Everyone ascended, but I didn't get on board

Chapter 143 The Wounds of Social Anxiety

"Careful!" Qiu Ci quickly stepped forward, grabbed the sickly man, and pulled him back to bed. "What happened to you? How did you get so badly injured?"

Although she had been gone for more than two years, she had given the three boys a lot of homework. Logically speaking, the three of them should have been able to advance even a small realm, let alone break through a major realm. In particular, Jing, who was socially awkward, was the most talented of the three, and it was even possible for him to advance to the Nascent Soul stage. But now, not only has his cultivation level not increased significantly, but there are even signs of regression.

What exactly happened while she was away?

"Where are Zhen Yi and Feng Ting? Where are they?" Jing Shang is so socially awkward, shouldn't they be by her side?

Just as the socially awkward Jing was about to answer, Zhen Yi's voice rang out from outside, tinged with urgency, "Senior Brother Jing, Master gave me a fourth-tier Rejuvenation Pill, your injury must be..."

Zhen Yi walked in excitedly, holding a bottle in both hands, but froze when he saw Chu Qiuci beside him, his eyes widening in disbelief, "Little...Little Sister Ci?!"

"Yeah." She responded.

Suddenly, as if he had confirmed something, Zhen Yi rushed over with a "Wah!" and grabbed her leg, wailing, "Wahhhhhh..."

He howled loudly, and for a moment it was hard to tell whether he was crying or laughing; he seemed to have gone mad.

"Alright, alright!" Qiu Ci tried to pull her leg away, but couldn't. "Let me go first."

"No!" Zhen Yi suddenly became stubborn, refusing to let go. "Sister Xiao Ci, you have no idea how hard these past two years have been for us..."

"Alright." Perhaps he was wailing too pitifully, she couldn't bear to kick him away, so she let him hold her. "Tell me, what happened? Why is Jing, who's so socially anxious, so badly injured?"

Zhen Yi wiped his nose before speaking, "It's all that brat Di Zifan's fault. If it weren't for his senior brother Jing, things wouldn't be like this now."

“Junior Brother Zhen…” Jing, who was socially anxious, hesitated before speaking, but a hint of sadness appeared on his face. “I lost to him because my skills were inferior. My injury should have nothing to do with him.”

"How is it unrelated?" Zhen Yi stood up abruptly, indignantly saying, "You were injured after that fight with him. It was just a superficial wound, but now it's getting worse. If you say it has nothing to do with him, not even a ghost would believe it."

"..." Jing, who was socially anxious, fell silent.

"Who is this Di Zifan?" Qiu Ci asked.

"He was introduced to Twin Star Academy a year ago." Zhen Yi clenched his fist and said indignantly, "He joined the Sword Pavilion just like Senior Brother Jing. He was originally only at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, but he has cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage in just one year. Everyone in the academy says he is a genius, and that he is expected to enter the Divine Transformation realm around the age of fifty. Some people even say that he is the second Master Chu. Humph! Does he even deserve to be compared with Sister Xiao Ci!"

"So, he's really quite talented. Then what's the story behind his battle with the socially awkward Jing?" she continued.

"It was him who provoked us first," Zhen Yi continued. "I don't know why, but this Di Zifan has been at odds with us ever since we entered the academy. We don't have any interaction with him, but after joining the Sword Pavilion, he repeatedly provoked Senior Brother Jing, insisting on a duel to see who was the number one disciple of the Sword Pavilion. Senior Brother Jing ignored him for a long time, but who knew that last time when we went out on a mission from the academy, he actually went to harass Junior Sister Feng. Senior Brother Jing could no longer tolerate it and finally fought him."

"And then he lost?" Qiu Ci frowned. Both of them turned pale. The socially awkward Jing lowered his head in shame, but Zhen Yi still said indignantly, "Sister Xiao Ci, that guy surnamed Di is not simple. We've never seen his moves or techniques before, and they don't seem to come from the academy. Moreover, when we fought, Senior Brother Jing clearly had the upper hand. But for some reason, his spiritual power suddenly surged, and Senior Brother Jing lost because his spiritual power couldn't keep up."

"Spiritual power surged..." Qiu Ci thought about it carefully. Could it be that the other party was hiding their cultivation level? But there are so many pavilion masters and elders in the academy. If they were hiding their cultivation level, it would be discovered when they entered the academy, unless the other party was at the Celestial Realm like her.

Furthermore, Jing, who is socially anxious, was taught the cultivation method by her own hands. She has opened more acupoints than ordinary cultivators, so her spiritual power should be more abundant. Under the condition of equal cultivation, there should be no situation where spiritual power is insufficient, let alone being challenged by someone of a higher level.

“It wasn’t just that time during the battle,” Zhen Yi continued. “After Senior Brother Jing was injured, it was clearly just his arm that was injured, and the wound healed in less than two days. But for some reason, his body suddenly became weak, and it didn’t get better even after several months. The teachers and the head of the Pill Pavilion came to see him several times, and they all said there was nothing wrong, just that his vital energy had been damaged. But we even tried fifth-grade pills, and it still didn’t get better.”

Qiu Ci quickly stepped forward and grabbed the wrist of the socially anxious Jing, carefully examining it and even using her divine sense to probe it back and forth. "The pulse does indeed show signs of only damage to vital energy, without any other injuries."

Seeing that she said the same thing, the two of them immediately looked downcast. Zhen Yi, who was more meticulous, insisted, "Sister Xiao Ci, take a closer look. Senior Brother Jing is indeed getting weaker day by day. I think that guy surnamed Di must have done something."

Qiu Ci naturally felt something was wrong. The socially anxious Jing's condition was not just a matter of damaging his vital energy; even his cultivation had been affected, and his spiritual energy was showing signs of dissipation.

"Don't rush, let me take another look." Since cultivation methods couldn't find the problem, she decided to try technology. She directly said in her mind, "System, check the body of Social Anxiety Jing."

[Yes, Master! Ding, medical module is starting up, diagnosis in progress...]

[Ding, diagnosis complete. Unknown toxin detected in the target's body. Currently, the toxin has spread to 70% of the target's body and is continuing to spread.]

"What?!" Her eyes widened in surprise; there really was a problem.

"Sister Xiaoci, how are you?" Zhen Yi asked worriedly.

Qiu Ci's face darkened. "He's been poisoned."

"I knew it!" Zhen Yi's anger flared up instantly. "That despicable Di Zifan really did use dirty tricks during the battle. Sister Xiao Ci, what kind of poison did Senior Brother Jing get? Why can't even the Pavilion Master see it?"

Qiu Ci was also very curious about what kind of poison couldn't be detected by magic. She directly took the hand of the socially anxious Jing and said, "I need a little of your blood." As she spoke, she mobilized her spiritual power and pricked his fingertip, squeezing out a drop of blood.

"Dog system, perform a test."

【Yes, Master!】The little ball of light flew over instantly, swallowed the drop of blood in one gulp, and then the whole ball began to flash red and green, with large amounts of data floating over the ball of light.

Soon, a ding sounded again.

[Ding! Blood routine test complete. Confirmed to contain C5-64A component, i.e., complex psychotropic toxoid.]

Psychological toxins!