The weak sun struggled through the perpetual mountain mist, casting little warmth. Gu Qingxi and Xu Baozhu sat by their dwindling fire, the lingering scent of roasted rabbit a cruel mockery against the hollow ache in their stomachs. Breakfast had been a handful of tart, underripe berries. Lunch promised more of the same.
Baozhu groaned, rubbing her protesting belly. "Ugh… my tongue feels like it's been scrubbed with sour sand! I'd trade my best hairpin for a single greasy drumstick right now!" For a soul whose happiness was intrinsically linked to the presence of meat, this enforced vegetarianism felt like a cosmic punishment.
"Plenty of rabbits and pheasants hopping about," Gu Qingxi mused, her own mouth watering at the phantom memory of fat sizzling on hot stone. "But without fire…" She gestured at the damp, moss-covered logs around them. Trying to coax flame from this sodden wilderness? They'd starve before seeing the first spark.
"Fire?" Xu Baozhu's eyes lit up like twin lanterns. She fumbled at her waist, fingers diving into a plump, embroidered pouch depicting a fat, grinning koi fish. Triumphantly, she pulled out a slender bamboo cylinder. "Tinderbox! I've got one!" But her brief elation fizzled like damp kindling. "But… no meat! Having fire without meat is just… torture!"
Gu Qingxi's gaze swept over Baozhu's waistline – an astonishing array of pouches hung beside her functional spatial bag! Embroidered silks in lucky reds and golds, bulging with unseen contents. "Those… aren't spatial pouches?"
"Nope!" Baozhu confirmed cheerfully. "Dad's rule: never put all your rice in one pot! What if your spatial bag gets jammed, or stolen? Gotta have backup! Coins for emergencies, little tools… essentials!" She patted the pouches affectionately.
"So… you carry actual money?" Gu Qingxi raised an eyebrow, a flicker of profound respect igniting within her. This Xu father… he understood the core tenets of survival in a way few cultivators did.
"Yep!" Baozhu beamed, utterly matter-of-fact. "Dad's the smartest man under heaven!"
"Undoubtedly," Gu Qingxi conceded, the praise sincere. "But…" Baozhu's face fell again, "What good is coin when there's not a single tavern or roast duck stall on this forsaken peak?"
A slow, knowing smile spread across Gu Qingxi's lips. "Fire," she stated, the word holding sudden weight, "is enough." She extended her hand. "Knife? Do you have one?"
"Do I?" Baozhu scoffed playfully, diving into a larger pouch adorned with intricate 'Fu' (福 - fortune) characters. She emerged with a small, jewel-encrusted dagger, its blade gleaming despite the gloom. "Here!"
Gu Qingxi accepted the ridiculously ornate blade, its hilt cold and glittering against her palm. A rich girl's toy. But a blade nonetheless. She suppressed a sigh. It would have to do.
Within the Grand Hall of Heavenly Clarity:
The air crackled with a different kind of tension. Sect Master, Peak Lords, elite disciples – all eyes were riveted to the immense scrying mirror. The usual solemn atmosphere had been replaced by a collective, breathless fascination.
They watched, mesmerized, as Gu Qingxi:
Scouted a game trail intersection, dug a shallow pit with swift efficiency, camouflaged it with cunningly placed branches and loose earth.Waited with predator-like patience until a plump mountain rabbit blundered into the trap.Hauled the stunned creature to a nearby stream, where the jeweled dagger flashed. Skin peeled back, entrails removed, flesh rinsed clean – movements economical, practiced, bearing the chilling mark of someone who'd processed game not for sport, but for survival.Selected a large, flat river stone, scrubbed it clean.Used the tinderbox with practiced ease, nurturing a small flame into a crackling fire beneath the stone.Sliced the rabbit meat into paper-thin slivers with surprising dexterity using the impractical blade.Laid the slices onto the now-sizzling hot stone. Ssssssssssss… Fat rendered, droplets dancing, releasing an aroma that seemed to taunt the very air. She crushed tart, crimson wildberries over the cooking meat, the acidic juice hissing on contact.
Murmurs rippled through the hall, low and incredulous:
"Are they… picnicking? In the middle of the Savage Peak trial?"
"Not just picnicking! Feasting! Compared to the wretches still screaming in the Phantasm Realm…"
"By the Heavenly Dao… stone-grilled meat? Ingenious! And that technique… she's done this before."
When the meat edges curled into golden-brown perfection, Gu Qingxi used two slender sticks as makeshift chopsticks, offering the first slice to Baozhu.
"Hssss! Ow! Hot!" Baozhu gasped, blowing frantically before taking a tentative bite. Her eyes flew wide. "Mmph! Tender! Juicy! That sour tang… perfect!" She mumbled around the mouthful, cheeks bulging, pure bliss radiating from her.
"Eat your fill," Gu Qingxi smiled, a genuine warmth softening her usually sharp features.
"Mmhmm! Need fuel!" Baozhu swallowed, thumping her chest with a fist. "Gotta build strength! Later, I'll carry you up the mountain!"
Gu Qingxi shook her head, amusement dancing in her eyes. "I'll manage. But you're right. This body… it's a liability. Once this is over, I begin Body Tempering."
"Body Tempering?!" Baozhu choked, nearly dropping her next piece of rabbit. "That's… that's Sword Cultivator torture! Qingxi, are you switching paths? Taking up the sword?"
"No." Gu Qingxi's voice turned serious, her gaze locking onto Baozhu's. "The Dao Path is treacherous. Qi wells can run dry. Spirit artifacts can shatter. When all else fails, the body remains. It is the final fortress, the ultimate weapon. Hope for smooth sailing, but prepare for the worst storm. Only then can one walk the path far and true." She paused, her gaze dropping meaningfully to the embroidered pouches at Baozhu's waist. "Your father understood this. Carrying essentials outside the spatial bag… it's preparation. And see? It saved us today."
Xu Baozhu stared, the half-chewed rabbit forgotten. The words resonated, sinking past the layer of snacks and comfort, striking a chord deep within. Her father's seemingly fussy rule… Qingxi's stark warning about the body… it clicked. A slow, dawning understanding spread across her round face, replacing confusion with fierce resolve. "You… you're right! Absolutely right! Qingxi! When you start Body Tempering… I'm doing it too! Count me in!" It was a vow, sealed with rabbit grease and newfound conviction.
The two girls shared a look, a silent pact forged over sizzling stone and shared hardship. The fire crackled, painting their faces in warm, dancing light. The scent of roasted meat and woodsmoke hung heavy, a strangely domestic counterpoint to the savage mountain looming above them.
Silence.
It descended upon the Grand Hall like a physical weight. The crackle of the scrying mirror's energy was the only sound.
The Feather Spirit Peak Lord finally broke it, his voice oddly strained. "That girl… Gu Qingxi… she possesses the Water-Fire Spirit Roots, does she not?"
"Indeed," the Drifting Clouds Peak Lord confirmed, his tone equally subdued. "Mutually devouring elements. A path traditionally deemed… futile."
"Yet her insight…" The Sect Master stroked his beard, his eyes sharp as honed daggers. "'Hope for smooth sailing, but prepare for the worst storm'… Such profound understanding of the Dao's perilous nature… She belongs on Piercing Peaks! Nurturing such wisdom at the Sanwen Hall would be a boon to generations of disciples!" Sanwen Hall, nestled on Piercing Peaks' slopes, was the crucible where all new disciples received their foundational teachings. To manage it was to shape the sect's future.
A contemplative silence followed. No one disagreed. For a disciple with clashing Spirit Roots, this was an unimaginable honor, a path to profound influence within the sect.
Behind the Violet Bamboo Peak Lord, Lu Tianyu practically vibrated with panic, fingers twisting desperately into his master's sleeve. His Little Junior Sister! They couldn't steal her!
The Violet Bamboo Peak Lord merely glanced back, a ghost of a smile touching his lips. A subtle shake of his head said: Patience. Gu Qingxi's declaration about the body as the ultimate refuge resonated deeply with his own philosophy. Cultivators grew soft, reliant on Qi and artifacts. Strip those away, and they were lambs. This girl… she saw the core truth. She belonged on Violet Bamboo.
"Hmph! Turning the Savage Peak into a wilderness banquet hall! Unprecedented insolence!" A disciple's voice, thick with envy, cut through the quiet. "I lived off bark tea and rainwater during my trial!"
"Let them enjoy their rabbit," another sneered, arms crossed defensively over his chest. "Rabbits are easy prey. But this mountain breeds true nightmares. Wait until a Direfang Wolf pack or a Razorback Boar catches their scent! See how smug they look then!"
"Exactly! Pheasants and foxes are one thing. But a charging Stonehide Boar? What will those two little girls do? Offer it a slice?"
The scrying mirror, as if responding to the acid commentary, flared brightly.
A sudden, violent rustling erupted from the dense thicket bordering Gu Qingxi and Xu Baozhu's makeshift camp!
Gu Qingxi's head snapped around. Every trace of warmth vanished from her face, replaced by glacial alertness. Her hand shot out, closing around a fallen branch as thick as her wrist. She rose in one fluid motion.
"Q-Qingxi?" Baozhu stammered, scrambling to her feet, the last piece of rabbit tumbling forgotten to the moss. "Wh-what is it?"
CRASH!
A monstrous shape exploded from the undergrowth. A Stonehide Boar. Easily five hundred pounds of muscle, bone, and primal fury. Glossy black hide, matted with mud and brambles, covered a humped back wider than a barrel. Tiny, bloodshot eyes fixed on the girls with mindless aggression. Tusks, yellowed and chipped but wickedly sharp, curved upwards like scythes. It lowered its massive head, a guttural, rumbling growl vibrating the very ground beneath their feet. The scent of roasting meat had drawn a true apex predator of the lower slopes.
"B-B-Boar?!" Xu Baozhu's voice was a terrified squeak. "Did… did the smell…? Run! Should we run?!"
"Stonehide Boar meat," Gu Qingxi replied, her voice unnervingly calm, almost conversational, "is notoriously gamey. Requires special preparation to be palatable."
Xu Baozhu: "...?!" What?!
Before her bewildered mind could process the absurdity of the statement, Xu Baozhu's eyes widened in pure shock.
Gu Qingxi had shifted her stance. The heavy branch in her hand was no longer just wood. It became an extension of her arm, held not like a club, but like a sword – point forward, angled slightly downwards. Her entire bearing transformed. The quiet girl by the fire vanished. In her place stood a figure radiating icy, focused lethality. The air around her seemed to crackle, not with Qi (sealed away by the trial's rules), but with an almost tangible pressure – the sharp, honed intent of a blade seeking flesh.
She didn't charge. She didn't flinch. She simply moved. A single, devastatingly precise lunge, the heavy branch thrust forward like a spear seeking the boar's vulnerable throat. It wasn't brute force. It was technique distilled to its deadly essence. The branch tore through the air with a sound like a starving hawk's cry – a thin, piercing whistle that promised only violence.