Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 89

The winter was not truly cold, but because of some longing, it seemed rather long.
A-Bai returned to the Five Elements Sect on a very ordinary morning near the end of spring the next year.
That morning, Lin Mianmian had eaten two sticky bean buns and drunk several bowls of Bitter Jiji Grass Soup. She was preparing to go out to Great Lecture Hall for class. The moment she stepped out of the courtyard, she almost stepped on the small snow-white ball lying at the gate.
All kinds of thoughts surged up. Lin Mianmian was dazed for a moment, almost thinking it was unmelted winter snow. Her foot came down, and then she heard that familiar voice.
“You want my life! We have not seen each other for months, Lin Mianmian, and you have gone blind?” The familiar little white ball rolled under the shoe sole that still hung in the air. Its accusing voice pointed straight at Lin Mianmian’s conscience.
“Mistake, mistake.” Lin Mianmian did not know what had happened just now. Clearly, as her foot came down, she had realized that A-Bai was back. Yet she just could not control that slightly wicked foot.
A-Bai clearly did not quite believe Lin Mianmian’s explanation, which was as pale as rabbit fur. But seeing that after a few months apart, the little girl had grown a bit taller and more open in shape, she still did not scold her right at first meeting.
“Hungry. Make this great king something to eat.” A-Bai glanced sideways at Lin Mianmian, shook her ears, and hopped into the courtyard.
What was the morning class at Great Lecture Hall again? Spiritual energy use and recovery in battle?
Oh, who cared.
Lin Mianmian looked at the white ball hopping into the courtyard on its own like a fur rice dumpling. The corners of her mouth lifted, and her brows and eyes slowly curved.
A moment later, the little rabbit lying in a soft cushion on the stone table lazily watched Lin Mianmian start working in the kitchen to heat buns. Slowly, she waved a paw. “Enough. Stop fussing. Steaming is so slow. Bring them here and I will roast them.”
Lin Mianmian poked her head out from behind the big steamer and looked at A-Bai. After thinking, she still set the buns to steam. Then she brought another plate of cold buns and placed it beside A-Bai’s soft cushion. “These sticky bean buns are soft when steamed. You roast these first.”
The little white rabbit curled her mouth but did not reject this friendly suggestion. She waved a paw, and a small fire pile rose beside the soft nest. With another paw movement, several ice skewers pierced the cold buns on the plate and hung in the air above the fire to roast.
By now, Lin Mianmian had seen many immortal methods like this. She no longer felt as amazed as she had at first. But when this lazy rabbit cast spells, it always had a different kind of charm that made people unable to look away.
Only, immortal methods or not, special charm or not, even the most fixed stare could not save a rabbit without talent.
A moment later, the fire on the stone table went out. The person and rabbit looked at the slightly scorched buns on the plate and stared at each other.
“Cough. I am a rabbit with an ice spiritual root.” Seeing the silence was about to mutate into awkwardness, A-Bai scratched the stone table with her furry paw and turned her head to look at the sky.
“Right.” Mm. A Golden Core rabbit had scorched buns. Lin Mianmian raised her head to look at the sky on the other side. “Wait a little longer. The steamed buns will be hot soon.”
The little white rabbit slowly turned her head back, but from the corner of her eye, she did not miss the trace of a smile at Lin Mianmian’s mouth.
“Ow. I may be an ice spiritual root, but my fire arts are pretty good too, all right? It is only that I usually never need to use fire arts to roast mortal food. I just could not grasp the heat for a moment.” A-Bai angrily tried to save her image.
Seeing the white ball’s fur nearly explode, Lin Mianmian could not hold back the smile that spread across her face. “Right, right, right. A slip of the paw. It was a slip of the paw.”
“Then why are you still smiling? A cultivator’s fire is already hard to match with mortal-world things. It is good enough that I did not burn them away.” The puffed-up fur ball slapped the table in shame and anger. “It is not as if everyone is Yuan Zhaoyang, that fellow who can play with fire arts like a spirit.”
Before the words finished, both the somewhat puffed-up rabbit and Lin Mianmian, who had been smiling brightly, darkened in expression for a moment.
Yes. This was the person they should have mentioned the moment they met, yet they had avoided her as if their hearts were linked. They were clearly both worried, but exactly because they were so worried, neither knew how to begin, or whether they should add the heaviness in their own heart to the heaviness already in the other’s.
In the end, they still could not hold back.
“Senior Sister Yuan has been in seclusion for almost ten months now.” The one who spoke first was naturally Lin Mianmian, who knew little about forming a core.
Once the words came out, her heart panicked so much that even the tip of her tongue started to taste bitter.
Not asking, not talking, was that not also a kind of fear?
“Mm.” A-Bai drooped and lay back in the soft nest. How could she not know that right now she should say something to comfort Lin Mianmian, whose tone was full of fear and unease?
But she herself felt the same way.
“Forming a core can be fast, only a few days or months. If it is slow, counting by years is normal too.” A-Bai knew that those who took years had run into trouble and were not going smoothly. But seeing Lin Mianmian’s face improve a lot after she said this, she did not explain further.
“Wanyi Peak is safe, right? The fog is so heavy. If it stays that long, is there no problem?” These days, Lin Mianmian often looked toward Wanyi Peak from beside Clear Heart Hall. She only felt that the fog seemed full of immortal air at first glance, but after seeing it more, it gave a pressed, urgent feeling. It was as if Yuan Zhaoyang were trapped inside, making one feel uncomfortable.
“There is no problem with the fog. As for safety, it should be fine too.” The little white rabbit rubbed the fur on her paws, then continued, “After all, it is inside the Five Elements Sect. Also, I laid some restrictions around the outer part of Wanyi Peak. If someone goes up, or if a cat comes down, I can know.”
If a cat comes down?
No wonder A-Bai had gone out for so long and seemed not to care at all about Yuan Zhaoyang coming out of seclusion. So she had remote watching methods. Then had she gone out for so long because she was too worried and had no way to wait day after day so close by?
Lin Mianmian looked at the little white rabbit who had become listless and was rubbing her paws on the cushion after Yuan Zhaoyang was mentioned. She once again confirmed her guess.
Compared with herself, who had only spent about a month with Senior Sister Yuan if all the time was added together, A-Bai, who had spent a hundred years with Senior Sister Yuan, was surely even more anxious.
“Senior Sister Yuan is so powerful. Nothing will happen to her.” Lin Mianmian reached out and stroked the top of the little white rabbit’s head twice.
The little white rabbit lying in the soft nest like a soft puddle shook the little ears Lin Mianmian had casually rubbed. She spoke grumpily, “Of course nothing will happen to Yuan Zhaoyang. But whether something happens to you is hard to say. You even dare touch a Golden Core great demon again and again. Your courage is truly fat.”
Lin Mianmian’s hand paused. But seeing that the little white rabbit only spoke fiercely and made no other move, without even lifting her furry paw, she smiled and naturally stroked a few more times.
“Right.” As Lin Mianmian touched the warm little rabbit, she suddenly remembered something. “Some time ago, I met Senior Sister Liu Longyue from Dan Peak. I heard Senior Sister Zihui say…”
Before Lin Mianmian finished, A-Bai heard Liu Longyue’s name and sprang upright. She cut Lin Mianmian off directly. “Liu Longyue? She did not do anything to you, right?”
“No, no.” Lin Mianmian shook her head. Looking at the little rabbit as if she faced a great enemy, Lin Mianmian suddenly did not know how to continue asking the previous question.
After getting an answer, A-Bai still seemed uneasy. She narrowed her eyes and carefully looked Lin Mianmian over from head to toe twice. Only then did she lie down again and wave her paw. “Then keep talking.”
“Actually, it is nothing much. Later, I heard Senior Sister Zihui mention that Senior Sister Liu was rather close with you and Senior Sister Yuan. It is only that I…” It is only that I do not seem to get along with her. When the last words reached Lin Mianmian’s mouth, she could not say them.
If she said those words, what if A-Bai and Senior Sister Yuan also stopped getting along with her?
Lin Mianmian regretted bringing up this topic. If she only wanted to confirm through A-Bai how close Liu Longyue and Yuan Zhaoyang had been, but instead threw herself onto the opposite side from them, what would she do?
Fortunately, A-Bai did not seem to mind Lin Mianmian’s unfinished sentence. Hearing Lin Mianmian fall silent, she only tilted her head and looked at her, then took over the topic. “Liu Longyue was close to us, but she is a rather troublesome person. You should not get close to her. You said you met her just now. Then tell me, at the start, did she meet you, or did you meet her?”
At the start, that should have been when Lin Mianmian was selling Warming-Spirit Grass on the large platform.
“It should count as her meeting me,” Lin Mianmian answered, recalling the scene of selling grass that day.
She did not know whether it was her imagination, but after she answered, the look in the little white rabbit’s eyes clearly sharpened.
Very soon, Lin Mianmian knew this was not her imagination.
“Did she make things hard for you?” The little white rabbit flipped over and hopped in front of Lin Mianmian, then sat properly. The whole rabbit gave off a serious air.
“Not really. I only ran into her a few times and spoke a few words.” Lin Mianmian hid the Warming-Spirit Grass, which she temporarily could not explain.
A-Bai looked at Lin Mianmian, then rubbed her furry face. Then she looked at Lin Mianmian again, as if judging her words, and also as if trying to see more from them.
Only when Lin Mianmian was almost unable to hold steady did the little white rabbit rub her furry face one last time and speak seriously. “About Liu Longyue, I was not thoughtful enough after all. She went to Guiyuan Sect for so long that I almost forgot her. I did not expect she would still come looking for you.”
Only one or two years, and she had forgotten?
Lin Mianmian vaguely felt that something was not quite right.
But the little white rabbit continued. “Liu Longyue’s father is Elder Liu, a Golden Core elder of Talisman Peak. He is now stuck beyond the Eastern Sea. Her mother is more powerful, a Nascent Soul cultivator from Guiyuan Sect. She takes after her mother and has talent in alchemy, so she entered Elder Qin’s line on Dan Peak. Right now she should be at mid Qi Refining. Speaking of which, her father had better talent than her mother back then. Sadly, later… Forget it. These old matters are not important.”
They are rather important. I want to hear them.
Lin Mianmian pressed down the gossip in her heart and did not interrupt A-Bai.
“In short, this Liu Longyue is deep-minded, and she also has Guiyuan Sect behind her. Try not to clash with her. But if she tries to bully you, do not be polite either.” As the little white rabbit spoke, her furry paw tapped the golden bell at her neck. A pile of talismans and several things that looked like magic tools fell onto the stone table.
Lin Mianmian: “…”
“You have not missed Great Lecture Hall classes recently, right? You should know how to use these talismans.” As A-Bai spoke, she pushed the talismans toward Lin Mianmian. Then she picked up the magic tools on her own to inspect them. “This one will not do. This one will not do either. No, no, no.”
There were only a few magic tools in total, and very soon the little white rabbit judged each of them as no good.
“I still have not used the talismans Senior Sister Yuan gave me before,” Lin Mianmian said, reaching out to push the talismans back.
“The more the better. Liu Longyue also has quite a few things in her hands. The Five Elements Sect forbids internal fighting, yes, but what if something happens?” The little white rabbit took magic tools from the golden bell while glancing sideways at Lin Mianmian. “A few years ago, that Xue Xifeng of Dan Peak, oh, Liu Longyue’s senior brother, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, was framed by a Qi Refining cultivator as soon as she wanted to frame him. Truly heh. Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator fell into trouble. Do not even mention you, who are only at early Qi Refining. Sigh, magic tools that can be used at the first level of Qi Refining are really hard to find. I do not have any. Forget it, forget it. Later we will go to All Affairs Hall and buy some directly.”
“Does the sect not forbid internal fighting?” Lin Mianmian could not hold back her desire to gossip. More importantly, since A-Bai knew what kind of person Liu Longyue was, how had she still walked so close to her before? And Senior Sister Yuan too…
The little white rabbit put the scattered magic tools on the table back into the golden bell. Then she urged Lin Mianmian to put the talismans away. Only under Lin Mianmian’s expectant gaze did she open her mouth. “Oh, I think I smell the sticky bean buns. They should be steamed.”
What a fine hand at hanging someone’s appetite. Since you are so able, why do you not go write books?
Complaints were complaints, but Lin Mianmian still quickly brought over a steaming plate piled into a mountain of buns.
The little white rabbit lay crookedly on the soft cushion, slowly gnawing on a sticky bean bun held by ice chopsticks. After one sticky bean bun went down, she breathed out hot air and sighed. “Xiong Lanlan’s sticky bean buns are getting better and better. Seeing how much she indulges you, I suppose your cooking skill will not improve much.”
Mm, the rabbit who scorched buns is so amazing. Lin Mianmian did not speak, but her eyes were full of this sentence.
“Hmph.” A-Bai naturally read it. She picked up another sticky bean bun, then waved a paw and put away the mountain of buns. Then she slapped two bundles onto the table. “Here, for you. Hurry and forget the matter of roasting buns earlier!”
Lin Mianmian opened the bundles. Inside were several Moon Rock Sand Boxes filled with mortal-world foods. The food was neatly packed and full. At one glance, one could tell it had been specially packed for her, not hush money made on a sudden whim. Fine. Who was the one just complaining that Xiong Lanlan indulged her?
Seeing Lin Mianmian put the bundles into her storage bag, A-Bai stopped keeping her in suspense and swiftly turned the topic from buns back to Liu Longyue.
“It is true that the Five Elements Sect forbids internal fighting. But the fighting has to be placed openly where people can see it before it can be forbidden.” The little white rabbit slowly tore at bun skin with her rabbit teeth while recalling. “That was a few years ago. Yuan Zhaoyang refined a furnace of pills for Dan Peak. By reason, it was a furnace of high-grade Beauty-Nourishing Pills. They were for cultivators whose cultivation had stopped, whose Face-Fixing Pill from youth had begun to lose effect, to care for their appearance and slow that loss. For example, let us say a cultivator had just reached Foundation Establishment at twenty and ate a Face-Fixing Pill. As long as she kept advancing, she could keep the look of twenty. But if a hundred years later she hit a bottleneck and her cultivation did not advance for a long time, the Face-Fixing Pill’s effect would gradually vanish. She might slowly become thirty, forty, or even older. The Beauty-Nourishing Pill is a pill that slows the speed of aging. Later, even if her cultivation advances again when she looks forty, returning to a younger face is very hard. The pills needed for that are not something common Face-Fixing Pills or Beauty-Nourishing Pills can compare to.”
Listening to A-Bai’s words, Lin Mianmian could not help reaching out to touch her own face. This body was probably about fifteen or sixteen now. Should she also start preparing a Face-Fixing Pill? Liu Longyue looked around twenty. She did not know whether Liu Longyue had eaten a Face-Fixing Pill. By reason, her current appearance was almost at the most beautiful age.
“Oh my, stop touching. Face-Fixing Pills can only be eaten after adulthood.” A-Bai seemed to see what Lin Mianmian was thinking. A tiny ice block the size of a claw tip flicked onto Lin Mianmian’s hand, which was touching her face.
Lin Mianmian rubbed the back of her hand, which did not hurt but was a little cold. She pulled back her thoughts, which had drifted far, and smiled in embarrassment. “I will not eat one. Keep talking.”
A-Bai narrowed her eyes. “Do not secretly eat one. Being forever underage is not fun.”
Only after Lin Mianmian promised again and again did A-Bai continue. “That time, I do not know whether something went wrong during refinement or whether Yuan Zhaoyang’s hand shook. The furnace of high-grade Beauty-Nourishing Pills she refined for Dan Peak, besides their original effect of slowing aging, actually also had the effect of making people a little younger. You should know that pills that can make cultivators younger are worth nearly a thousand times more than Beauty-Nourishing Pills. And that furnace of Beauty-Nourishing Pills was no worse than pills specially made to restore youth. Originally, the materials for that furnace were provided by Xue Xifeng, Liu Longyue, and Dan Peak, and Dan Peak invited Yuan Zhaoyang to refine them in the sect’s name. The finished pills were to be split three, three, and four. Guess what happened next?”
“Then… Liu Longyue framed Xue Xifeng and got the pills?” Lin Mianmian guessed.
“Liu Longyue did frame Xue Xifeng, yes. But she did not get the pills.” The little white rabbit smiled coldly. “No one knows what method she used, but she actually put the whole furnace of pills that had not yet been split into Xue Xifeng’s storage bag. Dan Peak found the pills with Xue Xifeng. Even though Xue Xifeng did not admit it, the person and stolen goods were both present. So he was punished and sent into seclusion to reflect, and that furnace of pills was going to be rewarded to Liu Longyue for reporting him. Xue Xifeng probably figured out something and could not swallow the anger. When the senior brother holding the pills was not paying attention, he attacked and destroyed all the pills.”
“A storage bag with a divine sense mark, how could someone else unknowingly put things into it? Was Xue Xifeng truly wronged?” This was somewhat different from the basic knowledge Lin Mianmian had learned at Great Lecture Hall.
“Of course it can be done. If the cultivation difference is too great, or if one has learned a special method, or has a special magic treasure, even a spirit beast, all of those can do it. These sideways things naturally will not be taught to disciples like you who are still building a foundation.” A-Bai looked at Lin Mianmian, who seemed a little lost. “Xue Xifeng knew these things. He brought them up on the spot and suspected Liu Longyue too. But after the pills were finished, Liu Longyue had not gone near the pills, nor near Xue Xifeng. Xue Xifeng could not produce proof. He also suspected Dan Peak had seen the pills were special and did not want to split them with him, which was why the pills had not been divided right after they were finished. Elder Qin, their master, handled that matter at the time. She was so angry on the spot that she said Dan Peak would not take its forty percent of the pills, and all would go to Liu Longyue. Xue Xifeng was angry and anxious. In the end, he still suspected Liu Longyue more. Finally, unable to bear the anger, he destroyed all the pills.”
Lin Mianmian still did not quite understand. “It sounds like you believe Xue Xifeng. But there is no proof that he did not take the pills. There is even less proof that Liu Longyue framed him.”
“There truly was no proof at the time. But later, we saw a Mechanism Mist-Shadow Sparrow in Liu Longyue’s hands. This thing is not common in Nanhe. It is a specialty of a small sect in the Northern Region near the Western Wasteland. Yuan Zhaoyang and I also have two. They are very hidden and convenient for sending messages and items, and they are not easy for divine sense to notice. Aside from consuming a lot of spirit stones, they have no weakness. With this thing, it would not be hard at all for Liu Longyue to secretly steal something out and then stuff it into Xue Xifeng’s storage bag.” A-Bai bit off the last mouthful of sticky bean bun. “Actually, even if we had not happened to see that Mist-Shadow Sparrow, we would still believe Xue Xifeng. We are not blind to what kind of person he is. Back then, Xue Xifeng had sought that furnace of pills for his parents in the mortal world, so that they could live more easily while alive and not suffer so much from aging. Xue Xifeng did not have Life-Extending Pills. One Beauty-Nourishing Pill for each parent was enough. That furnace produced twenty pills. He could split six, and he did not need more. Liu Longyue was different. Her mother, who seemed stopped at Nascent Soul, needed quite a lot.”
“Wait. You just said you all believed Xue Xifeng.” Lin Mianmian tightened her palm. “By you all, do you mean you and Senior Sister Yuan? But you were close with Liu Longyue, were you not?”
“Speaking of that, it is a little embarrassing.” As the little white rabbit spoke, she seemed truly a little embarrassed and lifted a back paw to scratch her head. “That furnace of pills was destroyed, right? Later, Liu Longyue’s mother from Guiyuan Sect paid a lot of spirit stones and asked Yuan Zhaoyang to refine a few more furnaces. While she was at it, she also paid some tuition for her daughter and had Yuan Zhaoyang teach her more. That Liu Longyue went from being a passerby little junior sister in the sect whom Yuan Zhaoyang casually taught a few times to a paying customer. With spirit stones coming and going like that, and with her liking to follow Yuan Zhaoyang even when no pills were being refined, we could not exactly drive away a customer who kept bringing orders, right?”
Lin Mianmian’s palm tightened and loosened, loosened and tightened. Only when A-Bai reached the end did it truly slowly relax. “So you were always with her because she kept introducing business to you?”
“If not because of that, would it be because she was pretty? You have no idea. Although the Five Elements Sect’s guest elder pay is fairly generous, it is not our own sect after all. If we wanted more resources, we had to open more income streams, right? Liu Longyue is troublesome, but her mother, who wanted pills, spent richly. And we were not exactly playing together. She was the one who liked following Yuan Zhaoyang. I could never understand it. Yuan Zhaoyang is not from the Five Elements Sect. Even if Liu Longyue keeps following her, can Yuan Zhaoyang take her as a disciple?” A-Bai curled her whiskers.
“Senior Sister Yuan was also because of this?” Lin Mianmian asked another question, somewhat nervous.
“What, do you look down on us for enduring her to earn her mother’s spirit stones?” The sensitive little white rabbit stood up and glared.
“No, no, no.” Lin Mianmian hurriedly explained, “That is right!” If it was for business, then that was fine. If it was because of Liu Longyue’s personal charm, then that would be terrible.
“Anyway, that is how it was. Xue Xifeng was definitely wronged. As for Dan Peak’s investigation at the time, it is hard to say whether it leaned toward Liu Longyue. Even if we later knew Liu Longyue had a Mist-Shadow Sparrow, it could only support our own guess.” A-Bai looked at Lin Mianmian seriously. “Anyway, stay farther from her. Back then… Sigh, forget it.”
She had clearly wanted to speak seriously, but halfway through, she swallowed the words back.
Lin Mianmian always felt that the words A-Bai had not finished should be very important. She could not help asking, “Back then… what happened?”
“Nothing much.” The little white rabbit became somewhat awkward and was unwilling to speak.
The more she acted like this, the more Lin Mianmian felt this was important.
“Some things cannot be avoided just by staying farther away. Tell me what happened back then, and I will have an idea in my heart and can respond flexibly.” Lin Mianmian held A-Bai’s little paw and made a sincere face.
The paw was very soft, and the face was very sincere. The little rabbit scratched Lin Mianmian’s palm with the tip of her claw. In the end, she still sighed, but lowered her voice before speaking. “Back then, for just those pills, I felt it should not have gone that far. Later, seeing that little girl Liu Longyue really stuck to Yuan Zhaoyang, I remembered that back then Xue Xifeng also rather liked Yuan Zhaoyang. At that time, Yuan Zhaoyang often went to Dan Peak, and Xue Xifeng always received her at the foot of the mountain. It only took the time to sit in a teleportation array to go up, yet every time he waited at the foot of the mountain. If Yuan Zhaoyang had something to do and arrived late, he did not mind. He was always that polite and friendly.”
After speaking, the little rabbit gave Lin Mianmian a look that said, understand it yourself.
Lin Mianmian’s face was blank.
“I mean Liu Longyue wants to take Yuan Zhaoyang all for herself. Back then, when Xue Xifeng was dealt with by her, perhaps it also had a bit of that meaning.” A-Bai tapped Lin Mianmian’s palm with her little paw. “So, look. Xue Xifeng only escorted her to and from places, and he was confined. Guess what will happen to you, who came and went together with Yuan Zhaoyang?”
Probably be killed off. Lin Mianmian shivered. “But even if she wants to take Senior Sister Yuan for herself, she cannot frame every person around Senior Sister Yuan and leave only herself, right? Did she do something to you too, A-Bai?”
“Oh, that she did not. After all, I am a rabbit.” The little white rabbit shrugged. “Probably she is only sensitive toward human-shaped living things.”
Fine. She did not know whether changing back into a blade of grass now would get rid of the other person’s hostility.
“I still do not quite understand.” Lin Mianmian shook her head. “What kind of obsession is this?”
“Probably that she wants Yuan Zhaoyang to only look at her, only think of her, and only play with her.” As the little white rabbit spoke, she could not help shaking her fur. “Aiya, I do not know why saying this makes me want to shiver.”
Listening to A-Bai’s words, Lin Mianmian also could not help shivering.
Once upon a time, she seemed to have thought too. If Senior Sister Yuan’s heart and eyes both had her…
Sure enough, did she and Liu Longyue have somewhat similar thoughts?
There were thousands and thousands of matters in the world. It was all Senior Sister’s fault for being too good. For no reason, she had added thousands and thousands more.
After several months, Lin Mianmian finally learned from A-Bai the true reason Liu Longyue had walked close to them. Fortunately, they had not been conquered by Liu Longyue’s personal charm.
By reason, Lin Mianmian should have let out a breath.
However, she did not.
Because she suddenly faced her own somewhat unspeakable thoughts.
Liu Longyue did not want Yuan Zhaoyang to be good to Lin Mianmian. But did Lin Mianmian hope Yuan Zhaoyang would be good to Liu Longyue? Exactly because she did not want it, was unwilling, she had asked A-Bai so much.
It was not only Liu Longyue. What Lin Mianmian wanted to keep was the special treatment Yuan Zhaoyang had shown her before.
That special gentleness and concern, that look as if Yuan Zhaoyang always had her in her eyes and heart. Whether it was grievance, joy, or reluctance, when those emotions landed on Lin Mianmian, they were that unique.
She did not want anyone else. Not Liu Longyue, nor anyone else.
Oh, A-Bai could be an exception.
After all, A-Bai was only a cute little bunny.
After speaking of Liu Longyue, the heaviness that had risen earlier because they were worried for Yuan Zhaoyang scattered somewhat.
A-Bai took out more food and also brought out two pots of fruit wine. The grass and the rabbit chatted a little about the months they had spent apart.
Lin Mianmian’s side was all right. Her life was nothing but listening to classes and cultivating. But the matter of forcing plants to grow was still something she did not know how to speak of, so she did not mention it. She spoke more about the matter four months ago, when Xiong Lanlan and Wang Minger went to the trial ground.
When A-Bai first heard that Wang Baiguang had let Wang Chuanying out of Array Peak, she was very angry. But after hearing that in the four months afterward, Wang Chuanying had not come out again, she only snorted and said that at least Wang Baiguang still remembered his agreement with Han Qingyao.
Life in the sect was plain but somewhat full.
A-Bai’s life outside was clearly much more interesting and exciting.
Ever since Yuan Zhaoyang entered seclusion, A-Bai had wandered outside the sect for almost ten months. But in the end, because she kept thinking of Yuan Zhaoyang’s seclusion, she did not go far. Aside from the first few months, when she ate and drank in the mortal world, in the later months she only found a mountain, gathered some rogue cultivators and little demons, occupied the mountain as king, and did several deeds of punishing villains and removing evil.
A-Bai spoke lightly, as if they were only boring little things not worth mentioning, but Lin Mianmian was stunned as she listened.
“Can cultivators interfere with the lives of people in the mortal world?” Lin Mianmian took a sip of water and asked with worry. “The things you mentioned, like changing the emperor of a country, would the karma be too heavy? Would the Heavenly Dao dislike it?”
The little white rabbit beside her also stuck her furry head into a cup and drank two mouthfuls of wine. Under Lin Mianmian’s concerned gaze, she shook her fur before speaking. “Looks like you have been attending classes properly recently. But cultivator classes always talk like that. Karmic cycle, following the Heavenly Dao. But in truth, what is the Heavenly Dao, and what is following it? We cultivate, we want power and long life. That is already going against heaven. Look at the Western Wasteland. Those demonic cultivators have done many bad things, right? But when they face tribulation, they only get a few more bolts of lightning. If they endure it, their strength increases all the same, and after that they can still ascend. At times like that, why does the Heavenly Dao not use karmic cycle to drop one big bolt and destroy them? Also, what I did at most affected one country in the mortal world. Oh, and I did good deeds. The original emperor was truly too bad. Speaking of it, I was acting on behalf of heaven, much better than those demonic cultivators by who knows how much. You do not need to worry.”
“So… does the Heavenly Dao not exist?” Lin Mianmian truly had questions in her heart.
Whether in the apocalypse world or this cultivation world, there were sayings that good and evil had their due. But in truth, good people might die early, while bad people lived on for a long time. That was all common. Then where was the promised repayment?
“You cannot say it does not exist either.” A-Bai, who was always lazy, had no love for discussing the Dao with others. She could only tell Lin Mianmian some of her own understanding. “You can only say that if the heavens have a Dao, then in the eyes of the Heavenly Dao, we are all too tiny. So tiny that if a matter is not big enough, even if it sees, it will not care. It is like us looking at a nest of ants in the mortal world. Would we care whether they fight? Would we care who is the king of the ant colony? Would we care whether one or two, seven or eight ants are happy? Too tiny. It will not care, and it rarely interferes. That is why the mortal world has laws, and the cultivation world has sect rules. Instead of waiting for karma to give a matter an end, it is better to govern ourselves.”
Lin Mianmian pressed her lips together and did not answer.
A-Bai sighed softly and slowly moved to Lin Mianmian’s hand. She reached out a little white paw and patted Lin Mianmian’s hand twice. “All right. You are still young. Do not think too much. Anyway, a well-behaved child like you cannot do anything bad. Whether there is a Heavenly Dao, and what the Heavenly Dao is, is not that urgent for you. You still have a lot of time to understand it.”
After a moment of quiet, Lin Mianmian still opened her mouth. “Then what if most of that ant colony went mad and started tearing at the small part that remained, and in front of our eyes, the whole colony was about to be destroyed? If we saw it, would we care?”
“If we are ants, and the Heavenly Dao is us, then it should care. If the colony no longer exists, how can the Heavenly Dao exist?” A-Bai only felt that the little girl beside her seemed to have sunk into darkness all over. She secretly regretted that she should not have told this girl, who was only in her teens, about those good deeds she had done in the mortal world.
For Lin Mianmian, who was only in her teens and had only come up from the mortal world to cultivate less than two years ago, things like helping a rebel army destroy an emperor were probably too shocking.
Lin Mianmian did not notice how the little white rabbit beside her was regretting and wanting the mood to become light again. Right now, she was thinking that if there was a Heavenly Dao, then during the apocalypse, when it saw the fight between zombies and humans, would it care? Would it care whether humans could continue to exist? Or in its eyes, was the disappearance of humans only a normal part of the change of all things?
“Mianmian?” The little white rabbit stood on the back of Lin Mianmian’s hand, straightened her body, and patted Lin Mianmian’s face with a furry paw. “Are you all right?”
Compared with the quiet and peaceful Five Elements Sect, the darkness and madness of the apocalypse was a shadow that had always lingered in Lin Mianmian’s heart.
She did not understand why such a thing had happened. Why had a perfectly good world turned into that all at once?
If there truly was good and bad, cause and effect, then on the day of the apocalypse, were all those who turned into zombies bad people? Were all those who survived good people?
If there truly was a Heavenly Dao, how could it watch the world fill with slaughter?
Good and bad could not be clearly told apart. Karma never arrived.
There was no heaven that upheld justice and made everything clear.
There was only herself.
The good I see is good.
The bad I see is bad.
If there is law, follow the law. If the law is wrong, then there is no law. If there is no law, I am the law.
If I see the cause, I will bring the effect.
If heaven cannot see it, I will see it.
As long as I can.
“Mianmian… Mianmian?” A-Bai saw that Lin Mianmian had become dazed and unresponsive while speaking. She could not help becoming alarmed and patted her face again and again.
But after two pats, A-Bai slightly opened her little mouth and pulled back her paw.
Was this… sudden enlightenment?
A tiny qi spiral had appeared above Lin Mianmian’s head. It looked rather similar to the spiral Wang Minger had formed when sudden enlightenment drew qi into her body.
A-Bai’s expression focused. Her furry paw tapped the golden bell, and soon she took out two array plates, activated them, and threw them onto the ground nearby.
“Do not be afraid. It should be a spiritual energy spiral caused by sudden enlightenment. This place is very safe. Just cultivate here.” As A-Bai spoke, she tossed a meditation cushion under Lin Mianmian’s feet.
At this moment, Lin Mianmian only felt countless thoughts in her mind. One rose, another argued, another changed. She could not say what was right or wrong. In the end, one stubborn will of her own split open thousands of fogs and found a willful road.
Vaguely hearing A-Bai’s words, Lin Mianmian forced herself to slide down from the stone stool and sit on the cushion. Then she closed her eyes and circulated spiritual energy.
Strands of spiritual energy were drawn by the spiritual energy spiral. They gathered from all directions into one place, then slowly fell onto Lin Mianmian’s head.
Back then, Wang Minger’s sudden enlightenment had only lasted a very short time. Lin Mianmian’s sudden enlightenment this time lasted a full three days and three nights.
Along her path, Lin Mianmian had suffered a great deal because of her spiritual root aptitude. Now that sudden enlightenment could increase her cultivation, A-Bai was naturally happy for her. But thinking that before Lin Mianmian’s sudden enlightenment, the topic they had discussed was the Heavenly Dao, A-Bai could not help worrying too.
A-Bai felt that Lin Mianmian’s sudden enlightenment this time should be connected to her understanding of the Heavenly Dao. This range was somewhat wide, and it was very easy to take a wrong step. So besides happiness, there was also worry.
For these three days, A-Bai lived in Lin Mianmian’s courtyard, on the stone table.
When she had nothing to do, she poked a little furry head out over the edge of the table and looked at Lin Mianmian cultivating below.
When she was hungry, she set out a table of food and wine, poured and drank for herself, and ate until the fur under her chin was oily.
When she was sleepy, she spread soft cushions over the table, rolled and jumped, entertained herself until she fell sideways.
The days actually passed quite well.
In the same courtyard, A-Bai lived free and easy. Lin Mianmian, however, had a hard time.
On ordinary days, cultivation meant borrowing the pull of the spiritual root to attract spiritual energy into the body, then slowly guiding it into the meridians, again and again.
In these ten months, Lin Mianmian had more or less become used to the very ordinary attraction her thirty-two-percent spiritual root had toward spiritual energy. Small amounts of spiritual energy came slowly and were guided into the meridians in batches. Everything was so natural, smooth, calm, and unhurried.
But this time, it was clearly different.
Large amounts of spiritual energy surged over and tried to drill into her body without any discussion. Lin Mianmian had to use all her focus to quickly split the spiritual energy into her meridians, then make it quickly pass through and gather in her dantian.
It always felt like someone who had been doing tai chi was suddenly made to box, hands and feet flustered.
Fortunately, during the apocalypse, the meridians her ability used were also those few paths. Lin Mianmian had experience. After a moment of confusion, she quickly found the rhythm: absorb, circulate, gather. It let her sink into the pleasure of cultivation.
Lin Mianmian remembered what A-Bai had said before she entered meditation.
This sudden-enlightenment spiritual energy spiral was something that could be met but not sought. Lin Mianmian, whose cultivation speed was limited by spiritual root aptitude, naturally would not let this chance go. She worked with all her might, wanting to get more benefits from the spiritual energy spiral.
Sudden enlightenment was called sudden enlightenment because the speed of understanding was fast.
But Lin Mianmian was dazzled by the spiritual energy of the spiral and focused only on cultivating. For a time, she actually forgot the matter she had been thinking about before the spiritual energy spiral appeared.
If sudden enlightenment did not finish, the spiritual energy spiral would not disappear. For the sake of a bit of spiritual energy, interrupting one’s own understanding of the Dao was probably something only Lin Mianmian could do.
Fortunately, after she became used to spiritual energy moving so fast, Lin Mianmian finally remembered what she had not finished thinking before.
If heaven cannot see it, I will see it.
After I see it, what can I do?
Good should be repaid. Bad should receive its due.
What is good, and what is bad?
If I am good, then what I see as good is good. What I see as bad is bad.
It is not completely fair, but it is already the fairest I can do.
I will not do evil. I will not be trapped by rules. My heart is free. As for the Heavenly Dao, let it be as it is.
By the time Lin Mianmian finished thinking that last bit, it was already deep night on the third day.
The rich spiritual energy drawn by the spiral had pushed Lin Mianmian from the middle of the first level of Qi Refining to the threshold of the second level of Qi Refining.
And the final sudden enlightenment was like a kick at the gate, smoothly kicking Lin Mianmian into the second level of Qi Refining.
This one sudden enlightenment saved Lin Mianmian almost a year of cultivation time.
When the spiritual energy spiral above Lin Mianmian’s head began to scatter, A-Bai, who had been sleeping in her soft nest under a little blanket, woke.
Lying at the table edge, the little rabbit lowered her head and watched Lin Mianmian cross from the first level of Qi Refining into the second. She could not help smiling and rubbing her face with her furry paws.
How nice. It rather felt like watching a daughter of the family grow up.
On the path of cultivation, chances for sudden enlightenment were rare after all. Most of the time, a cultivator’s speed still depended on spiritual root aptitude.
On the day A-Bai returned, Lin Mianmian rode the sudden-enlightenment flying cart once. Afterward, she returned to the cultivation speed of an old ox pulling a cart.
Not long after A-Bai returned, the Five Elements Sect became lively.
Because in the summer two months later, the once-every-ten-years friendly sect exchange would arrive again.
The Five Elements Sect, Ten Thousand Demons Gate, Great Sword Mountain, and Guiyuan Sect were all major sects ranked near the front in Nanhe. Between them, they had always kept friendly relations.
Not to mention, their interests also overlapped in many ways. Take the developed secret realms in Nanhe, for example. Several of them were in the hands of these four great sects.
Nanhe had many sects and accepted all kinds. Some sects could match these four in size, but none walked as closely together as these four.
The once-every-ten-years friendly sect exchange was mainly for Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment disciples from each sect to spar and share knowledge. While trading cultivation basics and seeking harmony and mutual gain, they also set out some prizes to make outstanding disciples happy. Of course, if the disciples could also bring glory to their sects, that was even better.
This kind of friendly exchange had continued for several hundred years. Each time, the location rotated among the four sects. But the sects taking part were not limited to only those four.
Most of the Five Elements Sect’s Golden Core cultivators were trapped in the Eastern Sea. Originally, the disciples thought that although it was the Five Elements Sect’s turn to host this year’s friendly sect exchange, it would very likely be changed to another sect. They did not expect the main peak to stay silent for so long, and then, once there was word, the matter was settled directly.
Originally, for sparring between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment disciples, most organizing and arranging tasks were handled by Golden Core cultivators. But this time, it was very clear that there were not enough Golden Cores, so the Nascent Souls had to step in.
Because of this matter, several Nascent Soul peak masters who had been in seclusion all this time came out.
In the past, if another sect hosted, then the guest side bringing disciples over would usually have one or two Nascent Soul cultivators standing guard, while Golden Core cultivators handled the affairs.
But this time, several of the people from the Five Elements Sect coming out to manage things were Nascent Souls. Correspondingly, there would very likely be more Nascent Soul cultivators coming as guests too. With more Nascent Souls, naturally there would be more things to pay attention to.
Ever since the main peak confirmed that this sect exchange would still be held at the Five Elements Sect, the sect clearly became busy.
Cleaning up peaks for guests to live on and setting up competition grounds were all matters visible on the surface. But the matters in the dark were even more numerous than those on the surface.
The sect was lively, but to Lin Mianmian, who had only reached the second level of Qi Refining, this liveliness did not have much to do with her.
At only the second level of Qi Refining, even if she could go on stage, she would probably be kicked down after only a few fights. Even if the sparring had rewards, they had nothing to do with disciples of her cultivation. Lin Mianmian thought this through very clearly, but she still felt somewhat expectant.
She wondered whether the little demons from Ten Thousand Demons Gate would be as cute as the pictures Immortal-Welcoming City had used to attract disciples.
If she did not think of the giant bear ice sculpture A-Bai had made back then, that little white bear really had been very cute.
Toward the coming friendly sect exchange, some people held the fighting spirit that they must succeed. Some held the wish to spar and improve. Some carried strange expectations toward fluffy things. And some people were not that expectant.
“Yaoyao, are you tired? You have been busy for so long. Rest a while. Here, eat a walnut.” Du Yixi lazily lay on a soft couch and reached out toward the small hamster darting around not far away in a pile of glowing arrays.
“Not eating.” From afar, the small hamster lifted her head and glanced at Du Yixi’s hand, which was almost hanging to the floor. In her pale palm lay a walnut kernel as large as two hamsters.
“Eat one. Do you not like five-spice flavor? I specially made this Biqing Stone Walnut taste like mortal-world five-spice.” Du Yixi shook the walnut kernel toward the little hamster in the array. The latter had clearly stopped paying attention to her. This time, she did not even lift her head.
When dealing with small animals, one needed a special kind of patience.
Du Yixi had always believed this rule. Now that the little hamster ignored her, she was not annoyed. Instead, she smiled and climbed up from the soft couch, walking toward the array.
“Hey, hey, hey, do not come over.” Han Hamster lifted a tiny mouse paw and made a stopping gesture. Then she sighed. “Do not enter the array. I will come out and eat, all right? I just repaired that place. Do not step on it and break it.”
After speaking, the little hamster circled around the spirit stones in the array and darted out.
Du Yixi received the words and stopped her steps early. She leaned back onto the soft couch and only stretched out her hand to wait for the mouse. “Listen to what you are saying. I am at Soul Formation. Even if I am not called a great power, I cannot be someone who cannot do things, right? How could I step on your array and break it?”
“Fine, you can. Since you can, you go repair it. Perfect. I have stayed underground long enough anyway. I will go back to Array Peak and live there for two days.” The little hamster, who had already darted to the edge of the soft couch, heard this and made a sudden stop, turning around to leave.
“No, no. I cannot.” Du Yixi scooped the little hamster into her palm and pushed the Biqing Stone Walnut kernel toward the hamster’s mouth, smiling in apology. “If I could, I would go be Array Peak’s peak master. Who would still be sect master? Right?”
“Listen to what you are saying.” The little hamster rolled her eyes at Du Yixi. In the end, she still sat down in her palm and hugged the walnut kernel to eat.
The crunching sound was truly something one could never hear enough of.
Du Yixi’s brows and eyes softened. She could not help rubbing a finger over the top of the little hamster’s head.
“Watch yourself. If you keep doing that, I will turn human.” Han Hamster put down the walnut and lifted her head.
Sure enough, those puffed-up cheeks were forever so cute.
“Yaoyao really was much cuter before Golden Core.” Du Yixi could not help saying what was in her heart.
The moment the words left her mouth, Du Yixi knew things were bad.
The next second, the hamster leaped down from her palm. Before Du Yixi could mourn the warm, soft fur feeling in her hand, she saw a female cultivator in pale yellow robes standing beside her with a cold face.
“Sigh. Yaoyao repairing arrays is truly fierce.” Du Yixi made a pitiful face. “I will not say it anymore. Change back.”
“Speak properly. You are already at Soul Formation, yet you still use doubled words. What do you mean, fierce?” Han Qingyao’s mouth was not polite, but her face carried a faint red. As she spoke, she took the walnut kernel from Du Yixi’s palm and stuffed it into her mouth in one bite. “All right, I ate it. I am going to work. Stop peeling walnuts. Hurry and use a few spirit stones to recover your spiritual energy. When my side is ready, it will be your turn to put in spiritual energy again.”
“Fine.” Du Yixi rubbed her palm and sighed. “What kind of sect master am I now? I feel as if I am about to become a spirit-stone conversion magic tool.”
“Not quite. If you are one, you are at least a spirit-stone conversion magic treasure. A magic tool is not as capable as you.” Han Qingyao crunched the walnut kernel down in a few bites. She really could not hold back and added, “Also, a spirit-stone conversion magic treasure that cannot tell spices apart. Is this five-spice walnut kernel? Five-scorched walnut kernel is more like it.”
“A picky hamster is not a good hamster.” As Du Yixi spoke, she took out a few spirit stones and began restoring the spiritual energy she had spent earlier.
Han Qingyao, who had just changed back into a hamster by the array, was angry. “I am not a hamster anymore. If it were not for repairing this array, would I need to be a hamster underground?”
“Right, your peak master came out of seclusion. How about you rest for a few days and let her come down?” Du Yixi looked at the little fur ball standing beside the array and spoke.
Then she saw the little fur ball with its back to her clearly freeze.
“No. She might not be able to sort out the things I repaired here quickly. The sect exchange is about to begin. Let us not make trouble.” After speaking, Han Qingyao plunged into the array.
Du Yixi looked at the tiny hamster in the huge linked array, running quickly and busily. For a long time, she did not speak again.
In the end, they owed her.
The sect owed her.
Du Yixi also owed her.
Could the Five Elements Sect hold on until the day the new generation of Golden Cores grew up?
Du Yixi raised her head. Above her head was pitch black.
This secret cave under the main peak was where the Five Elements Sect’s sect-protecting array was located.
The barrier it produced protected the entire Five Elements Sect. It was connected to all teleportation arrays and many small defensive arrays, and even to the three trial-ground secret realms.
Since the Five Elements Sect had existed, this array had existed too.
For so many, many years, the array had always run well.
How could it be such a coincidence? The four regions were cut off from one another, most of the Five Elements Sect’s Golden Core cultivators were trapped in the Eastern Sea, and just then, the sect-protecting array developed a problem.
What kind of problem was it, exactly, that kept damaging this great array? Unless it was repaired and maintained like now, with Han Qingyao’s skill and Du Yixi’s spiritual energy, the whole sect-protecting array would soon collapse.
The small defensive arrays around the sect’s major buildings were one thing. The teleportation arrays could also be left unused. But the barrier protecting the whole Five Elements Sect could not break.
A fat sheep feared a broken fence.
Some matters already had suspicious signs. Borrowing this sect exchange, they should be able to see things more clearly.
The exchange was still that exchange. The only question was whether the friendly part was still the same friendly part.
No matter what, at least before the sect exchange ended, this sect-protecting array had to remain well. Thinking this, Du Yixi sped up her absorption of the spirit stones.
If she had to be a spirit-stone conversion magic treasure, then so be it. Did she not see that a perfectly good young woman, in her perfectly good years and perfectly good cultivation time, was spending it with her in this dark cave where the sun could not be seen? Du Yixi gripped the spirit stones tightly, as if doing this could make her ignore the heart that grew tighter and tighter.
Only a small number of people in the sect knew Du Yixi’s worries. Most people were still looking forward to the coming friendly sect exchange.
As one arrangement after another fell into place, the sect exchange drew closer and closer.
But to Lin Mianmian, there was another approaching day that mattered more.
Back then, Lin Mianmian had accepted Yuan Zhaoyang’s storage bag only to settle Yuan Zhaoyang’s heart a little, so she could enter seclusion and form her core without worry.
But Lin Mianmian had not expected that this one-year promise would arrive right before her eyes, and Yuan Zhaoyang truly had not returned.
When the sect arranged guest residences for the sect exchange, it naturally noticed Wanyi Peak, which no longer had anyone living on it and had good spiritual energy, except for a little too much fog. Although in the end they decided not to arrange guest residences on Wanyi Peak, that discussion brought Yuan Zhaoyang, who had been in seclusion for nearly a year, back into the disciples’ talk.
She was originally an outside guest elder with unknown roots. For a time, quite a few rumors rose, and the higher-ups did not really suppress them.
Fortunately, Yuan Zhaoyang had always been loved by the disciples at Great Lecture Hall. Although there were many rumors, most were concern and worry. There were not many negative ones. Even if there were one or two now and then, for the same reason, they could not spread on a large scale.
No matter how unreliable the rumors were, it was a fact that Yuan Zhaoyang had already been in seclusion for a year.
The closer it came to a full year, the quieter Lin Mianmian became, and the heavier her expectation grew.
Only, in the end, what came was still disappointment.
Finally, that day arrived. Lin Mianmian used a voice-transmission paper sparrow to invite A-Bai over.
“This is what Senior Sister Yuan gave me before she entered seclusion. She said she was afraid your spirit stones would be spent too quickly, and told me to give it to you after she had been in seclusion for one year.” Lin Mianmian took out the storage bag with a bamboo-green base and a tender-yellow fortune character embroidered on it, then placed it in front of A-Bai.
For a moment, the little white rabbit could not digest Lin Mianmian’s words. She froze for a long while before pressing a furry paw onto the storage bag. “You mean, a year ago, she already knew that she could not form her core within a year using that core-forming pill?” The little white rabbit only felt her head buzzing. Lin Mianmian’s words and the thing she gave made her heart sink all the way down. That fellow Yuan Zhaoyang, back then, had she already sensed something wrong and still gone to form her core? She still dared go form her core?
“She probably… did not know. At the time, I thought Senior Sister Yuan might be a little nervous and was preparing for rain before it fell. But looking at it now, perhaps back then, she had some feeling.” Lin Mianmian thought of Yuan Zhaoyang’s farewell that day and felt a sad pain in her heart.
If Senior Sister Yuan already had a feeling then, what had she sensed? Was it that core formation would not go smoothly, or that core formation would not succeed? Lin Mianmian almost did not dare think deeply, yet she could not stop herself from thinking deeply. The current situation worried Lin Mianmian until she was afraid. But what made her feel most powerless was that even if she were given a chance to return to the day Yuan Zhaoyang said goodbye, she still could not do anything. This was a powerlessness that made her hate herself somewhat.
A-Bai sent her divine sense into the storage bag. After looking, the paw holding the storage bag trembled slightly.
With a flip of her furry paw, four boxes half as tall as a person lined up on the ground.
Lin Mianmian lowered her head and looked. In an instant, her palm tightened, and she froze too.
“This is…” Lin Mianmian bent down and gently touched the box at the far right.