“work harder for tomorrow’s magic class assessment. it doesn’t matter if you win or not. after all, it’s a competition. don’t get hurt.” yu sukong instructed ji qingzhou, having remembered his original purpose of contacting her.

    “en.” ji qingzhou nodded.

    then, yu sukong cut off their connection in the water mirror. ji qingzhou stood in place, ruminating for a long time.

    finally, she picked up sansan and muttered softly, “what does it have to do with you? you are the cutest.”

    she bowed her head and planted a firm kiss on the umbrella. what did the desolation erosion have to do with her magic treasure?

    after a brief contemplation, ji qingzhou continued to practice how to use sansan. she found that holding the umbrella in front of her body could easily resist many oncoming attacks. because she was hiding behind the umbrella, even the wind couldn’t blow her away.

    she knew that her magic power was limited, so she held the handle of the umbrella with both hands and tried to cast a double spell, consisting of the air control technique and flight control magic.

    she controlled the magic treasure to fly, and the faster it moved, the more freely she could direct it, but it consumed more magic power.

    the air control technique was a basic spell that consumed very little magic power. she summoned two air streams with the wind defense technique, one supporting her body and the other holding sansan. and then while controlling the umbrella, the air currents she summoned with the wind defense technique blew the wide umbrella up easily.

    in this way, she could fly with less magic power. ji qingzhou felt herself lightly soar into the sky. the courtyard beneath her feet gradually shrank to the size of a toy model, including maomao that was crouched by the pool with his head down and drinking water.

    while trying to fly with sansan, ji qingzhou was calculating the best mode for work with the air control technique, in particular, the magnitude and direction of the air current she summoned.

    casting two spells at the same time was actually an advanced content of the magic class, but ji qingzhou, who was evidently proficient in calculations, could learn without a teacher. she used the only resources in her hands to reach the maximum benefits through calculation and deduction.

    thus, when shen rongyu came over, he saw ji qingzhou holding sansan, flying merrily in the air. she had been flying for so long, but only consumed a bit of magic power.

    ji qingzhou changed into a light pink dress that day. the skirt was decorated with falling flowers, which matched the pattern on the umbrella. she gripped the umbrella to ride the wind, and her clothes fluttered as flexible and gentle as falling flowers. on her originally blank, beautiful face, a smile seemed to be peeking too.

    shen rongyu stood at the gate of the courtyard, raised his eyes and called ji qingzhou, “zhouzhou.”

    hearing shen rongyu’s familiar voice, ji qingzhou quickly adjusted the direction of the air and slowly landed. her skirt swayed in the air like a beautiful blossom. against the bright autumn sky, her whole body seemed to be shining radiantly.

    although she possessed a gorgeous face, it must be admitted that she was an unremarkable person. whenever she lowered her eyes a bit, she seemed to be isolated from the outside world.

    ji qingzhou landed in front of shen rongyu. she closed her umbrella, stood up straight, and responded to him, “xiao yu-shixiong, why are you here?”

    shen rongyu’s eyes flickered delicately, and his fingertips lightly stroked burial snow at his waist. he responded, “aren’t you going to feed you you?”

    spirit beasts in the cultivation world were easy to raise, and feeding them once a day was enough, so ji qingzhou usually fed you you after class. it was still early today, so why did shen rongyu ask her to feed him?

    “late in the afternoon.” ji qingzhou replied to shen rongyu, still wanting to continue practicing using sansan.

    shen rongyu stared at her. “have you been practicing since early?”

    “yeah.” ji qingzhou nodded while holding sansan. “xiao yu-shixiong, i can fly with it.”

    “combined with the air control technique?” shen rongyu discovered her special skills in using spells as soon as he arrived.

    she was indeed…smart. it was amazing that she could use multiple spells all at the same time. however, when he considered her special mastery in calculations, it was not surprising that she could do so.

    “yes.” ji qingzhou opened sansan and flew again, trails of joy following in her wake. “it’s great. sansan can take me flying.”

    “en.” shen rongyu looked at her weightless flying figure and nodded in response.

    “just now…” ji qingzhou thought for a while and decided to tell shen rongyu about it, “master yu contacted me. xiao yu-shixiong, i know what you meant by ‘ominous’ yesterday.”

    “are you afraid?” shen rongyu asked her with a cool arc drawn on his thin lips.

    “when i first heard it, i was a little scared.” ji qingzhou said honestly, “after thinking about it, i’m not afraid anymore.”

    shen rongyu maintained his smile. soon, his restrained, low laughter echoed, but she couldn’t hear much joy in it.

    he sat in a kiosk in ji qingzhou’s courtyard and said to her, “practice weilding it.”

    “aren’t you going back?” ji qingzhou still felt more comfortable being alone.

    “when your clockwork is loose, i’ll wind it up for you,” shen rongyu answered smilingly.

    “o-okay,” ji qingzhou stammered. the expression “wind up” was so implicit and thought-provoking, it made her cheeks blush every time she heard it.

    when controlling sansan, shen rongyu occasionally made suggestions. his suggestions made ji qingzhou understand the magic treasure better. the tricks he provided made her use it more smoothly.

    ji qingzhou learned all the basic functions of the umbrella after replenishing her spirit qi three times in one morning, and most of them were not combat skills.

    nevertheless, she was satisfied to have mastered them.

    in this manner, her busy rest day passed, and the next morning was the magic class assessment day.