She never even had a chance to cultivate back then; after graduating, she was just another corporate drone...
If it hadn't been for that cannon fodder character who shared her name, and her curiosity about how far Gu Lianxue would go after stealing that unlucky girl's spirit root and spatial treasure, she wouldn't have continued reading at all.
Recalling this, she shook her head.
Whether it was because Gu Lianxue hadn't secured a slot or some other reason, the original book hadn't mentioned a single thing about the Penglai Dao Discussion Meeting.
Or rather, besides the part where Gu Lianxue mined that spirit stone vein in Yushui City before she began her cultivation...
Ever since that girl entered the Star-Moon Sect, the original book hadn't contained any actual content about serious cultivation.
Whatever. She had known for a long time that the trashy romance novel was useless.
It was just a bizarre book; there was no need to dwell on it.
There were so many cultivators in the world and so many fellow disciples in Xiaoyao.
None of them had seen the plot of that book, yet they were all cultivating just fine.
Gu Ningyun felt both relieved and determined. What she needed to do now was cultivate diligently and improve her strength.
As for the Gu family in Yanlin Town, the theft of her spirit root was, after all, just a plot point in a book.
Although her observations in the Gu Manor after her transmigration were similar to what was written, she had escaped early and hadn't actually experienced the tragic death of the opening scene.
Aside from the plot of a fictional novel from her previous life, she had no actual evidence to prove the Gu family intended to strike at her spirit root or her life.
She planned to return to the Gu family to investigate once her cultivation level had increased.
If the Gu family truly harbored malice toward her or the original host, she would not hesitate to cut them down with her sword.
If it was all just a misunderstanding, she would leave behind some spirit stones to repay the original host's expenses over the years and sever those karmic ties.
She could tell from the original host's memories that the Gu family in Yanlin Town had no real affection for her. There was absolutely no need to maintain such a connection.
Gu Ningyun was quite rational. She wouldn't commit slaughter based solely on a book's plot, but she also wouldn't be foolish enough to let anyone who wanted to harm her go free.
However, considering her observations in the Gu Manor and the obstacles she had faced just trying to leave the front gate, she felt a misunderstanding was unlikely.
Besides the Gu family, there was also that old Taoist who had told Gu Lianxue's fortune.
She wondered if she could find any information about him when she went to investigate the Gu family.
Gu Ningyun was wary of the old Taoist, but she did not fear him.
Unlike the original host—who had no backing, no strength, and a mind kept simple by the Gu family—she was the Gu Ningyun who had been shaped by the knowledge of Huaxia. She was a formal disciple carefully nurtured by Xiaoyao, a cultivator who had never slackened for a moment in her training.
Even without mentioning her various life-saving trump cards, no one would dare move against her lightly based on her status as a formal Xiaoyao disciple alone.
Beyond the one-incense-stick protection provided by the identity jade token, all formal Xiaoyao disciples left a wisp of their soul aura on the Disciple Jade Register upon joining.
If there was any anomaly regarding their safety, the connection to that soul aura would transmit the scenes around the disciple back to the Disciple Jade Register.
The disciple guarding the register would notice immediately and arrange for nearby sect members to provide rescue.
Most importantly—and the thing that made enemies most hesitant to act—was Xiaoyao's unity and how they shielded their own.
According to Martial Uncle Lu, a progeny disciple of a demon sect had once killed an outer sect disciple of Xiaoyao. The Xiaoyao Punishment Peak had used the clues from the Disciple Jade Register to track down that demon progeny and kill him with a single sword strike.
When that progeny's master came out to stop them, the First Senior Brother of Punishment Peak at the time had traveled to the demon sect overnight upon hearing the news. He struck only once, and that master never dared to utter another word of protest.
Quite simply, the master's head had nearly been separated from his shoulders.
In the end, the matter concluded with the demon sect admitting they were in the wrong and offering an apology and gifts to Xiaoyao.
Since then, no one in the cultivation world dared to kill a Xiaoyao disciple openly, and even clandestine schemes born of murderous intent had decreased significantly.
If a Xiaoyao disciple was truly the one at fault and someone wanted them dead, they would still have to swallow their anger, inform Xiaoyao, and wait for the Punishment Peak's verdict.
For Xiaoyao to stand for a hundred and ten thousand years in the cultivation world, they naturally couldn't allow their disciples to grow crooked.
If a disciple truly committed a wrong, they would be made to apologize and accept punishment.
If the crime was severe, public execution or the destruction of their dantian and spirit roots were considered light sentences.
Gu Ningyun quickly pulled her thoughts back, no longer dwelling on the Gu family or the old Taoist.
She needed to cultivate in peace and improve her strength.
There was no need to let these messy matters disrupt her cultivation.
By the time she finished organizing her gains from the competition, the sky was already bright.
After eating breakfast, Gu Ningyun headed to the Book Peak library.
Arriving at the movement technique section on the north side of the fourth floor, Gu Ningyun scanned the labels on the bookshelves.
Gold attribute, wood attribute, water attribute...
Wind attribute—here it is.
Following her previous method for selecting music scores, Gu Ningyun leaned against the shelf and circulated her spirit energy. She quickly found the most suitable movement technique for her on the top row: 《Wind Walk》.
According to the description, 《Wind Walk》 was divided into four stages: Entry, Small Success, Great Success, and Perfection.
Upon reaching the Entry stage, one could use the wind to move, more than doubling their speed.
At Small Success, in addition to being twice as fast as the Entry stage, one could walk on the wind directly without using any artifacts.
Upon reaching Great Success, besides another increase in speed, one could merge into the wind, moving without obstruction and becoming difficult to track.
If one reached the Perfection stage, they could even achieve a state where they were wherever the wind was, allowing for teleportation via the wind.
There was a note at the very bottom: Those without a top-grade wind spirit root cannot cultivate this to Perfection. Choose carefully.
Gu Ningyun immediately clutched 《Wind Walk》 to her chest.
Whether it was the ethereal grace of riding the wind at Small Success or the stealth of Great Success, every stage of 《Wind Walk》 suited her perfectly.
Of course, the price was also quite beautiful—twenty-three thousand points.
As expected of a movement technique that could achieve teleportation; it was even more expensive than 《Zongjiao》.
Gu Ningyun considered it for a moment and then swiped her identity jade token to pay with points.
She planned to save her free technique exchange from the library for when she encountered a technique she truly couldn't afford.
Returning to her Cloud Residence, Gu Ningyun prepared to enter seclusion to cultivate 《Wind Walk》.
Before leaving Book Peak, she had made a trip to the dining hall. After explaining the situation to the spirit bird, she had packed a month's worth of food.
There were two reasons for her seclusion.
First, her experiences in the individual matches and the secret realm had made her desire for a movement technique reach its peak.
Second, she had been in the spotlight too much lately. She wanted to wait for the excitement of the competition to die down and take some time to settle her foundation.
Gu Ningyun had always believed that fortune and misfortune were intertwined.
As a star of the New Disciple Competition, she was determined to keep a low profile for a while to avoid the trouble that comes with prominence, or any other nonsense that might disturb her cultivation.
Just as she was entering seclusion, Qin Xiaosheng also went into seclusion.
Of course, he was forced into it.
Hiding in his Cloud Residence in the Zezhi Pavilion on Luoyue Peak, Qin Xiaosheng couldn't help but shiver as he recalled his experiences over the past few days.
Rate on N.U.
