Chapter 5: Spirit Beast Garden. |
Of course, Lu Fengmian could not hear the fierce monologue in her heart, so he merely asked out of habit, “Has your cultivation been going smoothly? If there were any problems, you could come ask me at any time.”
“No issues.” Junior Sister Yun replied with concise brevity. After a pause, she added, “I still had some doubts last night, but I already figured them out myself.”
In truth, even after studying until midnight, she had not fully understood it, but she could not bear to knock on Senior Brother’s door in the middle of the night—Senior Brother was so busy during the day, so he should rest well at night.
So she stubbornly studied the jade slip until dawn, and in the end, she comprehended its mysteries.
“That was good.” Lu Fengmian nodded, his gaze falling on her somewhat pale face. “However, on the path of cultivation, work and rest must be balanced. Your complexion did not look too good. Did you stay up late again?”
Junior Sister Yun: “……No.”
“Senior Brother was worried about me! He noticed my poor complexion! But I could not admit it, or Senior Brother would worry, and he might even tell me to practice less sword and rest more. How could that do? If I did not practice the sword, how would I grow stronger? If I did not grow stronger, how would I…”
Her thoughts drifted for a moment, but she regained her focus in time. “No matter what, I could not admit it.”
Seeing the expression on her face that plainly said, “I was fine, I was very well, I could still practice another three days and three nights,” Lu Fengmian knew this girl had definitely stayed up all night again.
He took out a small white jade bottle from his storage ring and handed it over. “This was a Qingxin Dingzhi Pill. It helps stabilize the mind and relieve the fatigue brought on by cultivation. Keep it, and do not blindly throw yourself into high-intensity training.”
Junior Sister Yun stared at the jade bottle, and at last a slight ripple appeared on her icy face.
She extended both hands and solemnly accepted it. Her fingertips accidentally brushed Lu Fengmian’s palm, and she immediately drew back her hand as though scalded.
“Thank you, Senior Brother.”
“A pill from Senior Brother! I must keep it properly. No, I should take it tonight, I could not fail Senior Brother’s kindness. This medicine bottle was also very delicate, as handsome as Senior Brother.”
Watching her carefully tuck the jade bottle into her robe, Lu Fengmian thought that although this girl looked cold as frost on the outside, she was actually very simple-hearted inside.
“Oh, right,” he remembered something. “The sect’s minor competition will be held at the beginning of next month. Did you plan to participate?”
The sect’s minor competition was an annual sparring event for inner-sect disciples and above, intended to test the results of cultivation and encourage disciples to forge ahead bravely.
The top three would receive generous rewards, and it was also a good opportunity to display strength and attract attention.
Junior Sister Yun almost answered without hesitation: “I will participate.”
She wanted to become stronger, and she wanted to become stronger as soon as possible.
Only by becoming strong enough could she… could she stand beside Senior Brother forever, instead of always being protected by him.
“Very good.” Lu Fengmian smiled. “With your current strength, you should have few opponents in the Foundation Establishment stage. However, remember this: during sparring, once the other side admits defeat, you should stop. Do not become too obsessed with winning or losing.”
He had once personally witnessed the recklessness and fierce desperation this girl showed in battle, and he truly feared she would not be able to hold back during the competition.
Junior Sister Yun lowered her eyes: “Mm.”
“Senior Brother was worried that I would hurt someone. I must control my strength, but what if the opponent was too weak and I could not control it? Forget it, I would just do my best. I could not make things difficult for Senior Brother.”
The two of them exchanged a few more simple words—mainly Lu Fengmian speaking, with Junior Sister Yun occasionally replying with one or two sentences.
But in the eyes of others, this was already a rare display of talkativeness from Junior Sister Yun.
Not far away, several disciples who were sparring could not help whispering:
“Look, Junior Sister Yun was actually talking to Senior Brother that much!”
“Not just that, she even accepted Senior Brother’s gift!”
“My heavens, did the sun rise in the west? Other than practicing the sword, Junior Sister Yun was interested in nothing at all, was she?”
“Tsk, do you not understand? That was Senior Brother! Who in the sect did not want to speak a few extra words with Senior Brother?”
“That was true… but Junior Sister Yun’s gaze, did it seem a little too serious?”
“Shh! Do not talk nonsense! Be careful, or Junior Sister Yun will hear you, and later she will come find you for a ‘spar’!”
Junior Sister Yun’s hearing was extremely sharp, and not a single word of those whispers escaped her ears. Her gaze suddenly turned cold as she swept it over in that direction.
Those disciples immediately fell silent and pretended to focus on practicing their swords, though cold sweat appeared on their foreheads.
Lu Fengmian also caught bits and pieces of what was being said, and helplessly shook his head. It seemed Junior Sister Yun’s aura of “strangers keep away” could not be changed.
“You continue practicing the sword,” he said gently. “I will go take a look elsewhere.”
Junior Sister Yun nodded and turned to walk back to her place.
The moment she turned around, the longing in her eyes vanished instantly, and her cold expression returned.
Lu Fengmian continued his inspection work.
【Correct disciples’ incorrect cultivation postures: 1/5. Target: the disciple in blue at the front left, issue of drooping sword tip.】
He calmly walked toward that blue-clothed disciple who was still fidgeting with his sword tip, and that perfect smile once again appeared on his face.
What Lu Fengmian did not know was that after he turned and left, Junior Sister Yun’s sword style quietly changed—there was slightly less despairing balefulness, and a bit more of the agility and elegance of the Flowing Cloud Sword Art.
As she practiced, she watched that moon-white figure from the corner of her eye, silently replaying every sentence of their conversation in her mind.
“Today, I said seven sentences to Senior Brother, received one bottle of pills, and was looked after once. Mm, better than yesterday. Tomorrow, I must strive to say eight sentences.”
Her sword blade cut through the air and gave off a clear and pleasant sound.
Lu Fengmian finally completed all of his morning tasks for the day—including inspecting the martial arts ground, guiding five disciples, and mediating two minor disputes.
He had originally planned to return to the side hall of Luo Xia Peak to catch his breath, brew a pot of Qingxin Tea, enjoy a moment of peace, and feel that “Senior Brother was also human.”
However, at the very moment he stepped out of the martial arts arena, the communication jade token hanging at his waist began flashing yellow rapidly, indicating an “urgent but non-combat situation.”
Lu Fengmian: “……”
He had a bad feeling about this.
Sure enough, when he probed it with his divine sense, the voice of Li Quan, the steward of the Spirit Beast Garden, poured into his ears like demonic sound, full of tears and clearly on the verge of collapse:
“Nephew Lu, save me! Where are you? Hurry and come to the Spirit Beast Garden! Lord Fuzhu kicked me out! No matter how I coaxed it, it was no use! The elder was not here, what should I do! Nephew Lu, you absolutely had to come! Lord Fuzhu specifically named you! It said that if its fur was not properly groomed today, it would tear apart my Spirit Beast Garden! Nephew Lu, could you hear me? Nephew Lu—”
The tone in the message was extremely urgent, almost to the point of omitting punctuation.
In the background, the low growl of some kind of creature could vaguely be heard, along with the sound of something apparently being smashed.
Lu Fengmian closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
【Emergency mission triggered: soothe the irritable spirit beast lord.】
【Mission requirement: calm Lord Fuzhu’s anger, and provide it with satisfactory fur care service.】
【Mission rewards: Lord Fuzhu’s favorability increases, the overall favorability of the Spirit Beast Garden increases slightly, and cultivation increases slightly.】
【Failure penalty: for the next month, the Spirit Beast Garden will randomly dispatch one low-level spirit beast in either its “active period” or “shedding period” each day to “visit” the host at the side hall of Luo Xia Peak, and it will not recall them.】
Lu Fengmian’s temples throbbed painfully twice. This punishment… was far too vicious!
Just imagine it—you were pestered by a parrot that chirped all day long and had specifically learned a few embarrassing phrases; or you were treated like a nest by a spirit fox that shed so much fur it made one question life; or you were chased all over the mountain by a wind-chasing dog with endless energy that kept clamoring for you to play with it…
This was not punishment at all. This was dual torture of body and mind! Could a person still properly handle sect affairs like this, and still preserve the image of Senior Brother?