Chapter 239: I Have an Irreconcilable Grudge Against Fish(3)
As Tao Ning had promised, three days later, she started getting out of bed, fumbling around and practicing walking. Thanks to her familiarity with the room, she didn’t suffer too much.
This continued for almost every day for three months.
Busy during the day, even busier at night, enduring the agonizing fusion with the fiery sword spirit almost every day.
Yingrong Sword went from patiently watching with her arms crossed to lowering her arms, unable to bear the sight.
On the wide jade bed, a thin figure lay, after a while, she slowly sat up, wiping away her sweat with a handkerchief, her bitten, red lips parting slightly as she exhaled.
This happened every day.
Finally, Yingrong Sword couldn’t take it anymore, poking Tao Ning and saying, “If it hurts so much, why don’t you cry out? I won’t think you’re noisy.”
Tao Ning, caught off guard by the poke, shuddered, then blushed and snapped, “Don’t touch me!”
Yingrong Sword: “…”
How dare you scold me after I kindly tried to comfort you!
Yingrong Sword: “Fine, I won’t touch you! I won’t even talk to you!”
After saying that, she really didn’t make a sound, no matter what Tao Ning said.
But Tao Ning had always been the youngest in the family, pampered and spoiled, the greatest hardships she had endured being the ten years of the Heavenly Deficiency physique and the forehead flicks from her older siblings. She was used to being coaxed, not coaxing others.
This was her first time doing this, and Tao Ning stammered, unsure what to do after not receiving a response, gradually falling silent.
After being able to walk, Tao Ning started clearing her blocked spiritual veins. This process was also painful, but much easier than merging with the sword, just slower.
Waking up from meditation, Tao Ning circulated her spiritual energy, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly.
The clear and familiar voice sounded again, having observed for who knows how long, she said, “Cultivating again, as expected of the sword master I recognized, so diligent.”
Tao Ning paused, replying, “I was rude yesterday, my apologies, what can I do to make you feel better?”
“…” The slightly bored voice replied, “Ascetic, eat something flavorful.”
She had had enough of the Nourishment Pills. Tao Ning, relying on her high cultivation, didn’t need to eat, refusing the food sent by the servants.
This meant Yingrong Sword also had nothing to eat, her mouth dry and tasteless.
“Eat something flavorful, okay.” Tao Ning immediately understood, almost forgetting that Yingrong Sword shared her senses. It didn’t matter that she ate Nourishment Pills, but this was hard on the sword spirit, who couldn’t move freely.
Being able to see vaguely was one thing, but not being able to eat, only experiencing bitterness all day long, referring to the Nourishment Pills.
This was probably the most aggrieved Yingrong Sword had felt since her creation.
To compensate Yingrong Sword, Tao Ning summoned a servant, listing a series of dishes, then, under the servant’s shocked gaze, added a pile of spiritual snacks.
Servant: “……”
After all these years, how did Third Miss suddenly awaken her gluttonous nature, eating so much?
After finishing, Tao Ning asked, “Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”
The servant shook her head repeatedly, bowing and leaving.
Not long after, Yingrong Sword received what she wanted. A table full of steaming dishes, their enticing aroma making one want to devour everything.
Tao Ning wasn’t eating for herself now, but for someone else, and she was happy to do so. Putting down her chopsticks, she rubbed her now-round belly.
She asked a question she had wanted to ask for a long time: “Although you recognize me as your sword master, you saved my life, a great kindness, I don’t dare to call myself your master, how should I address you?”
Yingrong Sword: “…”
Oh no, how could she say she died too early and didn’t have a name?
But everyone else had a name, she should have one too, always being called “sword, sword,” she didn’t like it at all.
Tao Ning took Yingrong Sword’s silence as a refusal to answer, taking the initiative to smooth things over: “If you’re not willing, then consider I never asked.”
At the same time, that familiar voice said, “Rong Ying, you can call me Rong Ying.”
This name, with both a surname and a given name, sounded very much like a human name.
With four of her five senses mostly recovered, Tao Ning could finally circulate her spiritual energy, and she immediately started practicing her swordsmanship, unable to stay idle.
She was used to heavy swords, the hammer she used for artifact refinement also the heaviest among the three siblings.
Coincidentally, Yingrong Sword was also a heavy sword, about three fingers wide, three feet three inches long, weighing over a hundred pounds, easily capable of splitting mountains and breaking rocks.
But Tao Ning would never use Yingrong Sword. It felt like, in a confrontation, Tao Ning would suddenly draw out her benefactor and use her to fight.
Although Rong Ying was indeed very powerful, it felt very strange!
After practicing her swordsmanship for a while, Tao Ning didn’t push herself too hard, putting down her sword and sitting in the courtyard to rest.
Rong Ying, seeing the world through her eyes, said, “Do you want to look in a mirror?”
She was curious what this stubborn person looked like now.
Tao Ning froze, retorting, “Why would I look in a mirror?”
She subconsciously didn’t want to face her current self. Compared to before, she must look weak and frail now, possessing a cultivation base but unable to use it, not even as agile as a Qi Refinement stage cultivator.
Under Rong Ying’s constant urging, Tao Ning finally stood up, slowly walking towards the water lily pond.
Looking down, a thin figure was reflected in the water, her features delicate, her lips slightly red, a hint of illness in her brow unable to conceal the determination in her eyes.
Although frail, no one would dare underestimate her.
Tao Ning said to the water’s surface, “I also want to see what I look like. In my dreams, a red shadow seemed to have visited.”
Rong Ying, focused on the reflection in the water, didn’t hear what Tao Ning said, only noticing that Tao Ning’s long-dry and cracked spiritual sea suddenly became vibrant, filled with birdsong and flowers, the flowers pink, almost overshadowing the little red flower she was guarding.
She thought, Tao Ning didn’t look like she had imagined, but she became curious about what Tao Ning used to look like.
Having just regained her ability to walk, Tao Ning was sent into a secret realm for training, her eldest sister personally escorting her and giving her instructions along the way: “This secret realm was left by our ancestors, filled with countless treasures, used for training our descendants. You weren’t allowed in before because your cultivation wasn’t high enough, but now it is.”
“Also, those with Golden Core cultivation and above will have their cultivation suppressed to peak Foundation Establishment inside. You don’t want to eat Nourishment Pills, so you’ll have to eat the demonic beasts inside… if you can kill them.”
Her second brother was checking a table full of miscellaneous items, all prepared for Tao Ning to use inside, but he said, “It’s fine if you can’t kill demonic beasts, going hungry for a couple of days won’t hurt, An An is recovering well now.”
Then he received a slap to the back of his head from his eldest sister, his vision blurring, his head ringing.
At first, Tao Ning thought it was an exaggeration, but after entering the secret realm, her limbs became heavy, and she understood that her eldest sister hadn’t lied. Inside this secret realm, she had to rely on herself for everything.
And she also had to find delicious food for the picky little bird in her spiritual sea.
The first sense Tao Ning lost was taste, and the last to recover was also taste. On the first day, she caught a demonic beast, dismantling and roasting it to eat.
But the picky little Vermillion Bird complained that it was too disgusting, with a strong fishy smell, refusing to let Tao Ning eat it.
She even threatened to flood Tao Ning’s spiritual sea with her tears if she accidentally tasted it.
So Tao Ning set her sights on a pond filled with black fish. Although they looked unappetizing, they were rare outside, could increase cultivation, and nourish spiritual veins, perfect for the current Tao Ning.
Before this, Rong Ying had already eaten countless fish, almost finishing all the fish in the secret realm’s pond.
Because there were only fish, fish, fish, fish, fish in the valley, Tao Ning ate fish, fish, fish, fish, fish every day, and Rong Ying, sharing her senses, was about to vomit!
She, Rong Ying, swore to the heavens, she had an irreconcilable grudge against fish in this life.
But the demonic beast meat in the secret realm was even more disgusting than fish. If she didn’t eat fish, she had to eat demonic beasts, but Tao Ning didn’t even have Nourishment Pills.
The campfire crackled, a fish roasting over the fire, emitting an enticing aroma.
Rong Ying said faintly, “Sometimes I really want to switch places with you, let me lose my sense of taste so you can taste something.”
Tao Ning said she was touched, then took the roasted fish and calmly ate it, ignoring Rong Ying’s loud chirping.
Her cultivation was suppressed in the secret realm, and with demonic beasts lurking around, she would really die if she didn’t eat.
After finishing, she went to find berries, gathering a pile in a small cloth bag, then went to find more demonic beasts to continue her training.
Eating berries while wielding her sword, leaving no survivors.
Rong Ying watched the battle while savoring the sweet and sour taste of the berries, bubbles practically appearing above her head, temporarily forgiving Tao Ning for eating fish in various ways.
Berries were so delicious, wuwuwu.
It was embarrassing for a dignified Vermillion Bird to be reduced to this, but berries were truly delicious.
Thirty years passed in a flash, and Tao Ning vaguely felt that she had reached the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul stage, ready to leave and face her Nascent Soul tribulation.
After leaving the secret realm, Tao Ning waited for a long time, but no one came to pick her up. They had promised to come and get her after thirty years.
Calculating the days, she hadn’t come out early, and even if she had, her mother and eldest sister would definitely have people waiting nearby, notifying them immediately upon her exit.
Tao Ning didn’t wait any longer, heading straight for Qizhou, telling Rong Ying along the way that if they had forgotten about her, she wouldn’t let them off easily.
Rong Ying, almost driven mad by fish, agreed with her and demanded that Tao Ning have a feast, anything but fish.
But Tao Ning didn’t know that during the thirty years she was in the secret realm, the Heavenly Emperor, accusing the Tao Clan of Qizhou of disrespecting him and harboring rebellious intentions, had pointed his sword at them.
This war was known as the Heavenly Punishment War, “Heavenly” referring to the Heavenly Emperor in the imperial palace, who considered himself above all, and “Punishment” was self-explanatory.
The Heavenly Punishment War happened during these thirty years, and the bustling Qizhou was no more.
What remained for Tao Ning was only scorched earth and desolation.
The Heroine Fell Deeply For Her [Quick Transmigration] – End