Chapter 626: Revisiting Mysterious Sword Market

"Judging by the time intervals between the previous two batches' mission progress reports, your batch's report will be out the day after tomorrow at the latest."

Zhao Ruohan's eyes flickered with a glint of spirit light.

Because of that one glance just now, both of them understood that they were actually competing against each other…

Since that's the case, there's no need to deliberately hide it anymore.

After all, she had only just begun learning to integrate cultivation into her daily life, and wasn't especially proficient yet — she couldn't do it as naturally as Chi Jiuyu.

If she deliberately suppressed it, her cultivation efficiency would drop quite a bit.

"There's no point in you hiding things now."

Sooner or later, they'd find out anyway.

"Of course there's a point!" Chi Jiuyu pouted.

If her score wasn't particularly high among the third batch of Ascension Emissaries, that would be fine.

But if her score this time was among the leading group of the third batch of Ascension Emissaries, and she revealed it now but had two days where she couldn't show off — what a loss that would be!

Moreover, if Little Zhao found out, Little Ye and Little Xuanxuan would definitely find out too.

And if, by some chance, by some possibility, there was a teeny-tiny chance that they performed better than her—

And she happened to have been a bit "carelessly" high-profile during these two days—

Wouldn't that make her a clown…

She didn't want to be Clown Yu again!

In short, for various complicated reasons—

Before the mission progress report came out, she absolutely would not reveal to anyone else the number of Ascension Points she'd earned from this mission!

Little Yunlu didn't count.

She was her junior sister, not part of the "anyone else" category.

Emm…

Mainly because she'd already heard from her master on the day Chi Jiuyu returned, and there was no way to stop it.

"What point?"

"You'll know when the time comes."

Chi Jiuyu answered with a line Xu Xing had said to her several times before.

Zhao Ruohan raised an eyebrow.

You're playing the riddler here now!

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about this anymore."

Chi Jiuyu sat up from the sofa, picked up the cut fruit platter from the coffee table in front of her and placed it on her lap, tossing a piece of fruit into her mouth.

"Is Dog Bro really not coming?"

Because she was very curious about Dog Bro's reaction when meeting Little Ye, she'd had Little Zhao bring Dog Bro along this time.

But the result surprised her a little — Little Zhao had actually told her that Dog Bro didn't want to come…

"Not coming."

Zhao Ruohan paused, then sat up from the recliner as well.

"He said he doesn't know how to face her for now, and needs to think it over for a while."

"Alright then."

It was just a side thing anyway, so it didn't matter much if he didn't come.

The two chatted about other topics for a while longer.

Before long, after Zhao Ruohan challenged Chi Jiuyu to another match and Chi Jiuyu readily agreed, the two ended the video call.

She put the fruit platter from her lap back on the coffee table in front of her.

She stood up, rolled her neck, turned, and walked outside.

She arrived at a custom-made wooden rack outside her cave dwelling.

On the rack sat several potted plants, each one's leaves and stems emanating a faint glow, some even bearing clusters of richly fragrant spirit fruits.

But the most peculiar and wondrous of all was the one placed at the highest point of the rack—

A Mysterious Candle Fruit Tree, its branches like crystal glaze, its leaves like mutton-fat white jade.

Three Mysterious Candle Fruits, glowing with white light like little lanterns, hung from the branches, swaying gently.

Originally there had been only one Mysterious Candle Fruit Tree.

Until later, when she got to know Lin Xuanxuan and Zhao Ruohan.

One was a genius alchemist from the Salvation Valley, and the other, due to her innate divine ability, enjoyed growing some unusual spirit plants.

So Chi Jiuyu would receive spirit plants from the two of them from time to time.

As a return gift, she would also buy some Xiang Jianzong specialties and send them over.

Chi Jiuyu picked up a watering can nearby, took out a specially blended spirit liquid from her storage ring, poured it in, and began watering the Mysterious Candle Fruit Tree.

Looking at the plump, round Mysterious Candle Fruits swaying in the breeze on the branches, she couldn't help feeling a bit frustrated.

Counting carefully, it had been several years since she'd gotten this Mysterious Candle Fruit Tree from Senior Ling Zu.

Yet after nurturing it for so long and pouring quite a few spirit coins into it, the tree stubbornly hadn't grown at all…

Sigh~

At this rate, she had no idea when she'd be able to live a life of "Mysterious Candle Fruit freedom."

She had originally planned to raise this Mysterious Candle Fruit Tree to maturity, then use some of the Mysterious Candle Fruits to feed her fish.

But judging by how things were now…

She didn't even have enough for herself to eat!

Thinking this, she looked again at the cave-heaven embryo buried beneath the Mysterious Candle Fruit tree, the one radiating five-colored brilliance.

Compared to before, the overflowing five-colored brilliance had dimmed considerably.

But the interior had changed quite a bit compared to before.

The cave-heaven embryo's interior had previously been suffused with hazy splendor — a scene of unopened chaos, where yin and yang were undivided.

But now, within it was dim and hazy, as if a single line stretched across it, dividing it into two colors as distinct as the Jing and Wei rivers.

One side light and ethereal, the other side heavy and dense.

"When chaos first split, the clear and the turbid divided, the Four Symbols manifested, and the Five Elements were born…" Chi Jiuyu muttered under her breath.

And this was precisely the sign that the cave-heaven's interior was gradually perfecting itself, nurtured to the second stage.

At the current pace, in another dozen or so years this cave-heaven would be fully nurtured.

If her cultivation advanced further during this period, it might be even faster.

"The things Uncle-Master gave really are top quality."

Not every cave-heaven goes through this process — generally speaking, only those cave-heaven embryos of extremely high quality, with extremely complete internal laws, would display all manner of world-evolution phenomena during the nurturing process.

A dozen or so years…

Chi Jiuyu looked up toward the horizon, seeming somewhat wistful.

Counting the three years in the Soldier Realm great cosmos, she, the foremost prodigy of the myriad heavens and worlds, was almost thirty years old now.

From now on she'd have to act a bit more steady and mature.

emm…

Wonder what little Yunlu is up to — why not call her over to play games later!

……

……

Meanwhile, in a city relatively far from the Xiang Jianzong's sect grounds, located on the edge of Sword Province.

It was also the city where Xu Xing had stopped when he came out of seclusion this time.

Mysterious Sword City.

At this moment, near the south school gate of Mysterious Sword City Third Middle School, by the roadside.

Two figures, one male and one female, walked side by side, with another person following behind.

It was precisely Xu Xing and Bie Xuening, along with Zhang Yunlu.

"Master, Uncle-Master, is it really fine for us to come out like this?" Zhang Yunlu asked in a small voice.

Without even telling Ye Shijie.

Bringing only herself out — if Ye Shijie found out…

"She's been very busy these past few days," Xu Xing said casually. "Looks like she doesn't have time to come out with us either."

"Let's go visit your old school first," Bie Xuening also said. "The timing's about right — Uncle-Master and I will come back to find you."

To grow rich without returning home is like wearing brocade at night.

Besides, little Yunlu is her disciple now — wouldn't it be a shame not to show off properly!

If it were that rebellious disciple with such an experience, she'd probably come back to show off once a year!

"…Yes."

Since Master had said so, what could she say.

And her intuition told her she really shouldn't keep following Master and Uncle-Master.

She'd just be a third wheel…

Ahem!

It just so happened that last time during the school anniversary she'd had something come up and hadn't come — this time she could make up for it.

After bowing respectfully, Zhang Yunlu turned and walked toward Mysterious Sword City Third Middle School.

And Xu Xing and Bie Xuening didn't linger long either, soon leaving the vicinity.

……

……