“How did Jiayin know about that symbol?” Xinyun didn’t give her a direct answer.
“I have a grudge against them!” Wen Jiayin gritted her teeth and recounted what had happened before.
So that’s how it is… so that’s how it is… Xinyun didn’t know how to describe her feelings at that moment.
What she once thought was an accident had actually planted the seeds of disaster long ago.
It was all because of her own negligence.
She held tightly onto the small, trembling hand clutching her clothes, a faint taste of blood rising in her throat.
“The red crow—if I’m not mistaken, that should be the Duye Sect from the demonic cultivators.
They like to use human souls to refine ghost servants.
The highest cultivation in their sect is at the Nascent Soul stage.”
In this world, cultivators are divided into eight major realms: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Out-of-Body, Spirit Severing, Body Integration, and Tribulation Crossing.
After passing through eighty-one tribulation bolts, one can ascend to immortality.
A Spirit Severing cultivator is considered a master in the cultivation world, a big shot in ordinary sects, but in truly top-tier sects, they’re nothing special.
Take Jingdao Sect, for example—they have three cultivators at the Tribulation Crossing stage.
A hint of crimson flashed in Xinyun’s eyes.
“That sect committed countless evil deeds and made many enemies.
Not long ago, they were wiped out.
I suppose they got what they deserved.”
“Huh?!” When Wen Jiayin heard that the highest cultivation in that sect was Spirit Severing, she was already prepared to endure hardship and bide her time for hundreds or thousands of years.
But in just these past couple of days, someone had already delivered justice from the heavens? Is this what happens when you do too many bad things and get struck down? Wen Jiayin suddenly felt a sense of confusion, like punching into cotton.
That drunken immortal had told her there was more than just two people causing trouble back then, but by the time she arrived, the others had already fled.
She’d always thought she’d hunt them down one day to avenge the old beggar and rid the world of evil.
But now her enemies were gone, and her motivation to cultivate so hard was more than half gone.
“Did Jiayin want to take revenge herself?” Xinyun saw Wen Jiayin silent for a long time and asked hesitantly.
“I did, but that sect did so much evil.
By the time I grew strong enough, who knows how many more innocent people would have suffered.
If someone took care of them ahead of time, that’s for the best.” Wen Jiayin muttered.
“Ah Yin, you’re so good.” Xinyun affectionately patted Wen Jiayin’s head.
After being patted on the head again and again, Wen Jiayin finally realized in embarrassment that she was still being held in Xinyun’s arms! “M-Master, can you put me down now…”
Xinyun chuckled softly and finally set her down.
“Master, are we going to see any other places?” Wen Jiayin awkwardly changed the subject to cover up her discomfort.
“Not for now.
There are only a few places on Lingjian Peak you need to remember.
The rest of the sect can wait for later.
For now, I’ll teach you how to draw qi into your body.
With the spiritual power from the medicinal bath tonight, you might be able to reach the first level of Qi Refining in one go.” Then Xinyun carefully explained the cultivation realm divisions to Wen Jiayin again.
Even though Wen Jiayin already knew, she still had to act surprised.
“As for drawing qi into your body, there’s no specific method.
It mainly depends on talent and comprehension.
You have excellent talent, so you should be able to resonate with fire spiritual power easily.
Gather the spiritual power you catch in your dantian.
When the spiritual power in your dantian condenses into mist, that means you’ve entered the Qi Refining stage.”
Wen Jiayin listened with great interest.
As expected, even a beauty’s voice is pleasant to hear.
As time passed and the sky darkened, Xinyun figured it was about time and stopped the “lesson,” taking Wen Jiayin to soak in the medicinal bath.
The water for the bath came from the medicinal spring, but the spring water was icy cold and couldn’t be used directly for Wen Jiayin.
She tossed in a few leaves with red veins, and soon the cold turned into heat.
She added various medicinal herbs one by one, each a treasure almost extinct outside, found in secret realms. Just this one tub of medicinal bath was worth an unimaginable amount.
Even the used bathwater after Wen Jiayin finished would fetch a high price in spirit stones.
Since Wen Jiayin hadn’t drawn qi into her body yet, Xinyun didn’t dare add too many herbs, just a little of each.
“Master, this feels like you’re adding more and more ingredients, like you’re going to cook me.” Watching Xinyun toss things in one after another, Wen Jiayin, leaning on the edge of the tub, couldn’t help but think of stewed pig’s feet…
That line made Xinyun laugh out loud.
She reached out and pinched Wen Jiayin’s cheek.
“So tender.
I bet you’d taste good cooked.”
Wen Jiayin looked up at Xinyun.
Her master was nothing like in the original story—she could even joke around! Does that mean the book wasn’t all that accurate? Thinking of this, Wen Jiayin let herself go even more.
“Add more sugar, I like it sweet!”
“Alright, sweet it is.” After adding all the herbs, Xinyun clapped her hands and said to Wen Jiayin, “Now the little ingredient needs to get in the pot.
Do you need me to help you undress?”
No need at all! Wen Jiayin shook her head frantically.
“The ingredient can get in the pot by itself, no need for Master’s help!”
The kid was shy, so Xinyun just smiled and didn’t tease her anymore.
“The medicinal bath will hurt a bit.
The medicine will start to cleanse your body and improve your constitution.
I’ll be right outside, so don’t be afraid.
Even if you don’t succeed in drawing qi into your body, come out when I call you, okay?”
“Got it.”
Seeing Wen Jiayin agree, Xinyun finally felt at ease and left the room.
She stood at the door, and the smile she’d worn in front of Wen Jiayin slowly faded.
“Hypocrite.” She heard her inner demon sneer.
Xinyun was in a good mood today, so she didn’t bother responding and suppressed it firmly.
Tonight’s moon was especially round, its light outshining the stars, symbolizing a hard-won reunion.
Inside, Wen Jiayin, soaking in the tub, let out a long sigh of relief.
She hadn’t seen her master heat the water, but the bath was surprisingly warm and comfortable, not painful at all like she’d said.
But soon, Wen Jiayin realized she was wrong.
Gradually, a pain like being bitten by countless ants crept over her.
She bit down hard, almost crying out.
The medicinal power in the water was working on her body, mixed with spiritual energy.
She had to seize this chance to step onto the path of immortality.
Normally, drawing qi into the body requires slowly sensing the spiritual energy in the air, distinguishing the type that matches your spiritual root, and then guiding it into your body.
But with Wen Jiayin, Xinyun practically wanted to spoon-feed her fire spiritual power.
But in this situation, most kids would be doing well just not to cry from the pain, let alone focus on cultivation.
Luckily, this young body housed an adult mind.
She controlled the spiritual power in her body, gathering it in her dantian… Wen Jiayin did her best to follow Xinyun’s instructions.
Standing guard outside, Xinyun suddenly sensed the spiritual power inside the room gathering, the fire spiritual energy becoming especially active.
It hadn’t been long, but she’d already found the knack.
Maybe she’d draw qi into her body tonight and set a new record for Jingdao Sect.
The time it takes to draw qi into the body reflects both a cultivator’s talent and comprehension.
For those with two or three spiritual roots, it usually takes less than half a year.
Those who manage it within half a month often have great fortune—like the heads of Qinglian Peak and Dan Peak, who, though both had dual spiritual roots, had exceptional comprehension and now had cultivation at the peak of Spirit Severing or early Body Integration.
For single spiritual root cultivators, it’s rare not to draw qi into the body within three months.
The most talented in Jingdao Sect’s history, Xinyun, once set a record by doing it in three hours, earning her the title of the disciple most likely to ascend to immortality from the previous sect leader.
Her record was hard to beat, but recently another little genius had appeared—the sect leader’s last disciple, a girl with a mutated wind spiritual root.
She succeeded in drawing qi into her body in two and a half days, making her the sect leader’s darling.
The whole sect doted on her, which made her a bit spoiled.
Xinyun had only met her once, and just one look at her personality was enough to give anyone a headache—she wasn’t half as well-behaved as Ah Yin.
By Xinyun’s picky standards, which disciple in the sect could compare to Wen Jiayin? Xinyun waited at the door.
If Wen Jiayin could control her spiritual power, it wouldn’t hurt to soak a bit longer.
She waited the whole day, until night fell the next day and the restless spiritual power inside finally calmed down.
“Jiayin?” Xinyun heard movement inside and knocked on the door.
“Master! I’ll be right out!” After the initial cleansing, the tub was full of filth.
Wen Jiayin was disgusted with herself, but after cleaning up and getting dressed, she suddenly noticed something strange about her body! All her wounds were gone, and more importantly, she felt much lighter.
When she closed her eyes, she could see her dantian filled with pale red spiritual power—her spiritual sense and spiritual power! She’d succeeded in drawing qi into her body!
“Master!” Wen Jiayin ran out excitedly.
“I did it!”
“I knew Ah Yin was the smartest.” Xinyun hugged the charging Wen Jiayin, not holding back her praise.
She also noticed that, maybe because of all the herbs in the bath, Wen Jiayin’s aura had already reached the second level of Qi Refining.
Ah Yin’s talent was even greater than she’d imagined.
It looked like she’d have to teach her cultivation method tomorrow, but there was something even more important first.
“Jiayin, have you thought about which path you want to take in the future?”
“Huh?” Wen Jiayin, still riding her high, didn’t understand what Xinyun meant.
“Alchemy, medicine, spells, body cultivation, music cultivation, and so on.
Which path do you want to take? Any ideas?”
Wen Jiayin blinked, running through the options her master listed in her head.
She hadn’t even had time to marvel at how much her master knew—truly worthy of being the protagonist—when she suddenly realized that sword cultivation, her specialty, wasn’t among the options?
“Master… aren’t you a sword cultivator? Can’t I learn swordsmanship from you?” In the original story, the protagonist didn’t give the original host so many choices! Was the plot really going this far off track just because she’d been here a few days? Could her butterfly wings really have changed everything?
“Sword…” Xinyun lowered her eyes, suddenly unable to meet Wen Jiayin’s innocent gaze.
“Ah Yin, do you really want to learn the sword?”
Xinyun was clearly smiling as she spoke, but Wen Jiayin felt that smile was sadder than crying.
