Carefree Art

Xu Chunniang stayed in the Lecture Room for an entire day. It was not until the sky had turned completely dark that she came back to herself, realizing that time had passed so quickly without her noticing.

She had originally planned to return to her dormitory, but one look at the map told her it would take at least two or three shichen to get back. Going there and back would cost five or six shichen on the road alone.

Not to mention that it was already dark, and she was unfamiliar with the way. The journey would only take longer, not shorter.

There were twelve shichen in a day. After subtracting three shichen for sleep and the time spent on the road, she would have only three shichen left for learning to read.

Three shichen of study time might sound like a lot, but it was absolutely not enough!

After all, while she was traveling, others could spend even more time studying and cultivating.

She had already fallen behind the others because she could not read. She absolutely could not let that gap grow wider and wider!

Xu Chunniang knew full well that although she had entered the Carefree Sect, her cultivation talent was only average, and she still had much to learn.

Forget comparing herself to those Inner Sect disciples—even among the new Outer Sect Disciples who had entered at the same time as her, many could read. Several even came from cultivation Aristocratic Clans and had already gone up to the second floor to attend the Inner Sect Uncle-Masters' lectures.

Take Qi Haozhi, for example. Although he had not caused her any more trouble after that little girl entered the cabin, Xu Chunniang still felt a sense of urgency. She always felt that the matter would not pass so easily.

She had to work even harder to narrow the gap between herself and those people!

Gritting her teeth, Xu Chunniang made a bold decision: she simply would not go back. She would sleep directly in the Lecture Room.

Although she was only eight years old, poverty and hunger had made her more mature and sensible than children her age. And because she had borne insults since childhood for her ugly appearance, Xu Chunniang had developed an unyielding toughness in her bones. She was like a blade of wild grass—though born lowly, she possessed astonishing vitality.

She would catch up to them in the shortest time possible!

Every day, Xu Chunniang woke at the hour of Mao. After briefly washing up in the back courtyard of the Lecture Hall, she began another day of study.

When she was hungry, she ate a Grain Abstinence Pill. When she was tired, she lay on the desk and dozed briefly. Relying on her astonishing willpower and ability to learn, she rapidly absorbed new knowledge. Only when the hour of Zi arrived and night had grown pitch-black did she collapse into sleep in the Lecture Room, exhausted.

The next day, the cycle of the day before repeated itself once more...

Such a life might have been dull and tedious to others, but to her, it was no different from a beautiful dream.

Back in Xu Family Village, Xu Chunniang had risen earlier than chickens and slept later than dogs. She had to work in the fields all day, yet she was never allowed to eat her fill.

Compared to that, this life, where she did not have to go hungry and could still learn useful skills, did not feel bitter to her in the slightest. Instead, she delighted in it.

That day, Xu Chunniang was still in the small Lecture Room. The puppet sphere before her continued tirelessly explaining knowledge. After lecturing for a full shichen, the little sphere fell silent as usual.

Rather than turning the knob as she usually did to have the little sphere continue its lesson, Xu Chunniang pressed the pause button and took several books out of her Storage Bag.

After working so hard for so long, Xu Chunniang's progress had been astonishingly swift. She could now recognize nearly all the commonly used characters.

She recognized the titles of the books: "Carefree Disciple Rules," "Carefree Art," and "Cultivation World Encyclopedia."

After giving it some thought, Xu Chunniang picked up "Carefree Disciple Rules" first and began to read.

The Carefree Sect did not have many rules. In less than half a day, Xu Chunniang had roughly read through the thin booklet. She understood most of the characters, and for the few she did not know, she could still guess their general meaning.

She put the book away, feeling both proud and moved. Her efforts these past days had truly not been in vain—she really could read now!

If her parents and older brother knew, they would surely be happy for her too!

They probably did not know that becoming an immortal required knowing how to read.

Xu Chunniang smiled, then picked up the thickest book, "Cultivation World Encyclopedia," and began flipping through it.

Just from the table of contents, Xu Chunniang knew that this was not a book she could finish all at once. The contents alone ran for more than ten pages and covered a great deal of knowledge about the Cultivation World.

However, such a detailed table of contents had its benefits. If she encountered anything she did not understand in the future, it would be convenient to look it up.

She casually flipped through the book's contents, and sure enough, everything within was something Xu Chunniang had never heard of.

Every item even came with a corresponding illustration, with every detail clearly drawn. It truly deserved the name "encyclopedia."

Shaking her head, Xu Chunniang put away "Cultivation World Encyclopedia" as well. The only book left outside was "Carefree Art."

This was the cultivation method that Outer Sect Disciples were meant to learn. Suppressing her excitement, Xu Chunniang gently opened its pages.

"Wander freely amid the leisure of all under heaven, and let the heart and mind find contentment; take all under heaven as one's domain... Day after day, unbound and unfettered, free and carefree, one may attain immortality."

Xu Chunniang blinked. She recognized every single character in it, yet when they were put together, she could not understand a single sentence.

It seemed she would have to go to the second floor and listen to the Inner Sect Uncle-Masters explain it before she could understand the meaning of those words.

A familiar hunger rose within her. Xu Chunniang simply put away "Carefree Art," then skillfully took out the white jade bottle from her Storage Bag, only to discover that she could not pour out even one Grain Abstinence Pill.

Only then did Xu Chunniang realize that she had already spent an entire month studying in the Lecture Room.

It was time to go to the Dining Hall to collect more Grain Abstinence Pills. Since she had more or less learned to read, she could start going to the West Courtyard for Common Knowledge Class this afternoon.

After planning what she needed to do next, Xu Chunniang left the Lecture Hall and headed toward the Dining Hall.

The Dining Hall was as deserted as ever. Steward Zhao sat inside, looking rather bored, but when he saw someone arrive, a trace of a smile appeared on his plump face. "It's you."

Clearly, he still remembered Xu Chunniang. After all, the girl's appearance was quite distinctive.

After being shut away in the Lecture Hall studying for a month, Xu Chunniang was rather happy to see a familiar face at last. Two dimples appeared on her cheeks. "Hello, Senior Brother Zhao."

"You look more spirited than last time, little girl. Your complexion has improved quite a bit too."

Steward Zhao looked her up and down. The last time he had seen the girl, she had been sallow and skinny, severely malnourished. Even her hair had been pitifully sparse, while only those eyes of hers had shone with startling brightness.

Now that he saw her again, she had filled out considerably. She no longer looked like a refugee as she had before.

Xu Chunniang had been so busy learning to read over the past month that she had paid no attention at all to her appearance. Hearing Steward Zhao say this so suddenly, how could she believe him? She merely took it as polite small talk, smiled, and handed over her identity token.

After Steward Zhao accepted the token and registered it, he handed back both the token and a new bottle of Grain Abstinence Pills.

"How is your reading coming along? Learning to read is important, but cultivation is even more urgent. If you can more or less recite the 'Carefree Art,' hurry up and go to the second floor for lessons.

I heard that among your batch of newly inducted disciples, several had already completed Qi Introduction a few days ago."

Xu Chunniang was utterly shocked. She had only just managed to learn her characters over the past month, while others had already successfully completed Qi Introduction and formally embarked upon the Path of Cultivation!