Chapter 7: The Jade Nectar Lotus and a New Path

Song Lingtian noticed that Song Zhiyou, who had been charging ahead, suddenly fell silent.

When he looked over in confusion, Song Zhiyou met his gaze with her almond eyes, equally puzzled.

Song Lingtian was speechless.

He opened his mouth but ultimately didn’t know what to say—only that inexplicable feeling of suffocation returned.

Suppressing his frustration, he killed the beast before him.

For the rest of the journey, Song Zhiyou didn’t lift a finger again, so indifferent that Song Lingtian began to wonder if everything before had been his imagination.

The further they went, the higher the rank of beasts they encountered.

Song Lingtian even came across a West-rank beast!

That was the equivalent of an Nascent Soul cultivator!

If he hadn’t had a high-grade magic tool on hand, he might have died at the beast’s claws.

Bai Lao’s mocking voice echoed in his mind.

[So much for ‘clearing the path with gratitude’—you couldn’t even keep up the act for half the journey.]

Song Lingtian’s brow furrowed into a knot.

After wandering through the underground cavern for ages without finding any heavenly treasure, his irritation grew.

Since that brief eruption of power, the treasure had gone completely silent, not releasing even a trace of its presence.

Just as Song Lingtian was thinking this, the faint sound of sand and stone grinding reached his ears.

Before he could react, a clear, urgent voice came from the right.

“Brother! Run!!!”

The next second, a tremendous force shoved Song Lingtian aside.

Even though he was already at the Foundation Establishment stage, the unexpected shove sent him stumbling several steps, slamming into the wall.

His pent-up anger nearly boiled over, ready to explode—but then he felt a violent tremor shake the earth!

He turned in shock and saw that the spot where he had been standing was buried by a sudden rockslide.

And… Song Zhiyou was right there!

“Ayoo!”

Song Lingtian’s eyes nearly split, but he could only watch helplessly as Song Zhiyou, unable to escape, disappeared completely from his sight.

Piled boulders blocked all view. Song Lingtian rushed toward them like a madman.

But before he could start digging, an even stronger tremor struck!

Bai Lao seemed stunned for a moment by Song Zhiyou’s actions, but upon seeing Song Lingtian refuse to leave, he snapped out of it.

[Kid! Get out! That girl is already dead. Even if you stay, you’ll only find her corpse! If you don’t leave now, you’ll die here too.]

[But that girl… ah, I never thought she’d actually sacrifice herself for you… not even sparing her own life…]

Song Lingtian clenched his teeth, his eyes bloodshot as he took one last look at the cave, then fled just before it collapsed further.

Elsewhere, Song Zhiyou coughed from the dust and crawled out from under the rubble.

According to the novel, this mountain cavern had several layers.

It was during the collapse that Song Lingtian fell into the layer containing the Jade Nectar Lotus.

Thus, Song Zhiyou had been keeping an eye on the cave’s movements, and her shout of “Run!” came straight from the heart.

Of course—if Song Lingtian didn’t leave, how could she go get his… no, her Jade Nectar Lotus?

Dear brother, you’ve worked hard along the way. Let me walk the rest of the path alone.

Walking a few steps deeper into the dark cavern, Song Zhiyou’s view suddenly opened up, revealing a massive natural grotto.

At the very center of the grotto was a pool no bigger than a washbasin.

The liquid in the pool wasn’t water—it was a warm, milky white spiritual nectar.

Misty vapors slowly rose from it, casting an even more ethereal glow over the small space above.

Above this nectar, a lotus made entirely of jade hovered silently.

It was the Jade Nectar Lotus!

Song Zhiyou instinctively held her breath and approached cautiously.

Her gaze fixed longingly on the nearly perfect lotus and the nectar, she almost drooled.

But soon, she snapped back to reality.

The Jade Nectar Lotus was born from the essence of the earth vein. Its invisible “roots” spread throughout the entire cave network.

The moment it was plucked, the entire earth vein would shake, and an extraordinary fragrance would permeate the air.

After the tremors, this place would be exposed to everyone.

In the original story, not long after Song Lingtian plucked the lotus, he was hunted by all the cultivators who smelled the scent.

Even Song Lingtian, the protagonist who was invincible among Foundation Establishment cultivators and could challenge Gold Core cultivators, barely escaped with his life.

With her puny, cannon-fodder body, she probably wouldn’t survive a few hits.

But she couldn’t bear to leave just with some nectar.

The only solution now was to try her new ability.

Taking a deep breath, Song Zhiyou uprooted the Jade Nectar Lotus, and the earth vein trembled as expected…

****

As the fragrance exploded, everyone in the cave moved.

In an instant, a group of refined cultivators appeared near the grotto where Song Zhiyou was.

One of them, an elderly man with a square face, swept his divine sense over the rock wall and finally fixed on a spot to the west.

Without any visible movement, the rock wall silently disintegrated, revealing a passage wide enough for one person.

The group entered one by one.

The first thing they saw was the pool in the center, now completely dry.

Several people rushed forward. The pool was bone-dry, not even a trace of moisture, leaving only the lingering strange fragrance throughout the cave.

They frowned and began to discuss.

“Could someone have been faster than us?”

“That must be it!”

Just then, one of the younger disciples exclaimed, “Elder, there’s a child here!”

“She’s unconscious… and doesn’t look good.”

At these words, everyone’s gaze turned to a corner.

They saw a frail figure, covered in blood, curled up like a kitten.

The young man who first noticed had already rushed over, carefully lifted the person, and checked for breath.

Still breathing.

He sighed in relief.

Just then, the person in his arms slowly woke up.

Startled, she looked at them with great wariness.

“Wh-who are you?”

The young man said gently, “I am Lu Wangshu, a disciple of the Xuantian Sect. These are our sect’s elders and fellow disciples. We won’t harm you. Don’t be afraid.”

Seeming to take his words to heart, the girl’s tense expression relaxed.

Her eyes sparkled. “Xuantian Sect? The really powerful Xuantian Sect in Qingzhou? Then you immortals must be really impressive!”

Hearing this, several young disciples laughed, and one couldn’t resist saying, “Little girl, we’re here for the sect’s recruitment exam. If you want to join the Xuantian Sect, you can come to Maple Ridge Training Ground in five days to take the selection test.”

Song Zhiyou hesitated. “But… I’m already eleven.”

Sect recruitment in Qingzhou usually happened every five years, only accepting exceptionally talented children aged eight to ten.

Hearing this, the disciples looked at Song Zhiyou more closely.

She looked so small and thin that they thought she was only eight.

But…

“This time is different. We’re also taking children aged ten to twelve, but their cultivation must be at least the fifth layer of Qi Refining. Little girl, you’re at the sixth layer, right?”

Song Zhiyou’s eyes genuinely lit up this time, and she thanked them crisply.

She had no way to learn this information, and the Song family certainly wouldn’t have told her.

She had been worrying about where to run away from the Song family.

Now, a new path had opened before her.

The two leading elders didn’t stop the disciples from revealing this information.

It was part of their public itinerary anyway; telling this girl wouldn’t hurt.

But one of the elders, with a scholarly air, shook his head inwardly.

This child was too naive—she believed everything they said.

But that also meant her words were likely true.

He interrupted the disciples and cut to the chase.

“Little girl, why were you unconscious here alone? Did you take the heavenly treasure from this place?”

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