Chapter 39: A Request – The Spirit Mist Lamp Revealed the Playfulness in Si Xianling’s Eyes Part 1

The spirit mist lamp illuminated the playfulness in Si Xianling’s eyes. Shen Yanting looked at her with utter helplessness. “Fellow Daoist Si, you’re still the same as before, always finding ways to amuse yourself no matter the time or place.”

Si Xianling showed no shame at all. Instead, she lifted her chin proudly and raised her hand toward Shen Yanting, gesturing a couple of times. “Sister Shen, I have many enemies. Who knows if I’ll die someday? If I don’t enjoy myself while I can, I’ll die full of regrets and might turn into a vengeful ghost to haunt you.”

She wanted to turn into a vengeful ghost and haunt Shen Yanting.

Bo Xuenong’s sensitive nerves were touched once more. Her cold, blade-like gaze fell upon Si Xianling.

She could guarantee Si Xianling that she would never have the chance to become a vengeful ghost.

The soul searching technique could destroy a soul outright.

Shen Yanting sensed the emerging killing intent. She tightened her grip on the red cloth and pressed her fingers against Bo Xuenong’s neck, turning her head away to shift Bo Xuenong’s lingering gaze from Si Xianling. She led Bo Xuenong forward, keeping pace with the golden butterfly while continuing to speak to Si Xianling. “You do have many enemies, but few dare to actually kill you.”

Si Xianling grew even more smug. “Naturally. They’re afraid of my mother.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the smugness vanished from her face. “It’s no use, though. The Heavenly Feast Sect doesn’t give Elder Wu any face. If I hadn’t run into you today, Sister Shen, I probably would have died in this damned place.”

“You’re wrong, Fellow Daoist Si.” Shen Yanting refuted her. “Before I arrived, you’d already been drained of strength by the spirit vines. You were utterly helpless against them, and it would have been easy for them to take your life. But they merely bound you and even left you with a sliver of spiritual power to sustain your natal beast’s life. Even if we hadn’t come, they probably wouldn’t have dared to kill you. The Heavenly Feast Sect fears both Elder Wu and the Beast Taming Sect.”

Beast cultivators could draw on their beasts’ power to enhance their spirit roots and talents, unlike other sects where the strong held high positions. The Beast Taming Sect operated on a hereditary system for sect masters.

The previous sect master was Si Xianling’s father, and the one before that her grandmother… Many of the sect’s current elders were blood relatives of Si Xianling. Even if Zhu Ningfu had other plans, it would be hard to replace Si Xianling as junior sect master.

The Beast Taming Sect had another unique trait: beast tamers’ contracted beasts had far longer lifespans than human cultivators, and demon beasts’ bodies were tougher. Since the Beast Taming Sect used equal contracts rather than master-servant bonds, when the human cultivator died naturally, the beast detached unscathed.

Most beasts in the Beast Taming Sect were accustomed to being raised by human cultivators. After their previous master’s natural death, they quickly sought new ones. This led to intricate relationships in the sect, where humans were connected through their beasts’ familial ties, making the Beast Taming Sect far more united than others.

For instance, though Si Xianling and Zhu Ningfu weren’t blood mother and daughter, Si Xianling’s natal beast was the offspring of Zhu Ningfu’s own.

Beast cultivators shared life and bloodlines with their natal beasts. If a mother-daughter contract mark arose, even she and Zhu Ningfu could form one, as the cultivation world’s rules recognized it as a valid mother-daughter bloodline.

Ordinary beasts couldn’t share bloodlines with beast cultivators, but their daily companionship and mutual growth fostered bonds as close as family. A family member’s family was family too.

Every sect in the cultivation world preached unity from top to bottom, but in truth, over hundreds of thousands of years, only the Beast Taming Sect had achieved it.

While major sects were known for protecting their own, the Beast Taming Sect took it to extremes.

With Si Xianling’s special status, if her life force dissipated here, the Beast Taming Sect would fight the Heavenly Feast Sect to the death.

Moreover, Si Xianling had more than just the Beast Taming Sect behind her. Her mother, Wu Qingshu, was a supreme elder of the Cloud Smoke Sect—Shen Yanting’s former grand Shishu—with immense status there. She had topped the Heavenly Pride List for their generation of cultivators, her strength profound and immeasurable, her contributions to the sect beyond measure.

If she sought vengeance for her daughter, most of the Cloud Smoke Sect’s disciples would mobilize.

Everyone in the cultivation world knew Wu Qingshu wasn’t some cold-hearted cultivator who abandoned her child. She doted on her daughter fiercely; half the reason she parted from her beloved dao companion was repeated fights over where to raise their daughter. The first time Shen Yanting met Si Xianling was when Wu Qingshu had beaten the previous Beast Taming Sect master and smuggled the little girl back to the Cloud Smoke Sect in her sleeve.

That day, Shen Yanting had made some progress in talisman arts and eagerly went to Wu Qingshu for advanced guidance. As she touched the grand Shishu’s sleeve, a small child wrapped in bizarre beasts tumbled out, bitten by a centipede in the chaos. Since her young body couldn’t handle too much spiritual medicine, that arm stayed swollen for half a month.

Shen Yanting, young herself, had been quite frightened, developing an aversion to biting demon beasts ever since.

Especially venomous ones.

Si Xianling’s five beasts were all venomous except the gray fur rabbit. Back then, Si Xianling insisted on giving her one as forfeit. After much hesitation, she chose the gray fur rabbit, hoping Si Xianling would back off since it wasn’t her natal beast. To her surprise, Si Xianling honored the bet and, fearing the rabbit would be lonely, gave her the little snake too.

There was a little side story to it.

Since the Beast Taming Sect was full of Si Xianling’s relatives, Wu Qingshu always lost in child-snatching battles. That time, because Si Xianling had lost her natal beast to Shen Yanting and couldn’t stray far from it, she stayed in the Cloud Smoke Sect for a century, winning it back before leaving. This largely fulfilled Wu Qingshu’s wish to raise her daughter personally, so she grew fonder of Shen Yanting.

Shen Yanting had only sought Wu Qingshu’s advice after initial progress in talisman arts. Because she’d unwittingly helped keep her daughter, Wu Qingshu personally taught her talisman arts thereafter.

When Shen Yanting later left the Cloud Smoke Sect of her own accord, Wu Qingshu gave her many high-grade talismans.

Recalling the old days, Shen Yanting showed a trace of nostalgia.

She missed her master a bit. She missed her grand Shishu.

Her days in the Cloud Smoke Sect had probably been too comfortable; she recalled them easily.

The guiding golden butterfly flew faster and faster. Shen Yanting quickened her pace with the others. Suddenly, a beast with fur like red flames burst out. It scattered the golden butterfly and charged at Shen Yanting’s group in an instant. Shen Yanting pushed Bo Xuenong behind her and met it head-on. “Xuenong, protect Fellow Daoist Si and the others.”

Shen Yanting didn’t use Bo Xuenong’s sword this time. Instead, she pulled out two sheets of red talisman paper.

She rubbed her fingertip gently over the red talismans, and they ignited instantly, transforming into twin fire serpents that lunged at the flame beast.

Si Xianling, sprawled on Gui Nian’an’s back, whispered, “That flame beast is fire-attributed. Why is Sister Shen using blazing sun talismans on it? She should use water condensation talismans instead.”

Bo Xuenong’s eyes were fixed intently on Shen Yanting. Hearing Si Xianling’s seemingly reasonable words, she asked, “Would a water condensation talisman be better?”

Si Xianling blinked in confusion. “Eh? Aren’t you Sister Shen’s little disciple? Sister Shen’s mastery of talisman arts ranks her among the top hundred talisman cultivators. Hasn’t she taught you?”

“I’m not as clever as my master, so I only barely grasped talisman arts.” Bo Xuenong kept her gaze on Shen Yanting, poised to rush forward at any moment. “Master only taught me basic talisman arts and showed me some common talisman papers. I’m not familiar with the rest.”

Si Xianling reached out toward Bo Xuenong.

Though Gui Nian’an was baffled, she still carried her closer.

Si Xianling hooked a finger into the fabric on Bo Xuenong’s body. “I never expected my little disciple to be a kindred spirit. To be honest, I’m terrible at talisman arts too. We’re both cases of famous teachers producing poor disciples.”

Bo Xuenong only knew Si Xianling was a beast cultivator; she hadn’t realized she’d studied talisman arts too. “Senior Si’s master must be impressive.”

“My mother was my talisman arts master.” Si Xianling pointed at Shen Yanting, who was battling the flame beast. “Sister Shen learned talisman arts from my mother, and Mother tops the talisman cultivator rankings on the Tianxiu Catalogue.”