The Young Lady Only Wants to Cultivate Immortality Chapter 38

A’Ling wanted to describe moonlight as ‘resplendent’ for the first time.
The mountain wind sweeping through the peaks blew away the withered grass and grit clinging to her, scattering her hair. A bright, full moon hung in the sky, its light so brilliant one could see a tiny speck of sand on the trembling eyelashes of the person before her.
For the first time, A’Ling felt that Shi Qingqian’s face didn’t seem so disgusting…
This perpetually pale, bloodless face was now streaked with black and yellow, and a small blade of grass clung to her sharp, slender jawline. Perhaps startled by the recent peril, under the clear moonlight, Shi Qingqian’s lips were not their usual faint cherry pink, but rather vividly red.
Just like her eyes, which were irritated by sand, their corners were tinged with red.
In the moonlight, her eyes shimmered with faint ripples, and A’Ling saw herself reflected within them.
From the moment she was dug out of the earth until she was picked up and placed on a rock that seemed to appear out of nowhere, A’Ling’s mind felt a bit muddled. It was as if the resplendent moonlight had dazzled her eyes, and the mountain wind had confused her thoughts.
Only belatedly, A’Ling realized in her heart that it wasn’t Gu Hongjue who had pulled her out.
Besides the wind, the only sound she heard was his incessant chatter carried on the wind.
After settling down, A’Ling looked not far away. Gu Hongjue had already rescued both Gu Jingyang and Gu Jiangxue from the earth.
But he seemed to have forgotten that Gu Jiangxue and Gu Jingyang weren’t the only ones in the earth.
A’Ling saw that Zhao Diqing, still unconscious, was buried in the dirt right at his feet. He seemed to be completely unaware of her.
He was busy brushing the dust off Gu Jingyang and his wife and checking if they were alright.
A’Ling withdrew her gaze, lowering her head to look at her own shadow. A faint, almost imperceptible sigh dissipated into the night wind. If she had waited quietly, who knew how long it would have taken Gu Hongjue to remember that she also needed help.
After Gu Jingyang was completely out, she helped her father pull Gu Jiangxue from the earth. Just as she was about to check on A’Ling, she saw that Shi Qingqian had already rescued her.
Seeing A’Ling was fine, she looked back at her mother. Just now, her mother had almost missed the arc ceiling closing because she went to grab Zhao Diqing’s rope.
“Jiangxue, are you uncomfortable anywhere? Why is your breathing so unstable?”
“Mother, are you injured somewhere?”
A’Ling listened with her head bowed to the Gu family’s words of concern for each other. She was actually used to never being the first person thought of.
When she and Jin Siliu relied on each other, it was better. There were no other people around her. Even if she wasn’t thought of first, at least she was the first to be thought of.
She just had to wait patiently. Wait for Jin Siliu to shake off enemies, wait for Jin Siliu to finish work, wait for Jin Siliu to finish what she was doing, and then remember her, tucked away in various corners.
But after returning to the Huo family, everything changed.
Initially, she waited the same way, waiting for them to remember her, tucked away in the small house. She was quiet, obedient, tried hard to please, and waited patiently.
Later, she found it useless.
No matter how long she waited, they never remembered her.
In the two years since she returned, she only went to the Huo family’s main residence; they never remembered her and came to the small house to find her.
She only went to the Huo family’s main residence for holidays, besides the birthdays of those few people.
She had celebrated Huo Changsheng’s birthday, Huo Zhen’s, Lin Nianli’s. She even celebrated Shi Qingqian’s birthday.
Even though Shi Qingqian refused, Huo Zhen, Lin Nianli, and Huo Changsheng still sent her birthday gifts.
A’Ling had waited patiently, waiting for them to remember that Shi Qingqian’s birthday was also her birthday.
She waited from dawn till dusk, and then until dawn again.
She knew she wouldn’t get it.
After that time, she was no longer stupid enough to just wait.
She snatched all of Shi Qingqian’s birthday gifts and even her main house. That day, she climbed over the fence between the houses and ran to the next door to scold Huo Zhen, scold Lin Nianli, calling them unworthy parents, and calling them foolish for raising someone else’s child.
That was the first time Huo Zhen hit her, and also the first time he truly saw her.
Lin Nianli watched coldly from the side, but also looked directly at her for the first time.
They seemed to have just realized that A’Ling was troublesome.
After that, Huo Zhen put a barrier on the small connecting door between the two houses.
It was also after that, A’Ling realized that what she wanted, she had to fight for herself.
Just waiting was useless.
Why had she been so foolish again just now? She actually thought of waiting quietly again.
Waiting for them to remember her, it was okay to be buried in the dirt a little longer. Her heart felt as if a small, serrated blade of grass had lightly cut it. It didn’t hurt much, but it was a little uncomfortable.
Actually, Gu Hongjue wasn’t her father. She didn’t know why she was sad.
A’Ling’s throat felt a little tight. Suddenly, a flash of white appeared before her eyes.
“Quick, wipe it off. There’s still a mark on your face.”
Gu Hongjue’s voice sounded from not far away, soft as water.
A’Ling turned her head and saw him handing Gu Jingyang a handkerchief, asking her to wipe a smudge from her face, while he himself took a handkerchief to wipe Gu Jiangxue’s hand.
A’Ling withdrew her gaze and looked at the handkerchief before her, and at Shi Qingqian who was offering it.
Gu Hongjue had been right in front of her just now, but she knew it was a pipe dream to expect Gu Hongjue to rescue her first. She had been prepared to be buried in the earth for a while, but she hadn’t expected Shi Qingqian to emerge so quickly.
Not only did she come out herself, but she also came to rescue her.
A’Ling lowered her head, looking at the handkerchief before her. Her heart skipped a beat, and she reached out to take it.
“Thank you.”
Her voice was very soft, barely discernible in the wind, like muffled words, but Shi Qingqian heard it clearly.
She retracted her now empty hand, letting it hang at her side. Her clear voice, carried by the wind, reached A’Ling’s ears.
“I should thank you. You saved me.”
Shi Qingqian’s tone was assertive, mixed with a hint of lingering fear. Just now, in the collapsing cave, she watched helplessly as A’Ling was sucked away by a massive force. She was right beside her but couldn’t stop it in time.
When she realized she was falling, the panic in her heart was as dense and suffocating as the crumbling rocks.
In that despair, which felt like falling into endless darkness, Shi Qingqian saw a dazzling purple-gold light. A’Ling shone brightly in the light, the only illumination in the darkness.
Shi Qingqian was the closest person to A’Ling and the first to be encircled by A’Ling’s magic artifact. She was also the one who immediately rushed out of the ground after A’Ling.
Half of her body was outside the mud. After realizing she could circulate spiritual energy, she immediately cast a spell and got out of the pit.
When she came out, she saw A’Ling still quietly in the dirt, her figure, with only her head and half a shoulder exposed, like a lonely little blade of grass.
There was still residual dust on her head from her efforts to break through the earth.
The mountain was open and desolate. She stood there quietly in the wind, in the night, looking particularly inconspicuous, yet remarkably stubborn.
Stubborn, like a weed.
A little weed, the nameless kind.
Shi Qingqian felt her heart inexplicably cut by this stubborn blade of grass.
Her blood-soaked heart screamed in that moment, Take her away, move her into a warm and safe greenhouse, care for her meticulously, so this stubbornness doesn’t have to be so lonely.
“Is A’Ling alright?”
Gu Jingyang and Gu Jiangxue checked on each other and found they were fine. They then rescued Zhao Diqing, and the family moved towards A’Ling and Shi Qingqian.
A’Ling and Shi Qingqian each recovered from their respective thoughts.
A’Ling smiled at Gu Jingyang and shook her head. “I’m fine. How about you all? Are you all okay?”
Gu Jingyang relaxed. “We’re fine too. A’Ling, thank you so much this time. You saved all of us.”
“So it was A’Ling who saved Jingyang and Jiangxue. Thank you so much, you are a great benefactor to our Gu family.” Hearing that A’Ling saved everyone, Gu Hongjue quickly stepped forward to thank A’Ling.
A’Ling was a little embarrassed by his behavior.
Just as she was about to say “no need to thank me,” Gu Jiangxue suddenly spoke. “A’Ling, how did you know that a demon core could be integrated into a magic artifact?”
She had been a demon hunter for many years and didn’t know demon cores could be used that way.
A’Ling shook her head. “I didn’t know either; I just tried.” The situation at the time didn’t allow her to think too much. She just thought that demon cores were useful for spiritual beasts, so perhaps they would also be useful for magic artifacts with awakened spiritual consciousness.
Her Little Wandering had spiritual consciousness.
Gu Jiangxue heard this and looked at A’Ling in surprise. Seeing her sincere expression, not seeming to be faking, although the explanation was quite unbelievable.
“Weren’t you afraid your method wouldn’t work, and you’d destroy the demon core and still not be able to get out?”
A’Ling lightly gasped. “I didn’t think about that problem.”
Just an uncertain thought, and she dared to destroy a thousand-year-old great demon’s demon core. Gu Jiangxue was somewhat shocked but also felt that while others might not do it, it seemed exactly what this girl would do.
Although it was only a brief encounter, it was a shared life-or-death experience, and she had gained some understanding of A’Ling.
This was a reckless young girl who acted on impulse.
Such an important question, and she hadn’t even thought about it.
A smile appeared on Gu Jiangxue’s stern face. With this smile, her entire aura seemed to change.
From the inaccessible, icy snowy mountain to the blossoming prosperity of melting winter snow, it only took one smile.
A’Ling thought, This must be the aura of a master.
Gu Jiangxue said with a smile, “No wonder Jingyang likes you so much.”
Gu Jingyang also laughed beside her. “Of course. I’ve always said A’Ling is great.”
Gu Hongjue couldn’t smile. His face was tense. “Let’s talk about the rest when we get back. I’m always worried you’ll disappear in front of me again. My heart is still in my throat right now.”
Gu Jingyang nodded. She was also worried about further complications, and A’Ling was still injured.
“A’Ling, come back with us. Let my mother check your injuries.”
Gu Hongjue nodded frantically. “Yes, come back to the Gu family. I’ll cook sweet soup for you all to calm your nerves.”
A’Ling didn’t want to go home with Gu Jingyang. Their family of three probably had a lot to say, and she worried she would be the odd one out if she went.
Just as she was about to refuse, she saw two talismans suddenly appear before her. Only when golden light shone did she realize she was already inside a spell formation. She quickly looked at Shi Qingqian, who was forming hand seals.
Shi Qingqian’s gaze was on her, but her words were directed at Gu Jingyang.
“I’ll take her to treat her injuries.”
A’Ling didn’t even have time to refuse. Her consciousness blurred for a moment, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw Apothecary Yang Xia leaning sideways on a chair, pouring water from a small teapot on the stove into a cup.
Under their mutual gaze, only the pattering sound of water could be heard in the quiet apothecary.
“Um, the water’s spilling.” A’Ling reminded the still-dazed person before her.
Apothecary Yang Xia snapped back to reality, quickly placed the teapot on the tall table, casually wiped the tabletop with a cloth, and then continued to look at the two who had suddenly appeared.
“Did you two go grave robbing?”
After a quick assessment, Apothecary Yang Xia saw that both of them were covered in dust, as if they had just emerged from some underground place. There were even what looked like bits of straw on their heads. This was the only possibility she could think of.
A’Ling raised both eyebrows. The great demon’s cave they went to was indeed a great demon’s tomb, and she took the demon core from inside, so it did count as grave robbing.
She nodded awkwardly.
Now it was Apothecary Yang Xia’s turn to involuntarily raise her eyebrows. Her casual guess had actually hit the mark.
Thinking that the two had gone to some unknown tomb and brought back all this dirt, possibly even contracting some corpse poison, she quickly performed a purification spell, cleaning them thoroughly from head to toe.
“You two, why do you go digging graves and not even clean yourselves up before coming back? Look how dirty you are. Who knows if there are any toxic substances.”
A’Ling looked at her refreshed clothes and the clean feeling on her body, her eyes wide. “Oh, right, how could I forget the purification spell!” So stupid! She was still shaking her head in the mountain wind, trying to shake off the dirt on her head.
She looked up at Shi Qingqian, her eyes full of ‘Why are you so stupid too?’
Shi Qingqian lowered her head to look at A’Ling in her arms. “I forgot too.”
A’Ling’s brow twitched. She turned her head away. “Who are you ‘too’-ing? Put me down quickly.”
Shi Qingqian pursed her lips, said nothing, and placed A’Ling on the recliner where Apothecary Yang Xia had been lying. She then said to Apothecary Yang Xia, “Look at her injuries.”
When Apothecary Yang Xia saw Shi Qingqian carrying A’Ling, she noticed the Wuluo Bone Tendon Silk wrapped around A’Ling’s legs.
This Wuluo Bone Tendon Silk looked like gauze but wasn’t. Its texture was like tofu. While stopping pain and bleeding, it also regenerated tendons and mended bones, making it a rare and miraculous medicine for severe bone injuries.
Moreover, this item was exceedingly rare, of the kind that once used, there would be less of it in existence.
Seeing both of A’Ling’s legs bandaged, Apothecary Yang Xia’s heart tightened. Could she have encountered a cultivators at the Incarnation Realm, causing both her legs to be shattered? That would require considerable effort to treat.
Apothecary Yang Xia thought, such injuries inflicted with internal spiritual energy are the most troublesome to treat. She would probably need to get her golden needles.
First, she would examine the injuries. Without a moment’s delay, she bypassed the serious-faced Shi Qingqian, walked to her opposite side, and gently unwrapped the Wuluo Bone Tendon Silk from one of A’Ling’s legs.
Apothecary Yang Xia: ?
She hesitated, looking up at Shi Qingqian, who was observing A’Ling’s leg with a very serious expression.
Apothecary Yang Xia’s gaze was uncertain. She rewrapped the Wuluo Bone Tendon Silk on her hand. Perhaps the other leg was in dire condition.
She carefully unwrapped the Wuluo Bone Tendon Silk from the other leg.
Apothecary Yang Xia: !
She straightened her back and looked at Shi Qingqian, a hint of anger in her eyes. “Don’t you recognize what this is?”
A’Ling followed her gaze. Was there something wrong with this? When Shi Qingqian used it on her earlier, she found it strange. She had never seen this item before, even as a medical cultivator.
Shi Qingqian avoided answering, only asking in a deep voice, “How are her injuries?”
Apothecary Yang Xia scoffed. “If you had come a few hours later, she would have been able to walk!”
A’Ling had seen Apothecary Yang Xia’s expression wasn’t good just now and thought she had encountered some mutated Armored Beast and been bitten crippled.
Hearing her say this, she couldn’t help but feel a burst of happiness.
“Really? I can walk so soon? That’s great.” She couldn’t help but look at Shi Qingqian beside her, smiling happily.
Apothecary Yang Xia’s forehead twitched. No, was that the point she was trying to make? She was about to reprimand Shi Qingqian for wasting precious resources when she saw Shi Qingqian smile.
That upward curve of her lips, was it a smile?
Apothecary Yang Xia rubbed her arms, where goosebumps were erupting. Too terrifying. She’d better go prescribe some medicine quickly. She seemed to be having hallucinations.
In the backyard of the Gu family mansion, after the Gu family of three had washed up, they gathered to drink the sweet soup Gu Hongjue had specially prepared to calm their nerves.
Earlier on the mountain, after Shi Qingqian used spatial transfer magic to take A’Ling away, Gu Jiangxue’s released demon spirits also returned. This incident was now perfectly resolved.
However, many questions remained. Gu Jingyang sipped her sweet soup and asked Gu Jiangxue, “Mother, wasn’t that demon core only for the person for whom it was sacrificed? Zhao Diqing just touched it and got poisoned. How did Qingqian hold it for so long when we fell and was fine?”
“A’Ling too, she held it the whole way and was unharmed. Are both of them connected to Qiongdian Peak?”
Gu Hongjue had already heard Gu Jingyang describe the situation underground on their way back. He had his own thoughts on the matter. “A’Ling definitely isn’t. She and Huo Zhen must be biological; their appearance doesn’t lie. Shi Qingqian, however, is very likely. Even the Huo family couldn’t find out who her birth parents were, right?”
Gu Jingyang also leaned towards Shi Qingqian being connected to Qiongdian Peak. “Then what about A’Ling?”
Gu Jiangxue stirred the slightly clumpy glutinous rice balls in her bowl with a spoon. “Perhaps your little friend has some other destiny. She’s a kind child, to be able to discard a thousand-year-old demon core so easily.”
Many cultivators would fight tooth and nail for a bit of destiny. It was rare for someone like A’Ling to abandon a readily available destiny for the sake of a few human lives.
Gu Hongjue understood Gu Jiangxue’s unspoken meaning. “But none of that is as important as you two.”
Gu Jiangxue smiled faintly. “She’s a good child.”
Gu Jingyang was very happy that her mother approved of A’Ling. She scooped a spoonful of soft, sticky rice balls and said with a smile, “Of course. I’ve always said A’Ling is great. She’s a firecracker mouth with a sweet soup heart.”
Gu Hongjue was amused by her metaphor. “Alright, this time it truly was thanks to A’Ling that I could see you two again. I owe her a favor. Ask A’Ling what she wants, and I’ll prepare a thank-you gift for her.”
Gu Jingyang blinked. “That would have to be a huge, huge, huge gift, Dad! A’Ling gave up world-destroying power for us!”
Gu Hongjue laughed heartily. “You’re helping your little friend extort your father! That thousand-year-old demon core is indeed rare, but it’s not of much practical use to cultivators themselves.”
Gu Jingyang waved her hand. “Dad, don’t you remember? ‘Demons, Monsters, Ghosts, and Fiends, destroying heaven and earth.'”
Gu Hongjue paused for a moment, then chuckled. “That’s just a legend.”
Gu Jiangxue finished the last mouthful of sweet soup at this moment, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, and said, “Legends don’t come out of thin air.”
Gu Jingyang quickly chimed in, “Exactly! It’s so detailed, it sounds like there must be some basis to it.”
The legend says that no matter what realm a cultivator is in, if they can gather four items: a thousand-year-old great demon’s voluntarily sacrificed demon core, the tears of a demon lord filled with extreme regret, the Ten Fiend Soul-Leaving Specters that have died ten thousand times, and a monster.
If these four items could be gathered, one could obtain ancient divine power, a power capable of destroying heaven and earth, resetting the world into primordial chaos.
Gu Hongjue knew his wife and daughter were teasing. “Even if A’Ling didn’t break this demon core today, where would she find the other three items?”
This legend was rarely mentioned anymore. The truth was, among these four items, only the thousand-year-old great demon’s voluntarily sacrificed demon core had any possibility of existing; the others were absolutely impossible.
“How can you be so certain A’Ling won’t have other opportunities?” Gu Jingyang playfully countered Gu Hongjue.
Gu Hongjue wasn’t annoyed. “Alright, let’s say she has that opportunity, and she gets the Demon Lord’s tears and the Ten Fiend Soul-Leaving Specters. What about the last monster?”
The legend only mentioned “a monster,” with no other conditions or descriptions. It was as good as saying nothing.
Gu Jiangxue smiled and interrupted their conversation. “Stop. Let’s not talk about these illusory matters. The inner sect will open soon. I also need to go to the inner sect this time. A peculiar type of demon has appeared in the human realm, and I suspect it escaped from the inner sect.”
Hearing Gu Jiangxue discuss serious matters, Gu Jingyang and Gu Hongjue quickly put away their idle thoughts and listened intently to what she had encountered.
Inside the medicine room of Tranquil Shade Herb Hut, A’Ling, after drinking the medicine brewed by Apothecary Yang Xia, intended to leave. However, Apothecary Yang Xia refused to charge a consultation fee but instead requested A’Ling to help process some medicinal ingredients, as payment for her labor.
A’Ling initially thought Apothecary Yang Xia might be worried a young girl like her couldn’t afford the consultation fee, but when she saw the medicinal ingredients Apothecary Yang Xia brought out, she realized she genuinely needed help.
Apothecary Yang Xia watched A’Ling processing the medicinal ingredients under the lamp, her face calm and peaceful, in shock. Her request had just been a casual suggestion, merely wanting to help Qingqian keep A’Ling there, not truly intending for her to process these troublesome ingredients.
This Four Seasons Flowing Light Vine could be used both as a medicinal ingredient for concoctions and as a magic artifact to protect the heart meridian. However, its processing was extremely tedious.
It needed to be passed through warm water, hot water, cool water, and ice water, each for a quarter of an hour, hence the name ‘Four Seasons’.
The water temperature had to be controlled entirely by magic, requiring full concentration. After these four steps, a single thin vine had to be torn into a thousand fine threads, so thin that they shimmered like flowing light when held up to the lamp.
Not a single thread could be missed; there had to be precisely a thousand, only then could it achieve the delicate flow of light.
After all this was done, the fine threads were then threaded one by one into the Golden Claws, and after being illuminated by golden light and fusing, one Four Seasons Flowing Light Vine was considered complete.
Apothecary Yang Xia looked at the serious little face illuminated by the orange-yellow lamp light. Her heart stirred slightly. How was A’Ling different from the legends?
The descriptions she had heard of this girl were typically words like foolish, impulsive, violent, and frivolous. If she hadn’t personally witnessed A’Ling’s calm, patience, and meticulousness in preparing medicine, she wouldn’t have believed they were talking about the same person.
Suddenly, the apothecary’s door curtain made a soft rustling sound. Apothecary Yang Xia turned back from her shock and saw Shi Qingqian enter carrying a tray.
A’Ling had just finished processing one Four Seasons Flowing Light Vine and looked up at the newcomer.
Shi Qingqian glanced at her, then picked up a white porcelain bowl from the tray and handed it to Apothecary Yang Xia beside her.
Apothecary Yang Xia looked at the item in her hand in surprise. She had thought Qingqian was bringing something for A’Ling. What was this, and why was it given to her?
A’Ling took a look, assuming Shi Qingqian was bringing something for Apothecary Yang Xia, and was about to lower her head to continue processing the medicinal ingredients when she heard Shi Qingqian’s clear voice. A slender finger held a white porcelain bowl out to her.
“Eat something.”
A’Ling looked at Shi Qingqian, then turned to look at Apothecary Yang Xia. Seeing that the item in her hand was the same as hers, she thought for a moment, said thank you, and took it.
Shi Qingqian nodded, said nothing, and then retreated.
A’Ling felt a surge of relief. She actually didn’t want to take it, but seeing Apothecary Yang Xia looking at her, hoping she would accept it, made it a bit hard to refuse.
Apothecary Yang Xia exhaled heavily when A’Ling took it, then looked down at the clumpy white balls in her bowl again, asking confusedly, “What is this?”
A’Ling raised an eyebrow, scooped a spoonful of the sticky white balls with a spoon, and tasted it.
“It’s sweet soup.”