Chapter 572: Isn't Chi Jiuyu Supposed to Have a Terrible Personality?

The 'Talisman Sword' lineage founded by Hong Qianqian was not actually considered top-tier within the Supreme Dao Sect.

The reasoning was simple: those with top-tier talent in refining methods or talisman dao mostly specialized in one path, and had no need to also practice sword dao and split their focus.

And sword cultivators with top-tier sword dao talent, when choosing to dual-practice, very rarely chose the 'talisman crafting' profession.

After all, compared to talisman crafting, whether it was alchemy, artifact refining, or formations, or even emerging professions like Star Refiners, the situation was much better.

This led to the 'Talisman Sword' lineage of the Supreme Dao Sect, aside from its founder Hong Qianqian herself, recruiting disciples who were not particularly outstanding thereafter.

A 'weirdo' like Chi Jiuyu goes without saying.

As the youngest Soul Transformation cultivator of all time, her recent period of study at the Supreme Dao Sect had directly broken multiple records of the 'Talisman Sword' lineage since its founding.

Given her personality, if she hadn't been dealt a blow by the matter of the Ascension Emissary, she might have already puffed up like a pufferfish!

And now.

Clearly, only reporting her cultivation progress to Bie Xuening alone could no longer satisfy Chi Jiuyu's urgent desire to show off.

"..."

Bie Xuening gazed at the messages on her phone screen in thought for a moment, then turned her head to look at Xu Xing.

"What do you think, Junior Brother?"

What do I think?

Xu Xing paused.

Honestly, with Jiuyu's flighty personality, he felt it was perfectly normal for her to do anything out of the ordinary.

Let alone that this little scheme of hers, even placed on an ordinary person, was quite normal.

"It seems her cultivation in the 'Talisman Sword' lineage is going very smoothly."

Xu Xing first said something very conventional.

"Why don't you ask her, Ye Shijie, why she doesn't just send a message herself."

"Alright."

Bie Xuening nodded slightly, then swiftly typed out a line of text.

Home-Guardian Sword Lord: "If you want your martial uncle to know, why don't you tell him yourself"

Ungrateful Disciple: "Well, you see"

Ungrateful Disciple: "It's better if you go tell him, Master"

Ungrateful Disciple: "If we perform well and you tell Martial Uncle, it reflects well on you too, doesn't it"

Ungrateful Disciple: "If I go tell him myself, it would seem a bit too deliberate, don't you think so, Master"

Very well, this was very Chi Jiuyu.

Suddenly, Chi Jiuyu finally seemed to realize something, and swiftly sent a message over.

Ungrateful Disciple: "Oh right, Master, Martial Uncle isn't right next to you, is he /horrified"

If Martial Uncle was right next to Master now, then what she just said made her look a bit like a clown!

Surely not, right...

Home-Guardian Sword Lord: "He is"

Just a single simple character, yet no reply came back from Chi Jiuyu's side.

Two seconds later, her avatar turned grey.

Satisfied, Bie Xuening exited the chat interface upon seeing this, and put away her phone.

"She's gone offline."

Because this ungrateful disciple was usually very flighty, occasionally seeing her eat her words still left Bie Xuening quite pleased.

"I saw." Xu Xing smiled, "But with her personality, she'll forget about this in at most a day or two."

A day or two...

Probably not that long.

As they spoke, the two had already arrived outside the dao arena, about to enter.

Ding~!

Suddenly another notification sound rang out.

This time it wasn't Bie Xuening's, but Xu Xing's.

Hmm?

Could it be that Jiuyu (Ungrateful Disciple) had actually sent a message directly to him (Junior Brother)?

Xu Xing took out his phone and lit up the screen.

But the result was not the expected message from Chi Jiuyu, but rather one from the Boss Group.

Artifact Lord: "@everyone"

Artifact Lord: "Fellow daoists, I've worked out a few leads on the Dao Slave that Dao Brother snatched last time"

Hegemon Lord: "/akimbo"

Artifact Lord: "?"

Hegemon Lord: "Giving you a sticker to make up for it"

Artifact Lord: "..."

A few leads on the Dao Slave research?

Xu Xing and Bie Xuening exchanged a glance, then walked into the dao arena one after the other.

The next morning.

Supreme Dao Sect.

A small island in the high heavens, a quaint little courtyard.

Inside the bedroom.

"Mm~"

Chi Jiuyu, eyes still bleary from sleep, yawned and got up from the bed.

She stared blankly at the talisman framed at the foot of the bed for quite a while…

That was the first talisman she had ever made. Although it was only a basic-grade talisman and not of high quality, it held great commemorative meaning.

So she had specially asked someone to frame it and hung it at the foot of the bed for easy appreciation.

Emm…

She remembered something happening last night. She had planned to rest for one night, and then she had just fallen straight asleep…

But what exactly had happened?

She thought about it for a while, but still couldn't get an answer.

Forget it!

No more thinking!

Having made up her mind, Chi Jiuyu quickly scrambled out of bed and used the Supreme Dao Sect's food delivery app to order herself a breakfast.

Half an hour later…

Chi Jiuyu, already changed and having made several talismans, walked out of the room and stretched lazily at the gray, hazy sky.

Mm!

Not bad, not bad!

Today's weather is quite refreshing!

Then Chi Jiuyu, in a fairly decent mood, looked ahead.

Buzz buzz buzz~

A pitch-black shuttle-shaped magic artifact pierced through the clouds from afar, steadily arriving above the little courtyard, then slowly descending.

After placing several stacked meal boxes on the stone table, it immediately shot off into the distance again.

Having witnessed all this, Chi Jiuyu watched the shuttle artifact disappear over the horizon, then muttered:

"The Supreme Dao Sect's fully automatic food delivery service is pretty punctual."

Because she figured she still needed to practice talisman-making for a while, she had specially ordered it a bit later.

She walked to the stone table, took down the stacked meal boxes, and laid them out one by one.

Her nose twitched as she sniffed the aroma.

Then she took out her phone, scrolling through short videos on the Spirit Net while eating.

The first video was posted by 【Supreme News】.

【Xian Sect Special Recruitment First Round Concluded. The number of applicants this time was…, the number who passed was…, with an overall pass rate of 72.1%】

【Compared to the previous session, the total number of applicants for this Xian Sect Special Recruitment has risen by 7%, while the overall pass rate has dropped by 1.33%】

【Among which, …】

"Little Ye's sister should have no problem passing the audition."

Saying so, Chi Jiuyu slurped up a big mouthful of noodles, her cheeks puffed out round.

She continued scrolling down.

The title was 【Xian Sect Special Recruitment Body Cultivation Body-Tempering Guide】.

The content featured a burly body cultivator introducing the strategy he had researched specifically for body-cultivation-type special recruitment.

Actually, he usually made guides too, but right now 'Xian Sect Special Recruitment' was a hot topic after all, so posting it would get more views.

【Ten 'Qiuzhen' brand Nine Dragon Pills, 30 grams of Dragon Ginseng Grass, 5 grams of Blazing Purple Vine.】 【Add five Bone-Burning Pills, three Marrow-Refining Pills, and one dose of Spirit-Nurturing Liquid.】

【The above ratio applies to ninety percent of body-tempering techniques on the market, and can be used by those above the eighth layer of Qi Refining.】

【For the Nine Dragon Pills, it's best to use the 'Qiuzhen' brand. The Jishi series is too expensive and not cost-effective, while the Jingyue series is cheap, sure, but the medicinal properties are a bit lacking.】

This guy definitely eats the Jishi series in private!

Chi Jiuyu muttered inwardly, then put down her chopsticks and quickly typed out a line.

Xiang Jianzong Mingding Sect Master: "Why is your head so pointy?"

The next second!

The screen turned black, with only a line of small gray text appearing in the center.

【Work Temporarily Unavailable】

Obviously, she had been blocked.

Seeing this, Chi Jiuyu didn't mind. After all, it wasn't the first or second time she'd been blocked; she was long used to it.

She continued scrolling down.

First came some funny videos; she laughed while eating her breakfast.

Then came the official livestream rooms of the various major Xian Sects, all promoting their own sects for this Xian Sect Special Recruitment.

Among them, the Longxiang Qingtianzong had the fewest viewers. As for the most…

Naturally, it was the Hehuan Sect!

Even just the leftover fraction was several times that of the Longxiang Qingtianzong!

The two charming-body cultivators in charge of hosting smiled until their faces went stiff.

After looking around, Chi Jiuyu switched to her main account of 'Future Xiang Jianzong Master' and gifted a present worth 9 spirit coins in the Xiang Jianzong's livestream room.

She was the future Xiang Jianzong Master, after all—of course she had to bolster the Xiang Jianzong's reputation!

In the end, she scrolled into some instructional livestreams aimed at various cultivator professions — some teaching alchemy, some teaching artifact forging, and some live-streaming array formation…

She thought it over.

She searched for "Talisman Sword."

"Someone actually teaches this stuff online?" Chi Jiuyu scratched her head.

She tapped in for a look, and was instantly stunned!

Isn't talisman-making a sunset industry?

How are there so many people?!

Watching the "Talisman Sword" cultivators on her phone screen — whose skill was far beneath her own — selling courses like crazy, she fell into thought.

……

……

Afternoon.

The high-sky island where the "Talisman Sword" lineage of the Grand Supreme Dao Sect resided.

From the outside, the island wasn't large at all — about the same size as the one Zhao Ruohan had arranged for her to live on.

But once you passed through the formation and entered the island's interior, you'd find a whole other world within.

Looking off into the distance, spirit peaks hid within the clouds and mist; spirit springs trickled down along the ridgelines, with ancient pines and cypresses glistening in the rain above, casting a verdant, hazy sweep of green.

Ten-thousand-jointed emerald bamboos spread out, with strange flowers weaving brocade between them, puffing out colored clouds.

On the hazy green plaza, "Talisman Sword" lineage cultivators could be seen everywhere — some in groups of three or five, some alone.

Every one of them was studying talisman texts and practicing sword arts.

At the side of the plaza, a plain bluestone archbridge — without a single pattern — spanned a gurgling spirit spring.

Wisps of light smoke and thin mist swirled around, and two faintly hazy figures stood on the bridge.

One wore a white t-shirt on top and a pair of black cargo pants below, with bright, clear black-and-white eyes.

Her overall bearing was completely out of place with the surrounding scenery.

The other was the exact opposite.

Dressed in a plain, clean Daoist robe, with a waist as slim as a willow branch, long hair pinned up with a single wooden hairpin, gently rippling eyes, and curved willow brows like a crescent moon.

Though she seemed somewhat delicate, she carried a special air of stern, unyielding resolve.

A perfect match for the surrounding scenery.

It was Chi Jiuyu, and the current-generation senior sister of the "Talisman Sword" lineage — Yang Shuang.

After all, Hong Qianqian was the Dao Master of Dongzhen, and very busy.

So she had arranged Yang Shuang, so that whenever Chi Jiuyu needed to, she could come ask questions about problems encountered in her "Talisman Sword" cultivation.

"Little Grandmaster, it's rare for you to come find me — did you run into some problem in cultivating the *Yanxu Chandao Talisman Scripture*?" Yang Shuang asked softly.

After asking, the hand gripping her hem tightened a few more times, afraid that whatever question Chi Jiuyu asked, she wouldn't be able to answer it.

After all, Chi Jiuyu's progress was truly outrageous!

Actually, when Grandmaster had handed her this task, she'd already been a bit nervous.

This was Chi Jiuyu — the undisputed first place in the Nascent Soul division of the last Xian Sect Grand Competition, the youngest Soul Transformation in all history, and the only one in this edition of the Xian Sect Grand Competition to be specially allowed to enter the Soul Transformation division!

And she hadn't even been selected for the Xian Sect Grand Competition…

And not long ago, her own senior brother — who was even a bit stronger than her — had challenged Chi Jiuyu, only to be defeated in three swords, and the man was still holed up wallowing in self-pity to this day…

"Ye Shijie Yang, don't be nervous." Chi Jiuyu had naturally noticed Yang Shuang's small movements. "Today I'm just asking a few small questions, and treating you to a meal on the side!"

That's right!

Yang Shuang called her Little Grandmaster, yet she addressed Yang Shuang as Ye Shijie.

After all, the other person was answering her doubts — if she wasn't even willing to call her "Ye Shijie," that would just be too inhumane.

Treating her to a meal today was to repay her for answering her doubts over this period.

As for why she hadn't done it earlier…

Earlier, she'd spent most of her time cultivating, or else wandering around with Little Zhao.

And Ye Shijie Yang seemed rather nervous in front of Little Zhao…

Hmm?

Why the sudden invitation to a meal?

The doubt flashed through her mind and vanished; she took a deep breath:

"Please go ahead, Little Grandmaster — I'll do my best to answer."

None of the questions Chi Jiuyu had asked before were simple ones; she couldn't afford not to take them seriously.

"Mm!" Chi Jiuyu straightened up, took out a notebook and handed it to Yang Shuang. "All the questions I want to ask are written in here. Ye Shijie, go ahead with your own work first — whenever you have time, take your time looking through it!"

Yang Shuang silently took the notebook.

She actually understood perfectly well that Chi Jiuyu was worried she wouldn't be able to answer on the spot and would lose face.

She couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Doesn't the Spirit Web say Chi Jiuyu is flighty by nature, unbearably arrogant, and usually looks down her nose at everyone?

Rumor has it that at the last Xian Sect Grand Competition, she even made Little Grandmaster Zhao Ruoming cry.

Now it seemed…

You really can't believe everything you read online.

Participating in the Xian Sect Grand Competition should come with the readiness to suffer setbacks in the first place…

"Let's go, let's go! I've already booked the spot."

Yang Shuang glanced at the notebook in her hand, and in the end still didn't refuse.

"Then thank you very much, Little Martial Xiao Shu Zu."

"Ah! No need for pleasantries!" Chi Jiuyu grabbed Yang Shuang and headed down toward the bridge.

Suddenly, she recalled something that had happened that morning while browsing the Spirit Net.

"Oh right, Ye Shijie Yang, the 'Talisman Sword' we're learning—hasn't hardly anyone been willing to learn it? So why did I see so many people buying courses online today?"

Huh?

Yang Shuang was taken aback—why the sudden question?

"Just asking casually. If it's inconvenient, forget it."

Seeing her freeze, Chi Jiuyu assumed it involved 'trade secrets' and immediately laughed it off.

"Uh… it's not really that inconvenient."

Yang Shuang put away her notes, planning to go back and study it properly.

"Little Martial Xiao Shu Zu probably doesn't know much about this area, right?"

"I don't really know much about it." Chi Jiuyu scratched her head.

She had previously thought about opening a training class at the Xiang Jianzong, and nearly worked herself to death over it!

"Compared to other professional courses, the number of people buying courses from our 'Talisman Sword' lineage is actually on the low side."

"But the Spirit Net is, after all, aimed at the Central Continent and a portion of the star domains, so the base number isn't small."

"On top of that, with the recent Xian Sect special recruitment, talisman-making is one of the lowest-cost side professions."

"Also, the 'Talisman Sword' lineage's courses are relatively cheap…"

Simply put, it's all because of the 'Xian Sect Special Recruitment'.

Many people want to consolidate and cram their professional skills, hoping to achieve better results in the upcoming selection, so the number of course-buyers has increased.

And the 'Talisman Sword' courses aren't just cheap—they also cover both 'Talisman' and 'Sword' instruction, so quite a few people buy them. (End of chapter)