Previous Chapter Table of Contents Next Chapter
Sui An’s control over her spiritual energy was not very good. The white and black powders wouldn’t separate and kept mixing together. Under the continuous use of spiritual energy, she felt increasingly tired, and her spiritual energy constantly dissipated.
After persisting for a while, she relaxed.
All the powder fell to the ground.
“Don’t be anxious, Junior Sister. When I first practiced this, it took me more than a month to slowly get the hang of it,” Fan Tianyou said with a smile. “There’s still a lot of powder here. You can practice slowly first. I’ll go check on the herbs in the medicinal field.”
“Aren’t you going to practice with me, Senior Brother?”
Fan Tianyou shook his head. “No. Shizun just instructed that this Qi Refinement Powder be left for you alone to practice slowly.”
This… Sui An would probably have to spend even more time on it. She began to suspect that Kong Yue had refined so much powder at once just to keep her from running around.
“Alright then!”
Sui An stared at the Qi Refinement Powder and gathered her energy again.
The powder formed an hourglass shape in the air, but she still couldn’t separate the two colors. She could only watch the powder swirl around.
Before leaving, Fan Tianyou glanced back at her. His expression was hesitant, his eyes flickering. In the end, he turned and walked towards the medicinal field.
Fan Tianyou had entered the sect at a very young age and had always been by Kong Yue’s side. He had worked hard to gain Kong Yue’s appreciation and eventually became his direct disciple. In order not to affect his future path in alchemy, he had even made a special trip home to sever his worldly ties, leaving him with no attachments in his heart.
None of the disciples around Kong Yue had more aptitude than him. Fan Tianyou was very likely to inherit this Pill Pavilion and become the next elder. But with Sui An’s arrival today, it seemed that everything was uncertain again.
Fan Tianyou sighed.
He stood dazedly in the medicinal field.
Fine beads of sweat formed on Sui An’s forehead. She finally relaxed her qi, and the powder fell to the ground again. “This is so hard.”
[Host, do not output too much spiritual energy at once. At the same time, try using your wood spiritual energy as a container. The black impurities are heavier. Host can imagine the feeling of oil naturally floating on water and let the impurities sink on their own.]
Sui An muttered to herself, “Use wood spiritual energy as a container… you say…”
If the wood spiritual energy served as the container, then the fire spiritual energy could act as the water, filtering out the Qi Refinement Powder.
Sui An straightened her back and formed a hand seal.
The Qi Refinement Powder floated in the air again.
A faint green light enveloped the powder. Sui An held it with one hand and carefully infused fire spiritual energy with the other. She was very relaxed, gently lifting the Qi Refinement Powder inside, no longer thinking about how to separate them, but instead evenly distributing her spiritual energy. Gradually, the impurities began to sink on their own.
Sui An’s eyes lit up, but before she could be happy, the simultaneous use of two types of spiritual energy instantly exhausted the spiritual energy in her dantian, and the powder scattered on the ground again.
“It consumes so much spiritual energy.”
[The spiritual energy the Host is outputting is still not gentle and even enough. Practice more. Even if your spiritual energy is not enough, you must still practice. This is how cultivators break through their own limits.]
Sui An nodded. “I know.”
She sat cross-legged and began to absorb the surrounding spiritual energy to replenish what she had consumed. Sui An was a little surprised; her speed of absorbing spiritual energy had become much faster, especially her Wood spiritual root, which absorbed even faster under the bright midday sun.
It was like a vortex, a bottomless pit of darkness inside. The speed at which her Wood spiritual root absorbed spiritual energy exceeded Sui An’s expectations. Even her Fire spiritual root, which she had cultivated step by step, was gradually being suppressed. The raging fire was like a docile little flame in front of the Wood spiritual root.
During this time, Fan Tianyou came back to check on Sui An. Seeing that the stack of medicinal paper had not grown at all, he smiled lightly and turned back into the house.
He and a few other disciples were arranging the medicinal herbs.
“Senior Brother, is that Senior Sister An outside?”
Their gazes were very curious, constantly peeking outside. Sui An sat quietly amidst the green scenery and fresh breeze. The sunlight made her skin shine with a pearly white glow, and a faint green light seemed to surround her. Her features were already beginning to show the beauty of a ‘sinking wild goose’1.
It attracted the stirring hearts of the young men.
Fan Tianyou understood at a glance. He smiled. “Yes, Junior Sister An is about the same age as you all.”
“Senior Sister is so amazing. So young, yet her cultivation is so high.”
Fan Tianyou’s smile stiffened. Speaking of which, Sui An was already at the tenth level of Qi Refinement, and like him, was just one step away from the Foundation Establishment stage. Yet he was five years older than her.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t hardworking enough, but that alchemists, artifact refiners, and formation masters all had to spend most of their time on research, which caused their cultivation to be much slower than others.
“Alright, hurry up and tidy this place up.”
Fan Tianyou sent them away, then glanced gloomily at the motionless Sui An.
Time slowly passed.
When Sui An opened her eyes, she didn’t know what time it was. She could only look up at the sky. The darkening sky merged with the mountain mist, a vast expanse of gray.
There was no one else around.
Seeing this, Fan Tianyou stood at the door and called out, “Has Junior Sister finished cultivating?”
Sui An nodded.
“There are many empty houses nearby. Junior Sister can stay here for now and practice slowly. There’s no need to rush.” There was no smile on Fan Tianyou’s face, making him seem a bit distant.
Sui An nodded, but at that moment, her stomach rumbled loudly. She clutched her stomach in embarrassment.
Fan Tianyou grinned. “I have long heard that Junior Sister is fond of worldly food. We cultivators should sever these worldly ties.”
Sui An frowned. The moment she heard someone lecturing, she was reminded of Tan Yun, which made her uncomfortable. Moreover, Fan Tianyou was no one special to her, so her face stiffened immediately.
Fan Tianyou handed her a porcelain bottle. “We don’t have a kitchen stove at the Pill Pavilion, only grain-abstinence pills2. Junior Sister will have to make do for now. I’ll have a servant disciple send some food over tomorrow.”
So it was a misunderstanding.
Sui An smiled sheepishly and took the porcelain bottle. “Thank you, Senior Brother. I can just eat the grain-abstinence pills. There’s no need to trouble you.”
Fan Tianyou said apologetically, “Junior Sister An, I need to focus on breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage in the next two days. If you encounter anything you don’t understand, you can ask the other junior brothers and sisters in the Pill Pavilion.”
“Don’t worry, Senior Brother. I can manage on my own.”
After bidding him farewell, Sui An found a small wooden house nearby to stay in temporarily. But the house had been uninhabited and uncleaned for a long time. As soon as she pushed the door open, a cloud of dust rushed into her face, making Sui An choke.
She took out a lamp, inserted a spirit stone, and turned it. The lamp shone brightly. The room was covered in dust everywhere. Sui An was only at the Qi Refinement stage. Even with a dust-clearing art, she could only clean a small area at a time.
The dust-clearing art relied on wind to blow and suck, cleaning the dust from the room to the outside. If it was only a small area, the whole room would be filled with flying dust. Sui An kept sneezing inside the room.
Inhaling the dust was both itchy and suffocating.
Sui An coughed until tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. She sensibly covered her mouth and nose with a cloth strip and spent a good while longer cleaning up. She sat at the table without even a sip of water to drink, only able to eat a grain-abstinence pill.
It tasted astringent and awful.
She didn’t understand why cultivators had to make things difficult for themselves by eating such unpalatable things, nor did she understand what Tan Yun meant by cultivators pursuing a state of no desires. Since there were no desires, why did they have to desperately fight to become masters among men, to ascend and become immortals?
Forget it. It was too early to think about these things.
Sui An shook her head and asked, “System, you said today that the medicinal cauldron was a low-quality product. Does that mean you have a better way to forge a better cauldron?”
[Yes, Host. According to the System’s calculations, by combining it with the artificial intelligence of the real world, the three formations can be integrated to create a more intelligent medicinal cauldron.]
A design blueprint appeared before Sui An.
Every formation on the blueprint was drawn clearly. The mechanisms inside the cauldron were also broken down. How to refine it and how to assemble it were written out plainly. The only major trouble was the required materials, the forging, and attaching a spirit.
Sui An was puzzled. “Judging by this blueprint, are you asking me to forge an Immortal-rank cauldron?”
[That’s not necessary. Every part on the blueprint is separate. Host can take them to different artifact refiners to be forged, then assemble them yourself. Finally, just go catch a spirit and attach it.]
Sui An was shocked, never having imagined that a medicinal cauldron could be forged in such a secretive way.
She stared blankly at the blueprint before her. She didn’t know how powerful this system was, to be able to produce such a detailed blueprint in such a short time. It looked more like something a person had spent countless years researching. Every stroke, every line of text was deeply considered.
“System, did you really calculate this blueprint?” Sui An frowned. “If you want me to trust you, you have to tell me the truth.”
[This blueprint was already stored within the System. After comparing it with the previous cauldron, the System performed calculations and broke it down to ensure the integrity of the assembled cauldron.]
Sui An clenched her fists and took a deep breath to keep her heart calm. “Then what else is stored inside your system?”
[Only some magic treasures remain. The Host’s cultivation is too low to control them. Using them will only attract the envious eyes of others.]
“Do you think I’m stupid?”
[The Host is not stupid, but you are soft-hearted.]
Sui An was stunned, not expecting the system to answer like this. She looked down and touched her chest. She didn’t deny it; she was indeed soft-hearted. If she could freely use these magic treasures, she might have given one to Miaomu at the first opportunity.
Sui An sighed, not knowing if she was sighing at her own soft-heartedness or her own uselessness. Or perhaps both.
“System, what pills can I refine now?”
The system brought up the panel.
Some low-level Human-rank pills, like Qi Refinement Powder, Spirit Bait Pills, and so on, were already lit up and available for practice. The higher the proficiency, even a Human-rank Qi Refinement Powder could be refined into an immortal powder. As for the other pills, the higher the grade, the more skill books were needed to light them up. There was also a “+” sign after each grade. This was for Sui An to add and learn pills that the system hadn’t recorded when she obtained their recipes.
Sui An scrolled down and saw the column for God-rank pills, her pupils shrinking.
She couldn’t help but marvel at the system’s power, and at the same time, she felt more confident about her future and changing her destiny.
Sui An’s spirits were high, her eyes shining brightly.
She sat by the window and looked at the sky. The bright moon hung high, bright and round, as gentle as her eyes.
She sat cross-legged and continued to cultivate and absorb qi.
Sui An realized that her Fire spiritual root was at a disadvantage. According to the system, she had to keep the two in balance. So, she began to practice with her Fire root, trying to use the spiritual energy from her Wood root to guide it.
Instantly.
The Fire spiritual root in Sui An’s body raged violently, making her feel bloated and uncomfortable. Helpless, she had to withdraw the wood spiritual energy.
She would cultivate the Fire spiritual root alone.
********
Glossary
Dantian (丹田, dāntián): A focal point for spiritual energy in the body, located in the lower abdomen. It’s the core of a cultivator’s power storage.
Grain-abstinence pill (辟谷丹, bìgǔdān): A type of pill that allows cultivators to abstain from eating regular food for long periods by providing necessary energy.
********
Dear readers, if you would like to leave a tip, you can donate to my Ko-Fi. Thank you very much! I really appreciate it.
Reika’s Notes:
- Wanna know something wild? Avoiding eating grains starves and expels the sanshi 三尸 “Three Corpses”, the malevolent, grain-eating spirits that reside in the human body which report their host’s sins to heaven every 60 days, and carry out punishments of sickness and early death. Source: Wikipedia
- This text was translated by RudeGirl and given to BC Novels for publication.
- I helped with the footnotes, formatting, grammar, etc., the usual stuff that is needed to post this on the website.
- Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading!
********
Previous Chapter Table of Contents Next Chapter
- (落雁, luòyàn): Part of a famous Chinese idiom, “sinking fish and swooping geese” (沉鱼落雁, chényú luòyàn), used to describe a woman of devastating beauty, so beautiful that fish would forget to swim and sink, and geese would forget to flap their wings and fall from the sky. The text uses part of this to describe Sui An’s budding beauty.
- 辟谷 (bìgǔ) is a Daoist practice of abstaining from grains and eventually all food to purify the body and achieve immortality. In cultivation novels, this is often accomplished by taking a grain-abstinence pill.
Really hoping we get insight soon into what really happened with what tan yun did, because it feels so uncomfortable knowing that (though im hoping otherwise) our mc will end up with such a person