What Lu Xun's Sea of Qi actually looked like remained unknown for now.
But the possibility that his Sea of Qi was black could not be ruled out.
After all, even his heart was black...
The Paper Crane flew swiftly through the air and soon returned to the Back Mountain.
Whether it was just psychological or genuinely true, Lu Xun felt that even the air on the Back Mountain was far fresher than outside.
Back at the Demon Sect, Mao Nanbei naturally no longer tied her hair up like Nezha. There was no need for her to hide her cat ears, so today, she wore two little braids.
As she hopped and skipped about, her two braids swayed from side to side, making her look especially adorable.
"Little Martial Brother, come on!"
"Let's go catch fish! Slurp!" Mao Nanbei waved at Lu Xun, already nearly drooling.
Lu Xun had initially planned to return to his room and continue studying the increase in his Reputation Points, but after the little girl called out to him, he realized he was indeed getting hungry.
"Catch a few extra. We'll bring some to Second Senior Sister later," Lu Xun said to Mao Nanbei.
"Alright! Slurp!" she readily agreed.
For a cat, catching fish was fun in itself, not to mention that delicious fish awaited afterward.
After catching several fresh, tasty fish, Mao Nanbei shook the droplets from her hands, and the bells tied around her wrists rang crisply.
Lu Xun plunged into the kitchen and got busy. As he cleaned the fish, he thought, That little brat Ji Li hasn't tasted my cooking yet. I should treat her to a meal sometime.
Ji Li had treated him well, and he remembered that kindness in his heart.
Following Mao Nanbei's suggestion, Lu Xun added a little more chili today.
He had no idea why this little cat demon loved spicy food so much. She had reached the point where she could not enjoy a meal without it.
Before long, the aroma drifted through the air. Mao Nanbei sat on the table, her little feet swinging in midair, clearly in excellent spirits.
Lu Xun also had her fetch some bamboo, then made bamboo-tube rice, which she found especially novel.
Once the food was ready, the two headed for the Bamboo Forest.
The moment she entered the Bamboo Forest, Mao Nanbei shouted, "Second Senior Sister, Little Martial Brother and I brought you food!"
The previously tranquil Bamboo Forest immediately became lively with her arrival.
The Daoist nun still sat high atop a stone, and no one knew what she was cultivating.
Lu Xun felt that she was nearly becoming one with the surrounding bamboo forest.
Her slightly loose Daoist Robe still made her look slender. Even from behind, she seemed thin and frail. She probably could not be fattened up anytime soon; it would take steady effort over time.
Just like yesterday, Lu Xun and Mao Nanbei ate on the narrow path while Second Senior Sister remained atop the enormous boulder.
As they ate, Mao Nanbei stuck out her tongue and licked a grain of rice from the corner of her mouth, then suddenly said to Lu Xun:
"Little Martial Brother, even if the Sea of Qi you saw was very, very small, don't be discouraged. Fourth Senior Sister will protect you. If anyone bullies you in the future, I'll chop off his head with one slash!" she declared, patting her little chest with her left hand, brimming with heroic spirit.
Could you wipe the grease off your mouth before saying something like that? Lu Xun thought.
Though that was what he thought, he could not help but smile, and his smile was bright and wholehearted.
He said nothing, only picked up another fish and placed it in Mao Nanbei's bowl.
The little cat demon was clear about love and hate, and she spoke bluntly. She guessed that Lu Xun's refusal to say anything meant that what he had seen must have been very little.
Although she believed her Little Martial Brother would definitely not be inferior to others in the future, she was willing to protect him along the way.
After they finished all the food, Mao Nanbei urged Lu Xun to leave first.
After Lu Xun left, Mao Nanbei narrowed her eyes. The Golden Bells on her wrists glimmered faintly, and then she leaped into the air, pouncing once more at the woman meditating on the stone.
"I refuse to believe it! Today, I'll definitely take the Wooden Hairpin off Second Senior Sister's head!"
Second Senior Sister merely flicked her sleeve again. It was always this same move, yet the little girl could never evade or break it.
The Golden Bells on her wrists flickered on and off before she gave up struggling.
Mao Nanbei pouted as a current of air wrapped around her and carried her toward Second Senior Sister, her face full of resignation.
With a light tap from Second Senior Sister's slender, long fingers between her brows, her transformation broke again, and she reverted to the form of a Little Black Cat.
It seemed that no matter how hard she tried, it was useless. This annoyed her, so her four little paws flailed wildly in the air as she vented her frustration.
"Don't... don't move." Second Senior Sister's cool, stammering voice echoed through the Bamboo Forest.
Mao Nanbei wrinkled her little nose slightly to show her displeasure, but she still obediently listened, as fierce yet timid as ever.
She lay across Second Senior Sister's crossed legs, feeling Second Senior Sister's fair, slender fingers stroke through her fur.
Her body, which had been tense, relaxed all at once. If she were not trying to save face and maintain a bit of pride, she might have stretched out all four limbs and luxuriantly extended herself.
As Mao Nanbei basked in such comfort that her mind went hazy, she suddenly heard Second Senior Sister speak.
"L-Little Martial Brother, did he... did he see... very little of his Sea of Qi?"
Mao Nanbei tugged at one of her cat ears with a little paw and said, "I don't think it was much."
Second Senior Sister nodded. Her fingers continued petting the cat as she silently pondered something.
Meanwhile, Lu Xun leisurely returned to the Small Study.
He walked at an unhurried pace, admiring the scenery along the way.
After returning to his room, Lu Xun checked his current Reputation Points. They had stabilized at 1827.
He was not far from the mission's progress requirement of 2000 points. If he found another chance to make an effort, this mission would basically be complete.
If Lu Xun claimed he was not curious about the Sea of Qi inside his body, he would be lying.
Unfortunately, he had no chance to "see" it again anytime soon. Only after his Divine Sense reached a certain realm would he be able to inspect his Sea of Qi internally.
That said, the Sea of Qi truly was one of the most mysterious domains for cultivators.
The Sect Master, Shen Yan, was already a Great Cultivator of the Eighth Realm, yet even he could not examine another person's Sea of Qi, let alone anyone else.
Before Lu Xun transmigrated, the highest level available in Heavenly Dust had only been level 60. So even his former main account would not have been able to withstand a beating from Shen Yan.
After all, levels 0 through 10 did not even count as entering the ranks; they were still the foundation-building stage. Levels 10 through 20 counted as the First Realm. By that calculation, the Eighth Realm was solidly in the eighties!
Now that I'm here... I probably won't be restricted by level limits anymore, right? Lu Xun thought.
But for him, still a level 2 newbie account, such matters were far too distant.
First, he would live well in this world. Then he would see where his limits lay.
He was actually quite curious: for cultivators of the Tian Chen Continent, where was the endpoint of cultivation? Or did cultivation have no endpoint at all?
He had this thought because he had read many xianxia novels and played plenty of xianxia games. They all had settings such as the "Immortal Realm" and "ascension," as though ascension were the endpoint of cultivation.
But Heavenly Dust had no such setting.
Ascension and all that nonsense simply did not exist!
As for the sort of plot where hundreds of millions fought over a single spot to ascend to the Immortal Realm, that was even more impossible. Was that cultivation? Wasn't that just a xianxia version of battle royale?
While playing the game, many players could feel the NPCs' love for the Tian Chen Continent, their love for this world.
Thinking about it, that made sense. If the ultimate goal of cultivation was ascension, was leaving this world, then naturally one would lack a measure of gentleness toward it.
This chapter once again explained a small part of the setting. Yes, ascension did not exist in this story's setting.
Before you continue