(A bonus chapter for 13,250 votes! Rules remain the same; there will be another tonight. Please vote!) ＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝ “Fairy Wen?”
Feng Zikang had heard that voice not long ago—gentle and refined, with a hint of soft, southern accent from Jiangnan, making it instantly recognizable.
Feng Zikang wasn't surprised. At the Hall of Ten Thousand Armies Vanquished on Sunset Peak, this generous Fairy Wen had seemed ready to speak to him. Her showing up at the small bamboo grove to find him was expected; he just hadn't anticipated her arriving so swiftly.
Logically, with so many visitors from other sects, Sunset Peak should currently be hosting grand banquets. How could she be so impatient as to rush over now?
“Please, come in quickly!”
He rose, standing respectfully to one side as he watched Wen Lingsu enter with a graceful, faint smile.
“It hasn’t changed a bit in the two hundred years I’ve been away…”
It was still one couch, one low table, one cabinet, and one bookshelf. Through the lattice windows, dappled shadows of the bamboo filtered sparsely.
Wen Lingsu surveyed the simple grass hut, her heart filled with emotion, until she spotted the small fox draped over the mechanical automaton. Only then did a smile return to her lips, and she gently teased it a few times. The little fox stretched out a front paw, batting at her playfully in protest.
“The Fairy has been here before?”
Wen Lingsu nodded. “When I first visited this place, I was about your age…”
Two centuries ago, she was just fourteen or fifteen, a young girl with youthful exuberance, just setting foot on the path of cultivation. Back then, she found this bamboo hut novel, even criticizing its owner for neglecting agriculture, feeling it was an offense to Heaven and Earth.
In the blink of an eye, the mortal world had transformed.
This grass hut remained exactly as it was two hundred years prior, yet people and circumstances had shifted; the world had undergone a complete metamorphosis. Elder Sister Rou was now the master of an entire sect, and Brother Ye was the head of his lineage, perpetually in seclusion.
Even his disciple had now surpassed where she stood in her own youth.
Wen Lingsu sighed, gazing tenderly at Feng Zikang, who stood with his gaze fixed between his eyes and nose, maintaining a respectful posture.
“You don’t need to be so constrained. Back then, I viewed your Master as an elder brother… If you don't find it too presumptuous, you could call me Little Martial Aunt…”
Her face flushed slightly, and Feng Zikang naturally began to speculate inwardly about her relationship with his Master. His own thoughts were hardly pure, so he couldn't fathom anything good coming of it.
“Little Martial Aunt…”
No wonder she was so generous! She even offered up a legendary divine ability without reservation—how straightforward!
Wen Lingsu, unaware of his vulgar musings, turned serious. “Nephew Feng, have you looked at the scroll of the Divine Ability, Subtle Rain Moisturizing Spring Wind, that I gave you?”
“Yes, Little Martial Aunt, I have read it. However, my current cultivation level for the Heart Method is still too low for me to practice it yet…”
Although he had intensely practiced his visible Mind Calculation Heart Method during his travels, he had only reached the meager fifth stage, having refined the perception of his five senses once. This was sufficient for practicing the military sect’s inherent divine abilities, but practicing external ones was still a stretch.
His Formless Heavenly Demon Heart Method had reached the fifteenth stage, which could cultivate this external ability, but this fact could not be revealed to outsiders.
Wen Lingsu nodded. “There is no rush, but this scroll of divine ability was created by my Senior Martial Sister through decades of focused effort. Its profound intricacies are extraordinary; its function is to nourish the meridians and repair hidden injuries, which is immensely beneficial.”
So that was it!
It explained why the flow of this ability through the meridians was so minute, drastically different from ordinary healing techniques. But why would someone young and strong like him need hidden injuries treated, warranting her rushing to deliver such a scroll?
Could it be that…
“Nephew, please don’t misunderstand. Besides healing hidden injuries, this ability also strengthens the body and nourishes the meridians, which greatly aids in cultivation…”
Seeing the doubt cloud his face, Wen Lingsu grew slightly flustered and hurried to explain.
An explanation is a cover-up! Feng Zikang smiled slightly, finally grasping the true purpose behind the Mount Tai Farmer Family sending this technique.
The Subtle Rain Moisturizing Spring Wind undoubtedly benefited both natural healing and cultivation, which was an unexpected boon for him. But if the Farmer Family Sect Master spent decades creating this technique, it seemed unlikely it was merely to gift it to a junior like him.
Considering the intimate relationship between this Fairy Wen and his Master, Feng Zikang understood instantly.
It was presented as a gift for the disciple, but the true intention must have been for Master Ye Tiansheng.
Yet, his Master suffered from an unmentioned hidden injury?
Feng Zikang frowned slightly. Although he found these Righteous Path cultivators rather annoying, his Master had always been genuinely kind to him. If he had a hidden wound, it truly needed prompt treatment.
Ye Tiansheng and General Lu began cultivating around the same time, and their aptitudes weren't vastly different. Despite some variation in temperament, their cultivation levels shouldn't have resulted in such a huge gap. Could this hidden injury be hindering his progress?
Wen Lingsu was being evasive, so he couldn't press for details directly.
“In any case, you must diligently practice this divine ability. I plan to stay on Mount Longhu for a period; I will not leave until you have gained entry into this technique. If you have any questions, you can find me on Sunset Peak…”
For him to learn a single divine ability, this Fairy Wen was willing to remain at the Mount Longhu Military Sect—that struck him as strange if there were no ulterior motives.
Though his mind churned with possibilities, Feng Zikang maintained his respectful demeanor on the surface, feigning immense gratitude.
Once the serious business concluded, Wen Lingsu smiled charmingly and sat beside him, her breath fragrant like orchids.
“Martial Nephew, you fall far short of your Master in this regard. Brother Ye is exceptionally hospitable. If I were to visit, he would surely prepare boiled Snow Bamboo Ginseng Tea to serve a guest. How could he possibly let a visitor remain parched?”
“Pardon me, Little Martial Aunt!”
Feng Zikang sprang up immediately, personally fetching the tea leaves from the cabinet. The water heated by the automaton was also ready. As the leaves unfurled, a clean fragrance permeated the air. Wen Lingsu inhaled deeply, her face flushing slightly, filled with deep nostalgia.
“Two hundred years without smelling this tea... I’ve grown greedy for it. I must make a fool of myself before you, Nephew.”
Wen Lingsu gave a shy smile, a trace of pure innocence shining through her gentle beauty. Her skin was like snow, her eyes like polished lacquer; she was most captivating, displaying a maidenly air amidst her mature attire.
She took a delicate sip, her heart overflowing with sentiment.
“Little Martial Aunt, if you like this tea, why don't you take some back with you…”
Feng Zikang had already used his Master’s prized tea to curry favor with others, so it was hardly wrong to share some with this Little Martial Aunt.
Wen Lingsu shook her head. “I don’t want it. This tea only carries this true flavor when drunk here in the small bamboo grove. If I take it back to my Hundred Herbs Garden, the myriad smells will mix, and how could I properly savor it?”
“This kind of thing, no matter how high your innate talent, Nephew, you still won’t understand…”
She had waited two centuries to drink this bowl of tea; only the deposition of time could grant it such an endless aftertaste.
This was realization and state of mind brought by time. One could not understand it without those two centuries of passage unless they were part of the arrangement.
“I remember… Brother Ye also enjoys wine…”
Her gaze suddenly drifted toward the area beneath the bamboo couch.