Vol.2-Chapter 170 – Inner Sect Selection

Zhao Jiuge raised his hand, bit his finger, and dripped a few drops of essence blood onto the armor. Normally, blood couldn’t fuse with the armor, but the few drops of essence blood quickly entered the armor.

When the essence blood entered the armor, the struggling armor calmed down like a tamed sheep. At this moment, Zhao Jiuge felt a connection with the Purple Ji Chaotic Thunder Armor.

Filled with excitement, Zhao Jiuge’s right hand trembled and he gently stroked the purple-blue armor shrouded in lightning.

The Purple Ji Chaotic Thunder Armor seems to be alive. When Zhao Jiuge touched it, the lightning shrouding it disappeared.

Looking at the tyrannical armor, Zhao Jiuge felt more confident. This was also an upgrade in his strength!

The sloppy young man was very envious and also wanted to touch the armor like Zhao Jiuge.

“Ouch!”

The moment the sloppy young man touched it, his hand was knocked back like he was shocked. The silver lightning flashed on the surface of the armor. When Zhao Jiuge saw this, he smiled and his love for the armor became even stronger.

When Master Ou Yezi saw Zhao Jiuge’s silly smile, he boasted, “This master has really gone above and beyond this time. I didn’t let you down and created a mid-quality spirit treasure. It's worthy of the Purple Ji Spirit Stone and the inner core.”

Zhao Jiuge was filled with gratitude and respectfully said, “I’m satisfied, definitely satisfied. Thank you, Master. Next time, when I refine my flying sword, I’ll come to you again. I promise the materials will be even better.”

“Hmm.” Ou Yezi nodded, thinking that this brat at least had some manners. However, Zhao Jiuge’s following words made him annoyed and laugh at the same time.

“But it has to be the same as this time, where you don’t charge a refining fee.”

Ou Yezi stared at Zhao Jiuge and sarcastically said, “Do you think this master cares about your meager refining cost? Just bring some good materials.”

He paused for a moment then continued, “Also, bring me some good spirit wine.”

“No problem.” Zhao Jiuge smiled and quickly agreed.

Ou Yezi took another sip and walked up the steps. When he was halfway up, he suddenly turned toward Zhao Jiuge and said, “That’s right, you can’t use its full power until you reach the Nascent Soul Realm. You need to store it in the Purple Palace in your dantian. Right now, you can only use the armor’s raw physical power.”

After Ou Yezi finished speaking, he ignored Zhao Jiuge and continued to walk up. He would occasionally drink wine from the gourd in his hand.

Hearing Ou Yezi’s words, Zhao Jiuge memorized them in his heart. He felt that the more casual and alcoholic Ou Yezi was much more handsome and likeable than when he was refining. Thinking about this, Zhao Jiuge subconsciously chuckled.

At the same time, he thought about his flying sword. The inner sect selection would start soon. Once he entered the inner sect, it would be time to refine his flying sword. Before long, he would come here again!

He said goodbye to the sloppy young man and left the Sword Casting Hall with the Purple Ji Chaotic Thunder Armor.

The sloppy young man was left alone and looked at Zhao Jiuge’s back reluctantly. His expression was a bit complicated.

……

……

Time passed by extraordinarily fast during cultivation. After he got the armor from the Sword Casting Hall, he stayed in closed door cultivation, waiting for the inner sect selection to arrive.

One month of time passed by in a flash. A few days ago, Luo Xie broke through to the Foundation Realm and managed to catch up at the very end.

Since Luo Xie had broken through to the Foundation Realm and could enter the inner sect selection, he went back to his playful, old self. Zhao Jiuge hadn’t seen him for a few days.

Today marked his third year in the sect. When the early morning sun shined across the Mysterious Heaven Mountain Range, the entire sect became busy.

Zhao Jiuge slowly opened his eyes and left his cultivation state. These three years seemed to have passed by in a flash. Fate could be so fickle. Who would have thought he would reach this point today? Now that three years had passed, a moment that would determine his fate had appeared once more. Zhao Jiuge was not excited and didn’t feel tense. Instead, he only felt a bit melancholy.

Three years had passed by in a blink. He thought about how many things he had missed out on when he spent all his time cultivating, but where there were losses there were also gains. He had unknowingly grown up and had his own group of friends. Zhao Jiuge was confident he could fight against the disciples of the other peaks and even new disciples from the other sects.

He pondered for a bit before he got off the bed and sorted his clothes. He put on his blue sword robe that represented the Mysterious Heaven Peak and headed toward the Mysterious Heaven Square. Today was the day the disciples who had reached the Foundation Realm would be taken into the inner sect to participate in the inner sect selection.

The inner sect was really just peaks he couldn’t access during these three years. The disciples of the other two peaks would be there too.

Compared to the special training exercise from before, the inner sect selection would become even more lively. With time, more disciples had grown stronger, and each of them had their own lucky encounters. They would struggle hard for their own future to find a good master and obtain more resources.

Zhao Jiuge blade soared toward the square with expectation in his heart. Now that his cultivation had improved, he could recover the spirit force used during short flights very quickly.

…….

Mysterious Heaven Square.

Compared to the overcrowded square from before, it was much more deserted today. Not only was this generation of Mysterious Heaven Peak disciples smaller, there were no onlookers.

When Zhao Jiuge arrived on the Big-Dipper Sword, he attracted the gazes of the 20 or so people who were present.

Zhao Jiuge landed and looked around. He found almost 30 figures that had at least early stage Foundation Realm auras. All the people here should be people participating in the inner sect selection.

Luo Xie and Leng Rufeng were talking about something. When Zhao Jiuge saw this, he instantly knew that Luo Xie had been with Leng Rufeng for these past few days.

When the two of them saw Zhao Jiuge arrive, they wanted to greet him to talk about the selection. However, when they saw him walk alone toward a corner of the square, they didn’t move.

There was an alluring figure standing in the corner alone. It was Bai Qingqing in the blue sword robe that outlined her beautiful figure.

Bai Qingqing seems to be in a trance. Zhao Jiuge found Bai Qingqing’s absent-minded appearance a bit strange.

The sounds of footsteps awakened Bai Qingqing, and her gaze toward Zhao Jiuge contained a subtle hint of emotion. However, she only took a glance before she lowered her head and pondered once more.

Seeing Bai Qingqing like this made the happy Zhao Jiuge feel embarrassed. Since Bai Qingqing showed no intent to speak, Zhao Jiuge didn’t know how to start the conversion.

Since that night, Bai Qingqing had returned to her cold self once more and was even stranger than before. Zhao Jiuge thought that something happening in her family was what was making her upset, but when he thought about how powerful her uncle was, he thought it shouldn’t be a big problem. What Zhao Jiuge didn’t know was that there was always a mountain taller than the current one. Even those at high cultivation levels had their own worries.

“You came pretty early.” Zhao Jiuge felt embarrassed by the silence, so he spoke up to ease the situation.

“Mhmm.”

The wind blew wildly on the mountain peak, causing Bai Qingqing’s hair to cover her face and hiding her dazed expression.

She moved aside the hair blocking her face while she responded, but her voice seemed a little hoarse.

Although Zhao Jiuge didn’t know why Bai Qingqing was acting so strangely, he still continued, “Once the selection starts, are we still going to work together?”

“Okay.” Bai Qingqing’s voice was still very soft.

The mountain wind still raged and her voice was almost covered up by it. Her silk-like hair fluttered and danced in the wind.

Zhao Jiuge suddenly raised his hand to move aside the hair covering her face. Then there was a flash of light and he took out a purple jade hairpin that he gently inserted into her hair.

“This is a jade pairpin made from the extra Purple Ji Spirit Stone while refining the armor. It’s not as good as yours and is only a precious treasure, but it's my thanks to you.”

Zhao Jiuge’s expression was a bit complicated. What he didn’t say was that he had asked Ou Yezi to refine a total of four hairpins.

Bai Qingqing’s somewhat dazed gaze suddenly showed a little emotion, and she looked at Zhao Jiuge’s face. It looked like she wanted to engrave his face into her mind.

“Does it look pretty?” Bai Qingqing slowly asked, forcing a smile. There was finally a hint of emotion on her voice.

Seeing Bai Qingqing finally smile, Zhao Jiuge didn’t know why he felt a sense of relief. He quickly added to tease Bai Qingqing, “Pretty, definitely pretty. Look at who is wearing it.”

Bai Qingqing stared at Zhao Jiuge. For some reason, she felt very happy when Zhao Jiuge gently moved aside her hair and said those sweet words. This inexplicable sense of happiness swept away the sadness she felt. However, although she was smiling, there was still a sense of sorrow hidden in her heart.

Zhao Jiuge’s expression became serious and he said, “Qingqing, no matter what happens in the future, you can tell me. I may be weak now and can’t help you with anything, but one day, I’ll become strong.”

After he finished speaking, an aura of determination erupted from his body.

Hearing Zhao Jiuge’s tender words, it would be a lie to say Bai Qingqing was not happy. The sadness in her eyes gradually disappeared and was replaced with emotion.

This was enough for Bai Qingqing. She suddenly smiled like a brilliant, blooming flower. She didn’t speak and quietly looked at Zhao Jiuge. She extended her hand and gently touched Zhao Jiuge’s face.

She muttered in her heart,?“You promised me that one day, you would accompany me across the 13 provinces of the Huxia Dynasty.”