Chapter 132 - Sword Pagoda

"Snowy!"

Meng Qi, Qi Ning'er, and Qi Ying'er gathered around Snowy as soon as their respective group's examination was ended.

After Xian Bu Yu's incident came to a close, the remaining matches ran smoothly without a hitch.

Snowy didn't leave with Feng Xue and her companies since she still had one more round of exams to attend.

She waited alone in the inconspicuous corner. It wasn't that no one from her group didn't want to greet and talk with her, but they didn't dare go closer to her due to her imposing aura.

Only Li Rui, who was chosen as a replacement for Xian Bu Yu, briefly thanked her before scurrying away and reuniting with another disciple from the group of five.

Snowy vaguely understood why Li Rui expressed his gratitude toward her. After all, if it weren't for Xian Bu Yu being eliminated in Snowy's hand, he wouldn't have had an opportunity to advance to the fourth round. However, Snowy didn't think much of it since she didn't do it deliberately.

When the trio came over, the atmosphere around Snowy suddenly turned lively.

"Hey, how is it going for you three?" asked Snowy.

"Of course, we're going to the fourth round together!" Qi Ying'er said with a cheerful grin while making a V sign with her fingers.

"All of us took the first seats in the group. Although I somehow expected this to happen, it still feels amazing," Qi Ning'er nodded.

"Are you okay, Snowy? Sorry, we couldn't do anything before."

"Ah, that's right, Snowy... Even though we're friends…"

Meng Qi and the Qin Twins felt ashamed that they couldn't help Snowy when she needed it. Luckily, Snowy was pretty capable; she could turn the table against the Second Elder and, with the First Elder as her backing, not to mention her status as Grandmaster in both sword dao and alchemy, basically, nothing could harm her within the sect.

"It's okay, it's just a small matter. You don't need to be concerned about it," said Snowy lightly.

When they heard Snowy's nonchalant response, they couldn't help but feel gloomy inside, which showed nakedly in their expression.

"Why are you looking so sad? Have I said something wrong?" Snowy asked anxiously. This was the first time Snowy had so-called "friends" that she always felt so conscious about it because she was aware that she could be blunt and tactless some of the time.

"No, no, it's just…"

Qi Ning'er wanted to explain, but her words stumbled, trying to find a better way to phrase it so that Snowy wouldn't misunderstand them. But the outspoken Qi Ying'er had beaten her by a step as she complained honestly.

"You know Snowy, I don't know about big sis or sis Meng Qi, but I feel that you're so dazzling that I feel awkward saying that I'm your friend… it's like we're not equal... It makes it look like I'm a shameless person who approached you with an ulterior motive. It's not that I'm bothered by what everyone else is thinking, but I'm afraid you'll feel that way…"

"Yeah, we genuinely want to be your friend."

The taciturn Meng Qi didn't say anything, but her expression showed that she had a similar thought to the other two girls.

"You're overthinking it, really, I don't think of you that way. In fact, I'm really glad that you want to be my friend. You're my first friends, after all."

Snowy sighed in relief, and her heart felt a little bit warm.  Their honest and genuine concerns really touched her.

Human's emotion was truly a wonder, and something so trivial and mundane could generate inexplicable feelings.

It wasn't only darkness hiding within the human's heart, like the Xian's sibling, for example. But they could also feel anxious because they really cared about another person.

"Eh? What about Senior Sister Feng? Isn't she your friend too?" Qi Ying'er yelped in surprise, and the two other girls had their interest piqued.

Snowy hesitated for a moment to pick proper words and said, "Umm… She is more than a friend to me." Her eyes were smiling as she answered.

Meng Qi and Qi Ning'er were quick to catch the hidden meaning in Snowy's vague answer and blushed, only the dense Qi Ying'er still confused by her words.

"More than a friend? Like a family? Just like my sister and I?"

"Family is it? Maybe, a little different than that…"

"Umm… more than a friend but not a family?" Qi Ying'er's ears suddenly turned red and her face turned slightly hot when she realized what it meant,"Y-You… y-you are a l-l-lover??"

Qi Ning'er facepalmed, looking at her innocent sister while Meng Qi fell silent. No one knew what she thought.

Snowy, on the other hand, answers it casually with a nod. There was nothing to hide anyway.

"Woowie…"

Qi Ying'er felt a vast new world opening in front of her.

With a cough, Qi Ning'er quickly changed the topic to hide her shyness, "Anyway, do you know about our next test?"

Meng Qin came to her senses and answered, "Our next test will be entering the Sword Pagoda. As far as I know, this is the first disciple selection examination that included the Sword Pagoda as a test. To my knowledge, the Sword Pagoda was only opened in the Core Disciple's examination."

Qi Ying'er's quickly forgot about the previous revelation as her interest was piqued by Meng Qi's explanation.

"What is this Sword Pagoda? What kind of test will it be?"

"No one really knows about this particular building. Someone even guessed that Sword Pagoda wasn't even its real name, and it's not really a building but a divine weapon. The Sword Pagoda had already existed even before the Sword Heaven Sect was established. The origin of this building is very mysterious.

"I don't know what is inside the pagoda since everybody who entered the pagoda had their memories erased upon exiting. The only thing we can observe is how many floors the people had successfully climbed. "

As they listened to Meng Qi's explanation, their curiosity grew, especially for Qi Ying'er whose eyes were already sparkling like a child getting a new toy.

"Is it really that mysterious?"

"It really makes one curious…" Snowy said.

Even in Snowy's vast collection of records and memories from her previous host, there wasn't any detailed information about the Sword Pagoda. The Eastern Region had the fewest hosts among the five mortal plane regions, and strangely, none of those hosts had ever entered the Sword Pagoda, as if something or someone had cast some unfathomable fog that prevented them from coming closer. 

Now she had a chance to do it, she was really eager to uncover its secret.

"You also feel the same Snowy?! My heart is already pounding so fast! I can't wait to enter it!"

"Yeah, but you can't be reckless because the pagoda is very dangerous. You can even come out dying." Meng Qi said solemnly.

Qi Ying'er didn't feel deterred by it; instead, she raised her small fist and spoke with an excited tone, "It even better! My fighting spirit is boiling!"

Bonk!

"Ouch Sis! Why did you hit me?"

"You're too brazen. Don't you value your life?! What will I do if you leave me alone…?" scolded Qi Ning'er.

"I'm sorry, Sis. I don't mean it that way… Anyway, I promise I won't be reckless inside…don't be angry, okay?" Qi Ying'er poked her tongue and said in a coquettish manner.

Qi Ning'er shook her head while looking at her sister helplessly, as if saying, "What am I going to do with this child?" kind of gaze and said, "You… fine. Just remember what you're saying now."

"Okey, dokey!" Qi Ying'er replied with a bright smile and gave her sister a big thumbs up.

"Anyway, I thank you once more for bringing justice for Yun'er," Meng Qi suddenly bowed at Snowy.

"It's okay, she is my friend… too?"

"Why do you sound unsure, Snowy? You're so weird," said Qi Ying'er, giggling.

"Yeah, she is also my friend." Snowy nodded, but no one could see a smile that appeared on her lips under the veil.

"Yeah! We're all friends!"