Cultivation Advances, and Uncle Luo Mustn't Play Favorites (Please Vote

Chapter 29: Cultivation Advances, and Uncle Luo Mustn't Play Favorites (Please Vote and Keep Reading~)

Three days later, Luo Fanchen found time to return to his old home and carefully retrieved the Water Dragonwood, five Spirit Stones, and six pieces of Spirit Dust.

They were everything he had saved through more than ten years of arduous cultivation and frugal living.

He finally had a little room to breathe. With Qiu Yun's help, he began crafting a Puppet.

"Uncle Luo... c-can we make it again? Please, just once."

Incense curled through the main hall. Ling Qiuyun hung her head, her pretty face miserable as she thumped Uncle Luo's chest with her little fists.

Before them stood a Spiritwood Puppet that looked neither human nor beast, ugly and frightening.

The Puppet had barely qualified as First Tier. Its surface was uneven and covered in splinters, while its spirit patterns ran crookedly across it. It looked not only hideous but shoddily made. Even frugal Qiu Yun could not bear the thought of controlling that body in public.

"Sorry I have no talent for this."

Luo Fanchen sighed. He did not dodge Qiu Yun's little fists, feeling rather defeated.

Even with Qiu Yun's help, twice the mental power, and Yi Wood True Essence, he had failed five times in a row and nearly wasted an entire Spirit Stone before barely producing this First-Rank Low-Grade Puppet.

He had intended to give Qiu Yun a temporary body she could use to receive visitors.

Now, never mind letting Qiu Yun greet guests with it—he would be embarrassed to take it outside himself.

"It's all right, Uncle Luo. Nobody's perfect. Being able to make Talismans is already amazing!"

Seeing his low spirits, Qiu Yun smiled and relaxed her fists. She sat up and massaged his forehead, her pretty face full of understanding.

"Why not let me try, Uncle Luo?"

"Do as you like. There's only enough material left for one more, though. It'll be good practice for you."

Luo Fanchen shook his head gently. He sat up, rubbed Qiu Yun's head, then went straight to the courtyard's locust tree and sat cross-legged at the center of the Spirit-Gathering Formation to cultivate.

Over the past three days, he had completely absorbed the spiritual energy of the Spirit Bamboo Brew and Spirit Sprout. His cultivation showed faint signs of advancing.

The Fourth Level of Qi Refining focused on refining the spleen and stomach. It had five principal acupoints, beginning at the Life Gate Acupoint, passing through the Gate of Zhang, Belt Vessel, and Five Pivot Acupoints, and ending at the Maintaining Path Acupoint.

Between them lay six auxiliary acupoints, which could be opened depending on the precision with which a cultivator's art circulated qi. Each one added five percent more True Essence.

His former Longevity Art could open only one. The Lesser Yang Wood-Transforming Art could open all six.

"The Belt Vessel Acupoint is finally about to open."

Luo Fanchen pursed his lips and, with some heartache, took out a Meridian-Opening Pill and swallowed it.

He had five Meridian-Opening Pills left. They were scarce, and demand had risen further lately. Without connections in Flying Cloud Market, he would have to pay nine pieces of Spirit Dust for each—three times the original price.

It seemed another confrontation between the Clear River Sect and the Yi Wood Sect was imminent. He needed to grow stronger quickly.

Luo Fanchen closed his eyes and focused, but did not refine the pill's medicinal power.

He kept the Yi Wood True Essence circulating within him. Using the Lesser Celestial Circuit, he drew spiritual energy through the Spirit Sprout in his liver and accumulated more Yi Wood True Essence.

He sat cross-legged for a long time, until dawn first appeared and the morning's first ray of sunlight fell across his shoulder.

His eyes slowly opened. As he watched the morning sun rise, the Spirit Sprout in his liver stirred his Yi Wood True Essence, drawing Lesser Yang Qi from all directions into his dantian.

Heat surged through three meridians, like a raging fire boiling oil as it refined the Meridian-Opening Pill in his belly. It strengthened his Lesser Yang Qi, which circled the Spirit Sprout in his liver in a Lesser Celestial Circuit, nourishing his five organs and becoming Yi Wood True Essence. That, in turn, drew in still more Lesser Yang Qi.

The Spirit Sprout hummed without cease. His Yi Wood True Essence doubled, cycling again and again in an unbroken flow.

"Phew—"

Even Luo Fanchen's breath carried the fresh scent of rain and dew.

Yi Wood True Essence poured from the Spirit Sprout and filled his organs without burdening his body, like spring wind turning to rain.

Once the Spirit Sprout was full, Yi Wood True Essence rose from his liver and drove straight into his spleen and stomach. Like spring thunder at the Awakening of Insects, it burst forward unstoppably, broke through the Gate of Zhang Acupoint, and opened two auxiliary acupoints in succession. It still had strength left to strike the Five Pivot Acupoint, making it tremble and loosen.

"Hm? Yi Wood True Essence is this powerful?"

Luo Fanchen's eyes brightened. Although his Yi Wood True Essence was beginning to flag, its balanced, gentle Lesser Yang Qi kept prying at the blocked Five Pivot Acupoint, slowly wearing it down.

He could not let this chance slip away. Luo Fanchen immediately swallowed another Meridian-Opening Pill.

He no longer cared whether he could refine its medicinal power. If he broke through the Five Pivot Acupoint now, he could save at least half a year of bitter cultivation.

The pill entered his stomach. With the aid of Lesser Yang Qi, medicinal power that would normally take at least an hour to refine dissolved in a few breaths. It all became pure spiritual energy, flowed into the Spirit Sprout in his liver, and turned into Yi Wood True Essence to continue its assault on his spleen and stomach.

The Five Pivot Acupoint trembled again. But with his Five-Element Spirit Root, his acupoints were as impregnable as iron fortresses. Once his Yi Wood True Essence lost its initial momentum, it could no longer force one open.

The spiritual energy absorbed by a Five-Element Spirit Root was mixed and impure. Over time, impurities formed from the world's turbid qi would clog the acupoints, making them at least thirty percent harder to open.

"I refuse to believe it!"

Luo Fanchen snorted, swallowed another Meridian-Opening Pill, and attacked the acupoint again.

By the time he swallowed the fifth, his hands were empty. He was so anxious he nearly saw red.

Fortunately, the Lesser Yang Wood-Transforming Art was far more subtle than he had imagined. Through exquisitely precise control, it gathered the residual spiritual energy scattered through his other organs—surplus energy he had never been able to reach and had considered all but useless.

The art now drew on every last bit. Once accumulated in his liver, that energy immediately transformed into Yi Wood True Essence. In one sustained burst, it broke open the Five Pivot Acupoint and, while the acupoint still trembled, opened another auxiliary acupoint.

"Ugh—"

Luo Fanchen spat out a mouthful of dark blood, but his face shone with vitality and excitement.

Opening acupoints had always been a slow grind for him. This time, he had broken through two principal acupoints and three auxiliary ones in one go. It hardly felt real.

Could he be a genius whose talent had gone unnoticed?

No. It was the Lesser Yang Wood-Transforming Art. Just what is this art?

Luo Fanchen swiftly came back to his senses. His acupoints were undoubtedly as blocked as those of the very worst Five-Element Spirit Roots. He had no talent to speak of.

It was the Lesser Yang Wood-Transforming Art. Its method of breaking through acupoints was extraordinarily subtle. The art gathered True Essence on its own, controlled the spiritual energy throughout his body through the Greater Celestial Circuit, and contained the force of spring thunder at the Awakening of Insects. Then it broke through in a single strike.

While cultivating, he had almost felt as though the art itself had carried him through the breakthrough.

Its control was precise to the utmost: balanced and gentle while its edge lay hidden, then bursting forth like a thunderclap. This art had to be a cornerstone of a Dao Sect.

His knowledge was limited. He had never met a true prodigy of a Dao Sect, and before this, he could only guess that the Lesser Yang Wood-Transforming Art might be an inheritance from an Arcane Canon.

Now he was certain it was such an inheritance—and one that ranked among the finest even within the Dao Sects.

"I'd better not show my True Essence carelessly again..."

Luo Fanchen smiled bitterly. He was a country Rogue Cultivator, and his previous breakthroughs had come naturally. How could he have known this art was so formidable?

From his Storage Bag, he took out the wooden identity plaque into which the teaching Jade Slip had transformed, inwardly groaning.

This art was surely a cornerstone of a Dao Sect. If it fell into an outsider's hands, its owners would pursue it to the ends of the earth. Perhaps they had already set out and were crossing the Great Wilderness in search of his aura.

"Even the seventh-ranked Luo Shen Pavilion probably wouldn't dare cross this Dao Sect."

Luo Fanchen rubbed the plaque. Faint thunder patterns surfaced among its Sun-Moon Universe Pattern, seeming to accord with the deepest principles of heaven and earth.

Unfortunately, he could not recognize the markings. Perhaps someone among the Clear River Sect's senior ranks or at the Treasure Pavilion could? But the risk was too great. They might simply tie him up and hand him to the sect to appease its anger.

"Life's hard for a Rogue Cultivator. At this point, I can only take things one step at a time."

Luo Fanchen sighed. His gaze lingered on the name inscribed among the plaque's markings. How he wished it were his own.

Unfortunately, there were only a few clusters of seal-script characters that looked like ghostly scribbles. Clearly, it was not his name.

He then studied the plaque, hoping to find more clues.

In the end, he did uncover a few things. First, it was indestructible. When he struck it with a low-grade magical sword, the blade had nearly snapped. He had no idea what it was made of. Perhaps it could serve as a chest guard?

Second, the plaque was drawn to his Yi Wood True Essence and could not be discarded. He tried dropping it into a deep well, but the moment he circulated his Yi Wood True Essence, it returned at once, regardless of his wishes.

Third, no energy other than Yi Wood True Essence affected the plaque. He could not examine it by any method he knew.

He tried pouring Yi Wood True Essence into it and could faintly sense a formation inside. If he continued for three breaths, the formation would activate and transmit something resembling location coordinates.

It scared him half to death. He hastily cut off the flow of True Essence, and only then did the plaque fall still.

For the next seven days, Luo Fanchen devoted himself entirely to preparing for the bandit hunt, making Talismans day and night.

He kept three Bloodburst Talismans and three Rejuvenation Talismans in reserve and sold all the rest. The sale brought him five pieces of Spirit Dust, which he used to buy a Breath Concealment Pill.

The Soul Banner's Soul Power was completely exhausted. After using up its final Wraith, he had also made considerable progress in talisman-making.

First-Rank Low-Grade Talisman Maker (150/300)

With his proficiency more than halfway to the next level, Luo Fanchen planned to buy other talisman methods when he returned and begin trying to make First-Rank Mid-Grade Talismans.

When he emerged from seclusion, Mo Xue had not seen him for nearly ten days and missed him dearly. Casting aside her reserve, the young woman sought him out for guidance in swordsmanship and cultivation.

In the courtyard, swords swept like the wind. Luo Fanchen faced Mo Xue with a Wooden Sword. After dozens of exchanges, he seized an opening and flicked the sword from her hand, stopping his point two inches from her throat.

"Master Luo wins. As expected, I still have a long way to go."

Mo Xue tucked her damp hair behind her ear with a delicate hand, revealing a round, translucent earlobe.

A sheen of fragrant sweat glistened on her slender, fair neck. She did not seem discouraged. After sheathing her sword, she folded her arms, pouted, and turned her head away from Luo Fanchen, though her eyes kept straying to his hand.

She might as well have written pet me across her face.

"You don't need to go easy on me, Mo Xue."

Luo Fanchen smiled and shook his head. Mo Xue had extraordinary talent with the sword. While he had been in seclusion, she had successfully comprehended the Edgeless Geng Metal Sword.

Her Geng Metal Sword Intent was swift as wind, unstoppable yet without fixed form. In swordsmanship alone, he was no longer her match.

But she seemed afraid of discouraging him. At every crucial moment, she held back and deliberately lost.

"I wasn't holding back. Master Luo, you think too much of yourself."

Mo Xue nibbled her lip. Her waist swayed unconsciously, and her gaze remained fixed on his hand. Her scalp practically tingled.

Master Luo had not petted her in ten days!

"Has your cultivation improved lately?"

"How would Master Luo know unless he checked for himself?"

Mo Xue lowered her eyes, her lips moving uncertainly. Then she threw caution to the wind, clasped Luo Fanchen's hand between both of hers, pulled it almost forcibly onto her head, and held it firmly against her hair.

"You're not angry with me anymore?"

Luo Fanchen smiled. The way Mo Xue tried to keep a stern face while plainly craving affection was especially endearing.

Before he could even spread his fingers, Mo Xue rose on tiptoe and pressed her head into his palm, rubbing against it again and again.

Her dark hair flowed between his fingers, fine as silk and softly ticklish, carrying a faint gardenia fragrance.

"I wasn't angry with you, Master Luo."

Mo Xue's almond eyes narrowed, and the tension eased from her oval face. Her voice was timid.

"I only blame myself... Without me, things would be much easier for you, wouldn't they?"

Mo Xue lowered her eyes to her shoes, like a kitten waiting timidly to be punished after breaking a vase.

She had always felt somewhat inferior around Master Luo.

What she gave Master Luo was nowhere near equal to the patience, care, and effort he gave her. She only kept taking from him. Her talk of joining a Dao Sect was nothing more than an empty promise.

Qiu Yun could help Master Luo cultivate and wield the Soul Banner against enemies. Mo Xue was merely a burden.

She was always afraid Master Luo would come to dislike her, and the thought left her uneasy.

How ridiculous. She had long ago resolved to protect Master Luo and Qiu Yun, yet she still behaved willfully to seek reassurance from him.

"I'm the one holding you back, Master Luo."

"Silly girl. Think of it as an early investment. You know I have a Five-Element Spirit Root, don't you?"

Luo Fanchen's gaze was gentle as he lightly pinched Mo Xue's cheek. His fingertip came away a little damp. She was clearly on the verge of tears.

"If I cultivate by ordinary means, I probably won't even get a chance to attempt Foundation Establishment in this lifetime."

"You're my only hope of reaching Foundation Establishment. You're very, very important to me."

Luo Fanchen patted the back of Mo Xue's head and drew her into his arms.

He had a vague sense that something weighed on her heart, causing her Admiration Points to rise slowly. They were still only at two.

Ultimately, Mo Xue was sensitive, and the imbalance between their positions left her feeling insecure.

That could only ease gradually as her cultivation grew. In the meantime, all he could do was accept her tendency to dwell on things—and the endearing little bouts of willfulness that came with it.

"You're lying, Master Luo... Qiu Yun and I worked it out. If you cultivate normally, you'll reach the peak of Qi Refining at seventy-one."

Seventy-one? Good grief.

Luo Fanchen felt rather fortunate. If he had never met Mo Xue and Qiu Yun, he would have had no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment in this lifetime.

Softening his voice, he teased, "What, if I can reach the peak of Qi Refining myself, you won't help me?"

"Hmph! Take me along on this Soul Refining trip, and I'll help you."

Mo Xue buried her face against Luo Fanchen's chest with a little huff, wrapped her arms around his waist, and held him tight.

"And if I don't take you?"

"I'll help! Of course I will!"

Mo Xue brushed her nose against Luo Fanchen's clothes. The Pine Sandalwood Fragrance surrounding Master Luo filled her senses, and her restless heart gradually calmed.

She tipped up her head and pouted pitifully, her warm breath soft and fragrant. "Please take me with you, Master Luo?"

"I'll be miserable if I don't see you for a whole month."

"Please."

For once, the young woman set aside her reserve and pleaded sweetly.

"I've opened twenty acupoints already, and I'm working on the Jade Pivot. I can protect myself from bandits. Please, Master Luo?"

When a proud girl pleaded so directly, the effect could be unexpectedly powerful.

Luo Fanchen's heart tingled. Mo Xue had caught both his hands in her soft ones, their fingers intertwined, making it hard to refuse.

But he had intended to bring her along anyway. With trouble brewing in the Clear River Sect, he could not bear to leave her alone for an entire month.

Mo Xue was also close to the Second Level of Qi Refining. This was a good chance for her to gain experience, practice her Sword Manual, and break through.

"All right, all right. I suppose I'll bring you. Just this once."

"Master Luo, you're the best!"

Delight lit Mo Xue's pretty face. Catching Luo Fanchen off guard, she rose on tiptoe, gave his cheek a quick kiss, and ran off smiling.

There was not a trace of desire in the young woman's eyes, only innocent affection. Luo Fanchen touched the damp mark her lips had left on his cheek, a little dazed.

"That girl has no sense of propriety."

The kiss seemed to have left its warmth behind. As Luo Fanchen muttered his complaint, the sweet warmth of lavender suddenly drifted to his nose.

By the time he came to his senses, Qiu Yun had appeared in her Soul Body. Her soft red lips brushed his other cheek in a fleeting kiss.

"Qiu Yun."

"I was only making up for the part my sister missed."

Qiu Yun winked at him mischievously. Her pretty face flushed faintly, and a touch of shyness softened her usual poise as she murmured,

"You mustn't play favorites, Uncle Luo."

"Qiu Yun, you've learned bad habits."

Luo Fanchen wiped his cheeks, looking rather flustered.

Qiu Yun's willow-leaf brows arched as she touched her lips with a slender finger and tilted her head. The beauty mark on her face made her look all the more charming. "I thought Uncle Luo would like it..." she said, puzzled.

Ahem. After yesterday's chapter went up, we had 26 monthly votes.

Thank you, everyone, though we still dropped off the new xianxia books list...

So far, I owe two bonus chapters (4,000 words) after release.

The number of readers following the story has probably fallen lately, and subscriptions haven't risen much since the latest trial promotion. Please keep reading and vote! Monthly votes and regular readers are so important while the book is new.

(End of chapter)