Qian Duoduo secretly glanced at Liu Boli inside the Golden Toad. He was sitting cross-legged, seemingly Cultivating.
He decided to go all out, at worst he would fall. Making up his mind, Qian Duoduo lightly leaped onto the Golden Rooster Sword.
The Golden Rooster Sword swayed slightly, then immediately stabilized! Qian Duoduo chuckled twice. The sway just now was because he himself was afraid of falling and panicked for a moment.
Qian Duoduo jumped hard a couple of times, and the Golden Rooster Sword steadily supported him. He thought carefully, the Golden Rooster Sword was originally controlled by his own Spiritual Qi, and within his Spiritual Awareness, it was no different from his own hands and feet.
“Master, I can fly!” Qian Duoduo silently shouted in his heart.
Liu Boli snorted lightly, too lazy to bother with Qian Duoduo. Riding a sword was too low-level for a Heavenly Human Cultivator.
However, it was Qian Duoduo’s first time. When he first entered the Refining Spirit Sect, Qian Duoduo was incredibly shocked to see Palace Lord Dajiu flying on a sword.
Now, he could finally do it too.
Stepping on the Golden Rooster Sword, Qian Duoduo circled the courtyard a few times, feeling better and better. With a whoosh, he flew out.
Qian Duoduo first arrived at Purple Gold Manor. The manor was quiet, two Spirit Owls stood on branches with wide eyes, and several Spirit Foxes tiptoed towards the Spirit Chicken coop.
Golden Bull Brother had one eye open and one eye closed, resting in the center of the cow shed. The open eye looked at Qian Duoduo through the shed roof.
“Xuan Beast, not for nothing!” Qian Duoduo praised in his heart, turned the sword, and flew towards Huang Guiren’s residence. Huang Guiren was sitting on his Spiritual Platform Cultivating.
“Huang Guiren, come out.” Standing on the Golden Rooster Sword, Qian Duoduo used Spiritual Qi to knock on the door.
“What—” Huang Guiren opened the door, saw Qian Duoduo standing in mid-air on the sword light, and couldn’t help but exclaim, “You can ride a sword? Junior Brother, awesome!”
“Come up.” Qian Duoduo waved at him, “I’ll take you to Wanjin Pavilion. There are fewer people now, you can take the first weaponry scroll exam.”
Huang Guiren hesitated for a moment, “I’ll walk over myself.”
“What are you afraid of? Don’t you trust me?”
Huang Guiren shuffled over, first lifted his left leg, stepped onto the Golden Rooster Sword, and pushed down hard. The Golden Rooster Sword remained perfectly steady, not swaying at all.
“Come on.” Qian Duoduo reached out his right hand and pulled him up.
Huang Guiren tightly hugged Qian Duoduo’s shoulders, “Junior Brother, slower, slower, even slower. Don’t fly too high, stay close to the ground. There’s a tree ahead, be careful…”
From the moment he got on the Golden Rooster Sword, Huang Guiren’s mouth didn’t stop, like a little bee. Qian Duoduo found it amusing in his heart; this fear of heights was just like his own in the past.
As they passed through the Dragon District, Qian Duoduo looked down, but it was pitch black below.
“Are you trying to peek at Senior Sister Yu?” Huang Guiren whispered into Qian Duoduo’s ear, “Junior Brother, alright, you’ve matured!”
After looking around, Qian Duoduo didn’t know which courtyard belonged to Yu Yixiang, so he suddenly pulled the Golden Rooster Sword upwards, rising over twenty zhang off the ground. The speed increased, and the Golden Rooster Sword flew down the mountain with a whistling sound.
Huang Guiren clung to Qian Duoduo, “Junior Brother, lower, lower, slower. I was wrong. You weren’t trying to peek at Senior Sister Yu, just passing by…”
At the foot of the mountain, across Lingwu Avenue, Qian Duoduo saw that Wanjinge Square was still brightly lit.
The Artifact Refining craze had not yet subsided.
“Junior Brother, that’s where the most people are, fly over there, land there.” At the foot of the mountain, with an open view, Huang Guiren became bolder.
Qian Duoduo found an uncrowded corner, gently descended, put away the Golden Rooster Sword, and walked with Huang Guiren towards Wanjinge Square.
There were still significantly fewer people in Wanjinge Square than during the day. In front of the Wood House for the spiritual plant scroll assessment, there were only about ten people queuing.
The top positions of the first four Golden Pillars were still occupied by Qian Duoduo’s Golden Toad.
“Look, how good it is to come at this time,” Qian Duoduo said to Huang Guiren, “I wish you success in the assessment, defeat the Golden Toad, and claim the top of the pillar.”
While Huang Guiren entered the Wood House, Qian Duoduo pretended to watch the show, wandering around, looking here and there, finding an unguarded moment, and slipped into the Wood House for the weaponry scroll assessment.
Entering the virtual space, the assessment began. Before Qian Duoduo, a Magic Treasure appeared—the Soul-Snatching Long Whip, refined with the tail of a long-tailed Spiritual Monkey as the main material, plus three auxiliary ingredients. The offensive Magic Treasure he refined had to have a restraining effect on it to pass. Otherwise, it would be a failure.
This was a freebie question. In a short while, Qian Duoduo refined a Cold Flame Pure Snow Spear and scored one point.
As soon as the Soul-Snatching Long Whip turned into mist, a Mysterious Silver Treasure Helmet appeared. This Treasure Helmet was both soft and hard, hard and soft, making it extremely difficult to break.
Qian Duoduo pondered for a moment and refined a Giant-Toothed Fire Hammer. Each strike of the Giant-Toothed Fire Hammer turned into a ball of fire, sticking to the Mysterious Silver and burning continuously…
One Magic Treasure after another emerged in the space. Qian Duoduo, based on their characteristics, refined Magic Treasures that countered them.
Feeling as if he had broken through hundreds of Magic Treasures, the scene before Qian Duoduo changed, and the assessment ended. His Jade Slip gained a new scroll—the Defense Scroll.
Assessment passed!
Qian Duoduo walked out of the Wood House and looked at the Golden Pillar. The top position of the pillar was once again his Golden Toad.
He shook his head, and taking advantage of no one paying attention, Qian Duoduo ran to the first Golden Pillar to find Huang Guiren. Although a long time had passed since he consecutively claimed three pillar tops, Qian Duoduo still couldn’t guarantee that there were no Capturing Rat Squad members around, so there was no need to cause trouble for himself.
Qian Duoduo waited for a long time, only to see Huang Guiren walk out of the Wood House of the second Golden Pillar.
“Junior Brother, wait for me a little longer. I’ve also taken the Spirit Birds scroll exam.” Huang Guiren waved at Qian Duoduo. He tidied his hair and spiritedly queued behind the assessment team for the third Golden Pillar.
That speed is quite fast. But, what is Huang Guiren’s icon?
Qian Duoduo stared intently at Huang Guiren, watching him enter the Wood House. After about two quarters of an hour, the door opened. The moment the door opened, a Spirit Chicken appeared on the Golden Pillar, ranked over one hundred. The Spirit Chicken stretched its neck, crowing towards the sky.
“Passed again?” Looking at Huang Guiren walking over, Qian Duoduo pretended not to know anything. He suppressed his joy, but his feet felt as if they were stepping on auspicious clouds.
“Guess.” Huang Guiren put on a calm demeanor.
“Definitely failed. You’re only Qi Condensation Level Five, a Blue-Robed Disciple; it would be against heaven’s will if you passed.” Qian Duoduo deliberately tried to discourage him.
Huang Guiren raised his head, “Practice makes perfect. I, Huang Guiren, passed!”
“Strong! You’ve consecutively passed three Golden Pillars. I dare say, it’s extremely rare for anyone in the sect to achieve this.” Qian Duoduo hugged Huang Guiren, showing surprise.
Since Huang Guiren followed Qian Duoduo, he no longer worried about food, but he lacked confidence and never had his own ideas.
“Extremely rare?” Huang Guiren was instead made a little embarrassed by Qian Duoduo’s enthusiasm.
“You’re the sect’s gossipmonger, have you ever heard of anyone passing three stages in one go? If you don’t believe it, you can ask others. In the future, if anyone dares to call you the sect’s unluckiest person, you tell them you passed three stages consecutively. If you’re unlucky, then they, who are even worse than you, are truly unlucky to the core.”
Back on the Golden Rooster Sword, Huang Guiren didn’t speak the whole way. At Purple Gold Manor, he dismounted from the sword and solemnly said to Qian Duoduo: “Junior Brother, in this Xiong Jun battle, you must do your best to break into the top ten and set an example for me. Next time the Xiong Jun battle comes, I want to participate and also get into the top ten.”
