freenovelworld Chapter 78 Start-up
Chapter 78 Start-up
The expected excruciating pain did not come. Ning Xiaoxi turned over and stood up, her eyes coldly staring at Tianji. All the talismans on the spirit crystal dagger were activated by spiritual power, and a defensive shield enveloped her entire body.
A smile returned to Tianji's calm face, melting away the ice and snow, and he walked towards Ning Xiaoxi step by step like the rising sun.
Ning Xiaoxi gripped the dagger tightly. She knew that in the face of Tianji, she had no choice but to fight; there was no possibility of escape.
Tianji walked straight up to Ning Xiaoxi and poked her protective shield with his finger, saying, "You little rascal! You're obviously been protected too much."
Ning Xiaoxi remained vigilant, staring intently at Tianji.
Tianji straightened up. "The ancestor of the Nether Mist Sable was a high-level demon that had cultivated to a high level. It caught up with Dijie and killed him."
Ning Xiaoxi was truly stunned. "Di Jie is dead?"
"The deputy pavilion master had to leave first due to urgent matters and did not accompany him. How could a low-level, high-ranking Earthly Fiend be a match for a high-ranking, high-level demon? Besides, he was traveling alone."
Ning Xiaoxi awkwardly put down the dagger.
Tianji suddenly turned around.
Ning Xiaoxi slid back about ten steps.
The secret arrived with a swift turn of events: "Where do you think you're going?"
Looking at his smiling face, Ning Xiaoxi resisted the urge to punch him. "You're having fun making me happy, aren't you?"
"Hahaha..." Tianji laughed loudly, "You saw through me." After saying that, Tianji's smile faded, "Girl, do you remember what I said when I gave you the bracelet?"
Ning Xiaoxi looked at the delicate bracelet on her wrist, "To conceal spiritual power."
"Yes, conceal it." Tianji's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. "Conceal the secrets of heaven!"
Ning Xiaoxi was stunned.
"Actually, what does it matter to us whether this world restarts from chaos? It's just that we have attachments and reluctance to leave here, which is why we try to stop the restart." Tianji's voice was calm as he turned to look at Ning Xiaoxi. "You are still too weak, and you have attracted the attention of the imperial court and the Celestial Master Pavilion. I can still cover for you for now, but remember, in the future, do not show any abnormalities in front of the Celestial Master Pavilion."
Ning Xiaoxi reflected on her experiences along the way and realized that she had indeed done nothing to hide anything and had acted entirely according to her own will.
"Before you reach the super level, you must keep a low profile and bide your time."
"Super...super...!" Ning Xiaoxi's mouth dropped open. Senior, aren't you overestimating me?
Tianji smiled and said, "With it, it's not difficult."
Ning Xiaoxi shut up.
"There are some things you can't benefit from knowing now, so don't be attached to them, just follow your heart. But you must avoid the eyes and ears of the imperial court and the Celestial Master's Pavilion, and don't pay too much attention to worldly affairs." Tianji turned and slowly walked away, "The tallest tree in the forest is bound to be felled by the wind!"
Seeing that Tianji was about to leave, Ning Xiaoxi couldn't help but say, "But I've already turned off my phone."
Tianji turned around and glanced at her, his tone dripping with mockery, "Can't you turn it back on if it's off?"
Ning Xiaoxi was stunned!
Ning Xiaoxi sat blankly on a rock on the hillside, watching the sunset and the moon rise. The system could actually shut down and restart—was it a computer? Tuanzi had mentioned before that Tianwei was the previous one, so Tianji was the one before that? The one Tuanzi abandoned? Did these two even know each other?
Unconsciously, he took out the jade cabbage and began to caress it, taking stock of his current abilities. His survival skills included intermediate natural perception, advanced physical enhancement martial arts skills, basic tool making, and intermediate social charm assessment. His demon-slaying skills included intermediate spiritual perception, advanced spell enchantment, basic spirit pet contract, advanced magic weapon control, and basic illusion enlightenment.
Three advanced, three intermediate, and three beginner levels—it's quite balanced.
According to Tuanzi, only those who reach the advanced level can be considered high-level. Super? That seems a bit far off.
After sensing the spiritual energy within his body, he found that his spiritual meridians had expanded to the thickness of a finger. The expanded meridians needed to be replenished with spiritual energy. Currently, it was a crystalline spiritual meridian surrounded by a layer of mist, not yet at the level of a stream. He needed to speed up his cultivation.
Because of the excessive use of spiritual energy in his cave recently, he has already lost several spirit crystal trees. The spirit crystal heart needs nourishment, the cabbage needs nourishment, and the heart also needs nourishment. He wants more spirit crystals.
Even as the moon was high in the sky, Ning Xiaoxi was still in a daze. Tianji was right. She was still a penniless nobody. Judging from Di Jie's actions, he must have had a powerful background. Yet, he was still killed by the demon. Once you're dead, you lose everything. All she could do was lie low.
Power on!
[System booting up...]
Tuanzi stretched out her body and appeared before us.
Ning Xiaoxi felt a chill run down her spine; it really was just like a computer!
"Xiaoxi, what's wrong?" Tuanzi looked at Ning Xiaoxi with adorable eyes. "Are you trying to be profound with the moon?"
Ning Xiaoxi was exasperated. This unreliable, stupid system seemed unaware that it had just been shut down. [I wanted to invite you out to bask in the moonlight.]
"What's so interesting about sunbathing under the moon?" Tuanzi looked up at the sky in confusion. "That's weird."
Ning Xiaoxi stood up, dusted herself off, and ignored Tuanzi's complaints. Turning around, she saw her brother standing at the foot of the hill, watching her.
Ning Xiaoxi's eyes lit up, a big smile blooming on her face. She stretched out her arms and ran down the street, shouting, "Brother!"
Ning Ziqing hugged her younger sister as she ran down the street and asked with a smile, "Are you alright?"
Ning Xiaoxi hugged her brother's somewhat thin waist tightly, then took a step back. "It's okay."
“Zhou Xin and I caught a few more fish in the lake and brought them back. By the time the fish were cooked, you still hadn’t returned. I was worried, so I brought Zhou Xin out to look for you. We found you sitting on the hillside in a daze, so we didn’t disturb you. I told Zhou Xin to go back and tell my parents that everything was alright.”
"Okay, let's go back then! I want to eat grilled fish."
In the days that followed, Ning Xiaoxi spent her time cultivating with her brother. During the day, she would walk around, constantly activating her spiritual veins to circulate her spiritual energy and absorb the energy of heaven and earth. In the evenings, Ning Xiaoxi would give her brother the juice of the Spirit Gathering Grass so he could practice drawing talismans. Unexpectedly, Ning Ziqing had quite a talent for drawing talismans. He could basically learn the talismans she taught him after a day or two of practice. Except for those he couldn't complete due to insufficient spiritual energy, the quality of the completed talismans was quite good.
Unbeknownst to them, they had been traveling in Jizhou for more than ten days. With guards scouting ahead every day and Chang Qing always in the group, Ning Xiaoxi found that these were the most peaceful ten days or so since she arrived here.
With only a few days left until they reached the border of Youzhou, the green on the grasslands hadn't increased; on the contrary, the yellow grass had multiplied considerably, and there were even scattered patches of unmelted snow piled up on the ground. It was already early April, and it seemed the weather in Youzhou was still bitterly cold!
During their rest that day, Chang Qing came to tell Ning Xiaoxi that they would arrive at Bingyuan Prefecture before sunset the next day. That was the prefecture of Jizhou, where Tianwei was stationed.