Aunt, Little Brother

"Shi Yi, tell me, where did the scripture you recited come from?"

Willow Deity's unexpected question left Shi Yi at a loss for how to answer.

Lie to her?

Could he fool her?

Besides—

Lies could only breed more lies. Using lies to prove lies would only yield more lies. Once a lie was told, it might take thousands upon thousands of lies to cover it up.

So lying was clearly not realistic. He was not a born liar; he could not even fool himself with a lie. Lying to her would make him more ridiculous than a clown.

After pondering it for a long while.

Shi Yi raised his head, flashed a brilliant smile, and revealed his white teeth.

"Secret!"

Since he truly could not lie, then it could only be a secret.

There was a saying that went well.

A man with secrets was the most charming kind of man.

A man who confessed everything might not necessarily earn a woman's respect. And once a woman saw through a man completely, he could only become a toy in her hands.

Although Shi Yi did not know what kind of woman Willow Deity was, he believed that no woman liked lies. Of course, lies specifically meant to praise women did not count.

Women, after all.

There were lies they could accept, and lies they could not accept in the slightest.

You could deceive her by saying she was beautiful and kind-hearted.

But you could not say she was vicious and black-hearted.

Besides that.

When it came to important matters, neither men nor women could accept being deceived.

If you did not want to say something, you could simply refuse to say it, because perhaps you had your reasons.

But if you used lies to deceive someone.

That was undoubtedly the most hurtful thing to do.

"You have secrets too?"

Willow Deity's expression did not change, but her gaze toward Shi Yi grew a touch gentler.

She had thought he would use some lies to conceal the origin of that scripture.

She could allow Shi Yi to have his own secrets, but she would never allow deception. No form of deception was acceptable.

If Shi Yi had chosen to brush her off with lies, she would have vanished immediately, as though she had never appeared at all.

"Teacher, can't I have secrets of my own?" Shi Yi stood tall with his chest out, looking utterly justified, completely unaware that there was anything wrong with what he said.

In his view.

Willow Deity was not his woman, so why should she keep digging into everything about him?

He simply would not say.

What could she do about it?

Willow Deity did not press him further. She spoke calmly. "Shi Yi, I believe the reason you were able to open Ten Celestial Passages is largely because of these supreme scriptures. Judging from the complexity and chaos of your Ten Celestial Passages, you possess at least thirteen Thirteen Supreme Dao Scriptures."

In truth, on the day Shi Yi opened Ten Celestial Passages, she had already realized that this Double Pupil User was extraordinary. She knew he had many secrets that even he himself did not understand.

It was just that Shi Yi had never recited any scriptures before, and he still needed to consult her when cultivating the Original True Understanding. Thus, she could not be certain that his Ten Celestial Passages came from supreme scriptures.

"I don't know!"

Shi Yi's large eyes darted around. He would not say a single word.

Not even if beaten to death!

"As for the thirteen Thirteen Supreme Dao Scriptures, if you do not wish to speak of them, then don't. But the scripture you have already recited—you should not need to hide that from your teacher any longer, should you?" Willow Deity asked.

"Secret!" Shi Yi scratched his head and gave a foolish grin.

The moment his words fell.

A shimmering willow branch emerged from the void and directly bound Shi Yi into a dumpling.

Smack!

The willow branch lashed down viciously from midair, producing the sound of flesh being slapped.

"Don't hit me, don't hit me! The secret of where the scripture came from truly cannot be told. But if the scripture is useful to Teacher, I can recite it for Teacher again."

Shi Yi felt a burning pain on his backside and looked utterly speechless. He was already eleven this year, yet she still treated him like a child.

It was far too disrespectful!

She did not see me as a man at all!

Shi Yi gritted his teeth.

Yet there was nothing he could do.

"Do you know why I did not let you finish reciting it? The supreme scripture you recite greatly drains you. You cannot recite it carelessly. At most, you may recite it twice a day. Otherwise, your body and mind will be exhausted, and you will faint."

Willow Deity saw every expression on Shi Yi's face.

She truly had never regarded Shi Yi as a man.

In her eyes.

Shi Yi was merely a little brat who had yet to grow up—a little brat who looked young but thought himself mature, and who harbored improper thoughts toward her.

His messy fantasies about her and his mind full of impractical ideas were more amusing to her than anything else.

Because of that.

Willow Deity did not find Shi Yi's deliberate and proactive closeness repulsive. Instead, she found it amusing, like teasing a child.

Especially when she saw Shi Yi's adorable look of gritting his teeth despite being helpless, Willow Deity found it even more amusing.

It sounded.

At odds with her aloof personality, but people were different, and feelings were different.

When you were with your family, you were certainly not the same as when you were with drinking buddies.

Willow Deity was the same.

She felt comfortable and relaxed around Shi Yi. She would not even spare others a glance, yet even if Shi Yi spouted endless nonsense, she would answer him.

Of course, this was inseparable from Shi Yi's tireless efforts day and night. During the five years he had been away from home, his greatest gain had not been opening Ten Celestial Passages, but luring Willow Deity away.

Now.

Willow Deity had not mentioned Stone Village.

Nor did she intend to return as its ancestral spirit.

Instead, she had treated Shi Yi's Tenth Celestial Passage—a chaotic world filled with Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Yin Yang Chaos, and the five elements—as her home, even opening a Small World within it.

As for Stone Village's safety.

There was no need to worry too much.

Not to mention the formation restrictions Willow Deity had left behind in Stone Village.

The young men and women of Stone Village had basically all undergone Ancient Descendant True Blood Baptism. Many had already broken through to the Celestial Passage Realm, and the village was developing toward becoming a Tribal Clan.

Moreover, if Stone Village wanted to venture out, it could not remain holed up in the village forever. To truly go out into the world, it could only fight the other Tribal Clans and fierce beasts of the Great Wilderness.

"Twice? Teacher, can't it be once a day?"

Shi Yi looked somewhat unwilling. Even without Willow Deity telling him, he could feel that his scripture recitation differed from ordinary people's. If he recited too much, this thing could truly drain his body dry.

How should he put it?

The scriptures he recited could manifest in reality. It was not as simple as casually reading them aloud.

The scriptures that emerged from his mouth were as though a Sage were personally reciting them, with a Heavenly Decree in his words.

For ordinary people.

Without talent, even if they recited these scriptures until they died, they could not stir the slightest ripple.

But he was different. Every sentence he recited manifested heavenly and earthly phenomena, golden lotuses blooming to save all living beings.

A Sage Reincarnation among Double Pupil Users?

Was that how it came about?

No.

The sages of this world, the ancient sages, were entirely different beings from the sages he had known in his previous life. There was no connection between them whatsoever.

Shi Yi rubbed his cheeks hard.

He felt that he was thinking too much.

"No discussion, Shi Yi. From now on, recite scriptures inside your own Cavern Heaven world. Twice a day. You are not allowed to slack off," Willow Deity said in an irrefutable tone.

She understood Shi Yi well. With Shi Yi's lazy temperament and inability to endure hardship, as his teacher, she had to be a little forceful. Otherwise, if he continued slacking off like this, when would he gain the ability and qualifications to walk beside her?

The Great Dao was walked alone.

Lonely and desolate.

If Shi Yi truly had the ability to walk beside her.

Then there were some matters she could perhaps consider.

And so.

Aside from cultivating the Original True Understanding and the Willow Deity Method, Shi Yi gained another daily task: reciting scriptures.

Although this daily scripture recitation took place inside his Cavern Heaven world, with Willow Deity accompanying him, it was still not an easy task for Shi Yi.

There was no other reason: Shi Yi's scripture recitation differed from ordinary people's. When he recited scriptures, it was as though he were a Sage, with a Heavenly Decree in his words. The expenditure was simply too great.

One had to know.

Previously, relying on the Willow Deity Method's Unceasing Growth, Shi Yi had fought the Adult Pixiu for ten days and ten nights without exhausting his stamina. He had even grown braver as he fought.

Yet after reciting the Script of Salvation three times—only one-third of the Script of Salvation—he could no longer hold on and fainted. This showed just how difficult scripture recitation was for Shi Yi.

There was also this.

Aside from the Script of Salvation, Shi Yi did not dare casually recite the other supreme scriptures floating in his soul consciousness sea for now. He feared that he might die before finishing one.

One-third of the Script of Salvation, recited three times, could drain him dry. As for that "Dao that can be spoken," namely the Dao De Jing, perhaps just a few words could drain him dry.

One needed to be meticulous and cautious in life.

One could not be greedy for achievement and rush ahead.

Shi Yi was deeply versed in the art of lying low. Even when opening Ten Celestial Passages, he had Willow Deity as a safeguard. It was not that he only knew how to indulge in lust and beauty; he knew she would not watch him come to harm.

The only unexpected thing.

Was the thirteen Thirteen Supreme Dao Scriptures in his soul consciousness sea.

He truly had not expected the unremarkable Daoist scriptures from his previous life to become supreme scriptures, even allowing him to open Ten Celestial Passages with potential and value beyond estimation.

The next day.

Martial King Manor, Back Garden.

"Aunt, Little brother, I..."