Chapter 25: 025 Part 2

Wu Chongyun let out a dismissive scoff.

Wei Mingyi: “…” So mean, Shizun! How could you not play along? Seeing Wu Chongyun’s lack of interest, she simply changed the subject. She walked back around to Wu Chongyun’s front, half-bending to look at her, and said, “I ran into that Fellow Daoist Lang Fengya again. She’s traveled in the Wild Domain for a long time, quite knowledgeable, and very chatty. She and Second Senior Sister—”

Before she could finish, a rolling sound came. Wu Chongyun, right in front of her, gradually retreated. Finally, the wheelchair spun again, leaving only a cold back facing her.

Wei Mingyi blinked. She completely didn’t want to hear this.

Her Shizun responded one moment and not the next—a master of enigma at the pinnacle of skill. Reading comprehension at least gave you a topic! Wei Mingyi thought to herself. After pondering for a moment, she changed the topic. “Shizun, my Daoist True Words technique isn’t practiced well; I can’t control my magical power properly.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Wu Chongyun turned around on her own.

She stared at Wei Mingyi, then said, “Come.”

Wei Mingyi rushed forward in a single stride, half-kneeling so her shadow overlapped Wu Chongyun’s dark robes.

Wu Chongyun brought out a box and said, “There’s a bright pearl inside this box. Shatter it.”

Wei Mingyi: “?” Her brain didn’t catch up. She took the box and just wanted to open the lid to take out the pearl.

Wu Chongyun grasped her wrist, stopping her. “You’re not allowed to open the box, nor break it.”

Only then did Wei Mingyi understand: Shizun wanted her to “punch through a mountain to hit the ox on the other side”? She hesitated for a moment, then asked, “What happens if I break it?”

Wu Chongyun released Wei Mingyi and said lightly, “Didn’t you want to undo the poison on my Nascent Soul? Inside this box is a Millennium Pill, an indispensable ingredient for creating the antidote. It’s sealed inside the box; upon contact with air, it will dissolve.”

Wei Mingyi: “!”

She stared at Wu Chongyun in shock. The small box now weighed ten thousand catties. Could such a precious item be given to her to play with? “Shizun, isn’t this a bit inappropriate?” She respectfully lifted the box with both hands and gently placed it on Wu Chongyun’s lap. “Shizun truly knows the antidote recipe? Why didn’t you tell me before?”

Wu Chongyun’s brows furrowed slightly.

She didn’t answer Wei Mingyi’s question.

After being refused, she indeed did not bring it up a second time.

Silently, she picked up the box and, in front of Wei Mingyi, hurled it to the ground.

Having learned the box contained a spirit medicine, Wei Mingyi could no longer treat it as an ordinary object. Hearing the thud, her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. Wei Mingyi hurriedly scooped the box back up, inspected it, and only breathed a secret sigh of relief when she saw it wasn’t damaged. Brushing the dust off the box, Wei Mingyi said helplessly, “Shizun, don’t cause trouble.”

Wu Chongyun’s expression was blank. “Throw it away.”

Wei Mingyi: “…” The Assistant Master had said before that some of Shizun’s unreasonable demands didn’t need to be heeded. Where was the “agreeable nature”? She just couldn’t be bothered to talk; this didn’t change her stubborn essence. Wei Mingyi had no doubt that if she didn’t accept this, her worry-inducing Shizun would genuinely find an opportunity to toss the box away.

After a long silence, Wei Mingyi put the box away. “Does Shizun believe I can do it?”

But Wu Chongyun only uttered a single word. “Practice.”

With a Millennium Pill inside the box, Wei Mingyi didn’t dare use it for practice. For the next few days, she went nowhere and trained in the courtyard. She carved many boxes out of wood, stuffed snowballs inside, and practiced again and again. Sometimes both box and snowball turned to dust; sometimes only the box shattered. What was being tested was her control over magical power: to blend hardness and softness, to shift that force seamlessly between the overt and covert. If she used a Yellow-tier technique or purely magical power, this task wouldn’t be considered hard. But she was cultivating a Heaven-tier Daoist seal—like a toddler riding a motorcycle.

Through repeated practice, Wei Mingyi could feel her proficiency growing, perhaps about to move from “superficial knowledge” to the next stage. Endless failure discouraged her, and she nearly wanted to just use her cheat. But upgrading a Heaven-tier technique’s proficiency required thirty-two Talent Points—she didn’t have them. Wei Mingyi could only grit her teeth and continue training.

While she practiced, Wu Chongyun watched from the window, occasionally voicing guidance.

A month later, Wei Mingyi succeeded five times out of ten. She still didn’t try using the box.

Wu Chongyun didn’t urge her, but instead handed her a jade-green bamboo tube containing five sticks of spirit incense of varying lengths.

Although she could see through the bamboo tube at a glance, Wei Mingyi was still somewhat fearful. Uneasily, she asked, “Shizun, this isn’t some treasure, is it?”

Wu Chongyun said flatly, “One Pill Jade buys a hundred sticks.” Without waiting for Wei Mingyi to speak, she lazily continued, “Break the incense sticks as follows: leave the first stick one inch and two fen long, the second two inches and six fen, the fourth three inches and three fen. Leave nothing for the third and fifth sticks.”

Wei Mingyi took a deep breath and braced herself, answering, “Yes.”

Cheap spirit incense and bamboo tubes were easy to ruin, so she trained for another month.

Wei Mingyi woke from her trance-like training state and abruptly realized it was already January of the next year. In the eyes of cultivators, the passage of seasons was nearly imperceptible, and naturally, they didn’t celebrate the New Year. Wei Mingyi glanced at her increased Achievement Points—two months had brought in 2,400 points. Adding the hundred from before, she was comfortably well-off again. However, with no time to consider how to spend them, she saved them for now.

In mid-January, Wei Mingyi was to demonstrate the results of her training before Wu Chongyun.

Breaking the spirit incense sticks didn’t make her nervous; she smoothly met Wu Chongyun’s requirements.

But when it came time to act on the box, Wei Mingyi began to hesitate again. She cautiously asked, “Shizun, what exactly is a Millennium Pill? Are there any others in the Nine Provinces?”

“The demon core of a thousand-year demon creature,” Wu Chongyun glanced at her, then with some impatience, “If you break it, just go kill a demon creature for another.”

Wei Mingyi sucked in a breath of cold air. Humans reached a thousand-year lifespan only upon reaching the Nascent Soul stage. A thousand-year demon creature would be around the Nascent Soul level, wouldn’t it? But she was only at Meridian Opening! “Shizun, let’s just take the Millennium Pill out. Isn’t it fine to just observe the results of my training? It doesn’t really matter if this particular Millennium Pill isn’t there, right? Or we could switch to a different box.”

Wu Chongyun refused. “No.”

Wei Mingyi: “…” Persuasion having failed, Wei Mingyi could only steel her heart. She told herself: It’s fine if I mess up. Isn’t it just a thousand-year demon creature? I’ll punch aristocratic families and kick the Pure Clean Sect. A mere demon—once I’ve grown, won’t it be easily captured? By then, even ten-thousand-year demon creatures won’t be a problem! After pumping herself full of motivational talk, Wei Mingyi’s dejection and lack of confidence vanished. Placing the box to one side, she resolutely shot out a Dao seal in one go. A subtle sound echoed, but the box remained completely unharmed.

Wu Chongyun watched Wei Mingyi intently. Seeing this, the corner of her lips curved into a faint, fleeting smile, like a night-blooming cereus. When Wei Mingyi handed her the box, she didn’t even look at it before putting it into her Qiankun Pouch. She said, “Well done.”

Hearing a word of praise from Wu Chongyun’s mouth was still somewhat rare. Wei Mingyi’s mood soared, and she wanted to push her luck. She half-knelt before Wu Chongyun, but the expected pat on the head never came. Wei Mingyi felt a little puzzled. She slightly raised her eyes, catching a flicker of confusion in Wu Chongyun’s gaze.

Wei Mingyi: “?”

Hmm? Could it be that Shizun didn’t understand this?

Had she never been praised before?

After a moment’s thought, Wei Mingyi stood up again. First, under Wu Chongyun’s puzzled look, she reached out and hugged her. Then she placed her hand on top of Wu Chongyun’s head, her eyes curving into crescents as she smiled and said, “Shizun has done very well.”

A ripple stirred in Wu Chongyun’s heart. Her earlobes, hidden amidst her hair, flushed slightly red. After a moment of hesitation, she said, somewhat uncertainly, “…Thank you.”

Wei Mingyi was knocked over by her tone.

Once again, she experienced how well-behaved her Shizun could be.

Whose Shizun was this? Oh, hers.

Her heart fluttered with joy. Delighted, Wei Mingyi said, “Shizun, have I passed the test?”

Wu Chongyun paused briefly, then shook her head. “Not yet.”

Wei Mingyi drawled out, “There’s a third trial?”

Wu Chongyun didn’t answer, instead maneuvering her wheelchair into the house. When she came back out, she held a cup of tea; a nameless petal floated in the center of the celadon cup.

“Shatter the fallen petal.”

Though it was only four words, Wei Mingyi already understood the unspoken meaning—for instance, the cup mustn’t be broken, and the water mustn’t splash out. However, to her, these were no longer major issues.

The biggest problem was that Shizun was holding the cup.

If she missed, the loss wouldn’t just be some Pill Jades—she’d directly hit Shizun!

Was she having another episode? Finding a new way to knock on the gates of the underworld?

Wei Mingyi was still frozen in shock.

Wu Chongyun added, “I will move.”

This wasn’t a matter of whether she could do it! It was—

Wei Mingyi’s emotions seesawed. She took back the earlier thought that “Shizun is very well-behaved.”

She knelt down in front of the wheelchair, trying to change her Shizun’s mind. “To commit an offense against a superior—this disciple dare not.”

Wu Chongyun pursed her lips. “Then leave.”

Wei Mingyi: “…” She composed her expression and tried to reason with Wu Chongyun. But seeing her Shizun close her eyes, her breathing slowing as if instantly falling asleep, Wei Mingyi almost laughed. “Shizun’s health is poor, your disciple—”

Wu Chongyun wouldn’t listen to her nonsense and interrupted. “You can’t do it.”

Wei Mingyi: “?” She clenched her fists.

Wu Chongyun: “My Nascent Soul is restricted, but it’s still a Nascent Soul. And you—Meridian Opening.”

Wei Mingyi: “.” Indeed, she couldn’t.

Composing herself for a moment, she stood up and said, “Yes, Shizun.”

The bamboo tube and the box had been static, but enemies wouldn’t stand still waiting for Wei Mingyi to strike. Wu Chongyun hadn’t even driven the wheelchair; just the simple act of holding the teacup and moving her hand made the difficulty level skyrocket.

Her cultivation was low. She truly couldn’t hurt Wu Chongyun.

But a crisp shattering sound rang out. Shards fell to the floor, and the tea splashed completely onto Wu Chongyun’s robes.

Wei Mingyi’s face flushed. Two months of training seemed to have been in vain. Lowering her head in shame, she said, “This disciple is sorry, Shizun.”

Wu Chongyun showed no emotion. She silently wiped the water droplets from her face and said concisely, “Continue practicing.” But clearly, she also realized she couldn’t overestimate Wei Mingyi. She no longer held the teacup herself, switching it out for a pouch of small stones.

Wei Mingyi would have to first learn to quickly track their movements.