A Consequence of Opposing the Heroine’s Halo (GL) - Chapter 33

Bai Tong was stroking Sanye’s head when a pair of twitching, furry ears suddenly appeared above the cold pond. Then, the rift in the void grew wider and wider until all three of Xun Qiu’s large red tails were revealed.

Xun Qiu floated above the cold pond, holding an exquisite bamboo-ribbed fan she had snatched from who-knows-where. She used the fan to cover her mouth and nose, her eyes darting between the two of them. The mirth in her eyes was nearly manifesting into twinkling little stars.

She said with feigned surprise, “Did I interrupt you two?”

Hearing her voice, Liu Sanye looked up. Seeing Xun Qiu’s suggestive expression, she felt an inexplicable itch in her hands—the kind that made her want to hit someone…

Xun Qiu seemed to read Liu Sanye’s gaze and arrived in front of her with a “whoosh.” She looked her up and down, left and right. “Back to being this energetic after only three days?”

As she spoke, she reached out to pinch Liu Sanye’s soft, chubby cheek. “Did you say bad things about me in your heart, little girl?”

Liu Sanye hurriedly brushed Xun Qiu’s hand away and scurried behind Bai Tong. “I didn’t say anything bad about you! And stop randomly pinching people’s faces!” As she spoke, she rubbed her face with a frown, her expression full of disdain.

Xun Qiu put her hands behind her back, laughing mischievously. “Bai Tong can flick your nose; why can’t I pinch your face?”

Without thinking, Liu Sanye blurted out, “How is that the same!”

“Oh~” Xun Qiu’s smile didn’t fade. “I see. I understand now.”

The moment Liu Sanye saw that familiar smile, she jumped in frustration. “Hey! What do you understand? Don’t just understand things randomly!”

Then, she realized something was off. “Wait, how did you know Bai Tong flicked my nose? You were peeping at us!”

Xun Qiu immediately snapped her bone fan shut. She looked away awkwardly, covered her mouth, and gave two dry coughs. “Who was peeping? I just happened to see it as I was arriving…”

Xun Qiu’s voice grew weaker. Then, before Liu Sanye could reply, she quickly changed the subject like a thief with a guilty conscience: “Business! Let’s talk business! I went to see Feng Zhu the day before yesterday, and he has a message for me to bring to you.”

Liu Sanye was still focused on the previous matter. “Don’t try to change the subject! You haven’t clearly explained the peeping thing yet!”

Xun Qiu gave her a silent glance and then directly ignored her, walking up to Bai Tong.

Liu Sanye: “…”

Seeing Xun Qiu approach, Bai Tong’s expression turned somber. “Elder, is there a solution for the technique Sanye is practicing?”

Xun Qiu replied with a smile, “Setting aside the matter of the Wood-Devouring Sacred Scroll for a moment, Feng Zhu wants me to ask if Sanye is willing to come to Green Wood Peak.”

When Xun Qiu said this, not only Bai Tong but even the still-pouting Sanye was stunned.

Liu Sanye pointed at herself and asked Xun Qiu, “What would I do at Green Wood Peak? Does the Peak Master want to take me as a disciple?”

Xun Qiu nodded. “Exactly.”

The familiar scenario had appeared once again. Liu Sanye felt a sense of despair. “Why does he want to take me as a disciple?”

If she remembered correctly, in the original novel, Feng Zhu spent most of his time traveling to collect spiritual herbs and refine pills. He rarely appeared in the story, and in recent years, there had been no mention of him recruiting new disciples. He was a very low-profile background character. But why did even this background character want to prevent her from staying by Bai Tong’s side to snatch luck!

Seeing Liu Sanye ask such a question again, Xun Qiu’s face finally darkened. “Did those three days of sleep turn your brain into mush? It’s because you are a Top-tier Heavenly Spiritual Root! Do you even need to ask?”

Liu Sanye grew even more confused. If the Sect Master’s desire to take her as a disciple was explained by Ancestor Hegui’s prophecy in the original text, why did this Feng Zhu want her? She wasn’t the protagonist; it wasn’t like everyone loved her!

Thus, Liu Sanye asked brainlessly once more: “Why does being a Top-tier Heavenly Spiritual Root mean he has to take me as a disciple?”

What a déjà vu conversation. When Xun Qiu had taken Liu Sanye to Heaven-Reaching Peak, Liu Sanye had asked her the exact same thing—word for word!

At the time, Xun Qiu didn’t have the heart to explain, but now she felt she had to give Liu Sanye a proper lesson, or else there would likely be a next time, and a time after that…

“If you don’t even understand the Top-tier Heavenly Spiritual Root, what have you been learning?”

Xun Qiu sat cross-legged in the air, opening her teaching mode with great reluctance.

“Cultivators are divided into five types of spiritual roots. From bottom to top, they are: Waste Roots, Sub-Roots, Saint Roots, Heavenly Roots, and Top-tier Heavenly Roots. Waste Roots cannot be used for cultivation unless you encounter a great opportunity to repair them. Sub-Roots are roots where three or more of the five elements are dominant, or ‘Twin Roots’ like water and fire that counter each other without a dominant side. Saint Roots are dual roots with one primary and one secondary. Heavenly Roots and Top-tier Heavenly Roots are both pure single roots, but unlike the former, a Top-tier Heavenly Spiritual Root is also equivalent to a Heaven-rank Spirit-Gathering Array.”

“Cultivation is inherently an act against the heavens, so spiritual qi and the cultivator naturally repel each other. A cultivator must use the guidance of a technique to draw in the qi of heaven and earth to practice. But those with Top-tier Heavenly Roots are a special existence; they have an innate affinity for the qi of heaven and earth. In other words, the qi will actively seek them out. They don’t even need to practice; with enough time, they can advance automatically.”

“Where there is a Top-tier Heavenly Spiritual Root, the spiritual qi is bound to be the densest. Sanye, haven’t you noticed? Since you drew qi into your body, the trees around this little courtyard have been growing thicker and thicker?”

Liu Sanye instinctively glanced at the surrounding trees. Winter was approaching, yet these trees hadn’t withered; instead, they grew more lush. The small trees that were once twice her height had now become towering giants piercing the clouds.

Xun Qiu continued, “Your body is equivalent to a Spirit-Gathering Array. Wood spiritual qi is constantly gathering around you. Our Southern Dividing Ridge has been affected by you—the flowers and grass on this ridge have grown several sizes fatter. And almost all of this qi flowed over from the neighboring Green Wood Peak.”

“Green Wood Peak spends over a thousand high-grade spirit stones every year to run their arrays for that wood spiritual qi, and you’ve drawn away a significant amount in just one month. Do you think Feng Zhu wouldn’t find a way to get you over there? If you go there, you’ll be a free Spirit-Gathering Array and a mobile Lucky Doll. The benefits are endless.”

Liu Sanye finally understood. Unable to find a reason to refuse, she lamented with regret, “So the Peak Master isn’t interested in me as a person, he’s interested in my qi? How shallow! I’m not going!”

Xun Qiu: “…”

Liu Sanye’s reaction was expected. After all, she was the freak who had dared to refuse even the Sect Master. Xun Qiu clicked her tongue. “Do you think I’m asking for your opinion?”

She looked at Liu Sanye as if mocking her for being naive. “A Top-tier Heavenly Spiritual Root might not appear once in a thousand years. Do you think the Hegui high-level leaders would leave you in the outer sect? Allow the wood spiritual qi to flow into the Southern Dividing Ridge and disrupt the flow of spiritual qi in the Hegui Sect?”

At this point, Xun Qiu stepped lightly onto the ground. “Before long, someone from Green Wood Peak will come to personally haul you away.”

Never expecting this result, Liu Sanye’s eyes widened. “What!”

She could hardly believe it. “That is far too unreasonable.”

Xun Qiu tapped Liu Sanye’s forehead with her fan. “You must remember, once your Soul Lamp enters the Soul Lamp Pavilion, you are a disciple of the Hegui Sect. You must obey any assignment of the sect unconditionally. Besides, going to Green Wood Peak is at least better than going to Heaven-Reaching Peak…”

At this point, Xun Qiu leaned in and whispered, “As long as you can fly with a dharma treasure, you can sneak back anytime.”

Then, she mysteriously pulled a map from her storage space. It was an old map marked with dense red arrows. Xun Qiu squinted her eyes with a smile, pointing at the arrows. In her excitement, she even revealed the tiny fangs in her fox mouth. “I have… every unmonitored secret path in the three peaks, two valleys, and twelve abysses of the Hegui Sect, excluding Heaven-Reaching Peak~”

Liu Sanye stared at the map with wide eyes. After hearing Xun Qiu’s words, she understood instantly.

The Liu Sanye who understood instantly looked at Xun Qiu with more and more favor. Her heart held only one thought: From now on, whoever says Xun Qiu is a phoney, I’m not finished with them!

Contrary to the happiness of the two, Bai Tong kept a stern face. She asked Xun Qiu, “Elder, what about the Wood-Devouring Sacred Scroll? Is there a result?”

Returning to the serious topic, Xun Qiu quickly became professional. However, she looked a bit evasive regarding this question. “I’ve already asked Feng Zhu about this. He said not to worry; he is researching a pill to suppress the demonic possession caused by the technique. The name of the pill is the Wood-Devouring Pill.”

Bai Tong asked solemnly, “So, what is the Peak Master’s meaning?”

Xun Qiu replied, “Feng Zhu said it’s fine for Sanye to continue practicing. He said his Wood-Devouring Pill has cost him a thousand years of energy; there will definitely be no problem.”

Hearing this, Liu Sanye jumped for joy. “The Peak Master is actually developing a pill for this!” This was an unexpected delight!

Unlike Liu Sanye, Bai Tong seemed to have doubts. “If the Peak Master is developing a Wood-Devouring Pill, why is practicing the Wood-Devouring Sacred Scroll still forbidden for the disciples of Green Wood Peak?”

Xun Qiu laughed. “That’s because Liu Sanye is different from ordinary disciples, of course.”

Xun Qiu stroked Liu Sanye’s head. “Sanye is a Top-tier Heavenly Spiritual Root; she has an innate, extremely high tolerance for violent spiritual qi. The current Wood-Devouring Pill is only effective for Top-tier Heavenly Spiritual Roots.”

Bai Tong asked again, “Didn’t the Elder go to argue with the Peak Master? Did the Peak Master tell the Sect Master about the Wood-Devouring Sacred Scroll?”

Xun Qiu replied, “Since Feng Zhu has developed the Wood-Devouring Pill, the Sacred Scroll is no longer considered a demonic technique. Naturally, it won’t be destroyed.”

Bai Tong pressed on, “So he didn’t tell the Sect Master? Then the Wood-Devouring Sacred Scroll will still be taken from the library by ordinary disciples. Isn’t the Wood-Devouring Pill ineffective for ordinary disciples?”

Xun Qiu blurted out, “While it’s ineffective now, it will be effective soon.”

Bai Tong frowned. “What does the Elder mean by that?”

Xun Qiu suddenly shut her mouth. After a moment, she replied, “Why are you such a suspicious little girl? Anyway, rest assured, there are only benefits to Sanye practicing this technique, no harm. Your worries are unnecessary.”