The Young Master Was Only Afraid of Trouble

Early the next morning, Liu S sui came again, swept the courtyard, collected breakfast, and gathered the fallen leaves into a neat, attractive pile.

Jing Jiu watched him quietly.

He had heard every word of Master Lü's conversation with Liu S sui the night before.

Even if he could not have heard it, Master Lü would have deliberately made sure he did.

Master Lü hoped he would have some self-awareness, or feel humiliated enough to send Liu S sui away of his own accord.

Jing Jiu understood Master Lü perfectly. In his place, he would have done the same.

How could a cultivator spend his time on such things?

If Liu S sui had taken Master Lü's advice, he would have understood that perfectly too. In his place, he would have done the same.

Before the Great Dao, even heaven and earth should cease to matter, let alone some young master.

What he had not expected was that, after tossing and turning all night, Liu S sui would still come today and still do those chores, even seeming more energetic than before.

Jing Jiu suddenly wanted to know just what this little boy was thinking.

But since Liu S sui had not taken Master Lü's advice, he certainly would not send him away over something as inexplicable as dignity.

It was not easy to have someone familiar with his habits help manage his daily life. He had never had that in all the long years before.

After finishing his morning chores, Liu S sui brewed a pot of tea and set it on the table, then carried the bamboo recliner out of the cave chamber.

Jing Jiu lay down on the bamboo chair, facing the newly risen sun, his eyes slightly narrowed, his fingers tapping lightly against the armrest without any rhythm.

Liu S sui did not go to the Sword Hall that day. He stayed in the little courtyard, standing in a lunge, his arms striking out with seemingly casual movements, yet as swift as lightning.

In the past, he would not have reacted at all to the sound of Jing Jiu tapping on the bamboo chair, but after what he had verified over the past few days, he naturally began to listen closely.

A lack of rhythm was a rhythm too; it still represented the length of breaths and the intervals between them.

When the sun climbed past the peaks, Liu S sui finally finished tempering his body. His little face was covered in beads of sweat, and his body ached faintly.

He did not find it grueling. Instead, he felt thoroughly invigorated.

He turned to look at Jing Jiu, who lay on the bamboo recliner with his eyes closed, seemingly fast asleep, and could not help breaking into a broad grin.

After a year together, he knew that Jing Jiu often only appeared to be sleeping.

"Young Master..."

Liu S sui hesitated. He had never done anything like this before. But remembering Master Lü's solemn face the night before, he finally summoned his courage and said softly, "...could you please stop being so lazy?"

Liu S sui knew his young master was lazy. The bamboo recliner beneath him was proof enough, though he had no idea how he had brought it from home.

He also knew his young master was extremely clever and very capable. But now that he had finally come to the Green Mountain Sect and had the chance to encounter Immortal Methods and Sword Dao, how could he go on being so lazy?

If his young master kept being this lazy, how would he pass the inner sect examination? What if the immortal masters really sent him away?

Even a child with an innate Dao Seed could not conceal his true feelings.

Seeing the worry on Liu S sui's little face, Jing Jiu paused in surprise, then smiled.

That night, Jing Jiu stood in the little courtyard with his hands behind his back, silently watching the peaks beneath the starry sky.

He had not followed Liu S sui's advice to practice lunges and bow punches, temper his body inside and out, and pursue perfection in the Youyi Realm to lay a solid foundation for his future cultivation.

He had no need.

By the standards used to measure ordinary cultivators, he had long since passed the Presence Realm and entered the Embracing Spirit Realm.

More precisely, he had already been in the Embracing Spirit Realm when he stepped into that stream inside the cave.

Looking back over Green Mountain's tens of thousands of years, he was probably the one who had entered the Embracing Spirit Realm fastest.

He felt no pride, because he had only been able to do so because his current body was unusual.

A cultivator at Master Lü's level naturally could not see through its mysteries.

Among all things in the world, every gain came with a loss.

He took out a pale green pill, tossed it into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed it.

He drank a mouthful of cold tea and shook his head, finding the taste quite ordinary.

Had Master Lü or any other immortal master of the Green Mountain Sect witnessed this scene, the shock might well have shattered the defenses of their sword hearts.

That pale green pill was called a Purple Mystic Pill, the best pill a cultivator in the Initial Realm could take.

For disciples in the Embracing Spirit Realm, one Purple Mystic Pill was equivalent to a year of arduous cultivation.

One could imagine how precious such pills were. Only disciples with the greatest potential and talent received such treatment.

Even among the Sword-Inheriting Disciples of the Green Mountain Nine Peaks, few had taken such pills back when they were in the Initial Realm.

Yet Jing Jiu ate these precious pills like roasted beans.

Given the quantity and frequency with which he took Purple Mystic Pills, an ordinary Outer-Sect Disciple might have needed only two hours to reach perfection in the Embracing Spirit Realm.

Of course, it was far more likely that the Outer-Sect Disciple would have died an hour earlier from the explosive increase in true essence.

Jing Jiu did not die. He did not even show any reaction.

The reason was the same: his body was unusual. It could absorb Heavenly Earth Vital Energy with incomparable ease, and could also withstand more of it.

The problem was...too much.

His Spirit Sea seemed to be a real sea, and a bottomless one at that. Who knew how long it would take to fill this sea with Heavenly Earth Vital Energy? Even if he kept taking Purple Mystic Pills, it was still very slow, and their medicinal power would eventually reach its limit.

Until his Spirit Sea was full, his Dao Seed would grow alone, unable to transform into a Sword Fruit and enter the next stage of cultivation. What could he do?

If the rumors were true and the Buddhist Land possessed a rare treasure that could alter time, perhaps he could save some time. But he knew that no such treasure existed, so all he could do now was wait.

He had already calculated it clearly: in another three days, Purple Mystic Pills would no longer be of any help to him, let alone ordinary pills.

Even if he absorbed Heavenly Earth Vital Energy without stopping, it would still take at least another year or more to fill his Spirit Sea.

To think he still needed so many days. What a bother.

If he did not want to draw too much attention and invite trouble, he could spend every day cultivating diligently like the other Outer-Sect Disciples, enduring that year or more until it passed.

But he would not do that. Aside from the most secret reason, it was also because he found doing so troublesome.

Yes, he was merely afraid of trouble. He was not truly lazy.

During that year in the mountain village, he had spent much of his time asleep because he needed to understand and familiarize himself with this body.

In those first nine days, he had only completed the initial integration. It would still take a long time to gain complete mastery over the most minute parts within his body.

Nor had he lied to S sui. In those dreams, apart from integrating further, he had indeed done a great deal of thinking, deduction, and calculation.

He needed to think about why he was here.

He needed to deduce the past and the future.

He needed to calculate the gains, losses, and state of affairs.

Only after completing those two steps had he returned to the Green Mountain Sect, only to discover that he had nothing to do but wait.

This truly was something he had never experienced before.

"Is this boredom?"

Sensing this feeling he had never experienced before, Jing Jiu thought with some uncertainty, Could someone like me actually get bored too?