Xiao Qian waved her hand casually.
The next moment, the ground beneath Xue Mingzhao's feet suddenly vanished.
The entire mountain peak that had been supporting them disappeared into thin air. Caught completely off guard, Xue Mingzhao fell straight out of the sky.
“Ouch!”
She landed flat on her backside with a heavy thud.
Ignoring the pain, Xue Mingzhao scrambled to her feet and looked around in a daze.
“Where is my spirit vein?”
“Where did my massive, supreme-grade spirit vein go?!”
Xiao Qian said calmly, “I moved it somewhere else.”
With that, she raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
Snap!
The bright, sunny day instantly turned dark.
A bright moon hung in the sky, surrounded by a canopy of twinkling stars. A gentle night breeze swept across the grass, bringing a sudden chill to the air.
Xue Mingzhao, Baize, and Cang Jue: “!!!”
Even though they already knew Xiao Qian was an artifact spirit, this was simply ridiculous!
Changing the terrain with a wave of her hand...
...and turning day into night with a mere snap of her fingers.
If she were in the outside world, she would have to be at least an Immortal to pull off such feats, right?
Meeting their shocked stares, Xiao Qian lifted her chin slightly, clearly enjoying the attention.
Once the initial shock wore off, Xue Mingzhao quickly focused on the main point.
“First, bring that spirit vein back.”
Xiao Qian snapped her fingers again.
The vanished spirit vein reappeared nearby, its position identical to before, down to the millimeter.
Xiao Qian said, “If you like these stones, I can give you as many as you want.”
Xue Mingzhao's eyes lit up. “Really?”
“However, I have one condition.”
“What condition?”
Xiao Qian said seriously, “You have to take me outside with you.”
Xue Mingzhao thought about it. “I can do that, but not right now. I was all on my own before entering the mystic realm. If I come out after just one day with a child in my arms, people will definitely get suspicious.”
Xiao Qian was puzzled. “Can't you just tell them I'm your child?”
A question mark practically materialized over Xue Mingzhao's head.
“No matter how amazing I am, there's no way I could give birth to a kid this big in a single day!”
Xiao Qian thought about it and decided that made sense.
“Fine. But when you go out to have fun, you must bring me along.”
“No problem!”
Xue Mingzhao patted her chest and promised, “I always keep my word!”
Satisfied, Xiao Qian finally raised her hand.
The next moment, countless spirit stones rained down from the sky.
Clatter—
A small hill of spirit stones piled up, burying Xue Mingzhao and the others completely.
After a long while, a hand poked out from the pile of spirit stones.
Soon after, a disheveled Xue Mingzhao scrambled out.
It also took Baize and Cang Jue quite a bit of effort to squeeze their way out of the mountain of spirit stones.
Instead of getting angry, Xue Mingzhao grinned so widely her mouth wouldn't close.
She took out all her storage rings and storage bags, stuffing them to the brim.
Eventually, she ran out of space in all her spatial artifacts, yet she still felt it wasn't enough.
After a moment of thought, she decided to take the bulky dragon bone out of her storage ring. She planned to leave it here temporarily to free up space for more spirit stones.
The moment the dragon bone touched the ground, Xiao Qian suddenly shrieked.
“Get it away!”
Startled, Xue Mingzhao quickly put the dragon bone back into her storage ring.
“What's wrong?”
Xiao Qian stared intently at the spot where the dragon bone had been, her small face tense.
“I don't know.”
“But the moment I saw it, an inexplicable hostility welled up inside me. If you had kept it out any longer, I might not have been able to control myself and would have destroyed it.”
Xue Mingzhao fell into deep thought.
Was there some sort of connection between Xiao Qian and this dragon bone?
She asked probingly, “How long have you been sealed?”
Xiao Qian looked blank. “I don't know.”
“Then do you remember what the outside world looked like the last time you were active?”
Xiao Qian thought hard for a long time before shaking her head.
“I can't remember.”
“I only remember that I seem to have existed since the beginning of time. Everything after that is a blur... until I met you, Master.”
Xue Mingzhao fell silent.
Well, then.
Her memories were missing.
She didn't press any further.
Since these memories had been forgotten, they couldn't be recalled in just a few words anyway. There was no point in rushing it.
Having filled all her storage artifacts, Xue Mingzhao prepared to leave, thoroughly satisfied.
“Bye-bye, Xiao Qian. I'll come visit you again another day.”
Xiao Qian nodded obediently.
A pale blue light flashed, and Xue Mingzhao, Baize, and Cang Jue returned to the living quarters.
A pale green jade bracelet lay quietly on the floor, looking simple and ordinary.
Xue Mingzhao bent down to pick up the bracelet and slid it onto her wrist.
The jade bracelet immediately adjusted itself, fitting snugly against her wrist.
From its appearance, this bracelet didn't even look like ordinary spiritual jade. It had no spiritual energy fluctuations whatsoever, resembling a common jade bracelet one could find anywhere in the mortal realm.
No one would ever suspect that an entire world was hidden inside.
Xue Mingzhao nodded in satisfaction.
Excellent.
Low-key, unpretentious, but rich in substance.
She hugged several storage bags and rings stuffed with spirit stones, grinning from ear to ear.
“One for Master, one for me.”
“One for Senior Brother, one for me.”
“One for Senior Sister, one for me...”
It was a perfectly fair distribution.
No issues at all.
Xue Mingzhao rushed excitedly to Su Ye's door, eager to share this incredible news with him.
She knocked for a long time, but there was no response.
Only then did she belatedly realize that although she had spent a long time inside the Qiankun Heaven-Locking Bracelet, barely any time had passed in the outside world.
Su Ye was probably still picking up his disciple robes and daily necessities.
Left with no choice, Xue Mingzhao turned around and headed toward the Outer Sect Affairs Hall.
As she drew near, she spotted a familiar figure.
Mei Ziqing was carrying a massive pile of robes in her arms, struggling as she walked out.
The clothes were piled so high that they completely blocked her view of the path ahead.
Tripping over a stone step, she wobbled violently, nearly falling over along with the clothes.
Xue Mingzhao quickly rushed forward to steady her, taking half of the clothes from her arms.
“Senior Sister Mei, why are you carrying so many things by yourself?”
Steadying herself, Mei Ziqing gave her a grateful look.
“Junior Sister Lin, I haven't had the chance to congratulate you on becoming an elder's personal disciple.”
Xue Mingzhao smiled. “Senior Sister Mei, congratulations to you too on entering the inner sect. But each disciple can only collect two sets of robes per season. Who are you carrying all of these for?”
“I'm helping a few junior brothers and sisters,” Mei Ziqing said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. “We're all fellow disciples, so I'm just lending a hand.”
Just then, a group of young men and women dressed in colorful, flashy attire walked past them.
One of them said casually, “Thanks for your hard work, Senior Sister. Master wants us to gather at Yuheng Peak as soon as possible, so we'll head out first.”
With that, they walked away without even looking back.
Not a single one of them reached out to take their own robes.
Xue Mingzhao watched their departing backs, her brow furrowing slightly.
Looking closer, she noticed that there were two familiar faces among them.
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