CSMCDB - Chapter 32
Chapter 32
"So, shall we begin?" Wen Yuncheng asked tentatively, but she couldn't bring herself to lay a hand on Lin Jinyu's face.
[You weren't like this when you were fighting that girl before.]
Wen: I didn't even fight back then!
"Mm."
Remembering her spar with Zhou Xuan, Wen Yuncheng tentatively stepped forward to close the distance and threw a punch- but the moment she did, Lin Jinyu met her advance, grabbed her arm, and executed a beautiful hip throw.
Wen: !!!
She couldn't beat Lin Jinyu.
Whether in strength or reaction time, she was far inferior to Lin Jinyu. Wen Yuncheng knew this was partly due to Star Power. She had no Star Power to enhance her, and even if Lin Jinyu didn't actively use hers, it had subtly tempered and evolved her body over time. This was one of the reasons why those with higher star ranks had longer lifespans.
"Your angle and force are wrong. You need to be faster."
"Your spinning kick was very sharp; your punches need to be like that, too."
"Pull back slightly before striking."
…
The Little Ice Mountain… was saying a lot. Panting from exhaustion, Wen Yuncheng was kicked in the knee and fell to the ground, where she simply collapsed completely.
"…Are you not continuing?"
"I… I can't…" Wen Yuncheng let out a weak plea for mercy.
"Alright, then I concede." Lin Jinyu, remembering Wen Yuncheng's request, straightforwardly admitted defeat the moment Wen Yuncheng indicated she didn't want to "spar" anymore. This should count as letting Wen Yuncheng win, right?
[Special Mission Complete: Strive]
[Reward Acquired: 2000 EXP, 50 Points]
Adding the fifty experience points from the spar…
Host: Wen Yuncheng
Race: Human
Age: 15
Class: Mechanical Master
Level: 16
Experience: 2025/5000
Points: 353
She leveled up!
The moment Lin Jinyu conceded, she noticed a faint fluctuation of Star Power (energy) emanate from Wen Yuncheng. It was very weak, but… had Wen Yuncheng's strength improved again?
"Training with you has been incredibly beneficial! Thank you so much!" Wen Yuncheng scrambled up and gave a deep bow, internally singing the Little Ice Mountain's praises: Lin Jinyu is so beautiful, kind-hearted, and cute~
Lin Jinyu stared at Wen Yuncheng's face as if trying to see through her; she had never met someone who cultivated so quickly. "You… have great talent. Cultivate diligently, don't waste it."
"Ah, okay! I'll work even harder."
After that brief interlude, Wen Yuncheng and Lin Jinyu began planning their escape from their perilous situation. It wasn't that they couldn't climb up by stabbing their swords into the cliff face, but there would be demonic beasts waiting for them at the top. Another reason was…
[The communication stone has no signal here, and there are no traces of demonic beasts. What does that mean? A fortuitous opportunity! Don't let your opportunity slip away!] 1947 declared passionately.
Although it wasn't necessarily her opportunity, it was true that something about this place felt off. It was like buying a lottery ticket- what if she actually hit the jackpot? Wen Yuncheng took down their nearly dry clothes, folded them, and handed Lin Jinyu's set back to her. Then she stored the branches and rope in her ring.
They walked in the direction opposite the waterfall, carefully surveying their surroundings. Lin Jinyu was on guard for danger, while Wen Yuncheng was earnestly sizing up the area with the mindset of a treasure hunter.
[Cub, isn't that a cave in the cliff over by the waterfall?]
Huh? Wen Yuncheng froze and looked back. When she stopped, Lin Jinyu stopped as well.
"What is it?"
"I was just thinking… over by the waterfall, it looks like there's a cave." Wen Yuncheng blinked, a money-grubber's smile spreading across her face. "I wonder if there's any treasure inside."
For a fleeting moment, she thought she saw a hint of "how can you be so naive" in Lin Jinyu's eyes. But upon closer inspection, the Little Ice Mountain still wore her usual icy expression.
"Then, let's go take a look." Lin Jinyu glanced toward the waterfall. If one looked carefully, a cave was indeed visible. The waterfall wasn't large, so getting inside wouldn't be too difficult. -And it wouldn't take long, anyway.
It just meant they'd have to change clothes again.
"Damn it, those two brats from Star Academy! Don't let me catch them again!"
"We should have just tied them up and taken their storage rings. But no, you all thought they were just Star Practitioners. Ha, they ended up luring a Winged Tiger, and we almost died!"
"So what? They're running around in the Demonic Beast Great Forest. They're probably long dead by now!"
Yan Ling and Qiu Fei were preparing to enter the Demonic Beast Great Forest to check the locations on the map where communications might be blocked. As they passed the town gate, they saw five sect disciples registering their information while complaining incessantly.
Two keywords caught their attention: "Star Academy" and "Star Practitioner."
The only Star Practitioners from Star Academy on this trip were their own disciples.
In other words, this group… had encountered their disciples? And it seemed a conflict might have occurred.
Qiu Fei was still contemplating grabbing the five of them for questioning after they entered the city when she saw Yan Ling had already walked over.
"From the Tianmen Sect?"
"Ah? Y-Yes, may I ask what you need?" The five of them were startled. With their strength, they couldn't gauge Yan Ling's power level, and they replied with some trepidation.
"Are you related to the Sect Master or Vice Sect Master of the Tianmen Sect?"
The five looked at each other in confusion. "No…"
"Excellent." Yan Ling smiled. She casually tossed a dagger into the air with her right hand, letting it spin before deftly catching it by the hilt. "Are you going to follow me out of the city on your own, or do I have to knock you out and drag you? I have a few questions for you."
"!!!" The five turned pale with fright. "Th-There are guards here!-"
"Of course. I am Yan Ling, a teacher at Star Academy. It seems my disciple's disappearance has something to do with you."
"G-Guards! There's-" He couldn't even finish his sentence before the dagger was pressed against his neck. The guards he was counting on merely glanced at them before silently looking away, acting as if they couldn't see or hear a thing.
And so, the five of them started blurting out their connections- I'm the umpteenth disciple of so-and-so elder, I'm related to so-and-so, my father is so-and-so… But it was all for naught. They didn't dare fight back or even move. After Yan Ling impatiently released her aura, they all fell silent and walked out of the city.
If heaven gave them another chance… they would absolutely not complain about those two brats at the city gate!
"This cave… is pretty hard to get into." Wen Yuncheng drove a steel spike into the rock wall, struggling to climb under the pounding of the waterfall. Seeing that Lin Jinyu seemed to have already entered the cave above, she felt a wave of despair.
Since it was her suggestion, Wen Yuncheng had initially intended to be above Lin Jinyu. She thought that if she were on top, she could at least block some of the water, and Lin Jinyu wouldn't have to bear the full force… but the moment the waterfall hit her, it slammed her right back into the water.
…And so, Lin Jinyu ended up on top. But Lin Jinyu climbed so fast that she couldn't keep up at all. It should be harder to use a longsword, right?! Wen Yuncheng pulled out her right-hand spike and drove it in higher, barely able to open her eyes.
[You're really something else… I think Lin Jinyu is probably thinking this waterfall is great for training and that she should come back to cultivate here if she gets the chance.] After its sarcastic remark, 1947 suddenly fell into deep thought. Looked at this way… didn't Lin Jinyu seem more like a diligent Long Aotian? No, no, no, Lin Jinyu was a cultivation fanatic, while its own host was- a slacker.
A good-tempered and optimistic, but slightly goofy and extremely money-grubbing slacker.
1947 silently opened its work interface and stared at the words [Long Aotian Growth System] above its serial number, 1947, falling into another round of speechless despair.
Ah, just because it accidentally encountered spatio-temporal turbulence while traversing dimensions, it ended up bound to a slacker as a host and even had to guide this slacker down the path of a Long Aotian… As the party at fault, the only compensation it could offer Wen Yuncheng was various system templates, so the binding was a must.
Opening the system log, 1947 silently typed: [Thoughts on cultivating a slacker-type Long Aotian: A novel experience. I encourage other systems to give it a try; you may find unexpected joy.]
"So tiring." Wen Yuncheng finally climbed into the cave, only to see that the Little Ice Mountain had already fashioned a simple torch and lit it for illumination. She quickly wrung out the water from her clothes. "Let's go!"
"Don't wander off. There might be traps," Lin Jinyu reminded her before taking the lead.
Wen Yuncheng obediently followed, matching Lin Jinyu's pace step for step. The cave wasn't very wide, about enough for two people to walk side-by-side. A lot of moss grew inside, suggesting no one had been here for many years, and there were no signs of human passage.
Straight, turn, turn, straight…
The path was winding and twisting, but their journey was surprisingly smooth. There were no demonic beasts, no traps, no legendary herbs- nothing at all.
"A Barrier Stone mine," Lin Jinyu said suddenly, noticing the rocks on the walls gradually lightening in color, transforming into crystals as they went deeper.
[Barrier Stone: One of the materials for making defensive and concealment scrolls. Can block communication signals.] 1947 provided an explanation, thoughtfully adding: [Attacks below the Star Lord level cannot damage it. If the Host wishes to get rich by mining, please level up first~]
The little idea that had just popped into Wen Yuncheng's head was instantly extinguished. She followed the Little Ice Mountain dejectedly when suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her head, and she lost control, falling backward and landing on her butt.
Wen Yuncheng: ???
Hearing the noise, Lin Jinyu turned around. "Are you… alright?"
"I think I lost my footing…" Wen Yuncheng got up, but as she tried to walk forward, she walked right into the invisible wall again. Her forehead was red from the impact. Wen Yuncheng's eyes widened, her face a mask of question marks. "Wh-Why is this happening?!"
Lin Jinyu also realized something was wrong. She tentatively reached out but didn't encounter any obstruction. The wall that had hit Wen Yuncheng twice seemed not to exist at all. For Lin Jinyu… there was no wall. In fact, Lin Jinyu could even walk over and help Wen Yuncheng up.
In other words, this invisible wall only affected Wen Yuncheng.
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