Chapter 28
Chapter 28: I Want to Learn Too
Song Jiu Lai grabbed Lin Qian and ran.
One flame bird was annoying enough. Two was a disaster—especially when they were aerial fighters that could spit fire and had the brains to bring help.
She was early Qi Refining on her first day out. She wasn’t here to die.
Even while sprinting, she twisted her wrist and threw a water ball back at them, buying a sliver of time.
The flame birds were fast. Song Jiu Lai and Lin Qian poured spiritual energy into their legs, and their speed surged like wind underfoot.
One flame bird shrieked, spread its wings wide, and spat a stream of fire at Song Jiu Lai’s back.
Song Jiu Lai felt the heat bloom behind her and instantly released Lin Qian’s hand.
They split to either side, and the fire streaked between them, carving the ground into a charred black scar.
Lin Qian didn’t slow. “Junior Sister—into the forest!”
They were on a long stretch of open path, with endless woodland on both sides. The open road was a trap. The trees were cover.
Song Jiu Lai ran and called back, “What if they set the forest on fire?”
Lin Qian panted, “It won’t spread. There are other demon beasts in there—cultivators training too…”
Before she could finish, a violent wave of spiritual energy rolled in from the distance.
Several pillars of ice swords shot through the air like meteors.
The flame birds barely had time to scream.
The ice spears punched clean through them.
Their bodies fell limp, hitting the earth with dull thuds.
The ice that remained dissolved into thin trails of water, fading as if it had never been there.
Song Jiu Lai and Lin Qian stood there, stunned.
Song Jiu Lai’s thoughts narrowed to two words.
[I want to learn.]
So badly it almost hurt.
“System,” she said in her mind, “don’t you have some ability where I can copy someone’s move just by seeing it once?”
The System answered flatly, “Why do you always ask questions so ridiculous they make the System laugh?”
“Because I want to see what you look like when you laugh,” Song Jiu Lai shot back. “How ridiculous can it get?”
“…,” the System replied.
A few breaths later, a female cultivator drifted down from above, moving with calm, effortless control.
Her expression was… odd.
Lin Qian’s face lit up. “Senior Sister Qiao!”
The woman wore a purple dress. Her aura was dense, powerful, and faintly oppressive—at least Foundation Establishment Stage.
Senior Sister Qiao glanced at Lin Qian. “You know me?”
Lin Qian nodded quickly. “I’m Lin Qian, a disciple from the Outer Sect Charity Hall. I saw you at the sect competition two years ago.”
“Oh.” Senior Sister Qiao nodded, clearly not putting much weight on it.
The Charity Hall was probably a small, unimportant branch inside Peach Blossom Sect. Senior Sister Qiao, on the other hand, was Foundation Establishment Stage—high status, real authority.
Her gaze shifted to Song Jiu Lai.
Song Jiu Lai answered immediately, careful and polite. “Longevity Sect. Song Jiu Lai.”
Longevity Sect was too obscure to matter. Senior Sister Qiao only lowered her brows slightly, then moved on.
“You’re heading to First Mountain?”
Both Lin Qian and Song Jiu Lai nodded.
Senior Sister Qiao’s tone stayed cool, but not hostile. “First Mountain has been restless lately. A lot of second-rank demon beasts that shouldn’t be there have been driven inward.”
Her eyes returned to Lin Qian. “You’re going for spirit herbs?”
Lin Qian nodded hard. “The sect is short on them. I don’t have enough herbs to practice with, so I wanted to try my luck at First Mountain.”
“It’s half a day on foot,” Senior Sister Qiao said. “I’ll take you there. But remember—training depends on your own ability. If danger comes, I might not be able to save you in time. Think carefully.”
Lin Qian didn’t hesitate. “I understand.”
Song Jiu Lai was practically glowing with relief.
People really did make everything easier. Without Lin Qian—and without this chance encounter—she’d have spent who knew how long trudging forward alone.
Still, a Foundation Establishment Stage expert had her own cold elegance, and Song Jiu Lai wasn’t from the same sect. She swallowed her questions and kept quiet.
Senior Sister Qiao escorted them to First Mountain, then left.
The moment they arrived, the difference was obvious.
More cultivators. More movement. People streaking across the sky overhead. Teams moving through the brush with weapons drawn, hunting demon beasts like it was routine.
First Mountain was enormous. No matter where you turned, you could run into someone.
After Senior Sister Qiao departed, Lin Qian finally exhaled. “That was Senior Sister Qiao—an inner sect disciple, and the sect master’s beloved disciple. Her status is very high. But she’s a good person.”
Song Jiu Lai nodded solemnly. “I can tell. Weirdly good.”
Lin Qian pulled out a map of First Mountain and pointed to a marked area. “The second-rank spirit-boosting grass should be around here, but demon beasts gather near it. Second-rank ones too.”
Normally, nobody rushed in alone. Most people formed teams. Even then, if they ran into a second-rank demon beast, they’d only survive by working together.
Lin Qian hesitated. “Should we find other cultivators to cooperate with? Or stay a few days and wait for an opening?”
Song Jiu Lai considered it.
She hadn’t come all this way just to turn around after two days.
And hunting demon beasts only benefited her.
“Let’s stay,” she decided. “I’ll use first-rank demon beasts to practice.”
The edge territories were short on resources, but there was still one brutal way to climb:
Kill demon beasts. Kill them until your limits cracked and something new formed.
Grind for ten days, half a month—breaking into mid Qi Refining would be more than possible.
After that, progress would slow, but that was later.
Most disciples couldn’t do it. They’d burn through their spiritual energy after a few kills, then have to recover in a dangerous place.
If you weren’t rich, you couldn’t stay long. You’d need pills to refill your reserves.
And plenty of demon beasts carried poison. One mistake could cost far more than it earned.
Lin Qian, an outer-sect disciple on her first trip out, was proof enough.
Song Jiu Lai at least had the System as a safety net.
She couldn’t hide in a safe shell forever.
Besides—this was a cultivation world.
If you didn’t fight, what was the point?
She wanted to measure herself: practice the Soul Cultivation Heart Method, fight, then see where her strength truly stood.
At first, she’d assumed the System had only forced open the most basic spirit roots for her.
But after Lin Qian’s earlier reaction… she was starting to suspect it was more than that.
And combat wasn’t the same as empty practice in a courtyard.
Other players were still using spiritual energy to control tree cutting. She was out here trading fire for blood.
Who would improve faster was obvious.
If the players were going to compete, she’d crush them first.
On the other side of the sect, the players were already changing.
After logging back in, Chen Miao Miao continued studying spirit herbs, tracing how spiritual energy moved through them. With technique support, she quickly became the first player to formally stabilize in early Qi Refining Stage.
[Ding: Current number of early Qi Refining Stage players in the sect: 1.]