After saying that, a pure and powerful spiritual energy flowed from their hands towards Mu Jixue.
Mu Jixue was stunned: "Xiao Yu, you are already at Qi Refining Stage Seven?!"
She was overjoyed. Although she had already known about the recovery of Lin Zhongyu's talent, it would still take quite some time to catch up on the progress she had fallen behind on.
Mu Jixue had originally thought that Lin Zhongyu would not be able to make it to this Disciple selection ceremony, but she never expected Lin Zhongyu's cultivation to improve so quickly!
Qi Refining Stage Seven is considered a rather good level in Cangzhou City. With hard work, she might really have a chance to enter the Xuantian Sect.
Mu Jixue was ecstatic. She pounced on Lin Zhongyu and hugged her tightly.
"This is great! This is great! Xiao Yu! This way we can be together again, right!"
Lin Zhongyu's face also flushed with excitement. She nodded: "With some effort, it should be possible. To be safe, I still need to intensify my cultivation these days, and there will be competitive arenas at the Disciple selection ceremony, so I also need to pick a suitable weapon and get used to it beforehand."
"Then how about we go stroll around the market today?"
"Mm, I was thinking the same thing."
"That's great, I'll go change clothes right away."
Mu Jixue was like a child who never grew up. As soon as she heard they could go shopping, she couldn't be happier. She pattered back to her room to change clothes first.
Her face was full of smiles, but after returning to her room, her smile gradually faded.
"Xiao Yu has a strange scent on her."
Mu Jixue muttered to herself, lowering her head.
Just now when she hugged Lin Zhongyu, she felt someone else's presence. She felt very strange. They had clearly slept together last night, so how did Xiao Yu get someone else's presence on her?
Xiao Yu's sudden rapid cultivation felt a bit off. Of course, she wasn't jealous or doubting Xiao Yu's ability, she was just purely afraid that Xiao Yu had been deceived.
After all, Xiao Yu is so naive and kind, it's easy for her to become someone else's target. Only she herself can protect her well.
"Could it be that man..."
Yun Zhonghe's face appeared in Mu Jixue's mind. For some reason, she felt an indescribable sense of unease in her heart.
It even made her feel a sense of fear and anxiety.
Coupled with the prophecy from the Book of Prophecy...
Mu Jixue felt as if she was a weak and helpless little animal encountering a natural predator.
"What exactly happened to Xiao Yu? If only the Book of Prophecy were still here..."
Thinking of this, Mu Jixue felt very disheartened. The lost Book of Prophecy had not been found yet.
If the Book of Prophecy were still here, perhaps she would know what happened to Xiao Yu...
"No, how can I think like this? I should believe in Xiao Yu."
Mu Jixue shook her head, wanting to make herself forget these wild thoughts.
As the only person supporting Xiao Yu, how could she not believe her?
It's just a strange presence, maybe Xiao Yu accidentally picked it up when she went out to train this morning.
Mu Jixue convinced herself, and her mood immediately improved significantly. Her movements while changing clothes also became lighter.
...
Compared to Mu Jixue, who was full of worries, Yun Zhonghe was in high spirits.
After his meeting with Lin Zhongyu ended last night, he felt a bit excited thinking about the smooth progress he was making and couldn't sleep, so he continued practicing sword techniques.
He forcefully raised the proficiency of Wen Tian Nine Swords to the perfect Realm.
To Cultivate a set of sword techniques to Perfection in just one day, even an Elder from the Xuantian Sect would likely be amazed.
However, it was also normal. After all, in his previous life, Yun Zhonghe was a high-level gamer, and the weapon he was best at in this game was the sword. He basically understood the key points of all sword techniques and Moves. As long as he familiarized himself more with the actual operation, he could quickly master them.
This is why he was so confident that he could Cultivate both sets of sword techniques to Perfection before carrying out the town mission.
"I've practiced for so long, it's time to rest. It's already dawn, and the market is open. I'll take this opportunity to go take a look."
In order to deal with the town mission, Yun Zhonghe needed to make some preparations in advance. At the same time, he also wanted to look for an item that was relatively important in the early stages.
In the original game, Cangzhou City, as a novice village, would only produce Tier 1 (Human Tier) and Tier 2 (Yellow Tier) items. However, in the market, there was a certain probability of triggering a hidden plot involving a Tier 3 (Mysterious Tier) item.
Tier 3 (Mysterious Tier) items were priceless and extremely rare here. Even the Yun Family, despite their wealth, might not necessarily possess them.
Yun Zhonghe remembered that the hidden item in Cangzhou City was a stalk of ice heart grass, which grew near grasslands struck by Lightning Tribulations, and it was a rare spiritual herb that would only form from Lightning Tribulations of the Nascent Soul Stage or higher.
ice heart grass was not very useful for ordinary Cultivators, so it was easily overlooked. However, for Mu Jixue, who had ice-attribute Spiritual Roots, its use was significant.
ice heart grass could permanently increase the cultivation speed of Cultivators with ice-attribute Spiritual Roots by ten percent, and it could also increase the probability of forming a Nine-Pattern Golden Core when condensing their Core.
Now Yun Zhonghe's cultivation was bound to Huang Aotian. If he could obtain the ice heart grass and give it to Huang Aotian to consume, it would also be equivalent to a huge increase in Yun Zhonghe's potential.
Even if it wasn't to curry favor with Huang Aotian, for himself, Yun Zhonghe had to find a way to get it.
Chapter 20: Hidden Item - ice heart grass
As a hidden item in the novice village, ice heart grass was not easy to obtain. Just based on what Yun Zhonghe, a multiple-playthrough player, knew, there were as many as five possible locations where it could appear.
Because this was a random event.
The game developers were very cunning. They deliberately created many uncertain factors to make players spend more time exploring. Once the exploration time was long enough, it would pass the refund period.
Yun Zhonghe could only rely on his memory and luck to search in the market.
...
The Cangzhou City market was also located in the east of the city. Unlike the other market in the city which was for ordinary people, the stallholders here were all Cultivators, and their customers were also Cultivators.
But the liveliness was completely different from the external market.
"Take a look, take a look! Newly unearthed treasures from ruins!"
"Spiritual herbs dug up on the way during an Immortal Alliance mission! One Spirit Stone per stalk, come and take a look!"
"The latest black iron sword forged by the Immortal Sword Sect! Fellow Daoists, hurry! First come, first served!"
"Mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pills, Mid-grade Body Strengthening Pills, ten Spirit Stones per bottle..."
Yun Zhonghe walked through the market, feeling as if he was in a vegetable market.
All of this felt quite new to him, and he looked around curiously.
"Young Master, is there anything you need? Actually, you could also let Jiu'er help with the procurement. Why bother coming to find it yourself?"
Tao Jiu'er also followed behind Yun Zhonghe. She blinked her beautiful eyes, finding Yun Zhonghe's recent unusual behavior quite strange.
Although unusual, it was all developing in a good direction. Especially after Chen learned that her son had started to turn over a new leaf, she wept with joy, saying directly that Yun Zhonghe had finally understood and that the Yun Family finally had a successor.
However, Tao Jiu'er was also happy. After all, she had watched Yun Zhonghe grow up, and now she also felt a sense of relief that her young master had finally matured.
Unconsciously, the mischievous boy who was once ignorant had also become handsome and dashing. Especially his performance in front of the Immortal Alliance yesterday still filled her with emotion.
"No need, I just wanted to come out and take a look around," Yun Zhonghe said with a smile.
"Then let this servant accompany Young Master on your stroll. If Young Master has any other needs, please feel free to instruct me." Tao Jiu'er smiled and linked her arm with Yun Zhonghe's, leaning gently beside him.
"Uh, sure, Jiu'er Jie, whatever you want." Yun Zhonghe didn't pay much attention.
The two were too familiar with each other, Yun Zhonghe didn't think much of it at all.
His gaze lingered on the stalls selling spiritual herbs.
The problem was that these spiritual herbs looked unusually normal, and he didn't know how to easily find the ice heart grass.
After all, in the game, if a player got close to ice heart grass, an exclamation mark would appear above their head as a hint, but there wouldn't be an exclamation mark here.
Yun Zhonghe felt a bit annoyed. He should have checked some information and understood the characteristics of spiritual herbs before coming to search for treasures.
It was a bit of a miscalculation.
But soon, Yun Zhonghe's attention was drawn to a small stall nearby.
It was a miscellaneous goods stall, with everything on it: Talismans, spiritual herbs, pills, fragments of magical treasures, and so on.
Yun Zhonghe was attracted by a black wooden stick on the stall.
The moment his gaze met the black gaze, the Book of Prophecy in his Sea of Consciousness trembled slightly.
[Buy]
It was another one-word reminder.
But having had previous experience, Yun Zhonghe understood implicitly. This was probably what he was looking for.
He didn't expect the Book of Prophecy to be quite useful.
It's just, why is this ice heart grass a wooden stick?
He remembered that the appearance of ice heart grass in the game wasn't so unique.
"Boss, how do you sell the things on your stall?"
The stall owner looked up and sized up Yun Zhonghe's clothing. Seeing that he was a big customer, he immediately became attentive.
"Talismans are three Spirit Stones each, pills have prices marked on them, spiritual herbs are all one Spirit Stone each..."
The boss noticed Yun Zhonghe's gaze was on the pile of miscellaneous items where the black wooden stick was, and quickly started introducing the items again.
"As for this pile here, I picked it up during my travels. Fellow Daoist, just give whatever you think is fair, or if you buy something from my stall, I'll give you one as a gift, how about that?"
The boss knew how to do business. Knowing that Yun Zhonghe's identity was unusual, it was better to build a good relationship than just earn his money.
Yun Zhonghe nodded and bought all the Talismans on the stall.
There were a total of five Concealment Talismans and twenty Exploding Talismans.
Pills and spiritual herbs were useless to Yun Zhonghe; his cultivation was already bound to Huang Aotian. However, these Talismans were a good choice.
Before the Golden Core Stage, Cultivators were basically unable to use Spells, unless they were from super forces like the Immortal Alliance, where they could learn simple Spells, but the cost was not small.
Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Cultivators who wanted to cast Spells would usually choose Talismans. Their effect was similar to simple Spells, and they were disposable and did not consume the user's spiritual energy.
Many Golden Core Stage Cultivators were even still used to using Talismans.
It's just that the cost of Talismans is not low. One Talisman is worth three Spirit Stones, which ordinary Cultivators simply cannot afford.
However, the Yun Family was wealthy, and Talismans were also an important strategic material reserve. Buying more wouldn't be a loss. In the Yun Family's view, these were the most proper things.
So Tao Jiu'er didn't hesitate when paying.
Twenty-five Talismans, a total of seventy-five Spirit Stones. The stall owner's mouth was almost splitting to his ears from smiling. He quickly told Yun Zhonghe to pick any gift he wanted.
The stall owner was quite happy and invited Yun Zhonghe to come again next time.
Yun Zhonghe thought to himself: I won't be coming again.
Having successfully bought what he wanted, Yun Zhonghe prepared to head back home.
Touching the item he had just bought in his arms, he felt much more at ease.
Hidden item obtained!
...
"Xue'er, so this is the market in the east of the city. It's really lively."
Almost at the same time, two lovely young ladies also arrived at the market.
It was Lin Zhongyu's first time at the market in the east of the city. Her curious eyes were almost identical to Yun Zhonghe's.
Mu Jixue held Lin Zhongyu's hand tightly: "Xiao Yu, there are a lot of people here. You must hold onto me tightly and don't get lost."
"Mm." Lin Zhongyu's heart warmed, and she smiled sweetly. Then she stood on her tiptoes and continued to look around at the scenery. "There are so many people. Everyone must be looking for cultivation supplies suitable for themselves."
"After all, for us Cultivators, cultivating solely by our own strength is very difficult. It's most common to use external items to improve our strength. Basically, all Cultivators in the city will come here to stroll around when they have nothing else to do, perhaps they can find some treasure," Mu Jixue explained.
However, Lin Zhongyu did not respond immediately. A thought couldn't help but surface in her mind, wondering if she could meet Yun Zhonghe here.
Last night, Yun Zhonghe left abruptly, and she still had many things she didn't have time to say to him. It felt as if many things were blocked inside her heart, making her feel a bit suffocated.
However, at a glance, she couldn't see that familiar golden hair at all. Lin Zhongyu's little face couldn't help but show regret.
That's true, the Yun Family is so wealthy, how could Yun Zhonghe lack resources? Even if he needed to run errands, he could just arrange for servants to do it.
However, what Lin Zhongyu didn't know was that her expression at this moment was completely reflected in Mu Jixue's eyes.
She could tell at a glance that her childhood friend was thinking about someone else!