Chapter 4: The Immortal Gave Me... What?

 "I won't teach her, you take her away!"

In the dim room, Jiang Yuebai looked up at Hong Tao, "Is this the kind person you were talking about?"

Hong Tao looked at the old man sitting cross-legged on the bed, smoking in silence. "Tao Lao, the internal affairs hall has given an order. Within a year, you must train a spirit cultivation apprentice. If you don't accept her today, there will be other menial workers sent here tomorrow."

"This child might have only five-element roots, but her performance on the Heart Questioning Path is no less than that of an outer disciple. She is also extremely clever and sharp. You should try teaching her; there might be a pleasant surprise."

Slam! Tao Fengnian slammed the smoking stick on the table. "What pleasant surprise? The pleasant surprise is that you all wish for me to die! Go away, I won't take her in!"

Jiang Yuebai was scared and shrunk behind Hong Tao. Hong Tao, as an inner affairs disciple, had his temper too.

"I'll leave her here, and if you don't accept her, take her to the elders in the internal affairs hall yourself!"

After saying this, Jiang Yuebai was pushed outside, and Hong Tao turned and left, slamming the door shut.

Jiang Yuebai stood bewildered in place, huddled up, and smiled awkwardly at Tao Fengnian.

"Grandfather, I..."

"Get out!"

Jiang Yuebai shivered, quickly grabbed her bag, and ran to the courtyard. The door was slammed shut by a gust of wind.

Hong Tao's words were so nice; she came here with great expectations, but what kindness? What sincerity? All lies!

Achoo!

The moonlit night was cool, and Jiang Yuebai felt cold, hungry, and tired. Her body was covered in wounds, still oozing blood. She couldn't run anymore, and she didn't know the way. In the valley just now, she even saw a toad as big as a house soaking in a pool, spewing clouds and mists, looking quite majestic.

Hong Tao said it was a guarding valley spirit toad, a spirit beast at the Foundation Establishment stage. If she randomly trespassed in the Flower Creek Valley, it would eat her.

Jiang Yuebai shivered; life was the most important thing. She would stay here tonight.

She didn't care if the old man agreed or not; she sniffed and ran to the kitchen in the small courtyard and found half a bowl of still warm rice in a big pot.

"What kind of rice is this? It smells so good."

Gurgle~ The rice grains in the bowl were plump and distinct, emitting a radiant white jade-like luster, filled with the original aroma of rice, making her salivate uncontrollably.

Even if the old man wanted to kill her tomorrow, she had to fill her stomach.

Jiang Yuebai sat near the stove, eating with chopsticks.

After half a bowl of rice, Jiang Yuebai licked her lips, feeling unsatisfied, but her belly was warm, and she had regained some energy. The place was not big, with three rooms facing north, and Tao Fengnian lived in the main room on the north side. The small room on the east side was the kitchen, and the one on the west side contained some farming tools and miscellaneous items, but there was an empty bed, and the wardrobe had new bedding.

Jiang Yuebai went inside and lit the lamp, moved the hoes and sickles to the side, and brought a wooden basin to fetch water from the courtyard's water tank. She was busy back and forth, in and out.

The moonlight was cool, and after half an hour of work, Jiang Yuebai finally tidied up the room. She wiped off the sweat on her forehead and took a deep breath.

Under the warm yellow light, the farming tools were neatly placed in the corner, the green bricks on the ground were swept clean, the broken wooden table was polished shiny, and the bed was covered with soft cotton bedding, making it look very comfortable.

At this moment, Jiang Yuebai finally had some real sense of being in an immortal sect, but the pressure of being driven away was still not eliminated.

Jiang Yuebai climbed up onto the stool by the table, knelt on it, and opened the package Hong Tao gave her. Inside, there was a grayish small sachet, about the size of a palm, but she couldn't open it, and there was nothing inside when she squeezed it. She didn't know what it was used for.

There was also a small cloth bag with ten crystal stones the size of walnuts. When she poured them out, they emitted a brilliant light that overpowered the oil lamp and filled the whole room with colorful lights.

"Wow, are these spiritual stones? I thought Lin Madam's North Sea Night Pearl thst she wore on her head was the most beautiful thing in the world."

Jiang Yuebai quickly put away the ten spiritual stones; these were all hers, and she must not let anyone snatch them.

She wondered what ten spiritual stones could buy and whether she could get a flying sword that could take her to the sky. That's what she wanted the most.

After a moment of daydreaming, Jiang Yuebai picked up a black iron token with the words "Menial Worker" on one side and some character she didn't recognize on the other, but it should represent the "Yan" character of the Tian Yan Sect.

Next to the token was a folded yellow paper map, a blue booklet labeled "Qi Refining Formula."

Finally, there was a medicine bottle, a box of medicinal paste, and a set of gray clothes and shoes.

The medicine bottle contained six brown pills, presumably the Qi-refining pills Hong Tao mentioned, and the medicinal paste...

"Golden Wound Paste?"

Jiang Yuebai looked at the wounds all over her body, smiled lightly, and quickly cleaned herself with water before carefully applying the paste to her wounds.

She changed into the gray clothes from the bag; they were loose and looked like costumes. Jiang Yuebai wondered how to tailor them to fit her, but the clothes surprisingly adjusted themselves to her height and figure, and the shoes fit as well.

"How miraculous! Will this outfit also adjust itself as I grow taller?"

Everything in the immortal sect amazed and excited Jiang Yuebai, filling her with an insatiable curiosity.

"If the old man drives me away tomorrow, I will throw a tantrum and refuse to leave, even if I have to roll on the ground."

With wet hair draped over her shoulders, Jiang Yuebai spread the map on the bed. She realized the map was huge, almost covering the entire bed, and half of it was still unopened.

Ink-black, lifelike, mountains stacked upon mountains, clouds and mist swirling.

The Ninefold Mountain Range, the Thirty-Six Peaks, the Eighty-One Valleys, all appeared vividly before her.

Seeing the small annotations beside the map, Jiang Yuebai stumbled through the characters a few times before understanding their meaning. She quickly cut her finger with a small dagger she carried and dripped a drop of blood on the map.

The blood was absorbed by the map, and a small red dot appeared

in the bottom corner, indicating her current location.

"Is Flower Creek Valley only the size of a fist on this map? But it's clearly larger than our Jiang family village."

Through this comparison, Jiang Yuebai finally realized the vastness of the Tian Yan Sect. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to explore it all in her lifetime.

Jiang Yuebai was deeply moved and closed the map, deciding to start cultivation quickly.

One day, she would soar ninety thousand li and travel between heaven and earth on a sword.

Sitting on the bed, Jiang Yuebai opened the "Qi Refining Formula" in front of the lamp. The first page showed a human meridian diagram, which she had seen at the medical clinic in Yong'an City. She couldn't recognize the names of many acupoints and meridians on it, so she skipped to the next page.

Luckily, there were explanations on the following pages. To cultivate the Qi Refining Formula, she didn't need to perform any techniques but simply follow the diagram and sit quietly, feeling the spiritual energy, absorbing it, and accumulating spiritual roots to enter the first stage of cultivation and officially begin her path.

【Sit quietly, calm your mind, close your lips lightly, breathe slowly】

【Gather the spiritual light, reach the heavenly heart, guide it into the dantian, as if it were stored there】

Jiang Yuebai sat cross-legged for more than half an hour, but she didn't feel anything. Her hands and feet were sore, and she felt drowsy.

Is it because of my low aptitude that I can't sense anything?

"No, no, I have to work harder with poor aptitude. While others sleep, I will cultivate. This way, I can catch up to them. Oh, the Qi Refining Pill!"

Jiang Yuebai poured out a Qi Refining Pill from the medicine bottle and swallowed it.

Gulp!

A cool sensation rushed from her stomach to the top of her head, making Jiang Yuebai shiver unexpectedly.

She closed her eyes, focusing her attention on the dark void. Stimulated by the cool sensation, she gradually saw faint and colorful lights.

They seemed like dancing fireflies, only five or six groups gently floating around her.

Is this spiritual energy?

Jiang Yuebai became excited, and her breathing became irregular, causing the lights to shy away like bugs.

Cultivating Qi is so difficult!

Jiang Yuebai sighed inwardly, steadied her mind, and, with each breath, gently moved the faint fluctuations in the air, moving the light clusters.

The long night gradually passed, and the starlight dimmed.

Jiang Yuebai had lost track of time, focused on the light cluster of green color that was very close to her.

Come here, come quickly!

Seeing that there was only a tiny distance left, the green light still hesitated, teasing Jiang Yuebai as she grew anxious.

Is my aptitude so poor that even spiritual energy despises me?

As her breathing became uneven, the light cluster was about to escape again. Jiang Yuebai made up her mind, bumping her head into the light cluster like she did when she saved that female immortal.

At this moment, a golden light flashed across her eyes, just like when the female immortal gave her a pat on the head.

【Cultivation Data Panel Activated. This panel is for displaying data only; please do not attempt meaningless actions such as recharging】

【Innate Spiritual Roots Determined, Self-Cultivation Depends on Diligence, Only Diligence Can Alter Destiny】

【Name】Jiang Yuebai

【Spiritual Roots】Five Elements Spiritual Roots (Metal 4, Wood 5, Water 4, Fire 4, Earth 4)

【Cultivation Stage】None

【Techniques】Qi Refining Formula (1/21)

【Spells】None

【Martial Techniques】None

Jiang Yuebai stared blankly at the panel that appeared in her mind. Could this be the compensation given by the female immortal?

Although she didn't understand the strange symbols after the Qi Refining Formula, Jiang Yuebai strangely knew what they represented.

She absorbed one light cluster and gained 1 point. If she absorbed 21 clusters, could she enter the first level of cultivation?

Jiang Yuebai's spirit was immediately roused, and she was no longer clueless about how long she needed to cultivate. Now she had a clear goal and was full of motivation!

【You focus on absorbing Qi, but your low aptitude results in low efficiency in absorbing Qi. Fortunately, you are diligent in taking pills and persevering in your efforts, increasing your Qi Refining proficiency by 1】

Wow, the things given by immortals are so interesting, let's continue!

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