Stubborn Act

Thinking of those torn pages of paper flying all over the sky and scattered everywhere underfoot made his temples throb; he did not even know whether he would live to see the complete contents of this fragment in his lifetime.

The next day, Luo Yunji woke up. An injury to the sea of consciousness was not so easy to recover from; for now, he could only slowly recuperate with the Spirit-Concentrating Pearl.

After waking, his head was dizzy and swollen, his vision kept going black, and from time to time he even showed brief symptoms of unconsciousness.

Tian Buyi could only arrange for a disciple to look after him specially. From the eldest to the sixth, all of them had only just made some progress and breakthroughs in cultivation and had not yet consolidated them. And so this heavy responsibility fell upon the seventh disciple, Zhang Xiaofan.

Zhang Xiaofan accepted this "heavy responsibility" very happily.

He felt that he was newly arrived, and everyone on Big Bamboo Peak treated him very well. He was also eager to show himself a little, so he carried out the things his master and senior brothers instructed him to do with particular care.

Every day, he looked after Luo Yunji's daily life and meals.

Luo Yunji had never liked doing things himself to begin with. His consciousness had unknowingly stayed in the sea of consciousness for so long, and his life had always been taken care of by his senior brothers, so he did not feel there was anything wrong with this. Instead, he accepted it calmly.

He was completely a pampered young master spoiled rotten by everyone.

"Little Junior Brother! What are you doing?" That evening, after Zhang Xiaofan had helped Luo Yunji wash up, Luo Yunji did not get into bed. Instead, he lay over the table, writing and drawing.

It was only after Zhang Xiaofan came to Big Bamboo Peak that he began systematically learning to read and write from Fourth Senior Brother He Dazhi. When he glanced at the things Luo Yunji had written and drawn on the paper, his head turned to mush; he could not understand them at all.

The things on the paper looked like talismans—both like pictures and like words.

"Little Senior Brother! How many levels have you cultivated in the Taiji Mystic Purity Dao?" Luo Yunji saw Zhang Xiaofan beside him craning his neck, staring at the things he had written with bewildered eyes, and asked.

"I... I only just started cultivating. I haven't even figured out the mnemonic formula for the first level yet!" Zhang Xiaofan replied somewhat self-consciously.

He had personally witnessed the abilities of this youngest disciple on Big Bamboo Peak.

Although he was the youngest in age, his cultivation was the highest among all the disciples of Big Bamboo Peak.

Even Eldest Senior Brother, who had cultivated the longest, had not broken through to the sixth level and was still hovering at the fifth. Yet this chubby little junior brother before him already had sixth-level cultivation.

"Oh! Then there's no way. Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand." After hearing this, Luo Yunji shook his head and shifted his attention back to the paper again.

"Little Junior Brother! Master and the senior brothers told me that you mustn't strain your mind! You should get into bed and rest!" Zhang Xiaofan both respected and feared this little junior brother of his.

That scene at the bamboo forest and spring in the back mountain still remained impossible for him to forget.

"It's fine! This is almost done!" Luo Yunji seemed to have thought of something, and a wicked little smile appeared on his face.

"But..." Xiaofan still wanted to persuade him a little, but seeing Luo Yunji's impatient look, he shut his mouth and stood quietly to the side, keeping him company.

The injury to his sea of consciousness had not yet healed, and he was already doing something so mentally taxing.

Before long, Luo Yunji's vision began to darken, and waves of swelling pain throbbed through his head. Zhang Xiaofan saw him furrow his brows in pain and knew Luo Yunji's head had started hurting again. He hurried behind Luo Yunji, pressed his fingers against his temples, and gently rubbed them.

During this period, he had often massaged Luo Yunji like this. Luo Yunji himself had taught him, saying it could make his head hurt less.

Only after a good while did Luo Yunji's headache ease somewhat.

"Little Junior Brother! You should rest. There's no need to rush it right this moment!" Zhang Xiaofan opened his mouth, and in the end, still worried about Luo Yunji's body, he advised him somewhat uneasily.

"I know!" Luo Yunji's head was now terribly muddled, and even if he wanted to continue, there was no way for him to keep going.

Obediently, he let Zhang Xiaofan support him as he climbed into bed.

Zhang Xiaofan watched Luo Yunji lie down, tucked him in, then watched him close his eyes and obediently go to sleep before finally letting out a breath of relief.

After tidying away the messy papers on the desk, he came to the bedside and saw that even while Luo Yunji was asleep, his brows were still tightly knitted.

Zhang Xiaofan climbed gently onto the bed and continued massaging Luo Yunji's head. Only when the little fatty's brows smoothed out did he stop.

And by then, a long time had already passed, and the moon had begun to slant westward.

After Zhang Xiaofan finished all this, he did not rest immediately, but began his own cultivation.

Only, judging from the posture of his cultivation, the method he was practicing was clearly not Azure Clouds' Taiji Mystic Purity Dao!

In the morning, Zhang Xiaofan woke early and began preparing breakfast.

Seeing that his little junior brother was sleeping soundly, he quietly got out of bed and left, deeply afraid of waking him.

After breakfast was ready, he ran back and woke Luo Yunji.

He called for quite a while, yet Luo Yunji still remained muddled, struggling between sleep and wakefulness. Seeing this, Zhang Xiaofan had already grown used to serving him by helping him dress and wash up. Finally, he led him to the dining hall.

Only then did Luo Yunji become somewhat awake.

"You brat, you really have it comfortable! Xiaofan truly looks after you down to the last hair!" Seeing Zhang Xiaofan bustling back and forth, Sixth Brother looked at Luo Yunji and teased him.

Luo Yunji hugged his rice bowl and completely ignored Sixth Brother. His eyes drooped, as if he might fall asleep again at any moment.

"Is Yunji feeling any better?" Tian Buyi asked with a stern face, his concern plain. Su Ru also turned to look at him.

Luo Yunji nodded. Then they saw him slowly tilt to one side. Su Ru, who was sitting beside him, hurriedly supported him into her arms. "Little Ji! Little Ji?!"

"Let me see!" Seeing this, Tian Buyi hurriedly got up in alarm and held Luo Yunji's hand to take his pulse.

After a moment, he said, "It's nothing! He just fell asleep, that's all!"

"Whew! How long is this going to go on?" Su Ru looked at the little disciple in her arms, breathed out in relief, and asked worriedly.

Just now, she really had been frightened.

"With an injury to the sea of consciousness, he can only recover slowly!" Tian Buyi sighed.

Tian Buyi personally carried him back to the room, then took his pulse again. Seeing nothing abnormal, he finally left at ease.

Tell everyone else to do whatever they were supposed to do!

When Zhang Xiaofan came back after finishing today's lessons, he saw Luo Yunji sitting at the desk, writing and sketching again.

"Little Junior Brother! You're awake!" Zhang Xiaofan happily quickened his steps and ran over to him.

"Mm!" Luo Yunji's attention was entirely on the papers in front of him, and he answered very casually.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaofan leaned in and saw that the contents on the paper were still more or less the same as last night's. "Little Junior Brother, don't you want to rest for a while first? This isn't good for your body! This morning, you suddenly passed out! You scared everyone."

"Nothing like that! I just suddenly thought of some clues and went back into my sea of consciousness to look for some information! I'm fine!" Luo Yunji waved his hand, not caring at all.

"So that's how it was! You really scared us badly back then!" After Zhang Xiaofan heard that, he let out a breath of relief. As long as it wasn't because of his body.