After advising Song Zhixia, it didn't take long for Wei Zhao to return.
"Mistress, I just heard that Song Ruohai and the others are discussing your birthday. They say that Zhao Family will also come," Wei Zhao respectfully reported to Song Weizhi.
At the mention of Zhao Family, Song Weizhi thought of the male lead, Zhao Xuankun. In the original work, Zhao Xuankun got to know the female lead through this birthday banquet, leading to the later events of helping the female lead refine her Spirit Root. Song Weizhi thought about it. She had just established a good relationship with the female lead, and she didn't want the male lead to disrupt things.
"Alright, I know. You can go rest for now," after Wei Zhao left, Song Weizhi began to consider the next steps. Due to her arrival, everything had deviated from the original storyline, and it was uncertain whether it would follow the events of the book. Now, she could only focus on quickly improving her cultivation and adapting to the changing circumstances.
After Wei Zhao left, the mechanical voice of the system rang in Song Weizhi's mind: [Assisting the female lead in successfully reaching Foundation Building, reward 100 points. The task must be completed within three days.]
Song Weizhi thought it wouldn't be difficult. Song Zhixia was already close to reaching the Foundation Building realm these days, so the 100 points would soon be hers.
Early the next morning, Song Zhixia came knocking. Song Weizhi, who had spent the night practicing techniques, immediately went to open the door upon hearing the knock.
As soon as the door opened, Song Weizhi saw the somewhat anxious Song Zhixia. "Zhixia, what's wrong?"
"Senior Sister, there's a surge of Qi in my body. I feel like I might be on the verge of a breakthrough."
Hearing Song Zhixia's words, Song Weizhi immediately lightly held Song Zhixia's wrist to investigate. Indeed, she sensed a faint red light emerging from Song Zhixia's body, indicating an imminent breakthrough.
"Don't worry, let's go to the courtyard," Song Weizhi led Song Zhixia to a secluded spot in the courtyard. With Song Zhixia at the center, she set up a formation. She attached many yellow talismans to the formation's eyes and placed a shock-resistant magical tool. Once everything was almost ready, she spoke, "Zhixia, now use the method I taught you to activate the spiritual qi in your body. When the tribulation comes, use your spiritual qi to protect yourself."
"Alright, Senior Sister," Song Zhixia began activating the vigorous spiritual qi in her body. The clear sky turned into a sky filled with dark thunderclouds in an instant. The black clouds kept gathering towards the place where Song Weizhi lived, and they lowered like they wanted to cover the entire small space.
With such movement, it naturally attracted the attention of other disciples. Since tribulations occurred from the Foundation Building realm onwards, some inner disciples had already experienced tribulations. This also indicated that these people had taken the most crucial step in cultivation. Starting from the Foundation Building realm, cultivators could abstain from mortal food and wouldn't go hungry. Their strength would also see a rapid improvement compared to the Qi Training realm.
"Hey, something's wrong. Why is there a sign of tribulation over there? I remember that's Senior Sister's residence."
"Yeah, isn't Senior Sister's cultivation in the Comprehension-Golden Core realm? It's impossible to leap to the Nascent Soul realm all of a sudden. As far as I know, there are no Nascent Soul cultivators in our Linhai City."
"Then who could it be?"
"I don't know."
"We know most of the inner disciples. Someone can't undergo a tribulation without us knowing."
"Could it be an outer disciple who suddenly comprehended it?"
"It's impossible. I've never heard of an outer disciple reaching the Foundation Building realm before entering the inner sect."
Discussions echoed in the distance, while in Song Weizhi's yard, the dark clouds had enveloped everything. Thunder and lightning filled the air. As the fluctuations in Song Zhixia's spiritual qi intensified, a bright lightning bolt soon formed. With Song Zhixia breaking through her realm, a massive lightning bolt descended.
Song Weizhi stood not far away, watching Song Zhixia. The array and magical tools set up by Song Weizhi would generally be able to withstand one tribulation. In the next moment, it seemed like the thunder was intelligent, directly charging towards Song Zhixia. Holding the spiritual sword given by Song Weizhi, Song Zhixia was just about to be struck by the tribulation when the array set up by Song Weizhi blocked it for a moment. The array shattered with a sound, and the power of the tribulation was reduced by a considerable amount. It then struck the magical tool placed by Song Weizhi before bursting near Song Zhixia, who was protected by her spiritual qi.
The black clouds in the sky gradually dispersed. Song Zhixia happily ran to Song Weizhi and, with curved eyebrows, looked up at her. "Senior Sister, I've built the foundation."
A breeze stirred, messing up the strands of hair on Song Zhixia's forehead. However, it couldn't hide her beautiful appearance. Subconsciously, Song Weizhi raised her hand to tidy Song Zhixia's hair and smiled, saying, "My Zhixia is the best. You are my pride. You've successfully built the foundation in just a few days. I'm afraid few people on the entire Nanming Continent can achieve this."
Song Zhixia's earlobes quickly turned red. Senior Sister said she was her…? The more Song Zhixia thought about it, the faster her heart pounded. She had to lower her head and dare not look into Song Weizhi's smiling eyes.
"Thank you, Senior Sister. I, I'm very happy, I've never been this happy before," Song Zhixia said in a low voice, almost lowering her head to her chest. All Song Weizhi could see were a pair of bright red little ears, trembling cutely.
Song Weizhi wanted to reach out and touch it. Given her current relationship with the female lead, a touch shouldn't turn things into a mess, right? Song Weizhi thought, reaching out and gently touching Song Zhixia's right ear. Indeed, the feeling was just as imagined—soft and warm.
Just as Song Weizhi was happily touching away, Song Zhixia, with a blushing face, lifted her head and glared at Song Weizhi. "Senior Sister, I-I'll ignore you." While saying this, she avoided Song Weizhi's hand and ran back to her room as if escaping, but the glare she gave Song Weizhi had a hint of acting spoiled.
Song Weizhi looked at her hand, still not retracted, feeling a bit regretful. She thought, "I only touched one side. It would have been nice if I could touch both sides. The softness is really nice."
At this moment, the system in Song Weizhi's mind felt a bit puzzled. It always felt that something was strange between the host and the female lead. Was this how friendships between straight women were? The system couldn't figure it out and could only wait to explore slowly in the future.
However, the host couldn't forget her main task. The mechanical voice of the system echoed in Song Weizhi's mind: [Congratulations to the host for completing the task. Reward: 100 points. The current host has a total of 650 points.]
After returning to her room, Song Zhixia felt like her heart was about to jump out. Senior Sister had just teased her again. She even… touched her there! But why did she still feel happy? No, no, what was she thinking? Senior Sister must be treating her like an elder to a junior. But that also didn't seem right. Elders wouldn't touch the ears of their juniors, right?
Song Zhixia's mind was in chaos, and her heart seemed to be on fire. She buried her entire person in the quilt, hoping to cool herself down.
Just as Song Weizhi was thinking about whether to knock on Song Zhixia's door, a sound transmission symbol appeared in the void. Song Weizhi used her spiritual qi to open the transmission symbol, and Song Ruohai's voice came from inside: "Weizhi, tomorrow the Zhao Family's people are all coming. The elders are all here. Come over tomorrow."
Song Weizhi remembered the male lead, Zhao Xuankun, falling in love with Song Zhixia at first sight in the original book. So, ignoring his father's instructions, he insisted on canceling the engagement with Song Weizhi and signing an engagement with Song Zhixia. This intensified the hatred between the original book's Song Weizhi and Song Zhixia.
Song Weizhi felt a bit uncomfortable. She couldn't let the male lead take away her little cutie. She summoned her Li Shuo Sword, appearing in front of the main hall of the Song Family after a few breaths. The disciples on both sides greeted her, and Song Weizhi nodded in response.
Entering the inner hall, Song Weizhi symbolically saluted Song Ruohai. After all, she hadn't found what she was looking for, and it wasn't the right time to directly tear her face apart.
"Master, is there something you want to discuss with me?" Song Weizhi asked as she stood in the hall.
Song Ruohai sat in the position of the Head, sipping tea with an air of importance before speaking, "Weizhi, I called you here to talk about your marriage with Zhao Xuankun from the Zhao Family. You were promised to each other since childhood. I think it's time now, and the Zhao Family also agrees. They want to stay for a while and finalize the dates for you and Xuankun. What do you think?"
A smile played on the corners of Song Weizhi's lips. Her task was to protect the female lead. What did the male lead have to do with her? She didn't want anything to do with the male lead, and she certainly didn't want to have any relationship with him.
"I think it's inappropriate. I want to cancel this engagement," Song Weizhi said casually, but it caused a commotion in the hall.
"Nonsense! Forming a Daoist couple is a significant matter. It's not something you can decide not to do just like that. This concerns the relationship between our Song and Zhao Families. You can't do whatever you want."
"If I insist on not getting married, what will you do to punish me, Master?" Song Weizhi's expression was mocking, clearly saying that he couldn't do anything to her.
Song Ruohai was angered, veins popping on his forehead. At the moment, he didn't know that Song Weizhi had elevated her cultivation by another minor realm, achieving the Perfection-Golden Core realm. He believed that, combined with a few elders at the Perfection-Foundation Establishment realm, dealing with Song Weizhi should have a seventy to eighty percent chance of success. However, he didn't dare to take the risk of mutual destruction and could only suppress his anger, saying, "Ah, maybe it's been a long time since you've seen that child Xuankun. He's a talent. You'll surely like him when you see him. Forget it, forget it. You'll know when the Zhao Family arrives tomorrow."
Song Weizhi coldly smiled and said, "Is that so? Whatever he's like has nothing to do with me. Master, you better not waste your effort on me." After saying that, she turned and left.
"Hey, look at her, look at her. What kind of demeanor is this? Ruohai, you've spoiled Weizhi too much. Just look at what she's become." The Head Elder frowned, displeased.
"That's right. In the end, she's a disciple of our Song Family, isn't she? She dares to contradict the Head. In a few years, won't she bully the master and annihilate the ancestors?" The Second Elder continued.
"That's right. We must give Song Weizhi a small punishment and a big warning. Our Song Family is not a place where she can do whatever she wants!" The Third Elder chimed in.
Song Ruohai smiled wryly and said, "If you want to deal with Song Weizhi, who will take the shot? You've been cultivating for decades, but in the end, none of you can suppress that girl in cultivation. It's ridiculous when you think about it."
With that, Song Ruohai's words left the several elders speechless, and they had no choice but to leave in frustration.