Chapter 3

Feng Xiwu’s thin lips moved. “Awake now?”

Liuli hurriedly nodded.

Immediately after, with a splat, she fell onto the ground.

Liuli quickly looked back. What had caught her earlier was a large net woven from the pond water. Now, it was collapsing into countless splashes, falling back into Bright Moon Pond.

Truly a divine technique.

Liuli stammered, “Thank you, Perfected One Feng, for saving me just now.”

Feng Xiwu nodded slightly. A subtle, unreadable flicker of emotion flashed through her eyes. She asked, “How did you know who I was?”

Liuli took a deep breath. “I’ve heard that the Perfected One dislikes crowds and possesses a transcendent temperament. Therefore, this disciple guessed it was you.”

Feng Xiwu paused, didn’t refute it, and instead asked, “Xue Liuli? What do you want with me?”

“…Congratulations on emerging from seclusion!”

Feng Xiwu: “……”

Liuli: “Congratulations on your breakthrough?”

Feng Xiwu: “……”

Ashamed, Liuli took the little Jade Plaque hanging around her neck, cupping it in both hands. “I was in a rush and forgot to prepare a gift. Perfected One, what do you think of this? Consider it this disciple’s congratulatory gift.”

The Jade Plaque was a magical treasure. Just as it was taken off the young girl’s neck, the night breeze brushed past. Feng Xiwu looked down. The small plaque featured elegant designs and a warm, smooth jade color. Blown by the wind, it seemed to still retain a trace of warmth.

Feng Xiwu shook her head. Her slender, fair fingers moved slightly, and the plaque flew back on its own, like it had a navigation system, and hung around Liuli’s neck again.

Liuli was dejected. This won’t work either?

She had just remembered it on the spot. The book described the female lead Xue Liuli as having many treasures on her person, the plaque on her neck being one of them. Though small, in critical moments, it could block three attacks from a Nascent Soul stage expert.

It was definitely a treasure.

But Liuli didn’t consider: as a junior, was it appropriate to give her own personal belongings as a gift?

Feng Xiwu curved her lips in a polite, perfunctory smile, even thoughtfully considering the young disciple’s feelings. She softened her voice and said, “No need.”

Just two simple words, yet they made Liuli reveal a dreamy, utterly enchanted smile the moment they reached her ears.

Such a nice voice, my baby girl’s voice is soooo nice! Beautiful face, pleasant voice, and a kind heart. My baby girl is so perfect, aaahhhhh!

She wasn’t wrong, it was ‘baby girl’.

As a fangirl chasing idols, Liuli had recently rage-quit her previous idol over secret fan meets and turned to stanning the fictional character Feng Xiwu from that harem novel.

That’s right, she was the legendary—MOM! FAN!

No matter how awesome Feng Xiwu was, she couldn’t stop Liuli’s mom-fan heart!

Good baby girl, Mama will definitely save you!

Looking at Feng Xiwu, Liuli completely failed to suppress her twisted smile.

Feng Xiwu had never met this type of person and couldn’t help but step back. “I appreciate your sentiment. If there’s nothing else, you should head back.”

Kicking me out?

Liuli panicked. Her large, grape-like dark eyes spun rapidly as her mind raced. Suddenly thinking of something, she awkwardly stood up and performed a clumsy, botched salute.

“Perfected One, I came here for a reason, really, a reason.”

“What is it? Speak.”

Feng Xiwu was the classic “cold on the outside, warm on the inside” type. She looked unapproachable, but in reality, she was most susceptible to soft pleas, not hard ones.

Liuli said, “I heard you’ve risen to the Nascent Soul level! As far as this disciple knows, all Nascent Soul Perfected Ones in the sect must take on disciples. Perfected One, look… heh heh, look at me. How about me?!”

At the prospect of this great opportunity, Liuli couldn’t help but break character and laugh. She boldly stepped forward, walking right up to Feng Xiwu. Even then, she had to stand on tiptoes, relying on her now flower-like face, and shamelessly push her face closer to Feng Xiwu.

‘Look at me, how about it?’

It sounded less like asking about becoming a disciple and more about some other unspeakable matter.

Even for the widely experienced Feng Xiwu, she was truly stunned by this level of brazenness.

It was as if she was meeting Xue Liuli for the first time. No, it should be her first time meeting Xue Liuli.

Feng Xiwu said, “No.”

Liuli’s smiling face instantly collapsed into a crying one.

“Why not?” Liuli was baffled. She knew that the current her held the reputation as the number one talent of the younger generation in the Heavenly Martial Sect.

Xue Liuli had a Single Water Spirit Root. Though not as rare as a mutated single elemental root, her affinity with spiritual energy and her physical constitution were superior. As the female lead, Xue Liuli couldn’t lack an ace up her sleeve. So that dog of an author gave her the “Heavenly Fragrance Spirit Body” setting.

To put the Heavenly Fragrance Spirit Body in layman’s terms, it was a “spiritual energy loves her” constitution, and it was uniquely, exceptionally suited for Dual Cultivation and being a Cauldron… In the story, shortly after the male lead rebuilt his Spiritual Root, he did the deed with the female lead, and from then on, his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. This constitution of the female lead was as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, drawing much unwanted attention, which triggered loads of plot where the heroine was attacked, the hero saved her and counter-attacked, face-slap face-slap crazy level-up.

But at this time, Liuli’s Heavenly Fragrance Spirit Body was still sealed. Even “Xue Liuli” herself didn’t know about her own specialness.

Feng Xiwu was a bit helpless dealing with her.

This was the first time she’d met a disciple so unafraid of her.

In the Cultivation World, the strong preyed on the weak. The one with the bigger fist was the boss. Because those above could often crush those below with a mere wave of their hand, those with lower power were proportionally humbler.

Add to this that Feng Xiwu didn’t have the look of an amiable nice person but instead appeared somewhat cold and indifferent, and absolutely no disciples dared to act wildly in front of her.

Even Perfected Ones of the same rank were exceptionally polite to her.

This was truly the first time she’d seen such a bold, lively Xue Liuli.

Feng Xiwu explained, “You possess a Single Water Spirit Root. Taking Immortal Rongshan as your master would be more suitable.”

Feng Xiwu had a rare Single Ice Spirit Root, while Liuli had a Single Water Spirit Root. Though from the same source, they were still different.

But Liuli wasn’t having it.

Long Jingxing had a Thunder Spirit Root, which was even further removed from the Ice Spirit Root, and in the book, Feng Xiwu hadn’t disliked him!

Of course, Liuli knew what was going on.

Her initial favorable impression of Feng Xiwu had come precisely from Feng Xiwu’s unique insights. Now, she was going to put them to use.

“Perfected One Feng, you are the youngest Nascent Soul Perfected One in the history of the Heavenly Martial Sect. You must have unique insights on cultivation. Now, this disciple also has some thoughts. I wonder if I might discuss them with you.”

A tiny Foundation Establishment disciple daring to discuss the Dao with a Nascent Soul Perfected One? Ridiculous, ridiculous. If word got out, Liuli would probably be the butt of jokes for the Heavenly Martial Sect for the next three months.

But Feng Xiwu wasn’t the type to worship the strong and scorn the weak. She had a rather good temper. “Speak.”

“The Spiritual Root is called a ‘root’ because it determines which elements a cultivator is more intimate with. But a cultivator can still use techniques of other elements. This means that in the application of spiritual power, the Five Elements lead to the same destination by different paths.”

Liuli thought for a moment, adding her own understanding, then continued, “It’s like how I ate a steamed bun this morning and porridge at noon. Different things, but both fill my stomach and let me live. This shows that the essence of the bun and the porridge is the same. I believe the essence of spiritual energy from different elements is also the same. In our cultivation, what’s important isn’t choosing which spiritual energy—though that stuff is innate. After all, all things under heaven are different, and the Five Element spiritual energies inherently have no hierarchy. What’s important is how to use them.”

That made sense. Feng Xiwu nodded. “Continue.”

With a sonorous and forceful tone, Liuli declared, “Therefore, rather than the similarity of Spiritual Roots, I believe the method of cultivation and understanding of the Dao is more important!”

Feng Xiwu asked, “Then what is the Dao you seek?”

Liuli: “Ah!… I haven’t thought it through yet.”

Could she try bluffing with that ‘The Dao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Dao’ line? Problem was, she only remembered that one sentence, and she didn’t even know how to explain it.

Damn, my posturing is about to backfire.

Indeed, Feng Xiwu shook her head and said, “Xue Liuli, you are still young…”

“No!” Liuli gritted her teeth and clung to the steering wheel. Her nervous face flushed slightly. “Perfected One, I know what you’re going to say, but this disciple does not believe that a blind man touching an elephant can know what the elephant truly is.”

“This disciple believes the Dao can also be a steamed bun!”

Feng Xiwu: “…”

“A bun is made from wheat. The Dao is slowly comprehended by a person. But if a person eats wheat directly, they get indigestion. If wheat is ground into flour but not fermented, it becomes a dead dough bun. If it’s steamed too long or not long enough, it won’t taste good. Thus, learning how to turn wheat into a soft, white bun requires learning, and piecing together one’s fragmented bits of insight to perfect one’s own Dao also requires learning!”

Liuli launched into an impassioned speech. “Learning from someone with different ideas will turn you into a mismatched mess. Shutting yourself off from the world to build a cart behind closed doors is even worse! This disciple believes Perfected One Feng is precisely the most suitable guide for me!”

After a long pause, Feng Xiwu said, “You certainly know how to talk.”

Liuli cracked a grin.

“But you should also know that between master and disciple, it’s karmic affinity that matters most.” Feng Xiwu said gently, “Xue Liuli, return now. I have no intention of taking disciples yet. If there is affinity, we shall speak of it another day.”

Liuli: “….”

Liuli was but a sixteen-year-old girl. Currently, her expression was gloomy and dejected, as if she’d suffered a blow as devastating as the sky falling and the earth rending.

Just a moment ago, she had been so eloquent and vibrant. Now, she was wilting like a frostbitten eggplant, utterly heartbroken.

Her shoulders drooped. Slowly, she turned her back.

Feng Xiwu wouldn’t quibble with a child. Since she had come all this way herself, just letting her leave like this wasn’t good either.

So Feng Xiwu thought about it and decided to just give her a word of advice.

Don’t underestimate a single sentence of advice. Among cultivators, many were those stuck because they were missing just one sentence of guidance and couldn’t figure it out. The higher one went in cultivation, the more important comprehension became. Feng Xiwu had experienced this deeply herself.

Thus, Feng Xiwu called out to her. “Xue Liuli.”

“Aye!” Instantly, Liuli turned back, full of spirit, puffing up like a balloon that had just been reinflated. “Perfected One, have you thought it over?! Are you going to…”

“Ahem,” Feng Xiwu cut her off. “At your young age, having your own thoughts is a good thing. However…”

Liuli: “?”

“However, you have already reached Foundation Establishment. It’s high time you switch to spirit food. With your exceptional talent, consuming mortal food that contaminates you with impure energy would be a detriment.” Feng Xiwu advised, “Steamed buns and rice porridge… you should still eat less of them.”

Liuli: “…”