The Wonderful Use of a Crippled Body

One man and one fox descended Qingyou Peak and headed east. Ling Tian moved at an extremely fast pace; trees, flowers, and grass seemed to race backward beneath his swift dash.

Along the way, Ling Tian chatted casually with his mother. Humei asked him a few questions with concern, and Ling Tian answered each one carefully, afraid that Mother would worry if she heard too much. He deliberately picked amusing stories about catching little animals in the mountains and forests, making Humei beam with laughter. Her face often glowed with deep maternal affection.

Gradually, time passed amid the man's and fox's idle conversation. The scenery around Ling Tian slowly began to change. No longer were there endless rolling mountains or lush ancient trees soaring into the sky. Plains, low hills, and grasslands gradually appeared; the trees gave way to shrubs, and strange savage beasts became tame little wild animals. It seemed they had gradually left the boundaries of Qingyun Mountain.

"Mother, can little brats only a few years old in the outside world really catch flying birds?" Ling Tian finally could not hold back the question in his heart and asked.

Humei froze, then nodded gently after pondering for a moment. Humei had not heard Lingyun and his son discussing this matter either, so she did not know why Ling Tian had come down the mountain. But foxes had always been clever; after giving it a little thought, she understood the purpose of Ling Tian's journey. She could not help secretly laughing, inwardly blaming Lingyun for his black-hearted scheming.

"Really? That's too incredible." Ling Tian's face was full of disbelief. He had always been a little doubtful of what his father said, which was why he had asked Mother. Yet Mother had given him the same answer.

Humei narrowed her eyes slightly, her face brimming with amusement. Her body trembled faintly, clearly struggling to hold something back.

"Looks like I'm not even as good as a little brat." Ling Tian's heart sank, and he felt terribly bitter inside.

Humei finally could not endure any longer. She laughed until she shook with chirps, and even tears glimmered faintly in her sly fox eyes. She was plainly beside herself with delight.

"Mother, what are you laughing about? No, if the little brats outside are all that capable, then why would anyone still scramble to enter Qingyun Sect to cultivate? There must be something fishy here." Watching his mother shake with laughter, Ling Tian suddenly said.

Every year, devout mortals competed and fought to enter Qingyun Sect for cultivation. A flash of insight crossed his mind, and he finally thought of this point. Only then did he understand.

Humei covered her mouth with both paws, still laughing without end.

"Mother, how do you think they do it?" Having ruled out the first possibility, Ling Tian grew even more curious.

Yet what depressed Ling Tian was that no matter how much he begged Humei, she would not tell him. She merely kept giggling, leaving Ling Tian like a six-foot monk trying to feel the top of his own head—utterly baffled.

"Chirp chirp!" After Ling Tian acted spoiled and pleaded once more, Humei finally grew impatient and let out a chirp, her expression exceedingly mysterious.

"You'll know when the time comes? Uh, fine." In the end, Ling Tian was utterly defeated. He stopped speaking and simply focused on traveling.

Before long, Ling Tian vaguely spotted a village and faintly heard the crowing of chickens and barking of dogs.

Hearing this, Ling Tian flickered several times and arrived atop a small hill. Below lay more than a dozen scattered houses, with wisps of curling smoke rising from their roofs. It was clearly dinnertime, and the villagers were cooking. What a warm, tranquil little haven beyond the world.

"Hehe, come catch me!" A child's playful laughter suddenly rang out, followed faintly by the sounds of several children chasing, roughhousing, and laughing.

Ling Tian looked closely. A group of children was chasing one another in play. Leading them was a boy of around ten, sturdy and tiger-headed, with sweat covering his forehead, yet he paid it no mind. Several slightly younger children chased after him, their own heads drenched in sweat, but they did not seem as fast as the boy in front and simply could not catch him.

"Brother Huzi, stop! I can't catch up!" A girl with two little braids suddenly cried out. Her face was bright red, dotted with beads of sweat.

"Only an idiot would stop, hehe." The sturdy boy turned around and replied with a smug grin. If he stopped, he would be caught. He was not that foolish.

"Ah, wuwu, it hurts!" Seeing that the boy would not stop, the girl became anxious and failed to watch where she was stepping. She suddenly tumbled forward, immediately crying out in pain as tears quickly soaked her face.

"Younger Sister, what's wrong?" Hearing the girl cry, the boy turned around and stopped. He rushed to the little girl's side, crouched down, and asked anxiously.

"Wuwu, it hurts." The girl cried in pain, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand without answering Huzi.

"Blood! Run!" The other children saw the wet bloodstains on the girl's palm and fled in fright.

In an instant, the children scattered like birds and beasts, leaving only Huzi and the girl behind.

"Don't move. Let me see what happened." Though he said that, Huzi was a little frightened at the sight of blood too, utterly at a loss. The girl was looking at her own hands now, and the blood all over them had scared her so badly that she forgot even to cry.

"Let me see." In a few leaps from the small hill, Ling Tian arrived beside the two. He descended from midair, floating as though an immortal.

"An immortal? I've seen an immortal, hehe." Huzi's face was full of excitement. He had even forgotten that the girl was bleeding, only standing there and grinning foolishly.

"An immortal?" Ling Tian froze, but he understood in an instant. Were Qingyun Mountain's cultivators not precisely the "immortals" in these mortals' eyes?

"Immortal Brother, please treat Younger Sister! Huzi will kowtow to you!" Huzi finally remembered that Younger Sister was still bleeding without stop. It was as if he had suddenly grasped a lifeline. With a thump, he dropped to his knees and repeatedly kowtowed to Ling Tian.

"Get up first. I took a look—it's only a scrape. It's nothing serious." Ling Tian grabbed Huzi and pulled him up. Huzi still did not want to rise, but how could his strength compare with Ling Tian's? He was hauled up in one tug.

"Really, it's nothing serious? Please, Immortal Brother, stop her bleeding." Hearing that Younger Sister was all right, Huzi rejoiced and forgot to kneel again. But seeing that Younger Sister was still bleeding, he hurriedly pleaded with Ling Tian.

Ling Tian said nothing. He walked straight to Younger Sister, then extended his fair right hand, brought it to his mouth, and bit down hard. Blood immediately welled forth.

"What are you staring at? Hold out your hands." Ling Tian said irritably. He had bitten his own hand open, so naturally he was not in the best mood. Seeing him "mutilate himself" like this, the girl had long since been stunned.

"Oh, oh." Hearing Ling Tian speak, the girl snapped back to her senses and hurriedly held out both hands.

Ling Tian said nothing. Enduring the pain, he let his own blood drip evenly onto the little girl's hands. Strangely, the drops of blood melted the instant they landed on her hands, like snowflakes meeting hot water, seeping into the wounds. Before Huzi and Younger Sister's astonished eyes, those wounds slowly healed at a visible rate. Moments later, they vanished without a trace. The little girl's hands became smooth and delicate again, as though they had never been scraped at all.

"It's healed just like that? This, this..." Huzi was so shocked that his eyes went wide and his tongue tied.

Ling Tian gave a bitter smile. He had discovered that his blood could heal wounds by accident. Back when he was practicing the Illusory God Phantom Shadow Movement Technique, a Lightning Ferret had accidentally had its leg pierced by a tree branch and squealed in pain. When Ling Tian caught it and removed the branch, the panicked Lightning Ferret bit his hand open. His blood dripped onto the Lightning Ferret's wound, and then...

"Ah, so this useless body of mine does have some use after all. Hm? But it feels a little different somehow. The sensation is so faint, there and gone like a shadow." Ling Tian lightly mocked himself, but he had noticed something unusual this time. It was extremely faint, however, and Ling Tian forgot about it moments later.

"Thank you, Immortal Brother. It doesn't hurt at all anymore, and I feel warm all over. It's so comfortable." Younger Sister's face was full of joy as she thanked Ling Tian, her tears still clinging to her face like pear blossoms after rain.

"It was nothing. No need to be polite." Ling Tian looked at his finger, which had already healed, and felt very happy inside. So helping others could be a joyful thing too.

"Huzi, come back and eat! If you don't come back now, watch me break your legs!" A man's rough shout rang out from a farmhouse in the distance.

"Younger Sister, hurry home! Mother made your favorite dish today!" At the same time, another voice full of affection called out.

For a time, the village was filled with calls and shouts, a scene of harmony and delight in this little haven beyond the world.

"Immortal Brother, Huzi is going home to eat. Come eat at my house, okay?" As he spoke, Huzi looked at Ling Tian with eager expectation.

Ling Tian looked at Humei with questioning eyes. Seeing her gently shake her head, he said, "Huzi, hurry home and eat. Brother doesn't need to."

"Oh, I forgot immortals don't eat, hehe. Then Huzi will go." Huzi looked thoroughly embarrassed, then bid Ling Tian farewell.

Seeing Ling Tian nod, Huzi leapt for joy. He went over to Younger Sister and crouched in front of her, clearly intending to carry her back. Unable to refuse, Younger Sister let Huzi lift her onto his back, and they headed home, her little face flushed crimson.

"Hehe, I really envy them." After Huzi and the others left, Ling Tian was filled with envy. Thinking of the girl in his heart, he sighed inwardly, wondering whether he would ever have a chance to carry her on his back.

Humei let out a few squeaks, full of teasing. Ling Tian's face reddened, and he scratched his head in embarrassment, knowing that Mother had discovered the little secret in his heart.

"Ah, I forgot to ask Huzi whether he could catch flying birds. Sigh." Ling Tian slapped his forehead, suddenly recalling the purpose of his trip down the mountain.

It's already dark. I'll have to ask him tomorrow, Ling Tian thought helplessly.

Then he took something from his Storage Ring. It gave off a faint white glow. The instant it emerged, it rapidly enlarged, becoming a structure one zhang square in the blink of an eye. It turned out to be a house-shaped magical artifact.

Ling Tian often survived alone in the forests and wilderness. Sometimes, he needed to catch little animals active at night and would not return to sleep, so Lingyun had prepared several special items for him. This little house was Ling Tian's favorite among them. Ling Tian entered the house with Humei and sat down cross-legged.

Outside the house, after Ling Tian entered, his spiritual sense stirred. The house flickered faintly and vanished. It seemed this artifact possessed the ability to turn invisible. That made sense—if this house appeared in the wild, it would be strange if those beasts not particularly afraid of light did not tear it to shreds. An invisibility function was only natural.

Inside the house-shaped magical artifact, Ling Tian sat cross-legged while Humei curled up beside him, seemingly asleep. Ling Tian carefully took out the Storage Ring his father had tossed to him that day. Sweeping it with his spiritual sense, he discovered several jade slips, along with some small stones and other strange objects. With a thought, a jade slip appeared in his hand.

"Formations." Those two words abruptly appeared in Ling Tian's sea of consciousness.

Ling Tian was startled, then quickly understood. This was how it worked when using spiritual sense to examine a jade slip—one only needed a thought to read what was inside.

The moment Ling Tian's spiritual sense entered the jade slip, he was drawn in by its vast, wondrous knowledge of formations. Before long, he was immersed in it, unable to pull himself free.

Formations included Confinement Formations, Illusion Formations, killing formations, Teleportation Formations, restrictions, and more. They were not, as Ling Tian had imagined, solely meant for killing or trapping people. Formations had an extremely wide range of uses. They could kill enemies, such as the "Illusory Killing Formation." There were also formations that aided oneself, such as the "Spirit Gathering Formation," which could gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Restrictions could seal people and objects, protecting whatever one wished to protect. In short, formations came in countless varieties and served vastly different purposes.

The knowledge of formations was boundless. Ling Tian immersed himself in it, utterly unaware of time slipping away. During that time, Humei woke once. Seeing Ling Tian absorbed in formations, she did not disturb him. Instead, she left the house and casually set down several formations and restrictions. Judging by how effortlessly she did so, she clearly possessed profound attainments in formations. Seeing the formations vanish into their surroundings after being laid down, without producing the slightest ripple, Humei nodded in satisfaction. Then she turned and returned to the house, curled up beside Ling Tian again, and soon closed her eyes.