Meng Qi turned her head and said to Lu Qingran, “Senior Sister Lu, please go back.”
“Ah? Okay.” Lu Qingran looked worriedly at Meng Qi, then at Qin Xiumo who was lying on the ground. Although Meng Qi made her embarrassed just now, she didn’t doubt her words. This junior sister, who had only entered the sect half a year ago, obviously had an ability far beyond her imagination.
Lu Qingran walked down the mountain while occasionally looking back at Meng Qi. She suddenly shuddered. A new disciple still in the Qi Condensation stage and already so skillful, was it really possible? Did Elder Yan, who valued Junior Sister Meng, taught her privately?
Meng Qi was still standing unmoved. She waited until Lu Qingran’s figure completely disappeared before turning around and walked to the shore of the cold pond. Meng Qi brandished her small, yet very sharp, medical knife to quickly drew three overlapping, interlocking, identical arrays on the ground. After that, she took out a small bottle from her storage bracelet and sprinkled the powder inside along the lines carved by the knife. Finally, a dozen fourth-grade spirit stones were taken out and placed in the middle of three arrays.
From the corner of his eye, Qin Xiumo tried his best to observe Meng Qi’s movements. Still in a black diving suit, the girl’s figure was very slender, with a thin waist and straight back. Her hair was still wet by the water from the cold pond. Although her appearance was a little disordered right now, she looked very tranquil.
Qin Xiumo didn’t know what she was doing, so he watched her inlaying the spiritual stones one by one into the array. Then she sprinkled some medicinal powder and the cold pond’s water. A faint medicinal scent was blown by the wind. Although a bit bitter, but it was not unpleasant.
Meng Qi finally took out the cold sky herbs she gathered from the cold pond. Only three small bottles of dew could be extracted from such a large amount of dark green leaves. She poured the liquid into the center of the array, then turned around to drag Qin Xiumo into the array.
Meng Qi originally slim, and looked particularly thin in this black diving suit. But Qin Xiumo couldn’t move and could only let her dragging his body forward. Before the disaster befallen him, Qin Xiumo was also an arrogant son of heaven. As a genius in cultivation, he grew up favored in his sect and has never been treated like this before. Furthermore, there were many pebbles and small stones on the ground that scratched his back. The turbulent aura inside his body also still hasn’t been receded. It was raging around like volcano, ready to gush out at any moment.
Meng Qi suddenly murmured: “Very heavy.” Previously, she had dragged Qin Xiumo back from the bottom of the cold pond with the help of the water’s buoyancy, so she never knew how heavy this man actually was.
Qin Xiumo: “…”
A light of anger flashed in his eyes. Compared to that gentle and warm little deer, this woman was simply too annoying!
Meng Qi finally managed to drag Qin Xiumo near the arrays. “Don’t move.” Although she knew that the other party still didn’t have any strength to move, Meng Qi nevertheless gave him a warning. She then bent over, one arm passed Qin Xiumo’s back, and the other passed under his knee, to forcefully lift him up in a princess carry.
Qin Xiumo: “!!!”
His pale face instantly turned bright red. He had never imagined that one day, a little girl who looked at most seventeen or eighteen years old would lift him in a princess carry. Moreover, the other party was still…
“Really heavy!” Meng Qi murmured again. She quickly walked towards the place where the three arrays overlapped and placed Qin Xiumo’s body in the center. Meng Qi then exhaled loudly, stood up, and wiped her sweat. When she met this Qin Xiumo in her previous life, the man had already regained some of his strength. At last he could move by himself. However, his aura was still chaotic, and he was no different than a waste. Unexpectedly, in this life, she met the Qin Xiumo, who got into a qi deviation, ahead of time.
However, Meng Qi had no other choice. Since she took away the cold pond’s spiritual dew that this man needed to heal himself, she could only save him personally.
This array construct was the same one that Meng Qi used as a defense trap in her bedroom. She found that the effect of a medicine or poison could be enhanced a lot when the arrays were activated. Her current medical cultivation was of a lower level than when she met Qin Xiumo in her previous life. Although Meng Qi knew how to calm down his chaotic spiritual aura, she was afraid that her too-low ability would be counterproductive. After all, qi deviation wasn’t an injury. If the level of medical cultivation was too weak, she would only inflict more harm to the patient.
Meng Qi set up a large protective array outside the three arrays, and sprinkled it with the powder that attacked Lu Qingran before. It was useless against opponents with real strength. However, the majority of Qingfeng Valley’s forces had gone out for battle. Within a hundred miles, there were almost no high-level cultivators. Her protective array could still deal with cultivators on Foundation Establishment and below.
“Now, you should relax your body…” While Meng Qi was busy with her preparation, Qin Xiumo kept looking at her coldly. However, she didn’t take care. She calmly sat cross-legged in the center of one of the arrays and activated the Jingxin spell with her right hand.
When Meng Qi met Qin Xiumo in her previous life, her Jingxin spell was already at the peak of the third realm. After healing the man, it immediately entered the fourth realm. This time, however, the spell has barely broken through the third realm, and her cultivation base was also weaker than before.
Hopefully, the arrays would be useful.
Meng Qi reached out and pressed her right hand on Qin Xiumo’s forehead: “Empty your mind. It may feel uncomfortable, but don’t think of anything and don’t resist.” Right after her voice fell, their skins touched. A harsh coldness instantly attacked from the man’s body, along with a strong murderous aura. Meng Qi’s body was shaken, and a thin layer of sweat immediately covered her forehead.
The layer of sweat quickly condensed into a layer of thin ice before melting again. Her hair already wet, and now a few strands were stuck to her forehead, making her appearance no better than Qin Xiumo. Jingxin spell consumed more aura than Qingfeng spell. In no time, Meng Qi opened her eyes, she almost couldn’t move her arm,
Meng Qi exhaled, slowly withdrawing her hand, then sat cross-legged to meditate and restore her spiritual aura. This procedure was repeated dozens of times. She would use the spell until her aura exhausted, then wait until recovery, before continuing the treatment. The essence of the cold sky herb she poured into the arrays gradually diminishing, and in the end, only a scarceful was left.
The sun also gradually tilted westward. The sky had dimmed, and the twilight began to shroud over the pond at the mountaintop. Meng Qi’s hair always wet. She has long been accustomed to ‘using a spell-consuming the aura-waiting for recovery’ process repeatedly only to practice a single spell and never feel it was boring.
Qin Xiumo, who was lying in the center of the arrays, slowly changed his expression. Meng Qi’s slightly cool, slender fingers repeatedly touched his forehead. At first, Qin Xiumo didn’t feel anything, but later, he seemed to be able to feel a faint warmth from her fingertips. A lively vitality was also hidden under the girl’s skin.
The aura inside his body gradually became less chaotic, albeit very slowly. After Meng Qi’s utmost treatment for a long time, compared with the brutal rampaging at the beginning, the aura had calmed down little by little. Qin Xiumo even felt that his arms were no longer as stiff as before.
The cool fingers on his forehead trembled slightly, and he knew that Meng Qi once again had exhausted her aura. Sure enough, the fingers quickly withdrew, and the girl exhaled slowly. Beads of sweat slipped from her forehead, rolling down on her tiny jaw. With a small dripping sound, it fell on Qin Xiumo’s forehead.
Meng Qi had closed her eyes, and her whole body was shaking slightly. Her spiritual aura was utterly overdrawn. Moreover, Qin Xiumo’s aura was very powerful. Compared with that, a small Qi Condensation cultivator was simply too weak. At this time, she only felt a void in her body, as if thousands of cold needles were piercing her meridians. The cold was so overwhelming.
After a while, Meng Qi slowly exhaled, then looked down at Qin Xiumo. “I…” She stood up, her feet were staggering. Meng Qi shook her head, forcefully exerting her strength. “No more.” She waved her hand. Her gaze swept around the surrounding, then she leaned over and dragged Qin Xiumo, pulling him out of the arrays. Meng Qi then swept her foot on the ground, destroying the arrays so that the original appearance was no longer visible.
“I don’t have the cold sky herbs anymore. Without that, I cannot handle your aura myself.” Meng Qi seemed to be talking to herself, rather than telling Qin Xiumo. “Today’s treatment is over.”
She looked around again. The area surrounding the cold pond was mostly deserted.
Hmm?
Meng Qi suddenly remembered something. She dragged Qin Xiumo towards the direction of a large rock near the edge of the cold pond. There was a stone hut there. Occasionally, the elders of the sect would come here to cultivate, and the hut was used by them to stay. Since the sect leader and all the elders were absent, no one would use it for the time being.
Meng Qi quickly found the hut and dragged Qin Xiumo into it. Qingfeng Valley was now protected by a large array left by Elder Xunyan, as well as its own original protective array. For the time being, there would be no danger from the outside. Still, Meng Qi placed two more protective arrays outside the hut. After that, she walked back to the door and said to Qin Xiumo: “I will come again tomorrow.”
Then she turned and left. Inside the hut, Qin Xiumo’s expression turned erratic. At this time, the sky has almost completely dark. Although Qin Xiumo was unable to use any spell or sword technique due to his qi deviation, his eyesight was unaffected. He could still clearly see in the dark.
Qin Xiumo kept staring at the girl’s slim back, until it soon disappeared into the night. The fingers on the side of his sluggish body slowly moved. In fact, a little earlier, probably after Meng Qi exhausted her spiritual aura and rested for the seventeenth or eighteenth time, he began to regain the sense and strength on his fingers, and already could move a little. However, Qin Xiumo, at the time, kept lying in the center of the arrays, staring at Meng Qi’s jaw. He saw how her thin lips tightened, so focused on her work. Dense beads of sweat slide on the tip of her nose. Her eyelashes were slightly trembling from exhaustion, and a layer of perspiration covered her forehead.
All of these seemed so familiar, but at the same time, also unfamiliar. Qin Xiumo froze, and he forgot to move. What’s more, the aura in his body was still pretty chaotic, and he still could do nothing but moving his fingers.
Qin Xiumo stared at the dark night outside the stone hut, watching the stars began to climb into the sky. He breathed in the cold air, with its relatively strong spiritual aura that was unique to a cold pond. The sensation of the slender hand, with her faint medicinal scent, seemed to linger on his forehead…
Eh?
Qin Xiumo blinked, then quickly moved his eyes to the door. Around five feet away from the hut’s entrance, a young man in a black robe stood tall, looking at him with a gaze full of alertness.
Chu Tianfeng?
A dark expression flashed in Qin Xiumo’s eyes.
Is he also here?
“Qin Xiumo.” Chu Tianfeng took a step forward, staring at the other man with a pair of cold, starlike eyes.
Qin Xiumo’s mind flashed in an instant. They have never met before. He knew who this man was because…
But, what about Chu Tianfeng?
“I wonder why she didn’t even accompany her precious little white tiger and instead went to the cold pond. It turned out to be you…” Chu Tianfeng snorted lightly.
Qin Xiumo has calmed down. He had experienced countless storms before, and even had tasted the betrayal from a best friend. There was hardly anything that could stir up his emotion.
He didn’t know who was the ‘she’ in Chu Tianfeng’s words.
Is it Lu Qingran?
Or…
“Humph.” Chu Tianfeng looked at Qin Xiumo. The proud young man snorted coldly, his eyes were disdainful.
“…What?” Qin Xiumo frowned. It has been almost a month since he had dived into the cold pond and also lost consciousness. As soon as he started speaking, his voice was so hoarse and rash, as if it had been rubbed with rough sandpaper, and he couldn’t even recognize it himself.
“Don’t worry.” Chu Tianfeng looked down at the array on the ground. Meng Qi drew it very secretively, and he couldn’t see the detail in the night’s cover. But he had been watching her from afar, so he saw how she busily worked outside the stone hut for a while before finally departed, humming on the way back.
“I won’t harm you.” Chu Tianfeng said indifferently: “I swear in the name of Fentian Palace’s young master, you can rest assured.” Qin Xiumo’s expression remained cold, so Chu Tianfeng didn’t know whether the other party believed him or not. He and this guy were once quite familiar with each other. For Lu Qingran’s affection, who knew how many times did they fought openly. In the end, however, they met their demise in the hands of the same enemy.
However…
Chu Tianfeng raised his lips and smiled bitterly. They had never expected that no one was able to be the final winner. “Don’t pretend.” He looked at Qin Xiumo, “I know you remember everything, just like me.”
Qin Xiumo’s eyes flickered, and his face finally showed some reaction. He asked hoarsely, “Remember what?”
“If I want to kill you now, all I need to do is…” Chu Tianfeng lifted his hand, and a small purple flame appeared at his fingertips. He was a Golden Core cultivator, who has recovered fully, without any injuries or lasting side effects. Even if his cultivation was initially a bit lower to Qin Xiumo in terms of small realms, his opponent was currently lying down on the ground, unable to move.
“But I won’t kill you.” Chu Tianfeng once again looked at Qin Xiumo, slowly uttering: “In the end, we once lived and died together. We could be regarded as ‘friend in both life and death.'”
Chu Tianfeng gritted his teeth and spat out the last phrase. His body trembled all over, as if recalling some terrible memory. Under the moonlight, the formerly proud young man’s expression turned pale.
Qin Xiumo also trembled. He and Chu Tianfeng were obviously outstanding among cultivators of their generation in Three Thousand Worlds. They were now in the Golden Core stage. In a few years, both of them would certainly break through even further, to Nascent Soul then to Spirit Severing stage. The two young men, who almost invincible among their peers, couldn’t even lift one hand in front of that man.
“She…” Chu Tianfeng paused, then bowed down and pondered for a moment. It took a while before he raised his head again, his eyes brighter than before. “Meng Qi…” He continued, “Also died in that man’s hand. He believed that crazy nonsense from the Western Realm, and thought that he could save…” Chu Tianfeng gritted his teeth: “You completely in a coma and didn’t see it. That person lured her with us two rubbish as bait. And she still…Meng Qi, that idiot!”
Chu Tianfeng suddenly raised his arm and quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve. The young man took a deep breath, his eyes still a bit red: “My father gave up on me. Fentian Palace had a new young palace master. She said that she likes me and also likes you…but the only thing she did was to weep in that person’s arm. In the end, only Meng Qi was willing to save us, only her…”
Qin Xiumo’s jaw suddenly tightened. His fingers curled up slightly, clenching into fists. He knew what Chu Tianfeng was talking about. It’s just that his mind was still a little confused now. When Meng Qi used the Jingxin spell again and again to patiently calm down his aura, countless fragments of memory burst into his mind. There was about Meng Qi, about himself, about Lu Qingran, and about this… Chu Tianfeng. He still hasn’t been able to completely connect those fragments into a full picture, but he knew that those memories, as clear as if he personally experienced them himself, should not appear by accident.
Now, after listening to Chu Tianfeng’s incoherent ramblings, Qin Xiumo’s heart skipped a bit, and something in his mind seemed to slowly merge those fragments into one.
“I haven’t forgotten the three months of living hell, and you must also remember it.” Chu Tianfeng did not continue to approach the door. He has recovered his calm. If it wasn’t for the redness at the rim of his eyes, no one would be able to guess how he had just lost control of his emotion. “So, I won’t harm you. You should stay alive and become stronger.” He clenched his fists, “Then protect her.”
After finished speaking, Chu Tianfeng took out a porcelain bottle from his storage space and threw it to Qin Xiumo. “Sixth realm Jingxin pill refined by the elder from our the Fentian Palace’s Medical Hall. It can help suppress the spiritual energy of the qi deviation even in the Nascent Soul stage.” Chu Tianfeng said, his voice still hoarse.
Qin Xiumo’s body stiffened. The porcelain bottle had fallen on his chest. He raised his hand to open the cork. To refine a sixth realm Jingxin pill, precious materials were second. The most important thing was that this pill must be refined by a Spirit Severing cultivator with a minimum of sixth rank medical cultivation. Even among many great sects in the Three Thousand World, they were still very rare. After all, a cultivator might be at a Spirit Severing stage, but to simultaneously reach the sixth rank medical cultivation was very rare. If Meng Qi did not die, she might break through the fifth rank and enter the sixth rank within one or two years.
Qin Xiumo’s face was still expressionless. He held the pill in his palm and slowly swallowed it. Chu Tianfeng’s words just now made him completely believe that the other party would not harm him. Because they would have an extremely terrible common enemy in the future. Chu Tianfeng was right. The two could also be considered ‘a friend in both life and death.’
Once entered his mouth, the pill instantly turned into a warm liquid that penetrated his body. Just now, his dantian was like being stabbed by thousands of icy knives, but now gradually surrounded by warmth.
“With her help, and this Jingxin pill.” Chu Tianfeng was still watching at the door. “Don’t let me down.” Then he turned to leave.
“Wait.” Qin Xiumo stopped Chu Tianfeng.
“Is there anything else?” Chu Tianfeng didn’t look back.
“Do you have spirit stones?”
“Huh?” Chu Tianfeng was startled, and quickly turned back. He finally felt a little happier, because he was not the only one she asked for money. Meng Qi was not partial. She still treated everyone the same!
“How much?” Chu Tianfeng probably had some understanding of Qin Xiumo’s current situation. He has been injured by a best friend when having a tribulation, fell into qi deviation, and escaped only with the clothes on his body. He most probably didn’t bring anything else, and the things on his body should be turned into ashes by the tribulation’s thunder. He was already lucky enough to keep his life.
“One hundred eighth-grade spirit stones.” Qin Xiumo blushed a little. He didn’t move his head, and didn’t want to see Chu Tianfeng’s gaze.
“Huh?” Chu Tianfeng frowned, then suddenly became furious, “Eight-grades spirit stones? One hundred? That’s how much Meng Qi charged you?”
Qin Xiumo nodded.
Chu Tianfeng almost mad with anger: “Why? Why she asked you eighth-grade spirit stones?!”
His was only the sixth-grade?!
And Qin Xiumo is still charged one hundred!
What about him?!
Less than ten!
Does it meant that he is cheaper than this guy?!
Why did she charge him so little?!
Is Qin Xiumo better than him?!
Even if this guy will be really strong in the future, he is still a waste now!
Qin Xiumo: “…”
An idea flashed in his mind, and he shook his head: “No need.” He looked at Chu Tianfeng calmly. He suddenly thought of a better way.