Ji Qing’s heart softened instantly.
You Yu caught sight of someone approaching from the corner of her eye and immediately looked up, her big eyes sparkling.
“Senior Sister!”
The smile on her face was so radiant that it instantly shone into Ji Qing’s heart.
Even years later, when the little junior sister had grown to heights the world could scarcely imagine, in her heart she remained that little girl squatting on the ground drawing circles.
“I’m sorry, little junior sister. Everyone has been in Bigu, so we all overlooked the fact that you still need to eat. We didn’t prepare any food for you.” Ji Qing apologized to her.
Once one reached the Zhuji Period, a Xiushi could use Lingli to convert it into the energy their body needed. Most people would no longer eat, as it added impurities to the body.
Everyone in Taiyi Zong had already entered the Zhuji Period, so the sect no longer prepared food, nor did they have any Bigudan left.
Previously on the Feichuan, she had taken Bigudan on her own and never asked them for food, so they had subconsciously forgotten that she needed to eat.
“Senior Sister, is there any food in the sect?”
“No…”
“Is there any food for sale at the foot of the mountain?” She remembered that in novels, there would be a Fangshi at the foot of the sect’s mountain, and they would sell food there too.
“No… We don’t have a Fangshi at the foot of our mountain.”
That made sense too. With only a handful of people in Taiyi Zong, how could they possibly support a Fangshi?
“Then what do we do? I’m so hungry.” You Yu hadn’t expected that the first difficulty she would face in this world would be an empty stomach.
Ji Qing thought for a moment. “I know where there might be some food. Come on, I’ll take you there.”
She took out a paper crane, enlarged it, and brought You Yu aboard, flying straight toward the back mountain. Before they even landed, they could hear the sounds of fighting. Only after the commotion below had ceased did she let the paper crane descend.
“Third junior brother.”
“Third senior brother.”
Liao Xing saw the two of them. “Why are you here?”
“I guessed you’d be here training, so I brought the little junior sister along. She’s hungry, and there’s no food in the sect. I came to see if any of the Yaoshou you’ve killed has meat that can be eaten without purification.” Ji Qing explained.
Liao Xing cut off a piece of meat and looked at You Yu.
You Yu, meanwhile, was staring at the giant serpent on the ground—as thick as a thigh and over ten meters long.
Third senior brother had taken down a snake this big! He was incredible!
“Little junior sister, see if this is edible?”
“Edible, edible! You can fry it, grill it, braise it, or stew it. What flavor do you all want?”
Half an hour later, a blaze rose up, and skewered slabs of snake meat were arranged on a rack above it.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single seasoning to be had, so the taste was bland and slightly gamey.
“Tomorrow, when we go to the city, I’m buying all the seasonings I need!” She never wanted to eat flavorless roasted meat again!
“I’ll go with you tomorrow.” Ji Qing felt guilty inside—as the senior sister, she hadn’t considered that the little junior sister needed to eat, so she wanted to make up for it.
“Didn’t you say you’d go into Secluded Cultivation tomorrow to refine a Fourth-grade Pill? I happen to be going to sell Yaoshou tomorrow, so I’ll take the little junior sister instead.” Liao Xing said.
You Yu was shocked. “Senior Sister is a Fourth-grade Liandan Master?”
“I’m still at the third grade. Tomorrow I just want to try whether I can refine a fourth-grade one.”
You Yu knew Ji Qing’s temperament fairly well—steady, not reckless, not one to rush things. If she said she wanted to try refining a Fourth-grade Pill, then she probably had no problem doing it.
“Senior Sister, who did you learn Alchemy from?”
“The Master.”
“The Master knows Alchemy too? Isn’t he a Linqi Master?”
“Whether he can do it or not, I don’t know, but my Alchemy was all taught by him. Besides me, your second senior brother’s Fushu, fourth senior brother’s Lianqi, sixth senior brother’s Zhenfa, seventh senior brother’s beast taming, and eighth senior brother’s spirit seeking—all of it was taught by the Master.”
You Yu was stunned. Was the Master really that versatile?
As it turned out, she was overthinking it.
Apart from Lianqi, they had never seen Jiang Wenji actually do anything else. His teaching was only verbal guidance.
But You Yu figured that even if he couldn’t practice it, at least his theory was rich—otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to guide his disciples like that.
“Senior Sister, since our sect has Liandan Masters and Linqi Masters, why is Taiyi Zong still so poor? I heard those professions make a lot of money.”
“Because our expenses are high and our income is low!” Ji Qing sighed. “The Master is at the Huashen Period. Just supporting him alone is very expensive.”
You Yu: “…” Isn’t that backwards?
Shouldn’t it be the Master supporting the disciples?
How did it become the disciples supporting the Master here at Taiyi Zong?
“Where does the Master spend all his money?”
Ji Qing shrugged. “We don’t know either. The sect spends a large sum every year, but the Master never says where it goes.”
If it weren’t for everyone having to support the sect, why would Taiyi Zong have so few people?
You Yu took a bite of the snake meat and inwardly grumbled, wondering if she had just walked into a deep pit.
Was it too late to regret this now?
After eating her fill, Ji Qing sent You Yu back. You Yu didn’t want to sleep, so she decided to cultivate and consolidate her newly advanced Xiuwei.
As usual, she absorbed the green and red light particles, while the white ones continued to drift in on their own.
What she didn’t know was that after she began cultivating, a faint silver glow started to emanate from a rear mountain of the sect. The commotion drew Jiang Wenji over.
“How many years has it been… finally some movement… the future…”
…
Early the next morning, Liao Xing arrived at You Yu’s mountain peak. You Yu had already withdrawn from cultivation and was waiting—the moment he came, she stepped out.
“Third Senior Brother.”
Liao Xing nodded, took out his sword, tossed it into the air where it grew in size, and pulled her up to stand on it.
You Yu was thrilled. Yujian Feixing—she’d only ever seen this on TV, never imagining she’d one day experience it herself.
The only problem was the wind; it was strong enough to distort her face.
Liao Xing had been controlling the flying sword from the front the whole time and only noticed her condition when they were nearing the nearest city. He cast a protective barrier around her with an apologetic look.
“Sorry, this is my first time bringing a new disciple. I forgot you haven’t learned the protective barrier yet.”
You Yu rubbed her numb face and forced out a smile. “It’s fine.”
Seeing that You Yu wasn’t angry and even smiled at him, Liao Xing felt that this little junior sister wasn’t hard to look after.
The two flew for half a shichen before reaching a city. They landed outside the city walls, paid two Lower-grade Spirit Stones to enter, and Liao Xing directly brought her to the shop where he usually sold Yaoshou carcasses.
The transaction was completed quickly, and Liao Xing noticed You Yu curiously staring at the shop.
“See anything you like? This senior brother will buy it for you.”
You Yu shook her head. “I’m just looking around. I don’t need anything right now.”
She had only just joined the sect, so she didn’t need much, and her focus was entirely on cultivation—she wasn’t particularly interested in these things.
Besides, what her master, senior sisters, and senior brothers had given her was more than enough. She didn’t want to buy anything.
Liao Xing gave her a surprised look.
He’d never had a junior sister before, but he’d seen how others treated theirs. Usually, when they reached a shop, the junior sisters would want this and that. Why was his junior sister different?
You Yu responded with a big smile, and even the usually cold Liao Xing couldn’t help but curl the corners of his mouth.
In the future, he would come to understand even more clearly that his junior sister was different from others’ junior sisters. Other junior sisters would call out every day, “Senior Brother, come play with me!” But his junior sister? She dragged all her senior brothers and sisters into intense cultivation sessions every single day.
If you can grind without dying, grind yourself to death!
…