Although she spoke with a smile, as her longtime friends, how could the two of them not detect the unusual tone in her voice?
This was definitely not a state that could be explained by simple longing.
“Xiao Mo, tell us the truth.”
Counting the time, the three of them hadn’t seen each other for half a year. They usually video-called in their group chat, so it shouldn’t have reached the point of tears.
Embarrassed, she sniffled, then turned to look at the two with a mischievous expression.
“I can’t explain it clearly in just a few words. Let me give you a more direct experience!”
Without another word, while the two were still confused, she wrapped an arm around each of their waists, and in an instant, they were soaring above the clouds.
Chu Shiyun and Chu Letong, still bewildered, hadn’t fully grasped the meaning of her words when they realized their friend had already released them. The two stood in shock, their feet planted in the ethereal, intangible clouds.
The sensation beneath their feet was soft and weightless, as if stepping on thick cotton soaked in water, yet it carried a strange lifting force, making them hesitant to move.
Chu Shiyun instinctively looked down, only to see her and Chu Letong’s feet sinking into the flowing mist.
Wispy white tendrils of fog coiled around their ankles, the coolness seeping through the fabric into their skin.
She abruptly looked up. Tang Ximo stood half a step ahead, her posture as straight as a pine tree. She wore a black and gold robe that she had somehow changed into, and the lotus crown on her head swayed gently in the flowing clouds.
“Xiao Mo!” Chu Letong finally found her voice, trembling as she moved closer. “What is this…?”
“How is it? Fun, right?”
Tang Ximo’s voice was soft but carried a mischievous tone.
As her words fell, she swept her wide sleeves, solidifying the surrounding mist into a semi-transparent, milky-white platform.
The sudden change frightened the two so much that, regardless of their current height, they closed their eyes and clung tightly to Tang Ximo’s waist, their grip stronger than ever before.
The instigator gently patted their shoulders, the mischief in her eyes replaced by tenderness as she softly coaxed them.
“Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you. Try stepping down and testing it out?”
Trusting her friend, Chu Shiyun, who had been anxious from the start, tentatively lowered her foot.
With her eyes closed, she mustered her courage and stepped onto the solidified mist platform, steadying herself.
She forced herself to open her eyes but still didn’t dare to look down into the bottomless void beneath her feet.
Chu Letong, on the other hand, was the opposite. Though also afraid, her excitement clearly outweighed her fear.
Slowly releasing her grip on Tang Ximo’s sleeve, she gazed into the distance. The rolling mountains below had shrunk into bluish-green folds, and rivers meandered like silver threads.
The fierce wind howled in their ears, whipping their clothes and sending their hair flying wildly across their faces.
“This is…” she heard her own voice trembling.
“This is the reality. How is it? Exciting, right?”
Tang Ximo turned around, a playful smile curling at the corners of her lips.
Chu Shiyun gasped in shock and exclaimed, “Which temple did you go to learn this?”
Tang Ximo’s lips twitched, but she didn’t answer the question immediately.
Sunlight from the horizon pierced through the clouds, casting a shimmering golden halo around Tang Ximo.
In the eyes of Chu Shiyun and Chu Letong, she looked exactly like the imagined image of a transcendent master.
“I spent a thousand years learning in the Cultivation World and only returned two days ago.”
She spoke slowly, her voice carried away by the wind, sounding somewhat ethereal as she turned to look at the two stunned faces.
With a smile, she said, “So… I really missed you.”
Chu Shiyun and Chu Letong exchanged glances. They had imagined countless reasons, but they never expected one that sounded so utterly unbelievable.
However, once she processed it, Chu Shiyun jumped up, hands on her hips, and let out a few hearty laughs toward the sky.
“Hahaha! Then from now on, we’ll have to walk sideways like crabs.”
At this point, Chu Shiyun wrinkled her nose again, a look of regret on her face.
“If we’d known earlier that you had such heaven-defying abilities, that idiot boss wouldn’t have had a chance to jump around like a flea!”
Chu Letong adjusted her glasses and nodded in strong agreement.
“These days, bosses who squeeze every last drop are everywhere. Not only do salaries not increase, but we even end up paying out of our own pockets.”
Tang Ximo smiled confidently. She knew her friends would believe her unconditionally, and she joined their venting session.
“My former boss was no better—making me work overtime every day, then firing me for slacking off. I really regret not flying over and slapping him a few times back then. What a waste of my thousand years of Cultivation Base.”
The casual mention of “thousand years of Cultivation Base” made Chu Shiyun and Chu Letong’s hearts ache.
To struggle alone in a different world where Cultivation was possible—the dangers involved were beyond their imagination.
But before they could say anything, Tang Ximo’s next words stuck in their throats, leaving them momentarily speechless.
After venting about her job, Tang Ximo abruptly changed the subject.
“Today, I brought you here to experience flying with the wind—not just for fun. I need helpers now, and you two can’t escape!”
The cloud platform fell into silence, with only the howling wind passing by.
Chu Shiyun scratched the back of her head and patted her chest with a sense of loyalty. “If our sister needs help, we’re definitely in! Tell us, what do you need us to do?”
Chu Letong didn’t speak, but the look in her eyes conveyed the same meaning as Chu Shiyun’s.
Tang Ximo’s gaze swept mysteriously over their faces, her eyes lighting up as she quickly took out two platinum Jade Tablets from the Taichu Cultivation Academy and solemnly handed them to the two.
“The Platinum Phoenix Jade Tablets are passes to my Taichu Cultivation Academy. With these, you can freely enter and exit Taiwei Mountain and the Academy. One for each of you.”
Once the people with the emerald Jade Tablets arrived, along with my family and Chu Shiyun and Chu Letong, the Spirit Vein mission would be more than fulfilled.
Perhaps, given the overachievement, the Heavenly Dao might generously grant me a larger Spirit Vein.
Once the mission was completed and the Spirit Vein was integrated into Taiwei Mountain, I’d have even more confidence when contacting our Yu Xia’s official authorities.
Looking at the two holding the Jade Tablets tightly, the cool sensation penetrating their palms, their eyes shone with the same fiery light.
It was a Cultivation Academy!
It was Sword Flight!
For Chu Shiyun, who had always loved reading Cultivation novels, this temptation was anything but ordinary.
“Little Momo, are you serious? Can we really go and Cultivate too?”
Chu Shiyun’s eyes sparkled like two stars shining brightly beside the moon.
She reached out and pinched Chu Shiyun’s chubby cheeks—the feel was as good as ever.
“I’ve already given you your student IDs. Could it be fake?”
Don’t think that just because she has a baby-faced, chubby-cheeked look, she’s a loli. Have you ever seen a loli who’s 178 centimeters tall?
Her voice trembled with excitement, and the next second, she rushed forward and hugged Tang Ximo.
“This is so cool, it’s like a dream!”
A doting smile curled at the corner of Tang Ximo’s lips as she teased, “So, do you have any other plans next? If not, I’ll take you to enroll in the Cultivation Academy!”