“Huff… huff… Qinghan, I—I think I might not need this kind of special training…”
Xu Muxue struggled as she spun the stone mill in her hands, her voice trembling.
“Call me Senior Sister!”
Shen Qinghan snapped her small leather whip, ‘crack!’ striking Xu Muxue’s delicate rear. “Three more sets, focus!”
“Waaah, Shen Qinghan, you have no heart…”
Xu Muxue sobbed loudly.
She remembered when she was training Shen Qinghan initially, it wasn’t this brutal…
“The Qi Refining Stage is all about absorbing Qi into your body. How can you not strengthen your physique properly?”
Shen Qinghan slapped Xu Muxue’s hand away.
“Look at you, all soft and weak!”
“That part would be soft even at Spirit Severing, right?!”
Shen Qinghan raised her hand and cracked the whip again.
“Dare to talk back!”
The whip wasn’t heavy—it was made from fur shed from Xu Muxue’s own tail. It flicked lightly on her skin, not painful at all, even carried a faint fragrant breeze.
But it served a very humiliating purpose.
“Uooohhh!”
Xu Muxue bit back tears and suddenly lifted the stone weight above her head. At the same time, a strong beam of light burst forth from her, and her entire aura refreshed instantly.
“See? You’re already at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.”
“I’d rather not be like this…” Xu Muxue flopped flat on the ground, long eyelashes still wet with tears.
The mighty Spirit Severing stage master Xu Mu, reduced to swinging a heavy hammer just to break through her cultivation stage?
“Qinghan, listen, I really think I can beat that Song Yu…”
Although she was only at the Qi Refining Stage now, and her Soul-shocking Sword Intent could barely be activated, dealing with juniors below Golden Core shouldn’t be a problem…
“Open wide.”
Shen Qinghan ignored her and pulled out a handful of pills, shoving them all into Xu Muxue’s mouth at once.
Xu Muxue choked and rolled her eyes.
After a struggle, she finally swallowed the clump of pills and gasped, “What are you feeding me?”
“Foundation Establishment Pills.”
“All of these are Foundation Establishment Pills?!”
Xu Muxue was shocked.
Those were extremely expensive.
Foundation Establishment Pills were essential for Qi Refining cultivators to advance to Foundation Establishment. Without them, progression was nearly impossible. So, they were strategic supplies, and Foundation Establishment cultivators were the backbone of the Sword Sect.
The handful Shen Qinghan just fed her was basically equivalent to a year’s salary for an elder at her level.
“It’s fine, I have plenty of these. Little Junior Sister, you can go all out. I won’t need them anyway…”
“Where did you get so much money??”
“Oh, I sold the Mirror of Void Xu Mu left me.”
“Pfft!!!”
Xu Muxue spat out a mouthful of old blood.
“Why did you sell that?”
Xu Muxue’s eye twitched as she forced a calm tone.
“I ran out of money.”
Shen Qinghan replied matter-of-factly.
“Xu Mu handed it to me casually. I didn’t think it was that valuable, but it sold for quite a lot.”
“How much did you sell it for…?”
“Eight thousand Spirit Stones. I sold it piece by piece—pretty clever, right~”
Xu Muxue immediately fainted with a hiccup.
The Mirror of Void, an Eighth-Grade Magical Artifact she personally forged, was something a late-stage Golden Core cultivator could use to fight early Nascent Soul opponents.
Just the materials alone cost more than eight thousand Spirit Stones, not to mention the arrays carved by a Spirit Severing stage master. Eighth-Grade Magical Artifacts were priceless treasures. Even if it sold for eighty thousand Spirit Stones, countless major sects would be clamoring for it.
But her prodigal disciple sold it for just eight thousand Spirit Stones.
Xu Muxue patted her chest, trying to calm herself.
At least it wasn’t sold whole; otherwise, with the lure of an Eighth-Grade Magical Artifact, Nascent Soul cultivators might have targeted her for robbery or worse.
“Alright, Little Junior Sister, next special training!”
Without warning, Shen Qinghan reached out and twisted Xu Muxue’s ear, instantly transforming her into a little fox without any defense.
“Endurance training! Resist my tickling attack for half an incense stick!”
“What kind of training is this?!”
The little fox tried to run but couldn’t escape the grip of a Golden Core cultivator. Shen Qinghan easily dragged her back, grinning wickedly as she reached out with her mischievous hands.
***
The little fox sprawled out on the bed, exhausted.
This is too hard. I’m just a little fox, why must I suffer like this…
“Only those who endure the hardest hardships can become the true Fox Supreme.”
Shen Qinghan gently rubbed her belly and spoke earnestly.
“Look, after half a month of special training, aren’t you already at the peak of the Qi Refining Stage?”
“…I think that’s mostly thanks to the pills.”
Xu Muxue rolled her eyes dramatically.
In other words, none of it had anything to do with the training.
Of course not.
She was the Immortal Xu, the Human World’s only Spirit Severing master. She had already walked the path from Qi Refining to Spirit Severing many times.
Even if her cultivation temporarily vanished, her comprehension remained. As long as there was enough spiritual energy, breakthroughs would come naturally. She wasn’t going to be stuck.
Xu Muxue suspected Shen Qinghan was just messing with her for fun!
With a wave of her jade hand, Shen Qinghan’s Daoist robe changed into a sheer nightgown. She casually pulled the little fox over and lay down naturally.
Since Xu Muxue was taken back to Zuo Wang Peak, it had become a tradition for her to sleep beside Shen Qinghan.
Xu Muxue initially refused.
After all, Shen Qinghan was still her disciple.
But when she declared she would return to her own room, Shen Qinghan didn’t stop her. Instead, her beautiful eyes blankly stared at her, a faint trace of panic and grievance barely perceptible.
Xu Muxue’s heart melted instantly.
She felt most indebted to this senior disciple. Back when she failed to teach her the survival rules of the cultivation world, and couldn’t solve her Spiritual Root problem, she left her alone in the Sword Sect. Those lonely nights—how much anguish must she have suffered?
Kind-hearted Shen Qinghan, even when wronged, usually swallowed her grievances silently. Even against someone like Qin Qin, who openly bullied her, she only weakly resisted.
Without her master around during hard times, would she be as lost and helpless as she was now?
So Xu Muxue stayed, snuggling into her quilt.
She secretly cursed her own soft heart but hoped:
Since they were both girls now, a Senior Sister and Junior Sister sharing a bed shouldn’t be a problem, right…?
It shouldn’t be!
No matter how many different nightgowns Shen Qinghan changed into, Xu Muxue just focused on her breathing, pretending not to notice.
Besides, Shen Qinghan always slept in her little fox form—a small pet. A beautiful girl cuddling a little fox looked perfectly natural, right?
Xu Muxue lay in Shen Qinghan’s arms, feeling perfectly at ease.
Until her disciple’s voice whispered by her ear:
“Little Junior Sister, tonight, I want you to change back into your human form to sleep with me.”
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