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Join the Server“Fellow Daoist Song, these are a small token of my gratitude. I hope you won’t think little of them.”
Song Zhiyou’s eyes instantly cleared, and a smile bloomed on her face like a spring breeze.
“We’re all fellow cultivators, Fellow Daoist Li. You’ve already thanked me—why bring gifts? You’re far too polite.”
Li Xiaoye was about to urge her to accept, but then he saw her slip both storage pouches into her sleeve.
Li Xiaoye: “. . . . . .”
Song Zhiyou then took out the phosphorous fox demon core. “Fellow Daoist Li, for you.”
Li Xiaoye frowned. “Fellow Daoist Song, this is your assessment result. How could I…”
He stopped mid-sentence, stunned by what he saw in her palm. He couldn’t utter a single syllable.
Song Zhiyou turned her hand over, and in her palm appeared a handful of demon cores.
A full… handful!
Li Xiaoye’s eyes went wide. He desperately wanted to ask how she had managed to collect so many cores in just half a day.
While Li Xiaoye stood dumbfounded, Song Zhiyou had already pressed the phosphorous fox demon core into his hand.
“Aiya, Fellow Daoist Li, just keep it safe. I have so many demon cores; I could give you another handful and still have plenty.”
“Besides, you gave me so many spirit stones and artifacts. You are my friend, Song Zhiyou’s friend. Between friends, we should help each other!”
If she didn’t give away the core, she wouldn’t feel right about keeping the contents of those two storage pouches.
Li Xiaoye’s nose tingled with emotion. He didn’t refuse again.
He immediately pulled out another storage pouch and pressed it into Song Zhiyou’s hand.
“Fellow Daoist Song, from now on, you are my best friend, Li Xiaoye’s best friend!”
Song Zhiyou took the pouch and solemnly thumped her chest. “Fellow Daoist Li, from this day forward, you too are my best friend! Good friends, in the heart!”
“In the heart!” Li Xiaoye echoed, thumping his chest heavily.
Seeing that Song Zhiyou’s complexion was still pale, Li Xiaoye took out a bottle of pills.
“Fellow Daoist Song, I just obtained these pills. They’re said to allow one to quickly enter a cultivation state, circulating spiritual energy through the meridians with twice the effect for half the effort.”
“But I haven’t tried them yet, so I don’t know if the effect is as good as rumored.”
After fighting the phosphorous fox, both of their spiritual energy had long been depleted.
Hearing this description, Song Zhiyou’s heart skipped a beat.
No… could it be such a coincidence?
She tested: “Fellow Daoist Li, are you referring to the Spirit Nourishing Pill?”
Li Xiaoye immediately puffed up with pride. “Exactly! So Fellow Daoist Song knows of it too!”
“How many spirit stones did you spend on it?”
“Not many, just eighteen thousand.”
Song Zhiyou’s heart ached so much she could hardly breathe. “Fellow Daoist Li… you truly are bold.”
“It’s not that bad,” Li Xiaoye let out a carefree laugh of the wealthy, then urged Song Zhiyou to take the Spirit Nourishing Pill.
He himself popped one into his mouth and started chewing it.
When he looked up, he saw Song Zhiyou forcefully swallow the nail-sized pill whole.
Li Xiaoye was stunned. Just as he was about to ask why she didn’t chew, a bitterness that seemed to originate from the depths of his soul spread across his tongue.
His expression twisted drastically, but the pill had already dissolved and merged into his taste buds.
Li Xiaoye’s face contorted. Finally, he understood why Song Zhiyou had swallowed it whole!
Song Zhiyou activated the formation disk she had bought in the hidden market, concealing their auras.
In the time it takes two incense sticks to burn, both of their spiritual energy had been restored.
Without a word, they tacitly agreed to travel together.
“Fellow Daoist Song, where should we go next?”
“Just call me Song Zhiyou. We’ve already obtained demon cores that allow entry into the sect. Over the next two days, there are only two most important things.”
Song Zhiyou held up two fingers, then folded one down. “First, ensure we don’t encounter dangers we can’t handle and get eliminated.”
“Second, protect the demon cores we’ve already obtained.”
Li Xiaoye nodded in agreement. “I’ll follow your lead!”
As dusk fell, Song Zhiyou had good luck. She encountered a hospitable Iron Palm Bear that not only insisted she rest in its cave and eat its roasted meat, but also insisted on giving her its demon core.
Song Zhiyou couldn’t refuse and reluctantly accepted.
Li Xiaoye went out to look for wild fruit and water, while Song Zhiyou started roasting meat.
None of the candidates in the assessment had known about this second round, so they hadn’t prepared any dry rations or water.
Especially water.
Li Xiaoye said his vines could roughly sense where water was, so he went to find it.
Before leaving, he left behind a pile of seasonings.
He was a true foodie.
As Song Zhiyou was roasting the meat, she heard footsteps from the cave entrance.
The sounds were chaotic and deliberately muted—not like Li Xiaoye’s.
Song Zhiyou grabbed her short sword and quietly rose…
Lin Yue walked into the cave with a long sword in hand, his steps unsteady.
From the moment he entered the valley, Lin Yue had been searching for a suitable demon beast as a target. But his practical experience against demon beasts was still too limited. He had almost succeeded, but in a moment of carelessness, the beast escaped.
Not only did he fail to obtain the demon core, but he was also injured by the beast’s counterattack—truly a case of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the bait.
After all that trouble, night had fallen.
Injured, Lin Yue had to find a safe place to spend the night. He discovered this cave.
Entering the cave, Lin Yue looked around and found only the crackling campfire inside—no one else.
He frowned, puzzled, when suddenly a chill ran down his back.
Lin Yue spun around sharply and saw a face hanging upside down like a female ghost. He was so startled he nearly lost his wits.
The next second, a cold sensation hit him again—he had bumped into the sharp edge of an ornate short sword.
Lin Yue instinctively reached for his sword, but the cold pressure stopped him. Cold sweat broke out on his back.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?”
Only when Song Zhiyou’s voice rang out did Lin Yue finally confirm that the figure before him was human.
A familiar person… clinging to the cave ceiling.
Lin Yue’s face darkened. “Fellow Daoist Song, why are you intentionally trying to scare people?”
At the same time, shockwaves surged in Lin Yue’s heart.
Song Zhiyou… had managed to silently cling to the cave ceiling without him noticing. Yet her cultivation level was clearly lower than his!
Song Zhiyou jumped down from the ceiling, the short sword still pressed steadily against Lin Yue’s neck.
She looked him over and became even more puzzled. “Who exactly are you?”
Lin Yue’s heart seized. He replied stiffly, “Lin Yue. Also a candidate in the great selection. I saw there was someone here and wanted to spend the night.”
“Oh, all right,” Song Zhiyou extended her hand. “Pay the overnight fee.”
Lin Yue stared at her in disbelief, his brow furrowed so tightly it could crush a fly. “Overnight fee?!”
He suppressed his anger. “Fellow Daoist Song, just because you arrived earlier, do you think you can claim this place as your own?”
“Cultivators should be upright and honorable. How can you act like this?!”
Song Zhiyou was taken aback, then her eyes narrowed. The short sword instantly drew a line of blood on Lin Yue’s neck. “Are you… saying you don’t want to pay?”
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