Chu Xingchen naturally rejected Li Yingling's unreasonable request.
The cultivation methods supplied by the system were all capable of leading to perfect immortal ascension.
They were even perfectly matched to the cultivator's spiritual root.
Even the great immortal sects might not have something like this. Li Yingling should have counted herself lucky to get to practice it, yet she dared to be picky.
More importantly, he had no other immortal cultivation method for the girl to practice.
Night fell.
Li Yingling lay on the icy wooden boards. Without the soft pillow she had at home, she really struggled to fall asleep.
Although she had her clothes on, she felt uncomfortable all over without a blanket covering her little belly.
Li Yingling called softly, "Master."
Chu Xingchen's irritated reply came:
"Why aren't you sleeping at this hour?"
"The ruined temple's entrance lets the wind in... I'm cold."
Chu Xingchen yawned. "Get up and walk around a bit. Go back to sleep once you aren't cold."
Li Yingling protested timidly, "Won't I just get cold again after lying down for a while?"
Chu Xingchen sounded rather helpless. "I told you, that cultivation method is called the Supreme Great Yin True Mystic Spirit Water Heart Sutra. Just go ahead and practice it!"
"Once you reach the third or fourth level of Qi Refining, you won't feel cold anymore."
Li Yingling silently glanced sideways at the divine cultivation manual lying beside her-the Water Heart Sutra.
Master! What you're saying really isn't convincing!!
Fuck it! If I die, I die! I chose this master myself, so I'll have to keep cultivating even through my tears.
Li Yingling gritted her teeth and got up. Taking the Water Heart Sutra, she walked over to the fire, opened the first page, and looked at the first line.
[I am the Water Spirit True Lord. This cultivation method is the exclusive supreme art of the Water Spirit True Lord of the True Immortal Realm.]
Whoa! A true immortal's cultivation method?
Feeling slightly better, Li Yingling looked at the second line.
[I am the Raging Tide True Lord. What the Water Spirit True Lord wrote was watery rubbish! I have revised it! The effects are fiercer now, so everyone can practice without worry!]
Whoa! A mighty expert had even thoughtfully revised it?!
Li Yingling nodded in satisfaction and turned her gaze to the third line.
[I am the Sea-Turning True Lord. Those two above are both useless trash. What the hell did they write? They're leading their students astray! I have revised it.]
*...????*
Li Yingling's gaze swept rapidly across the first page.
Good grief!
The entire first page consisted of sentences beginning with "I am" and furiously denouncing the useless trash above. According to that page,
at least seventeen mighty experts had revised this Water Heart Sutra.
In other words, this immortal cultivation method had gone through seventeen versions.
With trembling hands, Li Yingling turned to the next page.
Please, no more revisions!
[I am...]
Li Yingling felt her vision go dark, but she endured and kept reading.
[I am the Northern Sea Emperor. Stop fucking revising this! You're all incompetent, yet you keep scribbling whatever you please! I nearly suffered cultivation deviation practicing this damn thing! This version, revised by me, is the final version! Non-toxic-safe to practice! One last reminder! Stop! Fucking! Revising it!]
Her gaze shifted to the next passage.
Fortunately, no one had revised it again.
However, thick stroke after thick stroke of ink had blotted out every word originally written there.
On the entire page, only one line remained untouched.
Water is the spiritual source and foundation of heaven and earth.
Wonderful. A useless line of nonsense.
She decisively turned to the next page.
The entire page had been blacked out, then written over in red, but a large patch of that red writing had been blotted out too.
Then multicolored ink had turned the entire sheet pitch-black.
After that, someone had stubbornly written over it in white paint.
These mighty experts... really refused to admit defeat.
The multicolored writing made Li Yingling's eyes swim.
Li Yingling raised her head, looked at Chu Xingchen lying on the wooden boards, and asked timidly:
"Master... if I suffer cultivation deviation, will you be able to save me in time?"
Chu Xingchen propped himself up, looked at Li Yingling crouching beside the fire with the Water Heart Sutra in her hands, and sighed.
"Just practice it without worrying. You won't suffer cultivation deviation. Would your master ever harm you?"
"Master, are you sure you didn't pick this up from some roadside stall?"
"You've read it, haven't you? Do you think you could find a cultivation method like this at a roadside stall?"
At his words, Li Yingling lowered her head and took another look.
True... they would have spent far too much on ink to fake this.
Li Yingling said timidly, "Master, I'm really going to practice it. Please stand guard for me."
Getting up from the wooden boards, Chu Xingchen walked over to Li Yingling and nodded.
"Rest assured. I'll keep you safe and sound. Once you practice it, you'll understand just how powerful this Water Heart Sutra is!"
Master! Even you're calling it the Water Heart Sutra now!
But what else could I do?
Li Yingling steeled herself and finished reading the Water Heart Sutra, which had probably been revised until it bore no resemblance whatsoever to the original.
Then she began cultivating according to its instructions.
The moment she started... it really did feel different.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth rapidly gathered, surging toward Li Yingling.
She absorbed the spiritual energy according to the cultivation method, then guided it along the meridian routes laid out in the sutra.
Li Yingling felt a sense of effortless naturalness spread throughout her body.
Then Chu Xingchen watched, dumbstruck, as Li Yingling swiftly broke through to the first level of Qi Refining.
Her aura rapidly solidified, and then she abruptly broke through to the second level of Qi Refining!
This budding immortal was actually this terrifying?!
Damn, no wonder she had the Genius trait. I'm so jealous!
[Eldest disciple: Li Yingling has reached the second level of Qi Refining.] [Returning 100% of her cultivation.]
Chu Xingchen's eyes lit up. There was a perk like this too?!
A faint wisp of pure spiritual energy entered his body.
Chu Xingchen hurriedly tried to sense that spiritual energy, but he could not really detect anything.
After all, it was only the second level of Qi Refining. As someone at the Golden Core Stage, his cultivation was simply too high.
Forget it. At least I don't have to worry about this girl overtaking me.
I'll always stay one Golden Core's worth of cultivation ahead of her!
After observing her for a while in the middle of the night, Chu Xingchen found that Li Yingling had no major problems.
He lay back down on the wooden boards, yawned, and prepared to go back to sleep.
After all, the cultivation method came from the system. There should not have been any problems.
Li Yingling, however, seemed to have become addicted to cultivating.
She cultivated straight through the night and into the day.
Sunlight streamed through the broken door into the temple.
"Master! Master!"
Chu Xingchen opened his eyes groggily. Li Yingling's large eyes gazed at him, full of admiration.
"What?" Chu Xingchen asked in confusion.
Li Yingling said excitedly, "I'm at the fifth level of Qi Refining! I reached the fifth level in a single night. That Water Heart Sutra really is a top-tier immortal art."
Chu Xingchen yawned and rolled over, intending to keep sleeping, but still offered some perfunctory praise:
"Mm-hmm. Very well done."
Seeing that Chu Xingchen intended to go back to sleep,
Li Yingling hurriedly said, "Master, I haven't reached Foundation Establishment yet, so I still can't go without food. I've been hungry for a whole day. We're surrounded by wild mountains, and there's nothing to eat here. Do you have any ideas?"
Chu Xingchen sighed and said helplessly:
"Didn't you just say this place is out in the wilderness? Go catch yourself a wild chicken."
"You're already at the fifth level of Qi Refining. Surely you can beat a wild chicken?"
Li Yingling froze at his words.
He wasn't like this when he tricked me into becoming his disciple!
Why did he change as soon as I became his disciple?
She had no idea how to catch wild chickens, but looking at Chu Xingchen lying motionless on the wooden boards,
Fine. Maybe... this was just what immortal cultivation was like?
Just like that Water Heart Sutra.
Having comforted herself, Li Yingling grabbed a wooden stick nearby and walked out of the temple to hunt a wild chicken.
Just as she stepped outside, Chu Xingchen's voice came from behind her.
"Remember to save both drumsticks for your master."
Li Yingling, who had just reached the fifth level of Qi Refining, nearly stumbled and fell.
Before you continue