Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 57

Wisp after wisp of spiritual energy entered Lin Mianmian’s body with her breathing. It followed the new path she had found on her own, widening her meridians and tempering her body along the way, until it finally returned to her dantian.
When A-Bai arrived after receiving Yuan Zhaoyang’s message, Lin Mianmian’s attempt to draw spiritual energy into her body had just reached its end. The impurities that had settled inside her body were being pushed out bit by bit as the spiritual energy circulated. Only now did they finally show on the outside.
So the little rabbit, who had rushed over in a hurry, had only just squeezed in through the crack in the door before she covered her nose and squeezed right back out.
“Hey, didn’t you say something went wrong while she was drawing spiritual energy into her body?” A-Bai stood outside the door and sent Yuan Zhaoyang a voice transmission through the wood. “This means she succeeded, right? I still have a few of those Calming Pills you gave me before, the ones with no pill poison. Do you still need them? Also, she smells so bad. Can you come out here to talk? I feel like my face is getting smoked.”
The little rabbit’s paws covered her face tightly. Only two small eyes peeked through the crack in the door to look inside.
“It looks like she succeeded,” the calico lying on the bed replied through voice transmission. She had no intention of moving from her spot. As she spoke, she stared seriously at stinky Mianmian beside her.
“Impressive. During the day, she drank that stuff and it had no effect at all. I thought her spiritual root aptitude was beyond saving. Who knew she would succeed tonight? So was there too little left in the bottle? Looks like her method of rinsing the bottle with water really worked. Did it take effect at night because it was diluted and absorbed slowly? And earlier, when you sent me a message saying something had gone wrong, what exactly went wrong? How is she fine now?”
The little white rabbit, who had missed the scene itself, was shocked and full of questions.
But even Yuan Zhaoyang, who had stayed beside Lin Mianmian the entire time, could not explain these questions. Lin Mianmian herself might not be able to explain them all either.
Seeing that the stinky mud on Lin Mianmian’s body was no longer increasing, Yuan Zhaoyang knew she had succeeded. Perhaps in the next moment, Lin would stop cultivating and open her eyes. Yuan Zhaoyang looked toward the door. Fortunately, A-Bai had arrived just in time. The things Yuan had done in the room earlier could now have a reasonable explanation. There were also some things she should tell A-Bai.
The little rabbit was crouching outside the door, enduring the smell while waiting for answers and gossip. She had not expected Yuan Zhaoyang’s next voice transmission to explain in detail that, before A-Bai arrived, Yuan had burned pills and fed Lin medicine. Needless to say, all of these things would have to become things the rabbit had done.
As soon as Yuan Zhaoyang began, A-Bai understood. This time’s script needed no explanation. Once again, the clever little rabbit had happened to come to the courtyard, happened to see Lin Mianmian struggling while drawing spiritual energy into her body, and kindly extended a friendly paw to foolish Mianmian.
Ever since Yuan Zhaoyang had turned into a calico and stayed by Lin Mianmian’s side, A-Bai had grown used to taking the blame for the cat.
What A-Bai had not expected was this.
Yuan Zhaoyang had actually fed Lin Mianmian that Ice-Glass Illusion Fruit.
Back then, after they entered Cangming Mountain, they finally learned that the ice-blue, almost transparent little fruits A-Bai’s father had taken her to search for in Zhaoyang Valley were called Ice-Glass Illusion Fruits. They were sweet with a slight sourness. Used as the main ingredient, they could indeed brew a wine that cleared the mind and calmed the spirit.
That wine could not only suppress the heart fire of cultivators suffering from cultivation deviation, but also greatly help cultivators who met barriers or heart demons during a breakthrough.
Even when a person focused with all their heart during cultivation, countless thoughts still existed beneath the surface. That wine was like a clear stream washing over the spiritual platform. Useless thoughts sank away in an instant, leaving the mind clear and sharp. Only the most useful thought for the moment remained. Whether it was a tiny clue from long ago or a wild idea one had once dismissed, right and wrong, useful and needless, would all become clear at once.
In Cangming Mountain’s records, it only said the Ice-Glass Illusion Fruit grew in the Great Snow Mountain. There were no more exact details. The records only said the fruit was extremely rare and difficult for anyone without fate to find. Whether made into wine or pills, the finished products were excellent treasures for calming the mind and helping breakthroughs. They had a price but no market all year round.
According to the wine recipe written in the records, one small fruit like this could brew about ten mouthfuls of wine.
At the time, the fruit itself had never appeared in Cangming Mountain’s sect market, but wine brewed from the Ice-Glass Illusion Fruit had. It was sold by the mouthful. One mouthful cost five high-grade spirit stones. Back then, the official yearly stipend of a Cangming Mountain Core Formation elder was only three high-grade spirit stones.
After entering Cangming Mountain and learning the basic common sense of the cultivation world, A-Bai understood even more clearly how precious that liquid in Zhaoyang Valley had been, the liquid that let her draw spiritual energy into her body with one sip. Cangming Mountain was already one of the top three great sects in the Northern Territory, yet even there, there was no record of anything that could let a human or demon draw spiritual energy into the body with just one sip or one bite.
Drawing spiritual energy into the body was always a process of accumulation and breakthrough. It had a great deal to do with one’s own spiritual root aptitude. All pills and medicinal liquids could only assist in tempering the body. It was impossible for them to have such an instant effect.
Whether because Yuan had saved her life, or because of how precious that liquid was, A-Bai had always felt she had gotten a huge bargain from Yuan Zhaoyang.
So after she learned that the two fruits in her hands were Ice-Glass Illusion Fruits, A-Bai took the initiative to give both fruits to Yuan Zhaoyang. Even if they could not repay a life-saving grace, she at least could not drink for free.
Of course, Yuan Zhaoyang had not agreed.
The rabbit and cat argued for a long time. In the end, Yuan Zhaoyang could not outlast A-Bai and accepted one fruit as a compromise.
Originally, they had planned to wait until their cultivation was higher, gather the other ingredients for the wine, and brew both fruits together. Later, however, they found a rather powerful damaged pill recipe in a secret realm, and Ice-Glass Illusion Fruit was one of its ingredients. So the fruits were kept and kept, all the way until today.
Unexpectedly, the fruit they had once agreed to save for refining pills together had now…
A-Bai’s gaze toward stinky Lin and the foolish calico became a little complicated. Just drawing spiritual energy into the body had used up one mouthful of that precious liquid and one Ice-Glass Illusion Fruit. That was at least fifty high-grade spirit stones eaten in one bite. If Yuan Zhaoyang ever complained that A-Bai ate too much again, A-Bai absolutely had to remember to slap today’s matter across her face.
“Her condition was really too bad at the time. I didn’t have anything else on me that she could use…” Yuan Zhaoyang could not help explaining again when A-Bai stayed silent for too long.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Since I gave it to you, it was yours.” The little rabbit waved a paw grandly. “A life is more important.”
Halfway through the wave, the little rabbit quickly pulled her paw back. “Is she done? Is she done yet? My water balls are ready to launch! It is way too stinky!”
Yuan Zhaoyang glanced at Lin Mianmian. The stinky mud on her body was no longer increasing. But it looked… a little sparse. It seemed even less than the impurities Wang Minger had produced when she drew spiritual energy into her body.
When drawing spiritual energy into the body succeeded, it would push out impurities that had accumulated inside a person’s body. Most of these impurities came from the person’s own constitution. For example, people from the mortal world were born in the mortal world. Their bones, flesh, and blood were all things of the common world, and naturally held many impurities the cultivation world did not need. The remaining impurities came from what the person had eaten, drunk, and even breathed over the years.
So, in general, the younger someone was when they drew spiritual energy into the body, the fewer impurities they would expel.
Lin Mianmian looked thirteen or fourteen years old. Wang Minger had only been five. Yet the impurities on Lin Mianmian’s body were clearly fewer than Wang Minger’s had been.
Could she be unfinished? But the spiritual energy in the air was already slowly returning to normal.
Then again… when Yuan Zhaoyang had expelled impurities back then, hers had been very few too, far fewer than Lin Mianmian’s were now.
While Yuan Zhaoyang was turning the matter over in her mind, Lin Mianmian officially reached the end and opened her eyes.
Returning from her calm focus, Lin Mianmian had not even had time to feel excited that she had finally drawn spiritual energy into her body when a horrible stink rushed into her nose and nearly knocked her out on the spot.
It was so foul it was maddening.
When people smelled something foul, what did they do? Of course, they covered their noses.
Opening her eyes and almost being knocked down by the smell happened at nearly the same instant. Lin Mianmian had not yet seen her surroundings clearly before she instinctively covered her nose.
This was an action she was destined to regret for years. Maybe not for her whole life, but at least for several years.
What kind of smell was that? It was so awful that the stink she had smelled before instantly became nothing.
Lin Mianmian held her breath and slowly moved her hand away from her nose, stretching it in front of her eyes.
She had actually forgotten this part came after drawing spiritual energy into the body.
She truly wished she could faint right here and never wake up again.
Just then, a string of water balls shot in from the doorway one after another and burst over Lin Mianmian’s head, giving her stupidity one final rescue.
“Ha ha ha, really, I was just one step slow. How is it? Better?” A-Bai hid behind the door, with only one paw stretched into the doorway. After firing a long string of water balls, she carefully poked her head out through the crack. “Uh…”
Lin Mianmian was drenched from head to toe, but deep down, she was very grateful to A-Bai. The water balls had been a little violent, a little too many, and a little cold, but at least she did not smell quite so bad now.
Well… all right. This bed probably could not be kept either.
So why had she drawn spiritual energy into her body on the bed?
Lin Mianmian wiped at her eyes, which had been splashed so hard she could barely open them. She was about to look at the tragedy on the bed when she saw another disaster scene instead.
The little white rabbit stood weakly by the door. She did not dare meet the bright, burning gaze of the calico on the bed. With a wronged look, she tapped her little paws together and muttered, “Aren’t cats supposed to be very agile…”
Yuan Zhaoyang was speechless.
She had only gotten distracted for a moment! Could A-Bai not have warned her before making a move? Was she supposed to show the speed of a Foundation Establishment cat in front of Lin Mianmian at the very end?
The calico, who could have dodged but did not dare dodge, shook water from her fur.
It really was pitiful. Lin Mianmian’s heart trembled as she picked up her precious little one, brought the cat to her nose, and smelled her. With deep feeling, she said, “I really never thought Rice Ball would have a day when you smelled this bad too.”
Yuan Zhaoyang was speechless again.
“All right, all right. Let’s go bathe together. I’ll boil some hot water, or you’ll catch a chill.” Lin Mianmian caught the little calico’s paws as they pressed against her face and tried to push her away. She picked up the cat’s soft nest and little toy mouse from the bed, then turned toward the door. “Was the one who fed me earlier that cute little rabbit by the door? Little rabbit, you’re so cute. Why don’t you freeze the water on the floor too? I’ll shovel it up later.”
“Hmph. If it wasn’t me who fed you, who else could it be?” A-Bai secretly glanced at the calico, who seemed not to be angry anymore, then lifted her head. With a wave of her paw, the water on the bed and floor froze over. When Lin Mianmian passed by, A-Bai avoided her from far away. “Hey, hurry up and wash. You still stink a little. We can talk after your bath. Also, speaking of this, does your cat have no sense of smell?”
The calico turned her head and looked deeply at the little rabbit. “Do you still want chicken legs?”
“No…” A-Bai stretched out a paw after them. “Maybe it just loves you very deeply!”
Drawing spiritual energy into the body.
As Lin Mianmian added water to the pot, she felt the spiritual energy flowing inside her body. She had finally crossed this threshold.
Then Lin Mianmian could not help touching the spot between her brows. Just now, when she drew spiritual energy into her body, spiritual energy had already passed through her internal core. She wondered if that counted as the first drop that could draw in a whole pool of water.
If… if she could become strong right away, that would be wonderful.
Then even if they had to separate, the day they met again would still be something she could look forward to.
Lin Mianmian lowered her head and looked at the calico lying by her feet, her gaze full of reluctance.