Beside the Myriad Things Come shop, Qiao Bin anxiously glanced at Yang Ning in the open space not far away and lowered his voice. "Junior Sister, at this hour you should be practicing with the Hall Master at the Law Enforcement Hall. What are you doing here?!"
Xu Yinyin leisurely wiped the droplets of water from her hands with her apron.
"Master said this morning that she had to report to the Sect Master about the Demonic Sect Undercover Agent today, so she told me to practice on my own."
Qiao Bin's eyes brimmed with anxiety. Though the girl before him was nominally his junior sister, in truth she was the "little ancestor" whom the entire Law Enforcement Hall held in the palm of its hand.
"Exactly! The Hall Master told you to practice on your own. She didn't say you could come down the mountain and work here! And now you're even a shop assistant!"
Xu Yinyin waved a hand. "Oh, Senior Brother, it's not that different. Don't worry."
"It's very different!" Qiao Bin's voice rose eight octaves before he knew it.
He immediately realized he'd lost his composure, hurriedly covered his mouth, and lowered his voice. "Practicing and helping out are worlds apart. How could there be no difference?"
Xu Yinyin was unconcerned. "You lot are always going on about the 'Incense Sect,' yet you come here every day and call it cultivation. If you can come here, why can't I?"
"How is that the same? Oh, my little ancestor!" Qiao Bin was so anxious he stamped his feet.
Seeing how utterly distressed Qiao Bin looked, Xu Yinyin finally put aside some of her teasing. "All right, all right, Senior Brother." She suddenly closed her eyes, then snapped them open. Golden light shone in her eyes as the pressure of the early Core Formation Stage erupted from her.
Though Qiao Bin had only broken through to the mid Core Formation Stage two days ago, the aura Xu Yinyin unleashed was so fierce that it was in no way inferior to his mid Core Formation Stage cultivation. The resulting gust of pressure forced him to retreat several steps against his will.
"Junior Sister... Could it be that you've also...?" Qiao Bin's eyes widened in disbelief.
Xu Yinyin then withdrew her pressure and said with a cheerful smile, "I haven't joined your Incense Sect, so don't get the wrong idea. I came here to practice in a different way."
After hearing Yang Ning's thoughts on the varying speed of water flow at the Law Enforcement Hall last night, Xu Yinyin's mind had suddenly become much clearer. Even the shackles of her late Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation had shown signs of loosening.
Yang Ning had rare goods, and thoughts that many Cultivators lacked. He possessed a heart of insight. Add to that his handsome face and eyes with a hint of roguish charm, and it was no wonder the twenty-year-old girl, who spent every day cultivating, had become deeply interested in him. That was exactly why she had offered to visit the Myriad Things Come shop while coming down the mountain.
After seeing Yang Ning off last night and returning to her own shop, his words had echoed in her mind without end.
"Be patient. Draw on the flowing water bit by bit, guide it with the current, and gather it into rivers and seas."
Following his words, Xu Yinyin regulated the True Qi in her body bit by bit, guiding it to flow freely through her extraordinary meridians until it slowly gathered in her dantian. By the time the morning sun rose, a golden core had already taken shape in her dantian.
Watching Qiao Bin's stunned expression, Xu Yinyin struggled to suppress the corners of her mouth from turning up. She clasped her hands in a salute. "Senior Brother, make yourself at home. I still have to clean the shop. Oh, no! I still have to cultivate!"
With that, Xu Yinyin turned and entered the shop, leaving Qiao Bin standing alone, utterly dumbfounded.
As the sun climbed higher, Yang Ning caught a whiff of "incense." He turned to look and saw Qiao Bin crouched beside his Sun Chair, five incense sticks held between his lips as he puffed away.
"Cough, cough, cough—" Yang Ning hurriedly waved away the smoke. "What are you doing?!"
"S-sorry, Brother Ning." Qiao Bin hurried to his feet and moved to the downwind side to keep smoking. He picked up a branch and began drawing circles in the dirt.
"Brother Ning, what do you think the meaning of life is?" Qiao Bin's voice held a trace of bewilderment.
Yang Ning sat up straight and pushed his sunglasses down his nose, looking at Qiao Bin over the frames. "Huh?"
"I've spent decades cultivating, only for someone who's been practicing for two years to catch up with me."
Qiao Bin gave a bitter smile. The branch in his hand kept circling in the dirt, and two silent tears slid down his cheeks. "They say a heaven-blessed genius is always a heaven-blessed genius, someone ordinary Cultivators like us can never hope to reach. I used to think I had decent talent. Now I see that fireflies' light could never rival the bright moon."
Hearing Qiao Bin's heavy sigh, Yang Ning felt a twinge of sympathy.
"Forget it, forget it. You can't always look up. Every now and then, you have to lower your head and look at the ground beneath your feet. Reaching the Core Formation Stage after decades of cultivation is already no small feat. Think of all the people who spend their whole lives without reaching even half your level. Sometimes looking down is the only way to find your confidence, isn't it?"
Qiao Bin turned to look at Yang Ning, a snot bubble still hanging from the tip of his nose. That's right. Brother Ning doesn't even have a spiritual root. He'll never be able to set foot on the Immortal Path, let alone enjoy the long lifespan of a Cultivator. Compared to him, I'm already very fortunate.
Looking at Qiao Bin's ridiculous appearance, Yang Ning was thinking to himself, Sigh, I have the system backing me up, and my physique has already reached 15, comparable to the late Foundation Establishment Stage. I'm only twenty and don't need to cultivate as hard as he does. I can improve my cultivation just by opening the shop and collecting Spirit Stones every day. Compared to him, I have no idea how much luckier I am!
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