Chapter 45: Setting Off for the Qualification Exam

Bai Yu felt that the girl had been acting strange lately — listless, as if all her energy had drained away. In just a few days they were supposed to depart for the Celestial Master Hall, yet she didn’t even bother supervising his mystic arts studies anymore, often letting out long sighs.

“Hey, kid, what’s going on? What’s wrong with you these days?” Bai Yu finally couldn’t hold back and asked.

“What do you mean?” Yun Jiao looked blank.

“Come on, don’t play dumb. You haven’t added any new books to my shelf for days.” Normally, every week or so she’d pile a few more onto his already towering stack.

“Ahh…” Yun Jiao let out a long sigh before finally saying quietly, “I think… I might have angered the Ancestral Master.”

“What?” Bai Yu was shocked. “He would get mad at you?” Don’t joke — their Ancestral Master was openly, blatantly biased toward her. How could he possibly be angry with her?

“It’s true.”

Bai Yu still looked unconvinced. “What on earth did you do to upset him?”

Yun Jiao’s face stiffened. After a pause, she said in a low voice, “A few days ago, he suddenly said he wanted to teach me alchemy.”

“Alchemy?” Bai Yu was taken aback. A pang of sour jealousy hit him — the Ancestral Master was giving her special tutoring again. “Don’t tell me you refused to learn and made him mad?”

“No!” Yun Jiao shook her head. “It’s just… he didn’t give me a book. He directly sent the alchemy knowledge into my mind.”

“…He what?” Bai Yu froze, then suddenly shot to his feet. “Wait — divine sense transmission!” His face filled with disbelief.

That was divine sense inheritance! Unlike ordinary teaching, divine sense transmission directly engraves the knowledge and the master’s own understanding into the disciple’s consciousness — skipping the entire study process, granting full comprehension instantly.

It was a legendary method of passing down techniques, something only sky-tier masters could do. This wasn’t just special treatment — this was celestial-level favoritism! Bai Yu glanced at his own mountain of books and nearly turned into a sour lemon spirit on the spot. She didn’t need divine sense transmission — he was the one who desperately needed it! Their Ancestral Master’s bias was crystal clear.

“So… then what happened? Why is he mad?”

“Well…” Yun Jiao hesitated. “I… hit him.”

“…What?” Bai Yu stared blankly for five seconds, not comprehending. “H-hit… hit who?”

“You heard me. I hit him.”

“You’ve lost your mind! Why would you hit the Ancestral Master?! Wait — how did you even hit him? Are you trying to die?” He suddenly realized why the Ancestral Master’s face had looked off during dinner the other night. It wasn’t just his expression that was off — his face was!

“Uh…” Yun Jiao scratched her head. “It was reflex! He didn’t say a word and suddenly pressed his forehead to mine — anyone would think they were about to be harassed!”

“…Is the Ancestral Master okay?”

“He’s fine.” Yun Jiao sighed, lifting her hand wrapped in layer after layer of bandages. “I’m the one who broke a bone.”

Bai Yu: “…”

He suddenly didn’t know where to even start complaining.

Yun Jiao glanced toward the high tower and sighed again. Though she had immediately realized her mistake that day and apologized sincerely, the Ancestral Master still looked angry. His face had been stormy for days. The most obvious punishment — he’d stopped coming to help her roll medicine balls.

“Looks like this time, the Ancestral Master won’t be accompanying us to the Celestial Master Hall.”

---

Yun Jiao guessed right. The Ancestral Master clearly had no intention of going with them to the qualification exams. As departure day drew near, Bai Yu and Yun Jiao had no choice but to climb the tower to bid farewell.

Night Abyss didn’t have much to say. He swept his gaze over the two, but when his eyes landed on Yun Jiao, his expression shifted. He remembered that incident. The slap hadn’t actually hurt him — his protective celestial aura had blocked it — yet for some reason, his cheek still felt faintly hot.

Probably because it was the first time anyone had dared hit his face. And the culprit was the only disciple he actually liked. Punish her? He couldn’t bear it. Don’t punish her? His pride wouldn’t allow that either. The more he thought about it, the more conflicted he felt.

Finally, he turned to glare at Bai Yu instead, his voice cool: “If you fail… don’t bother coming back.” All this time and still a useless lump — what use was that? Then he turned back to Yun Jiao, almost as if worried she’d misunderstand, and added: “You must come back.”

He still hadn’t figured out what kind of punishment was fitting. Hmph! At the very least… five bowls of chicken soup!

Yun Jiao: “…”

Bai Yu: “…” Ancestral Master, does your conscience not ache from this blatant favoritism?

---

Night Abyss gave them one last sweeping glance, finally seeming satisfied. He flicked his hand, and two talismans shot out — one to Yun Jiao, one to Bai Yu.

Yun Jiao caught hers. It was an ordinary-looking yellow talisman, nothing like the golden, glowing ones the Ancestral Master usually used. Other than the incomprehensible runes, it didn’t look much different from the ones Old Zhou drew.

“If you encounter a crisis you cannot handle, burn this,” Night Abyss said seriously, looking at Yun Jiao.

Bai Yu caught his own talisman and opened his mouth to ask, “And mine is for—”

But the Ancestral Master simply waved him off. “Go. Leave early, return early.” Then his figure flickered and vanished back into the spirit tablet, offering no further explanation.

Bai Yu: “…”

The favoritism hurts, okay?

---

“This must be a teleportation talisman,” Yun Jiao said after glancing at the charm in his hand. “The Ancestral Master probably wants to send us directly to the Celestial Master Hall.”

“Really?!” Bai Yu’s face lit up. The Celestial Master Hall was in Mystic City, a journey that normally took half a month. They’d originally counted on the Ancestral Master to send them through a teleportation array to avoid the grueling trip. Since he wasn’t coming, they were worried about time — but apparently he’d prepared for this.

“Tomorrow’s the registration and assessment. Let’s go!” Yun Jiao urged.

“Right!” Bai Yu activated his talisman. Instantly, it burst into white light, wrapping them both. The scene blurred and shifted — and the next moment they stood before towering city walls. Above hung two massive characters inscribed in powerful runes: Mystic City — home of the Celestial Master Hall.

All around bustled people, many robed mystic disciples. None seemed surprised by their sudden appearance — clearly teleport arrivals were common here.

“So fast!” Bai Yu was amazed. He could draw teleport charms himself, but his could only jump two or three miles — and even then, the destination was random. To jump thousands of miles from Qingyang Temple to Mystic City with a single talisman — only their Ancestral Master could pull that off.

It warmed his heart a little — clearly the old man still cared, knowing his creaky body couldn’t handle the long journey. But wait…

What was the charm the Ancestral Master gave the girl again? He’d said it was for life-threatening danger — a life-saving talisman!

(⊙_⊙)

A simple travel talisman… versus a life-saving talisman.

Bai Yu: “…”

…utterly crushed.