"You're here?"
Shen Qing noticed that Ling Zhou's body didn't seem as transparent as before. Even his clothes had been changed. If one didn't look at his feet, Ling Zhou standing in front of her would seem like a normal person.
"You look a bit different," she said.
Ling Zhou nodded with a smile. "I've recovered some strength."
"What's your decision on what I proposed?"
The moment Ling Zhou saw Shen Qing, he knew she would agree to his request.
Shen Qing nodded, knelt down in front of Ling Zhou obediently, and kowtowed three times properly.
"Disciple Shen Qing is willing to worship Master Ling Zhou as my teacher!"
Ling Zhou burst into laughter. "Haha, good. I knew you wouldn't let me down."
He placed his hand on Shen Qing's head, and his spiritual power slowly entered her body.
Shen Qing only felt a warm sensation spreading through her body. Then her body relaxed, as if some kind of restriction in her body had been lifted.
"Master, what are you doing?"
Shen Qing opened her eyes. She only felt a long - awaited sense of ease in her body, and her mind seemed less muddled.
Ling Zhou took a step back. "It's nothing. I'm just helping you clear your meridians."
He put his left hand behind his back to hide the sealing talisman he had taken out of Shen Qing's body. Then he clenched his fist tightly, and the talisman was instantly crushed.
Shen Qing didn't know that Ling Zhou had secretly unlocked half of the seal on her spiritual bones.
The moment the seal on the spiritual bones was tampered with, Real Person Heng Ling, who was about to return to the sect, felt it.
A suppressed look flashed across his eyes. Without caring about anything else, he quickened his pace back to the sect.
Shen Qing felt the spiritual power circulating in her body. The feeling that her body was like a leaky funnel before was lessened.
The spiritual power in the jade pendant space was abundant and was absorbed by Shen Qing. Before long, she felt the familiar sensation of a breakthrough.
Shen Qing looked at her hands in disbelief. "Am I about to break through?"
Ling Zhou was also a bit surprised. He didn't expect that after unlocking half of the seal, Shen Qing was about to break through directly.
He motioned for Shen Qing to sit down and guided her to feel the circulation of spiritual power.
A few hours later, Shen Qing opened her eyes, filled with shock.
She had actually broken through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment all at once, only one step away from Core Formation. This cultivation speed was something she never dared to dream of in her previous life.
There was a hint of pride in Ling Zhou's eyes when he looked at Shen Qing. He knew that once the seal on the spiritual bones was unlocked, Shen Qing would surely make a breakthrough, but he didn't expect her to reach the late stage of Foundation Establishment directly.
The seal in Shen Qing's body required a large amount of spiritual power to operate, and this spiritual power came from the spiritual power she had accumulated during her daily cultivation.
That's why Shen Qing felt like there was a big hole in her body when she was cultivating, because a large part of the spiritual power she absorbed was used to maintain the seal on the spiritual bones.
But as long as Shen Qing stopped cultivating, the seal would directly absorb her vitality, which was also an important reason for her weak body.
Another reason was that Ling Zhou could tell at a glance that Real Person Heng Ling had used some extreme means when taking the spiritual bones back then, which had damaged Shen Qing's meridians and foundation.
In this situation, Real Person Heng Ling still let Shen Qing cultivate, which made her meridians and foundation extremely fragile.
Ling Zhou sighed imperceptibly.
Real Person Heng Ling had really gone too far this time.
If things continued like this, Shen Qing's path to immortality might come to an end.
"Alright, don't be so excited. I've repaired some of your meridians. In the future, you won't feel so exhausted when cultivating."
Shen Qing nodded excitedly. She secretly thought in her heart that although they were both masters, there was a huge difference between them.
With Ling Zhou as a comparison, the status of Real Person Heng Ling in Shen Qing's heart had dropped to the dust, although it wasn't very high in the first place.
"By the way, Master, about the secret realm..."
Shen Qing told Ling Zhou that she wanted to participate in the secret realm trial a few months later. After Ling Zhou heard that one needed to reach the Core Formation stage to participate, he immediately refused.
"You've just repaired your foundation. It's not easy for you to reach the late stage of Foundation Establishment. If you force a breakthrough to the Core Formation stage within a few months, it will put too much burden on your body."
Shen Qing fell silent. She knew her own physical condition, but she really couldn't just give the opportunity to Lin Yibai.
"Master, I don't want to give up this opportunity."
Seeing that Shen Qing's attitude was so firm, Ling Zhou sighed and finally agreed.
"You have limited resources in the sect. Why not go down the mountain and have some adventures? Maybe you'll have some unexpected good fortune."
Shen Qing nodded. Actually, she had the same idea.
In her previous life, Shen Qing was almost trapped in the Qingyun Sword Sect all her life. She rarely had the chance to go down the mountain for sect missions, let alone participate in the secret realm trials.
She never had the chance to experience the world before she died.
After making up her mind, Shen Qing bid farewell to Ling Zhou and returned to the real world.
Shen Qing opened the door and was about to go to the sect to collect supplies and go down the mountain, but she found that it was already late. The disciple in charge of registration in the sect must have gone back to rest.
There was nothing she could do. She had to go the next day.
Shen Qing put away the boundary stone and counted the spirit stones and pills on her body.
After getting everything ready, Shen Qing hugged the quilt and fell into a deep sleep.
Cultivators usually don't need to sleep, but Shen Qing had just broken through. Her meridians hadn't adapted yet, and she had consumed a lot of energy. So she decided to restore her energy in the simplest way.
After Shen Qing fell asleep, Real Person Heng Ling returned to the Qingyun Sword Sect.
He first went to check on Lin Yibai, who was still in a "coma", and then rushed to Shen Qing's small courtyard.
But when he arrived at Shen Qing's courtyard, Real Person Heng Ling found that the courtyard was in a mess. A hint of dissatisfaction immediately welled up in his heart.
This courtyard belonged to Xiaobai. How dare Shen Qing not take good care of it!
Real Person Heng Ling pursed his lips tightly. His eyes were cold, and the slight frown on his brow revealed his impatience and annoyance.
If it weren't for the fact that the spiritual bones on Shen Qing were beneficial to Xiaobai, he wouldn't have forced himself to accept another female disciple.
Now that he saw that Xiaobai had such a high compatibility with the spiritual bones, perhaps he could give the other half of Shen Qing's spiritual bones to Xiaobai in advance.
He closed his eyes, and his divine sense slowly spread out.
When he opened his eyes again, Real Person Heng Ling's figure had disappeared from the spot.
He came to the sky above the small courtyard where Shen Qing had just moved in. Just as he was about to grab Shen Qing and interrogate her, he suddenly felt a familiar sensation.
"Ling Zhou?"
Real Person Heng Ling's eyes were dark and unclear. His heart was filled with shock.
This familiar aura, after a thousand years, was once again perceived by him.
Real Person Heng Ling was filled with doubts. Wasn't that person already dead? Why did his aura appear on Shen Qing?
Was it really Ling Zhou who tampered with Shen Qing's seal?
These doubts made Real Person Heng Ling feel a bit annoyed. The feeling of being suppressed by someone, which hadn't appeared for a long time, made his aura become sharp.
After a long pause, Real Person Heng Ling's figure slowly disappeared...