A Fierce Ghost Battles a Celestial Master!

In truth, Zhou You had long wanted to warn Su Tingxue, but she would not listen to a word he said. Her eyes held only Nuomi. Zhou You pressed a hand to his forehead. His image was ruined. He hadn't gone looking for trouble with anyone. Su Tingxue had never been this humiliated in her life. For a moment she did not know what to do. Seeing this, the classmates grew even more certain of the guess they had just made. Rumors sprang up at once, the evidence seemingly ironclad. "So the two of them are in that kind of relationship?" "I couldn't tell." Zhou You called Su Tingxue several times and got no response. The classroom was growing livelier by the moment. Feeling that this could not go on, he had no choice but to pull her outside. "Hey, wait for me." Nuomi hurried after them. She could pass up any other commotion, but Su Tingxue's was one she absolutely had to join. Just as they left the classroom, they ran into Chu Xiaoyao returning from the restroom. She was shaking the water from her hands. Seeing Zhou You hurrying over, Chu Xiaoyao froze. "Where are you going?" "You come too." Zhou You dragged along the baffled Chu Xiaoyao. Su Tingxue could see Nuomi, and even seemed confident she could deal with her. Her identity and methods were clearly unusual. She might be an immortal cultivator of this world, and in that regard Chu Xiaoyao was the professional. "Hey, hey, don't drag me. I can walk on my own." Chu Xiaoyao saw Zhou You pulling Su Tingxue along, and the classmates' expressions turned suggestive. Even the Carefree Empress's cleverness had not caught on to what had happened. "He's holding hands with another one." "The nerve." "A scumbag, sure enough." The classmates talked among themselves, and Chu Xiaoyao was utterly lost. She had only gone to the bathroom. How had he already ended up holding hands with Su Tingxue? The three of them and one ghost came to the downstairs corridor. The first- and second-year students had not started school, so the place was empty. With no one watching, Su Tingxue gradually calmed and returned to her usual cool aloofness. She bowed to Zhou You. "Thank you, classmate, for getting me out of that." Zhou You was clear-headed, nothing like someone bewitched by a fierce ghost. She had misjudged. Zhou You was just about to speak when Nuomi rushed over, unable to wait to mock her. "So this day came for you too. Lost face, didn't you!" Su Tingxue paid no mind to Nuomi's childish provocation and said calmly, "What is losing face? It is merely a trial of the Dao heart." "If your clumsy mockery is only for the sake of fighting me, then strike." How could Nuomi withstand a provocation like that? She flared up at once. "As if I'd be afraid of you?!" Nuomi lunged. Su Tingxue had expected this. She raised a hand and pinched a talisman from her pants pocket, so fast that Zhou You did not even react. The yellow-paper talisman burned of its own accord and became a ball of yang fire that flew at Nuomi. This was natal yang fire Su Tingxue had nurtured with her heart's blood, which most restrains ghosts. Zhou You stared in surprise at the talisman in Su Tingxue's hand. This was the first time he had seen an immortal cultivator's methods. Without a doubt, Su Tingxue was the same as he was. Both were immortal cultivators. Noticing how calm Chu Xiaoyao was, Zhou You asked in puzzlement, "It looks like Su Tingxue is an immortal cultivator. Aren't you surprised?" "What's there to be surprised about?" Chu Xiaoyao shook her head. "Isn't this something we already knew?" "You already knew?" This time it was Zhou You's turn to be surprised. Hadn't Chu Xiaoyao only transmigrated back two days ago? "On the Hongmeng Continent, the Dao De Jing is a top-tier cultivation method. That means Laozi was an immortal cultivator, and it further means our world is one where people can cultivate. An immortal cultivator isn't strange." "True." Zhou You nodded. Chu Xiaoyao's thinking was clear after all. Bringing her over had been the right choice. The natal yang fire was reflected in Chu Xiaoyao's pupils. She scoffed. "Back then, this seat condensed ice into a sword and cut down nine suns with a single strike. Heaven and earth fell silent, and the powers of utmost yin and utmost yang all submitted at this seat's feet. This little flame isn't fit to be shown." Nuomi's body was nimble. She tilted her head and dodged the natal yang fire. The natal yang fire had missed Nuomi, yet a rare smile touched Su Tingxue's face. Her technique would not be so simple, of course. The natal yang fire halted hard in midair and shot straight for Nuomi's back! As if she had long been prepared, Nuomi swayed, and with an eerie movement technique easily dodged the natal yang fire striking from behind. Unwilling to give up, Su Tingxue controlled the natal yang fire and sent it after Nuomi. The yang fire was extremely fast, chasing Nuomi through the narrow corridor, but Nuomi reacted even faster and dodged every strike. Controlling the yang fire cost Su Tingxue dearly. Before long, sweat began to bead on her forehead! Suddenly Nuomi dodged the yang fire and sharply accelerated, closing in on Su Tingxue. Su Tingxue meant to defend, but her mind was still on the yang fire. For a moment she was all flustered. She was a step too slow drawing out a defensive talisman. Nuomi extended a finger, tapped her on the forehead, and used a secret art to draw out the fear deep in her heart. "Heh!" Su Tingxue went blank. In the next moment, without any warning, she dropped to her knees with a thud. She clutched her chest and gasped for breath, greedily drawing in the fresh air as if she had just lived through a parting of life and death. The arms holding her up would not stop trembling. She had lost. Once again Nuomi had drawn out the thing she feared most. "Hmph. Fight me? Go train another two years." Nuomi pulled a face at Su Tingxue. Seeing Su Tingxue so weak she did not even have the strength to stand, Nuomi was very satisfied with the result of this fight. This was the proper effect of being swayed by inner fear. Chu Xiaoyao's case had been nothing but an exception. Nuomi turned and flashed Zhou You a victory pose, baring two rows of clean white teeth and smiling with smug delight. In the sunlight, her figure looked unreal. At the sight, Zhou You resignedly went over, helped Su Tingxue up, and asked with concern, "Are you all right? I thought you were pretty strong." Zhou You meant it. When Su Tingxue first appeared, her presence had been formidable, like a snow lotus on a high mountain, the kind that made a person keep a respectful distance. She had looked every inch an expert. He had not expected Nuomi to defeat her so easily. Zhou You shot Nuomi a glare. "Can't you show a little restraint? You didn't hold back at all." Nuomi looked at Zhou You innocently. "I didn't think she'd be this weak either." "Cough, cough, cough—" Su Tingxue felt as if she had suddenly been stabbed, and broke into a violent fit of coughing. Although Zhou You sounded concerned and seemed to be on her side, thanks hovered at her lips, and she could not get the word out no matter what. Zhou You, was it? She would remember him for this. She performed an ancient courtesy and introduced herself. "I am Su Tingxue, disciple of True Person Muyu of Mount Longhu. And you two fellow Daoists are?" During the fight just now, she had noticed from the corner of her eye that the pair showed no surprise at her methods. That meant they were the same kind as she was. Both were people of cultivation. Mount Longhu? Zhou You froze. Zhou You had of course heard the name Mount Longhu. It was one of Daoism's seventy-two blessed lands, the ancestral court of the Celestial Master lineage of Zhengyi Dao, famous because Zhang Daoling, founder of Zhengyi Dao in the Eastern Han, had refined elixirs there. Incense offerings had never ceased since. Whether among the common people or at court, it had held great influence through every dynasty. He suddenly realized his way of thinking had not fully shifted. He himself could cultivate by means of the Dao De Jing, and Nuomi was a real ghost. This world was probably not as simple as he had previously thought. If so, then Mount Longhu's standing was truly as the records said: its fame resounded, and experts emerged without end. Taking the thought a step further, what of the other renowned sites of Daoism and Buddhism? Zhou You copied Su Tingxue's ancient courtesy and, with a fair likeness of the form, introduced himself. "I am Zhou You. I study under my deskmate, Chu Xiaoyao." Chu Xiaoyao answered even more easily. "His deskmate, Chu Xiaoyao." Su Tingxue: "?" She had heard of fellow disciples of the same sect passing on teachings. That was called teaching in the master's stead. What sort of method was a deskmate passing on teachings? Pressing down the doubt in her heart, she asked Chu Xiaoyao politely, "May I ask under whom Fellow Daoist Chu studied?" Chu Xiaoyao showed a proud smile. "No master, no sect. Self-taught." Self-taught? Su Tingxue was filled with solemn respect. Only those who had cultivated knew how hard it was to step through the gate of immortal cultivation. Even with a gift like hers, without a master to lead her she could only circle outside the entrance and never grasp the method. Someone had actually succeeded by teaching herself. She had heard the name Chu Xiaoyao. Like herself, Chu was famous at No. 2 High on looks alone. Su Tingxue was cool and aloof by nature and had never paid Chu Xiaoyao any attention. She had not expected this person to be an immortal cultivator as well. "May I ask what realm Fellow Daoist has reached?" In word and manner, Su Tingxue now carried a measure of respect. To succeed by self-study with no one to point the way—this was a genius even more terrifying than she was. Was it the Qi Refining stage, the same as her own, or... Foundation Establishment?! "I haven't started cultivating yet." Su Tingxue forcibly held back the urge to strike. Out in the world, she represented Mount Longhu. She must not lose propriety. Out in the world, she represented Mount Longhu. She must not lose propriety. Out in the world, she represented Mount Longhu. She must not lose... No. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Maybe she should just silence them. Su Tingxue decided she needed to shift her attention. She turned and asked Zhou You, "Then what realm has Fellow Daoist Zhou You reached?" "Half-step Qi Refining stage." Zhou You was rather proud of his realm. His talent for cultivation had been acknowledged by the Carefree Empress. "So it is half-step Foundation Establishment... Wait. Half-step Qi Refining stage?" Seeing the pride all over Zhou You's face, Su Tingxue had assumed from the start that he was a great expert of half-step Foundation Establishment. What kind of realm was half-step Qi Refining? She racked her brains for a long while and had no impression of any such realm. Had her master left it out of her lessons?