Chapter 46
It is said that Xie Xingzhi came to Kunshan to find his long-lost sister.
He had been searching for his sister who had gotten separated from him many years ago.
Rumors spread wildly, but when Qiao Wan heard about it, she temporarily put aside Lone Sword's search for his sister and quickly focused on her own battle.
Shopping.
The most urgent task is to find a way to change her appearance.
Now that there are many people in Youxian Town, the cultivators in the town quickly seized the business opportunity and set up stalls along the street to sell their goods every day.
Among them, there are some shameless disciples from Kunshan who take advantage of this opportunity to deceive their younger martial sisters and earn some money to cover their future expenses.
After all, cultivation is an expensive profession, and most cultivators are poor. Top-notch treasures and secret techniques require money. A famous person like Xie Xingzhi also requires a lot of resources. If Chaotian Mountain doesn't have money, they won't be able to afford such a talented Lone Sword.
There are very few who have achieved success through their own efforts.
Qiao Wan stopped in front of a mask shop.
The Face Changing Pills were too expensive. One pill could only maintain the transformation for two or three days, so it was not worth it.
Qiao Wan calculated the spirit stones in her storage bag and could only give up.
The mask shop was doing well, after all, with so many people around, there were more people with malicious intentions. Recently, there were many cultivators in Youxian Town who had formed groups to rob and kill.
When the shop owner saw that Qiao Wan was a young girl, he kindly warned her, "Be careful these days. I heard that there are many cultivators in town who target people like you."
The shop owner glanced at Qiao Wan, smacked his lips, and furrowed his brow.
To him, Qiao Wan was the type who doesn't know anything and carries a heart of becoming an immortal. She foolishly came to Kunshan, giving away her head, equipment, and experience for free. Such a naive and ignorant person.
People like her were plenty, far from home, with no one to care if they died. It was quite pitiful.
The shop owner's look clearly showed that he regarded Qiao Wan as one of these naive and ignorant people.
Looking out from the shop, she could see the majestic mountains in the distance.
That's Kunshan.
The shop owner laid out a stack of masks on the table and sighed, "Why bother."
If she dies here, there won't even be someone to collect her body.
Qiao Wan pointed at one of the masks and said, "I want this one, please."
The shop owner glanced at it. It was a ghost mask and he didn't say anything more.
She paid with one hand and received the mask with the other.
Qiao Wan put on the mask and left the shop. She stopped in front of a inn called "Xianyue Inn" and paid with some spirit stones.
Before she could leave Kunshan properly, she decided to stay here for now.
The inn was full these days, and basically, each room was shared by two people. There were no single rooms.
As soon as Qiao Wan pushed open the inn door, she saw a young girl, about twenty-five years old, wearing rough clothes, sitting on the bed.
As soon as she saw the ghost mask on Qiao Wan's face, the girl was first stunned, then quickly reacted and smiled friendly, "My surname is Yu, you can call me Miss Yu Sanniang."
Qiao Wan : "Lu Wan ."
According to Yu Sanniang , she came all the way from Donglai State just to join the Spring Recruitment in Kunshan.
They didn't have much to say to each other since they had just met.
The next day, Qiao Wan went to the town market early in the morning.
She wanted to see if there were any secret manuals for physical cultivation that she could use.
Currently, she could only focus on building her physical fitness.
Although she had done some exercises before, Qiao Wan couldn't consider herself a true cultivator.
True cultivators were rare, even the monks at Great Compassion Cliff focused on training their bodies rather than solely pursuing cultivation.
To be precise, the monks at Great Compassion Cliff were more like martial artists.
There were not many true cultivators in the cultivation world because they often had to endure unbearable pain and the rewards didn't always match the efforts. Cultivation required infusing the body with special substances and constantly strengthening the mind and body.
Being able to use a sword, formations, charms, and control beasts, it was rare for someone to choose the path of cultivation and pursue it until the end.
Qiao Wan wanted to give it a try.
After browsing around, she didn't find anything suitable. However, she wasn't in a hurry. When she returned to the inn, Yu Sanniang had just come back as well. As they sat together cracking melon seeds after their practice, suddenly, there was a commotion on the street downstairs.
Yu Sanniang craned her neck to look outside and became excited, patting the windowsill.
"Miss Lu!"
"Come and see! It's Lone Sword!"
Qiao Wan was taken aback.
She walked to the window and took a glance downstairs.
People were crowded on the street, everyone seemed eager to catch a glimpse of the extraordinary presence from the cultivation world.
Qiao Wan looked for a while but only saw a bunch of dark backs of people, as if they were very excited.
She vaguely saw a corner of a robe.
But Yu Sanniang seemed satisfied, as if she could die happy just by seeing a corner of that robe.
So, Qiao Wan and Yu Sanniang leaned on the window together, observing Xie Xingzhi .
Yu Sanniang still had some melon seeds in her hand and shared half with Qiao Wan .
"Lone Sword Xie Xingzhi, equal to Lu Pihan, the sick sword."
"I heard before that this Lone Sword was planning to come to Kunshan to find relatives."
"I thought we wouldn't be able to see him since it's been such a long time, but he just arrived. There must have been some mishap on the way. It gives us a chance to witness the greatness of Lone Sword."
"I heard that this Xie Xingzhi is a righteous and chivalrous person. On his journey from Chaotian Mountain, he has done countless heroic deeds."
Qiao Wan listened attentively: (⊙⊙)
"When he stopped in Qingwu State to rest, he helped an old man who turned out to be an elder of the Evil Heart Sect. The sect was causing trouble and tried to kill Xie Xingzhi for a treasure. But Xie Xingzhi single-handedly defeated the entire sect with his sword! And that's not all, in Lihuo State, Xie Xingzhi even killed a high-level demonic beast from Lihuo State." Yu Sanniang had a hint of longing in her eyes. "How impressive!"
Qiao Wan : (⊙⊙)
But then she became a little confused.
Qingwu State and Lihuo State are located in the south and east, respectively, while Kunshan is in the west.
How did Xie Xingzhi end up in Qingwu State and Lihuo State if he wanted to go to Kunshan?
When Yu Sanniang reached an exciting point, she deliberately stopped and poured herself and Qiao Wan a cup of tea. After taking a sip to moisten her throat and a deep breath, she continued, "And also, I heard that a prostitute saw how good-looking he was and wanted to hire him for her bed. But turns out that brothel was a scam..."
Qiao Wan cracked open two melon seeds: It looks like a heavenly being jumping.
"That scam den is known for its malicious intentions. Lone Sword got angry and destroyed that scam den!"
Qiao Wan : (⊙⊙) Looks like he got angry after being scammed.
"After annihilating the Spring Breeze Pavilion and the Evil Heart Gate, someone begged him, saying they wanted to sell their body to bury their father, but they had no money and asked for Gu Jian's help. Can you guess what happened next? Lone Sword actually dug a grave for the girl's father, buried him, and even erected a tombstone for him." Yu Sanniang clacked her melon seeds and sighed in admiration. "He truly lives up to his reputation as the lover in the Six Love Stories, so charismatic and sentimental."
Qiao Wan spat out a melon seed shell: He must have been broke after being scammed and had to dig the grave himself.
After hearing all this, Qiao Wan's expression successfully changed from (⊙⊙) to (= _ =)~┴┴
This Xie Xingzhi seems to have a not-so-smart brain.
He was deceived back and forth along the way, which is why it took him so long to reach Youxian Town.
Yu Sanniang : "It is said that Xie Xingzhi has a Demon Killing Record, where he records all the wicked and evil people, and one day, he will eliminate all the evil forces!"
Qiao Wan : Sounds like he's holding grudges. (= _ =)~┴┴
Qiao Wan listened as Yu Sanniang spat out melon seed shells, her face full of excitement and uncontrollable emotion.
It seems that Xie Xingzhi has been acting righteously and chivalrously in just a few months.
Qiao Wan looked down for a moment.
It seemed like someone turned around with their clothes fluttering, and the crowds on the street followed suit.
Qiao Wan finally caught a glimpse of the face of the legendary Lone Sword Xie Xingzhi, praised by Elder Martial Brother.
The man is handsome and refined, with a high nose bridge and truly looks like a noble and elegant pine tree. But with his brows furrowed tightly, he doesn't seem very friendly.
The enthusiasm of the crowd may have made this extraordinary and aloof person somewhat uncomfortable. His lips pressed even tighter, not saying a word, and continued walking coldly.
Midway, he frowned and turned back.
The crowd looked at each other, puzzled.
What's going on? What happened?
They saw Lone Sword take a few steps back, turned a corner, and hesitated for a while in the same spot.
Yu Sanniang was enamored, "Such elegance and demeanor! Truly remarkable, Lone Sword."
Qiao Wan : It seems like she knows how Xie Xingzhi ended up in Lihuo State from Qingwu State. He really doesn't seem very smart = =
Perhaps unable to handle the enthusiasm of the crowd, or maybe feeling a little embarrassed.
The man's brow furrowed even tighter, and with a pause, he directly flew away on his sword... He ran away?!
Yu Sanniang finished eating the last handful of sunflower seeds and still felt a bit unsatisfied.
After freshening up and lying down, Yu Sanniang used a towel to rub her hair and asked Miss Lu, "Miss Lu, we're going to explore the south tomorrow, do you want to come?"
Today, they didn't find anything of value during their shopping trip. Qiao Wan nodded in agreement.
So, they blew out the lights and quickly settled down.
Qiao Wan couldn't sleep and remained calm.
Having had experience before, she wasn't as confused as those beginners who were just starting their journey to immortality.
Almost effortlessly, Qiao Wan achieved inner cultivation and successfully connected with her qi.
To her surprise, this time her cultivation progress went smoothly and without any setbacks.
Although her meridians were damaged, her spiritual power wasn't as depleted as before, only losing around 30%, with the remaining 70% still intact.
After a night, Qiao Wan successfully broke through to the first level of Qi cultivation.
The next morning, Yu Sanniang asked, "Miss, are you ready? If you are, I'll take you to meet some people who will be going to the south with us today."
Qiao Wan nodded, "I've been waiting for you, let's go."
Yu Sanniang introduced her to a few companions.
On the way to Kunshan, she teamed up with several other cultivators at the Qi cultivation stage.
The leader of the group was a tall and strong man named Liang Yiqing. He appeared polite and well-dressed.
Liang Yiqing was cautious and when he noticed the ghost mask on Qiao Wan's face, he discreetly observed her a few times.
He couldn't sense any spiritual power from Qiao Wan, but he could feel a hint of a fighting spirit from her. She might have been roaming on the Jianghu road before and had only recently started cultivating her qi.
While having more people meant more power, they had to bring the right kind of "power".
In Liang Yiqing's eyes, most women were burdensome and troublesome. He only agreed to bring Yu Sanniang because they had a good relationship. However, someone like Qiao Wan, who had just started cultivating her qi, didn't count.
Unfortunately, Yu Sanniang was friendly towards Qiao Wan, so Liang Yiqing couldn't reject her outright. He reluctantly accepted Qiao Wan, but his attitude wasn't particularly warm, just polite.
There was a young man named Jiang Kai who had a baby face but a friendly smile.
Liang Yiqing gave a brief instruction, "Since you're new to Kunshan, and it's chaotic in Youxian Town right now, we should stick together. Both you and Sanniang should stay together and not wander off."
Qiao Wan understood Liang Yiqing's reluctant acceptance and obediently agreed.
Liang Yiqing was satisfied with Qiao Wan's obedience and easiness to handle.
Yu Sanniang practiced law and wanted to buy some secret techniques and legal instruments.
Liang Yiqing practiced swordsmanship and wanted to buy some suitable items to maintain his weapons.
"What does Miss Lu want to buy?" Jiang Kai asked with a smile. "I can help you choose later."
Qiao Wan didn't hide anything and honestly said, "I want to buy secret techniques for body cultivation."
