned to her small room.

In the exchange shop, Li Yunxian chose the Bloodbone again, then, glancing at the remaining thousand-plus coins, her eyes fell upon the Tiannan Liquid placed beside the Bloodbone.

Though its name differed from the cultivation world’s terms, its appearance was the same.

It was a spiritual herb juice infused with spiritual energy.

Its medicinal properties were mild and could be mixed with the medicinal bath to boost the spiritual energy she needed to absorb.

One liter cost 1,000 game coins.

She bought it without hesitation.

Unconcerned about her account balance hitting rock bottom again, Li Yunxian logged off in high spirits.

The day passed smoothly, with only a few teachers and students who had heard the news lightly urging her to reconsider transferring schools.

Seeing her resolute attitude, they didn’t press the issue and even sought a fallback plan for her.

“If that bully uncle refuses to let you take the entrance exam, you can always come back and take the city’s college entrance exam with us!”

Li Yunxian was speechless.

That remark was more effective than any miraculous elixir.

Suddenly, pressure weighed down on her.

Wiping the sweat from her brow, Li Yunxian hurried home and swiftly prepared the materials for her second medicinal bath.

She immersed herself once more.

Having undergone the first “muscle and marrow cleansing,” the pain this time was much less intense.

Ignoring the discomfort, she focused her mind and spirit, beginning to absorb the spiritual energy from the bath.

One meridian filled, then two, then three…

The spiritual energy flowed along each meridian, advancing inward toward the first acupoint.

The surging energy continuously pounded the acupoint until—buzz!—the sealed acupoint was burst open.

The medicinal bath water rippled with the movement.

Qi Refining, first layer.

Li Yunxian thought calmly.

Qi Refining comprised ten layers, measured by the number of acupoints connected within the body.

There were 361 acupoints in total; every 36 connected acupoints counted as one complete layer.

When 360 acupoints were connected, it was called the Great Perfection of Qi Refining. Connecting the final acupoint signified that the body had forged the foundation of immortality—the so-called Foundation Establishment.

She had been through this before and was composed as she continued to absorb spiritual energy.

Second acupoint, third acupoint…

Four hours passed again. This time, when Li Yunxian rose, only a thin layer of residue encased her body.

This was the last impurity within her.

Having washed these away, she felt utterly transparent throughout her being.

She had opened 28 acupoints directly.

Recalling how difficult it was to open acupoints early on in the cultivation world, Li Yunxian almost wanted to shed tears of sympathy for her former self.

The experience of spending money to advance was truly wonderful!

Exhaling deeply again, she sensed that the spiritual energy within a 25-meter radius had been completely drained by her.

The flow of spiritual energy entering her body was far smoother than before.

After thoroughly cleansing impurities, her physical aptitude had improved far more than she had imagined.

She regretted only having experienced medicinal baths once in the cultivation world.

The plight of impoverished scattered cultivators was truly painful.

She cursed that medicinal baths became useless once one’s cultivation advanced.

Now, Li Yunxian wanted to visit the testing center for another assessment.

But she only thought about it.

If she went for another test now, it would be like handing over her current condition directly to the Liu family.

She wasn’t foolish enough to do that.

Weighing her options, she felt there was an eighty to ninety percent chance her current physical state could qualify her for the four great academies.

As far as she knew, the last time a student from Jincheng entered the four great academies was ten years ago.

Li Yunxian didn’t believe Liu Wu could suppress a student capable of entering those academies.

Of course… even if they could, it didn’t matter.

Li Yunxian lightly flicked the small sword in her hand.

If they tried to suppress her, she would just shake the heavens.

Sword cultivators always believed in the sword in their hands.

That day, Li Yunxian chose to rest and did not log into the game.

In the game, the guild battle had ended, and the Changguang Guild, having successfully maintained their rank, were utterly dismayed.

Why had the person they had been desperately seeking for two days suddenly appeared?

Could it be that she was deliberately avoiding them?

The members of the Changguang Guild exchanged glances, but Sheng Yu was not willing to give up.

“Since the boss is still selling things out in the open, not completely hiding, she’s bound to show up again,” Sheng Yu reasoned logically. “And she doesn’t mind others using her ink or learning to paint from her, which means she actually doesn’t care about these things she puts out.”

“Surely she’s open to negotiation!” Sheng Yu concluded and reappeared at the trading market.

They waited and waited, through the two times Li Yunxian appeared and disappeared, until a new day arrived.

But Sheng Yu saw no sign of her.

“No matter!”

“I refuse to believe it!”

Sob, Q.A.Q!

One blink later, a new day had dawned—the day before the official start of the cultivators’ academic exam.

Li Yunxian felt that if the Liu family planned to do anything unlawful, this was their last chance.

But nothing happened.

Another day passed quietly, and Li Yunxian scratched her head.

She began to wonder if she had been wrong to assume that Liu Chen was an asshole, and therefore the entire Liu family was rotten.

At night, Li Yunxian did not log into the game.

Her anticipated goal had been achieved.

Though the thrill of spending money to level up was enjoyable, restraining one’s desires was also a form of cultivation.

Li Yunxian chose to settle her mind.

Holding the spirit sword before her, she closed her eyes and nurtured the sword’s aura.

After an indeterminate time, the clear, ancient bird calls of Gugu suddenly rang in her ears.

Opening her eyes, the spirit sword before her faintly gleamed with sharp radiance.

With a slight thought, the spirit sword shrank back to its small form, and Li Yunxian sheathed it before stepping out.

Jincheng First High School.

The campus on a weekend should have been relatively empty, but because the cultivators’ academic exam was held here, the day was unusually bustling.

To be precise, it was excessively crowded.

Li Yunxian, having loosened up her body before coming, felt somewhat bewildered.

Had she arrived late?

Moreover…

Were there really so many young cultivators from Jincheng taking the exam?

Focusing, Li Yunxian realized that almost all the young people present were her classmates from the regular class.

“Are you all taking the exam too?” she asked, puzzled.

Her classmates cheerfully raised their hands.

“We’re here to cheer you on!”

“With us here, if anyone dares to bully you, we’ll boo them!”

“We’ll protest for you!”

The school’s leaders and teachers had their ways of helping Li Yunxian, and her classmates had theirs.

They couldn’t stand to see a good person being bullied by the bad guys.

Li Yunxian smiled.

She declined the teachers’ help but did not refuse the enthusiasm of her classmates.

“Good, then justice is up to you all!” Li Yunxian said with a smile.

Her classmates were speechless.

“That sounds kind of gross,” they muttered.

Li Yunxian smiled warmly, patting their heads.

“Don’t be shy~”

Her classmates had no words.

“Now I want to punch you even more,” they joked, feeling their fists itch to use the moves Li Yunxian had taught them just days ago—on her.

At the entrance, the scene was lively.

The examiners seated in the middle turned their heads and smiled kindly at Liu Wu.

“These kids are quite interesting. Director Liu, you were the same when you were young—fearless of heaven and earth.”

Liu Wu’s face remained cold and unresponsive.

“Director, you’re joking,” he replied lightly.

Director Chen paid no attention to Liu Wu’s attitude and continued chatting casually.

“In recent years, fewer students from Jincheng have gone to ordinary academies. They can only attend city-level schools now. If this continues, the Jincheng Academic Office might be abolished.”

Liu Wu understood the subtext of Chen Director’s words and grew even colder.

“Yes. Originally, Chenchen could have attended an ordinary academy this year.”

Hearing this, Director Chen made a regretful expression.

“Just unfortunate—the inspection team was too strict.”

Liu Wu sneered and glanced at Li Yunxian.

“Strict is good. Whoever hunts cultivators should be dealt with strictly, with no leniency.” He then looked at Director Chen. “Don’t you agree, Director?”

Director Chen smiled cheerfully, ignoring the comment, and poured a cup of tea for Liu Wu.

“Ah, we’ve been chatting too much. Have some tea.”

Meanwhile, amid the tugging and bustling, Li Yunxian had already registered for the exam at the social passage.

Jincheng wasn’t large, and the number of cultivators was limited.

What happened at the testing center had already spread throughout these past two days.

However, many people did not know what Li Yunxian looked like.

After the lively scene at the entrance, everyone with ears now knew who she was.

When Li Yunxian stepped into the testing area, those ahead of her even stepped aside, signaling for her to move forward.

Li Yunxian didn’t hesitate and went straight to the spiritual power detection device.

It was a box-like apparatus.

Having used it before in the testing center, she knew what to do.

She reached both hands inside and grasped the core inside.

“All right, slowly input your spiritual power. Do not resist the shock of the spiritual energy,” the tester mechanically instructed.

Everyone around watched intently.

Li Yunxian had reached the first layer of Qi Refining, and those with some cultivation sensed her power.

This differed greatly from her previous test results.

They were all curious about her current spiritual power level.

The box emitted a steady, silver-white glow.

The examiners on the panel subtly shifted their gazes.

Such a stable glow was rarely seen in Qi Refining cultivators.

Even many Foundation Establishment cultivators found it difficult to achieve.

It represented absolute control over one’s spiritual power.

“Impressive…” one examiner instinctively opened his mouth to praise but caught himself, hurriedly swallowing the latter half of the sentence, “someone who can one-shot a fifth-layer Qi Refining cultivator.”

He glanced at Liu Wu’s increasingly dark expression and quietly resumed his chewing of a gourd-shaped puzzle.

After several seconds, the white light faded, and a number appeared on the display.

“Spiritual power: 287. Score: 132,” the tester announced.

The number stunned everyone.

They all knew that just three days ago, Li Yunxian’s spiritual power test had been a mere 2 points.

In the Qi Refining stage, each connected acupoint increased spiritual power by about 10 points.

A value of 287 meant Li Yunxian had opened 28 acupoints in just three days.

How was that possible?