Chapter 3
When Qiao Wan was lost in thought, the disciples of Wenshi Hall was secretly watching her.
They couldn't help but feel a little sympathy.
Too alike.
The male disciples thought to themselves.
Qiao Wan and Mu Xiaoxiao look too much alike.
The young girl in front of them had the most popular hairstyle in the cultivation world. She carried a slender sword on her back, had a beautiful face and smooth skin, her eyes were as clear as the bright moon. She was like a jade tree covered in snow.
The only downside was that her taste was a bit unbearable.
She had five or six jade butterflies pinned on her hair bun, and another one tied to the end of her hair, and she even creatively tied one to her sword handle, making her look particularly fancy.
Everyone in the Kunshan Sect knew that Qiao Wan was the substitute for Mu Xiaoxiao .
Now that the real main character has returned, they could watch the big show unfold.
As Qiao Wan thought about Pei Chunzheng and the upcoming plot, she felt very sad and angry. But even so, she didn't show much emotion. After all these years, she had become a master at hiding her emotions.
Qiao Wan politely thanked the male disciple in front of her and walked out of Wenshi Hall.
Perhaps because she was distracted thinking about the plot, she bumped into a male disciple as soon as she walked out of Wenshi Hall.
Once Qiao Wan regained her balance, she looked at the person in front of her.
She recognized the male disciple who bumped into her. His surname was Xiao, and his name was Xiao Boyang. He came from the Xiao family, a branch of the three major families. His temper wasn't very good, and they hadn't gotten along for a long time.
The reason behind this was that Xiao Boyang used to be interested in Mu Xiaoxiao. After she came to the mountain, he never looked highly upon her.
Not to mention, they were also competitors.
The Kunshan Sect always encouraged their disciples to compete and improve. They even built a tall tower on the Azure Sky Island, where the disciples of the Kunshan Sect could climb higher levels and receive corresponding rewards.
In a couple of days, on the tower on Azure Sky Island, Qiao Wan and Xiao Boyang would fight over a Red Cloud Immortal Grass.
Qiao Wan was calm and composed. She wasn't a spirit stone, so she didn't need everyone to like her.
When Xiao Boyang saw her, he squinted his eyes and said, "Qiao Wan?"
Qiao Wan nodded in acknowledgement and said, "Martial Brother Xiao," while she started to run away.
Xiao Boyang, seeing this, became furious and shouted, "Qiao Wan, stop right now!"
Qiao Wan patiently stopped in her tracks and asked, "Is there something else, Martial Brother Xiao?"
Xiao Boyang glanced at her from head to toe and sneered, "You are just a low-level spirit beast, yet you've managed to make yourself look like this. Qiao Wan, with the help of the Yuqing Spiritual Master's alchemy treasures, you have only just reached the Foundation Construction stage. If I were you, I would have lost face and left Yuqing Peak long ago."
Qiao Wan, with a bow tie on her head, tilted her head cutely and said, "Yuqing Peak is great. It feels like home. The master is talented and speaks nicely. I really enjoy being at Yuqing Peak."
Seeing her like this, Xiao Boyang nearly exploded with anger.
"How dare you tilt your head like that?!"
Qiao Wan exclaimed in surprise, "Huh?"
Realizing that he had spoken his thoughts out loud, Xiao Boyang's face turned from blue to red. He angrily shouted, "Get lost!"
"You enjoy staying at Yuqing Peak, don't you? Well, I doubt you'll have the face to stay after Martial Sister Mu wakes up in a few days."
Qiao Wan thought for a moment and said seriously, "I think I will."
After saying that, without even looking back at Xiao Boyang, who was stomping in place out of anger, she left Wenshi Hall.
Oh, Xiao Boyang.
Qiao Wan paused and carefully searched through the plot.
He was an unnamed cannon fodder, not even worth mentioning. In terms of character ranking, he couldn't compare to her. At least she was a malicious supporting female character who caused a lot of trouble for the female lead.
After returning to her residence, Qiao Wan's mood was not exactly relaxed.
Her residence was very quiet, and it was the place that her master had arranged for her to live.
Putting down her sword, Qiao Wan carefully took out a pure white forehead cloth from her sleeve. Seeing that it was still clean and free of dust, she breathed a sigh of relief.
She had fought with the Snowstorm Tiger for twelve days and nights in the northern territory, all for this forehead cloth.
This cloth was made from the fur of the Snowstorm Tiger and had a shimmering jade embedded in it. When touched, it felt slightly cool and comforting.
Hundreds of years ago, there was a great war between the Demon Realm and the cultivation world. In that war, half of the cultivators were injured or killed, and it was only after that battle that the Demon Realm's Emperor was driven back and sealed away.
Yuqing Spiritual Master had developed a chronic headache during that war, which still bothered him to this day.
This forehead cloth was specially made for her master as a way to soothe his headaches.
Since experiencing a tragic and miserable love affair, her attention had successfully shifted from Pei Chunzheng to these elders.
Respecting and pleasing the elders might bring some rewards, but trying to please Pei Chunzheng was useless.
Putting the cloth back into her sleeve, Qiao Wan looked around.
Although her residence was quiet, the walls felt warm to the touch.
Inside the cave, there was only a stone bed, a stone table, some stone stools, and various random household items, as well as some shiny and delicate little accessories.
For example, there were pink jade hairpins, golden tassels with six petals of plum blossoms, bracelets adorned with crystals and pearls, and so on.
She put a bracelet on her wrist and looked at the shiny white pearls and colorful crystals on it, instantly feeling a bit better.
There was no way around it, even if she had a bland face now, she still loved pink and sparkling accessories!
Putting aside these little accessories, the simplicity and solitude of her residence were arranged by Qiao Wan herself.
All for the sake of cultivation.
What Xiao Boyang said was true. With her talent, she didn't deserve to stay on Yuqing Peak.
The disciples of Kunshan Sect were roughly divided into three levels. Outer disciples were at the bottom, inner disciples were the second level, and the disciples under the twelve peak masters of Kunshan were the highest level.
Her master was only in his six hundredth year, which was considered a prime age in the cultivation world.
Despite his young age, he had reached the third level of the Nascent Soul stage and was the pinnacle of the sword path.
It's common for powerful cultivators to have some quirks, and Yuqing Spiritual Master indeed had the qualifications to be mysterious. He only accepted three disciples: Elder Martial Brother Lu Pihan, younger martial sister Mu Xiaoxiao, and Qiao Wan, who had stumbled upon good fortune.
Elder Martial Brother and Mu Xiaoxiao were both exceptionally talented disciples, highly regarded in the entire cultivation world.
Her name was Qiao Wan, and she was not as talented as the other disciples of the Kunshan Sect. She was caught between being an outer disciple and an inner disciple.
Her father had passed away, and her mother was an illiterate village woman. Qiao Wan thought to herself that it was already good enough for her to be able to cultivate immortality. She couldn't change her aptitude, as it was inherited from her parents.
However, in the world of cultivation, there were ways to improve aptitude or even start again from the beginning.
Qiao Wan had been an ordinary person from her past life until now, and she didn't expect to suddenly become a powerful cultivator in this life.
Her aptitude was not enough to compensate for her lack of cultivation.
Qiao Wan was very diligent when it came to cultivation.
In the world of cultivation, there was constant danger. One could easily lose their life at any moment. One could be peacefully sleeping at home, and the next day they could be met with an unfortunate fate. Qiao Wan cherished her life and was determined to cultivate, all for the sake of not disappointing her master.
Her master, Yuqing Spiritual Master, had been unlucky. His eldest disciple was disabled, his second disciple had fallen into the Broken Bone Deep Abyss, and his third disciple, Qiao Wan, was considered a weakling.
Since the day when Yuqing Spiritual Master took her to the Kunshan Sect, Qiao Wan had hardly slept. The stone bed in her cave served more as a decoration than anything else.
Aside from cultivation, there was another reason why she couldn't sleep. Whenever she thought about the novel "Immortal Ascending Road," Qiao Wan felt anxious. She would lie on the stone bed, staring at the walls with lifeless eyes.
Mu Xiaoxiao had returned and was said to be residing at the peak of Yuqing Peak. Yuqing Spiritual Master was taking care of her personally, but he hadn't sent any messages to Qiao Wan.
Although Qiao Wan wanted to see Mu Xiaoxiao, she decided to wait patiently in her cave for news from her master, just to be safe.
Her thoughts went back and forth between Mu Xiaoxiao and Pei Chunzheng. Since regaining her memories, Qiao Wan's feelings for Pei Chunzheng had unexpectedly weakened. But when she remembered that Pei Chunzheng's orders had led to her tragic fate, Qiao Wan couldn't help but shiver.
After all, they had been in love once, and it was hard for her to believe that he could be so heartless. No, she believed it. She wagered her dignity as a supporting character and had every reason to believe that Pei Chunzheng would really kill her mercilessly.
After years of knowing him, Qiao Wan understood Pei Chunzheng's ruthless nature.
Lying on the stone bed, Qiao Wan became more and more uneasy. She sat up, closed her eyes, and started meditating.
Her aptitude was poor, her cultivation shallow. No matter how hard she tried, her aptitude couldn't be changed. Anyone could easily overpower her, so Qiao Wan didn't dare to slack off.
She had just reached the Foundation Building stage, and it was no surprise that Xiao Boyang looked down on her. With her resources, others would have already reached the Golden Core stage, but she was stuck at Foundation Building, unable to break through to the next stage.
Qiao Wan's body is like a deflated balloon. No matter how she cultivates, only 30% of her spiritual power can be used. The remaining 70% disappears completely during the cultivation process.
Building the foundation is like building a house. The bricks represent the spiritual energy around the body.
But Qiao Wan's spiritual energy cannot be retained. It's as if she's trying to build a foundation without any bricks.
Her breakthrough in foundation building was only achieved through tremendous effort.
Her talents were already poor, and her cultivation efficiency was slow. If she doesn't work harder, she'll be waiting for death.
Despite all this, Qiao Wan has no regrets about cultivating.
In this world, mere mortals without cultivation are like ants.
Cultivation has become integrated into every aspect of Qiao Wan's daily life. She closes her eyes, sits down, and patiently cultivates. But as soon as the spiritual energy enters her body, almost 70-80% of it disappears before completing a full cycle.
After years of battling with this spiritual energy, Qiao Wan is accustomed to it. She slowly refines and solidifies the remaining 10-20%.
Qiao Wan, the construction worker, is working hard to build walls today!
(*｀へ*)
Now she is only a small distance away from reaching the second stage of foundation building. This distance can only be filled by relying on external objects, like the Red Cloud Grass that Qiao Wan has been longing for.
Red Cloud Grass can help stabilize the foundation, but it is very rare and has strict growing conditions.
No matter what, in order to break through her current situation, she must defeat Xiao Boyang and obtain the Red Cloud Grass at the upcoming competition on the BIkong Island White Tower in a few days.
Because of this, she cannot afford to make any mistakes during this time. She recently had a fight with a snow tiger and must recover her energy properly.
At the same time, inside Yuqing Palace.
A beautiful woman in palace attire, with clouds and mist-like hair, sits in front of a bed with a worried expression.
"Is Xiaoxiao still not awake?" A young man with white hair tied in a jade crown stands nearby. His face is cold and he furrows his eyebrows as he looks at the unconscious girl on the bed, asking softly.
This is Yuqing Peak's Sword Immortal, Yuqing Spiritual Master Zhou Yan.
