Chapter 32: Sudden Enlightenment

“Brothers of the Inner Hall, work harder, don’t let the Outer Hall disciples beat us.”

Xu Jin’s loud shout stirred the competitive spirit among the Inner Hall disciples.

“Kill!”

The Inner Hall disciples roared in unison, suddenly pushing their inner potential. Several Monster Beasts were slain under their swords. Half an hour later, with the combined efforts of both Inner and Outer Hall disciples, all the Monster Beasts were finally wiped out.

Originally, Outer Hall disciples had no status in front of Inner Hall disciples. After killing the Monster Beasts, it was always the Outer Hall disciples who cleaned up the battlefield, cutting off the useful parts from the Monster Beasts and gathering them to hand over to the Inner Hall disciples. How much the Outer Hall disciples could get depended entirely on the mood of the Inner Hall disciples.

However, this time the Outer Hall disciples had made many contributions. The Inner Hall disciples also knew that without the Outer Hall disciples, they would not have won so easily, and not a single person was injured. Therefore, this time the Inner Hall disciples not only did not order the Outer Hall disciples to clean the battlefield, but instead took the initiative to start cleaning up themselves.

When the Outer Hall disciples saw the Inner Hall disciples taking action voluntarily, they could tell that the Inner Hall disciples were showing them respect. They dared not act arrogantly in front of the Inner Hall disciples, especially since most of the Monster Beasts were killed by them. It could be bluntly said that without the Inner Hall disciples, these Outer Hall disciples would only be waiting for death. So they quickly rushed to the Monster Beasts and began cleaning up.

Only Xu Ziyan did not move. Instead, she slightly frowned, thought for a moment, and then walked straight to Xu Jin, speaking softly:

“Senior Brother Xu Jin!”

“Hmm?”

Xu Jin was cleaning a Monster Beast when he heard the voice and looked up. He saw Xu Ziyan standing in front of him. He had already noticed that Xu Ziyan was directing the Outer Hall disciples earlier, but he did not know her name. As a forty-year-old Inner Hall disciple at the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining, did he need to know the name of an Outer Hall disciple?

But now he had witnessed Xu Ziyan’s commanding ability, especially her quick reactions. The moment after the Talisman exploded, only Xu Ziyan rushed out and killed dozens of Monster Beasts in an instant. Just imagine, without Xu Ziyan’s quick response and killing those dozens of Monster Beasts, what would have been the consequence if there were dozens more Monster Beasts in the later battle?

Therefore, at this moment, Xu Jin did not regard Xu Ziyan as just a little girl from the Outer Hall. Although he did not elevate her to his own level, he held a degree of respect for her in his heart. So he stopped what he was doing, straightened his back, and said gently to Xu Ziyan:

“I still don’t know how to address you, little sister?”

“Reporting to Senior Brother, this little sister is Xu Ziyan.”

“Oh, Little Sister Ziyan, do you need something from me?” Xu Jin did not waste any more words. The fact that he could speak kindly to Xu Ziyan was already giving her face.

“It’s like this, Senior Brother Xu Jin. I think we should not clean up these Monster Beast corpses. We’ve all lost a lot of energy in this big battle, and some are even injured. Most importantly, we don’t know when the next wave of Monster Beasts will come. Shouldn’t we rest and recover immediately?”

Hearing Xu Ziyan’s words, Xu Jin immediately understood. He cursed himself inwardly for being foolish. After this big battle, even he, with the highest Cultivation Level, had used up most of his True Essence, let alone the other disciples. If they stayed here cleaning the Monster Beast corpses instead of resting and recovering, and if the next wave of Monster Beasts came quickly, they would indeed only be waiting for death.

Thinking of this, Xu Jin couldn’t help but feel full of admiration for Xu Ziyan, and his respect for her grew a bit more. He said softly to Xu Ziyan:

“Thank you!”

Xu Ziyan quickly waved her hands, saying she didn’t dare accept such thanks. Xu Jin nodded, turned around, and shouted to everyone:

“Stop dealing with those Monster Beast corpses! Return to the hillside immediately for Meditative Rest and prepare for the next wave of Monster Beast attacks!”

“Yes!”

Upon hearing Xu Jin’s command, all the disciples immediately understood. They quickly dropped the Monster Beasts they were handling and hurried back to the hillside. As soon as they reached the hillside, everyone began Meditative Rest. Xu Ziyan saw that injured disciples like Xu Tieniu had already taken the Elixirs given by the Clan and started healing, so she did not take out the Elixirs she had made herself. Although her Elixirs were definitely better than those the other disciples had, Xu Ziyan did not want to expose herself. So she just swallowed a Spirit Pill and entered Meditative Rest.

Among all these people, Xu Ziyan had consumed the least energy. She was originally at the Second Layer of Qi Refining Stage, and she had been with the Outer Hall disciples, dealing with only five Monster Beasts at a time, so she had not used up much True Essence. In just a short while, she had recovered all of her True Essence.

Opening her eyes, she saw that everyone else was still in Meditative Rest. Only Xu Jin stood at a high point on the hillside, keeping watch, his face full of exhaustion. Xu Ziyan knew that Xu Jin was guarding everyone because he feared the Monster Beasts might attack suddenly. She looked at Xu Jin with respect in her eyes.

She stood up and tiptoed toward Xu Jin. Xu Jin immediately sensed movement behind him and turned his head sharply. Seeing that it was Xu Ziyan approaching, he let out a soft sigh of relief, relaxed his tense heart, and gave Xu Ziyan a gentle smile.

Xu Ziyan walked up to Xu Jin and said quietly, “Senior Brother Xu Jin, please go and rest. I’ll take over the watch.”

Xu Jin looked at her in surprise and asked in a low voice, “You’ve finished resting?”

“Yes!” Xu Ziyan nodded gently. “We Outer Hall disciples didn’t use up as much energy as you Inner Hall disciples, so I recovered quickly. Please go and rest now; we don’t know when the Monster Beasts will come again.”

“Alright!”

Xu Jin didn’t stand on ceremony either. He was truly very tired, and thinking that the next wave of Monster Beasts could arrive at any time, he had no interest in chatting. He just said “Be careful!” to Xu Ziyan and hurried back to the hillside to enter Meditative Rest.

Xu Ziyan stood alone on the high ground. She looked up at the night sky and thought to herself, “I wonder if those ten Outer Hall disciples with Xu Lin are alive or dead now?” Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness and let out a soft sigh.

She looked down toward the foot of the hillside. The area below was now empty and quiet, except for the scattered corpses of Monster Beasts. Snowflakes still danced in the sky, but the wind had died down a lot. The snowflakes fluttered and drifted like sprites under the night sky, performing a beautiful dance.

One snowflake landed on Xu Ziyan’s face, gradually melting into water that trickled down her cheek. Then another snowflake landed on her face, one after another, continuously melting into water, flowing like a small stream.

Xu Ziyan’s heart suddenly shook. Water! Ice!

The three states of matter: water! ice! mist!