After Rebirth, the Love-Struck Cannon Fodder Woke Up - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Advancement

◎ Sudden Enlightenment, Qi Condensation Complete ◎

Clear River Sect, Talisman Peak.

Du Lianxin returned to her cave dwelling, adjusted her state of mind, and took out three thousand spirit stones to set up a small Spirit Gathering Array.

Senior Sister Shen’s actions today had inadvertently made her a target, and she wanted to raise her cultivation level as quickly as possible.

With sufficient strength, she could naturally cope with any unexpected changes.

Inside the Spirit Gathering Array, the concentration of spiritual energy was double that of the outside world.

Du Lianxin sat cross-legged on the cushion, forming a lotus gesture with her hands, closing her eyes to calm her mind, and operating the Qi Condensation Art.

With each breath, the spiritual energy of the Gold, Wood, Fire, and Earth elements wove into a thread, surging into her meridians and rapidly converging in her Dantian.

As time passed, a layer of misty spiritual light slowly emerged from around Du Lianxin’s body.

Unknowingly, she fell into a state of deep meditation.

Dressed in simple white clothes and skirt, she stood above the clouds, and the sounds of the Great Dao’s Brahma Chants successively reached her ears…

Du Lianxin listened intently for a long time. From a partial understanding at first, she gradually comprehended and developed a cultivation technique: the Taiji Profound Clarity Art.

The moment she comprehended this technique, Du Lianxin withdrew from her meditation, and her consciousness returned to reality.

Opening her eyes, she looked around and found that the Spirit Gathering Array had long since dissipated. The three thousand spirit stones used to set up the array had all turned into powder.

She used her divine sense to look inside her body and discovered that her cultivation had leaped across three minor realms, breaking through from the seventh level of Qi Condensation to Qi Condensation Completion!

At this moment, Du Lianxin was overwhelmed with joy, her excitement clearly visible on her face.

In her past life, she had failed to break through to Qi Condensation Completion until her death. Now, she had finally taken this step in this life.

The technique obtained from this sudden enlightenment, the Taiji Profound Clarity Art, belonged to the Heaven Rank Super Grade—a revelation that, if spread to the outside world, would be enough to cause a storm of bloodshed.

If she could master it, cultivating with this method in the future would yield more than twice the results with half the effort.

Du Lianxin was originally a Four Spiritual Root cultivator, whose cultivation speed would normally be slow. With the assistance of this technique, this drawback could now be compensated for.

The technique was formless. Although she knew its specific content, she would not record it in written form. This was also the best protection for herself.

Now that she had broken through to Qi Condensation Completion, she could begin to prepare for Foundation Establishment.

In addition, there was another matter that needed attention.

She needed to secretly investigate Wang Qing’s whereabouts in the past few days to confirm whether he was the black-robed person mentioned by Qingdai.

After making her decision, Du Lianxin immediately left her cave dwelling.

The moment she opened the cave dwelling door, a sound transmission talisman that had been hovering nearby slowly drifted in front of her.

Du Lianxin reached out to take it and injected spiritual power into it. Shen Anlan’s voice immediately came out.

“Junior Sister Du, I have managed to check the Wuxia Peak’s record book of disciples leaving the sect over the past month and confirmed that Wang Qing has left the sect more than once, with an unknown destination. The Sect Master has already dispatched people to watch him. Junior Sister need not worry about this matter anymore. If there are any future results, I will inform you via sound transmission.”

The so-called cultivator record book existed on every peak of the Clear River Sect.

The jade slip was essentially a magical artifact, closely linked to the identity tokens carried by the sect’s cultivators.

As long as a disciple left the sect, it would be automatically recorded in the book.

When Shen Anlan reported the events of Donglin Town to the Sect Master, she mentioned the existence of the black-robed person and stated her guess regarding their identity.

The Sect Master did not immediately order his arrest, as the evidence was currently insufficient. He merely secretly dispatched people to watch Wang Qing’s movements.

It could be said that if this person had a problem, exposure was only a matter of time.

Hearing this sound transmission, Du Lianxin’s mind was slightly settled.

The Sect Master’s methods were extraordinary. Now that he knew about the matter, he would certainly investigate it thoroughly.

Since her rebirth, the events of her past life often surfaced in Du Lianxin’s mind.

Just like now, she calculated the time with her fingers and realized that ten days had passed since her sudden enlightenment. Today, in her past life, was precisely when the ten-yearly auction of the Falling Glow Market began.

At that time, she had picked many Fire Tucha flowers and was weaving them in her outer-sect bamboo hut.

This was because she had overheard someone say that Shen Anlan was very fond of Fire Tucha flowers and had specifically bought items woven from them to decorate her cave dwelling.

She spent two days weaving a flower crown that could be worn in the hair, applying multiple spells to ensure the Fire Tucha flowers would not wither.

In addition, she spent most of her savings to buy a section of high-quality Fire Spirit Wood and personally carved it, bit by bit, into a hairpin with a Fire Tucha flower design.

Fire Spirit Wood was extremely hard. Even if she used a low-grade magical artifact, the Azure Steel Sword, without using her full strength, she could not cut it into two pieces. Therefore, Du Lianxin injured herself more than once during the carving process.

She chose Fire Spirit Wood because this spiritual wood was impervious to water and fire, easy to preserve, and its color matched the Fire Tucha flower.

In her past life, Du Lianxin spent a full nine days preparing the hairpin and flower crown.

At that time, Shen Anlan had not explicitly rejected her. Therefore, nine days later, she went to Falling Cloud Peak, happily presenting the gift, only to be met with a reprimand.

The relevant words were now vividly clear.

Shen Anlan said: If you could put this much effort into your cultivation, your strength would have progressed long ago. Being so unmotivated now, how can you still be called an Immortal Sect cultivator?

Shen Anlan accepted the hairpin and flower crown, but Du Lianxin never saw her wear them.

She didn’t know if they were thrown away, left in a dusty corner, or perhaps… given to someone else?

Recalling this, Du Lianxin suppressed her complex thoughts, left Talisman Peak, and set off for the Falling Glow Market.

Along the way, cultivators on the peak who saw her sensed her cultivation and were filled with disbelief.

After the girl’s figure disappeared from sight, discussions erupted.

“Was that Junior Sister Du just now?”

“We should call her Senior Sister Du now.”

“It’s truly unbelievable. Advancing from the seventh level of Qi Condensation to Qi Condensation Completion in ten days? How did Senior Sister Du manage that?”

“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would never believe it!”

“I heard Senior Sister is a Four Spiritual Root cultivator. Such rapid progress in cultivation must be due to obtaining some rare treasure that boosts strength?”

“Perhaps. Alas, if this news gets out, Senior Sister might be in danger.”

“Since ancient times, great treasures tempt people. I hope Senior Sister will be safe and sound.”

Du Lianxin did not hear the discussions of the cultivators on the peak. She had already left the sect and was on her way to the Falling Glow Market.

The ten-yearly auction attracted many cultivators and was very lively.

The auction venue was the Treasury Pavilion in the center of the market. According to past rules, entering the pavilion required presenting at least ten thousand spirit stones to prove one’s ability to participate in the auction.

Du Lianxin had previously assisted Shen Anlan in completing a sect mission and received a reward of one hundred thousand spirit stones. After spending three thousand to set up the Spirit Gathering Array, she had ninety-seven thousand left, so entering the auction venue was no problem.

At this moment, the area in front of the Treasury Pavilion was crowded with people.

The line stretched long. Du Lianxin came to the end and waited quietly.

Before long, a familiar crane’s cry reached her ear.

Gu Xianzi, dressed in a cyan blouse and a simple skirt, arrived on an immortal crane.

As the daughter of the Pill Peak Master, few people in the Clear River Sect area did not recognize her. Therefore, the moment they saw her, the crowded people automatically made way for a clear space.

Du Lianxin also noticed Gu Xianzi.

She thought the other party would directly enter the Treasury Pavilion, but unexpectedly, she walked toward her.

At this moment, all sorts of conjectures flashed through Du Lianxin’s mind.

What does Senior Sister Gu want to do? Publicly humiliate her?

If she truly harbored such an intention, it would be too unwise.

With Gu Xianzi’s status, leaving the Clear River Sect, being the focus of public attention, every word and action represented the sect. If she got into a jealous rivalry with a fellow disciple over romantic matters, the news would certainly become a joke after dinner.

Thinking this, Du Lianxin subconsciously frowned.

In Gu Xianzi’s eyes, this was a sign that the girl didn’t want to see her, and the anger in her heart surged instantly.

She doesn’t want to see me? I’ll deliberately get closer!

A proper smile appeared on Gu Xianzi’s face. She quickened her pace, walked up, and immediately looped her arm through the girl’s right arm.

“Junior Sister Du, this line is so long! Who knows how long it will take? Come with me. We can go straight in.”

Du Lianxin wanted to refuse, but as soon as she struggled, the force on her arm suddenly tightened.

Turning her head to meet Gu Xianzi’s smiling eyes, she intuitively felt that things were developing in an uncontrollable direction.

In terms of strength, Du Lianxin was currently inferior to the other party.

Since they were under the scrutiny of the crowd, she did not continue to resist, allowing Gu Xianzi to lead her into the Treasury Pavilion.

She just didn’t know why, but as they walked, this Senior Sister always intentionally or unintentionally pressed her body against hers.

Du Lianxin felt very uncomfortable, thinking that the other party had come up with some new trick to torment her.

Influenced by her past life, she did not consider any other possibilities.

The Treasury Pavilion had nine floors. Gu Xianzi, still holding the girl’s arm, went directly to the private room on the top floor of the pavilion.

The facilities here were all complete. The tables, chairs, and couches were all made of high-quality jade.

Du Lianxin had been wary since this Senior Sister approached her, but even now, she hadn’t found anything amiss.

She was confused. What exactly was Senior Sister Gu planning to do?

It couldn’t be that she genuinely had a change of heart and wanted to be kind to her?

Before Du Lianxin could think further, Gu Xianzi led her to sit on the jade couch, resting her head on Du Lianxin’s right shoulder, pressing her entire body against her.

No matter how slow-witted Du Lianxin was, at this point, she sensed something unusual.

She jumped up with a whoosh, pushed the woman beside her away, retreated several steps, and her pretty face instantly flushed crimson.

“Senior Sister Gu, what are you doing?”

Gu Xianzi saw the girl avoiding her like a snake or a scorpion and was extremely displeased.

To avoid startling the other party, she, who was usually spoiled and temperamental, did not flare up. She only smiled and said: “I misunderstood Junior Sister Du before. Now that the misunderstanding is resolved, Senior and Junior Sisters should naturally be closer.”

Du Lianxin’s confusion did not dissipate. She frowned. “But… such closeness, it’s a bit too…”

Gu Xianzi looked directly at her with her beautiful eyes. “What’s wrong? Does Junior Sister think there’s anything inappropriate? We are both women. What’s wrong with being closer?”

At this point, she changed her tone, sounding a little wronged. “Or is it that Junior Sister holds a grudge against me for my past actions and doesn’t want me near?”

Hearing this, Du Lianxin quickly shook her head. “No, it’s not like that. Senior Sister misunderstood.”

Upon receiving this answer, Gu Xianzi instantly turned her sorrow into joy, and she naturally pressed closer again.

This time, she directly hugged the girl’s slender waist, lowering her head and burying it in the girl’s embrace.

“I knew it. Junior Sister is kind-hearted and wouldn’t blame me.”

Du Lianxin froze in place, unsure how to react.

Just then, the door of the private room creaked open. Shen Anlan, whose body exuded coldness, had appeared at some point. Looking at the slightly ambiguous atmosphere in the room, the chill surrounding her instantly intensified a lot.

“What are you doing?”