Chapter Twelve: Tempering

  Collect! Brothers and sisters, add oil!

  "Is it you?" Xǔ Lín blurted out.

  Xu Ziyuan thought of what happened that day, looking a bit embarrassed, and also bowed slightly, saying in a soft voice:

  "Have met Master Xu Lin."

  Xu Lin looked up and down at Xu Ziyuan, smiling and saying: "You are also a child of the family?"

  "Hmm." Xu Ziyuan nodded lightly.

  Xu Lin nodded slightly and then said to Xu Li and others: "You go first, I have something to say to her."

  Xu Li and a few others were taken aback, but still bowed after a moment's pause before turning to leave. At this point, seeing Xu Li and the others' attitude, Xu Ziyuan already understood that the Xu Lin in front of her was probably an inner court person, otherwise Xu Li and the others wouldn't have shown him such respect.

  As a result, Xu Ziyuan's heart was somewhat worried, wondering how much he knew about her own affairs. He kept himself here, what did he want to do?

  Xu Lin saw that Xu Li had already left and politely said to Xu Ziyan: "May I have a word with you?"

  After finishing speaking, he walked towards the side of the road. Xu Ziyuan followed closely behind him to the side of the road. The main street had almost no pedestrians, snowflakes were floating in the sky, and everywhere was a vast expanse of white. Xu Ziyuan looked at Xu Lin with some unease and asked softly:

  "What does Master Xu Lin want with me?"

  "Oh, nothing much?" Xu Lin smiled faintly and said: "I just wanted to ask, have you seen my junior sister again after that day?"

  Xu Ziyuan was taken aback and thought to herself, "It seems that Xu Ximei has been secretly taken away by the clan leader, I wonder if she's been killed?"

  "It was that girl who was with me that day." Xu Lin saw that Xu Ziyuan didn't say anything, so he explained again because he hadn't made himself clear.

  "It seems that Xu Lin didn't know what happened afterwards, even the things that happened in the store, he didn't know." Thinking of this, Xu Ziyuan put down her heart and said softly:

  "I don't know, after you all left that day, I never saw her again."

  "Oh..."

  Xu Lin slightly furrowed his brow and didn't say another word. Xu Ziyuan recalled the scene that day, her face involuntarily flushing red. She had a good impression of Xu Lin's gentle and elegant demeanor that day, so she tentatively asked:

  "Xu Lin, was that young lady your girlfriend the other day?"

  "Cough, cough..." Xu Lin was suddenly startled by Xu Ziyuan's words and began to cough, awkwardly saying: "No, she is my junior sister. She suddenly disappeared, I'm a bit worried, I asked many people, they all said they didn't know."

  When Xulian suddenly coughed, Xu Ziyuan's face turned even redder. Fortunately, it was in the midst of a snowy winter, and her face was already frozen red, so Xulian didn't notice. However, Xu Ziyuan knew what was going on in her own heart, and she awkwardly said to Xulian:

  "Master Xu Lin, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

  After finishing speaking, he didn't wait for Xu Lin to respond and ran away with his head down. Xu Lin looked at the back of Xu Ziyuan as she left, smiled and shook his head, then disappeared into the wind and snow.

  Returning to her own home, Xu Ziyuan quickly entered into cultivation. Her desire to improve her strength was now extremely urgent, this world and her original world were different, everything was respected with strength. After understanding these things, her heart gradually calmed down. Guiding the true energy to circulate in her body for eighteen weeks, slowly withdrawing her power, she felt refreshed and invigorated throughout her whole body.

  Suddenly, a knock on the door was heard from outside. Xie Ziyuan got up and came to the door, opened it and found that it was the girl named Xie Qingshuo next door. Her expression was still cold and clear, holding a package in her hand, she slightly bowed to Xie Ziyuan and said:

  "Elder Sister Ziyan."

  Xu Ziyuan's expression faltered for a moment, before quickly returning to normal. She hastily smiled and invited her in. After entering the room, Xu Qingshuo handed the package in her hand over to Xu Ziyuan, saying:

  "This is for Ziyan Shijie."

  Looking at the 13 or 14-year-old girl in front of her, Xu Ziyuan took over the package, said thank you, and put it on the table. She poured a cup of tea for Xu Qingshuang, placed it in front of her, then sat down opposite her, gazing at her inquisitively.

  Xu Ziyuan really didn't know why Xu Qingsnow came to her home, and when she went to visit her before, Xu Qingsnow was very cold and didn't expect her to bring gifts to return the visit. Looking at Xu Qingsnow, who wasn't any more enthusiastic than when she visited her last time, Xu Ziyuan had no idea what Xu Qingsnow's purpose was, so she just sat there silently, watching Xu Qingsnow.

  Xu Qingxue sat there quietly and calmly. Her eyes were as still as a waveless lake, gazing at Xu Ziyuan with a cold tone:

  "Ziyan Shifu, I understand what you mean. It's just that I'm not good at talking. If you want to communicate with me, we can engage in a battle anytime."

  At this point, he paused for a moment, and his eyes seemed to flicker slightly as he said in a low voice:

  "I also want to spar with Sister Ziyan frequently. Sister Ziyan is at the sixth layer of the Post-Heaven, and so am I."

  Xu Ziyanyan now thoroughly understood that the girl in front of her was a person with a cold personality, not that she was being cold to herself, but rather she was probably like this to everyone. Today, she had come to visit and said so many words, it was probably already very difficult for her. Looking at her temperament, she indeed wasn't good at communicating, probably in the past when she communicated with others, it wasn't through language, but through fists and feet instead.

  Xu Ziyuan was naturally delighted to agree with Xu Qingshuang's proposal. Having someone to spar with regularly would be a great thing, and although the other party only had a cultivation level of Post-Heaven Sixth Layer, she could suppress her own cultivation to the same level as hers for sparring, which would also have a strong training effect on her foundation.

  "Alright then, Snowy sister, it's settled."

  "Alright, let's go now." Xu Qingxue said excitedly as soon as Xu Ziyuan agreed, immediately standing up and speaking eagerly.

  Xu Ziyuan was taken aback by Xu Qingshuang's actions and thought to herself, "This girl is really a violent woman! She says she'll hit someone and then she actually does it!"

  Xu Ziyuan had never fought with anyone since coming to this world, except when escaping from the mountain village and killing the village chief. Now that Xu Qingshuang mentioned it, he was naturally eager to try. He quickly stood up and waved his hand:

  "Let's go and practice."

  Two people arrived at a trial ground, standing opposite each other. Xu Qingxue's eyes became deep and profound, staring at Xu Ziyuan. Calmness with a hint of urgency, as if a child had seen something he liked.

  With Xu Ziyuan's experience, as soon as she saw the unintentional exposure in her eyes, she naturally understood Xu Qingshuang's mood and further confirmed that the other party was a good fighter. So, one heart immediately calmed down and focused on Xu Qingshuang.

  Xu Qingxue's body suddenly moved, and a pair of slender jade hands conjured up several residual shadows that stabbed towards Xu Ziyuan. Xu Ziyuan suppressed his own cultivation to the sixth layer of the acquired realm, took a misstep, dodged Xu Qingxue's double-handed attack, and suddenly punched through the gap between Xu Qingxue's palms.

  Two people were like two butterflies, interweaving defense and offense. After several rounds, Xu Ziyun's weak foundation was exposed, Xu Qingshuang's movements became faster and faster, her defenses fewer and fewer, and her attacks more and more. But Xu Ziyun's movements had become somewhat clumsy, no longer as free and easy as at the beginning.

  However, Xu Ziyuan's actual cultivation was at the second layer of the Qi Refining stage, and her understanding of martial arts naturally couldn't be compared to those who were in the later stages. Compared to Xu Qingshuang, Xu Qingshuang was like someone standing at the foot of a mountain, while Xu Ziyuan was like someone standing at the summit. The scenery they saw was naturally different, and Xu Ziyuan's view was more comprehensive and detailed than Xu Qingshuang's.

  Xu Ziyuan was exchanging hands with Xu Qingshuang, and at the same time, she was constantly gaining insight from their exchange. She understood these basic things extremely quickly. After another dozen or so rounds, Xu Ziyuan had already mastered the fundamentals of the acquired six layers below.

  Xu Ziyuan's body no longer moved, as if nailed to the ground like a wooden stake, not retreating half a step. With light and casual movements, she dismantled her opponent's moves. After another dozen or so rounds, Xu Qingshuang also saw that her opponent seemed to have completely grasped the situation, and she had become passive.

  He couldn't help but grit his teeth and suddenly accelerated, using all his skills to try to regain the lost advantage. However, Xu Ziyun was still as stable as a mountain, and with just a wave of her hands, she neutralized Xu Qingsnow's attack. Suddenly, she burst out with a punch, Xu Qingsnow failed to defend himself, and was hit on the shoulder by Xu Ziyun, stumbling backward.

  Xu Qingxue stood there blankly, staring at Xu Ziyuan. At this moment, Xu Ziyuan's realm was different from Xu Qingxue's, and the height of their standing was also different, so naturally their fields of vision were also different. After integrating the basic techniques of the six layers of acquired skills, when looking at Xu Qingxue's attacks and defenses, in Xu Ziyuan's eyes they were almost all weaknesses.

  In her heart, she already knew that from now on, there was no need to fight with Xu Qingxue again, because she couldn't gain any more insights from him. Of course, in Xu Ziyuan's heart, she was still very grateful to Xu Qingxue. If it weren't for today's battle with Xu Qingxue, she wouldn't have gained such quick enlightenment. If Xu Qingxue wanted to spar with Xu Ziyuan in the future, as long as Xu Ziyuan had time, she wouldn't refuse. However, in her heart, what she really wanted was to fight with even stronger people outside the sect, constantly gaining insights from battles to make up for her own weaknesses due to her poor foundation. Moreover, she also discovered that using battles to make up for her foundation was indeed a shortcut.

  Of course, Xu Ziyuan would not let go of the books in the library and the lectures on the first three days of each month.

  After saying goodbye to Xu Qingxue, looking at Xu Qingxue walking into the door with a sullen face, Xu Ziyuan smiled and shook her head, pushed open her own door and walked in.

  It was a quiet night, and the next day was the first day of the new month. It was also the first time for these new outer sect disciples to attend class. Early in the morning, Xu Ziyuan was woken up by knocks on the door from Xu Li, Xu Tie Niu, Xu Ling, and Xu De Zhi. As Xu Ziyuan walked out of her room, she saw Xu Qingxue also coming out of her room, and they headed together towards the lecture hall.