Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Raised on Pills Since I Was Little
Raising spirit beasts cost a fortune. As far as An Ru Xu knew, Peak Master Jin wasn’t usually this generous.
Then again, Spirit Beast Peak was rich.
Jiang Li Sheng said, “Senior Brother An, you already had your chance. Yuan Hu are rare in Kun Lun Sect. I heard an elder brought them back from Shi Hu Mountain, tens of thousands of li away. You could’ve caught it and returned it to Spirit Beast Peak. Peak Master Jin would definitely have rewarded you. But you ate it.”
An Ru Xu clutched his chest in regret. “The elder brought back ten. I just wanted to taste what something from Shi Hu Mountain—the head of the eastern mountains—actually tasted like. How was I supposed to know Spirit Beast Peak’s reward would be this heavy? If I’d known, no matter what, I wouldn’t have eaten it.”
He sighed like the loss physically hurt. “Ah, Junior Sister Jiang—use a Cleansing Spell. You look way too miserable.”
Jiang Li Sheng was used to being dusty and disheveled, but this was Kun Lun Sect. Image mattered. She nodded and cast a Cleansing Spell. The grime vanished, though the exhaustion stayed in her bones.
An Ru Xu mounted his sword. “Come on. I’ll take you to buy another sword. This time you have spirit stones. Buy a good one.”
Jiang Li Sheng hopped up behind him. “No. I go through swords too fast. I need to save my spirit stones. I’ll just buy a bunch of ordinary swords.”
An Ru Xu went silent for a heartbeat, then twisted around, looking at her as if she’d confessed a crime. “A sword cultivator can’t use junk. Do you want to shatter your sword every time you block one move?”
“I’m not a sword cultivator,” Jiang Li Sheng said quietly.
“But your master dual-cultivates sword and formations,” An Ru Xu said, facing forward again. “Junior Sister Jiang, one day let me see you set up a formation.”
Jiang Li Sheng’s ears warmed. “I didn’t learn formations well either.”
An Ru Xu choked. Right. He’d almost forgotten—Feng Yun Rankings, top three thousand, and she wasn’t even on the tail end. He, at least, ranked in the hundreds.
How was she still alive? How had Sect Master Yu not beaten her to death? Was it because being cute solved everything?
They reached the Sword Hall.
Jiang Li Sheng went straight to the counter and bought twenty swords in one go, stuffing her low-tier storage pouch until it bulged.
An Ru Xu’s mouth twitched. “Junior Sister Jiang, you’re… impressive.”
Jiang Li Sheng smiled. Twenty should last her for a while.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want a better sword. She’d arrived with nothing. Spirit stones were precious. She needed talisman paper, brushes, refining materials—she couldn’t come to Kun Lun Sect and only cultivate the sword.
After leaving the Sword Hall, An Ru Xu said, “Junior Sister Jiang, you walk in front. I’ll follow behind you. I’m afraid you’ll get lost again.”
Jiang Li Sheng nodded, stepped onto her sword, and shot off with a sharp whoosh.
An Ru Xu froze. “What—”
She was fast. Ridiculously fast.
He leapt onto his own sword and gave chase, but for a moment he could only see her as a distant blur. He had to push hard just to catch up.
This time, they made it back to their neighboring courtyards without incident. Jiang Li Sheng put away her sword and turned to him. “Thank you, Senior Brother An.”
She tipped a Heavenly Fragrance Pill into her palm. “This is for you—for finding me today and accompanying me to buy swords.”
An Ru Xu waved it away immediately. “It’s nothing. Keep it.”
When she put it back, he stared at her like he still couldn’t believe what he’d seen. “How did your sword flight get so fast all of a sudden? I almost couldn’t catch you.”
Jiang Li Sheng scratched her head. “I used to be afraid of heights, so I never practiced much. Today I listened to your advice and forced myself to get over it.”
She didn’t add the rest: that practicing with her head down had almost gotten her killed in the Forbidden Grounds.
“You’re a cultivator,” An Ru Xu said, baffled. “And you’re afraid of heights?”
Then he clicked his tongue, half impressed, half irritated. “But you got over it too fast. Your improvement is insane.”
He paused, thinking back to the day’s chaos. “Is your spiritual power thicker than most people’s? We’re both early Foundation Establishment Stage, but you’re… tougher than you look. And just now—your spiritual power circulation was faster than mine.”
Jiang Li Sheng looked embarrassed. “I really didn’t train much before. Back in Qing Xu Sect, I had Qing Luan carry me around every day. My cultivation… it was fed by pills. I’ve been eating them since I was little.”
An Ru Xu stared at her in silence.
Jealousy hit him like a hammer.
Of course. Sect Master Yu’s only personal disciple—eating pills like meals.
Jiang Li Sheng sighed. “I can’t keep dragging you into being late and getting punished. And I don’t want to wake up early. So I had to get over it fast. I nearly lost my life just practicing sword flight.”
An Ru Xu swallowed, full of reluctant respect. “Junior Sister Jiang… Qing Luan is Sect Master Yu’s mount, isn’t it? You really are something.”
Riding her master’s mount everywhere, never practicing sword flight—until now.
He rubbed his forehead, suddenly exhausted. “Go on. Get inside. Tomorrow, same time as today. I’ll call you.”
Jiang Li Sheng nodded.
They separated and returned to their own courtyards.
Jiang Li Sheng collapsed onto her bed the moment she entered her room. Her thoughts drifted: tomorrow, could she find time to go down the mountain and buy what she needed?
The thought blurred—and she fell asleep.
An Ru Xu didn’t sleep. Today had been chaotic, but even without his master watching him in the Discipline Hall, he didn’t dare slack off. A secret realm would open in a month. He didn’t want to be trapped inside.
So he practiced his sword in the courtyard.
Not long after, Zhao Ke Xin and Zhu Wen Yin—punished and sent to the Discipline Hall—moved into the two courtyards beside Jiang Li Sheng.
These courtyard rows were meant for newly selected inner disciples, or inner disciples under punishment. Most of the time they stood empty. Kun Lun Sect’s discipline was strict. Few people broke rules on purpose.
Someone like An Ru Xu, who’d been thinking about tasting Spirit Beast Peak’s Yuan Hu for ages, was rarer still.
Zhao Ke Xin and Zhu Wen Yin had been scolded badly by Jin Wang Chou and arrived with their spirits dulled. But when they realized An Ru Xu lived two courtyards over, their faces brightened visibly.
Zhao Ke Xin immediately dragged Zhu Wen Yin over. “Senior Brother An!”
An Ru Xu sheathed his sword and looked at them in surprise. “Why are you here?”
A bad feeling crawled up his spine. Had they actually tracked down where he lived?
How was he supposed to avoid them now?
Zhao Ke Xin smiled brightly. “We were punished by Master and sent to the Discipline Hall.”
Being happy about punishment—only she could manage that.
An Ru Xu’s mind clicked into place. “Because you let out the Tu Lou?”
“Mm.” Zhao Ke Xin nodded. “It was our negligence.”
An Ru Xu sighed internally. Fate truly hated him.
He forced a calm expression and said, “Don’t be negligent again. Luckily the Tu Lou ran into Junior Sister Jiang. If it had run into someone like me, since it attacks people, it would’ve been cut down today.”
Zhao Ke Xin nodded, still pleased. “Senior Brother An is right. Where is Junior Sister Jiang? Is she okay? I heard my master say she was chased by the Tu Lou and ended up in a terrible state.” Her lip curled. “It’s just a Tu Lou. Even if it’s fierce, Kun Lun Sect disciples aren’t afraid of it. But look at her—she’s so useless.”