Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 24

Many of the spirit beasts in the Five Elements Sect’s outer valley had already been tamed and were used to help low-level disciples complete daily sect tasks. On ordinary days, as long as they finished their own work, those low-level disciples would feed them well. In this easy life with no natural enemies, they had long grown used to dull but friendly days.
Until this night, when a little white rabbit burst into their lives.
She clearly looked like a very small rabbit, yet she made them feel a stronger pressure than the people who usually ordered them to work. So, already used to obedience, they were very obedient when that rabbit stepped them awake and drove them away.
The operation to drive out the spirit beasts went very smoothly, so A-Bai became a little careless. That was how she accidentally stepped on a Half-Moon Silver-Pink Rat.
The Half-Moon Silver-Pink Rat was silver during the first half of each month, when it was called a silver rat. It was a good helper for low-level disciples in managing spirit fields.
Spirit plants often had companion weeds. These weeds usually hid in the soil of spirit fields and fought the spirit plants for nutrients. They were naturally cunning. Before they absorbed enough nutrients, they hid in the earth. Once they had enough, they grew rapidly overnight. After these companion weeds matured, they became extremely tough, with roots sunk deep. For low-level disciples, matured companion weeds were very difficult to clear completely.
Silver rats loved eating companion weeds most. Introducing silver rats into a field at the right time could clear all the companion weeds that had not yet matured, allowing the spirit plants to receive more nutrients and grow better.
But to use silver rats to remove weeds, one had to choose the planting time well. After all, every second half of the month, this kind of rat shed its silver fur and became a pink-furred rat. Although it still loved eating companion weeds, it loved even more to bite any lifeless object it could see and refuse to let go.
For example, shoes, robe hems, hair… Although they did not bite flesh, it was still a very troublesome thing. Fortunately, during the half month when they were pink rats, they usually slept. As long as no one bothered them, by the start of the next month, they would be good rats again.
Although A-Bai had been bitten on the fur by one pink rat and could not shake it off, this also reminded her and kept her from stepping on an entire nest of pink rats.
If a pink rat bit a robe or shoe, that was one thing. If a demon cultivator’s fur was bitten, that was truly hateful. A-Bai had once seen a crocodile at Qi Refining that had accidentally provoked a nest of pink rats. A group of pink rats had bitten onto the scales on its body. The key was that the sect forbade killing the spirit beasts in the outer valley that helped low-level disciples complete daily sect tasks. The crocodile also could not bear to part with its scales, so it had no choice but to spend the rest of that month with pink fur balls hanging all over its body.
For those days, from the outer valley to the main lecture hall, that large crocodile covered in pink fur balls had been a bright and beautiful view. Wherever it went, human cultivators and demon cultivators gathered to stare at it.
A-Bai was here to work secretly. She did not want to be stared at the next day. Besides, that pink rat was about the same size as A-Bai. Having it hang there really hurt her appearance. So A-Bai… could only harden her heart.
In the dark, a small sheet of thin ice flashed past. The several dozen strands of fur bitten by the pink rat were cut in half. Just in case, A-Bai also made an ice cage and covered the pink rat, which seemed stunned for the moment.
So hateful!
The little white rabbit turned and looked at the bald patch on her right hind leg. She truly felt that Yuan Zhaoyang was the worst cat demon in the world.
And the worst cat demon in the world was now running crookedly as if drunk. Using the last bit of reason she had, she found a place that seemed somewhat safe and lay down.
Rub, rub, rub. Kick, kick, kick. Roll, roll, roll. Digging at the ground, twisting, burrowing…
Yuan Zhaoyang wanted to turn back into human form, but the spiritual energy in her body was rushing wildly and would not obey her at all. Her reason had scattered like never before. The heart-clearing mantra she had run thousands of times these past few days was now almost impossible to remember, not even one word. Her cat body seemed to have given in to a strange instinct, acting in a way even Yuan Zhaoyang herself had never seen before.
By the time A-Bai threw the nests of pink rats into ice cages one after another, drove the other spirit beasts out of the area where the new disciples lived, and painfully took out piles of materials to set up a temporary array that could block spirit-beast auras and stop spirit beasts from mistakenly entering, the sky had already turned from black to gray and was gradually brightening.
This was what came of a loose tongue. This was what came of a loose tongue.
A-Bai restrained the demon aura on her body and darted back to the place where the mortal-world small animals had been placed, then drove them apart.
Watching the small animals dart toward the new disciples’ residences, A-Bai looked at the rising sun and expressed that she was very comforted.
The Five Elements Sect had always offered good treatment to the independent Core Formation cultivators it recruited. There was monthly pay, of course, and whenever there were good opportunities, the sect was willing to count them in. Even their residence was arranged on Hengshui Peak in the inner valley, where spiritual energy was relatively abundant.
Although A-Bai was at Core Formation, her actual ability was not even as good as a late Foundation Establishment cultivator’s. Added to that, she only ate and did not work, so she had always lived with Yuan Zhaoyang and did not have her own residence. In A-Bai’s words, the courtyard assigned to Yuan Zhaoyang had four whole rooms anyway. One person could not use them all. A rabbit did not take up space. Living together also saved the Five Elements Sect resources.
After finishing the work, A-Bai felt very tired. In the mortal world, the spiritual energy was thin and not good for recovering spiritual energy. Now that she had returned and worked half the night, she should go back and rest. As for Yuan Zhaoyang, A-Bai wondered whether she had succeeded.
A-Bai looked in the direction of Lin Mianmian’s residence. She struggled between going back to sleep and going to take a look, but still chose to go back and sleep. After all, when it came to matters between a cat and cat food, A-Bai found it hard to take a side. Instead of going and wanting to persuade one of them, she might as well wait for the result.
However, A-Bai did not expect that when she sleepily returned to Hengshui Peak, entered the courtyard gate, and prepared to go inside to see if Yuan Zhaoyang had returned, she would hear the gate she had just closed creak behind her. It opened a little crack.
“Who is there?” A-Bai sprang back several steps in alarm, and an ice shield blocked the little white rabbit tightly. The people who lived on Hengshui Peak were independent cultivators. Whose small courtyard did not have two or three layers of barriers? What was this thing that had followed her in and had not been blocked by the barriers?
After A-Bai’s shout, the courtyard gate that had just opened a crack creaked and closed again.
Before A-Bai could figure out whether the thing had entered or not, the air beside the gate suddenly twisted slightly. A fur ball about the size of two little white rabbits appeared in A-Bai’s sight.
That fur ball was covered in dirt and looked gray all over. It looked at A-Bai openly, then moved nimbly around the courtyard twice and placed several spirit stones in specific positions.
Until the strongest barrier that cut the small courtyard off from the outside world activated successfully, A-Bai still could not recover from her shock.
Was this… still her clean-loving companion who used the dust-removal spell eight times a day? No! She refused to believe it!
“Are you just going to watch me like this?” Yuan Zhaoyang lay down on the ground in the courtyard, looking exhausted. She glared at A-Bai, but her voice trembled slightly beyond her control. “I fed you so much meat. Are you not even willing to use a dust-removal spell on me?”
A-Bai: “…”
Even though A-Bai was usually careless, she could tell now that something was wrong with Yuan Zhaoyang.
A dust-removal spell fell on the muddy fur ball. All the dirt and weeds disappeared, and the fur ball revealed her true appearance.
At first glance, she was a pure white adult cat. But if one looked carefully, one could see a small patch of black-and-orange markings near the left side of the white cat’s head, close to her ear. There was also a small tuft of those two colors on the tip of her tail. She was a calico cat.
“What happened to you? Why did you suddenly turn back into a cat? Did you go… kill someone and bury the body? Or did you just eat someone and bury the bones?” A-Bai’s tone was slightly teasing, but what she asked was what she most urgently wanted to know.
“She is sleeping perfectly well.” Yuan Zhaoyang waved a paw at A-Bai with annoyance. “Why are you so stingy? Would using the dust-removal spell a few more times cost you so much spiritual energy?”
“…One use already cleaned you. What is the point of using more?” Although A-Bai said that, after letting out a breath of relief, she still sent five dust-removal spells at Yuan Zhaoyang in a row. “What happened to you? You cannot even use this basic spell yourself?”
The strongest barrier in the courtyard had been opened, and the powerful cultivators of the Five Elements Sect never swept their divine sense over Hengshui Peak out of politeness, so Yuan Zhaoyang no longer had many worries.
“Forget spells. Even activating the invisibility talisman and opening my storage bag took a great deal of effort. Do you think I wanted to turn back into my true form? Earlier, I followed what you said. I only licked Lin Mianmian once, and my spiritual energy went wild. It spilled straight out and destroyed the invisibility talisman. I could not control it at all. My body suddenly turned back into a cat by itself.”
Yuan Zhaoyang weakly hooked at her neck with a paw and pulled something like a collar out of her fur.
“If I had not been wearing this, blocking the aura and spiritual-energy movement on my body, the whole Five Elements Sect would probably know by now that I am a demon cultivator. Even now, my spiritual energy is still running wildly. It will probably take two or three days before I can turn back into human form.”
A-Bai naturally recognized the jade-like thing Yuan Zhaoyang had pulled out. They had obtained it in a secret realm while passing through the Eastern Sea. Because the item itself was very useful for blocking aura and spiritual energy, they had made it into a bracelet for Yuan Zhaoyang to wear. Back then, in Cangming Mountain in the Northern Territory, Yuan Zhaoyang had always moved around under a human-cultivator identity. Having one more layer of protection was naturally better. But they truly had not expected that this item had not been needed in the Northern Territory, yet would be used here.
“So did you figure out what is going on with the fragrance on Lin Mianmian or not?” After listening for so long, A-Bai felt the matter seemed to be getting more and more troublesome.
“No.” The calico cat shook her head. “But I discovered another thing.”
A-Bai: “…” One problem had not been solved, and another problem had appeared. Did Yuan Zhaoyang think this was appropriate?
Yuan Zhaoyang did not care about A-Bai’s speechlessness, because what she was about to say was something that had troubled both of them for a long time.
“Although licking her once left me like this, I discovered that the realm where I have been stuck at perfect Foundation Establishment seems to have loosened.”
“You are going to form a core? Lin Mianmian is actually that kind of heavenly treasure?” A-Bai was so shocked her whole rabbit body almost froze.
“No. I still cannot form a core. I can only feel that the realm has loosened. If we are talking about Core Formation, I probably need this kind of loosening to happen a hundred times before there is hope,” Yuan Zhaoyang said honestly.
“Even loosening is amazing! You have been stuck at perfect Foundation Establishment for almost seventy years!” A-Bai looked in disbelief. “That means as long as you lick her another ninety-nine times, you can form a core! Then what are you doing here? Hurry up and go!”
“I cannot go… lick her again.” Yuan Zhaoyang was somewhat glad she was in cat form right now. Even though talking about this made her face burn and her body temperature gradually rise, at least her furry face did not show it.
“Why?” A-Bai completely did not understand. It was not as if Yuan Zhaoyang had to eat Lin Mianmian. She could form a core by licking without eating and solve the problem that had troubled her for seventy years. Why would she not go?
Yuan Zhaoyang did not know how to explain it to A-Bai.
The chaotic spiritual energy rushing everywhere, the temporary inability to use spells, and even being unable to return to human form for several days were not the big problems. Spending the entire night as if she could not control her body, only wanting to rub and roll like an ordinary cat until even her reason began to blur, also seemed not completely impossible to accept.
The biggest problem was…
Under A-Bai’s stare, the calico cat trembled slightly. That unfamiliar feeling rising from her lower belly left her confused and helpless, hard to bear and hard to understand. Even though she did not know what it was, she instinctively felt that even A-Bai, who had accompanied her for a hundred years, could not be told.
Just as the conversation between A-Bai and Yuan Zhaoyang reached a strangely awkward point, Wang Minger, who had left Xiong Lanlan’s room that morning and was preparing to return to her own room to officially move her bedding over, stepped into empty air halfway and fell so hard she saw stars.
“Who was it? Who dug such a big pit in the road?” Wang Minger angrily rubbed her bottom and stood up. When she looked up, she awkwardly discovered that even if she stretched out her hand, she could not reach the edge of the pit.
That made sense. Even a cat rubbing on the ground was still a perfect Foundation Establishment cat rubbing on the ground.