Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Chapter 373: Chapter 6 Xu Family Mind Reading Technique
 

“Senior Brother, what are you thinking about?”

Within the Golden Ridge Cave Abode, Xu Yinglian placed a cup of clear tea in front of him and asked.

“I am thinking about the grand competition at the White Jade Capital,” Qiu Changtian lifted the tea cup and took a small sip.

The tea was hot but not scalding, with a refreshing fragrance that penetrated the throat, like sweet nectar and fine wine.

Junior Sister Xu’s tea-making skills are truly exquisite. I wonder what ingredients she added.

“Does Senior Brother also worry about the grand competition?” Xu Yinglian asked with a faint smile, “I thought for the champion of the White Jade Capital contest, it would be as easy as reaching out and grasping for you.”

Though it sounded like sarcasm, when Qiu Changtian carefully examined his Junior Sister, he found no hint of provocation on her face.

It seems my glorious image has indeed been firmly established in Junior Sister’s mind.

“Certainly not,” Qiu Changtian replied with a smile, “Even I would not underestimate the talents of the world.”

Xu Yinglian: ……….

It sounds modest, but what’s with that “Even I”?

“I have gathered some intelligence about Shushan and Penglai from my family,” Xu Yinglian decided not to follow her infuriating Senior Brother’s lead but instead started to discuss important matters with a serious and earnest expression, “From Shushan’s side, there is one person you should be cautious of.”

“Who?” Qiu Changtian asked knowingly.

“An Zhisu,” Xu Yinglian said with a frown, “The top Chief Disciple of the Foundation Establishment Realm in Shushan. She has been at the top of the Immortal Sword Ranking for at least forty years, extremely adept at fast attacks with her Sword Control Technique.”

“It’s said that her sparring sessions against her Sect equals in Shushan often end within ten breaths, which shows the sharpness of her preemptive strikes. Additionally, she is unmerciful in her approach and has even been criticized within Shushan for her ruthlessness.”

Not only that, but she also loves to seize the rhythm, quickly applying immense pressure to force her opponent to reveal weaknesses, and then severing their Flying Sword with a single strike… Qiu Changtian lamented in his mind.

As for being criticized by others, that’s another complicated matter.

“This An Zhisu is the trump card of Shushan, and she is your biggest competitor in this competition,” Xu Yinglian continued, “Besides her, there are four Sword Immortals from second to fifth place on the Immortal Sword Ranking.”

“Ling Poyun, Lin Duanshan, Guan Shanyue, Duan Fenhai, known as ‘Duan Shan Fen Hai, Sui Yue Po Yun’.”

Qiu Changtian: ……….

Maybe it’s better just to change names; indeed, Po Yun does roll off the tongue more than Yun Po.

“These four also excel at Sword Control, but they are still a notch below An Zhisu,” Xu Yinglian spoke earnestly, “As long as Senior Brother does not underestimate them, dealing with these four should not be a problem.”

“From Shushan’s side, these five are the ones to watch out for; as for Penglai, there are not many who can really fight, but beware of their various extraordinary tactics.”

“Tian Zhang, son of the Sect Leader of Xuandu from Penglai, is said to be skilled in Talisman Scripts. Considering the diverse effects of talismans, we must be especially wary of him,” Xu Yinglian said solemnly.

Indeed, Brother Tian’s Talisman Scripts are all-encompassing; even I can hardly list them all.

But Brother Tian’s nature is truly too indolent, with no interest in the glory of the competition; I don’t think he will fight seriously.

“Bi Lian, the direct disciple of Elder Marvel, is proficient in the Alchemy Dao and human meridians. She can change the state of her body in battle with different elixirs, such as a sudden increase in True Yuan, and so on.” Speaking of this, Xu Yinglian suddenly sneered, “Oh, right. I remember that Daoist Bi Lian used to have some entanglement with Senior Brother.”

“Emotional entanglements!” Qiu Changtian was extremely keen on survival and immediately responded with a stern look and indignation, “I merely happened to pass by and saved her incidentally. As for her feelings, what do they have to do with me?”

After all, I, Chief Qiu, am so handsome. A Qiu Changtian Fan Club appearing in Penglai Jade Pure is totally normal, right?

“Oh,” Xu Yinglian said indifferently, “I didn’t expect senior brother to still remember that person.”

Qiu Changtian felt like spitting blood – so you’re scheming against me here!

But Xu Yinglian didn’t give him a chance to rectify the situation, just coldly stating:

“Since senior brother has such a good memory, you must also remember Elder Shi Ding’s daughter, Shi Liuli. This cultivator hails from Heavenly Craft Workshop, which specializes in artifact refining, and has the most magical treasures – including the defensive Divine Fire Mantle, the offensive Divine Striking Whip, and the attack-and-defense-integrated Star Dust of Taiwei, making her extremely difficult to deal with.”

No, the Divine Striking Whip was already lost in the last Penglai siege, so she recently switched to a Xuan Huang Tower. Just like the Heaven-flipping Seal and the Divine Striking Whip, it is a purely physical magical treasure that relies on being hoisted up to crush the opponent.

Why all these straightforward and crude magical treasures? It’s because Miss Shi doesn’t have much combat experience and doesn’t like to use her brain. In the face of danger, she just smashes people with her treasures. As long as you use a slight trick, you can deceive her.

“Who is Shi Liuli?” Qiu Changtian, learning from his previous lesson, immediately asked doubtfully.

“Hehe.” Xu Yinglian didn’t pierce through his facade and simply said, “In Yuqing View, these are the three people to pay attention to.”

Fortunately, there’s no Luo Yan. Qiu Changtian privately breathed a sigh of relief.

This was within his expectations, after all – Luo Yan is really too false… um, wrong, I mean too low-profile, with a reputation limited to within Heavenly Craft Workshop, not one to show off everywhere like Shi Liuli.@@novelbin@@

“Yuqing View cultivators generally have weaker combat strength, mainly due to lack of magical competition experience and the will to survive. The only risk is, Yuqing View cultivators follow too many obscure practices, so their response tactics are often unpredictable. We need to be cautious about this aspect.”

“I see.” Although Qiu Changtian had long been familiar with the situation of Penglai Jade Pure and didn’t need Junior Sister Xu’s reminder, he still pretended to be greatly enlightened and sincerely expressed his thanks.

Perhaps feeling like she had helped her senior brother, Xu Yinglian’s expression softened as she continued:

“The Shushan cultivators have rich combat experience, but their attack methods are overly single-minded, mainly focused on sword control techniques.”

“Even with Sword Dao Techniques sealed on their swords to supplement tactical weaknesses, Sword Dao Techniques ultimately can’t compete with their own learned abilities in terms of strength, scope, and agility.”

“Penglai cultivators are advantageous in their varied methods, however, they lack experience and strong siege techniques. Also, their combat will is not very strong.”

“As long as we swiftly deploy strong offensive tactics without giving the opponent any chance to turn the tables, they are easier to deal with than Shushan cultivators.”

“What about Kunlun then?” Qiu Changtian suddenly asked.

“Kunlun cultivators, don’t you know better than I do?” Xu Yinglian replied, not amused.

“I heard that there’s a Phoenix Immortal in Kunlun, who not only has rich magical competition experience and powerful siege abilities, but also extremely varied moves. I wonder if junior sister could provide me with some information about her?” Qiu Changtian said teasingly.

Xu Yinglian then blushed slightly, turning her head and responding:

“It’s alright, she’s just currently not as good as senior brother.”

Qiu Changtian was startled, junior sister actually admitted she’s not as good as me? Is this Xu Yinglian from a parallel world? Where is my competitive and stubborn Junior Sister Xu?

“Temporarily,” Xu Yinglian emphasized again, her face shifting from shy to annoyed, “Senior brother, do you really think I’m the type of person who would be so arrogant as to ignore the facts and deceive myself?”

Qiu Changtian laughed awkwardly, thinking to himself that this junior sister was indeed still the same, just with a mind reading technique that was becoming ridiculously powerful.