When the news of Caretaker Bing reached Sheng Kuo, his face turned grim. It could not have been Sheng Xuan who caused the termination. Surely he took help from his parents, his father. Thinking of his own father, Sheng Kuo’s face darkened even more. Failure after failure, a bitter taste spread in his mouth.
Sheng Kuo just wanted to bring him down a peg. Did it have to be so difficult? His mind spun like a spider webbing silk, a variety of ideas falling prey to him. One of them drew in his interest, his lips curling.
Knock! Knock!
Sheng Kuo opened the door. Gu Hui barged in a hurry, immediately asking, “Kuo’er, I just tried the new fragrance. Tell me how I smell?”
Sheng Kuo found it a bit annoying. He cared about her too much to refuse her. He gave her a glance from top to bottom. Dressed in a brocade red robe, she looked gorgeous. He sniffed the air close to her.
“You smell great,” he calmly said.
Gu Hui was not satisfied. She asked him several more times, had him smell her hand and robe. Feeling helpless, Sheng Kuo could only comply.
After repeated reassurance, Gu Hui somewhat believed it and left. Passing a corner, she noticed Sheng Chao, walking lazily, eyeing the ornamental rockeries, streams and trees.
“Aunt Hui!” Sheng Chao sweetly called.
“Chao’er? What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I was taking a stroll,” he said. “What about you, Aunt? Did you just visit Brother Kuo?”
“Ah, yes,” she said. “I got a new fragrance and went to ask him about it.”
“Oh, no wonder.” Sheng Chao appeared surprised. “I was wondering where this incredible smell was coming from. It was from you, Aunt!”
Gu Hui blinked her eyes in pleasant surprise. His words reassured her much more than her son’s. “That’s really sweet of you, Chao’er.”
“I am sure Father will love it,” Sheng Chao grinned.
“What are you saying? You naughty boy.” She scolded in a light voice.
“Aunt, can I take a closer look? It smells so nice,” Sheng Chao said.
“Ah, sure,” Gu Hui stretched her hand out. Sheng Chao casually grabbed her hand and sniffed it. Gu Hui was caught off guard, instinctively pulling.
“Mm, it’s really good, Aunt,” he calmly said, rubbing his thumb over her soft hand.
“Ah, okay, thank you.” She quickly pulled her hand back. “I have some work to do, will see you later.”
“Sure, Aunt,” he smiled.
Looking at her curvaceous back, Sheng Chao licked his lips. He rubbed his nose, sniffing the lingering scent.
…
Today, Sheng Xuan did not have Wei Lan to accompany him. She had gone to learn alchemy. He missed squeezing her soft belly.
The yard was bright with sunlight. Sheng Xuan found a large boulder to sit on and bask in the Sun, trying to pull in more yellow wisps of spirit qi.
'Come to me! Come to me you little creatures!'
The distant wisps remained unmoved to his callings. Perhaps if he held out a sweet, they might be tempted. Sadly, he lacked a treasure of that sort.
Having cultivated for a few days now, Sheng Xuan understood what accumulation of spirit qi entailed. However, his wisps lacked all the intents Sun Sea Art required.
Following the written visualizations in the art, Sheng Xuan led a wisp around the circulation route, imagining the vastness of the sea and tried to instill the vast intent into the wisp, only to feel nothing.
Similarly, when he imagined the density of the deep sea, and tried to imprint it onto the wisp, he came up empty-handed. He did not feel a thing, souring his mood.
Later down the road, when he would breakthrough to mid-stage, if his wisps lacked these intents, he feared he would likely fail.
Imagine failing at mid-stage as a greater-grade talent. Laughable. Sheng Xuan could not stomach that idea.
Above him, there were superior-grade talents with better resources and guidance. If he wanted to keep up with them, he had to try hard and could not be blocked by small things.
In this case, dual-cultivation seemed like the savior, only for him to face an issue today. Sheng Xuan licked his dry lips and shifted to a more comfortable spot on the rock, deepening his focus.
Sheng Xuan looked into his spirit core. One of the yellow wisps roamed unsteadily, lacking the smooth and stable flow of its sibling wisp. It was not the only one; there were several. Every once in a while, a chill would grip his body, making him feel cold all over.
'So annoying. You can not have anything out here. Every nice thing has a flaw!'
Having read the dual-cultivation art, he had figured out a few solutions.
Tshh!
Sheng Xuan let out a sudden sneeze. He rubbed his nose, and sniffed. His eyebrows twitched.
'No way I am catching a cold. I am a damn cultivator. So embarrassing...'
Sheng Xuan took out the dual art again and focused on the passages entailing the solutions.
Time. Let the yin qi wisps assimilate.
Treasure. Use Sun essence to further refine the wisps.
Of course, Sheng Xuan did not want to wait. If spirit stones could solve a problem, that was not a problem.
He jumped off the boulder and headed toward his parents' courtyard. Wen Zhi was in her alchemy room alongside Wei Lan.
"Mom!" Sheng Xuan called out.
"Oh, here, I thought you came for Lan'er," she joked.
Sheng Xuan looked at Wei Lan, dressed in a light-green robe, poised and graceful. He smiled at her. She smiled back.
He turned to Wen Zhi.
"Mom, can I borrow some spirit stones from you?" he asked sweetly.
Wen Zhi raised an eyebrow. "For what? Do you want to buy something?"
"Ah, yes. Some Sun type resources. After cultivating with Lan'er, I have too many yin wisps," he said.
Wei Lan's heart skipped a beat. She wanted to find a spot to hide in. Thinking it was cultivation related, she suppressed her shame.
Wen Zhi looked over seriously. She grabbed his hand.
"Let me take a look," she said, probing with her spirit sense.
Sheng Xuan did not resist, trusting her.
"Mm, it seems you overdid it," she said, her tone laced with some reproach. Her eyes flicked to Wei Lan who looked the other way.
"It's not a big issue. You just need to consume more Sun or yang type resources. I have some," she said.
"Can I borrow them?" he softly said.
"Sure," she handed him several bottles. "Before you use these, see if you can find any Sun Dew, they would be most beneficial for you. I don't have any on me right now."
"Ah, yes," he nodded. "Do you have any clues?"
"Go see your Auntie Rou. We have a few flowers that can gather Sun Dew," she said.
"Oh, awesome," he said. "Thanks, Mom. I will see you later!"
Wen Zhi smiled and waved her hand. Sheng Xuan waved at her and Wei Lan.
In the large yard, Wei Rou was squatting in front of a red flower, inscribing on her notebook.
"Auntie!" Sheng Xuan called.
Wei Rou rose, smiling. "Xuan'er. What brought you here today?"
"Do you have any Sun Dew?" he asked.
Wei Rou shook her head. "Sorry, Xuan'er. I ran out of them."
"Mom does not have any either," he said with some frustration.
"If you need it so much, come with me." Wei Rou walked toward a small hill.
Sheng Xuan hurriedly followed. Coming close, he noticed several sunflowers on the hill, half his size, facing the Sun.
"Usually, we get the Sun Dew from these but they take a long time. At the moment, none of them are due to produce any," Wei Rou said.
Sheng Xuan's heart sank. "What can we do then, Auntie?"
"We could force one to spit out a drop but it could harm the plant's vitality," she said.
"Ah, then maybe we should do that?" he said. He would not have cared if this was someone's property.
"What do you need it for?"
Sheng Xuan hesitated a moment before telling her the reason.
Wei Rou's face twitched. "Ah, this girl. What do I do with her? Why was she not careful?" Near the end, she sounded a little angry.
"Don't scold Lan'er, Auntie. It's my fault," Sheng Xuan defended her.
Feeling his care for her daughter, Wei Rou was pleased.
"How about this, do you want to go with Auntie and try finding one in the wild?"
Sheng Xuan's eyes lit up. Adventure!
"Of course, Auntie. Let's do it!"
"Hold on. I need to ask Sister Zhi first."
"No, no. We don't need to ask her. Let's just go, Auntie."
Seeing his eagerness, Wei Rou regretted mentioning it. He had just begun his cultivation. It was a bit too risky. Seeing her changing face, Sheng Xuan put on a sad expression.
"Are you changing your mind, Auntie?"
"Ah, I misspoke earlier," she said, a little embarrassed.
Sheng Xuan pouted. "So, Auntie won't listen to me."
Wei Rou struggled to decide. "It's very dangerous, Xuan'er."
"But you go frequently, no?"
"I do but I have a lot of experience," she said.
"Well, if I don't go, how can I gain experience? If I always live in the safety of you and everyone else, how can I stand firm when I am by myself?" he said.
Wei Rou was at a loss for words. She agreed with him.
At the end, she could only sigh. "Fine but you must listen to Auntie."
Sheng Xuan's face bloomed with joy. "Yes, of course!"