26: Chapter 26 The Perfection of the Jade Marrow Body

Dawn broke as Lin Qingyu sped all the way on her flying sword, heading straight for Yujian City.

With the simulation paving the way and knowing that joining the Tianxuan Sword Sect here would not pose any danger, she did not want to complicate matters and intended to proceed step-by-step; securing more simulation attempts was the key.

After entering Yujian City, she found the inn where she and Lin Bufan had rented a room in the simulation, and smoothly checked in.

Inside the guest room, Lin Qingyu sat cross-legged on the bed.

"System, add points!"

[Jade Marrow Physique (Completion: 14/100)]

In an instant, heaven and earth fell silent.

A warm, grease-like glow emanated from around Lin Qingyu, and fine nectar seemed to flow beneath her skin, flawless and translucent, faintly radiating a lustrous white light like jade.

Her pair of moist eyes shimmered with a cold and limpid gloss, like the mysterious moon of the nine heavens shining down upon the mortal world.

Shrouded in this magnificent phenomenon, her clothes fluttered without any wind, making her look like a banished immortal from the heavenly palace descending to the mortal realm, as if the next moment she would step on the clouds and ascend into immortality.

"Hum~"

The phenomenon lasted for a moment before the brilliance around her completely receded into Lin Qingyu's body; she only felt her mind become clear and lucid, her spiritual perception greatly enhanced, and even the circulation of spiritual power within her body became much faster.

Raising her hand to condense a water mirror, Lin Qingyu stared at the person in the mirror, dazed for a long time.

Clearly, her appearance had not changed at all, yet every gesture now carried an indescribable ethereal and lively air, making her truly look like an immortal fairy from a picture book who did not partake in mortal food.

"A body like warm jade, marrow hiding essence... The main function of this Jade Marrow Physique is just beauty enhancement! What a pity that its boost to cultivation and combat is too small."

Lin Qingyu dismissed the water mirror, feeling a slight sense of regret in her heart.

Growing this beautiful meant she needed to act even more cautiously in reality; until her strength was sufficient, it was better to conceal her appearance as much as possible.

Right now, Yujian City was crowded with mixed company, so Lin Qingyu completely gave up the thought of going out to stroll, preparing to stay in her room and quietly wait for the arrival of the Tianxuan Sword Sect.

That night.

Lin Qingyu, who was meditating in her room, suddenly furrowed her brow, her expression changing abruptly.

She suddenly opened her eyes to see that at the edge of the horizon, the originally pitch-black vault of heaven had been quietly swallowed by a patch of eerie pink clouds.

The rosy clouds were so gorgeous they bordered on bizarre, silent yet causing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth to fall into disorder.

A Nascent Soul True Monarch of the Hehuan Sect!

Having now stepped onto the immortal path, facing such an existence once again, even though they were separated by a great distance, Lin Qingyu had the illusion of facing the might of heaven directly...

At this moment, above Luofeng City hundreds of miles away.

"Eh? Why is there the aura of my own vital blood in this place?"

A puzzled voice came from within the pink mist.

"Senior Sister?"

The purple-skirted female cultivator wore a puzzled look.

The next moment, a blur flashed before her eyes, and the two of them arrived inside a dilapidated firewood room.

"The residual aura of the vital blood was right here, yet it vanished into thin air. Strange."

"Go investigate and see if there are any clues."

"Yes."

Although the purple-skirted female cultivator had doubts in her heart, she still went to carry it out.

A moment later, the purple figure returned and shook her head at the pink figure.

"There is nothing amiss, but a few days ago the owner of this estate died, reportedly killed by some demonic path enchantress."

"Demonic path enchantress? Never mind..."

The pink figure shook her head; thinking of this mission, she decided not to pursue it further, and taking the purple-skirted female cultivator, slowly dissipated from the spot.

"Hoo~ Teacher, what kind of realm cultivator was that exactly?"

Among the mountain forests, a black-robed figure lay flat on the ground, his entire body already soaked in cold sweat.

"Nascent Soul."

The aged voice in his mind carried a hint of disdain.

"A Nascent Soul mighty figure!?"

Lin Bufan exclaimed in shock.

"He's just a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator, no need to make a fuss."

Before he could retort, the old man suddenly changed the topic and teased playfully:

"Instead of that, you'd better figure out how to deal with the big guy behind you first."

"Holy shit!"

...

Ever since the anomaly dissipated that night, Yujian City grew peaceful again, and a month's time quickly passed.

On this day, the flying boat appeared above the city as promised.

Amidst the bustling crowd, a plainly dressed, sallow-faced pockmarked woman quietly threaded through.

Only her pair of lively, water-like eyes could inadvertently entice people to take another glance.

This woman was none other than Lin Qingyu.

Perhaps due to the "Dust Transformation" trait, her cultivation of the secret art "Thousand Mechanisms Transformation" was exceptionally smooth, having already reached the minor completion realm.

Under this disguise, there was absolutely no possibility of a Qi Refining cultivator seeing through it.

"Wood, Fire, Earth, superior three-element spiritual roots!"

The originally lively square suddenly fell silent, followed by an even greater outburst of exclamations.

Lin Qingyu raised her eyes to look, and sure enough, she saw a familiar figure, but she didn't look too much, not wanting to draw the attention of the Ring Old Man.

The speed of testing spiritual roots was extremely fast, and the queue ahead visibly shortened, soon making it Lin Qingyu's turn.

With a calm expression, she reached out and pressed her hand onto the white jade stone pillar.

The next moment, a tricolour radiance suddenly erupted:

Gold, Water, Fire, intermediate three-element spiritual roots!

The two cultivators responsible for the testing wore delighted expressions; taking on this mission was not a loss, and just based on these two true spiritual roots, the merits they would obtain would not be small.

"Congratulations, Junior Sister. The two of you may proceed directly to the temporary camp of the Tianxuan Sword Sect to wait."

"Thank you, Senior Sister."

Lin Qingyu calmly responded with an unchanging expression, then imperceptibly nodded toward Lin Bufan as a greeting, her temperament incomparably aloof and cold.

Lin Bufan, standing not far away and waiting quietly, looked at the disguised Lin Qingyu with a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He had not expected that in this impoverished backwater, an intermediate three-element spiritual root cultivator could actually emerge.

"Hehe~"

In his mind, the aged voice carried a trace of lewd laughter.

"Kid, this female cultivator is a rare beauty."

"Heh~ This young master's only goal right now is to become stronger!"

Lin Bufan swept another glance at the sallow-faced pockmarked woman, smiling disdainfully at the thought.

How pretty could this possibly be?

Seeing Lin Bufan look away, Lin Qingyu quietly breathed a sigh of relief; just a moment ago, she had vaguely felt someone prying.

Without even thinking, it must have been that lewd golden-finger old man, but the gap in divine sense was too vast, and she was completely powerless to stop it.

Pah!

Shameless old bastard.

Everything was just like in the simulation, and the group smoothly entered the Tianxuan Sword Sect.

When Lin Qingyu stepped onto the iron chain bridge once again, her expression was even more calm and composed compared to the first time.

With mental preparation in advance and being a young talent who had experienced big-data bombardments, she only wanted to say about the scale of things before her: don't make your big sister laugh.

The instant she successfully crossed the iron chain bridge, Lin Qingyu's vision suddenly blurred, and heaven and earth seemed to be turning upside down.

When she recovered her senses, she found herself already placed within a magnificent grand hall.

Lin Qingyu's heart skipped a beat—an accident had happened after all!

But she didn't show any out-of-line behavior; it was almost identical to the simulation.

The only change was that she hadn't traveled alongside Lin Bufan. Could it be solely because of this?

"There is no need to panic."

The soft voice possessed a comforting power, reducing much of the unease in Lin Qingyu's heart,

Above the grand hall sat several figures whose imposing auras were like abysses. Among them, a beautiful woman dressed in white Daoist robes was looking down with a face full of surprise—or to be precise, sizing up Lin Qingyu's face.

"With such appearance and temperament, I wonder if you are willing to enter my Mingxiao Peak?"

Lin Qingyu's heart stirred. Having cultivated in the Tianxuan Sword Sect for ten years, she naturally knew about Mingxiao Peak.

It was the only main peak among the nine peaks that did not practice the sword dao, but instead solely practiced the path of acoustics and melody, and it only recruited female cultivators.

Seeing that the female cultivator at the upper seat was full of goodwill toward her, Lin Qingyu felt that perhaps there might be different gains?

Just as she was about to agree, a mechanical voice rang out in a timely manner...