Though at least Little Snake had made Senior Sister Zou Lian’s outfit less drab. It now carried at least a hint of girlish charm.
Hiss hiss… the scent of a grown girl!
After lingering in the city for a few days, the caravan sold off all their bolts of fabric and prepared to set out once more.
Before departing, the Little Snake Demon made a special point to drop by the Sand Valley Kingdom’s envoy team and say hello.
“Is that so?” Hearing Yin Luan’s makeover plan, Gu Li smiled faintly. “Change doesn’t happen overnight, but a willingness to try is already a good thing.”
“You make so much sense!”
Bidding farewell to the Purple-Eyed Maiden, Yin Luan and Zou Lian climbed aboard their carriage and headed west.
Along the way, the Demon Subduing Division’s Eldest Senior Sister kept her promise and began teaching her some basic principles of Innate Cultivation.
The first step was “Sensing Qi”—sensing the Innate Qi and its circulation within the Dantian.
This stage relied heavily on innate talent.
Everyone possessed Innate Qi, but their ability to sense it varied widely. Take Gu Li, for example. Her family had an exceptional aptitude for sensing Qi, which allowed her to reach the Innate Realm at such a young age.
As for Zou Lian, legend had it that her master discovered her talent when she was just three years old. Without any instruction, she could already circulate the Innate Qi in her Dantian—a level of genius never seen before.
“Calm your mind and steady your breathing,” the two sat facing each other as Senior Sister Zou instructed. “Shift your focus from the outside world inward. Connect with your body’s energy cycle, understand it, and locate the Qi.”
“Hoo—Puff—Hoo—Puff—”
The Little Snake Demon did as she was told.
A moment passed.
“What did you sense?”
Zou Lian asked.
“I sensed…” Little Snake kept her eyes closed, her face a picture of concentration as she pondered her answer. “Senior Sister’s scent. It’s like milk mixed with flower honey… or honey mixed with milk. Sweet, tasty, delicious…”
Smack.
A sharp chop landed on the snake girl’s head.
“Again,” Zou Lian said, her expression impassive. “This time, I’ll help you find your Qi sense.”
With that, she placed one palm on Yin Luan’s slender waist.
Though the gesture was utterly pure—born of noble teaching intent, impossible to criticize or find fault with—Senior Sister couldn’t help thinking, the instant her hand made contact:
So slim.
She had seen the Little Snake Demon eat. The girl’s belly could stretch wide open, devouring an entire sheep in one go. That kind of appetite was far beyond any normal person’s.
And yet she hadn’t reached the Innate Realm, where excess food could be converted into Qi… So how did she maintain this “inhumanly” perfect figure?
“Hee hee.” Eyes still closed, the Little Snake Demon grinned on her face. “Senior Sister’s hand feels so warm and nice… But if Du Xuan sees us getting this intimate, will she get jealous?”
“Quiet. Resume the steps.”
Exhale. Inhale…
The Little Snake Demon’s abdomen rose and fell gently. Her ample chest heaved with each breath, her curves always so temptingly alluring.
Unswayed by distractions.
Zou Lian kept her eyes forward, concentrating her perception through her palm.
After a while.
“There’s no Qi flow at all,” she said, withdrawing her hand with a slight frown. “This defies common sense. Your physical strength is extraordinary. There should be at least some ‘Qi’.”
Strength derived from the flow of blood and Qi, and blood and Qi formed the foundation of essence energy. The three were deeply interconnected.
“It’s just like the case of someone who has cultivated a Qi Concealing Technique—gathering their Qi in one spot to deliberately hide it from detection…”
“?
Yin Luan’s eyes snapped open, wide as saucers.
Oh, right. She had cultivated the 《Divine Dragon Qi Concealing Art》, which worked exactly like that…
Well, they’d wasted all this time without even grasping the basics. Poor Senior Sister, groping around on her body and left totally baffled…
However, the 《Divine Dragon Qi Concealing Art》 wasn’t merely a simple Qi Concealing Technique. It bundled up all of Yin Luan’s “Demon Qi” into one place but didn’t prevent her from using her own blood and Qi to form pure “Qi”.
In other words, the technique had sealed away her overpowered main account to avoid drawing reports and bans. But it didn’t stop her from starting from scratch and leveling up a normal alt account.
The relevant details of the technique flashed through her mind. Yin Luan followed the instructions, directing her blood and Qi. Inhale. Exhale. Soon, a wisp of pure “Qi” flowed along her meridians and gathered in her Dantian.
“Senior Sister, I got it! I got it—there’s some in my belly now!”
Yin Luan called out.
Zou Lian’s eyelids twitched. She probably wanted to correct those ambiguous words of hers, but more important matters took precedence. She held her tongue and once more placed her hand on Yin Luan’s abdomen.
“Mm,” she nodded this time. “Not many in number, but exceptionally pure. That’s very good.”
With that, Senior Sister stared intently at her.
“Is there a problem?” Yin Luan shot back.
“From Du Xuan’s description, I thought you were that kind of… open woman. Perhaps you’d already lost your virginity. But only a virgin can condense Innate Qi this pure. I misjudged you on that count.”
Yin Luan promptly threw herself onto the ground upon hearing this. She flailed her arms and legs, crying and wailing.
“Wah wah wah! I’ve said it a million times—I’m a good girl from a proper family! I’m not the slutty mess you all imagine! You’re so mean! Wah wah wah!”
A virgin, yes. A good girl from a proper family… that bore further scrutiny.
Zou Lian knew she’d said the wrong thing, however, so she abruptly changed the subject. “Your talent for Sense Qi is quite good. Next, you need to learn proper Breathing Circulation.” She pointed to her own abdomen. “Feel how I do it.”
Little Snake Demon’s eyes lit up. She instantly dropped her sobbing act and reached out a hand.
“So soft, so warm, so comfy… Senior Sister, can I go a little higher? Isn’t that where the Dantian is?”
Slap.
A sharp hand chop.
Zou Lian breathed in rhythmic Circulation, her abdomen rising and falling. Unlike Little Snake Demon, however, the twin peaks on her chest were far too majestic—distracting even when one tried not to look.
Little Snake felt around for ages, but apart from the awe-inspiring spectacle of those mountains in motion, she gained nothing else…
“I’m really trying to learn seriously…”
Slap.
Another hand chop.
“How about a different approach? Let me feel it with my face? Hehe, one can’t see the true face of Mount Lu for standing in its midst…”
Slap.
Brave Snake feared no beatings.
Cultivation demanded a serene and focused mind—diametrically opposed to Little Snake Demon’s bubbly, restless nature. Still, with one teaching and the other learning, the journey passed without boredom.
In the meantime, the caravan stopped in a city, sold off some bolts of cloth, and pressed on.
Having left East County some time ago, and with this leg of the trip far from smooth, unease began to stir in the hearts of the caravan’s members.
Even the weather turned against them. Days of clear skies gave way to persistent drizzle. It didn’t halt their progress, but it left everyone feeling glum.
The first solar term after the Spring Equinox was Qingming.
Drizzle fell steadily during the Qingming Festival; travelers on the road felt their hearts near to breaking.
