Chapter 7: The Shadow Clone of the Lucky Draw Divine Skills
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After the assessment ended, Yu Qingtan followed Shen Wanning to her room.
"Qingtan, I didn't expect you to have broken through to the second level of Qi Cultivation. If it weren't for that person causing trouble, perhaps you could have entered Tianxiang Valley!" Shen Wanning said somewhat resentfully.
"It was just luck! Thank you for your encouragement today. I wasn't planning to enter Tianxiang Valley anyway. I don't want to leave the familiar building, nor do I want to leave you. Besides, with our level of talent, even if we went to Tianxiang Valley, we would be at the very bottom, and life would probably be tough. If something like what happened with Young Master Luo were to occur again... sigh,"
Yu Qingtan said, of course there were more important reasons for her to stay at Tianxiang Pavilion.
"There's no need for thanks between you and me. But you've become much more outgoing and confident than before, which comforts me. It's just that Young Master Luo's offer was very tempting, and he is also handsome. I can't believe you're not interested in him."
"People always grow, right? I just want to live a relatively free life."
Yu Qingtan suddenly felt a surge in her heart, but she kept a composed face as she spoke.
"Mhm, that Luo person actually using such means, his character is vile. It's fortunate you didn't agree."
Shen Wanning said indignantly.
"You worried me. Let's not talk about this; I have to congratulate you on securing the seventh place!"
Yu Qingtan said with a smile.
"Hehe, you actually scored higher than me, but congratulations to you too for your close call. We've entered the inner building together; we need to support each other from now on. When we have a few days off, I'll treat you to a good meal at the Drunken Fairy Building."
"Great! Then I'll head back first, I'm not eating dinner, I want to go back and cultivate!"
"You are really diligent, alright then, I'll cultivate too. I was actually planning on lying around for a day."
...
Returning to her own room, Yu Qingtan changed into casual clothes and sat cross-legged on her wooden bed.
The events of the day had deepened her understanding of this strictly hierarchical world.
She possessed a free spirit and didn't want to be confined by it. She needed strength to avoid such a fate.
More importantly, she didn't want to end up abducted as someone's concubine someday, like Luo Xiang, who apparently hadn't given up on her.
She didn't want to be the laughingstock of other transmigrators.
With this thought, she opened the system panel.
[Cultivation Level: Yu Qingtan]
[Sex: Female]
[Age: 14/87]
[Spirit Root: Water 67/100; Wood 52/100; Earth 51/100; Metal 25/100; Fire 3/100]
[Cultivation Level: Qi Cultivation Second Layer 3/200]
[Cultivation Technique: Clear Water Technique]
[Spell: Cleansing Spell, Elementary 64/100]
[Skills: Exquisite Dance, Minor Mastery 92/200, Zither Art, Elementary 67/100]
[Charm Points: 34]
[Affection Value: 0]
[System Space: A set of Exquisite Dance costumes, 67 Lower Grade Spirit Stones, 1 drop of Spirit Dew, 13 Meat Pies, various other items]
[System Shop: Primary Spiritual Root Upgrade Card 0/1 (100 Affection Value), First-Tier Cultivation Upgrade Card 0/3 (10 Affection Value), First-Tier Spell Upgrade Card 0/10 (1 Affection Value), First-Tier Skill Upgrade Card 1/10 (1 Affection Value)]
[Lucky Draw: 10 Charm Points per draw]
"Sure enough, the Charm Points have increased a bit!" Yu Qingtan thought of the many male spectators during the assessment and felt a little disappointed.
From what she understood, this world's aesthetic standards for appearances and body shapes were similar to her previous life, but she wasn't particularly outstanding in either area.
"Hope this draw isn't too rigged!"
"Dao Ancestor, bless me!" she mentally recited and pressed the draw button next to the lucky draw with her mind.
"Thank you for your patronage!"
"A plant." Yu Qingtan's heart sank, and she couldn't help but cry out.
"Dao Ancestor, have mercy!"
"Thank you for your patronage!"
Yu Qingtan took a deep breath, "Isn't there even a beginner's protection period?"
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"Dao Ancestor, eternal!"
"Innate Divine Skill: Shadow Clone!" It was as if the system heard Yu Qingtan's cry. The third lottery draw actually yielded something, and it was an innate divine skill. Innate divine skills were one in tens of millions, a rarity gifted to a creature at birth. No cultivator in the entire Southeast Region was known to possess one. It was said that the immortal ascended over a thousand years ago had one as her companion.
"System dad, I love you."
Yu Qingtan clicked the collect option next to her, and instantly, information about the divine skill flooded her mind.
Just by thinking about it, a silhouette eerily emerged from Yu Qingtan's shadow and solidified into another person identical to her.
The kind that was stark naked.
Yu Qingtan couldn't help but blush. Even though she was very familiar with her own body, seeing it from an outsider's perspective was still somewhat embarrassing.
Yu Qingtan took out a set of clothes and dressed the clone, which had a heartbeat but was motionless and had no consciousness.
This clone, too, had a shadow.
With another thought from Yu Qingtan, she controlled the clone to move, while her original body became still as if it had lost its soul.
She sensed the inside of the clone; it also had a dantian and its spiritual power was at the same second-level Qi Cultivation strength.
She tried a Cleansing Spell, and there was no difference from when her original body cast it.
This Shadow Clone was an exact physical duplicate, though consciousness could only be controlled individually by the original body or the clone.
However, almost any damage done to the clone wouldn't harm the consciousness of the original body, and if the original body took any damage, the consciousness could instantly return to it, making the clone vanish in an instant.
With a thought, the consciousness returned to the original body and the clone vanished, leaving behind the clothes strewn on the ground.
"It's strong, but not ridiculously so."
Yu Qingtan evaluated in her heart, very satisfied with her newfound skill.
After practicing the use of the divine skill several more times, Yu Qingtan also discovered that it did not cause any extra strain on her mind, nor was there a time limit. It was indeed worthy of being an innate divine skill.
It wasn't until nightfall that Yu Qingtan began her cultivation of the Clear Water Technique.
…
The next day, Yu Qingtan and Shen Wanning formally registered as inner disciples at the management office of the inner building, and they would now receive fifty Lower Grade Spirit Stones each month as their stipend.
Then the two of them moved into a large courtyard where the inner disciples lived.
Their rooms were next to each other, making them neighbors.
However, the rooms of the inner disciples were much better than the previous shabby wooden huts.
There was a large mahogany bed, a big and exquisite dressing table, a large wardrobe, a round table, four round stools, and a qin with its own desk and chairs.
The space was also quite spacious and well soundproofed, convenient for practicing dance and playing the qin.
After settling into her new room, Yu Qingtan specifically went to thank Elder Wen for her instruction, which made the usually strict Wen smile and offer her further encouragement.
Then, Yu Qingtan went to attend a lesson by one of the dance instructors of the inner building.
The inner disciples operated on an elective system, where they decided what they wished to learn.
Inner disciples worked from evening until midnight—the hours from Youshi to Choushi—and the income earned was split nine to one with the pavilion.
A regular inner disciple was entitled to choose one servant from among the servant disciples, but not only would they have to bear the servant's regular stipend and expenses, they also had to pay the pavilion thirty Lower Grade Spirit Stones each month.
Yu Qingtan and Shen Wanning both opted out; they couldn't afford it.
Cultivation too, the further along one got, the more resources it consumed.
The more skills and talents one had, the more outstanding they became, and, naturally, the more earnings one would have.
Therefore, Yu Qingtan planned to learn another dance, the Butterfly Dance.
In addition, she was prepared to learn to play chess, calligraphy, painting, and composing poetry and lyrics. For this, she borrowed the introductory tutorials from the pavilion's library and planned to self-study first and then listen to the instruction in her spare time.
The games were Go, calligraphy and painting were done with brush and ink.
Unfortunately, she had been a test-focused student from a little town in her previous life and didn't have any skills in these arts.
Writing poetry and lyrics could perhaps draw on the famous works from her previous life, but she still had to learn the basics properly, or it would be too easy to give herself away.
Thus, Yu Qingtan kept herself extremely busy.
Shen Wanning condemned her for her manic involvement, but unfortunately, Yu Qingtan persisted in her ways.
Shen Wanning had no choice but to roll up her sleeves and follow suit, lest the gap between them became too vast.