“One, two, three, four, five…”
“Seven hundred twenty-eight, seven hundred twenty-nine, seven hundred thirty! Exactly seven hundred thirty snowmen!”
The little boy with silver hair and light-colored pupils stood in the vast, snowy expanse. The clean, soft fox fur at the collar of his cloak made his cheeks appear rosier.
In the past year, Zhong Wuxi built one snowman of his Master and one of himself every single day. He used these snowmen to keep track of time and record his growth in height.
Zhong Wuxi supported his chin in his hands, troubled. In truth, he had not grown much taller, or rather, he had not grown at all.
Every year, the Xuanqing Sect held an annual examination for all disciples except for the Sect Leader and the Elders. As the only personal disciple of the Xuanqing Sect’s Holy Monarch and the newly appointed Sixth Elder, Zhong Wuxi was not required to participate. However, that little phoenix, Zongzheng Lan, insisted on comparing their cultivation levels. Zhong Wuxi could not refuse him and had reluctantly agreed.
This comparison left Zhong Wuxi feeling dejected.
He possessed a supreme single spirit root with a mutated Light attribute, while Zongzheng Lan, the protagonist of the original story, inherited the true Phoenix bloodline of the Xiling royal family. The two were evenly matched, making it difficult to judge whose cultivation was superior.
But!
Zongzheng Lan had grown significantly taller over the past year. When they had explored the Ascension Staircase Secret Realm together, Zongzheng Lan had only been a bit taller than him. A year later, that slight difference had turned into a significant gap.
Zhong Wuxi sighed.
However, he was happy again immediately, as today was his birthday. As an orphan, Zhong Wuxi did not know the year, month, day, or time of his birth, so he had designated the day the first snowman was built as his birthday.
There were currently seven hundred thirty snowmen on Jimo Peak: three hundred sixty-five snowmen of Zhong Wuxi and three hundred sixty-five snowmen of his Master. Each “Zhong Wuxi” leaned against his Master’s leg, and each one was shorter than his Master.
It was heartbreaking.
“Junior Brother!”
Xuan Ling flew over on her sword, wearing a fiery red cloak, looking like a ball of fire falling into the vast snowy plain.
Zhong Wuxi hurriedly spread his arms to protect the snowmen that were much taller than him. “Senior Sister, stand further away. Do not melt my Master.”
Xuan Ling remained silent.
“Hurry, hurry! Come with me to Piaomiao Peak. Senior Brother Sect Leader has prepared a table of delicious food for you!”
“Third Senior Brother came out of seclusion the day before yesterday. Hearing it was your birthday today, he prepared a gift for you. I sneaked a peek, and it is full of treasures!”
“I never knew he kept so many treasures hidden away!”
Zhong Wuxi’s eyes lit up. “Are there many treasures?”
“Yes, many treasures,” Xuan Ling said, bending down to pat his head. “Come with me; everyone is waiting for you. After today, the Sixth Elder of our Xuanqing Sect will be four years old!”
Zhong Wuxi remained silent.
A four-year-old sect elder sounded incredibly unreliable. If not for his Master taking him as a disciple, how could he have become an Elder of the Xuanqing Sect?
Xuan Ling summoned her life-bound sword and flew away from Jimo Peak with Zhong Wuxi. He looked back at the tightly shut door of the snow hut.
He had not visited Piaomiao Peak in a long time. After the birthday banquet, Zhong Wuxi followed Ye Yizhou to take a look at the courtyard where he had previously lived.
Having become accustomed to the ice and snow of Jimo Peak, Zhong Wuxi felt somewhat unaccustomed to the charm of small bridges, flowing water, green leaves, and red flowers.
Ye Yizhou took a massive water vat out of his qiankun bag, in which over a dozen silvery-white fish were swishing their tails. “Junior Martial Uncle, this is my birthday gift to you. You must not let my Master see it, or I will be finished.”
Zhong Wuxi stared at the fish in the vat. “What kind of fish are these? I have never seen them before.”
“These are Phantom Silver Fish raised by Master. I once secretly caught one, and grilled Phantom Silver Fish tastes especially good!”
Zhong Wuxi remained silent.
How could someone as reliable as his Senior Brother Sect Leader have taken on such an unreliable personal disciple?
Ye Yizhou then took several pale green herbs out of his qiankun bag. “These are immortal herbs I stole from Senior Uncle Xuan Ling’s spiritual field. Not only do they taste sweet, but I heard they can help anyone under six feet tall grow to eight feet, though you must not eat too many.”
Before he could finish, the little Junior Uncle swallowed a handful of herbs in one go. Ye Yizhou opened his mouth. “Eating too much leads to symptoms like drunkenness.”
Yin Jiuli sat on the lotus dais, meditating with his eyes closed, when a fluffy little creature suddenly pounced over and hugged his leg.
“Master, look! This is the birthday gift Third Senior Brother gave me.” Zhong Wuxi tugged at the little bell on his cloak. “Huh? Why did it suddenly start ringing?”
“Hmm.”
“Master, these are the immortal herbs Ye Yizhou gave me.” Zhong Wuxi stroked his round belly. “They are too precious, so I put them in the safest place where no one can steal them!”
“If only I could grow taller. But if I grow taller, I will be eighteen years old. Sob, sob, sob.” The tipsy little creature cried heartbreakingly. “I do not want to die; I want to stay by Master’s side forever!”
“If one day I betray the sect, it will not be of my own volition. This disciple only wants to accompany Master forever.”
“Master, you must remember my words, sob.”
Yin Jiuli formed a seal and raised his hand to touch the cinnabar flame on his forehead. “I will.”
“I have remembered.”