The Xiaoyao Peak after the falling snow appeared exceptionally quiet. Mu Yao sat under the lamplight, listening to the sound of Ling Po playing outside, as well as the sound of the little person before her lifting her brush to the paper.
Ah Jiu was honestly copying the talisman papers left behind by Wu You. Although they looked very simple, writing them was much more difficult than simply learning characters.
No matter how she looked at it after finishing, she felt that what she drew was very ugly.
Ah Jiu grabbed the few talisman papers she had finished drawing and went to find Mu Yao: “Senior Sister, I finished drawing, but they are so ugly.”
Mu Yao did not take them, knowing without looking that they were not good.
“Mm, if you are done, go rest.” The path of a talisman master was inherently the most difficult and tedious, requiring a long period of copying practice. Naturally, Mu Yao did not expect the little one to make such rapid progress, especially since even Second Junior Sister had spent a considerable amount of time when she first started.
Very few people in the world practiced the talismanic dao, and most cultivators lacked the patience to spend decades comprehending rules and copying useless talisman papers. Perhaps after decades, they would only know a few simple spells.
Therefore, to the entire cultivation world, talisman masters could be said to be extremely precious. A Xuanming Realm talisman master from the Tianqing Sect would be treated with utmost courtesy by cultivators from the outside world if they were outside. Of course, that was impossible now, because no matter how strong the Tianqing Sect was, it was still an exiled sect.
Let alone being treated with courtesy, if it were spoken of today, the younger generation would not even know which sect or faction the Tianqing Sect was, and as for those who did know, they would probably only want to draw their swords against them.
“Can Senior Sister do it?” Ah Jiu looked at her ugly talismans and asked curiously.
Mu Yao gently shook her head: “No.”
“Then doesn’t that mean Ah Jiu has learned something Senior Sister cannot do?” Ah Jiu sprawled across Mu Yao’s lap and said happily.
Mu Yao gently patted her back to signal her to get up: “Ah Jiu is inherently smarter than Senior Sister.”
Ah Jiu sat up and hastily shook her head: “Senior Sister is the most formidable.”
Mu Yao chuckled softly: “Alright, go rest.”
Ah Jiu obediently nodded: “Good, then Senior Sister should rest early too.”
“Mm.”
Mu Yao stored all the talisman papers Ah Jiu had finished practicing into a box on another shelf.
If one carefully searched through them, they could find the entire process of Ah Jiu starting from her earliest attempts where she could not even draw a starting stroke, all the way to now being able to draw a complete talisman paper.
After tidying up the library pavilion, Mu Yao stood up and went downstairs to prepare to return to her own room.
Previously, because Fu Yan said her body could not withstand too much cold Qi, Mu Yao had been living in the Chengfeng Pavilion. Now that she had recovered quite a bit, she also needed to continue absorbing cold Qi to suppress the demonic fire within her body, so she moved back to live in the Jiexue Pavilion.
As soon as Mu Yao went downstairs, she heard the hurried sound of running footsteps, and turned her head to look in the direction the footsteps were coming from.
Ah Jiu ran over to Mu Yao’s side holding two umbrellas: “Senior Sister, hail is falling, and there are no umbrellas left in the library pavilion.”
Mu Yao slowly lowered her head, and then felt Ah Jiu grab her hand and place an umbrella into her palm.
“Senior Sister.”
“Mm?” Mu Yao held the umbrella and lowered her head facing Ah Jiu: “What is it?”
“Can Senior Sister squat down please?” Ah Jiu hooked her fingers and acted spoiled.
Mu Yao squatted down as she wished, and Ah Jiu leaned over and kissed her: “Good night, Senior Sister.”
After speaking, the little one let go of Mu Yao. Mu Yao’s mouth curved upward slightly, and she chuckled softly: “Alright, good night.”
Ah Jiu held her umbrella and headed in the direction of her own room, while Mu Yao also opened her umbrella and walked leisurely toward the Jiexue Pavilion.
Upon entering the Jiexue Pavilion, the surrounding temperature dropped significantly. Outside the Jiexue Pavilion, there was a barrier sealing all the cold Qi within the pavilion.
To others, it might have been a bit too cold, but for Mu Yao, it was quite alright.
The days after that continued to pass day by day like flowing water. Every day was spent supervising Ah Jiu’s cultivation and practicing talismans, and in the blink of an eye, it was spring with blooming flowers once again.
There was cold Qi everywhere in the Jiexue Pavilion, except for one peach blossom grove that Mu Yao had personally arranged. A formation was set up beneath the peach blossom grove to keep it free from the cold all year round.
In the blink of an eye, it was the season for the peach grove to bear fruit, and Ah Jiu also grew fond of running over to the Jiexue Pavilion.
Every time she came, she would dive right into the peach blossom grove, and most of the time she could find Senior Sister inside.
“Senior Sister, can these peaches be eaten?” Ah Jiu asked curiously.
Mu Yao gently nodded: “You may.”
Having obtained Mu Yao’s permission, Ah Jiu nimbly climbed up the tree and began picking the peaches.
However, perhaps due to moving too vigorously, Mu Yao felt the sound of many leaves falling, and then let out a soft sigh.
“Do not break the tree.” Mu Yao could not help speaking out to remind her.
Ah Jiu paused on the tree: “But the prettiest one grows on the outermost branch, and I cannot reach it.”
Then Mu Yao heard the sound of a tree branch snapping. She could not help taking a deep breath, then bit her lip, and spoke to Ah Jiu in a slightly cold tone: “Come down.”
Knowing full well that she had done something wrong, Ah Jiu honestly climbed down from the tree, and then stood in front of Mu Yao with her hands behind her back: “Senior Sister, Ah Jiu did not mean to.”
Mu Yao of course knew she did not mean to, she was merely obsessed with having to pick that exact peach she had set her eyes on.
However, this did not prevent her from feeling heartache for the tree she had meticulously cultivated.
“Forget it, do not pick them this way next time.” Mu Yao ultimately did not say any harsh words to Ah Jiu.
Ah Jiu obediently nodded: “Ah Jiu knows.”
Mu Yao calmed her mood, then stood up and prepared to leave the peach grove: “Starting tomorrow, increase the gravity field.”
“Ah? Senior Sister, no.” Ah Jiu attempted to act spoiled, but Mu Yao ignored her and continued walking out.
After Mu Yao left, Ah Jiu scratched her head and looked down at the peaches on the ground. Since they were all knocked down, she surely could not just leave them uneaten, right? She had to eat her fill before body-tempering too, didn’t she?
Thinking this, Ah Jiu squatted down again and picked all the ripened peaches.
After packing them up, she brought them out to wash them clean, and only then brought them back to give to Mu Yao.
Mu Yao was in a pavilion within the Jiexue Pavilion. Ah Jiu held the washed peaches over and placed them before Mu Yao: “Senior Sister, eat a peach.”
“Have you washed them?” She grabbed the largest one and handed it to Mu Yao.
Mu Yao was writing characters and did not immediately reach out to take it, so Ah Jiu kept her hand extended, waiting for her to take it.
“You eat first.” Mu Yao said softly.
Ah Jiu did not start eating right away, but simply watched her write: “Senior Sister is so formidable.”
Clearly, she could not see either, yet she could write the contents of her heart on paper, and her handwriting was much prettier than her own. Ah Jiu admired her from the bottom of her heart.
“It is merely cultivation. A cultivator, even if they lose their sight, must not let themselves lose their direction.”
Listening to Mu Yao’s words, Ah Jiu obediently nodded: “Ah Jiu understands.”
“Is it not cold coming here?” Mu Yao was worried she would catch a chill coming to the Jiexue Pavilion.
“Not cold at all, Ah Jiu’s body is great.” Ah Jiu said as she took a bite of a peach.
Mu Yao nodded slightly: “If you are cold, go back early.”
“Alright, Ah Jiu knows.”
Then, after Mu Yao put down her brush, Ah Jiu handed the peach to her once more.
Mu Yao took it and tasted a bite: “It is quite sweet.”
“The peach trees raised by Senior Sister are naturally good.”
Mu Yao was almost used to hearing the little fellow praise her in all sorts of clever ways every day.
While the two of them were eating peaches, Fu Yan and Nan You arrived together.
“Senior Martial Aunt.” Mu Yao stood up to offer a greeting, while Ah Jiu held up another peach for Fu Yan: “Does Senior Martial Aunt want to eat one? It is very sweet.”
Fu Yan took it: “Yo, does a little fellow like you still remember to share a bite with Senior Martial Aunt?”
Ah Jiu tilted her head and swung her legs while sitting on the stool: “Disciple naturally remembers.”
“Then why did you not send it over to Senior Martial Aunt, instead making Senior Martial Aunt come find you herself?” Fu Yan teased her.
Ah Jiu’s eyes rolled, and she immediately replied: “Senior Martial Aunt said not to let disciples disturb Senior Martial Aunt’s research, so this disciple did not dare.”
Fu Yan pinched the tip of her nose: “Is there anything in this world you do not dare to do?”
As for this little fellow’s deeds, everyone in the Tianqing Sect knew them by heart. Back when she was young and could not yet cultivate, she was already able to make Feng Yang owe a huge debt to the sect, and now she was only bound to be even more mischievous.
It was just that she had grown smarter now; she would not let herself be caught easily, nor would she easily leave behind evidence.
Even so, Mu Yao had still paid off her debts several times, which altogether added up to several thousand spiritual stones.
However, Mu Yao never directly scolded her out loud each time; instead, she would simply increase her tasks, whether it was body-tempering tasks or memorization tasks.
In any case, the little fellow was unwilling to study any of them and always wore a distressed expression. Of course, Mu Yao could not see it and would not care whether she was willing or not.
At least in front of Mu Yao, Ah Jiu was still honest.
Apart from Master, she only ever listened to this Senior Sister Mu Yao.
Nan You also walked over and pinched Ah Jiu’s little cheek: “Did you not have one for Senior Sister?”
Ah Jiu swatted her hand away: “Senior Martial Sister Nan You, go get one yourself.”
Her tone still carried a somewhat reluctant feeling.
Fu Yan ate the peach and then looked at Mu Yao’s handwriting: “Yaoyao’s perception is getting stronger and stronger.”
Looking at the precise spacing and the just-right brushwork, she could only say that Mu Yao truly possessed both talent and diligence.
“There is nothing else to do anyway. Apart from meditating at night, Senior Martial Aunt does not allow disciple to use spiritual energy on ordinary days, and even touching Frost is forbidden. I always have to find something to do.” Mu Yao said softly.
“Your Master’s books in the library pavilion are almost all read through by you.” Fu Yan said with a smile.
“There are numerous books in the library pavilion, disciple still has many she has not read yet.” Mu Yao certainly dared not claim she had read every book in the library pavilion.
“Today is the last herbal bath, it might be a bit more painful than before.” Fu Yan looked at Mu Yao after finishing her peach.
Ah Jiu’s movements of gnawing on her peach slowed down in an instant, and her little feet stopped swinging.
“It is fine, disciple can endure it.” Mu Yao replied gently.
Ah Jiu opened her mouth on the side, wanting to say something, but not knowing how to say it, she finally took another bite of her peach.
“Then let us go. Today we must go to the Cold Spring to completely fuse your spiritual roots and your fleshly body together. With your talent, you might even break through in one go to the peak of the Earth Soul Realm or even the Heavenly Soul Realm.” Over these past few years, Mu Yao had never used spiritual energy, but her body slowly absorbed spiritual energy, which could be considered a certain accumulation.
An Earth Soul Realm cultivator in their twenties might exist, but a peak Earth Soul Realm cultivator in their twenties was truly as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, extremely scarce throughout the history of the entire cultivation world.
“Alright, shall we go now?” Mu Yao was exceptionally calm, just as she had been since the first time she underwent the herbal bath, without showing a shred of anxiety.
At such a young age, to possess such a state of mind, even Fu Yan could not help but admire her.
Then Fu Yan turned around and asked Ah Jiu: “Little Ah Jiu, are you going to watch this time as well?”
Ah Jiu thought about it and was just about to nod when Mu Yao spoke up: “Not allowed. Go practice your writing, you have not practiced your writing today.”
The stopped Ah Jiu drooped the corners of her mouth: “Fine.”
After chasing Ah Jiu away, Mu Yao led Fu Yan and Nan You toward the Cold Spring.