The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

#651 - When breaking

“Um, but I didn't originally plan to bring that matter up,” Lu Jing said. “What I wanted to say is that our current connection is likely due to the Phantom Fiend.”

“Phantom Fiend?” Yan Yun frowned slightly. “Wasn’t that thing already taken care of by you?”

“Well, you’re the one who brought it up first.”

“…”

“In short, I did awaken you after doing what Wang Wan said, but I don’t know if she’s hiding anything else from me, or if there are some things she herself isn’t quite clear about,” Lu Jing said.

“I checked my upper dantian afterward and didn’t find anything abnormal.”

“Hmm… this was just my guess anyway, you can just listen to it casually.”

As they spoke, the two had already arrived outside Qiu Moli’s room.

Yan Yun could only hastily end the topic, reaching out to knock on the door. “Master, Great Hero Lu has arrived.”

“Is that so? Then please invite him in.”

The person inside the room said.

So Yan Yun pushed open the door, bringing Lu Jing inside with her.

After entering, Lu Jing first performed a salute before raising his head to look at the person on the chair.

He originally thought that Qiu Moli, as the阁主 (Gézhǔ, Pavilion Master) of the Cloud Water Silent Mercy Pavilion, a top expert comparable to the Five Supremes, should be full of majesty in her every movement. Lu Jing even wondered if she would be like Abbess Miejue.

But in reality, Qiu Moli looked surprisingly approachable, no different from an ordinary wealthy old lady.

No, the difference was still quite big. Lu Jing looked at the face that didn’t have many wrinkles, almost unable to believe that the person in front of him was already over fifty years old.

Even the usually ruthless years didn’t seem to have left too many traces on her.

Without a doubt, Qiu Moli must have been a beauty no less than her own disciple when she was young.

Even if her beauty wasn’t as good as it was back then, it had become even more elegant due to the passage of time.

Don’t underestimate the word “elegant,” it was the most effective weapon a woman could find in the fight against aging.

Qiu Moli smiled. “You’re that Lu Jing who everyone in the Jianghu has been talking about for the past half year?”

“That is indeed this junior.”

“As soon as I arrived in the capital, Leader Li started telling me about you, praising you like you were a flower. But I don’t see you having three heads and six arms.”

Before Lu Jing could answer, she added, “You and Yun’er are the only two on the current Celestial Pivot Ranking who are under twenty years old and also top-tier experts, and you’re both studying at the academy. Have you ever sparred privately?”

“She did.”

Lu Jing and Yan Yun said almost in unison.

Qiu Moli smiled. “Is there even someone who fights over admitting defeat?”

Yan Yun took a deep breath and said, “It was indeed I who lost. This disciple’s skills are lacking. When I sparred with Great Hero Lu earlier, my inner strength was insufficient in the end. It’s just that Great Hero Lu stopped in time out of consideration for the Cloud Water Silent Mercy Pavilion.”

“Is that so? I didn’t know our Cloud Water Silent Mercy Pavilion’s reputation was so useful,” Qiu Moli looked at the two with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

Finally, she said to Yan Yun, “It’s okay to lose, it’s not a big deal. I told you long ago that you might as well not have that title of the number one person of the younger generation. This thing seems like praise, but sooner or later it will become your shackles, preventing you from taking another step forward.

“Yesterday, I checked your martial arts cultivation and found that you have made breakthroughs again recently. That’s very good. I don’t care what strange abilities you learn at the academy, but the homework I assigned you can’t be put down.

“Now that the world is in chaos, wars are breaking out everywhere, and the Demonic Path and the strange creatures are becoming more and more rampant. People of our generation are either old or dead. In the future, the righteous path of the martial world will depend on you young people.”

Qiu Moli encouraged them a few words, and then answered some questions about martial arts cultivation that Lu Jing had.

It had to be said that a grandmaster was a grandmaster.

Although Lu Jing easily became a top-tier expert by frantically refreshing his mana bar, he himself knew that compared to those who had practiced all the way up, his foundation was too weak.

Even though he had Amu, a personal teacher, who could constantly correct his poorly used moves, Lu Jing was basically still in a state of knowing what to do but not knowing why.

He had accumulated a lot of questions in his heart, and after listening to Qiu Moli’s guidance, he suddenly felt enlightened.

Not to mention the Mad Demon One Hundred and Eight Staffs and the Shocking Waves, Lu Jing had already practiced them to perfection. The Steady and Solid Eight Directions was also a relatively special martial art, so what he really gained today was his understanding of the Fire Kirin Armor and the Wind and Cloud Transformation.

In the future, when he cultivated these two martial arts again, the effect would be more significant.

No wonder those guys outside wanted to get on Qiu Moli’s good side. Being able to get some guidance from her could be very beneficial.

Lu Jing knew that he owed Yan Yun another favor this time.

After all, no matter how famous he was, he had nothing to do with the Cloud Water Silent Mercy Pavilion. The reason why Qiu Moli was willing to spend time on him, in addition to casually forming a good relationship, was definitely more because of her disciple.

So after leaving Qiu Moli’s room and returning to the bamboo forest, Lu Jing immediately took out the small bottle he had prepared long ago and placed it in front of Yan Yun.

“The reason I came this time was actually to give you these pills that can speed up the recovery of secret power.”

Yan Yun didn’t decline, accepting the pills and saying, “Alright, this way we’ll be even.”

Seeing that Lu Jing seemed a little puzzled, Yan Yun simply opened up and said, “Actually, after returning from Wujiang City, I’ve been considering our relationship.”

“Is that so? What are your thoughts?”

“If I say we can still be friends, that’s probably just me deceiving myself,” Yan Yun said. “Although I did deceive myself like that.

“But the truth is that if we continue like this, both of us will only become more and more awkward. Moreover, this matter also involves Xiao Chuan… I don’t want our awkwardness to eventually turn into three people’s awkwardness.”

“Uh…”

“Actually, even if you didn’t come to me today, I was planning to find a time to explain things to you clearly. A clean break is better than a messy continuation. You also heard what my master said. After letting go of this matter, my martial arts cultivation, which had been stagnant for a long time, has also made rapid progress.

“Now that the Nine Provinces are turbulent, wars are raging, and whether it’s the Demonic Path or the strange creatures, they are becoming more and more rampant. Someone needs to step forward and clean up the world. The burden on our shoulders is very heavy. It’s time to put our energy into more important things.”

After hearing Yan Yun’s words, Lu Jing felt that something seemed familiar. After pondering for a long time, he realized that it was similar to when he was in junior high school and his teacher discovered his puppy love, called him to the office to lecture him. The main idea seemed to be about the same.

So Lu Jing could only say, “If that’s your choice, then I will respect it.”