Little Oddity Yaoying

In front of the 'Primordial Creation Furnace', Lin Xiao was forming hand seals, controlling the furnace's heat, and directing groups of disciples in green robes to use spiritual techniques to collect the spirit pills ejected from the furnace.

'Primordial Creation Furnace' was the name Daoist Master Yizhen came up with after much thought. The words 'Primordial Creation' lent the high-grade precious artifact furnace a touch of ancient mystery, and also greatly puffed up Daoist Master Yizhen's own ego. The word 'Creation' even earned a nod of approval from Daoist Yi Xing. Seeing the grand scene of Lin Xiao refining pills, the furnace and Lin Xiao worked together, not disgracing the word 'Creation'.

As the spiritual techniques shifted, Lin Xiao raised the furnace lid and was about to order the disciples preparing the herbs to add the next batch of medicinal ingredients when a thin beam of green light shot from the horizon and into a small jade leaf pendant hanging from his waist. With a soft 'chirp', the leaf suddenly flew up, circled Lin Xiao three times, and then rapidly flew towards the direction the green light had come from.

Lin Xiao let out a roar, his hand seals dispersed, and he took to the sky on a streak of red light, closely following the jade leaf.

The attending disciples immediately panicked. They didn't know what had happened to make Lin Xiao abandon the six batches of pills currently being refined in the furnace so hastily. They knew that among the pills being refined today was a rare spirit herb, 'Golden Spirit Liquid', an excellent medicine capable of healing Golden Core injuries. With Lin Xiao's departure, the six batches of spirit pills in the furnace were bound to be ruined, resulting in considerable loss of medicinal ingredients. The disciples looked at each other, milling around the furnace which was beginning to emit a burnt smell, unsure of what to do.

Lin Xiao rode his sword light, closely following the rapidly flying jade leaf, like a red meteor streaking across the sky. As he sped through the air, a trace of anger gradually surfaced in his heart.

He recognized that the jade leaf was flying towards the Origin Sect's Medicine Mountain! Although he didn't know why Qingchu had suddenly gone to Medicine Mountain, since the emergency token he had given her was sent from there, she must have encountered trouble! Could someone be troubling Qingchu in Medicine Mountain? The faces of Princess Xiu and her group of five flashed before Lin Xiao's eyes. "Hmph, do they really think Lin Xiao doesn't kill people?" Lin Xiao gritted his teeth, his anger intensifying. Qingchu was like the little dog he had raised when he was young; how could he allow others to bully her?

Chii~, the jade leaf cut across the main courtyard at the entrance of Medicine Mountain and headed straight for a valley beyond a dozen peaks. Lin Xiao glanced down in surprise at the disciples of Medicine Mountain on the ground who were staring up at him blankly. He frowned and mused, "Why did Qingchu go to such a remote back mountain? Could it be~"

The moment he thought of the indecent words Qingchu's two follower senior brothers had said to her, Lin Xiao's eyes shot out wisps of purplish-red lightning. Jiang Zizai had given Lin Xiao the Supreme Clarity Thunderfire True Art. Lin Xiao had been constantly refining pills at the furnace these past few days, absorbing the abundant spiritual energy from the furnace fire into his body. The Thunderfire True Art had seen some progress, and the electrical sparks in his eyes now added a commanding aura to his handsome face. Seeing the guiding jade leaf trail a green light into a dark, remote valley, Lin Xiao also descended his sword light with a somber expression.

Qingchu, who was standing at the cave entrance, hopping from foot to foot, saw a red light descend from the sky. She immediately cried out with joy, "Brother Lin~ Hurry, hurry and save me!"

She pounced onto Lin Xiao, grabbing his sleeve with one hand and desperately pulling him towards the cave.

Lin Xiao was slightly stunned. He was taken aback by a delicate and beautiful girl suddenly bounding towards him, and instinctively almost slapped her. Fortunately, Qingchu's cry came in time, and Lin Xiao recognized her voice, thus retracting his right palm. He glanced at Qingchu's smooth, flawless face and nodded to himself, Excellent, Ancestor Huayu's 'Jade Muscle Cream' is truly miraculous. Senior Yi Yi is so interested in the Beauty-Nourishing Pill, so the 'Jade Muscle Paste' must be too.

Qingchu impatiently pulled Lin Xiao into the cave. As soon as Lin Xiao entered, he twitched his nose several times. The air was filled with a strong medicinal scent. Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes and carefully identified the medicinal properties. Suddenly, he shouted, "Who is so foolish? In the cultivation world, there are hundreds of thousands of commonly used, rarely used, and rare medicines. No one has ever dared to mix the medicinal power of so many herbs together to refine pills! Who mixed countless medicinal powers together? This medicinal scent, I fear it's~~~"

Qingchu tugged hard on Lin Xiao's sleeve and cried with a choked voice, "Brother Lin, Little Qing is in trouble! It's going to be burned to death, quickly save it!"

Whoosh, half of the cave's green moss turned to ash in the flames. Only a piece of purplish-green moss the size of half a fingertip remained in the pool, weakly swirling within it. From time to time, a strange flame would erupt from the moss, and large patches of green moss on the cave floor would turn black and turn to ash. The moss chirped, like a chick frozen by a blizzard emitting its final death throes. Qingchu squatted by the pool, her tears dripping into the pond one by one.

Lin Xiao knelt on one knee, ignoring the flames that occasionally ignited beneath him. He reached out, dipped some of the strangely colored liquid from the pool, and put it in his mouth, gently tasting it. "Ugh!" Lin Xiao's face contorted fiercely. The taste of the pool water was extremely bizarre, with all five flavors – sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty – each distinct and pure, piercing from his tongue straight to his abdomen, almost making him vomit. Yet, these five flavors combined into an extremely strange mixture. This burning sensation, like fire, shot straight to Lin Xiao's forehead, making his vision momentarily darken, nearly causing him to faint.

"This is clearly a pool of poison!" Spitting out the liquid in his mouth forcefully, Lin Xiao quickly took out several detoxification spirit pills and swallowed them. Only then did he ask calmly, "What is this monster?"

"Little Qing isn't a monster!" Qingchu looked at Lin Xiao pitifully, digging at the ground with her finger, saying with some grievance, "Little Qing is a patch of moss from Medicine Mountain. It absorbed the spiritual energy of various medicines from Medicine Mountain over thousands of years and the dripping medicinal liquids during harvesting, thus gaining sentience~ Besides Uncle Li, who cares for me, Little Qing is Qingchu's only friend!"

Besides Li Le, who doted on Qingchu, this patch of moss was Qingchu's only friend?

Lin Xiao's gaze shifted slightly. He looked at Qingchu with pity and tenderness. He could imagine, amidst the countless Medicine Mountains of the Origin Sect, a lonely little girl and a small patch of sentient moss meeting by chance. Two equally innocent little beings became friends, meeting and chatting in the mountains. Under the moonlight, in the cold wind, a little girl with an ugly face and a wriggling little moss monster that could only chirp 'ying ying', talking back and forth, understanding each other, and making themselves understood. This, he thought, must be friendship.

Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "Don't worry. It's just that it urgently needs spiritual medicine and spiritual energy, but it doesn't know how to refine it. Therefore, its body cannot withstand the medicinal power, and it's about to be burned by the power."

The countless records in the Great Luo Pill Scripture rapidly flipped through his mind. Lin Xiao said softly, "Although its main body is a patch of moss, its innate talent is too poor, and its intelligence is also weaker. However, it can be considered a type of plant spirit. An ancestor of my Great Luo Pill Dao, Ancestor Wanye, most enjoyed enlightening various plant and wood spirits for fun. Here, I have a copy of the 'Wood Spirit Art' he used to enlighten those spirits back then. Although it's not a profound and exquisite technique, it's perfect for this unformed little monster."

Qingchu looked at Lin Xiao expectantly, just nodding repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Little Qing, emitting wisps of flame, cried out loudly, "I'm not a monster~~~ Chirp chirp~~~ I'm not a monster~~~ Chirp, it hurts so much~~~ I am a monster!"

Lin Xiao shook his head and slowly recited the Wood Spirit Art, letting Little Qing comprehend it on its own.

These spirits transformed from plants and trees had no concept of meridians or acupoints. They simply accumulated various energies instinctively. If they were lucky, they could use the accumulated energy to take form as a demon; if they were unlucky, the energy, which was too powerful for their fragile bodies, would blow them to pieces, or simply attract various heavenly tribulations.

The Wood Spirit Art was a rudimentary method, teaching these little monsters how to control the spiritual energy within their bodies and then use it to refine their forms.

Little Qing chirped a few times and suddenly plunged into the pool. Instantly, the pool water, filled with potent medicinal energy within a radius of several feet, rapidly disappeared, all absorbed into Little Qing's body. Little Qing's body expanded to the size of a large tub. The furry moss clumps wriggled rapidly, and waves of strong medicinal fragrance continuously spread from its body, forcing Qingchu to retreat. The green moss on the ground and in the ditches also floated up, strand by strand, integrating into Little Qing's main body.

Lin Xiao stood with his hands behind his back, calmly watching Little Qing refine the powerful medicinal energy within its body according to the method. He said in a low voice, "You are a demon, but your true form is this patch of moss. From now on, your name will be Yaoying!"

Raising his right hand towards the sky, Lin Xiao activated the Supreme Clarity Thunderfire True Art. A purple lightning bolt, as thin as a hair, descended from the sky and struck Little Qing, which was wriggling rapidly and emitting continuous 'chirping' screams.

Qingchu screamed, "Brother Lin, don't hurt Little Qing!"

Lin Xiao remained silent.

Within the purple thunderfire was a trace of the Skyfire True Essence, which was extremely yang and extremely strong, from Lin Xiao's body. Little Qing, however, was a moss demon of extreme yin and extreme cold. When the yin and yang energies combined, an extremely wondrous change occurred.

As the lightning exploded on Little Qing's body, large patches of moss were blasted into pieces and flung far away. A cloud of green smoke billowed out, and a slender, graceful figure slowly emerged from the smoke. It was a little girl with pale green skin, dark green hair, and eyes as clear and translucent as green emeralds. Her appearance was nine-tenths similar to Qingchu's.

The little girl blinked her eyes, looked at Lin Xiao blankly, and giggled foolishly.

Moss becoming a demon, its innate endowment was too low. This little monster, whom Lin Xiao named Yaoying, was not very intelligent.

Lin Xiao patted Yaoying's head and said calmly, "Qingchu, Yaoying will be under your care from now on. Hurry and teach her some things!"

The little monster giggled, pointing at her nose and saying happily, "Yaoying! Yaoying! I have a new name! Hehe, it sounds better than Little Qing!"

Qingchu happily walked up to the little monster, gently stroking its cheek, and chuckled, "Little Qing, you're my sister from now on!"

The two little girls looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter. (To be continued)