[Vol. 1] Chapter 9 - Jade Slip
How devious. Cutting off a hand and pouring qi into the talisman on it was a direct way to eliminate a participant.
Bai Yu flashed through the heavy fog, unaffected by its confusing and ever-shifting environment. In his eyes, the world turned grayscale, with only streams of spiritual qi guiding him toward the signal source.
Thump, thump, thump.
The sound of fast footwork overlapped with Chen Mingyuan's pounding heart. She was beginning to realize: the talisman transmitted a distress signal, but that didn't mean the instructors would come rushing in to save you.
If you relied on it too heavily, you'd die. Still, she maintained a composure befitting the Chen family's reputation.
The entire group from the Wusheng Yin Sect grew more desperate. Even if they were caught now, they had to at least secure the jade slip.
The sound of strings...from a pipa, a guzheng and the rhythmic drumming of a waist drum filled the air. The weapons of the Wusheng Yin Sect were instruments, their attacks sound-based.
The notes woven together created a symphony of danger, stirring the qi in the air itself into sharp, slicing waves that cut through the fabric of the girls' robes.
Swoosh—whoosh—whoosh—
Several thin cuts appeared on their skin. Though they were shallow, the pain was comparable to paper cuts. Sharp and stinging.
Xiaolan's mind raced as she stared at her system.
[Save points used: 2/2
Load points used: 2/2
Charge Points: 65]
A red dot blinked beside the (?) next to Charge Points. She couldn't check it—not right now.
She'd used her 200-point, one-time saves during the fight with Lin Zheng's group and Mingyuan's aura burst. Now, she had a mere 65 points remaining.
Load back?
[You have been hit. System functions disabled for 1 minute.]
…It's practically useless! So getting cut by instrument sounds counted?! Sob, sob, sob.
"Hey, Xiaolan!" Chen Mingyuan yelled her name while using her sword to deflect a slash of solidified sound.
The music created by the instruments manipulated the qi in the air, condensing it into tangible slashes. The group had now realized Chen Mingyuan was just bluffing.
Just then, a deafening roar echoed throughout the fog, immediately silencing even the instruments wielded by the Wusheng Yin Sect members.
The ground cracked in a brief earthquake, trees swayed and fell, and several cultivators stumbled, struggling to keep their footing.
It wasn't that the roar was so loud it drowned out their music, they had simply stopped playing.
"Shit," one of them hissed. Their commotion had clearly alerted a beast, and judging by the sheer force of that roar, this spirit beast was of a terrifyingly high cultivation level.
"Everyone! On guard!" one of the senior members shouted.
Xiaolan realized immediately what was wrong. Earlier, when she'd fled... she had seen countless deep markings and splintered trees around.
There was a beast nearby, and it was already here.
Finally, it appeared.
A colossal dragon-beast, more bestial than serpentine. It bore massive, crescent-shaped horns and eyes that burned with an ember-orange glow, full of ancient malice.
Its heavy forelimbs ended in curved, obsidian-gold claws capable of shattering both stone and spirit. Every step fractured the ground beneath it.
It radiated an oppressive pressure, the kind that could bend weaker cultivators to their knees. The air around it felt dense, saturated with hostile dao intent.
"Xuánjīn Yáo-Lóng!" someone recognized it, and every face in the clearing turned ashen pale.
"Everyone, attack! With numbers we can win!" Every member of the Wusheng Yin Sect focused their attacks against the powerful spirit beast.
They'd already alerted the Shadow Guards, what else was there to lose? Their best move now was to survive.
While everyone's attention was fixed on the beast, Chen Mingyuan yanked Xiaolan away. But one of the sect members hadn't forgotten about them.
Twang.
The sound of a string sliced through the air, aimed at their backs. Yet Chen Mingyuan was alert, deflecting the attack with her sword.
Despite being smaller than Xiaolan by a head, she radiated an undeniable, fierce reliability.
Her focus didn't last long. The sect member who'd fired at them was suddenly struck by a wave of shifting earth, caught under the colossal movement of the beast's body.
—Huff.
In a burst of qinggong, Chen Mingyuan flashed through the dense fog, now thick with kicked-up dirt from the battle between humans and spirit beast, carrying the burden of Xiaolan with her.
They ran until the sounds of battle faded into the muffled distance, then collapsed behind a dense thicket of spirit-sapping trees.
Xiaolan was unceremoniously thrown onto the ground afterward.
"You're heavy!" Chen Mingyuan breathed heavily. For a girl shorter in stature, carrying someone taller had been a challenge.
Xiaolan groaned and winced, the kunai wound in her back and the numerous small cuts stinging fiercely, especially with her low pain tolerance. It was nauseating. Painful.
She kept groaning and moaning in pain.
After adjusting for a full five minutes, a considerable achievement for a modern person not used to this kind of injury, she finally turned her attention to her system.
To Chen Mingyuan, however, the scene was baffling. This was the same Xiaolan who had mocked and defeated her at the Spring Banquet,
The Xiaolan who had ridiculed her for being an Omega, the same conceited and arrogant woman said to be a prospective Alpha… yet here she was, seemingly unable to handle pain.
Has the sun risen from the west? Or was she imagining things? And to make it stranger, Xiaolan looked like she was in a daze.
But in reality…
Xiaolan was staring intently at her system screen, specifically at the red dot beside the (?) next to Charge Points. There was new information added:
Charge Points – 100 points are used to either a Save or Load a slot. After every 24 hours, 1 charge point is given.
Save-Load System – Has a 2-use daily limit. This resets automatically each day, or can be reset instantly for a cost of 1000 Charge points or by incurring user debt.
Save and Load Points – Maximum of 2-use each. There are 3 slots/nodes for Save Points.
Stable Save Points – Last for one month before becoming unstable. Loading into an unstable Save Point requires permission from the past self. Cannot create a new Save Point unless you overwrite an existing one.
System Disable – If hit or injured, system functions are disabled for 1 minute. Must manually speak "save" or "load" for the command to activate.
After reading it all, Xiaolan realized most of this information had been pieced together through trial and error… but seeing it laid out plainly still felt clarifying, if not a little daunting.
Chen Mingyuan's mind was working overtime. Seeing Xiaolan like this, dazed and groaning in pain for five whole minutes, made her seem… human.
But the flicker of goodwill vanished like a receding tide when Xiaolan asked, "Why did you save me?"
Chen Mingyuan scoffed. "Why was the Wusheng Yin Sect targeting you?" She had initially assumed they were there to uproot the future pillars of the Lin-Lao-Chen Clan, but from the looks of it…
They were specifically after Xiaolan. And from the snippet she'd overheard, it wasn't a coincidence. Something about a jade slip.
"Well… maybe this?" Xiaolan murmured, dangling a jade slip in front of Chen Mingyuan. It was a lustrous green, carved with the symbol of a dragon.
Dragon carvings were common, so it was hard to tell where this particular slip came from. But whatever it was, Chen Mingyuan thought, it's a disaster.
"You didn't just make new enemies, did you?" Chen Mingyuan sighed heavily. This annoying rival of hers really had a talent for offending people.
"No? Wait—new enemies?" Xiaolan muttered.
"It's easier to list your enemies than your allies," Chen Mingyuan shot back, satisfying a petty corner of her heart. Clearly, she was still exacting vengeance for the whole 'flirting' incident.
"So... about that ally thing?" Xiaolan asked, before adding, "After all, we've offended quite a lot of groups." Her expression practically screamed, Please join me.
"No, you offended a lot of groups. Not me. I'm just a passerby who got dragged into this," Chen Mingyuan replied, before conceding, "Let's work together. Higher chance of surviving."
That's what I just said! Xiaolan screamed internally, but she forced herself to calm down. This was Chen Mingyuan's way of getting back at her.
And honestly, she was still wary of this 'rival' especially after what the original owner had done to her, and after her own shameless point-farming antics.
It wouldn't be a surprise if she ended up dead without ever knowing why.
Chen Mingyuan's face was deathly pale, and her movements were stiff, as though she had lost a great deal of blood.