"Master, where are we sleeping tonight?" Li Nanzhu brushed the grass clippings off her sleeves.
As twilight descended, a damp mist began to swirl through the bamboo forest. Xiao Yan was squatting on the ground, wrestling Suisui for the last sugar-fried chestnut. He didn't even look back as he waved his fan. "What's the rush? Would I really let my disciple sleep in the open?"
A flash of green light shimmered from the fan's surface. Suddenly, a series of creaks and groans echoed from a clearing thirty feet away.
A delicate bamboo building rose from the earth, its eaves adorned with wind chimes that tinkled softly in the evening gloom.
"How is it?" Xiao Yan spun his fan with a smug grin. "I built it with my own two hands!"
Suisui had already rushed inside, its skeleton rattling loudly against the bamboo stairs. Li Nanzhu looked at the fresh bamboo that had clearly just been conjured into existence with a spell and nodded with a smile. "I like it very much."
"Of course you do!" Xiao Yan tossed his hair back proudly and pushed the door open with an exaggerated swagger. "Upstairs, take a left to find your room. The bedding is all brand new..."
Li Nanzhu suddenly grabbed the fluttering edge of his sleeve. "Master, how long will I be training here?"
"How long?" Xiao Yan pondered for a moment. "If things had gone according to my original plan, you probably should have left a long time ago. But given the current situation—" He trailed off intentionally, seeing Li Nanzhu watching him expectantly, before continuing.
"It depends on when you can learn all of my true skills."
Li Nanzhu hesitated. While she was happy to learn from Xiao Yan, she was more concerned about her sect. If she stayed here for too long, what would happen if Cang Dongqing went out to cause trouble?
As if seeing through her anxieties, Xiao Yan closed his fan and lightly rapped her on the head.
"I don't know what you're so anxious about, but you can rest easy now," Xiao Yan turned around. "The flow of time in this inheritance ground is different from the outside world. Ten days here is only one day out there."
"What about the other light gates?" Li Nanzhu's heart skipped a beat.
"What are you thinking?" Xiao Yan said helplessly. "Only this place is like this. The other light gates lead to various trial chambers. They aren't like this place. I don't have the power to make them all like this."
Li Nanzhu breathed a sigh of relief, her fingers unconsciously stroking the cloud patterns embroidered on her cuffs. Suisui emerged from the bamboo building at some point and gently tugged at her skirt.
"Master, I want to see how my companions are doing..." Li Nanzhu said sheepishly, feeling like she had been nothing but a burden to Xiao Yan so far.
Xiao Yan had begun weaving a small basket out of green vines, his dark hair falling over his shoulders. "The trials I set take three days at the shortest and no more than a month at the longest. You think everyone is like you..." The tip of his fan suddenly pointed at her nose. "—So prone to worrying?"
Li Nanzhu stared at the way his hair swayed while he worked. Suisui poked her in the back and tugged her sleeve.
She suddenly remembered this was Suisui's favorite way to act spoiled. Perhaps she could do the same with her master...
She cleared her throat and dragged out the words. "Mas...ter~"
Her throat felt strangely tight, and her outstretched hand froze in mid-air.
Suisui seemed to sense her hesitation and gave her a shove, forcing her to grab the edge of his fluttering sleeve.
The green vines in Xiao Yan's hands dropped. He looked up and met Li Nanzhu's stiff gaze and heard the warped, high-pitched, "...ter~"
"You..." Xiao Yan froze completely. "Were you just possessed by something dirty?"
Xiao Yan felt utterly bewildered. Could someone tell him what had happened to his disciple in such a short time? Or was this how kids in the cultivation world acted nowadays?
Li Nanzhu's face flushed bright red instantly. She wanted nothing more than to dig a hole and crawl into it. She had never done anything like this before and never had the chance. Now that she had tried it, the effect seemed... too strange. Even she had goosebumps.
Suisui suddenly began rolling around on the ground, clacking its bones so hard it seemed like it might fall apart. It mimicked Li Nanzhu, tugging at Xiao Yan's sleeve as if it were also acting spoiled.
"This is mutiny!" Xiao Yan's ears turned a deep crimson. He snapped his fan open to hide his face. "You two are trying to overthrow your master!"
Li Nanzhu took the opportunity to lean in. "Just a quick look..."
"Stop, stop, stop!" Xiao Yan backed up three steps until his back hit the bamboo wall. "Speak normally!"
Suisui was now paralyzed with laughter on the ground, slapping the floor with its bony palms.
Suppressing her shame, Li Nanzhu took another step forward. "Then will Master agree?"
As the bamboo leaves rustled, Xiao Yan fanned himself faster and faster before finally snapping it shut. "Memorize the first nine chapters of Introduction to a Hundred Herbs, and then I'll show you!"
"Five chapters."
"Eight chapters!"
"Six chapters," Li Nanzhu held up her fingers. "And I'll help Master tend to the herb garden."
Xiao Yan's fan paused. "Deal! However..." He conjured a thick tome with the tip of his fan. "If you get a single sentence wrong, you have to add another chapter!"
Li Nanzhu raised an eyebrow. She knew it wouldn't be that easy. But for her, memorizing wasn't difficult. She snatched the book from him. "Is that a promise?"
"When has your master ever..." Before he could finish, Li Nanzhu was already running to the bamboo porch with the book. Suisui scrambled after her, holding a night-luminescent pearl to provide light.
Xiao Yan shook his head with a light laugh and continued weaving his basket. He had only finished the third row when he heard a clear voice reciting from the porch. His hands paused mid-weave—this girl was already on the second chapter?
As the night deepened, Li Nanzhu rubbed her aching eyes. The six chapters were more than she expected. Just the characteristics of three hundred spirit medicines were enough to make her head spin. Fortunately, she had seen spirit plant encyclopedias in the Library Pavilion of the Five Elements Dao Sect before.
"Where are you now?" Xiao Yan's voice suddenly came from above. He was hanging upside down from the bamboo eaves, several bamboo leaves caught in his hair.
"Chapter four, section seven..." Li Nanzhu suddenly stalled. "Wait, the distinguishing features between purple spirit ginseng and fire lingzhi are..."
"The pattern of the leaf veins." Xiao Yan tapped her forehead with his fan. "Look closely."
A strand of green light flowed from the tip of his fan, weaving into the shapes of the two herbs in the air. The leaf veins of the purple spirit ginseng radiated like a spiderweb, while the veins of the fire lingzhi formed a flame-like radial pattern.
Li Nanzhu's eyes lit up. This was practically a modern projector! To think she could see this in the cultivation world! Now she wouldn't mix them up at all.
"Got it?"
Li Nanzhu nodded, only to see the projection turn into a funny face that stuck its tongue out at her.
"Master!"
Xiao Yan laughed loudly as he flipped back onto the roof, the moonlight silvering his silhouette.
Suisui took the chance to shove the rest of the book into her hands and gave her a thumbs-up—a gesture it had learned from Li Nanzhu.
By midnight, Li Nanzhu finally closed the book. Suisui had fallen asleep on her lap, its soul fire flickering softly with its breathing.
"Finished?" Xiao Yan drifted down from the roof, his robes carrying a cool night breeze.
Li Nanzhu was about to speak when she suddenly sneezed. A green outer robe was immediately draped over her shoulders, carrying a faint scent of herbs.
"I know you're worried about the water mirror." Xiao Yan shook his head helplessly. "It's late. You haven't reached Foundation Establishment yet. You should rest. I'll show you tomorrow morning."
Li Nanzhu pursed her lips and eventually nodded in agreement.
She watched her master's departing back, his green robes swaying in the night wind and a few bamboo leaves still clinging to his hair.
The soft click of the bamboo door closing was exceptionally clear in the silent night. Li Nanzhu stood by the window, her fingers unconsciously stroking a new bamboo shoot on the sill. Moonlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on her face.
She carefully placed Suisui on the bed and then quietly sat cross-legged by the window to begin her cultivation technique.
She couldn't sleep at all right now, so she might as well use the time to practice.
Spiritual energy surged through her meridians. Looking inside her dantian, she was surprised to find that the cyclone had condensed into a liquid state—a sign that she was about to reach Foundation Establishment.
She suddenly thought of the foundation establishment pill Cang Dongqing had taken, and a trace of unease rose in her heart.
"She... should have broken through by now, right?" Li Nanzhu murmured.
Moonlight condensed into a small flame in her palm, reflecting her complicated expression.
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