Chapter 13

From the day she grasped the essentials of the Asura Blade Technique, Le Li began refining her spiritual awareness using the Six-Petal Ice Blossom.

More than a year had passed; during this time, Le Li devoted herself entirely to cultivation, focusing all her energy on mastering the first stage of the Asura Blade Technique, temporarily setting aside everything else.

Now that she had mastered the essentials, she returned to her previous training routine and could finally spare some time and effort to refine her spiritual awareness.

Over this past year, Le Li had become proficient in the Spirit Tempering Art and could fully control the Six-Petal Ice Blossom.

When she activated her cultivation method, the Six-Petal Ice Blossom transformed into an icy thread that shot forth from her dantian, quickly condensing again into the six-petal form before her. The cold aura was restrained and concentrated; under her spiritual sensing, it grew even more chilling and razor-sharp.

At that moment, Le Li changed the hand seals, extending her spiritual awareness onto the Six-Petal Ice Blossom. Immediately, she felt her soul grow heavy, as if someone were rapidly and continuously tapping her forehead with a cold, soft hammer.

The rapid tapping clouded her mind and weakened her body, yet the coldness also refreshed and invigorated her. These extremes alternated, leaving her with a dizzy sensation as if her feet had left the ground, making her long to fall heavily just to feel grounded.

Biting her teeth, Le Li persisted; the longer she endured, the better the results. Unexpectedly, just after fifteen minutes, the threads embedded in her soul snapped one by one. Black shadows layered her vision, and she began to gag uncontrollably. Hastily, she ceased her technique and retracted the ice blossom into her dantian.

She then lit a Mingting incense beside her, closed her eyes, and inhaled the subtle fragrance. Gradually, the nausea subsided, her mind cleared, and a faint yet tangible sensation of fullness returned to her spiritual core.

After a long while, Le Li exhaled deeply. Indeed, no method of refining spiritual awareness was ever easy.

In her previous life, to help Huo Fengji, she had specially gathered materials to nurture the soul and commissioned the sect’s artifact smith to forge a unique chessboard. By moving the pieces with spiritual awareness, she honed her spirit and enhanced her soul.

Since it involved chess, it was best played by two. She was the partner, dedicating herself to nurturing Huo Fengji’s spiritual awareness. After each game, Huo Fengji would suffer greatly, and Le Li herself would feel dizzy and require long recovery.

Though her spiritual awareness improved and she gained benefits, Le Li now felt it wasn’t worth it for Huo Fengji. Wouldn’t it be better if all those efforts and resources were devoted to herself instead?

A burst of spiritual energy extinguished the incense. Le Li rose, gripping the Hongming Blade, and began to train in the courtyard.

By afternoon, after finishing her blade practice and meditating to restore her energy, she entered the spirit field.

Many of the crimson hibiscus she had planted had begun to ripen. She had harvested some a few days prior, and yesterday she saw the rest were ripe, so today she collected them all.

Currently, she took a Cultivation Pill nearly every three days—a pace that accelerated her progress while allowing time to purge pill toxin and prevent accumulation in her meridians.

She consumed about ten pills a month; the monthly allowance provided five, leaving a shortfall of five, which she filled by purchasing from Chunhe Hall with spirit stones.

She could also buy at the sect or exchange contribution points, but it was more convenient to go to Chunhe Hall directly and buy high-quality Cultivation Pills without wasting time or effort elsewhere. Moreover, her contribution points were limited and better reserved for other uses. If she could solve it with spirit stones, she wouldn’t spend contribution points and would strive to increase them instead.

She had no intention of using these crimson hibiscus to exchange for pills; she planned to trade them at the task hall for contribution points directly.

Le Li carefully used her spiritual energy to dig out the crimson hibiscus, placing them into a prepared jade box to prevent their medicinal properties from dissipating.

Originally, she had planted fifty-six, but five died due to pests and disease, leaving fifty-one. Losses were inevitable, but her success in cultivating so many owed much to her past life’s experience.

In her first three years at the sect, they were often assigned planting tasks, mostly cultivating spiritual rice.

Spirit rice was the primary spiritual food for Qi Refiners and the main ingredient for making Fasting Pills. The sect planted large quantities annually, requiring many disciples to tend the fields. She was almost always busy in the rice paddies.

The sect preferred to assign disciples with strong Water and Wood spirit roots to tend spiritual herbs. She only began planting spiritual herbs after moving to Qingxuan Peak and having her own courtyard in her previous life, mostly fire-attributed herbs. Her accumulated experience was now applied in this life.

After harvesting the crimson hibiscus, Le Li crushed three fire spirit stones and scattered the powder over the spirit field, then performed the Hoe Tilling Art. Her spiritual energy acted like a hoe, turning over the entire field.

After a cycle of planting spiritual herbs, the field needed nurturing with spirit stone powder to maintain quality for the next planting.

Le Li emerged from the spirit field, tidied up, and left her courtyard to visit the task hall.

All fifty-one crimson hibiscus were plump and spiritually rich, exchanged for 426 contribution points—a fair return for the spirit stones and effort invested.

Leaving the task hall, a faint smile played on Le Li’s lips. She had quietly inquired within and learned the sect needed Red Sun Grass for pill-making. She had already exchanged for Red Sun Grass seeds and planned to trade more contribution points next year.

“Le Li, got you this time!” Chen Qiaoxuan leapt down from a rock, blocking her path.

Le Li glanced at him, replying dryly, “I’m mostly at Qianyuan Peak and seldom leave. If you want to find me, just send a message. Why say ‘got you’ as if I’m deliberately avoiding you?”

“You haven’t been avoiding me, but since you don’t go out, you must be focused on cultivation. I didn’t want to disturb you,” Chen Qiaoxuan reasoned. “How’s your blade technique coming along? Don’t forget our agreement. I’m not in a hurry, but cultivation levels don’t wait. If I wait until I reach late Qi Refinement to spar with you, it might be unfair. You need to speed up.”

“You’re quite thoughtful,” Le Li sneered. “But why are you so sure you’ll beat me once you reach late Qi Refinement? A bit overconfident, aren’t you?”

Chen Qiaoxuan kicked a stone away. “Sounds like you don’t take my future late Qi Refinement seriously. You call me overconfident, but your confidence in beating me is just as much.”

Le Li raised an eyebrow. “I’m not ignoring your future late Qi Refinement, I just want to compete now, and set a time immediately.”

“Day isn’t over yet. Why not now? Better than waiting,” Chen Qiaoxuan rubbed his palms.

Le Li smiled faintly. “Fine, now it is.”

Fighting was forbidden casually within the sect. To spar, they had to use the designated arena.

There were two types of arenas: public ones where spectators could freely watch and judge—usually for betting or fame—and closed ones, sealed by arrays so no outsiders could see, known only to the combatants.

Le Li and Chen Qiaoxuan chose the closed arena to spar privately without onlookers.

They flew onto the platform, each handing three spirit stones to the Foundation Establishment senior guarding the arena. As they stood at the center, spirals of spiritual light swirled, activating the array, isolating them as if they alone existed in the world.

Both revealed their weapons: Le Li gripped the Hongming Blade, Chen Qiaoxuan brandished a sharp sword, red fire spirit energy flickering along the blade edges.

“Chen Qiaoxuan, your move!”

“Le Li, your move!”

They saluted each other and launched forward. Le Li swung her blade in slashes, Chen Qiaoxuan thrust his sword.

The Hongming Blade cut through the air with fierce heat and lightning speed. She spun, striking three consecutive blows aimed at Chen Qiaoxuan’s shoulders and neck.

Chen Qiaoxuan’s sword flashed like a wave of fire, each move surging forward to target Le Li’s vital points.

They exchanged blows rapidly—over a dozen moves in a few breaths.

Le Li danced with the wind, her blade strokes simple yet effective. Chen Qiaoxuan sprang back, eyes flashing, “You haven’t learned the Asura Blade Technique yet, using just basic blade moves against me?”

“Don’t be anxious. The Asura Blade Technique comes later. Let me first show you the power of basic blade skills!”

The simpler and more fundamental the technique, the closer it aligned with the natural way. In the Southern Continent, a sword cultivator had once dominated all with just a basic sword style’s Drawing Sword stance—so fast that opponents lost before fully seeing the sword.

Le Li had trained basic blade skills diligently for a year and was confident in handling Chen Qiaoxuan’s sword moves. Spinning swiftly, she slashed, forcing Chen Qiaoxuan to dodge left and right.

He bent low to sweep at her lower body, relentless as autumn winds sweeping fallen leaves. Le Li lifted her foot and flicked her blade tip, crashing toward his chest.

Chen Qiaoxuan twisted to evade, instantly shifting techniques. Fire spirit energy coursed through his sword, the tip raining down like a sudden storm upon Le Li.

Le Li’s eyes flickered, recognizing this as Chu Lin’s famed sword technique taught to Chen Qiaoxuan. She shifted her wrist, changing moves, weaving her body in and out, and unleashed the Asura Blade Technique. Her blade blazed crimson, matching Chen Qiaoxuan blow for blow.

Their previous duels were always evenly matched, but now, though Chen Qiaoxuan’s spiritual cultivation surpassed hers and he was near late Qi Refinement, Le Li’s experience and insight far exceeded his.

Since the fight began, Le Li had spotted at least five flaws in Chen Qiaoxuan’s moves. Especially after he switched to the powerful sword style, he showed even more openings—not because of the sword style, but because his cultivation was imperfect. If she launched a fierce counterattack, Chen Qiaoxuan would surely lose.

As good friends, Le Li leveraged her past life’s advantage, but Chen Qiaoxuan was still a mere fourteen-year-old boy. She wanted to spare him some dignity and not let him lose too badly.

After nearly a full incense stick’s time of back-and-forth struggle, Le Li sensed the moment was ripe. With her spiritual awareness, she pressed on with the Asura Blade Technique, forcing Chen Qiaoxuan to falter. She struck his wrist with the back of her blade; his sword slipped from his grasp with a clatter.

Feigning weakness, Le Li stepped back several paces and whispered, “You lost.”

Chen Qiaoxuan fixed her with a piercing gaze, making her uneasy. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Hearing her words, he turned and bent to retrieve his sword. “This round, your moves changed a lot—more refined and sharp. Honestly, your temperament has shifted too.”

Le Li’s eyelashes trembled as her gaze drifted to the Hongming Blade in her hand. Calmly, she said, “After such upheaval, how could I remain unchanged? My cultivation speed will inevitably slow, so other aspects must improve. Training blade skills is a good choice.”

“Indeed,” Chen Qiaoxuan fell silent for a moment, then shrugged and relaxed his expression. Pulling two spirit stones from his storage pouch, he handed them to her cheerfully. “Alright, you won this round. Next time we spar, at a suitable time, be careful—your techniques are exposed now. Even if I reach late Qi Refinement, I won’t go easy on you.”

Le Li paid no mind to his warning. Looking at the two spirit stones in his hand, she suddenly found it amusing. She hadn’t remembered that their duels involved wagers—just a paltry two spirit stones.

She reached out and took the stones, smirking, “Times have changed. Only two spirit stones? That’s a bit stingy.”

Chen Qiaoxuan spun a sword flourish to sheath it, retorting, “That was our prior agreement, so we stick to the old stakes. Next time, we’ll raise it tenfold—twenty spirit stones. How about that?”

“Fine, it’s a deal.” Le Li already pictured twenty spirit stones beckoning to her—a small but welcome gain.

They left the arena amicably, walking together for a while before parting ways to their respective peaks.

As Le Li returned to the Purple Bamboo Courtyard near dusk, she sat at the table, took out the Hongming Blade, and carefully wiped its surface with a silk cloth.

The tranquil twilight, adorned with a faint moonlight, bathed the earth, bringing a deep calm to the heart.