(12) Big News to Share

A few rabbits were peacefully chewing on some grass under a large tree when they suddenly perked their ears and then scurried away hurriedly as a young woman with a murderous pressure approached the area.

Wu LiJing couldn't suppress her feelings of hatred and disgust, causing animals and insects within the forest to flee from her as she returned. She decided to clear her mind by walking back as she processed all of the information Jin RuiYing told her. Once she breathed enough fresh air, she already reached the entrance of the Moon Sect.

A big elegant, white gate made of exquisite jade could be seen and two disciples were chatting with each other as they guarded the gate. Disciples took turns guarding as a way to earn some money, since it counted as a task or mission. Once she reached the entrance, the disciples paused and stared at her with big eyes, as if she was some kind of foreign thing.

Wu LiJing walked past them in an aloof manner, her robes waving behind her elegantly. While her steps continued, others who saw her also stared with big eyes and whispered, forgetting to salute. Once they noticed her gazing at them, they finally came to their senses and quickly apologized, saluting respectfully with lowered heads. She also took notice of the quick whispers behind her and the stares that focused on her figure.

She flew to her manor to avoid the sudden probing eyes that made her feel uncomfortable. When she entered her courtyard, she saw Cheng ChunHua wiping the table, but when her maid looked up at Wu LiJing, she also froze and gawked at her.

"Is there something on my face?" she asked calmly.

"Huh?" Cheng ChunHua blinked and quickly kneeled and bowed. "I apologize, Master! Please forgive me! I… Master's face was too magnificent and I ended up staring too long!" Cheng ChunHua closed her eyes tightly, coming up with an instant excuse. Her master's eyes seemed so scary at the moment that she found herself shivering a little.

Wu LiJing stared at her maid and sighed. "Get up. Tell me what's wrong. I've only been out for a few days and something seems to be going on…"

Cheng ChunHua stuttered, "M-miss QiaoHua is back…"

"Oh? She's back?" Wu LiJing smiled and her dark eyes brightened as she went off to find her cousin, disregarding her previous question.

Wu LiJing knocked on Wu QiaoHua's door and it took a moment but the door finally opened.

Wu QiaoHua kept her gaze lowered as she invited Wu LiJing in. Her bed was decorated with light blue fabric and there were a few girly vases of pink flowers around to liven up the room. All of the drawers and tables were pretty and of good quality, befitting a room inside a direct disciple's manor.

A table was placed in the middle of the room and they sat around it. Wu QiaoHua quickly poured her some tea, which she never did before, surprising Wu LiJing.

Wu LiJing couldn't help but stare at Wu QiaoHua for a moment while lost in thought. Then she smiled. "Did your mission go well?" Perhaps she realized her cultivation has improved due to the Baby Blue Flower.

Wu QiaoHua bobbed her head up and down, still keeping her gaze on the uninteresting ground.

Wu LiJing tilted her head slightly in bewilderment and grabbed the cup to take a sip of tea. Ah, this was the sweet tea she got from her master and gifted to Wu QiaoHua. It tasted good... but was sweeter than usual.

Wu LiJing glanced at the small box of sugar beside the tea pot and quietly placed the teacup back on the table, deciding not to touch it again. She thought she was going to get some kind of heart-attack with how much sugar her cousin put in.

Wu QiaoHua felt sweat form on her forehead and she clenched her hands. Was she going to get yelled at? She was too afraid to look up. She took a deep breath, ready to apologize.

"Why do you keep looking down?" Wu LiJing raised her eyebrows.

The girl in lavender coughed and slowly looked up at Wu LiJing's expression that seemed normal. "You're not mad?" she whispered.

Wu LiJing smiled. "What would I be mad about? And sit down, why are you standing like that?"

"You don't know?" Wu QiaoHua sighed in relief, sitting down properly.

"Did you mess up on your mission? Even if you did, it's alright... were you injured?" She knitted her brows and scanned her cousin's body.

Wu QiaoHua grinned and quickly waved her hands. "No, I did well! I helped defeat the water demon! And then!" She paused and thought back on what happened on the mountain when they went to capture those bandits and her face paled while looking at her cousin

"And then... I was complimented by my teammates...." Her voice became quiet as she stared at the ground again, while playing with her nails.

Wu LiJing nodded. After a moment of silence, she stood up. "It's good you're not injured. You must be tired... have a good rest, alright?"

Wu QiaoHua stared blankly at the door and sighed. Her eyebrows drooped worriedly as she remembered the words Mo ShiLan said to her: "Wu QiaoHua… the one I love is you. That's why I broke off this engagement with Wu LiJing. I know you may find it unbelievable, but I just want you to know my feelings."

He brought her to his embrace with a hug when she had been attacked by a hiding bandit, which already surprised her. But when he uttered those words… she felt like her mind went blank. And what was worse was, her best friends were there to witness it. On the journey back, there was only silence between the three of them.

She thought… she thought they were in love this whole time. She thought Sir Mo only treated her well because of Wu LiJing, but now she felt troubled. She wanted to thank her cousin for giving her that Baby Blue Flower. She realized her increase in power was probably due to what she consumed before she left, so she asked Wei SuSu about it and it was true. She also wanted to thank her cousin for saving her from that snake beast before. She realized that her cousin had been looking out for her and she never really thanked her because she thought they had grown apart from each other after entering the sect.

But now she only felt ashamed. Didn't she basically steal Wu LiJing's fiancé from her? But she didn't even like him, only thought of him like a distant brother. How would LiJing treat her if she finds out she was the reason for their break-up?

She could see how well her cousin treated Sir Mo compared to other men. She knew she was always a burden to Wu LiJing, but now… She sighed and covered her face, filled with anxiety. She didn't want to attend class tomorrow.

The whole sect was in an uproar. After the team of inner sect disciples that worked with QiaoHua returned from their mission, one of the disciples who went with them also happened to witness the happening between their second direct disciple's ex-fiance and Wu QiaoHua.

So there were two big news to share amongst themselves. Not only was their Eldest Senior Sister abandoned by her fiancé of four years, but it was due to her cousin, Wu QiaoHua. He even met up and confessed to her during their mission. Rumors flew here and there - many bashed on Wu LiJing, but many also bashed on Wu QiaoHua.

Wei SuSu frowned when she heard the conversations taking place between the disciples. "Don't you guys have better things to do than talk about these trivial things?"

One of them scoffed. "Are you trying to defend your friend? I can't believe she tried to steal Eldest Senior Sister's beloved!"

"No, it's because of Eldest Senior Sister's personality! Look at how cold her personality is. Sir Mo probably got tired of her," another one argued.

Xin Mei just silently stared at the ground as she listened, lost in thought. Then she frowned and looked up, ready to fight the one who just said that, "Hey!"

Wei SuSu quickly pulled her away. "Let's go," she said. "Don't mind these annoying people."

Xin Mei glared at them and sighed. "I wonder what QiaoHua has to say about this..."

"She seemed pretty shocked herself," Wei SuSu whispered. "That's why I didn't ask anything on the way back. I think we should just leave it to QiaoHua and Eldest Senior Sister. It's their problem and none of our business."

Xin Mei was silent for a moment and then nodded. "Mm." She glanced back at the people chatting with dark eyes. "Still, it's annoying to hear people gossip like this..."

A few days passed and Wu QiaoHua still went to class, which other disciples were surprised about. In class, most of them stared at Wu QiaoHua without paying attention to their masters, which made their masters angry, so everyone was punished and had to write two long essays on the topics they were learning about.

"Creating divine artifacts, how am I supposed to write ten pages about this?" Xin Mei asked "I hate this topic..." She hit her head on the table with a thump.

"Don't forget to write the paper about sword intent and consciousness," Wei SuSu reminded with a smile as she wrote her paper with hurried strokes that still looked decent and pretty.

"I'm sorry, guys," Wu QiaoHua said dejectedly while staring at her blank paper.

The three girls were sitting around in the sect's main study hall with a few books stacked up on their table. There were also a few disciples a few tables away from them, chatting or diligently writing on their papers with distraught faces.

Wei SuSu sighed, "Don't worry about it. It was everyone's fault."

"Yeah, now even the outer disciples are curious as to how Wu QiaoHua looks, even skipping class to get a peek." Xin Mei let out a longer sigh. "I hope they get a harsher punishment." She grumbled about how unfair it was while hitting her head on the table like a pecking chicken, making Wei SuSu smile at the funny scene.

"If you don't finish writing by tonight, you'll be punished again."

Wu QiaoHua quickly opened some books and wrote a few words while searching through them. Xin Mei sat up and smiled sweetly at Wei SuSu. "Ah'Su, my best-friend. How about you help me write my essays?" (a/n: adding Ah' is an endearing way of calling someone - like a sweet nickname)

Wei SuSu raised an eyebrow. "I don't want to be further punished with you tomorrow."

Xin Mei pouted. "Then can you pleeeease give me some ideas?" She stared at Wei SuSu with big sparkling eyes and had her hands clasped together in front of her chest, like a dog begging for meat. Wu QiaoHua saw her strategy and quickly copied her.

With two big eyed, useless puppies in front of her, Wei SuSu sighed. It seems she will have to stay up all night. She put a strict finger up, "Alright, listen well. I will only say it once."

Xin Mei and Wu QiaoHua clapped their hands happily, and quickly bobbed their heads with big smiling lips and had their brushes ready.

"Making a divine artifact is extremely difficult. Unless one was born as a genius alchemist, only those who have reached at least the mid-levels of the Immortal Emperor Realm have a chance in creating such items. Even then, it would be hard. Why? Because it takes a long time to refine the artifact without failing even once, and one must also give part of one's life essence or life energy to make one. Without life essence, a normal artifact can be created but not a divine one.

The cultivator must gather chi and refine it first before transferring it into the targeted object. Not only that, but for this object to develop the functionality the owner wants, it must serve some kind of purpose, which is influenced by the creator's emotions.

Let's say an example: a female cultivator longs for and wishes to see her dead lover everyday. And she also has a hair comb that constantly reminds her of him because it was gifted by him when they fell for each other. Therefore she decides to create an artifact that would let her see him - which would be created using this comb as the object.

First, she would take this comb and place it in her palms under every full moon, where energy from the moon is the greatest, and also when her feelings of longing are the greatest because her lover also liked to enjoy the night sky. While she tries to create a divine artifact to let her see her lover, she refines chi during this time until morning comes, and inputs it into the comb and waits for the next full moon. She does this for ten years without missing a single full-moon and her emotions are still just as strong as she continues to refine the object with spiritual energy.

The last two things that all divine artifacts need is first, a drop of condensed energy containing one's life essence, and second, a drop of blood. Once this woman feels that the artifact is refined enough and full of chi, she would put a drop of her blood on it to complete it. This drop of blood is important because it contains her strong emotions, helping validate the functionality of the artifact once last time, and helps the artifact identify her as its creator and owner. Then an artifact is born."

Before the two puppies, who currently had sparkling eyes, could start barking, she raised a finger to silence them so she could finish her lecture.

"What does it do then? This comb would, theoretically, probably do something like create a mirage of her dead lover based on her memories and even let her interact with him during a full moon. This mirage may or may not be real, who knows. Based on how long she did this, the mirage may be fake. But since her feelings were fierce and deep, the mirage could eventually gain its own consciousness."

"What if she dies? What happens to the comb?" Wu QiaoHua asked, obviously immersed in this story of love and longing, the kind that could only be found in poems if one has not experienced it themselves. "Wouldn't the spirit inside the comb be lonely?"

Wei SuSu looked at QiaoHua hopelessly, "You're thinking too much! It will simply be a mirage. There is no spirit or real person inside the comb."

"So what happens instead?" QiaoHua laughed a little and scratched her head in embarrassment.

"It would probably fall into the hands of another person. The functionality of this comb is probably to let one see their most beloved dead ones during a full moon. If they meet the condition of missing a dead person they love, the mirage can be created for them as well. There are many possibilities when making a divine object."

"Then how would one fail?" Xin Mei asked, clearly also interested due to the great story their friend just made up on the spot. Indeed, it was good to be friends with someone who was intelligent. If this is like the normal lecture they got in class, they may be dozing off already.

Wei SuSu sighed and stared at the both of them. Of course, they didn't listen in class properly.

"One could fail by not having a strong enough resolution in creating this artifact, not giving the object enough chi, not a strong enough emotion or dedication to create its functionality, or not meeting a condition in order to create the artifact they want in the first place."

As she spoke, both girls scribbled as fast as they could on their papers, "The object's functionality can change greatly if even one part of the formula is wrong. For example, if the woman did not refine the comb under the moonlight but alternated between day and night, then the strength of the mirage would probably weaken due to the set conditions for it to work. The energy during a full moon is also much stronger than the energy of the moon during a normal night, thus it may also take longer to refine. Usually, with more set conditions, the stronger the artifact. But this can also be set off with time. If she refined the comb day and night for one hundred years, the comb would have much more power and may even create a mirage that can become her reality, having its own thoughts and actions. It's complicated but the strength of a divine artifact is based a lot on chi and time, while its functionality and purpose greatly depends on intent and emotion of the cultivator refining it."

"So what happens if the intent or emotion of the cultivator changes?"

Wei SuSu paused. "Then it will most likely fail... in rare cases since it's happened before, if the intent or emotion changes, so does the functionality of the artifact. Usually, the cultivator would just quit and start anew. But if a cultivator somehow ends up dropping their blood on it and it does get completed, then an artifact with unknown or controversial functions is created. But this can be quite dangerous..." She continued to talk and answered more questions as both girls listened intently and wrote in ugly letters until dawn arrived.

"I should be paid for this," Wei SuSu yawned as she handed in her papers with baggy eyes.

Xin Mei and Wu QiaoHua grinned and hugged Wei SuSu tightly.

"We'll treat you to a meal after class! Order anything you like!"

Wei SuSu yawned once again. "I just want to sleep. We can go tomorrow."

Once class was over, all three girls went to their beds to nap as most disciples did.

Meng Shu, an inner disciple who was currently in the low-stage of the Body Enhancing Realm, was frowning as she looked at the three girls who walked off with happy faces. Her friends, Liang Ya and Dai Fen also glared with dark eyes.

Meng Shu was already 35 and has been stuck in the low-stage of the Third Tier for about ten years now. Her progress could be considered normal but she was impatient and wanted to do better, trying her hardest to level up, but it was to no avail.

That was why she was always annoyed whenever she saw others suck up to Wu QiaoHua just because she was related to their second direct disciple, who easily gave her resources. Unlike herself, Wu QiaoHua didn't look like she was struggling and also was leveling up well, which made her burn with jealousy.

Every time she heard of Wu LiJing giving something to Wu QiaoHua, she would feel a little tingle in her heart. Wu QiaoHua was slowly climbing the ranks and was currently at mid-stage of the Second Tier. When she heard that Wu QiaoHua was able to consume and absorb the Baby Blue Flower from a disciple who went with them on the mission, she felt that it was unfair.

Then the rumors of Wu QiaoHua, being the reason one of the top couples were divided, spread, and she felt it was even more annoying. Now, even their class time was disrupted, and they were punished. Everything she has been holding back seemed to be erupting.

"I want to teach her a lesson," Meng Shu murmured with clenched hands. How could life be so easy for someone?

Her two friends looked at her and patted her shoulder. "Don't do it, Meng Shu. It's not worth it."

Meng Shu looked at her friends and then sighed, unclenching her hands.

"If I was stronger, I would want to teach her a lesson too," they heard a female voice and turned to see a thin girl with thick eyebrows and plain drooping eyes, wearing the inner disciple uniform. They didn't notice her at all until she spoke up.

"Cai Qiu," Meng Shu said with a scoff. She gazed at Cai Qiu's body to analyze her strength. "You haven't even reached mid-stage of the Second Tier and want to teach her a lesson? You'll lose." How did this loser even make it to be an inner disciple?

Cai Qiu sighed and looked down. "Well, I might not be able to defeat her. But I can play tricks on her to make myself feel better later. Like, I don't know, force her to do something stupid and get her punished for it."

The plain girl smiled and continued with a light tone, "After all, who knows if Eldest Senior Sister's relationship with Wu QiaoHua is as good as she claims? Didn't Wu QiaoHua steal her fiancé from her?" She shrugged and casually walked away.

Meng Shu's eyes turned red for a moment. She smiled with an intense gaze on the empty road Wu QiaoHua was walking on earlier. "Right… That's true. Eldest Senior Sister Wu may not necessarily still treat her the same as before…" Others who were around overheard and stared at each other in the eyes before walking off, minding their own business.

Liang Ya and Dai Fen looked at each other and smirked, understanding their friend's intentions.

Then if they played a little game… it wouldn't be them who would get in trouble, right?