Chapter 3.2

Her First Gift (2)

Ji Qingzhou cleverly hid behind Shen Rongyu, and heard her system sigh helplessly.

Shen Rongyu probably noticed her, or he might not have cared about her at all. In short, he stood still and did not move. The pure white fabric on his shoulders was like snow piled up on the mountains.

At this time, Meng Yaolan, a descendant of an influential immortal cultivator family, also turned her head and stared at Shen Rongyu’s direction. She saw the corner of Ji Qingzhou’s black clothes hiding behind Shen Rongyu, but did not pay her any attention.

Meng Yaolan, the Young Miss of the Meng family in Changting, was so proud that even Shen Rongyu didn’t catch her attention. After a curious glance, she averted her gaze and went about her business.

Without further ado, the prepared Yunshui Peak Elder, Jiang Qianke, flew down from the clouds as the presiding officer of the Immortality Seeking Conference. He looked at all the immortality seekers present with a smile. His posture was gentle, and his distinguished face exuded the temperament of an exalted sect.

“Since everyone is here, let’s commence the Immortality Seeking Conference. Your current standing can’t be considered as you have fully become a member of the Xuanyun Sect. It’s quite simple for you to be qualified to enter the sect. You just need to find the real entrance to the Yunshui Peak of Xuanyun Sect,” Jiang Qianke said with a smile.

After he finished speaking, thick fog embraced the mountains and forests behind him. The pines, mountains and rocks were all shrouded. Everything around them was plunged into the thick fog, except for the lake in front of them. The lake was vast, and only a hazy golden light could be seen at the horizon.

The lake seemed to be the first test.

Ji Qingzhou watched many immortality seekers walk into the lake without hesitation, but the lake water behaved strangely. Just as someone stepped into it, his face writhed in pain, as if soaking in the lake water was beyond his endurance.

“This lake contains Mount Jian’s holy water that I personally collected, which has the effect of cleansing the body of mortal filth. The more excellent the immortal bones are, the less they will be affected by the lake. If a real mortal enters the water, his flesh and blood will be dissolved.” Yunshui Peak Elder Jiang Qianke returned to the sect’s main hall, where the elders who wanted to accept apprentices at this Immortality Seeking Conference were sitting.

In front of them was a huge water mirror with ripples on it that reflected the immortality seekers on Mount Jian Lake.

Above Mount Jian Lake, the white bird crouching on the cloud cliff and singing on the branch flew above everyone’s heads, with a variety of images flashing in its eyes, providing a view for the elders in the main hall of the sect.

“With our Xuanyun Sect’s Maze Barrier Array in place, it is reasonable that no complete mortal can manage it, but she—” Jiang Qiankee pointed to Ji Qingzhou who was standing on the shore.

Ji Qingzhou was hiding behind Shen Rongyu. When Shen Rongyu took two steps forward, she also moved two steps.

“Have you charged enough energy?,” Ji Qingzhou babbled on and on to the system. “Can we last for the next 50 years? I don’t think I can get down to this lake.”

“How can that little bit be enough?,” the system complained. “Don’t be afraid, just try.”

Ji Qingzhou was not that stupid. She had long noticed some people being hurt by the lake water, and most of the people who had difficulty adapting to the lake water were those lower-level immortality seekers who came by the cloud boat.

Of course, there were exceptions in that group. One of them was Qiu Mingxue, who had frightened her old donkey on the cloud boat, and her maid, Ying Xiu. The two plunged into the water, lithe and graceful, and displayed a sense of comfort. It showed that they had excellent immortal bones.

Qiu Mingxue noticed Ji Qingzhou hesitating on the shore and smiled contemptuously at her. Sure enough, a beggar who came here by luck exposed her true colors against a bright mirror such as the Mount Jian Lake.

However, beneath her smug smile, the ends of her teeth were clenched, clearly holding back the pain.

The only one who didn’t take Mirror Lake water seriously was Meng Yaolan, who walked gracefully through the lake, looking for clues buried at the bottom of the lake.

The last to go were Shen Rongyu and Ji Qingzhou. Shen Rongyu, proceeded to dip into the lake indifferently.

Ji Qingzhou didn’t want to follow him into the lake, so she sat down directly by the shore and swung her legs.

The Xuanyun Sect elders who were observing the situation breathed a sigh of relief: “Fortunately, she is sensible and knows that she came here by accident.”

Jiang Qianke turned his head and ordered his disciples, “You guys take a trip to Mount Jian Lake. It was not easy for the little girl to arrive here, so give her some escorts to go back and send her down the mountain.”

The system tried every possible way to persuade Ji Qingzhou, but she refused to move. She feared pain and knew how much she weighed, so she refused to go into the water to suffer.

However, there clearly was a real sovereign around Ji Qingzhou.

The old donkey, which had been standing obediently beside her, lost control again. It seemed to have found the golden light in the water interesting, so it jumped directly towards the lake.

Ji Qingzhou bounced directly from the ground. The old donkey was a simple old donkey. The donkey had cost two silver coins, so she directly chased after it.

“Maomao!” Ji Qingzhou called it; this donkey had a name.

Maomao didn’t listen to her at all. In fact, the donkey probably never took Ji Qingzhou as its master.

It rushed into the lake.

Fearing that it would be injured, Ji Qingzhou also pounced on it.

The disciples guarding the shore were so shocked that they rushed forward, thinking that Ji Qingzhou had no way to withstand the water of Mount Jian Lake.

However, after Ji Qingzhou jumped into the water, all she felt was the cool lake water enveloping her body. She winced, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

It doesn’t seem… to be particularly painful, right?

She pushed Maomao to the shore, while the disciples of Xuanyun Sect on the shore helped bring it up.

Seeing that Ji Qingzhou was okay, they took Maomao away and didn’t care about her.

At this point, Ji Qingzhou was surprised that she was not affected by the lake water.

As there was a golden streak on the lake, obscuring the view, Ji Qingzhou feigned ignorance to the astonished eyes that flew her way. She only focused on walking towards the center of the lake. She knew that clues to find the real Yunshui Peak entrance were at the bottom of the lake.

She went in the same direction as Shen Rongyu. After all, they entered the water in the same direction.

Meanwhile, Shen Rongyu only exposed his shoulders on the surface of the water. The white satin and veil that embellished his shoulders were soaked, and they scattered around him, like different-colored paints strewn in the water.

Ji Qingzhou thought of getting closer to him now to draw some energy for the system, so she slowly approached him.

—until she could not reach the bottom of the lake on tiptoes. It was then that she realized something.

Yes, she might be unaffected by the Mirror Lake water for some inexplicable reason.

But… she couldn’t swim.

Because the water was too deep, Ji Qingzhou flailed in the water. At this time, she was only three meters away from Shen Rongyu.