Immortal Spirit Physique

“Uh... sorry, junior sister, I forgot to mention that Senior Sister came in through the back door.” Someone whispered into Yan Jue’s ear.

“..."

A pleasant, faint fragrance rose at the tip of her nose, as light as plum blossoms drifting through heavy snow.

Qi Xianqing was dressed in a white gown. The slender black sword she usually wore at her waist was not there now; instead, it hung across her back.

Her raven hair was loosely tied back, and her features were refined and gentle. In the daylight, her fair skin looked almost translucent, the perfect embodiment of icy flesh and jade bones.

Yan Jue had never seen the female lead, Qi Xianqing, this close before. Her skin, white as frost and snow, looked as if it could almost seep water; her brows and eyes were cool and distant as she glanced at Yan Jue, her immortal bearing unmatched.

Yan Jue could not help staring for a moment.

Meeting Yan Jue’s gaze, Qi Xianqing frowned slightly.

What was this person up to now?

The people around them actually had no idea where Lord Meng Heng would enter from. After spotting her figure, they all crowded over.

Well, an immortal beauty was worth staring at as many times as possible.

But when they saw Yan Jue somehow throw herself into Qi Xianqing’s arms, the surroundings suddenly fell silent.

Everyone held their breath and stared fixedly at the two people by the entrance.

A fight was about to break out.

The disciples of Five Dragons Mountain all knew there had been some friction between this fearless junior sister Yan and the Thunderflame Sect’s Senior Sister Qi...

Yan Jue of Watercloud Sect was infatuated with Chu Fu, but Chu Fu and the Thunderflame Sect’s Senior Sister had the dynamic of a gentle older sister and a wolfish younger puppy.

So Yan Jue and Senior Sister were love rivals.

Had she not done enough things to Senior Sister already?

For example, sneaking away her outer robe while Qi Xianqing was cultivating.

Or, just a few days ago, launching what could only be called a sensational challenge at Qi Xianqing in the grand plaza of the immortal sects.

These two people crossing paths now; wasn’t this perfect gossip material?

And who knew whether that collision just now had been deliberate...

If she’d thrown herself at someone like that, how could it possibly end without a few slaps flying?

All eyes were glued tightly to Yan Jue.

Then Yan Jue suddenly stepped back and dropped to her knees before Qi Xianqing, crying miserably, “Senior Sister, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you! I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to get out...”

Everyone froze.

Yan Jue had not meant to kneel on purpose, either.

It was just that this female lead, Qi Xianqing, was radiating a cold, murderous aura; Yan Jue did not know why her knees had suddenly gone weak, so weak she could not even find the strength to stand.

She tried several times to get up and failed each time.

Then she suddenly remembered that, as the famously renowned Lord Meng Heng of Five Dragons Mountain, Qi Xianqing had killed countless monsters under her sword.

And she also possessed the rare Immortal Spirit Physique, which naturally drew and restrained a demon like Yan Jue.

The original owner’s body held a complicated mix of love and hate, fear and affection toward Qi Xianqing.

Qi Xianqing looked at Yan Jue without speaking, her expression cold.

Under her strange gaze, Yan Jue knelt and crawled forward a few steps, then raised a hand to touch Qi Xianqing’s stomach. “Did I hit you just now? Does it hurt?”

Everyone: “???”

What happened to the slapping? Why was she suddenly touching people instead?

Qi Xianqing lowered her head to look at her. The girl was kneeling in front of her with a slender waist and a delicate curve at the hips; in such a submissive posture, she seemed capable of striking every swordsman’s weak point.

The plain gray-green outer sect robe that should have looked completely uniform somehow made her figure appear impossibly fine-boned and narrow-waisted, taking on a strangely alluring quality.

Qi Xianqing lifted her gaze slightly, and her brows furrowed deeper.

Yan Jue’s attention was not on that.

All she could think was that Qi Xianqing looked so slender, yet her body was not as fragile as it seemed; there seemed to be a thin layer of muscle over her abdomen.

That made sense. In modern times, a swordsman’s body would probably be the dream of countless girls in the queer scene.

She took a deep breath, trying hard to catch even the faintest trace of Qi Xianqing’s scent. Her whole body shivered with an inexplicable excitement.

She wanted to hug Qi Xianqing and really smell her.

And then...

Eat her blood???

At once, an arm came down on her shoulder. Qi Xianqing helped her up. “It’s fine. Junior Sister doesn’t need to kneel anymore.”

The instant Qi Xianqing touched her, Yan Jue felt an indescribable comfort, as if all the tension in her body had suddenly loosened and strength had returned to her legs.

Qi Xianqing moved forward a few steps. Yan Jue’s breathing went slightly uneven, and she subconsciously took a step back in caution; only to realize that Qi Xianqing’s expression was cold and indifferent, as though she had not even looked at her.

The woman’s manner was utterly frosty, like an immortal banished from heaven; her beautiful peach-blossom eyes carried a faint air of disdain as she strode straight ahead.

Yan Jue: “...”

So cold.

The female lead in the original novel was definitely a classic ice beauty.

Only then did Yan Jue notice that her own face was inexplicably hot.

Probably from fright.

Meeting the gossiping looks around her, she pulled a long face and quickly walked out.

Whether it was her imagination or not, she felt a gaze on her back.

It seemed like Qi Xianqing was looking at her.

-

By the time Yan Jue returned to her little wooden cottage, it was already late.

Although time was tight and she had already taken the mission token, Yan Jue definitely could not go down the mountain right away.

She still needed to get familiar with the cultivation and powers in her current body.

Only then could she be prepared.

The beginner tasks for outer sect disciples generally were not too difficult. The one Yan Jue had chosen today was in Qingye Town at the foot of Five Dragons Mountain, very close to the sect and convenient enough.

Yan Jue was not in a rush right now. She pulled open a drawer, found one of the original owner’s textbooks, and began flipping through it.

The original owner had gone up the mountain entirely for the male lead, and paid no attention to cultivation at all. Even the copy of Dao Edict: Foundation Establishment Volume in the drawer was brand new.

Yan Jue guessed the reason the original owner was now at the second realm, the Foundation Establishment Realm, was because she had transformed from a fox demon into a human; the bloodline of the Ghost Mansion Fox Clan let her skip the Qi Refining stage directly and enter Foundation Establishment from the start.

That was precisely the most troublesome part.

Ordinary disciples cultivated from Qi Refining. As the saying went, if the foundation was not solid, the whole structure would shake. The original owner relied on her bloodline to begin cultivation directly from Foundation Establishment. Perhaps that was common enough for a beast, since many spiritual pets raised by cultivators were already at the third or fourth realm when they were born.

But if one wanted to be a proper cultivator, that was not a good thing at all.

Cultivation had always been about taking things step by step, steadily and honestly.

If the Qi Refining foundation was poor, if comprehension of certain arts was too shallow, it would impose enormous limits on later cultivation.

Yan Jue did not want to be anyone’s spiritual pet.

The sun sank lower and lower. Yan Jue sat on the bed and flipped through the textbook for a while, only to feel her head growing heavier and heavier.

She could not understand it at all.

She would have to make a trip to the Library Pavilion and find some more basic books to read.

Just as she was thinking that, Yan Jue suddenly heard a knock at the door.

Yan Jue opened the door and saw her neighbor Du Ying standing outside, grinning at her. “Junior Sister Yan, the Watercloud Sect’s Junior Brother Chu came looking for you today. He’s been waiting outside for a long time.”

Yan Jue thought that switching dormitories had been a blessing. Chu Fu knew the original owner so well; if she’d still been in the old place, that man might already have been lying on her bed by the time she got back.

Du Ying asked, “Junior Sister Yan, did you see Senior Sister Qi when you went to the Administrative Hall today?”

Yan Jue: “...Yeah. Why?”

Du Ying: “Did you come up with some new way to mess with people? Why were you touching her all over?”

Yan Jue: “..."

She had always been the sort to attract trouble, and today in the Administrative Hall, she really had just been worried she had bumped Qi Xianqing too hard.

Besides, they were both women. What was wrong with touching between women?

Still, thinking about it now, the other woman was already at the peak of the tenth level of the Opening Light Realm; how could Yan Jue possibly have bumped her hard enough to hurt Lord Meng Heng?

What mattered more than that was something else that had caught Yan Jue’s attention in the hall today.

Du Ying laughed. “They’re saying you must have been practicing some kind of ‘soft bone palm.’ One touch on Senior Sister, and in a few days her bones will all melt away.”

Yan Jue: “..."

Yan Jue frowned. “I really didn’t see her standing at the entrance.”

Du Ying: “Mm, all the rooms over on Buzhou Peak have concealment curtains hanging at the doors. If you’re on the left side of the curtain and your cultivation isn’t high enough, you won’t be able to see what’s on the right side. Junior Sister, you’re at early Foundation Establishment, right? Then of course you couldn’t see what was beyond the curtain.”

Yan Jue suddenly understood. No wonder she had clearly seen no one beyond the curtain, only to collide with Qi Xianqing as soon as she stepped forward.

After chatting with Du Ying for a couple of sentences, Yan Jue suddenly changed the subject and asked, “Senior Sister, do you know what an ‘Immortal Spirit Physique’ is?”

Du Ying froze. “Immortal Spirit Physique? Why are you asking about that all of a sudden?”

Yan Jue: “I was flipping through some books just now and saw the term, so I got curious.”

Du Ying: “The Immortal Spirit Physique is an extremely rare constitution in the cultivation world. It’s almost extinct now. People with this physique... are born with tremendous talent in cultivation. It’s just...”

Yan Jue’s eyes flickered. “Just what?”

Du Ying: “When things go to the extreme, they reverse. Throughout history, every great expert with an Immortal Spirit Physique has been a cultivation genius, but their blood is naturally loved by monsters because it can improve cultivation, so they always attract all kinds of evil things. If they’re not careful, they can easily go berserk and fall into demonic deviation. Anyway... anyway, the few I’ve heard of who had this physique did not end well.”

That was it! In the original novel, Qi Xianqing was the once-in-a-century Immortal Spirit Physique.

Like all cultivation novels, The Heavenly Dao Is Hard to Seek also set up all kinds of cheat-like gifts.

For example, the male lead’s wind spiritual root.

And the female lead’s heaven-sent mutated lightning spiritual root.

Then there were all sorts of overpowered constitutions.

Like a spiritual body, where someone born with that constitution was naturally adept at mental arts.

Or an enlightenment body, where someone with that constitution had exceptionally clear bones and was a perfect seedling for seeking the Dao.

And Qi Xianqing’s Immortal Spirit Physique was a special constitution seen only once in countless lifetimes.

Because of it, Qi Xianqing was an undisputed cultivation genius, reaching the third realm, the Opening Light Realm, at a very young age, and later sweeping through everything in her path.

If she had not ultimately fallen to the male lead...

Still, when things go to the extreme, they reverse; the blood of the Immortal Spirit Physique naturally attracted beasts and monsters.

That must be why she had reacted so strangely to Qi Xianqing in the Administrative Hall today.

Yan Jue was a fox demon, and Qi Xianqing’s body and blood both held a deadly attraction for her.

To Yan Jue, Qi Xianqing was basically a piece of Tang Monk meat.

“..."

The fact that Qi Xianqing possessed an Immortal Spirit Physique had always been a secret; the only people who should know were Qi Xianqing herself and her master, the Thunderflame Sect’s Sect Master, Daoist Yun Zhenzi.

Du Ying: “The Immortal Spirit Physique also has another nickname. Do you know it, Junior Sister?”

Yan Jue blinked slightly. “What nickname?”

Du Ying: “The ultimate double-cultivation treasure!!!”

Yan Jue: “..."

Du Ying: “Who wouldn’t want to find an Immortal Spirit Physique dao companion to dual cultivate with!”

Then this really had been a bargain for the male lead.

Yan Jue suddenly thought of Qi Xianqing’s stunning face, and imagined her later lying in the male lead’s arms, acting coquettish; the male lead kissing her stomach, and then her bearing a child for him.

“...” Yan Jue really could not imagine how an ice beauty like Qi Xianqing would act coquettishly.

Maybe all the women in the original novel would have their IQ drop the moment they met the male lead.

Yan Jue carefully asked Du Ying several more questions, and learned that Five Dragons Mountain’s Library Pavilion was in Jingang Peak, the main peak of Five Dragons Mountain, not too far from here. So she decided that since it was still early, she might as well go to the Library Pavilion and borrow a few basic cultivation books.

Yan Jue deliberately chose the shorter route.

She passed through a tree-lined stone path and stepped onto the vast, seemingly boundless Seek Immortality Plaza.

After walking for about the time it took to burn an incense stick, she still had not seen the Library Pavilion and somehow found herself at an ethereal-looking courtyard.

Yan Jue stopped, a little surprised.

The courtyard was enclosed by a fence. There were the sounds of chickens and dogs within; it carried a rather pastoral, leisurely charm.

Inside the fence seemed to be... a pool!

A faint orchid fragrance lingered in the air, mixed with the rich moisture of water vapor.

There also seemed to be a dense spiritual aura there; just inhaling it made one feel refreshed.

Yan Jue looked inside and suddenly felt a jolt in her heart. For some reason, her heartbeat instantly sped up!

She had a vague sense that something was not right. This body of the original owner still retained many of her instincts.

And this inexplicable flutter in her heart was often because...

As expected, the next second Yan Jue saw a familiar figure behind the curtain.

Chu Fu was wearing only a pair of white underpants, his upper body bare, a snow-white towel draped over one shoulder, crystal water droplets sliding down his neck.

Moonlight poured down from the night sky, faintly revealing the smooth lines of the muscles across the young man’s abdomen.

As expected of the male lead. If the best brushstrokes in the whole book were given to Qi Xianqing, then on the male side, without question, they were all given to Chu Fu.

Chu Fu had just finished bathing in the spirit pool. Thinking it was late and there would not be many people around, and as a man he did not need to be so careful, he had gone out without putting on his outer robe.

Then he suddenly lifted his eyes and saw Yan Jue standing not far away.

This woman truly could not resist coming back for him. Just a few days ago she had beaten him until he coughed up blood; today she was already unable to stop herself from coming to look for him again.

Chu Fu curved his lips, put his hands on his hips, and walked slowly toward Yan Jue. “A Jue, why did you have time to come find me today?”

Yan Jue’s face darkened. “I just happened to pass by. You really are a bit too full of yourself.”

Chu Fu did not care in the least about her coldness, knowing Yan Jue was always willful and liked to throw little tantrums.

Anyway, for the sake of the yin essence in this wretch’s body, he did not mind humbling himself a little and coaxing her.

That yin essence... would eventually be his.

Thinking that, Chu Fu smiled and came closer, lowering his eyes to her. “I’m just curious, what made you so angry? Let me guess; is it because you went to spar with Qi Xianqing that day, and you’re blaming me for not helping you? Don’t worry. Once I break through to the Opening Light Realm in the future, I’ll avenge you.

“That Qi Xianqing is a woman anyway. I’m afraid her limit in this lifetime will only be the Opening Light Realm.”

As he spoke, he brushed Yan Jue’s face. “All right? Darling.”

Before Chu Fu even finished speaking, a kick slammed into his waist. He let out a breath and was sent flying several zhang away, crashing hard into the fence over there.

Yan Jue: “You pervert. Stay away from me.”

She now truly understood the benefits of having a high cultivation level.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator against a Qi Refining cultivator; the advantage was often overwhelming.

Chu Fu froze, clutching his chest tightly. “A Jue, I love you with all my heart. Why are you treating me like this?!”

Yan Jue: “Save that for your Senior Sister Qi!”

-

“What kind of flirting is this?” Zhou Leng stood on a rock and looked over there.

She had just come out of the Library Pavilion and happened to pass Qingmu Pavilion when she saw this scene.

Zhou Leng had been thinking how unlucky it was to run into that person being all lovey-dovey with Chu Fu.

Who would have thought that in the next second, Chu Fu would be sent flying by Yan Jue.

Qi Xianqing stood with her arms folded, leaning against a tree, and shook her head.

She never showed her emotions on her face. Her white gown fluttered in the wind, giving off an indescribably clean, sharp impression.

Zhou Leng asked, “Senior Sister, what exactly is she trying to do?”

Qi Xianqing: “She’s afraid, so she doesn’t dare have any involvement with Chu Fu.”

Zhou Leng: “Huh? That guy would be afraid of you? Wasn’t she fearless?”

Courage could be put on as a show, but fear could not be hidden.

Qi Xianqing herself did not know why the person who had been able to stab at her with a dagger just a few days ago now seemed to fear her so much.

So much that she could not even stand steadily.

Qi Xianqing narrowed her eyes, a trace of interest flashing through them, before it vanished into her habitual detachment and coolness.

Interesting.