Back then, when the founding ancestor of Tianji Sect set up the Heaven and Earth Contract Grand Array, he certainly had not considered that it would one day be used by someone in the Qi Refining stage to form a contract.

The Heaven and Earth Contract was not immutable either. The efficacy of a contract formed by a Deity Transformation ancestor and that of a Qi Refining rookie were naturally worlds apart. Originally, this contract could restrain that sinful dragon to some extent; now, after being greatly discounted, it could barely allow Shu Tiantian to preserve her small life in front of that sinful dragon.

It was also because of this that the sinful dragon had not gone mad enough to kill Shu Tiantian in a mutually destructive end.

But the Dragon Bone Sword would never forget the terrifying look in its master’s eyes when he plucked those little white flowers, one by one.

Originally, that mad sinful dragon had almost gone back with sword in hand to kill someone, but for some reason, just as he returned to the sea of flowers with the sword, he stopped. No one knew what he had thought of; unexpectedly, he turned around with the sword and went back again.

Strangely enough, three days had passed, and Shu Tiantian was still alive and well.

But Ji Wushu’s divine sense was powerful, almost able to envelop the entire Void Abyss, so Shu Tiantian’s every move was practically under Ji Wushu’s observation.

The Dragon Bone Sword was extremely cautious, afraid that it would once again be buried in the dirt to eat dust by its damn master.

Who would have thought that these past few days, that sinful dragon had treated it especially well, always squinting as he observed that rookie while holding a cloth and lovingly wiping the Dragon Bone Sword from head to tail, occasionally flicking the thin blade. The Dragon Bone Sword felt flattered, yet also uneasy.

Although this contract array had already been weakened greatly due to damage and differences in cultivation… one had to know, the one bound by this array was Ji Wushu.

The ancestor of the Void Abyss, the existence that made the cultivation world tremble, the being the number one sect, Tianji Sect, painstakingly sought to deal with. The mere fact that Ji Wushu could not kill her was enough to be made into many articles.

But that Qi Refining rookie had not come to find Ji Wushu, had not touched the sinful dragon’s original form, and had not even used the power of the contract…

For three days, the little rookie had been single-mindedly practicing “Cultivator’s Beginner Basics — Light Body Technique.”

Each time she fell from midair, the Dragon Bone Sword could always feel its master’s slender fingers flick it once.

In the cultivation world, there was a type of cultivator who never needed to fight, each one delicate and frail, strictly protected from a young age, yet especially respected — medical cultivators.

Because medical cultivators could advance merely by treating illnesses and saving people, refining pills; this group was not good at fighting to begin with, so they simply gave up on it. In any case, there were always a large group of cultivators around them, willingly driven by medical cultivators for the sake of pills.

Unfortunately, the original Shu Tiantian had been one of the best among them.

Her talent in medical cultivation was peerless; her fragility was equally astonishing.

So imagine this: Tianji Sect cultivated a body of Heavenly Yin to approach Ji Wushu, successfully contracted this dragon, and then threw her alone into the Void Abyss, a nest of evil cultivators where Golden Core and Nascent Soul were everywhere — it inevitably made the Dragon Bone Sword suspect Tianji Sect’s intentions—

Could it be that they wanted the rookie to get herself killed by her own incompetence, thereby severely injuring Ji Wushu’s heart meridian and achieving a long-distance strike?

Unfortunately, the rookie was truly incompetent, yet also audacious beyond measure.

The Dragon Bone Sword looked at the delicate little white flower that had once again appeared by the sinful dragon’s ear and swallowed.

Looking again at the ground, unknowingly, flowers had already fallen all over it — one, two, three… the ground full of little white flowers.

The little medical cultivator probably did not know that while she slept, someone was staring at her gloomily while wiping his sword.

But the Dragon Bone Sword knew very clearly that the reason this little medical cultivator was still alive was probably—

She had not yet realized that she had already formed a contract with that evil dragon.

Moreover, she truly believed that Ji Wushu’s original form was dead, sincerely offering him flowers. The Dragon Bone Sword very much wanted to ask the little rookie whether she knew what kind of peerless great demon the dragon she was mourning was.

Today, the little medical cultivator seemed to be going out.

As usual, Shu Tiantian held up a fresh, beautiful morning daisy and pinned it by the dragon horn. She looked over this stretch of white flowers and always felt something was lacking. After thinking for a moment, she added “three sticks of incense” to her shopping list, reached out to fasten her veiled hat, tucked her small medicine box under her arm, and left.

After three days of practice, Shu Tiantian’s use of the Light Body Technique had already become fairly proficient.

The Light Body Technique was actually quite simple — roughly speaking, it meant injecting spiritual energy into the soles of one’s feet, allowing one to become light as a swallow and increase speed. With luck, one could even fly like in wuxia novels. It could barely be considered as adding a bit of confidence to Shu Tiantian.

Shu Tiantian even turned her outer robe inside out and made a veiled hat. Although it looked strange, it barely carried a bit of an evil cultivator’s flavor.

She tucked away her pitiful two spirit stones, plucked bald a small patch of Red Flame Flowers, and set off.

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On the other side.

Ever since that sword strike that split open the mountain gate announced Ji Wushu’s awakening, Tianji Sect had naturally fallen into chaos, even the sect master and the various elders were alarmed.

After all, Ji Wushu’s awakening was not good news for the entire cultivation world.

Twenty years ago, when the sinful dragon fell into slumber, the cultivation world had only then enjoyed a period of peace. Now that he had awakened again, calculating the time, it had been a full two thousand years since the cultivation world had joined forces to seal the sinful dragon.

Everyone knew that the thousand-year calamity was when Ji Wushu was at his weakest. The entire cultivation world had to brace itself and seize this once-in-a-millennium opportunity.

Yet misfortunes never come singly — Shu Tiantian still had not been found.

That day, Tianji Sect had sent countless people to search. The commotion was so great that one would almost think that some sect secret treasure had been lost, rather than a little medical cultivator in the Qi Refining stage.

Chixiao Immortal Lord, who had always concealed his emotions, had rarely shown them in recent days.

Originally, because Shu Tiantian could not be found for so long, Chixiao Immortal Lord had even lowered himself to borrow a star compass for the sake of his disciple. Unexpectedly, the star compass had been shattered to pieces by Ji Wushu’s single sword strike, and Shu Tiantian’s whereabouts once again became unknown.

On Sword Peak where Chixiao Immortal Lord resided, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

A girl in pink knocked on the door, yet after waiting a long time without hearing her master say “come in,” her gaze dimmed. Softly, at the doorway, she set down the item her martial uncle had asked her to pass along, then turned and left in a daze.

Ling Ruoshui bit her lip. Her delicate face was full of gloom, as if she had long grown used to her master’s indifference.

She knew that because Shu Tiantian had not been found for so long, her master was in a bad mood. A person already cold by nature was now even more distant.

However… Ling Ruoshui knew that there was nothing time could not wear away. After all, senior sister Shu Tiantian was already gone. Her master would eventually accept her.

A few days ago, when she had inexplicably taken the Red Flame Fire that should have been given to senior sister, she had not expected everything to go so smoothly.

But for some reason, an unease still lingered in Ling Ruoshui’s heart. After returning to her cave dwelling, she was truly restless. Almost impatiently, she opened the communication jade talisman, intending to ask Yuan Jingzhi.

She had already drafted her words in her heart, wanting to ask Brother Jingzhi about Shu Tiantian, but when the communication jade talisman flickered, Ling Ruoshui did not receive any reply.

Her fingers trembled. A bad premonition rose within her. Suddenly, she felt that perhaps… senior sister had not died.

She tried hard to comfort herself. Her greatest fault had only been letting slip news of senior sister. The moment the words had left her mouth, she had regretted it, but Yuan Jingzhi had blocked the heavenly lightning for her…

She knew she had not acted cautiously enough, but thinking about it, senior sister was a medical fanatic who cared about nothing except medical arts. How could she possibly connect it to her?

Thinking this, Ling Ruoshui let out a slight sigh of relief.

The graceful girl in pink regained her composure and, carrying the gifts she had prepared for the various senior brothers and sisters of Sword Peak, left her cave dwelling again. She believed that as long as she put in the effort, she would always gain others’ affection and become as likable as senior sister.

She had no idea that in the Void Abyss, at this very moment, Yuan Jingzhi had just turned into a ghost cultivator. He was no longer even counted as human, and naturally could not receive her message.

But he had not been idle. From elsewhere, he had learned that the three city lords had been severely injured by Ji Wushu.

Yuan Jingzhi’s heart stirred slightly. Having just turned into a ghost cultivator, he naturally needed to nourish himself and could not capture anyone for the time being.

In any case, now that he had become a ghost cultivator, he no longer had use for Shu Tiantian. If he were to report Shu Tiantian’s special qualities…

The Ghost Domain City Lord had just dropped an entire major realm in cultivation. Was he not in need of a furnac to heal? Not to mention Shu Tiantian’s particularity.

Thinking of how that little bitch had caused the person he cherished most to suffer grievances everywhere and even be treated as that little bitch’s substitute, and then thinking that the little bitch was now merely at the Qi Refining stage… perhaps dying without a whole corpse in the city lord’s hands would already be considered fortunate.

Thinking of this, Yuan Jingzhi felt a surge of delight. His spirit flickered, and he vanished from the Spirit-Nourishing Platform.

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When Shu Tiantian appeared again at the Black Valley Market, it was morning.

Probably because the sight of Shu Tiantian collapsing in the Red Flame Flower field a few days earlier had been so shocking, all the medical cultivators assumed that the furnace they had captured earlier had died. Thus, Shu Tiantian, wearing a veiled hat, did not attract much attention.

Of course, Shu Tiantian had only come to buy some fasting pills and inquire about ways to send messages, so as soon as she arrived, she headed straight into the market with a clear objective.

The market here was more or less the same as those Shu Tiantian had seen in period dramas — nothing more than simple stalls or pushcarts. Since most people here were medical cultivators, the things most commonly traded were also pills, spirit herbs, and the like.

The varieties of pills were especially strange — Soul-Severing Powder, Spring Desire Pellets… all displayed openly for sale, greatly widening bumpkin Tian’s horizons.

Along the way, naturally, some people covertly sized up the little girl wearing the veiled hat. Although these people did not have the ability to tell at a glance that Shu Tiantian possessed a body of Heavenly Yin, her cultivation level could not be concealed.

Among this group of evil cultivators where Golden Core was the starting point, a Qi Refining cultivator was like a little chick that had wandered into a pack of weasels.

In the Void Abyss, the strong devoured the weak. Killing for treasure or acting on lust was nothing unusual. The reason no one had made a move yet was simply because “when something is abnormal, there must be something strange.”

Who would believe that a little chick could swagger boldly among drooling weasels? And even stroll about calmly, as if simply out shopping.

Everyone instinctively assumed the chick must have some secret weapon.

Shu Tiantian, however, did not feel the least bit uneasy.

She wandered around once and only found a single stall selling fasting pills. After all, in the Void Abyss, almost everyone below Golden Core had already died, so items like fasting pills — things Qi Refining rookies needed — simply had no market.

After looking around, Shu Tiantian had a clear idea and walked straight toward the only stall selling fasting pills.

But just as Shu Tiantian reached the stall, asked the price, and was about to bargain with the old man, a grinning voice suddenly came from behind her. A baby-faced youth was smiling mischievously.

“Yo, all covered up, and only Qi Refining. Old man, you really dare sell things to her?”

Though the youth had a baby face, he was a well-known late Golden Core cultivator in Black Valley, famous for taking advantage of chaos and robbing others.

Even though her face was hidden, the girl’s figure was slender and her cultivation extremely low. She had been targeted the moment she entered the market. And since Shu Tiantian had wandered around for so long, her manner clearly that of a poor wandering cultivator, the baby-faced youth became even more unrestrained.

Shu Tiantian had long known that going out as a Qi Refining rookie was dangerous, so she was already mentally prepared.

The baby-faced youth tossed the knife in his hand, grinning. “It’s so dangerous here. If little sister just obediently hands over everything in that medicine box, big brother can take you out.”

This was blatant robbery.

The old stall owner did not seem to have any intention of stopping him, crossing his arms as if it had nothing to do with him.

The surrounding evil cultivators watching the show all revealed malicious smiles, as if delighted to witness the coming tragedy.

But Shu Tiantian remained unhurried. She patted her hands, stood up, and rummaged through her medicine box… pulling out a flower.

When everyone focused their gaze, they saw that the flower was red like fire, with faint flames seemingly burning fiercely — a Scarlet Flame Flower!

The people around instantly changed expressions. The baby-faced youth’s face also changed in an instant — faster than Sichuan opera face-changing. He immediately slipped away as if his feet were greased, fleeing as though he had seen a ghost.

And wasn’t it like seeing a ghost — that girl used her pale, slender fingers to take out one Scarlet Flame Flame Flower after another from the medicine box. Not only were her fingers not scorched black, she even pinned a circle of them onto her veiled hat.

A terrifying flame capable of burning living beings—

Yet now behaved obediently like mere hair ornaments.

Then, under everyone’s horrified gazes, Shu Tiantian took a large step forward—

She stepped forward once, and everyone else stepped back once.

By the time Shu Tiantian had swaggered around in a full circle, a semicircular vacuum zone had already formed in the crowd. It wasn’t that people were cowardly in the Void Abyss, even cultivators in the Body Integration stage would not dare touch the terrifying Scarlet Flame Flower.

Shu Tiantian returned to the stall smugly, took out a spirit stone, and handed it to the stall owner. The old man was so frightened he didn’t dare accept it and hurriedly tossed the two bottles of cheap fasting pills far away instead.

Yes, just moments ago the old man had been thinking of swallowing up all the valuable things on this girl’s person, but who would have thought he’d run into someone even more ruthless at black-eating-black.

Shu Tiantian, who had picked up fasting pills without spending a single coin: …..

She seemed to have discovered some kind of secret to getting rich.

The weak and easily bullied Qi Refining rookie thoughtfully looked toward the other stalls. The evil cultivators all felt their hearts jump, subconsciously rolling up their stalls and stepping back in unison.