Another Happy Day!

There is no path forward.

Seeing this sentence, a complex, indescribable emotion suddenly welled up in Chi Jiuyu's heart.

"Then... if I continue to cultivate at the Nascent Soul Realm, will I also be able to reach the level of Uncle-Master?"

[Perhaps, but there is no need.]

[We had no path forward back then, so we could only grope in the dark and pace in place.]

[But now, a broad, smooth road lies right before your eyes; why abandon the root to pursue the trivial?]

Spirit Transmutation, Void Return, Dao Integration, and even higher realms—the predecessors paved the way precisely so that those who followed could walk more easily.

Being trapped at the Nascent Soul Realm and constantly polishing one's mana was merely a last resort born of helplessness; in this day and age, it could even be called a 'heretical path.'

[If you were to ascend to Spirit Transmutation, could you truly not block that sword strike?]

If she ascended to Spirit Transmutation, could she block that sword strike from just now?

That went without saying; Spirit Transmutation was another qualitative change compared to Nascent Soul. Since she was already at the very forefront of the Nascent Soul Realm, she naturally wouldn't be weak after reaching Spirit Transmutation.

By that logic, she could indeed block that strike, and perhaps even have the strength to put up a fight...

Wait!

"That's not how you calculate it, Uncle-Master!"

A Spirit Transmutation cultivator being able to block a Nascent Soul strike and having the strength to fight back—was that really something to be proud of?

She was Chi Jiuyu, after all; when did she become the one being countered?

[That is exactly how you calculate it.]

If Xu Xing had had a choice back then, he would never have wasted his years lingering in the Nascent Soul Realm.

[Are you truly planning to stay at the Nascent Soul Realm forever just to compete with me for the title of strongest Nascent Soul?]

"Of course not." Chi Jiuyu was not someone who would get stuck in a dead end.

Her goal was to become the next Sword Sect leader; if she stayed at the Nascent Soul Realm forever, how could she possibly compete with anyone?

Following that, she asked a question she was deeply concerned about and very curious about.

"Then, Uncle-Master, when you and Master were both at the Nascent Soul Realm, who was stronger?"

Under her expectant gaze, a line of golden text slowly emerged.

[Guess.]

"..." Uncle-Master had a bit of a mischievous streak, too. After silently grumbling, she looked up and shouted, "Uncle-Master, I want to go again!"

Although she considered her talent peerless, she had to admit that it would still take a long time for her to go from Nascent Soul to Spirit Transmutation; it would be better to hone herself first.

[Very well.]

Soon, deep within the mist, Xu Xing's Nascent Soul projection walked out once more.

At the same time, in the living room of the outside world, the light screen belonging to Chi Jiuyu suddenly accelerated.

Xu Xing stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

The stars were brilliant, the silver moon hung high, and memories of the past flowed by.

His own Nascent Soul days—that was truly a long, long time ago.

Right, back then, this realm wasn't even called 'Nascent Soul,' and the cultivation system of the Great Profound Realm wasn't the one used today.

Fortunately, in the end, he and his companions had won.

Filled with emotion, he couldn't help but think of many things.

He thought of his fellow Daoists, and... the first human Spirit Transmutation cultivator who had already passed away.

Xu Xing smiled nonchalantly.

Was he not also walking on a path paved by his predecessors?

The next day, Chi Jiuyu slept until noon, and even after waking up, she remained dazed and listless, looking quite out of sorts.

She looked like a frost-bitten eggplant, completely devoid of her previous vitality.

She yawned, "Good morning, Uncle-Master."

"It's already noon, and you're still saying morning." Xu Xing laughed.

"Oh~"

She responded listlessly. As she came down from the second floor, she missed a step and tumbled all the way down the stairs.

Fortunately, as a Nascent Soul cultivator, her skin was thick and her flesh was tough, so she wasn't in any pain; she immediately grabbed the railing and climbed back up.

Last night, she had wanted to use her Uncle-Master's projection to hone herself, but after fighting all night, she hadn't managed to survive a single sword strike. She couldn't even remember how many times she had died.

This was the gap accumulated by the passage of time, which was extremely difficult to bridge.

What was even more frustrating was that everything she had learned seemed full of holes in front of her Uncle-Master at the Nascent Soul Realm, especially when she used the Great Void Sword Canon.

Seeing her like this, Xu Xing suggested, "How about I take you out for a walk to clear your head?"

"Huh?" She blinked, then slapped both sides of her fair, delicate cheeks hard enough to leave them flushed. "Sure."

She really did need to get out and adjust her mindset.

"But I can't ride a bike today, so I probably can't take you, Shishu." Driving while exhausted was dangerous. "How about you ride?"

"Heh, we'll take a taxi."

He hadn't intended to sit in that abstract human-powered tricycle again anyway.

The Mystic Sword City Exotic Beast Park was one of the most famous tourist attractions in Mystic Sword City. It was an entire mountain, though in essence, it was just a zoo.

The only difference was that it didn't house ordinary wild animals, but exotic beasts with various supernatural abilities.

Walking along the mountain path, with a winding stream flowing down beside them, Chi Jiuyu stopped every now and then to look around. In her hand, she held a cotton candy several times larger than her own head—a local specialty.

The raw material for this cotton candy came from a bird called the Honey Feather Sparrow. They couldn't fly, and their feathers were entirely crystalline, tasting sweet and delicious.

Once startled, their feathers would turn highly toxic, so only cultivators who had mastered soul-soothing and focus-enhancing arts could pluck them.

"Shishu, hurry up!" Chi Jiuyu called out, turning back.

Below, Xu Xing was moving at a leisurely pace, having fallen quite far behind.

She waited a few seconds, but eventually, unable to contain herself, she ran back down.

"You've adjusted your state of mind quite quickly."

"Of course! I'm naturally optimistic!" She pulled her phone from her pocket. "Come on, Shishu, let's take a picture to commemorate this."

Just then, an exotic beast arrived nearby, circling in the sky. Its fiery red feathers were pure in color, looking from afar like a ball of flame falling from the heavens.

It landed by the stream and submerged its entire head into the water; this was how it drank.

This bird was called a Blazing Feather. When stimulated or angered, its feathers would ignite, reaching extremely high temperatures.

In the past, low-level alchemists and artifact refiners often captured these birds to pluck their feathers for use as fire starters.

Chi Jiuyu adjusted her position to include the Blazing Feather in the background, ensuring both she and her Shishu were in the frame, and snapped a few photos.

"Shishu! Take a few for me too!"

She handed her phone to Xu Xing and used the cotton candy in her hand to strike a sword pose.

The Blazing Feather behind her raised its head, staring blankly at Chi Jiuyu's back, before suddenly spreading its wings and flying over, its claws reaching for the cotton candy in her hand.

However, just as it was about to grab it, a hand—not large but incredibly powerful—clamped onto its neck, leaving it unable to move no matter how much it flapped.

In its panic:

BOOM!

A raging fire ignited, causing the air to warp from the heat, yet it couldn't penetrate the thin layer of spiritual light protecting them.

"How dare you try to steal my stuff!" Chi Jiuyu grabbed its neck and shook it, then suddenly threatened, "Shishu, let's buy this bird and roast it."

The Blazing Feather seemed to understand her, a flicker of terror appearing in its small eyes.

"Forget it, it's an exotic beast that the people here worked hard to collect."

"Fine."

Chi Jiuyu let go. The Blazing Feather, already scared out of its wits, didn't dare linger and flew away rapidly.

Watching the Blazing Feather fly into the distance, she walked up to retrieve her phone from Xu Xing and flipped through the photos for a while.

"Shishu, can I send these photos to Master to see?"

"As you wish."

Xu Xing continued his leisurely ascent, and Chi Jiuyu followed behind him, starting to send the photos to her master.

The first few were of her grabbing the Blazing Feather and posing with her sword.

It took quite a while before a reply came.

My Most Respected Master: "The cotton candy in your hand looks good. Send one back to me later."

"..."

After a moment of silence, she sent the remaining photos, which were all selfies with Xu Xing.

My Most Respected Master: "??? Is Junior Brother with you?"

Chi Jiuyu didn't reply; she simply turned off her phone and tossed it into her storage ring.

Ever since reading that chat history, she wasn't afraid anymore. She was going to get scolded when she got back anyway.

Ah!

Today was another happy day!

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Also, a quick note on the world-building.

We haven't even reached 100,000 words yet, so it's hard to explain everything clearly unless I just dump the outline, so please don't be impatient.