Actually, Mo Xiaoxing didn’t even know what Qin Yu looked like!
Seeing herself in the water, she couldn’t help but feel a bit dazzled.
“Qin Yu is so beautiful!”
Her slender eyebrows held unique charm with every movement; her phoenix eyes were slightly upturned, resembling clear, rippling water; she had a high nose and fair, delicate features.
This was exactly the appearance Mo Xiaoxing envied most! She hardly needed to do anything; just standing there quietly, she looked like a painting—pleasing to the eyes and refreshing to the spirit.
“Friend, I will treasure your beauty,” Mo Xiaoxing said silently.
Without further delay, she returned to the cave.
Today, she made steamed fish. Mo Xiaoxing deliberately prepared two portions and sent a plate over to the White Peacock.
Holding her bowl of rice and slowly picking at the fish meat, Mo Xiaoxing glanced at the White Peacock, curious to see how it would eat…
The White Peacock actually sniffed at it, seemingly quite satisfied with the aroma of the fish.
Then, Mo Xiaoxing watched as the plate itself floated up, tilted, and the entire fish along with some of the broth poured into the White Peacock’s beak!
After only two or three seconds, the White Peacock opened its beak, and the fish bones were spat out, perfectly clean and intact!
Mo Xiaoxing: “…”
Big Brother, you’re a peacock, not a cat! Why are you so skilled at eating fish?! How do you manage to be both savage and elegant at the same time?
“The taste is not bad.” The Peacock seemed quite satisfied.
Mo Xiaoxing: “…As long as you like it.”
Mo Xiaoxing discovered that the Peacock truly had refined taste; it seemed to eat simply for the sake of enjoyment!
Mo Xiaoxing had gathered some spirit plants. Since these were high-quality ingredients capable of refining pills, she decided to turn them into dishes.
To her surprise, she found that the dishes she cooked could also replenish spiritual power! They were almost as effective as some low-grade medicinal pills.
She already loved cooking, and now she was even more eager to research it, so she went out to gather more spirit plants!
For some of the plants, she was unfamiliar with their medicinal properties, so the resulting dishes would be a culinary disaster—commonly known as… a total failure.
She surreptitiously took some to the White Peacock.
As a result, the White Peacock turned its head away, showing her the back of its neck.
“Child, I have treated you well. Why do you wish to poison me?”
Mo Xiaoxing: “Ha… I grabbed the wrong one!”
One day, Mo Xiaoxing fretted over the spirit plants she had gathered.
“Sigh, one only hates that they haven’t learned enough when the time comes to use it.”
Qin Yu was lazy and ignorant; there was no knowledge of these medicinal properties in her memories. If she were at the front mountain, she could go to the library to check the pharmacopoeia.
Sister Han Yan knew, but recently, the White Peacock had been awake more and more often. He kept a close eye on her at all times, so Mo Xiaoxing didn’t dare to go missing and couldn’t go into the Ink Calamity to ask Sister Han Yan.
At this moment, the White Peacock spoke: “Child, bring your spirit plants here.”
Mo Xiaoxing’s eyes lit up, and she hurriedly gathered her herbs and went over.
“Hehe, Big Brother Peacock, do you recognize these? Are you going to help me?”
The White Peacock gestured with its wings, imprinting a volume of the Pharmacopoeia into Mo Xiaoxing’s mind, followed by a volume of the Great Compendium of Medicinal Pills.
“The Pharmacopoeia will help you distinguish spirit plants, and the Great Compendium contains all the pill formulas. Read them carefully, and don’t make me any more poisonous meals.”
Mo Xiaoxing felt a bit guilty: “…Oh, oh.”
Soon, Mo Xiaoxing recognized all the spirit plants.
As she reviewed the Great Compendium in her mind, she thought to herself that spiritual sense was truly a wonderful thing; it was as if she could automatically flip through pages in her brain…
The Great Compendium was filled with formulas, but Mo Xiaoxing was puzzled—why did the White Peacock give her this? She wasn’t an alchemist.
“Purple Thorn Grass, Reed Flower Fruit, Jade Leaf Seeds…”
“Wait, the Great Compendium says that the medicinal properties of Jade Leaf Seeds and Reed Flower Fruit are mutually antagonistic… If they are stir-fried together, it will cause diarrhea.”
“I’m truly a genius!”
Mo Xiaoxing was thrilled by her own discovery! Following this logic, she could actually create poisons!
But she soon paused—had the White Peacock thought of this before her? Was that why he gave her the Great Compendium?
“Big Brother Peacock! How did you know I could understand the pill formulas?”
“Because I am your big brother.”
Mo Xiaoxing: “Besides that?”
“You have a natural aptitude for the combination of spirit plants; it is not strange that you can understand pill formulas. Categorizing plants by medicinal properties, pairing them for cooking, and balancing the five flavors is no different from the principles of alchemy.”
Mo Xiaoxing felt a bit proud: “So, do I have a talent for alchemy?”
“Perhaps.”
The White Peacock actually approved!
Mo Xiaoxing was greatly encouraged and studied even harder.
For the first few days, she helped the White Peacock absorb demonic energy every day. Later, when the demonic energy stopped spreading, Mo Xiaoxing changed it to once every two days, and eventually, once every three days.
She had also absorbed a great deal of the White Peacock’s spiritual energy.
Coupled with her increasingly refined cooking skills, she didn’t realize how much she had improved, but the White Peacock knew very well that her mastery over the medicinal properties of the plants and the formulation of pills was becoming more and more proficient.
Mo Xiaoxing only knew one thing: she was about to level up!
Advancing wasn’t as difficult as she had imagined. After helping the White Peacock absorb the demonic energy as usual, she sat down to practice.
She felt her realm loosen, and the spiritual energy in her Qi sea began to churn. She took the opportunity to circulate her power, broke through the barrier, and advanced to the fourth layer of the Qi Refining stage!
Qin Yu had spent over ten years just to reach the third layer, and she had done it in only twenty days. As expected, the cultivation speed of the Extreme Yin Sacred Body was incredible!
“Big Brother Peacock, I’ve reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining!”
As soon as she opened her eyes, Mo Xiaoxing instinctively shared her joy with the White Peacock. There were only the two of them in the cave, and Mo Xiaoxing had already come to view it as a friend.
“Not bad.”
Mo Xiaoxing: “Can you compliment me a little more?”
The White Peacock said, “I still promised you a reward. Have you decided what you want?”
Mo Xiaoxing paused.
The White Peacock had actually given her quite a few benefits; sometimes when she asked questions, he answered them without hesitation. Now, she felt embarrassed to ask for another reward.
“How about we forget it?”
The White Peacock: “No. A cultivator must keep their word.”
Mo Xiaoxing sat cross-legged beside the White Peacock, looking at the creature that seemed like a holy, snowy mountain.
She rested her chin in her hands and thought for a moment. Her watery eyes suddenly focused on the Peacock’s feathers, and she abruptly reached out to brush through them…
She pushed aside layers of cover feathers and found one of moderate length.
“Ahem, can I… pluck one of your feathers?”
The White Peacock’s voice deepened: “Child, you have quite a lot of nerve.”
It was the first time it had heard such an unreasonable request.
Mo Xiaoxing swallowed hard, but she insisted and did not take it back.
The White Peacock cherished its feathers so much; plucking one was indeed a bit excessive…
But she truly loved it!
Besides, every time she wrote a letter to her Senior Brother, the handwriting was unsightly—she was truly terrible with a brush. Surely, a peacock feather would make for a great writing implement!
“Have you decided? You don’t want anything else? Spirit stones, cultivation techniques, medicinal pills…”
Mo Xiaoxing interrupted: “I’ve decided. I only want one feather!”