Su Ru saw the tears welling in Ye Yun's eyes. Her hands paused, and she quickly comforted him gently. "Xiaoyun, don't cry. I'll teach your senior sister a lesson right now and see if she dares bully you again." As she spoke, she pretended to strike Tian Ling'er.
Ye Yun blushed and hurriedly said, "No, Mistress. I just thought of my mother. It has nothing to do with Senior Sister."
Su Ru breathed a sigh of relief. At least Ling'er hadn't bullied him. After all, she cared for both of them equally. Still, she glared at Tian Ling'er, who hadn't left yet, and scolded her. "Your junior brother is still little. As his senior sister, you mustn't bully him. You need to protect him, understand?"
"Got it~" Tian Ling'er drew out her reply, then made a face at Ye Yun before leaving. A few seconds after she was gone, Zhang Xiaofan's earth-shattering shriek rang out from the room next door, which finally made Ye Yun feel a little better.
Tian Ling'er had taken Zhang Xiaofan to chop Black Knot Bamboo, while Su Ru carried Ye Yun to the kitchen. After he'd enjoyed a hearty breakfast and taken a hot bath, she changed him into clean clothes, then carried him to the study in Shou Jing Hall, where his tedious lessons began.
Time flew by, and three months passed in a blink. Under Su Ru's guidance, Ye Yun had not only mastered the written language of this world, but also learned the body's meridians and acupoints one by one. He was now fully prepared to practice Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao. Zhang Xiaofan, on the other hand, was just like in the original story. He practiced Qingyun Sect's Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao by day and Tianyin Temple's Great Brahma Prajna by night. Three months of effort had yielded almost nothing, leaving Tian Buyi deeply disappointed.
In truth, Zhang Xiaofan's lack of progress wasn't due to dull aptitude. Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao cultivated qi by opening the body's seven apertures and pores, drawing spiritual energy from heaven and earth into the body and circulating it through the meridians to strengthen and stabilize one's vital essence and internal meridians. Great Brahma Prajna, however, required entering a state of extinction, shutting off all thought, perception, and consciousness. The practitioner treated himself as a world unto himself, perceiving only his true nature, and used his innermost vital essence to fortify his foundation.
The two methods were diametrically opposed, leaving Zhang Xiaofan miserable. Even though, over those three months, he'd practiced both diligently during every spare moment after going up the mountain to chop bamboo each day, he still made no progress. Just when Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao started to show results and his apertures began to open, allowing spiritual energy into his body, Great Brahma Prajna would seal them shut again, plunging him into a state of extinction. He had to start all over, and all his hard work went to waste. Yet this might have been one of the reasons he would soar to greatness in the future.
Ye Yun wasn't simply guessing. Practicing Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao opened the body's apertures, drawing spiritual energy into it to strengthen and stabilize one's vital essence and internal meridians. Practicing Great Brahma Prajna, however, shut off all thought, perception, and consciousness, treating the body as an independent world and fortifying one's foundation. In other words, the spiritual energy Zhang Xiaofan gained during the day was converted at night by Great Brahma Prajna into nourishment for his body, fortifying his foundation and improving his aptitude. Though Zhang Xiaofan hadn't managed to cultivate magical power, his foundation had been growing exceptionally firm without his realizing it—so firm that it had reached the point of overflowing.
Perhaps fools really were blessed. Anyone else in Zhang Xiaofan's position would probably have given up practicing Great Brahma Prajna long ago. But Zhang Xiaofan had stubbornly endured despite all the frustration he felt. His future achievements would come not only from being the protagonist, but also from putting in more effort than most people could ever manage.
Although Ye Yun knew what was happening to Zhang Xiaofan, he wasn't envious, nor did he have any plans to acquire Great Brahma Prajna. After all, he had a system. Once he filled its energy, he'd be able to roam the myriad worlds, and those worlds were full of all kinds of heaven-defying techniques. Besides, he had an even bigger headache to deal with.
"Little Junior Brother, are you up yet? It's time to get up and start your afternoon training." Tian Ling'er's sweet voice reached him before she did, but to Ye Yun, it was no better than a demon's whisper. For the past three months, there hadn't been a single day when she hadn't pinched and kneaded his soft little cheeks. He was a young man in his twenties, after all! Sure, his body was only five or six years old, and he looked adorable, like a little doll, but he really was in his twenties.
A young man in his twenties getting his cheeks pinched every day by a girl of thirteen or fourteen—how was he supposed to accept that? But what could he do? The stronger side had the advantage, so he could only offer a quiet, utterly futile resistance. For example, he could ignore Tian Ling'er calling him and keep lying in bed. Mm, he just didn't want to talk to her. He wasn't trying to sleep in. Definitely not.
Over the past three months, Ye Yun had gotten used to Tian Ling'er pestering him every day. She only ever used the same few tricks: tickling him, pulling off his covers, and luring him with the smell of food. Meanwhile, Ye Yun had completely won over Da Huang with food. Now he could ride him all over the mountain and enjoy the feeling of having a mount. More importantly, he could get Da Huang to catch a wild chicken or something for a snack. Du Bishu cooked almost nothing but vegetarian dishes, and Ye Yun was still growing. How could he get by on vegetables alone?
Tian Ling'er knew Ye Yun well by now and could tell he was pretending to sleep. But today she'd brought out her ultimate weapon. She wasn't worried that the little rascal wouldn't give in.
Tian Ling'er cleared her throat and said in a calm voice, "Little Junior Brother's still asleep, huh? In that case, I'll go back and tell Mother to wait a couple of days before teaching him to practice Tai Chi Xuan Qing Dao. Let him rest properly today."
After saying that, Tian Ling'er turned as if to leave. The moment she turned around, she began counting silently. She knew Ye Yun very well. He'd wanted to start cultivating before he'd even finished learning to read. He was passionate about cultivation, and she didn't believe he could keep lying there.
Just as she expected, Ye Yun had only reached two in his silent count before he sprang out of bed with astonishing speed and stared at her, eyes shining. His intense gaze made Tian Ling'er feel a little embarrassed, and a faint blush crept across her pretty face.
"Senior Sister, is that true? Mistress is really going to teach me a cultivation technique?" Hearing Tian Ling'er say that, Ye Yun could no longer stay calm. For the past three months, he'd been eagerly hoping to begin cultivating as soon as possible. Without that near-obsessive anticipation, he never would've managed to learn the written language of this world and the body's meridian chart in just three months.
"Of course it's true. Come on, Junior Brother. Mother's waiting." Tian Ling'er knew how badly Ye Yun wanted to start cultivating, so she didn't tease him any further.
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