Feeding Feels Good for a Moment

Daily breathing log completed. Reward: twenty Spirit Crystals.

Spring Encounter Book cultivation log completed. Reward: twenty Spirit Crystals.

At dawn, as the pleasant system chime rang out, Wu Ming slowly opened his eyes. Facing the golden-red morning light filtering through the valley, he exhaled a long breath of spiritual energy.

The moment the breath left his mouth and nose, it transformed into countless shimmering white particles, like spring rain drifting down in a haze. Before long, a few wild grasses at his feet began trembling as they straightened their stems, and moss in the stone crevices spread outward... In the grass, a pale yellow flower bloomed silently.

As all things grew, Wu Ming slowly stood up and stretched, then nodded firmly and muttered to himself, "Nice!"

The second layer of the Spring Encounter Book was now complete. His mana had been refined, gaining the power of spring rain transformation. Even the spiritual breath from his mouth could slightly nourish the plants around him. Moreover, with his cultivation progress, five new spells recorded in the Spring Encounter Book had been unlocked.

At this point, a month had passed since Senior Sister Zhu Ying had performed the Immortal Palm Blessing on him, forcibly breaking through the Spring Encounter Book's entry barrier.

Senior Sister was still out training, with no return date in sight, and even letters had been cut off for a long time. But Wu Ming didn't think that Senior Sister would run into any danger—probably just saving on data usage... With her skills and temperament, her training must be full of excitement.

As for Wu Ming, his life over the past month had been as plain and routine as a script. Every day, he woke up at four in the morning sharp, stepped into the Root Stance, and climbed all the way to Dongqiao Peak on the east side of Yan Mountain. There, a lush forest cultivated by Senior Sister Zheng Lingxi awaited. Using the plants' spiritual energy, he nurtured his Inner Landscape with the Spring Encounter Book, refining Mystic Spirit Qi... while also keeping an eye on the little Witch, who had let herself go without Senior Sister's discipline.

By afternoon, the nature of the plants' spiritual energy shifted, and the Spring Encounter Book's daily cultivation limit was reached. Wu Ming would walk from Dongqiao Peak all the way to the Rootless Path, push for his limit score three times a day, drain his stamina, and then return to Xianyun Abode half-exhausted. He'd make a simple dinner and eagerly start evening self-study.

A month of scripted cultivation had yielded remarkable progress: of the Spring Encounter Book's ten Qi Refining tiers, he had reached the second layer. Mana refinement was even more gratifying—the Inner Landscape Mysterious Spirit had sprouted, and from now on, even without absorbing any external spiritual breath, he could generate true spiritual energy on his own.

In spell research, his progress had even slightly startled Gu Bai, who was in seclusion. Every spell recorded in the Spring Encounter Book that he studied, he mastered, showing a tendency toward full comprehension. Gu Bai watched in amazement.

As for Root Stance training, it was limited by insufficient dietary supplements and didn't shine as brightly as spell cultivation. After a month of hard grinding, Wu Ming could only take three steps on the Rootless Path, still far from Senior Sister's seventy-plus-step level. His physical progress was relatively modest, nowhere near martial arts feats like the Eight-Step Cicada Chase or Empty-Handed Stone Splitting.

But to ordinary eyes, Wu Ming after this month of hard training was a transformed man: his height had grown by over two centimeters, and his weight had increased by more than ten jin. His once frail, withered body had become noticeably fuller and firmer, with muscle lines faintly visible.

Even his facial features were subtly shifting from boyish to youthful, no longer clinging to childishness.

But if you asked Wu Ming himself, he'd say the past month was barely satisfactory...

The reason was simple: his script-like, plain cultivation life meant his Spirit Crystal income came almost entirely from daily activities. After a whole month of grinding, including the meager rewards from breakthrough, he'd barely scraped together over two thousand in stock. Combined with earlier savings, he had enough for two ten-pulls.

Then, predictably, he failed. Nine blues and one purple, then another nine blues and one purple—the hard-earned accumulation of over a month vanished into thin air.

There were improvements, of course. Eighteen blue lights fell on his basic stats, a gain that was better than nothing. Two purple lights gave him a bit of Spirit Root talent in the gold and fire elements, which, though incompatible with the Spring Encounter Book, helped greatly in spell research.

But these gains were trivial compared to the golden light's ability to refine techniques.

Wu Ming took it all in stride. Even if he had to grind like this for another month, two months, or longer, he didn't mind at all.

A professional, first and foremost, must endure loneliness.

Besides, the Nine Provinces didn't have fixed banner updates to pressure spending. He was developing steadily, polishing every day of cultivation life... Even if it was barely satisfactory, there was nothing wrong with it.

Still, Wu Ming knew this stable life couldn't last forever. The next major version update was probably not far off.

This wasn't some vague intuition, but a rational judgment based on facts, because...

Just as he was thinking, an anxious call suddenly reached his ears on the wind.

"Junior Brother Wu Ming~ Junior Brother Wu Ming! Something bad!"

The voice was sweet, soft, and innocent, carrying a natural hint of cloying charm. Even its urgency seemed adorably clumsy.

The next moment, Wu Ming saw a new sprout shoot up from a stone crevice at his feet, growing tall at an astonishing speed until it became a small peach tree over one person in height.

Then the peach wood trembled. Branches twisted into bones, bark peeled away to reveal tender wood as flesh, and petals fell in a flurry, forming a beautiful pink dress... In an instant, the small tree turned into a sixteen-year-old beauty, with fine features and an impressive figure. It was Second Senior Sister Zheng Lingxi.

Wu Ming was about to praise her newly realized Wood Substitution technique, which she was using more and more skillfully—enough that when Senior Sister returned, it might offset a few bursts of anger—when he felt his hand grabbed and pressed into a soft, warm jade-like embrace.

As soon as she appeared, Zheng Lingxi tightly gripped Wu Ming's hand, clutching it to her chest like a lifeline, and pleaded anxiously, "Something bad, something bad! This is really bad!"

Wu Ming felt his right hand like the Going Merry sailing into a new world, tossed and rubbed amidst turbulent waves... He wanted to pull his hand back, but Senior Sister Lingxi, in her panic, was using a fair bit of real strength.

A Foundation Establishment Realm Witch had at least twenty times his strength, so he didn't bother humiliating himself. Seeing her frantic like a headless fly, he sighed softly, looked behind Zheng Lingxi, and then showed a surprised expression, raising his voice, "Senior Sister, you're back!"

"!!!!"

Caught off guard, Zheng Lingxi was terrified. Her face, flushed red from anxiety and tension, instantly turned pale as paper, and her tightly gripping hands unconsciously loosened.

Wu Ming took the chance to pull his hand back, smiling lightly, "Senior Sister Lingxi, don't panic. I was joking."

"Huh?" Zheng Lingxi froze for a moment before realizing she'd been tricked. She furrowed her brows and wrinkled her nose, her ears twitching as she showed an adorable angry face. "You tricked me again!"

Wu Ming asked, "So what's the matter? Don't rush. Tell me slowly. I'll help you."

Zheng Lingxi said nervously, "Da Huang and the others... someone saw them."

Wu Ming was startled too.

Da Huang referred to a group of wild Dog Demons that Senior Sister Lingxi had recently befriended.

As a remote area of Qiongzhou, the Yan Mountain region wasn't short of demons and monsters. Most were insignificant, easily driven away with a few spells... But these minor demons were extremely sensitive in Qiongzhou.

Five hundred years ago, during the Barbarian War, the Demon Race was the main force. The self-proclaimed Western Saint Emperor, the Tiger King, was infamous for his ferocity, leaving deep psychological scars on all cultivators across the Nine Provinces.

Of course, after the century-long war, the Demon Race's main forces were nearly wiped out. Survivors either fled beyond the Eastern Pole Territory or were skinned and dismembered by various immortal masters for alchemy and artifact forging—only a rare few were fortunate enough to be tamed as guardian spirit pets.

Today, many demonic beings in the Nine Provinces could hardly be called a "race." Even in Qiongzhou, which naturally favored outsiders, most were Loose Demons who had stumbled upon the essence of heaven and earth and achieved enlightenment by chance. Even if they had extraordinary powers, they didn't form a real threat.

But in Qiongzhou, the Demon Race was never a practical issue—it was mostly a political one. Though the Demon Race posed no real danger, the people of Qiongzhou still had to stay vigilant... Especially those Desolate People who inherited Barbarian bloodlines, who had to be extra careful to avoid suspicion.

Even if they weren't killed on the spot, they should at least be driven away immediately.

However, these complex considerations clearly did not apply to the innocent and pure Zheng Lingxi.

Three days ago, a few wild Dog Demons wandered near Yan Mountain and happened to run into Zheng Lingxi, who, without her senior sister to keep her in check, had been running wild all day. The two sides hit it off immediately, exchanging a few howls before forging a bond.

By the time Wu Ming learned of this, Zheng Lingxi's skirt was already covered in dog fur... yet the girl herself remained unaware, cheerfully sharing all sorts of amusing anecdotes about her new friends with Wu Ming.

According to the rules of his master and senior sister, Wu Ming should have acted decisively at this point, cutting ties on Zheng Lingxi's behalf and driving those Dog Demons as far away as possible.

But Wu Ming was neither Gu Bai nor Zhu Ying. Upon hearing that a pack of Dog Demons had arrived from beyond the mountain, his first thought was of Big Brother... and whether there might be some side quest involved.

Add to that Zheng Lingxi pitifully bribing him with two pieces of Youyou Fruit Cake she had stashed away. Wu Ming promptly transformed into an accomplice.

As it turned out, there was indeed a side quest hidden among these Dog Demons, but it was triggered in a rather unsafe manner.

It wasn't a problem that someone had seen small demons wandering near Yan Mountain; the problem was that the resting places of those small demons were littered with traces of feeding.

In Qiongzhou, as a Desolate Person, this was undoubtedly a taboo.

Of course, he bore some responsibility for this matter, so Wu Ming immediately composed his expression and asked.

"Seen by someone? What kind of people?"

Zheng Lingxi said, "Three in total—two old ones and one tall one."

As she spoke, the girl gestured animatedly, and specks of light shimmered at her fingertips, like ink from a brush tip, sketching three simple portraits in midair.

Two old Daoists draped in Azure Daoist Robes, and a tall, slender young girl.

The latter could be ignored, but at the sight of those familiar Azure Daoist Robes, Wu Ming's heart sank slightly.

So they've come!

Thanks to Kanon2023, Muke Mu, and Sanqi Sanshiyi for the tips!

Book club group: 1046475706

Feel free to join; I'll occasionally pop in to share cards.

By the way, do you all think the current update time needs adjusting?