Chapter 33: The Little Girl is Indeed Different

“How many do you want to buy?” Xie Jiuniang’s eyes sparkled as she looked at the three of them. “There are free gifts! The more you buy, the more you’ll get.”

Cheng Huaixin’s words had reminded the trio that although they had come to participate in the sect’s assessment with a mission, it was also a rare opportunity. They might as well seize the chance and try their luck.

Thus, the three emptied their pockets and exchanged their spirit stones for the talismans, medicinal pills, and formation disks they needed from Xie Jiuniang, spending over 3,000 spirit stones in total.

Xie Jiuniang grinned from ear to ear. “I’ll give each of you an Agility Talisman and ten pounds of jerky as a gift.”

The trio seemed to have no objections.

However, a male cultivator casually reminded, “Fellow Daoist Xie, I can forgo my free gift. Do you have any hairpins? Why don’t you give one to Axing? She accidentally broke hers earlier.”

“Ah? I do have one. I bought it at the market a couple of days before the exam.” Xie Jiuniang readily agreed. “Let me find it. My things are a bit messy.”

Sun Axing’s heart swelled with excitement.

The other two were equally thrilled.

Just as Xie Jiuniang was about to take it out, several people walked out of the cave.

Gan Long enthusiastically came over and grabbed Sun Axing’s arm. “Sister Axing, why didn’t you tell me earlier that you needed a hairpin? I have a few new styles that I’ve never used. I’ll give them to you.”

Before Sun Axing could respond, Gan Long smilingly stuffed a lotus-shaped jade hairpin into her hand.

Xie Jiuniang chuckled. “That one is much prettier than my wooden hairpin. Mine isn’t worth much. I bought it at the market for a few spirit beads.”

Sun Axing was so angry she felt like vomiting blood. Who the hell wanted a jade hairpin? She wanted the wooden hairpin!

The other two were also feeling frustrated.

At this critical moment, someone had come to interfere. They couldn’t help but suspect that Gan Long and her companions might have the same goal as them.

The two groups’ gazes met, chilling sparks flying between them.

Even though they didn’t know why their superiors wanted a little girl’s wooden hairpin, and it was strange that they were required not to draw the hairpin owner’s attention, the wooden hairpin was undoubtedly very important.

Xie Jiuniang handed the gifts to Sun Axing and the other two, then packed up the half-dried roasted meat.

“Fellow Daoist Xie, you are…” The others quickly asked when they saw Xie Jiuniang packing her things.

Xie Jiuniang smiled and said, “I’m leaving first. You can rest at your own pace.”

Gan Long asked, “Aren’t you going to wait for everyone to go together?”

“No, I originally planned to take the exam alone.”

Xie Jiuniang’s words surprised Gan Long and the others. After enduring hardships together for a night, you suddenly tell us that you’re still alone? How heartless!

She had freeloaded off them for an entire night.

Xie Jiuniang slapped two Agility Talismans on her legs. “Fellow cultivators, I’ll be taking my leave. Let’s meet again if fate allows.”

Inside the cave, only Cheng Huaixin and the cyan-robed cultivator remained, each occupying one side.

They had learned about the situation outside. Xie Jiuniang had left.

The cyan-robed cultivator opened his eyes, his pupils like cold blades. “From the Lin family?”

Cheng Huaixin felt a chill in his heart. “Who might you be…?” 

“You don’t need to know.” The cyan-robed cultivator stood up. “From now on, we don’t need to travel together. Let’s rely on our own abilities.”

The cyan-robed cultivator was the first to leave.

Before leaving, he told Gan Long and the others not to follow him and to focus on the sect’s assessment. Hearing this, the group were overjoyed and bowed in gratitude towards the direction he had left.

Cheng Huaixin and his three companions also left. They went to pursue Xie Jiuniang.

Xie Jiuniang had initially wanted to change directions because the mountain peak ahead was where she had encountered danger in her previous life. However, she hesitated again.

She had just finished her business there, then suddenly changed directions and stopped at the waterfall for half a day. Connecting these three events might arouse Mo Chuan’s suspicion.

In the end, Xie Jiuniang decided to continue moving forward.

When she passed by the mountain peak, she had thought that since the Hundred Year Qi-Condensing Lingzhi had been taken by her and the hawk had been killed by the Broken Sword, she had disrupted Mo Chuan’s plan.

However, as she passed by again, she caught a faint whiff of medicinal fragrance. 

Xie Jiuniang’s expression turned slightly cold. What did this mean?

It meant that Mo Chuan was determined to obtain her fortuitous encounter.

Indirectly, it also meant that the other party didn’t suspect that she had taken the Lingzhi, which was a good thing. Besides, there was no reason not to accept good things that were delivered to her doorstep.

Xie Jiuniang spent some time confirming the source of the medicinal fragrance.

Last time, the Lingzhi was buried in the eastern cliff face a hundred feet away. This time, it was on the southern side… the same mountain peak but a different location.

This time, it was a rare, high-grade spiritual plant called the Seven Leaf Flower, a renowned antidote in the cultivation world. According to legend, consuming the entire plant would make one immune to all poisons. Of course, it was just a rumor, and its authenticity remained to be verified, but its ability to detoxify was certain.

Mo Chuan possessed many valuable items.

But why was this fellow targeting her? Shouldn’t he be focused on her eldest sister at this time?

Xie Jiuniang didn’t rush to pick the flower.

Instead, she approached the cliff face and dug a small cave large enough to accommodate her body. She set up defensive and concealment formations before taking out the Time Leaf.

This time, she first took a mouthful of spiritual liquid before activating the precognition.

[Successfully climbing up the cliff, she reached a distance of two feet from the Seven Leaf Flower. Suddenly, a golden-ringed snake shot out from a crevice in the cliff and bit her. She fell from a hundred feet high. The cyan-robed cultivator appeared just in time to catch her in midair…]

Twelve breaths later, the vision was about to end.

Xie Jiuniang quickly swallowed the spiritual liquid in her mouth, and the scene continued.

[Safely landing on the ground, he fed her an antidote pill and helped her clear the remaining poison… Then, he said that a life-saving favor should be repaid on the spot and took away the wooden hairpin.]

The vision abruptly ended. Xie Jiuniang emerged from the river of time, the spiritual power in her dantian drained which caused her face to pale.

Xie Jiuniang quickly consumed a Qi Nurturing Pill and swallowed a mouthful of spiritual liquid. She then meditated to restore her spiritual powers.

Next, she needed to plan carefully.

High-grade spiritual plants were rare and priceless. Most of them appeared in various auction houses, and cultivators usually used them to exchange for resources.

As for the cyan-robed cultivator’s insistence on saving her, she would let him come to her rescue…

After preparing for another half an hour, the defensive and concealment formations outside Xie Jiuniang’s hidden cave disappeared. She emerged from the cave, dressed in simple daoist robes and looking energetic.

Mo Chuan, who had been observing Xie Jiuniang from the shadows, felt that Lin Wangchen indeed had some insight. The Xie family’s little girl was indeed different from the others.

She was a bit cheap and with a particularly thick face^[1]Shameless.

The Mo family also had detailed records about the Child of Destiny, but there had never been an oddball like her..

Some time ago, when the beloved chosen of the Heavenly Dao appeared, Mo Chuan received a message from his family.

The family sent people to assist him, hoping that he would seize the opportunity to obtain one or two great fortuitous encounters.

While everyone else had their eyes on Xie Ying, he was the only exception. He sent all his people to monitor Lin Wangchen.

As childhood rivals who had fought each other for years, Mo Chuan knew Lin Wangchen best.

Lin Wangchen was a meticulous thinker. On the surface, he was a gentle and upright gentleman, but in reality, his actions were sinister and ruthless.

If anyone could find the Child of Destiny the fastest and obtain their fortuitous encounters, Mo Chuan believed it would be none other than Lin Wangchen.

Moreover, keeping a close eye on Lin Wangchen was much less troublesome than searching for the destined child!

Sure enough, before the assessment, he received news that Lin Wangchen had arranged for people to participate in the sect’s assessment, targeting a wooden hairpin on Xie Jiuniang. Coincidentally, the little girl was from the Xie family in Yunmu City, the same family as the Child of Destiny.

The wooden hairpin… could it be a fortuitous opportunity?

Whether it was or not, it was better to snatch it first…

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