Chapter 18: Tutoring
The five elements of Daoism are Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. The spiritual roots of most cultivators fall into these categories, but some people are born with exceptional talent, and their spiritual roots have evolved from the five elements.
For example, Lin Qingyue’s ice-type spiritual root was a derivative attribute of the water element. As the superior version of the water-type spiritual root, it completely suppressed his own.
“My spiritual root is suppressed by yours. When you become powerful in the future, Junior Sister, you mustn’t bully me.”
“Of course not!” Lin Qingyue said with absolute certainty.
Her Senior Brother was her guide. He had been so good to her. Without him, she wouldn’t be here. How could she possibly bully him!
“I swear I won’t do that kind of thing!”
Lin Qingyue raised her hand. Leaving aside the feelings between her and her Senior Brother, just from a gender perspective, she would never do such a thing.
After all, men were born physically weak. Bullying a man would earn the scorn of all women.
“I was just joking. Did you actually take it seriously?”
Su Yan patted Lin Qingyue’s head and said, “I’m already a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and you’ve only just stepped onto the immortal path. Who knows how long it will take for you to catch up to me? You won’t have the chance to bully me even if you wanted to.”
Although Lin Qingyue had a Heaven Spiritual Root, even a genius like her would need at least a year to break through to Foundation Establishment.
And in such a long time, with his system, he would have already broken through to who knows what realm.
“I’ll work hard.”
Su Yan didn’t pay much attention to Lin Qingyue’s words.
The two of them looked for some cultivation methods in the Technique Pavilion. Lin Qingyue chose a manual that matched her attribute and a sword technique, then they left.
When they returned to Heavenly Water Peak, Su Yan said to Lin Qingyue, “Now that you can cultivate on your own and have cultivation manuals, you must study them carefully. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just come and ask me.”
Although they were cultivation methods, as introductory-level reading material, the content wasn’t very profound. One could learn them just by flipping through the pages.
Su Yan believed his little junior sister would learn quickly and probably wouldn’t need to ask him for help often.
But…
Lin Qingyue tugged on his sleeve, lowered her head shyly, and said in a small voice, “Senior Brother, don’t go. I need your help right now.”
Su Yan: “???”
His little junior sister hadn’t even looked at the books yet. How could she already have a problem?
Lin Qingyue’s cheeks were crimson as she stammered, “Because my family didn’t have much money, I never went to school, so… so…”
She stammered for a long time but never managed to finish her sentence.
Su Yan was stunned.
Although his little junior sister was stammering and hadn’t made it clear, the meaning was obvious. She was actually illiterate.
“Junior Sister, you…”
Halfway through his sentence, Su Yan suddenly realized.
His little junior sister had lost her parents at a young age and even had trouble getting enough to eat. How could she have had the opportunity to learn to read and write?
“I’m sorry, that was inconsiderate of me.”
Su Yan said apologetically, “It seems that before you can cultivate, I’ll have to teach you how to read. It’s going to be a bit tough for you for a while.”
…
That night.
The lights in Lin Qingyue’s room were bright, the candlelight flickering within.
Su Yan sat beside Lin Qingyue, teaching her to read with extremely standard pronunciation.
“This character is pronounced ‘Huá’. Repeat after me…”
The gentle male voice sounded by her ear, and the warm, moist breath on her earlobe made Lin Qingyue’s body feel hot, her face flushing deeply.
“Fá~”
Because she was distracted, her pronunciation was way off, which made Su Yan very angry.
“Little Junior Sister, you’re already sixteen years old, an adult. How can you be so slow at learning to read? You’ve been making mistakes all night.”
Faced with her Senior Brother’s questioning, Lin Qingyue’s lips moved, but she lowered her head and remained silent.
She wasn’t a stupid person; she had been gifted and intelligent since she was a child. Logically, this shouldn’t be happening.
But with her Senior Brother right beside her, just a stone’s throw away, smelling the scent coming from him, how could she possibly calm down!
She wanted to tell him the reason, but the words died on her lips, and she felt extremely reluctant.
“It’s because Qingyue is stupid and has caused trouble for Senior Brother,” Lin Qingyue finally said, her head lowered, having succumbed to her desires.
Su Yan sighed. His little junior sister looked so pitiful. How could he bear to blame her!
“Forget it. After all, this is your first time. Maybe I was too anxious. But you can’t go unpunished for making mistakes.”
Although learning to read was difficult, making a mistake even when repeating the pronunciation was absolutely ridiculous. His little junior sister must not have been paying attention. She had to be punished.
“Appropriate punishment can speed up the learning process, but what kind of punishment would be good?”
Su Yan thought for a moment. Spanking seemed inappropriate. What about hitting her palm?
“Corporal punishment isn’t good for students. None of these are suitable…”
“I’ve got it!”
Su Yan’s eyes lit up. “I’ll let this mistake slide. From now on, for every character you misread, I’ll write a character on your thigh, and you’re not allowed to wash it off all night. Understand?”
“I understand.” Lin Qingyue nodded, her shoulders hunched.
Su Yan smiled slightly. Compared to corporal punishment, writing on her thigh was much more clever. The tip of the brush sliding across her skin would make her feel itchy, which was a form of punishment.
And that wasn’t all. Writing the character on her leg and not allowing her to wipe it off all night was also a psychological deterrent, making her afraid to make mistakes in the future.
“That’s right. This is a very normal teaching method. I don’t have any other intentions.”
And so, after Lin Qingyue made another mistake.
“Ahaha, it tickles! Senior Brother, stop! You’re making me so itchy…”
Lin Qingyue’s skin was very sensitive. With just a few light strokes, she was laughing so hard that tears streamed down her face.
“This is the punishment for not studying hard. If you don’t want to continue suffering, Junior Sister, then you’d better study properly,” Su Yan said, putting on the attitude of a strict teacher.
Lin Qingyue nodded frantically, then looked down at her thigh. On her smooth skin, a small ‘正’ character was very conspicuous.
Among the characters she had learned, ‘正’ had very few strokes. It seemed her Senior Brother had shown her mercy, which made Lin Qingyue very touched.
Noticing his little junior sister looking at him gratefully, Su Yan was a little confused.
What’s going on?
Being punished like this, it was one thing not to feel ashamed, but to actually be grateful to him… could it be that his little junior sister liked having ‘正’ drawn on her?
“So strange.”
Su Yan was completely baffled, but questions were questions. The learning had to continue.
And so, the entire night passed.
When Su Yan left his little junior sister’s room, her thighs were already covered in ‘正’ characters.
“I’m exhausted!”
Looking up at the bright, clear moon in the sky, bathed in its silvery glow, Su Yan felt utterly drained.
His little junior sister was too much of a handful (in terms of learning to read). His body really couldn’t take it.
“We’ll continue tomorrow.”
Returning to his own room, Su Yan fell into bed and went straight to sleep.
Just like that, for several days in a row, Su Yan diligently drew ‘正’ characters every day.
Under this diligent supervision, Lin Qingyue’s learning speed improved by leaps and bounds.
