Leisurely Life

In the blink of an eye, the White Snake became a woman in Hanfu, possessed of classical beauty.

Yu Rong nodded. That was more like it.

The shoes on her feet did not fit, so Xu Ling found several pairs for the White Snake. The oversized shoes the White Snake had casually found before were far too ugly.

"It is no easy thing to awaken Spiritual Intelligence and take human form. In the future, remember never to bring calamity upon the human world or recklessly commit slaughter. The road ahead is long; cultivate with peace of mind and do not waste this hard-won fortune," Yu Rong earnestly instructed.

The White Snake nodded.

"Hiss~"

The three of them froze. Hearing a snake's hiss come from a human mouth felt profoundly strange.

Even the White Snake herself was stunned. Why had a hiss still come out when she had tried to speak just now?

"Hiss hiss... hiss? Hiss hiss..."

The White Snake anxiously clawed at her throat, shaking her head back and forth, but all that emerged in the end were still snake hisses. No matter how she changed the shape of her mouth, it was useless, as though she were still a snake.

The experienced Yu Rong already knew the reason and raised a hand to stop the frantic White Snake.

"Animals have a hyoid bone in their mouths. Only by refining the hyoid bone can one speak human language. For a demonic beast that has taken human form, refining the hyoid bone in its mouth is not difficult. At most, it will take a few days."

Xu Ling and Yang Mu suddenly understood, while the White Snake nodded helplessly.

"Our Chunyang Palace has no precedent for taking demonic beasts as disciples. Just carry on as before. You have learned quite a few Chunyang Cultivation Methods already, enough for your needs. Remember to hang the jade pendant at your waist so the disciples in the sect do not misunderstand. Wait until you have refined your hyoid bone before going down the mountain."

She nodded again, without the slightest expression.

"Hiss~"

It was not that she did not want to make an expression, but that she simply could not. Making expressions required controlling facial muscles, yet serpentine creatures had no expressions to display and no habit of controlling their facial muscles. Even after becoming human, she did not know how to control them.

If a demon that had never understood humans could immediately speak after taking human form and make every kind of human expression, that would be utter nonsense. Even demons familiar with humans needed time to adapt and learn before they could control their muscles. Taking human form and instantly knowing how to speak and smile was simply absurd.

"Do you have a name? Big White does not count. Pick a new one."

A name? That was rather troublesome. After thinking for a moment, she had an idea. Since she herself was a White Snake, she would take Bai as her surname. Outside, Heavy Rain poured down, so her name would contain rain. Her dream was to become a king, to become a divine sovereign; combining the characters for king and sovereign made Jun. Bai Yujun.

She called for paper and brush, then held the brush in her right hand in an extremely unfamiliar posture and wrote on the paper.

The three thought it perfectly normal. If she had just taken human form and could already write superb calligraphy, that would have been the real problem.

The three characters Bai Yujun leapt onto the page.

"Bai Yujun? A fine name."

Taking human form was difficult; learning to walk on two legs was even harder.

A girl learning to walk unsteadily appeared in the Snow Bamboo forest on the Back Mountain. Her long hair hung loose, and she wore a flowing white robe. Supporting herself against the Snow Bamboo like a toddler learning to walk, she fell from time to time, ending up dirty-faced and covered in bamboo leaves. Deep down, she sighed that crawling was still far more comfortable.

After several days, she finally managed to walk, though she still occasionally Fell Down.

One day.

Three young people entered the dining hall: Bai Yujun, Xu Ling, and Yang Mu.

Many people glanced sideways. One young male disciple did not even notice the bun In Hand had been snatched away by the Junior Brother beside him. Every gaze fell upon Bai Yujun. There were many beautiful women on the mountain, but one as exquisitely pure and unearthly as her was truly one of a kind. The girls seized their dao companions by the ears and gave them vicious twists, while the young men without dao companions stirred restlessly.

Xu Ling and Yang Mu found an empty table and sat down, while Bai Yujun headed toward the back kitchen.

Many disciples whispered among themselves, discussing the identity of the newly arrived beauty. She wore no Daoist robe, only a white dress, and bore neither the token nor the treasured sword that represented a disciple's identity. No one could guess who she was; only a few senior disciples found the jade pendant at her waist strangely familiar.

The plump chef uncle raised his cleaver, then suddenly paused, staring in confusion at the Young lady who had entered the kitchen.

"Little girl, did you take a wrong turn?"

Bai Yujun looked up and smiled, thanking the plump chef uncle for his care over the years.

Clang~

A young cook's cleaver fell to the ground, nearly chopping his foot.

She walked into the familiar backyard and came before the large basin of bloody meat specially prepared for her. Though it contained only scraps and trimmings, there was plenty of it—enough to fill her stomach.

The plump chef uncle came to the backyard, and then saw the strangest, most horrifying sight of his life...

The sunlight was warm, birds chirped merrily, and that impossibly beautiful Young lady in a white dress squatted before a wooden basin full of meat. Her slender little hand grabbed bloody chunks of flesh and stuffed them into her mouth. Without even chewing, she swallowed them straight into her stomach. The plump chef uncle felt that the world had surely gone mad...

Lingxu Palace.

Many Lingxu Palace disciples with gourds hanging at their waists saw a beauty in a white dress stroll into the main hall. Moreover, as she walked, she swayed from side to side in an S-shaped path. The protective formation of the hall did not reject her. Who was she?

The steward in charge of Failed Pills and Medicinal Dregs watched in bafflement as the Young lady walked in and obediently sat to one side. He had just been about to ask who she was when he saw the girl grab a handful of Failed Pills and stuff them straight into her mouth—one handful after another. The steward was stunned. Those had been prepared for that great snake; why was she eating them all? Would she not be poisoned?

After eating the Failed Pills and Medicinal Dregs, Bai Yujun smiled at the steward and swayed away.

Behind her, the steward spotted the jade pendant from the White Snake tied at the girl's waist. She could also eat Failed Pills and Medicinal Dregs without restraint. Could it be...

Zuowang Peak.

Another batch of new disciples had entered the mountain gate. The disciples, ranging from six to fifteen years old, took in the immortal cultivation splendor of Zuowang Peak. Yet today, a girl who wore neither a Daoist robe nor a token of disciple status went up the mountain. After examining her jade pendant, the senior disciple guarding the place did not stop her.

Mists and clouds curled around the huge boulder at the Mountain Peak, making it seem like an immortal realm. Beneath an enormous peach tree that would take five or six people linking arms to encircle—

An older disciple sat cross-legged in an elevated spot. Many junior disciples in white sat around him, the youngest seven or eight, the eldest eleven or twelve, all quietly listening to the older disciple's lesson.

"Empty the heart, fill the belly..."

"Preserve my spirit, contemplate my body, and attain the realm of stillness..."

"Heart Purity..."

"Sitting in Forgetfulness..."

"Breath Control..."

"Guard the One..."

The older disciple spoke slowly. Beneath the peach tree, a girl in a white dress sat on a branch, her legs swinging back and forth. As she grasped their meaning and sensed their state, Bai Yujun openly studied from atop the peach tree. She could see farther from there, and the faint chill of the mountain peak felt wonderfully comfortable.

"Listen carefully! Whoever lets his mind wander again will be punished with hauling water!"

The older disciple barked at the distracted young disciples. He looked up and noticed the White-clothed Girl wore a White Snake jade pendant at her waist and was sitting on the very branch where White Snake had often lingered. He nodded, secretly thinking, So that's how it is...

A streak of sword light swept across the sky.

Chu Zhe, Chunyang Palace's Senior Brother, had just emerged from seclusion and come to inspect Zuowang Peak on his master's orders. The young disciples were Chunyang's fresh blood and could not be neglected. As the sect leader's eldest disciple, Chu Zhe had a duty to supervise his Junior Brothers' cultivation on his master's behalf. His sword flight deeply stunned the rookies of Zuowang Peak, who had only recently entered the sect.

After circling Zuowang Peak once, he flew straight to the massive boulder atop the Mountain Peak. That was the special training class for geniuses chosen one in ten thousand for their talent.

He landed lightly. His flying sword turned into a streak of light and flew into the Sword Box, drawing another wave of astonished exclamations.

Turning around, he saw the white figure on the ancient peach tree...

Chunyang had no shortage of beauties, yet the petite beauty before him made Chu Zhe's heart tremble. Her white dress swayed in the breeze, her waterfall-like Black Hair casually tied behind her head. She sat in the tree with a hint of laziness and boredom, and her peerless face brought to Chu Zhe's mind the words capable of toppling cities and kingdoms. Especially when she tilted her head and looked over curiously, she became all the more captivating.

Could she be a fairy descended to the mortal world...

Bai Yujun tilted her head curiously at the fellow who had fallen from the sky. After thinking for a while, she recalled that Xu Ling seemed to call him Senior Brother, and had said he was the dream lover of most of Chunyang Palace's female disciples. He did look rather good—his face was resolute, his brows sharp as swords and eyes bright as stars. He lacked the traits of those pretty young boys, but the more one looked at him, the better he looked.

But... no matter how handsome you are, you can't just stare at someone without moving, can you?

The older disciple responsible for teaching the newcomers looked at Chu Zhe, then at Bai Yujun, utterly baffled. What was wrong with Senior Brother?

No one knew that something unusual had appeared in Chu Zhe's true heart, and his steadfast Dao Heart had begun to waver without a sound.