———
The original punishment was completed easily, and Luo Jinxiao's days became free again. Since she could not use her spiritual power, she could only clean the yard idly every day or stare at the yellow dog.
As for the Qiongqi she summoned, it only looked majestic, but it spent the whole day sleeping in the corner. Its appetite was terrifyingly big, and it could eat half a cow every day.
At first, Luo Jinxiao was able to get some food from the canteen, but later she couldn't do that anymore. It was because the people from somewhere close to her immediately closed the doors and windows as if they were guarding against thieves when they saw her coming.
That day, she was thinking about where to go hunting, when she saw Luo Ning sneakily climbing down from the wall with a huge package on her back. The Qiongqi next to her seemed to smell something, and immediately jumped three feet high, rushing towards her with drooling.
"Shh, shh, shh." Luo Ning quickly raised her finger and looked towards the door worriedly, afraid that she would be discovered by Elder Liu.
"Why are you here?" Luo Jinxiao stood up and went forward to help her.
"This place is too remote. I dare not use my spiritual power for fear of being discovered by Elder Liu. I can only deliver it to my sister in person." Luo Ning landed stealthily and threw the package in his hand to the ground. Qiongqi had already smelled the blood and buried his head in it to sniff wildly.
Finally, he opened his bloody mouth and ate up the package completely.
"I caught a wild boar in the woods this morning." Luo Ning smiled brightly, as if asking for credit.
Luo Jinxiao patted her shoulder to show encouragement and smiled even brighter than hers.
The door behind him creaked open and Elder Liu walked out with an angry look on his face. Luo Jinxiao had long been accustomed to his strange temper and stood there motionless. However, Luo Ning was startled by him and greeted him stiffly with her head lowered.
"Master, how come you have time to go out today?" Luo Jinxiao smiled brightly at him.
Elder Liu exhaled, looking helpless, and waved his hand, saying, "Since I accepted you, my courtyard has never been peaceful. What happened today?"
He took a look at the Qiongqi lying on the ground, and immediately understood.
"You have been recuperating for a few days, and I believe you are well now. You can resume your practice from today. From now on, you will not need any books, and I will teach you personally." Elder Liu sighed.
"Master, are you serious?" Luo Jinxiao was surprised and happy when she heard that. She ran to Elder Liu and asked, "Are you finally willing to teach me?"
Elder Liu frowned and nodded reluctantly: "Let me tell you in advance. If you really are a hopeless case, I don't want to waste any more time on you. You can go back to where you came from."
Luo Jinxiao nodded his head like a lying rattle, and the joy in his eyes could not be hidden.
In just a dozen days here, she felt a stronger desire than ever before to become stronger.
"Do you have a sword?" asked Elder Liu.
Luo Jinxiao was about to shake her head when she felt Luo Ning tug at her sleeve and stuffed a purse into her hand.
Seeing Luo Jinxiao's puzzled look, Luo Ning whispered, "After my sister and Junior Master Qu disappeared that day, I went back to the forest to wait for them. But you didn't come. Junior Master Qu came instead. She asked me to give you this purse, saying that there were weapons in it for you."
Luo Jinxiao looked at the small purse in her hand with surprise. The purse was very delicate, with a big red hibiscus flower embroidered on it. She seemed to be able to smell the faint fragrance belonging to Qu Weiyin.
Her heart moved slightly, and then she felt her purse was very heavy.
"Since it was given by that girl, it must be a good thing. It just so happens that I am very poor, so I don't have anything for you to use." Elder Liu nodded with satisfaction. "Forget it, I'll go take a rest and come back at noon."
After Elder Liu finished speaking, he returned to the house with his long sleeves fluttering in the wind.
"Sister, open it quickly and see what it is." Luo Ning looked even more excited than her. Luo Jinxiao was also curious. She unzipped the soft strap of the purse and reached her hand in. There was a large space inside, but it was empty. Her hand wandered around in there for a long time before she touched a hard hilt of a sword.
She pulled hard, and a sword shining with cold light appeared in her hand. The sword was silver-white all over, and it was very light in the hand. There was an echo when she swung it. Although it was not as rare as the magic sword, it was also a sword that could cut through iron like mud.
"Sister, this is a sword kept in the Spirit Weapon Pavilion. I didn't expect that Junior-Master Qu would give it to you to use." Luo Ning jumped happily, and couldn't stand steadily with Luo Jinxiao.
"It is indeed a good sword." Luo Jinxiao smiled, turned his wrist, and made a sword flower in the air. Suddenly, silver light filled the ground, like broken snow falling from the sky.
"Sister, why is Junior-Master Qu so good to you? You should know that in Wuhui Sect, no one dares to provoke her in the slightest." Luo Ning touched the sword lovingly and asked as she touched it.
Luo Jinxiao shook her head. She was also confused. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I think he is thanking me."
She had some doubts about this conclusion, but was still satisfied.
After delivering the things, Luo Ning hurried back to practice. Luo Jinxiao finally made it until noon by himself, and then rushed into the house happily, scaring Elder Liu who was sipping tea so much that he almost threw the cup away.
"What a fuss! It's so unbecoming." Elder Liu steadied his shaking hands and glared at her reproachfully.
Luo Jinxiao's face was still full of excitement. She stood up straight and said to Elder Liu, "Master, what are we going to learn?"
"You are not very talented, so you should learn the basics first, such as sword-flying. In a few days, all the new disciples in the sect will have a unified competition. The winner will be eligible to go to the heaven, where they can summon spiritual weapons. But you don't have to worry about it. My wish now is that you don't rank last in the written test." Elder Liu carefully put down the simple teacup in his hand and said seriously.
Luo Jinxiao did not care about the contempt in his words. He pulled out the sword that Qu Weiyin had just given him and held it respectfully in front of him.
"Please teach me, Master."
Elder Liu glanced at her, then lowered his head to blew away the hot steam from the cup. He couldn't help but feel more admiration in his heart. She was neither arrogant nor impatient, and was not surprised by praise or criticism. If she was not too untalented, it would not be difficult for her to pass on what he had learned throughout his life.
It's a pity... He shook his head slightly.
"Hold your breath and enter tranquility, send the air into your soul." Elder Liu looked at the blue-and-white glazed teacup in his hand and paused while speaking. "Forget it, when we leave the courtyard, if you can't control your sword, you will smash my house to pieces."
"Yes." Upon hearing this, Luo Jinxiao immediately hugged his sword and rushed out the door in a few steps.
"This girl." Elder Liu shook his head, looking helpless, and followed her out the door.
"Heaven and man coexist, and man and sword become one," he continued.
Before he could finish his words, the sword in Luo Jinxiao's hand swung out like a living thing, lifted her up and held her steadily in the air. Luo Jinxiao hadn't felt such a sense of freedom for a long time, and she happily circled in the air twice before stopping.
Elder Liu almost threw the teacup away again.
Judging from her level of proficiency, it is definitely not something a novice can achieve.
Luo Jinxiao also noticed something strange. With the meager spiritual power in her body, she shouldn't be able to do it so easily. But now she was standing on the sword as if she were walking on flat ground, and her spiritual power was still abundant and showed no sign of being exhausted.
Could it be that after using the forbidden technique that day, her spiritual power has not yet dissipated? But I have never heard of such a ridiculous thing.
"When did you learn the art of wielding a sword?" Elder Liu asked with a frown.
Luo Jinxiao opened her mouth but didn't say anything. She thought to herself that something was wrong and wondered if she had revealed herself too quickly. But then she changed her mind and realized that if something happened, it would happen. It would be impossible to hide it even if she wanted to. She might as well be open and honest about it.
"It's just that I listened to your secret technique and practiced it before." Luo Jinxiao scratched his head and answered frankly.
Elder Liu waved his hand, motioning Luo Jinxiao to come down. Luo Jinxiao did as he was told, but felt uneasy in his heart.
Light blue spiritual power flowed into her temples. Luo Jinxiao closed her eyes, as if she was expecting something in her heart. If she could recover her previous spiritual power, even only half of it, it would be better than being a waste.
After an unknown amount of time, Elder Liu finally lowered his hands. He looked at Luo Jinxiao, unable to hide the astonishment in his eyes.
"You don't need to practice flying the sword anymore. Just follow them and practice tomorrow. If you don't know how to do it, come and ask me."
Luo Jinxiao was confused and was about to speak when he was interrupted by Elder Liu.
"Prepare well for the competition. If you can come out on top, you will have a handy spiritual weapon that will be beneficial to your cultivation. Remember," he suddenly lowered his voice, "before the final competition, do not reveal your cultivation to anyone unless it is necessary."
Luo Jinxiao understood the meaning of his words. She was surprised and her voice trembled slightly: "You mean, your disciple has spiritual power?"