With the help of the "sky-breaking beads" brought by Shangguan Jin, Gu Xu and his party quickly tore through the void and returned to Luojing City from Lin'an.
Afterwards, Shen Qiu's mother Ningxiu stayed in Shouchangfang to recover from her injuries.
As an accomplished doctor, Shangguan Jin naturally took on the task of treating her injuries.
She took out a bottle of light green ointment with a cool fragrance from her sleeve and applied it to Ningxiu's wounds. Most of the ferocious scars on Ningxiu's body disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving only light red traces.
"Her body is very weak and she needs to rest for a few days," Shangguan Jin said. "I can only help her heal her trauma to a certain extent for the time being. In the next few days, she will also need to take some pills to replenish her qi and blood." medicine."
Next to her, Shen Qiu nodded and thanked her sincerely.
"No need to thank me," she smiled faintly, "I did all these things for the sake of fellow Taoist Gu. If you want to thank me, just thank him."
After that, Shangguan Jin left Shouchangfang and returned to the Yamen, the headquarters of the Exorcism Department.
As a personal attendant of Luo Sishou, she not only has a busy daily work, but also needs to seize the time to improve her cultivation. Naturally, she cannot stay here forever. Helping Gu Xu solve this matter today can be said to be a way of taking advantage of every opportunity.
Shen Qiu sat quietly on a chair beside the bed, watching his mother fall asleep after taking the elixir, and felt that his mood was particularly complicated.
Gu Xu had already told him what he saw and heard in the He family's mansion.
Shen Qiu also knew how his mother was treated.
He clenched his fists and secretly swore in his heart that when he had enough ability in the future, he would make Mrs. Shen and the He family pay the price.
"He Ru is such a stupid woman." After resolving the crisis, Shen Qiu returned to his usual joking and sharp tone, "If everything goes according to Shen Qianren's plan, maybe they can really force me to stay in the family. Clean up the mess for them. It's a pity that that mean, stupid woman made trouble in the middle out of her own selfish motives, giving me a reason to completely break up with them."
Gu Xu pondered for a moment and responded: "It is a great blessing for me that Brother Shen can stay here."
"I am also very lucky that I chose to follow you in Longmen Academy." Shen Qiu smiled, "It's just that this time, you may have some rift with the Shen family and the He family because of my relationship."
"If they really come to trouble me, I must let them know that I, Gu, am not a vegetarian," Gu Xu also said with a smile, "Then I will go to the saint to complain in tears, saying that someone bullied me, let me The saint makes the decision for me."
Hearing his words, Shen Qiu couldn't help laughing.
Naturally, he could hear the implication of Gu Xu’s words——
During the talisman and Tao dispute at Longmen Academy, Luo Sishou had already shown his closeness to Gu Xu in public; and the Grand Master of Qi, who was proficient in talisman and seal script, also spoke highly of Gu Xu's talent. In this way, anyone who wants to provoke Gu Xu will definitely consider the attitude of the saints in advance.
"It's time for me to go to work." After a short rest, Shen Qiu left the room and walked towards the front hall of Shouchangfang.
At this moment, there are still many tedious matters in the workshop waiting for him to deal with.
It's just that compared to before, his mentality has changed unconsciously - deep down in his heart, he seems to have a bit more sense of belonging to this place, and he is more energetic in working.
…………
During the first and middle of February, if Shi Xiaohan was asked to use one word to describe her life at Longmen Academy, then the answer she gave would definitely be one word——
"tired".
The teacher responsible for teaching her swordsmanship, Hu Yun, a sixth-level monk known as the "Undefeated Sword God", always likes to give her "special treatment" recently.
The amount of practice she practices every day is at least twice that of others.
Every day when she showed off her newly learned moves in class, Hu Yun would pick out twice as many faults as others with an extremely harsh attitude.
And many times, Hu Yun would take up her rest time and meal time, asking her to wave the heavy "Overlord Sword" over and over again, while scolding her mercilessly, saying that her "reactions are as slow as an eighty-year-old man" "Mrs.", "The gait is dull and stunned like a child who has just learned to walk", "The movement of wielding the knife is so weak that it is better to go home and embroider"...
This kind of experience made Shi Xiaohan deeply understand the principle that "everything must be reversed when it reaches its extreme".
She used to love swords and hoped that one day she could practice swordsmanship to such a level that the monks in Daqi would immediately think of her name Shi Xiaohan whenever they mentioned "sword master" in their conversations.
But now, whenever she saw the knife, she would feel irritable and anxious, wishing she could throw it far away and never touch it again in her life.
"If I make any mistake, please use the rules of the academy to punish me instead of letting me suffer this terrible torture all day long." This thought would come to her mind every night when she lay in bed.
Under normal circumstances, sleeping is not strictly necessary for practitioners.
However, because Hu Yun's devil training was too terrifying, even Shi Xiaohan's stronger physique than ordinary people could not bear it, so he had to rely on sleep to barely regain his physical strength and spirit.
Of course, in her current condition, sleeping is not a pleasant thing.
Daily training made her whole body sore.
So much so that she didn't know what position to use so that she could lie on the bed peacefully and have a good sleep.
At the same time, her food intake also increased significantly without her realizing it.
In the first few days when she came to the academy, the free quota on the student token basically met her needs.
But now, she had to pay a lot of extra money out of her own pocket in the canteen just to barely fill her stomach.
This made the busboys in the canteen often stare at her in surprise.
Because her appetite has far surpassed that of the burly male students, and even surpassed those monks who majored in physical training, reaching a level that is difficult for ordinary people to understand.
Not like a normal human being, more like a hungry beast in the mountains.
But she is just a petite and exquisite girl.
People really couldn't understand why she could hold so much food in her small body.
Her classmates were extremely envious of her——
She ate so much, but she didn't gain any weight at all; while we just ate more sweets during the Chinese New Year, and the fat started to grow on our cheeks obviously.
God is really unfair!
…………
On February 15th of the 23rd year of Tianxing, Shi Xiaohan hurriedly finished six bowls of beef noodles in the canteen as usual, then rushed to the knife skills class with the "Kunwu Sword" on his back.
Following the request of the one-armed old man Hu Yun, she came half an hour earlier than the others.
And Hu Yun has been waiting here for a long time.
His hair was disheveled, his clothes were in tatters, and he smelled sour, like a beggar on the market street.
Only the pink silk flower pinned to his chest was delicate, clean, and incompatible with his overall attire. It looked abrupt, awkward, and ridiculous.
Before Hu Yun could speak, Shi Xiaohan took the initiative to take out the "Kunwu Sword" from the scabbard, held it tightly in his hand, and prepared to use the sword style.
She was afraid that if she moved a little slower, she would be scolded by Old Man Hu.
But this time, Hu Yun unexpectedly waved his hand towards her, stopping her move.
"Take the knife back first," he ordered calmly, "Try first to see if you can break the boulder with your fists."
Shi Xiaohan was quite confused about this——
The whole room is empty. Where is the so-called "big stone"?
But the next moment, Hu Yun snapped his fingers, and a large stone more than two feet high appeared in front of her out of thin air.
Next to it, Shi Xiaohan's body was made even more petite.
"It turns out that Mr. Hu has a space magic weapon on his body." Shi Xiaohan thought thoughtfully.
She was a little confused: since Old Man Hu had such a valuable item as a space magic weapon, he shouldn't be short of money. But why did he wear such tattered clothes? Is this the so-called "elegant personality"?
Then she looked at the boulder beside her.
Shi Xiaohan didn't understand Hu Yun's intention of asking her to break the boulder with her bare hands.
But as a student of the academy, she naturally needs to follow her husband's instructions.
"Just use the power of your own body and don't use your true energy." At this time, Old Man Hu narrowed his eyes and added.
Shi Xiaohan nodded.
She took a deep breath, concentrated all her strength on her fist, and smashed it hard against the boulder.
There was only a "bang" sound, and countless dense cracks appeared on the surface of the stone. Then it exploded and turned into countless debris, flying to the ground.
The whole house looked as if it had snowed heavily.
Looking at the stone chips everywhere, Shi Xiaohan couldn't help but open his eyes.
Although she knew that she was very strong, and people around her often said that she had brute strength, she had never thought that she could break boulders with only physical strength, without using any real energy or martial arts moves.
"Not bad." Hu Yun gave her a rare compliment, although his tone was cold and his expression was perfunctory.
He waved his hand, and the stone debris in the room disappeared without a trace in an instant.
Immediately afterwards, another copper pillar with a diameter of more than three feet and a height of more than two feet appeared in front of Shi Xiaohan.
"Try again and attack this copper pillar with your fist."
"Or just use your body's strength?"
"That's right."
Shi Xiaohan frowned and pursed his lips into a line.
Then she once again followed Hu Yun's request and punched the thick copper pillar in front of her.
The moment her fist made contact with the pillar, she thought it would be painful.
But in fact she felt nothing.
On the contrary, this seemingly hard copper pillar was deeply dented.
Hu Yun had an appreciative smile on his face.
His expression was like that of a discerning connoisseur who, after a difficult search, had finally seen a rare piece of art.
"It's true," he said silently in his mind, "Her physique is indeed special."
Unconsciously, Hu Yun murmured an obscure mantra in his mouth, like the language of a previous era, exuding an ancient atmosphere.
At the same time, on the back of Shi Xiaohan's neck, several complex, dark red words appeared like scars.
It looks like seal script, but the strokes resemble the shape of flying birds, which is quite artistic.
However, when Hu Yun finished reciting the mantra, these bird-like seal characters disappeared again.
The skin on the back of Shi Xiaohan's neck was still smooth and white, flawless, as if nothing had happened.
"Mr. Hu, what do I need to do next?" At this moment, Shi Xiaohan suddenly said.
Hu Yun was in a daze for a moment.
However, he quickly came to his senses and calmly ordered Shi Xiaohan: "Show me the two moves you practiced yesterday."
After Shi Xiaohan pulled out the "Kunwu Sword", he added: "If I remember correctly, you are going to the South City Gate this afternoon to participate in the audition of the 'Luoshui Conference'?"
"Yes, Mr. Hu." Shi Xiaohan nodded in response.
"Behave well and don't embarrass me." Hu Yun said expressionlessly.
…………
Shi Xiaohan and her fellow student Tao Xi, a talisman master from the Exorcism Department, signed up to participate in the audition for the "Luoshui Conference".
Although they all know that there are many talented people in the "Luoshui Conference", including long-established young geniuses like Su Xiao and Zhao Yan, as well as rising stars like Gu Xu.
With their qualifications and cultivation, it would be difficult for them to get a ranking in the "Luoshui Conference".
But after all, they are young people with high spirits. Deep in their hearts, they always have the idea of "becoming famous all over the world" and want to try their best.
Moreover, since most students of Longmen Academy have already signed up, the remaining people are more or less affected by the herd mentality, which has also led to a public opinion in the academy similar to "Only cowards dare not participate."
Fortunately, Shi Xiaohan's audition process went very smoothly.
There are three rounds of auditions, which will be held on February 15th, 16th and 18th.
The opponents she encountered in the first two rounds were only second-level monks.
She only used one sword and successfully defeated the opponent.
Moreover, the moment she took action, the official in charge of the referee hurried onto the ring and used his true energy to form a barrier in front of her to prevent her opponent from being seriously injured or even died suddenly under her sharp sword intent.
The opponent in the third round was a little more difficult to deal with. He was a third-level body-refining monk.
Shi Xiaohan slashed several times before breaking the opponent's defense.
However, the opponent's fist fell on Shi Xiaohan, but it did not threaten her at all, as if he was tickling her.
After the battle, the body-refining cultivator stared straight at Shi Xiaohan and asked her: "What body-refining technique are you practicing? Is it a top-grade technique? Why do you have such a strong defense?" "
Shi Xiaohan was stunned for two seconds and replied: "What I practice is not body training."
The opponent said coldly: "If you don't want to tell others, you can choose not to tell. There is no need to lie to others."
Shi Xiaohan showed an innocent expression on his face: "But what I practice is really not a physical training method!"
The opponent snorted and turned to leave.
Shi Xiaohan was left standing alone on the ring, accepting the cheers and cheers from everyone.
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