Provocation Tactic

In the days that followed.

Shi Yi completely resigned himself to his fate and settled down in Stone Village.

In Stone Village,

there was no cute and charming Maid A Man for him to tease, no beautiful and captivating mother to call him out of bed, and certainly no pampered life of a royal descendant, with clothes brought to him and food served at his mouth.

He had to work for everything himself—cook for himself, sleep by himself, cultivate by himself, wash his own clothes, and every few days, follow Stone Village's hunting party out to hunt for food.

Though it was plain, it was simple. Shi Yi gradually adapted to this quiet life.

Perhaps what he considered plain differed from what others did, but his days were still quite fulfilling.

Every morning after getting up, he would first go curry favor with the Willow Deity. In other words, he would awkwardly chat with her whenever he could. He was still a child, after all. If he did not make good use of his age now, he might never get another chance.

Since the conversations were awkward and meaningless, the Willow Deity did not respond to Shi Yi every day. Yet it was obvious that her later divine transmissions grew gentler and gentler. Without realizing it, she had begun to regard him as a junior.

The squeaky wheel got the grease.

That saying was absolutely true.

When cultivating the Original True Understanding, even with the help of his Double Pupils, Shi Yi encountered countless problems, large and small. Whenever he ran into one, he would promptly seek out the Willow Deity for answers.

Though the Willow Deity also found Shi Yi somewhat bothersome, she was a woman by nature, and a trace of maternal tenderness lay hidden within her. Otherwise, she would not have responded to him at all.

Since a karmic connection already existed between them, and she did not particularly dislike Shi Yi, he obtained solutions from the Willow Deity for every problem he encountered while cultivating the Original True Understanding.

There was no helping it.

Shi Yi was not as unyielding as Shi Hao, someone whose shoulders could hold up the entire sky. He was merely an ordinary person—an ordinary person with great power and extraordinary talent.

He knew his own limits. He never thought too highly of himself or believed himself to be some legendary, invincible prodigy. Humble and cautious by nature, he would never gamble his life or future on needless risks.

Perhaps such a Shi Yi was not mature enough, but the feeling of being needed inexplicably made the Willow Deity feel comfortable. Gradually, she began responding to some of his nonsensical awkward chatter.

Three years later.

Great Wilderness, Stone Village, village center.

"Willow Deity, your voice sounds so lovely. You must be very beautiful, right?"

"Not beautiful at all. I am ugly, charred black all over and utterly ruined."

"Really? I don't believe it. Unless you take human form and let me see."

"Shi Yi, you are still young. You should not become overly attached to outward appearances."

"I'm not attached to appearances. Willow Deity, since you yourself said that a human form helps with cultivation and makes it easier to comprehend the Great Dao, why insist on remaining in the form of a Willow Tree?"

"Shi Yi, what I taught you was to help you understand the human form, understand other races, and understand why they take human form. It was not for you to use those words specifically to needle me."

Shi Yi's taunting had no effect on the Willow Deity. She had lived for an unknown number of tens of thousands of years, and her state of mind had long become unshakable.

She could not possibly fulfill his wish to see her true form merely because of a few provoking words from Shi Yi.

A true form was simply a human form.

Whether Ancient Descendants or Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beasts, as long as they wished it, they could take human form without changing their original bodies.

However, most Ancient Descendants and Pure-Blooded Ferocious Beasts disdained taking human form. Humans were nothing but food to them, not worth gathering a human form for.

"I wasn't trying to needle you. What I mean is, if you can take human form, Willow Deity, there's no need for you to remain in your original form. Could it be that human form making it easier to comprehend the Great Dao is just a lie?"

Seeing no hope of achieving his goal and catching a glimpse of the Willow Deity's true form, Shi Yi stopped holding back and directly used the fifteenth of the Thirty-Six Stratagems: provocation.

"A lie?" A faint voice sounded.

It had to be said.

Shi Yi's provocation tactic was very successful—and in some ways, very unsuccessful.

Its success lay in this:

the Willow Deity truly manifested her human form. This was her genuine appearance.

Under Shi Yi's disbelieving gaze,

a breathtakingly beautiful figure slowly stepped out of the void. The woman wore neither shoes nor stockings, her snow-white jade feet lightly treading upon the empty air.

She walked forward casually, as though a Goddess had drifted down from the Ninth Heaven into the mortal world. Her pale blue-white robe clung closely to her graceful body.

As she walked, she inadvertently revealed her tall, exquisite figure—her long and plump legs, the supple rise and fall of her breasts, and the slender yet resilient curve of her waist and abdomen.

This woman possessed an unmatched elegance that made people of any status unable to resist looking up at her.

Her clear, flawless eyes carried a calm understanding of all worldly affairs, along with the air of someone who had experienced every hardship and change in the world.

But when she saw a certain indescribable thing—Shi Yi—her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly, and a dangerous aura spread through all of Stone Village.

Its failure lay in this:

Shi Yi had indeed used provocation to make the Willow Deity reveal her true form, but he himself had to bear the price of using such a tactic.

Provocation, provocation—provocation was a powerful rhetorical technique. One had to consider the target, circumstances, and conditions before using it; it could not be abused carelessly.

When employing provocation, one had to grasp the proper measure. It could not be too hasty, nor could it be too slow. Too hasty, and haste made waste; too slow, and it would naturally have no effect.

Shi Yi had succeeded, but he had also failed.

"Three years have passed, Shi Yi. You have grown up, and you have opened six cavern heavens. It is time for you to go out and make your way in the world. Under my wings, you will never truly grow up."

The Willow Deity stood barefoot in midair, her fair and delicate jade feet always one centimeter above the ground. She looked so sacred and inviolable.

Just as she said, three years had passed.

Nine-year-old Shi Yi was already a grown boy. Some of his childishness had faded, replaced by the air of youth. His handsome features made the girls of Stone Village pine for him night after night.

He had a handsome face. Beneath his sharp, sword-like brows, his eyes shone as brilliantly as a river of stars. His tall, refined nose was like jade carved into shape.

His lips curved like a bow, tracing an exceptionally perfect line. If they were even slightly fuller, they would appear too rugged and lose that perfection.

If they were even slightly thinner, they would look delicate and weak like a girl's. A little more would be too hard, a little less too soft. As they were now, they were perfectly balanced.

He stood around one meter sixty tall. There were no bulging muscles on his body, yet his proportions were golden, his abdominal muscles formed a perfect V-line, and every muscle on him was just right.

His ink-black hair drifted behind him to his waist. His resolute yet handsome features gave him a hint of scholarly refinement without making him seem weak.

"Willow Deity, I—"

Before he could finish speaking,

the Willow Deity flashed before Shi Yi. Her hand, as flawless as carved white jade, rested on his shoulder and instantly sealed his body.

As Shi Yi's eyes darted wildly about, a Space Vortex opened before him. The jade hand on his shoulder shoved him forcefully into it.

"That brat has truly been irritating. He chattered endlessly for three whole years. Now I can finally enjoy some peace and quiet for a while."

The Willow Deity clapped her hands, and her human form vanished. The enormous Willow Tree at the center of Stone Village seemed unchanged, and no one noticed that it had briefly disappeared.