"Within a month, refine ten levels of qi. If you can't do it, get out of my forbidden zone."
When Ling Qingxue said this, her fingertip touched on Chu Xuan's brow, and a cold light burst like a snowflake, making his teeth tremble with the cold.
"Uncle Shi..."
"Tell me to clear the snow." She said indifferently, "Pass on your skills to the next generation. Don't use honorific titles. It sounds strange."
Chu Xuan shrank his neck and thought to himself: Who just said with a cold face, 'If you call it wrong again, I'll seal your mute point'? A woman's heart is like the frost of June.
But still on the lips, "Clear Snow..." Sister?"
"Swallow the sister word back."
"..." All right, you're the big shot, you have the final say.
The stone walls are dark blue and shrouded in cold mist. The two sat cross-legged, with only a Cold Moon sword between their knees. The blade was as cold as ice, reflecting Chu Xuan's bitter face.
"The advanced chapter consists of nine forms, divided into three mental techniques: Cutting Frost, Condensing Star, and Cold Soul." Ling Qingxue's fingers were like swords, and with a stroke in the void, a wisp of frost streaked across the ancient seal stone wall three zhang away, and with a "whoosh", a layer was cut off, and the stone powder rustled and fell on Chu Xuan's hair.
"Learn to cut the frost and you will be able to break through three small realms in a month; If you can't -- "she raised her eyes, colder than the sword light," go back to the outer gate to cut firewood and stop using the primordial spirit as a gimmick."
Chu Xuan wiped the stone powder and muttered in a low voice, "How dare I use myself as a gimmick? It's all others who see me as a monkey."
"What are you muttering about?"
"I say --" he straightened up, his eyes burning, "one month, ten levels of qi refinement, one less level, I'll get out myself."
Ling Qingxue was slightly stunned. There was a fire in the eyes of the young man opposite, and the cold fog subsided an inch. She recalled the words from her ancestors' notebook, "The sword is not cold, it is cold in the heart," and suddenly felt that this fellow before her might really break the ice.
"Close your eyes."
She flipped her fingertips, and a wisp of ice-blue spiritual energy sank into Chu Xuan's brow. In an instant, he seemed to fall into an ice cave --
Frost blades hit his face, stardust swirled, cold soul whispered.
The route of the advanced chapter of "Cold Star Sword Art" is like a glowing ice river, roughly breaking through his meridians.
"The first move of the Frost Slicing, Frost Descent."
The voice echoed in the sea of consciousness, and Chu Xuan raised his hand uncontrollably, a blade of light formed between his fingers, and swung it gently.
Puff --
Ten feet away, an old plum tree was broken in the middle, the cut was smooth, and ice crystals instantly covered the branches.
"Got it?" He opened his eyes in surprise.
"Just touched the threshold." Ling Qingxue retracted her fingers, but fine sweat oozed from her forehead. Passing on the skill is extremely exhausting, especially when the opponent is a primordial spirit, whose spiritual power is like a wild horse, and if one is not careful, it will backfire.
Chu Xuan noticed that drop of sweat slid across her pale profile, landed on her collarbone, and sank into her robe. He hurriedly turned his eyes away, his heart beating inexplicably twice.
"Don't be distracted." Ling Qingxue scolded lightly, but a pale powder rose in her ears. She hadn't been seen so directly in years, but this boy had a clear look that didn't annoy her.
The practice goes on.
The second form, "Star Drop," and the third form, "Soul Cold," are colder than each other. Chu Xuan's eyebrows were frosted and his lips were purple, but he gritted his teeth and persisted.
During the sixth pose, his spiritual power suddenly went wild, like boiling water hitting a pot lid, and his meridians swelled and ached.
"Hold on!" " Ling Qingxue grobbed, her palm pressed against his back, cold spirit energy rushed in, forcibly suppressing.
But the primordial spirit was like a stubborn donkey, the more it was pressed, the more it bounced back. Chu Xuan's skin turned red, white steam rose from his head, and he looked as if he were about to burst.
"Idiot, you don't know how to use the Dao Qi?" She cautioned urgently.
Chu Xuan woke up as if from a dream, his mind connected with the contract mark.
Om --
A speck of blue light lit up on both wrists at the same time, and in the cold mist, two heartbeats gradually synchronized.
The spiritual power no longer went wild, but meekly flowed into the dantian along the new path opened by the contract.
"This is... Daoist resonance?" Chu Xuan murmured.
Ling Qingxue did not answer. A blurry picture was flashing before her eyes --
On a snowy plain, a black-clad young man stands with a sword, opposite a woman dressed in green, with eyebrows and eyes that are seven parts similar to his own, but more gentle.
"Qingxue, if I do not return, you will forget me." The young man laughed and turned into the wind and snow.
The woman in the green robe wept profusely but failed to catch up with the figure.
The scene shattered and Ling Qingxue came to her senses, feeling a strange tightness in her chest.
"Did you see it?" Her voice trembled slightly.
Chu Xuan nodded cautiously: "That woman... Does that look like your ancestor?
Ling Qingxue lowered her eyes, her expression veiled by the cold mist: "Keep practicing the sword."
"Ok --"
"Practice the sword."
Chu Xuan shut up and raised his hand to hold the light. This time, there was an indescribable warmth in the sword light.
...
In the middle of the night, the cold mist was thicker.
Chu Xuan slumped to the ground, covered in frost, like a salted fish fished out of an ice cave.
Ling Qingxue handed him a jade bottle: "Warm spirit liquid, drink."
He took it shivering, his fingertips touching her cold knuckles, and both of them paused.
"Qingxue, that man... Was it the love of your ancestors? Chu Xuan still couldn't help asking.
Ling Qingxue looked into the distance into the darkness, her voice as soft as falling snow: "Um. The cross-camp Daoist couple, being hunted down by both sides, finally... Only one will survive."
Chu Xuan's heart tightened and he felt inexplicably depressed.
"So, are you afraid?"
"I am." She confessed frankly, turned to look at him, her eyes deep, "but I'm even more afraid of not getting out of their ending."
Chu Xuan held the jade bottle tightly, his eyes flushed with heat: "Then come out of a new one."
Ling Qingxue was stunned for a moment, then suddenly reached out and brushed the ice shavings off his eyebrows.
"Within a month, refine ten levels of qi."
"I'll be with you."
At dawn, the cold mist had not yet dissipated, but the forbidden area was bustling as if boiling over.
Chu Xuan sat cross-legged on the edge of the cliff, with white steam rising from his body and ice chips hanging from his hair, eyebrows and eyelashes, looking like a snowman just unearthed from the ground. Every now and then, he raised his hand to make a false split, and a wisp of frost line cut out, and the opposite stone wall "rustled" powder, and the cut surface was so smooth that it could reflect a human figure.
"The seventh frost-cutting technique, Starfall!"
He groaned, and the sword light on his fingertips burst forth. Ten feet away, an old pine tree was cut in half, and its crown crashed to the ground, startling several crows.
"Not bad, it's quite decent."
Ling Qingxue leaned against the stone wall, holding the Cold Moon Sword in her arms. Her voice was faint, but there was a very faint smile in her eyes. She was dressed in a plain white single garment. The morning breeze blew, and the sleeves were close, outlining a narrow waistline. Chu Xuan caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye that his heart was beating fast for no reason, and quickly murmured to himself: Calm down, this is the ancestor who can freeze the river with one sword - life is of the importance.
"Last move, Cold soul." Ling Qingxue raised her hand and tapped his brow lightly with her fingertips. "Watch."
She pointed together like a sword, without any fancy moves, just a light stroke.
The world suddenly fell silent.
The wind stopped, and the snowflakes hung in mid-air, freezing even the breath. In the next second, the sea of clouds a hundred feet off the cliff cracked a crack, like being split in two by an invisible blade. Sunlight streamed through the crack, and the golden light interwove with the ice crystals, breathtakingly beautiful.
"This move does not cut the body but the soul." She retracted her fingers, her voice as soft as snowfall, "If you can understand, you can break through ten levels of qi refinement within ten days; No --"
"Just go back to the outer door and chop firewood." Chu Xuan responded with a grin, revealing neat white teeth. "I see, Qingxue."
Ling Qingxue was slapped by him and rarely had a cold face. She just snorted, "You idiot."
...
It's not easy to understand the sword.
Chu Xuan closed his eyes and replayed the trajectory of that finger in his mind, but the cold spirit of the sword was like a flower in the mist, a moon in the water, visible but not touchable. The more he forced it, the more chaotic the sea of consciousness became, the blood and qi in his chest surged, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood mist, and the blood drop fell to the ground and froze.
"What's the rush?" Ling Qingxue frowned, her palm pressed against his back, and cold spirit energy rushed in to help him sort out the disordered qi flow. "To slay the soul, first slay your own heart. If you can't even see through your own heart, how can you kill others?"
What do you think then? Chu Xuan wiped his blood and smiled wryly, "I have a low level of cultivation and a small mind. I can't hold too many great truths."
"If I can't hold it, I'll dig it out bit by bit." Ling Qingxue said indifferently, "Take out all the fears, hates and desires, and hang them in the sun. When you see clearly, the sword will shine."
She spoke with ease, but Chu Xuan's heart gave a jolt.
Scared? Fear of not being able to protect the people around you, fear of repeating the mistakes of your ancestors, fear... Lose her.
Hate? Hate the injustice of fate, hate the prejudice of human hearts, hate not being strong enough.
What do you want? Want to stand side by side, want her not to be alone anymore, want... Step out of a new ending.
Thoughts welled up like a tangled mess. He gritted his teeth, rose sharply, leaped to the edge of the cliff in one step, and roared into the vast sea of clouds:
"I'm afraid! I hate! I want --"
The sound swirled, startling a mountain full of crows.
Ling Qingxue stood behind him, her eyes flickering as if she had been struck in the heart by the roar.
"Go on." She said softly.
Chu Xuan closed his eyes, then opened them again. The blood in his eyes had faded, leaving only clarity. He raised his hand, frost on the tip of his finger, no fancy sword move, just a light stroke --
Cold soul.
The sea of clouds split again, the gap straight, as if cut by an invisible blade, for a long time.
Ling Qingxue's eyes flashed with amazement.
"It's done." "Ten days, ten levels of qi refinement, you win the bet." She said in a soft voice, but with a smile.
Chu Xuan turned around, his body covered in a profusion of ice and frost. He laughed so hard that his teeth were out of sight: "What about the reward?"
"Reward?" Ling Qingxue raised her eyebrows.
"Such as... A hug?" He opened his arms and laughed uncontrollably.
Ling Qingxue laughed, shook her head and approached, reaching out to brush the ice shavings off his eyebrows, her movements so gentle as to be beyond description.
"Let's not hold him." She stood on tiptoe, her lips lightly touching his ear, in a soft voice, "I'll keep you company when you practice swordsmanship."
Chu Xuan froze on the spot, his ears instantly flushed red as if being burned by fire.
"Good, good." He stammered, not knowing where to put his hands.
Ling Qingxue took a step back and returned to her cold demeanor, as if the gentleness just now was an illusion.
"Go back and change your clothes, blood all over, so dirty."
"Oh..." Chu Xuan scratched his head and laughed foolishly, "Then you wait for me?"
"HMM."
She turned, her lips slightly curled, like an ice lotus blooming quietly in the snow.
...
On the way back, Chu Xuan stepped on the snow and hopped three steps at a time.
The mark of the Dao was burning on his wrist. He lowered his head and saw a line of small characters emerging -
"Cold soul one form, cutting soul and heart. The sword is formed, emotion arises."
He grinned, a smile warmer than the sun.
"Clear Snow --"
"What again?"
"I'll protect you from now on, as you protect me today."
The woman ahead did not stop her steps, but in the snow left a string of shallow footprints, as if responding to him alone.