Dual cultivation makes you stronger, everyone else is a prodigy, and I'm the only one slacking

Yu Luoning suppressed her excitement, closed the scroll, and began to count the spoils in her Qiankun bag.

The white jade sealing box contains precious medicinal materials such as seven-leaf jade dew, snow lotus, and green orchid.

If I learn alchemy in the future, these will all come in handy, so there's no need to rush to exchange them.

However, the hides and bones of the demonic beasts that I cut off with my own body can be exchanged for spirit stones.

Yu Luoning estimated the value.

She was initially quite happy, but looking at the densely packed tents, she felt a strange sense of unease, because most of the things here were given to her by Shi Shangxu, or were handled by him.

Even capitalists aren't as ruthless as her.

But how can matters of the heart be explained clearly?

The night grew deeper, and as midnight approached, a mountain breeze entered the forest, carrying a hint of dampness.

Yu Luoning found a secluded spot with a cliff on one side and a dense forest on the other.

Standing in the center of the open space, she slowly lowered her eyes and began to circulate her inner energy.

It's a good time to try out the Nirvana Fire copied from Shi Shangxu.

In an instant, she awakened a wisp of crimson-gold Nirvana flame in her sea of ​​consciousness.

"Bang!"

A fiery dragon leaped out, smashing through distant rocks.

She then channeled her spiritual power, and two or three streaks of crimson-gold flames swirled in the air, their power far exceeding his expectations.

Even if Angela came, we'd still have to praise her for her skillful use of magic.

Compared to the three small fireballs from Shi Shangxu, my version is terrifyingly strong.

Thinking of this, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

Yu Luoning took a deep breath, looked up at the waning moon in the sky, and the anxiety in her heart slowly subsided.

Tomorrow I will go and dispose of those monster skeletons.

When Shi Shangxu returned to Jianfeng, it was already pitch black.

As soon as he stepped into the training ground, he bumped into several of his fellow disciples.

Shi Shangxu smiled helplessly, knowing at a glance that his senior brothers had deliberately waited for him there.

Shi Shangxu stopped and bowed respectfully to his fellow disciples, a hint of guilt in his expression: "I'm sorry, I was indeed in a hurry yesterday. My cousin encountered danger in the valley, and in my haste, I left you all behind. I hope you will forgive me!"

"Is it my cousin again?" The group exchanged glances and a tacit murmur broke out.

"Alright, alright, everyone knows you. You're always talking about your cousin."

"Don't worry, we won't hold this against you."

"When the love bell rang today, you looked completely distracted. We were worried, so we've been waiting for you here. How did it go? Did you manage to rescue your cousin?"

Shi Shangxu's ears felt slightly warm, and he nodded and cupped his hands in greeting: "Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother! My cousin is alright now."

The young man named Lin Ye patted him on the shoulder, smiling meaningfully, "But if you ask me, you'd be better off forming a Daoist partnership with your cousin. That way, she can come into the inner sect with you. With our Sword Peak as your backer, who would dare to give her a hard time?"

"Yes, junior brother, our master isn't such a rigid person. When are you going to bring your cousin over so we can get to know someone?"

Shi Shangxu felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

He understood his senior brother's meaning: to bring his cousin to Sword Peak to be recognized by everyone, so that if Ningning encountered trouble in the sect in the future, his senior brothers could lend a helping hand.

Shi Shangxu pursed his lips and bowed respectfully to his senior brothers: "Thank you for the reminder, senior brothers. However... I still need to discuss this matter with my cousin."

He really wasn't sure whether he was willing or not.

After saying this, the group headed towards the cave together.

The road from the training ground to the cave is not far, and there are ancient pines on both sides of the road, their needles rustling in the night wind.

As they walked, Shi Shangxu turned to Lin Ye, with whom he had a close relationship, and asked, "Do any of you senior brothers know where you can get the most mission points lately?"

Shi Shangxu asked very seriously.

Senior Brother Lin was stunned: "Are you crazy? You just entered the inner sect, and we've all seen how hard you've worked these past two weeks. But junior brother, I still have to remind you, cultivation is the most important thing. Constantly taking on missions will only hinder your own progress in cultivation, it's not worth it."

Shi Shangxu pursed his lips but did not respond.

He was actually unsure whether Luo Ning was willing to become his Daoist partner.

If she wished, she could follow him directly into the inner sect, and everything would be easy.

If she was unwilling, then he would have to find a way to gather 100,000 contribution points for her so that she could participate in the assessment as an outer disciple.

Simply by slaying monsters and gathering spirit herbs in the outer sect, it would take forever to accumulate enough.

I naturally wanted to make up the difference for her.

Otherwise, two years would be nothing but empty talk.

"It's nothing, I just want to save up more to exchange for pills," Shi Shangxu said dismissively.

Lin Ye waved his hand: "Alright, alright, then go to the mission hall tomorrow and see if there's a job to hunt down a poisonous dragon. It's dangerous, but the points are high."

Write down the order of the times and the order of the merchants.

When they reached the fork in the road, they each returned to their respective caves.

Suddenly, Shi Shangxu spoke up, stopping the most dashing Duan Tianya.

"Senior brother, please wait."

Duan Tianya turned around: "Junior Brother, is there anything else?"

Shi Shangxu stood still, a faint blush creeping onto his usually aloof and snow-white face.

He opened his lips, but couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

This sight amused Duan Tianya.

"I'm not saying this to be mean, but what are you doing, you big man? Why are you dawdling like this? If you keep doing this, I'll think you're interested in me, and I'll get scared."

Duan Tianya feigned panic, crossed his arms over his chest, and made faces, looking like he was being teased.

Shi Shangxu was speechless. He took a deep breath and looked up at the night sky.

Well, since I've already said it.

Shi Shangxu asked, "Senior brother, do you have... a fire-avoidance diagram?"

Duan Tianya froze, wondering if he had misheard. He even rubbed his ear: "You said you wanted to borrow what? A fire-avoidance diagram?"

"You little rascal, so you were just pretending to be righteous all along?"

Shi Shangxu lowered his head even further, his ears turning so red they looked like they were about to bleed.

He hadn't intended for it to be this way, but the scene in the cave kept flashing through his mind. Afterwards, although Luo Ning smiled, his brows were slightly furrowed, and a lingering sorrow hung between his brows. He might be a bit slow-witted, but he wasn't stupid.

It's fairly clear that Luo Ning... isn't very satisfied with his skills.

I just didn't want to discourage him.

"I want to learn more tricks."

Since he had already spoken, he decided to go all out and earnestly ask Duan Tianya for advice, vaguely explaining what had happened that day.

Duan Tianya was utterly shocked after hearing this.

"What? You think your technique is bad?"

"No... my cousin didn't..."

"Oh, don't bother explaining. It's my first time, I understand."

Duan Tianya patted him on the shoulder, adopting the air of someone who had been through it all.

The order of the times was silent.

I was unsure whether to thank my senior for his understanding or to offer an explanation.

It seems impossible to explain clearly.

Duan Tianya patted his chest and said, "Junior Brother Shi, wait a moment, I'll go find it for you right away. I guarantee that after you've read it all, you will be the light of my Sword Peak, a pillar supporting the sky, invincible."

Shi Shangxu nodded blankly.

Duan Tianya rushed into the cave like the wind.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Duan Tianya returned, carrying a small Qiankun bag in his hand. The bag was stuffed full, and the opening could hardly be closed.

Duan Tianya handed it over.

"Here you go. These are all treasures I've collected over the years, and I'm giving them all to you. Hehe, I wish you a speedy mastery of them."

Shi Shangxu remained silent for a moment.

"Then... thank you very much, senior brother."