Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 31

Turning back into a cat and getting along with Lin Mianmian was not as easy as Yuan Zhaoyang had imagined.
At last, the soaked bun had been “eaten,” her cat bits had been seen, Lin Mianmian’s chest had been stepped on, and A-Bai had left. Lin Mianmian finally remembered that she had come to the Five Elements Sect to cultivate.
That was right.
Curled at the foot of the bed, Yuan Zhaoyang watched Lin Mianmian sit on the bed, cross her legs, and take the standard posture for drawing spiritual energy into the body. Yuan Zhaoyang finally let out a breath. Although many unexpected things had happened earlier, they had at least returned to the scene she had imagined. Next, she should also begin cultivating.
Lin Mianmian had just sat properly when she felt the bed beside her tremble slightly. She turned and saw little Rice Ball walking toward her in tiny steps.
So small. So fluffy. Moving closer bit by bit, looking a little nervous. It truly made a person want to take out her heart, put it in front of the kitten, and say, Do not be afraid. I will not hurt you. I will protect you forever.
Had they not agreed to begin cultivating? Why was Lin Mianmian looking over with that intoxicated, overflowing-happiness expression again?
Yuan Zhaoyang, who was preparing to go over and undo the bracelet’s restriction, hesitated and stopped the leg she had been about to step forward with.
“Do not be afraid. Come here.” Lin Mianmian lowered her body and stretched out a hand toward the kitten. Ah, the way the kitten hesitated with one front paw lifted and did not move was too cute!
Yuan Zhaoyang: “…”
The little calico had originally been walking steadily toward her. After Lin Mianmian teased her, she seemed frightened instead. Lin Mianmian regretted being too eager, but she truly could not help it. Seeing the kitten’s blank face and half-lifted front paw that did not fall for a long while, Lin Mianmian tried reaching over and nudged the little paw.
She touched it! A soft, cool paw pad!
The tiny lifted cat paw seemed boneless as it swayed lightly under Lin Mianmian’s fingertip. The fine fur on it moved with it, making a person feel both ticklish and soft inside.
Girl, do you still remember what you came to the Five Elements Sect for?
The little calico pulled her paw back, twisted her body, and lightly swept the tip of her tail across the jade ring on Lin Mianmian’s wrist.
Fortunately, Yuan Zhaoyang still remembered what she had come for.
She looked deeply at the girl, who was stroking her wrist and smiling until her eyes narrowed, and did not want to admit that this person’s little dimples were somewhat cute.
The bracelet’s restriction was undone with one sweep of Yuan Zhaoyang’s tail tip. That tempting strange fragrance slowly spread from Lin Mianmian’s body.
When Yuan Zhaoyang had refined the bracelet, she had set five layers of restriction. When all five layers were active, not a trace of the fragrance leaked. The more restrictions were undone, the stronger the strange fragrance became. If all five were undone, wearing the bracelet would be no different from not wearing it.
For this first attempt, Yuan Zhaoyang only dared undo one layer. The strange fragrance was still tempting, but it did not claw at her heart and lungs. In cat form, she could even feel the thin spiritual energy around them mix with the fragrance and become no less active than the spiritual energy on Hengshui Peak.
Spiritual-energy density naturally affected how efficiently spiritual energy could be absorbed. In places where spiritual energy was thicker, it was more active. More active spiritual energy made it flow faster in the body, which helped improve one’s realm.
Only one layer of restriction had been undone, yet in the outer valley, where spiritual energy was so thin, the activity of spiritual energy had increased this much.
Yuan Zhaoyang curled back up at the foot of the bed and closed her eyes. As expected, although the progress was not as great as after licking Lin Mianmian once, with each circulation of spiritual energy, her perfect Foundation Establishment realm did slowly loosen.
Who exactly was she?
After circulating spiritual energy through several large cycles, Yuan Zhaoyang opened her eyes and looked deeply at the girl before her, whose eyes were closed as she worked hard to draw spiritual energy into her body.
Surely Lin Mianmian could not be some heavenly treasure that had fallen from the sky and belonged only to Yuan Zhaoyang.
How absurd. Yuan Zhaoyang shook her head, closed her eyes, and stopped thinking wildly. Since things had already reached this point, she naturally had to cultivate properly and not waste the huge cost of refining the bracelet.
One grass and one cat worked hard in their own ways, and the room quieted down. But Yuan Zhaoyang, who was gradually entering a good cultivation state, did not know that her earlier guess was not entirely absurd nonsense.
When Lin Mianmian began cultivating, she had prepared herself to be interrupted by the kitten. But when she opened her eyes again, morning had already become noon with the sun high in the sky.
Cultivation truly made one lose track of time. If she had already stopped needing food, she probably would have kept meditating. Lin Mianmian touched her somewhat hungry belly and looked at the little calico curled at the foot of the bed, seemingly sleeping soundly. Although her stomach was hungry, her heart felt very full.
What she had wanted all along was this kind of plain life. A house that did not need to be large, food she wanted to eat, fur she wanted to pet. If the apocalypse had not suddenly arrived, perhaps this simple wish would have come true long ago.
There it came again.
Yuan Zhaoyang sensed Lin Mianmian stop cultivating and grow closer. As expected, that soft palm soon touched her head and stroked down along her back.
Hmph. For the sake of borrowing her fragrance to form a core…
Yuan Zhaoyang moved, lay properly, and decided that as long as she was not flipped over for belly rubs, she would first… endure everything else.
Fortunately, touching Lin Mianmian in cat form did not create that extremely tingling feeling. Otherwise… Yuan Zhaoyang truly did not dare imagine it.
Lin Mianmian’s cat-petting movements were very light. But the little cat under her hand twisted a little, then shook her head. Lin Mianmian did not know whether she was about to wake the kitten, so she was frightened into letting go after only a few strokes.
It was fine. There would be plenty of time.
In any case, you are already my cat, Lin Rice Ball!
Luckily, adding her surname in secret was something Lin Mianmian only thought to herself. Otherwise, if Yuan Zhaoyang, who was still barely enduring the new name, heard it, someone might have difficulty escaping a cat paw.
No matter what, Yuan Zhaoyang’s endurance bore fruit. As the sky gradually darkened, Yuan Zhaoyang could clearly feel her perfect Foundation Establishment realm slowly and steadily moving toward core formation. Her cultivation realm had not progressed for seventy or eighty years. Yuan Zhaoyang had almost thought she would exhaust her lifespan at Foundation Establishment.
Truly, after darkness came another village bright with flowers.
After one day and one night of companionship… oh, no, cultivation, Yuan Zhaoyang sensed before sunrise that her ability to transform had already recovered.
The second day was when Zihui had agreed to let the new disciples collect food. After Lin Mianmian went out, Yuan Zhaoyang turned back into human form and hurried over. Ying Fu and Zihui had already sent her sound-transmission paper sparrows about the situation when A-Bai had taught the class.
How quickly each person drew spiritual energy into the body naturally depended mainly on personal aptitude. But there was still a great difference between being tossed a book during teaching and being carefully taught by someone.
Using the time Zihui had set for collecting rations, Yuan Zhaoyang made up the small techniques that should have been taught in the first two days, such as sensing energy, dividing energy, and so on.
The disciples had practiced the method of drawing spiritual energy into the body on their own for two days. Now, hearing Yuan Zhaoyang carefully break down and explain the key points, they naturally gained a lot. Ying Fu watched as, along with Yuan Zhaoyang’s explanation, some disciples gradually sank into thought, some looked clear-eyed as if suddenly enlightened, and some seemed to have gained something and sat down excitedly to cultivate on the spot.
This scene sharply contrasted with A-Bai casually throwing books the day before. It was also far better than the explanations he and Zihui had given afterward.
What a pity. Senior Sister Yuan was not a true disciple of the Five Elements Sect, only someone the sect had invited from outside. Once the barriers between the four regions disappeared, Senior Sister Yuan would probably leave. At that time, the Core Formation cultivators of the sect stranded in the Eastern Sea should return too, but still…
Seeing the new disciples’ hungry desire for knowledge, Ying Fu could not help thinking of himself and the others in the main lecture hall who had also listened to Senior Sister Yuan’s lessons. They would definitely feel reluctant to part with her.
After two days of cultivation, Lin Mianmian had not felt even the slightest trace of the spiritual energy described in the book. Now, after listening to Yuan Zhaoyang’s detailed explanation, she had some new thoughts. This spiritual energy sounded far too similar to the energy obtained from crystal cores during the apocalypse. The difference lay in the first step of drawing spiritual energy into the body. Lin Mianmian felt that as long as she crossed this hurdle, the later matter of circulating spiritual energy in her body should not be difficult for her.
She did seem somewhat serious about studying.
Yuan Zhaoyang had naturally noticed Lin Mianmian while she listened to the lesson. She only hoped that when Lin Mianmian returned, she would cultivate properly and pet the cat less. After one full day, Yuan Zhaoyang felt her fur was almost being petted loose.
After Yuan Zhaoyang finished her explanation, drawing spiritual energy into the body truly became a matter where the master led one through the door and the rest depended on the individual. Zihui made an agreement with the new disciples to come to the small square every two days to collect rations. At the same time, she took out the food being provided this time.
Perhaps the news that every new disciple had a pot had reached higher up. This time, what Zihui took out was not only steamed buns, pickles, and cake-like pastries from before, but also quite a few raw ingredients.
There was no need to mention the basic seasonings. There was also plenty of flour and raw rice for staple foods, as well as some vegetables and meat. Compared with the ration distribution two days ago, it was unknown how many times richer.
Lin Mianmian looked at A-Bai, who was crouched behind Zihui and gnawing on a chicken leg. No matter how she looked, she felt these ingredients had something to do with A-Bai.
The little rabbit did not say much. She only blinked quickly at Lin Mianmian.
Oh, could she still remember the shredded-chicken cold noodles?
When Lin Mianmian picked ingredients, she specially took the things needed for shredded-chicken cold noodles. As expected, the little rabbit’s gaze toward her filled with approval.
Unlike when they had first been in Yingxian City, the newly entered disciples were no longer afraid of Xiong Lanlan at all. Instead, they were all very warm toward her. Almost every disciple walked past Xiong Lanlan after receiving ingredients and thanked her with a few words.
But compared with the disciples’ friendliness, Zihui clearly had a bit of a mood.
When it was Xiong Lanlan’s turn, Zihui only said that Xiong Lanlan always wanted a lot and told the disciples behind her to collect theirs first. After all the disciples had collected their food, only Xiong Lanlan at the front of the line remained, along with Gui Changshou, whom she was blocking tightly behind her.
“There is no meat left. Eat vegetables.” Zihui covered her storage bag and rejected Xiong Lanlan’s request for one hundred jin of beef and one hundred jin of chicken.
Xiong Lanlan asked, “What about other meat? Fish? Duck? Rabbit?”
A-Bai, who was lying on the ground behind Zihui and throwing flirtatious looks at Lin Mianmian after Lin Mianmian had taken her ingredients, stood up. “What meat?”
Xiong Lanlan: “…Fish? Duck? Turtle?”
Gui Changshou: “Senior Sister Zihui, give me two hundred jin of bear meat!”
Xiong Lanlan turned and glared at the tiny green Gui Changshou behind her. “Are you tired of living? Be careful, or I will stew you tonight!”
“I will send your two hundred jin of bear meat to you later, along with rice and flour. You do not need to take anything now. Go back first.” Zihui waved at the little turtle.
“Senior Sister Zihui, you are so biased! When I want meat, there is none, but when he wants it, there is!” Xiong Lanlan looked wronged. “I want meat…”
“There is some. Only bear meat is left. Will you eat it?” As soon as Zihui thought of Xiong Lanlan turning over stones and exposing a whole river channel of Copper-Thread Snails, her heart grew tired. How could there be a rule where one person suffered while another ate meat? They should share hardship like good junior sisters.
Although bear demons and bears were different, Xiong Lanlan really could not bring herself to eat bear meat.
“I will go back and stew turtle, then.” Xiong Lanlan accepted the bags of rice, flour, and vegetables Zihui gave her.
“It is fine, Bearbear. I have meat! Tonight, we will stew meat!” Wang Minger raised the small cloth bundle in her hand.
Hm… that one jin and two liang of meat in your hand was not as good as stewing you.
Xiong Lanlan stretched out a bear paw and touched Wang Minger’s head, then picked her up again and hung her back on her leg fur. “Let’s go. We are going home to stew vegetables.”
She looked a little pitiful.
Zihui was always direct. This time, she had also been driven mad by Xiong Lanlan and wanted to make her go hungry for two days. After all, catching fish from this place without a fish-transporting array wasted a lot of time and spirit stones. Especially A-Bai’s roll of Flame-Crystal Green-Bellied Spider silk, which was worth many spirit stones.
But… seeing the bear droop her head with a little girl hanging from her leg, the two of them leaning on each other as they gradually walked away, Zihui felt it was too cruel.
“Stop looking. You said there is no meat, so there is no meat. It is only two days without meat. Looking at that bear body, she will not starve to death.” A-Bai lifted a little paw from behind and kicked the indecisive Zihui. “She is lucky we did not make her go down into the river and catch fish for us herself.”
“She has not even drawn spiritual energy into her body yet. How could she beat Red Essence Five-Scale Fish, let alone catch them?” Zihui still regretted shorting Xiong Lanlan’s food a little, so her tone leaned more toward defending her.
“Have you been thinking too much lately? Did your body not only have one straight tendon before?” A-Bai raised her head with a complaining face. “Listen less to Ying Fu, whose stomach has nine twists and turns. Also, if Xiong Lanlan draws spiritual energy into her body before we capture the fish, let her come into the river too. Originally, we only needed to drive the fish and teleport them, and it would have been done. Now we actually have to net them scoop by scoop. Just thinking about it makes my fur fall out.”
“Do not lose fur. Is Senior Sister Yuan not still here?” Zihui pretended not to hear A-Bai complain about Ying Fu and comforted her.
“She…” A-Bai looked around. Yuan Zhaoyang was long gone. Tch. She had probably gone to someone else’s house to be a cat again.
“Right. With Senior Sister Yuan here, we do not need Xiong Lanlan, right?” Zihui looked kind.
“We do. Let all these new disciples come. It will broaden their horizons.” A-Bai’s eyes turned, and she decided on free labor. Whether they would be useful or not could be discussed later. In any case, someone else’s Rice Ball did not seem reliable.
Ah, being the rabbit who earned money to support the family was the hardest.
“This does not fit…” Before Zihui could finish, A-Bai created a piece of ice and stuck it over her mouth, blocking her.
“Do not be as wordy as Ying Fu. It is decided. I am leaving!” A-Bai waved a paw and hopped away.
“Where are you going? Are you not going with me to Evolving Objects Hall to check the spider-net progress?” Zihui pulled the ice from her mouth and shouted.
The little white rabbit stopped, turned, and grinned. “Me? I am going to be someone else’s rabbit!”
What?
Zihui looked confused.
At this time, neither the person nor the rabbit knew that their rushed decision to let the new disciples watch the capture of the Red Essence Five-Scale Fish in a few days would draw out one person’s secret. A secret even that person herself did not know right now.