Tianpi frowned.
"The Purple Lotus Phoenix Ice can only be found in the wild, and requires very specific growing conditions. Xuanmin Mountain, in Changjing Kingdom, was always frozen — the ice and snow never melted. The Purple Lotus grew on the icy mountain and blossomed on the 7th of July every year. If it snowed on that day, Phoenix Ice might be formed. By itself, the Purple Lotus has no value. So… no. We cannot manually produce the flower."
Hua Qiyue's heart fell at Tianpi's explanation. This meant she would have to participate in the martial arts tournament!
Tianpi continued, "As you can tell, Purple Lotus Phoenix Ice is extremely precious. Isn't the Ji family holding a martial arts tournament with that as the prize? All you have to do is win!"
He made it sound so easy, but Hua Qiyue had only reached the Grand Completion Assimilation Stage, not even the bottom tier of Oracle Profound.
She knew that Hua Mengshi had completed Oracle Profound. How could she possibly beat her?
Then Hua Qiyue had an idea, and her eyes lit up. She had a way to resolve the issue, but she'd need Tianpi's help.
"Master, please teach me Spirit Summoning Art! I want to be a Spirit Summoner! I know, I know that if I want to eliminate all my opponents, I need to be at the Soaring Cloud standard. However, I don't have much time. But very few people know Spirit Summoning Art, so that would give me an edge, right?"
"You really want to learn Spirit Summoning Art?" Tianpi frowned. "If you use it in the tournament, a few masters will probably recognize it. You'd be creating trouble for yourself."
If that happened, people would flock to Hua Qiyue, begging to be her apprentice. Even some masters would set aside their pride to request apprenticeship.
But if she had numerous apprentices, would she still want Tianpi as her master?
She could tell Tianpi was thinking this, as well.
"Don't worry master. I won't forget you... without you, I could never become strong enough to protect myself and Tianci."
He touched his pockets and took out a gold foil. He then caressed those protruding words and said, "If that's the case, I'll teach you this spell."
Tianpi passed the gold foil over. Hua Qiyue was stunned — she hadn't expected him to agree so easily.
Spirit Summoning art was supremely rare, known by only a handful of people in the world. Learning it would definitely cause issues in the future, but she couldn't see any other options.
What was the use of a rebirth if she couldn't improve life for herself and her son?
"Thank you, Master!" Hua Qiyue bowed, accepting the gold foil.
There were only a hundred words on the gold foil, but they were hard to understand. Fortunately, Tianpi was able to explain what they meant.
Even if this spell was released into the world, few would understand it. But even a few could potentially cause a calamity.
"Remember, as a Spirit Summoner, you can only use your skill once per month under 15 minutes until you reach level 5! If you break this rule, you will lose all your Qi and explode in a bloody mess, turning yourself into a pool of blood," Tianpi reminded Hua Qiyue solemnly.
Hua Qiyue nodded her head repeatedly. "What about above level 5?"
"Until the lower level of level 6, you can use the skill three times per month, each time less than 45 minutes."
Tianpi was expressionless. His boyish playfulness was gone, and it helped drive home the seriousness of the situation.
"Your Master is thirsty. Give me blood ginseng." Tianpi pointed at the vibrant ginseng lying not far away, remarking.
Hua Qiyue walked over to the herbs, but they retracted into the ground as she approached.
"What a coward! Get back out here!" Hua Qiyue slammed down impatiently, using all her spiritual energy. The ground shook slightly.
Hua Qiyue' spiritual energy seemed to be five times that of an ordinary person. It was no wonder the spiritual energy of this world would be reduced by half every time she entered, on recharging when she left.
Tianpi was glad that his disciple was so powerful, as it meant that he would obtain freedom much sooner.
Spurred by the energy sent out by Hua Qiyue, the blood ginsengs returned to the surface. Their leaves were dry, as if they had been needing water for a long time, and they looked like they were going to die.
Hua Qiyue pulled out one ginseng the size of her fist.
Being a businesswoman in her previous life, she had tens of thousands of ginsengs but had never seen one as large and strange as this!
Blood ginsengs were heavily demanded by alchemists, but were rare in the outside world. You'd be lucky to find one or two in an entire mountain range.
The seeds that Tianpi gave to Hua Qiyue were all precious medicines. If Hua Qiyue had less ambition, she could be comfortable for a few lifetimes just with these seeds, alone.
"Don't worry — you're about to become magical medicine!" Hua Qiyue said, smiling. As she spoke, the rest of the blood ginseng regained their vitality, as if they were just showered by a spring rain.
Holding the blood ginseng, Hua Qiyue returned to Tianpi and passed the ginseng to him respectfully. "Here you go, master."
Tianpi smiled as his dark eyes shone, reminding Hua Qiyue of her master's evil nature.
She felt as if her entire soul was sucked away as he said, "Come with me..."
Hua Qiyue did not hesitate nor resist, following Tianpi to the south. She had never walked around this world. Now, both her body and soul were led by Tianpi.
She was conscious of her actions, but couldn't control them. Could this be Spirit Summoning Art?
As they walked for hundreds of meters, they reached the end of the sky island, shrouded in mist. A crack appeared in the dark sky as a beam of light shone on Hua Qiyue.
She was like a light source in this dark world. Her beautiful eyes reflected the light as she opened her cherry lips to speak. Immediately, Tianpi laughed as he let go of Hua Qiyue, jumping into the hot springs in front of them.
Following the sound of the water splashing, Hua Qiyue massaged her head, finally back in control of her own body.
Now that she could see clearly, Tianpi look less like a handsome youth and more like a god that had just descended from the heavens.
"Come in! This is a spiritual energy hot spring. Bathing in it can increase your spiritual energy by nearly half a year of cultivation."
Several water droplets lay on Tianpi's hair, shining brightly as pearls. Water mists covered his face. He seemed calmer and gentler as his malicious vibe dissipated.
Hua Qiyue shook her head. "No... you are a man, and..."
It was weird for a man and a woman to bathe in the hot springs together, even if no one would find out.
Tianpi laughed. "Would you rather leave those spiritual energies there? You would give up a chance to progress just for your modesty?"
Scandalous, though it was… he had a point. As she hesitated, Tianpi leaped up from the mist, lifted her up, and leaped into the water.
Once she'd recovered from the shock, she realized that she was lying in Tianpi's arms, smelling his fragrance. She blushed and removed his hand from her waist, pulling herself apart from Tianpi.
Moving away from him in the mist, she was unable to see Tianpi's expression clearly. She could only hear him laughing mockingly.
Hua Qiyue sighed as her heart thumped loudly. He was so warm.
She calmed down and breathed in, feeling more herself as the spiritual qi entered her body.
Tianpi was right in that the spiritual qi here was many times more plentiful than the outside world.
Having completely immersed herself and absorbing enough spiritual qi, she looked at the words on the gold foil, remembering Tianpi's words, and started cultivating.
The misty sky was no longer crimson, as it became as dark and gloomy.
However, the light beams that shone through the crack increased, accompanied by a mysterious smile on Tianpi's face.
He waved slowly and the mists in front of him dissipated. Opposite him was the focused Hua Qiyue.
She was completely drenched. Her thin, light blue dress clung to her skin, no longer hiding the curves beneath. Tianpi frowned as a red blush appeared on his face.
He lowered his eyes and waved his hand once more to bring back the mist.