The Array Disc Production Method was similar to refining magic tools, and with the convenience of modern technology, Li Yunxian finished making it quickly, and even processed the Talisman Materials along the way.
After coming out, Li Yunxian realized that Chen Shuzhang had returned her call.
Li Yunxian sent a message: “Everything’s fine now, just wanted to ask where the Magic Tool Shop is—already found it. Congratulations on reaching Golden Core, Director.”
Chen Shuzhang replied just as quickly:
“Congratulations to you too, couldn’t have done it without what you told me before you left. Here’s a red envelope to share the good fortune, hope your Qingteng Selection Exam goes smoothly too.”
Li Yunxian immediately saw the transfer notification, full of zeros.
Li Yunxian:
Thinking back on her recent ‘encounter’—
People in this world are just too polite.
So Li Yunxian very impolitely accepted it.
Her family was quite well-off, and her parents were generous with her, but after all, it was pocket money for a child, and there were limits.
Li Yunxian had a decent amount of money in her account before, but after several rounds of buying supplementary materials, her wallet had shrunk a lot.
Now it was topped up again.
Back at the inn, Li Yunxian took out the array disc she’d just refined and placed a Spirit Stone onto it.
The array disc activated.
In a square space just big enough for one person, the surrounding spiritual energy was constantly being drawn in.
Li Yunxian sat down inside, closed her eyes.
Once again, the others at the inn who sensed the fluctuation of spiritual power lifted their heads.
This time the spiritual energy wasn’t as violent or turbulent, but calm and steady, so everyone knew—someone was cultivating.
A crowd immediately clicked their tongues: “So this is how geniuses cultivate?”
“No wonder she went from beginner to opening 28 apertures in just a few days, that’s insane!”
“I’m tempted to try that Medicinal Bath Recipe myself.”
“Don’t bother, all the Bloodbone in the city was sold out by evening, and the medicine shops are out of related ingredients too, who knows when they’ll restock.”
“Hiss, that scary?”
“Some people were quick, bought it as soon as the recipe came out. Heard that person screamed miserably, but came out at Qi Refining all the same.”
“Eh? Where are you running off to?”
“Of course I’m running—I’ve got to get to the neighboring city fast, or who knows how much this stuff’ll cost in the future!”
No one knew how much time had passed before the Spirit Stone on the array disc shattered, and Li Yunxian emerged from her cultivation.
The thirty-second aperture had been opened.
Glancing at the time, it was just about time for her Special Class tutoring session at school.
She took a cab to school for lessons, then brought a head full of common knowledge back to the inn and continued cultivating with the array disc.
Thus, the cycle repeated.
Seven days later, when Li Yunxian stepped out of her cultivation at the inn, she was already at Qi Refinement Second Layer, with fifty-eight apertures opened.
There was already a car waiting at the inn entrance.
Li Yunxian got in and said to the driver, “Please head to No. 1 High School first.”
“Alright.” The driver responded.
Jincheng No.1 High School, Li Yunxian stood at the main gate.
At this time, everyone was still in class. The Security Guard looked at Li Yunxian, silently asking if she wanted to enter.
Li Yunxian shook her head. She was here because, after finishing her make-up classes a few days ago, she’d promised her classmates she’d say goodbye before leaving.
Taking a deep breath, Li Yunxian cupped her hands around her mouth and amplified her voice with spiritual power: “Everyone! I’m heading out now!”
The students of First High School immediately recognized Li Yunxian’s voice, and a commotion spread through every classroom.
The teachers in class showed helpless expressions, paused their lessons, and waved their hands to let the students do as they pleased.
A crowd immediately poured into the corridor.
Li Yunxian could vaguely see quite a few classmates standing on desks by the classroom windows.
They waved at her: “Alright, safe travels!”
Li Yunxian smiled and waved back at them: “See you next time!”
“See you next time!” The classmates laughed.
Back in the car, Li Yunxian noticed the same lingering smile on the driver’s face.
The genuine enthusiasm of teenagers really was infectious, even to ‘old folks.’
“I’m all set now, thank you so much.” Li Yunxian expressed her thanks.
“No problem.” The driver replied cheerfully.
“So, where to next?” Li Yunxian asked, “Straight to the Capital City?”
The driver responded, “Yes.”
Li Yunxian looked at the car, then recalled the distance from Jincheng to the Capital City: “?”
This would take a whole day, right?
“Why not take the high-speed rail?” Li Yunxian asked sincerely.
The driver’s expression grew odd; he glanced at Li Yunxian before replying, “No tickets left.”
The main reason for the ticket shortage was, in fact, Li Yunxian.
Over the past seven days, all the Bloodbone in nearby cities had been bought out. Those who reacted late could only buy high-speed rail tickets to go to more distant cities for their purchases.
Not only were tickets for the past few days gone, but many tickets for the next ten days or so were sold out too.
Especially those to the Capital City.
As the heart of Shenzhou, the Capital City naturally had the richest resources and was many people’s first choice.
“And besides, students participating in the Qingteng Selection Exam generally aren’t allowed to travel by train or plane.”
“A long time ago, when there were no such restrictions, there was an incident—Hunters infiltrated public transport, and ordinary people suffered heavy casualties.”
“So now it’s all dedicated vehicles.”
Li Yunxian was taken aback: “Will there really be Hunters targeting us on the road?” As she said this, she suddenly noticed—the driver assigned to her was actually at Qi Refinement Eighth Layer.
In all of Jincheng, that already counted as a strong cultivator.
The driver smiled, not denying it, and joked easily, “When the time comes, I’ll be counting on you to protect me.”
Li Yunxian:
She silently took a few Spirit Stones from her Wrist Storage Ring and kept them on her person, just in case.
In the end, after several hours on the road, things remained calm—she only saw a few drifting oddities, which Li Yunxian dispatched with a single sword strike without even needing to stop the car.
They stopped at a Service Area for a break.
Li Yunxian stretched lazily, quietly absorbing the spiritual energy around her.
Setting up the array disc in the best spot in Jincheng would only yield about this much spiritual density.
This place was really nice, with way more spiritual power than a mortal city in the cultivation world.
Li Yunxian cultivated for a while, when suddenly she heard the sound of a vehicle in the distance. The little sword in her sleeve was instantly in her hand.
Hunters?
Not long after, a bus pulled into the Service Area.
The first person off the bus was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, who swept a wary gaze around, his eyes pausing briefly on Li Yunxian.
He seemed to sense a hint of danger, but after seeing Li Yunxian was only at Qi Refinement Second Layer, he didn’t pay her any more attention.
***
After a quick inspection, the Foundation Establishment called to the bus, “Come on down.”
As soon as he finished, Li Yunxian saw a chattering crowd of lower-level Qi Refining students get off the bus.
“I’m exhausted, why aren’t we there yet?”
“Finally, we can get off the bus. Any longer and I’d puke.”
The lively complaints reached Li Yunxian’s ears, and she quickly understood who these people were.
Like her, they were candidates headed to the Capital City for the Qingteng Selection Exam.
Li Yunxian put away her little sword and stopped paying attention to them.
But quite a few of the students noticed her presence, and soon someone walked over.
“Hi, why are you here all alone?” The girl who approached was a bit tall, with a gentle look and a lot of charm—very approachable.
Qi Refinement Fourth Layer.
Li Yunxian instinctively made a quick assessment, and, unsure of their intentions, answered cautiously, “Just came out for some fresh air.”
The other girl didn’t mind Li Yunxian’s slightly cold reply, continuing, “Are you also a candidate for the selection exam?”
Li Yunxian nodded.
“Where’s your companion?” she asked.
“My driver was tired from driving and is resting inside,” Li Yunxian replied.
The girl was surprised, “Just the driver? What about your classmates?”
“It’s just me,” Li Yunxian said.
The other girl blinked, then blinked again, as she processed the information. Then she relaxed and smiled, “Ah, I see. We were just worried you’d been left out and wanted to ask if you’d like to join us.”
“I’m Yu Qiyao, from Qingdao. What’s your name?”
Li Yunxian relaxed a bit.
From start to finish, Yu Qiyao had shared her own information first before asking about Li Yunxian’s, and Li Yunxian could sense her goodwill.
“Li Yunxian, from Jincheng.” After she spoke, Li Yunxian glanced toward the Qingdao candidates not far away, “Can I go over now and sit with you all?”
Yu Qiyao was stunned—she hadn’t expected the seemingly aloof Li Yunxian to suddenly say this, but then she smiled brightly, “Of course!”
So when the driver finished resting and came out, she found Li Yunxian already getting along famously with the Qingdao students.
The driver looked confused.
She felt like she’d just napped for a moment and missed several episodes of the story.
“Yunxian, we’re heading out.” The driver waved to Li Yunxian.
Li Yunxian beamed at her, replying, “No need, I’ll head to the Capital City with my friends from Qingdao. Sister Zhao, you can head back now—you won’t have to drive for so long.”
The driver frowned, didn’t immediately agree, looked at the number of Qingdao students, then quietly motioned for Li Yunxian to talk privately.
Li Yunxian excused herself from the Qingdao group and walked with the driver to a quiet spot.
“Yunxian, it’s still safer for just the two of us to travel together. Groups like theirs are the main target for Hunters.”
“With just the two of us in a small car, even if there’s a Hunter ambush, when they see only two people, they’ll think twice about exposing their position.”
Li Yunxian replied, “But doesn’t that mean I should go with them even more?”
The driver was at a loss for words, staring at Li Yunxian.
She’d heard about how Li Yunxian had previously clashed with the Liu family.
Li Yunxian saw her expression and softened her tone, “Besides, from here to the Capital City, we won’t be able to put much distance between us anyway.”
“If Hunters really do attack them, they probably wouldn’t mind taking out two more Qi Refining cultivators along the way.”
The driver was speechless.
“Sister Zhao, you should head back. I know what I’m doing. And you know my abilities—if there’s danger, I can at least protect myself.”
“What’s more…” Li Yunxian took out a Jade Token.
This was the life-saving token Duan Qiu, a Golden Core True Person, had given her at the testing center.
“I still have this life-saving token. It can at least block a full-strength attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.” As for what Duan Qiu had said afterward, Li Yunxian didn’t repeat it.
Now it was a new month, and they were no longer in Yuehai Province—so it had expired.
The driver listened to her long speech and knew Li Yunxian had made up her mind. She sighed in resignation, “Just stay safe.”
With that, she handed Li Yunxian a few things.
Li Yunxian looked down—ten Spirit Stones and a Tortoise Shell.
“This was approved by the Xueshi, for your safety on the road. Keep it on you.” The driver tapped the Tortoise Shell, “Stick this on something and it’ll speed up. If you need to run, use it.”
The thing could have been used to speed up their car and put distance between them and the Qingdao group.
But the driver realized that Li Yunxian’s first reason was her real thought, and the rest were just excuses to convince her.
She looked at Li Yunxian, “Yunxian, on the path of cultivation, everyone has to be prepared to face danger. If you can’t, you can choose to be an ordinary person.”
“And don’t think you can protect everyone.”
“If you can’t save someone, there’s no shame in running away.”
Li Yunxian nodded solemnly, “I understand. Don’t worry.” Only reckless Sword Cultivators never make it to the tribulation stage!
“I’ll let you know I’m safe once I reach the Capital City,” Li Yunxian said.
The driver smiled, reached out to pat Li Yunxian’s head, “Good.”
After saying goodbye, Li Yunxian returned to the Qingdao group. Facing their curious gazes, she answered directly.
“I can head out with you all now!”
The Qingdao students cheered, “Awesome!”
“To celebrate Yunxian joining us, everyone have a snack!”
“You just want to eat snacks yourself!”
“Don’t you?”
Li Yunxian sat down, smiling as she listened to their banter.
Yu Qiyao poked her, “Yunxian, hurry and say what you want to eat. If you’re slow, these guys will finish everything.”
Li Yunxian thought for a moment: …I don’t really want anything, but if I have to pick—ice cream, maybe? Is there any?
Yu Qiyao gave her a big thumbs up: “Of course, there must be!” Then she shouted to someone not far away, “Lin Xiufeng, a vanilla ice cream!”
From afar, a guy with a small box twitched at the corner of his mouth and shouted back, “I told you, my mutated Ice Spirit Root isn’t for this!”
With that shout, he opened the box and angrily tossed over a vanilla ice cream.
Li Yunxian:
Holding the ice cream, Li Yunxian couldn’t help but say, “At first, I thought you were so gentle.”
Yu Qiyao opened a bag of chips and said, “At first, I thought you were a cool, aloof cutie.”
The two looked at each other and burst out laughing.
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