At first glance, Yun Miao’s behavior seemed a little cheap, but Qi Shubai was sure the happiness she got from the five-hundred-year Ice Lotus and from receiving the vases was the same.
She simply delighted in receiving gifts.
He didn’t think much about it and looked at the flowers in her arms. “Who are you giving them to?”
At this age… could it be that spring feelings were stirring?
“Of course to Senior Brother, Huaxin, Tan Xiaobai, Laoguan, Gao Zhu, Senior Sister Ning…”
Yun Miao counted but lost track and said boldly, “Anyway, anyone I like, I’ll give one to!”
Qi Shubai laughed out loud. “Good. Then I’ll look forward to that flower tomorrow. But you’re holding two bundles — what’s the other for? Also for gifting?”
Not only likes receiving gifts but also likes giving gifts?
“Those have Ling Qi; I want to keep them for myself.”
Qi Shubai swept his Spiritual Sense over the two bundles. One was ordinary wildflowers; the other contained a small amount of Ling Qi.
Although the Ling Qi was minuscule and usually ignored by Main Peak visitors as just roadside weeds, they were indeed low-grade spiritual plants.
What was odd was that the two bundles were carefully sorted without any mixing.
Qi Shubai was surprised. “Junior Sister, how did you detect Ling Qi without using Spiritual Sense?”
Yun Miao glanced at the “[Realm: ??? Health Bar: ???]” hovering above Qi Shubai’s head and said solemnly, “I felt it.”
“Felt it?”
Qi Shubai pondered. It seemed Master was right — this little junior sister was indeed special.
He followed Yun Miao inside. Since no one had lived here for a long time, dust had settled everywhere. He immediately pointed to the storage pouch at Yun Miao’s waist, from which a Zhishi floated out.
Just as he was about to activate the array, Yun Miao stopped him, eyes full of eagerness.
“Senior Brother, teach me how to use Ling Qi. I want to try activating the array myself!”
“That’s fine, but…”
Qi Shubai conjured a Dust Removal Talisman in one hand. The runes glowed briefly, and the talisman turned to bits of paper drifting on a breeze that swept away the dust.
Then the wind vanished underground.
He led Yun Miao to sit at the table and placed the Zhishi there. Patiently, he explained the relationship between Ling Qi and Linggen.
“All the Qi in the world originates from a strand of Xiantian Qi when Heaven and Earth first opened.”
“Xiantian Qi itself has no attributes, but when it disperses in the world, it becomes water Ling Qi when it meets water, wood Ling Qi when it meets wood, fire Ling Qi when it meets fire… these are the Five Elements Ling Qi.”
“Only innate deities and cultivators who have reached the Immortal realm can condense Xiantian Qi.”
“Since immortals left the world in ancient times and ascended to the Immortal Realm, you can think of Xiantian Qi as nonexistent. Focus only on Ling Qi for now.”
“Firstly, the Five Elements Ling Qi inherits Xiantian Qi’s nature — it’s extremely unstable. If it encounters Yin Sha places, it transforms into Sha Qi.”
“Sha Qi is a highly aggressive energy that ordinary cultivators cannot refine. That’s why cultivators avoid it.”
“It’s said that in ancient times, Guxiu mastered refining Yin Sha Qi, but unfortunately, the Guxiu lineage has been lost.”
“Moshi absorb Ling Qi through cultivation and reverse it into Mo Qi, which is emitted into the world as dark energy.”
“Because of this origin, Mo Qi and Ling Qi are like yin and yang — natural enemies. Either one suppresses the other.”
“An abundance of Ling Qi can purify a small amount of Mo Qi back into Ling Qi, but if Mo Qi concentration is too high, it converts the Ling Qi into Mo Qi. Hence, Lingxiu and Moshu are mortal enemies.”
“Those who cultivate by absorbing Ling Qi are called Lingxiu. Most human and demon cultivators are Lingxiu. Depending on their specialty, they further subdivide into sword cultivators, Shoufa cultivators, talisman cultivators, array cultivators, etc.”
“A cultivator’s Linggen is like a magical item that attracts Five Elements Ling Qi. The number of Linggen determines how many elemental Ling Qi types can be absorbed simultaneously.”
“Tian Linggen has only one root and attracts only one elemental Ling Qi. So it only needs one Ling Qi circulation channel in its Jingmai to absorb and refine Ling Qi into Ling Power stored in the Dantian, ready for use.”
“Five Linggen attract five types of Ling Qi simultaneously. Because the Five Elements interact through mutual generation and restriction, if two conflicting Ling Qi flow in the same Jingmai, it causes an outbreak damaging the cultivator.”
“So Five Linggen cultivators must build five independent Ling Qi circulations in their body, carefully separating the different elements and storing them separately as five different Ling Power spheres in the Dantian.”
“For this reason, you must first learn Ling Power diversion — choosing one type of Ling Power in your Dantian and channeling it through one Jingmai for release. Dumping all five into one Jingmai causes mutual cancellation or dangerous Ling Qi turmoil.”
“This is why the cultivation world favors Tian Linggen nowadays. But in my view, the number and quality of Linggen matter less.”
“The most important thing is a firm Dao heart. As long as the Dao heart is perfect, no bottleneck can stop you. The rest is just polishing skills.”
Qi Shubai looked at Yun Miao appreciatively.
“Since you can say ‘I don’t pursue immortality, only the Dao,’ and break through by sudden insight, your resolve is far beyond ordinary people’s. I believe you won’t have any problems in this regard.”
Yun Miao frowned. “I see.”
Qi Shubai looked relieved. “You understood all that?”
Yun Miao’s expression was solemn. “Not a single word.”
“What are you babbling about? Didn’t understand, skip! Skip!”
Qi Shubai sighed. “Junior Sister, I actually think you needn’t be so impatient. You’d be better off accumulating Ling Power first.”
“Once you break through to Foundation Establishment Stage and develop Spiritual Sense, then learn Shoufa.”
“Then you can use Spiritual Sense to inspect your body and control Ling Power more precisely. Learning spells will be much easier.”
Yun Miao ignored him. She wanted to learn Shoufa now and beat that annoying white deer from Cloudview Platform all the way to Zhi Zhi Garden — and back!
“Alright then.”
Seeing he couldn’t persuade her, Qi Shubai patiently guided her to calm her Qi, sink it into her Dantian, sense the Ling Power inside, and channel it accordingly.
This time, Yun Miao listened seriously. According to game forum guides, the skill system here was special — the game seemed to truly want to teach them how to cultivate and cast spells.
Players had to successfully practice skills first before they would appear in the skill bar.
Following Qi Shubai’s instructions, Yun Miao indeed felt something flowing three inches below her navel.
It was real! This game was incredible!
She was astonished in her heart, but as soon as she lost focus a little, the Ling Power in her Dantian surged like a floodgate opened, rushing into her Jingmai…
Qi Shubai immediately noticed and patted her back, extracting the turbulent Ling Power from her Jingmai and tossing it out the window as a compact sphere.
Bang!
A huge pit was blown in the front yard soil; dirt flew everywhere. A passing Chuhen Bao was blasted through the window and landed right on Yun Miao’s head.
Startled, it raised its head and let out a low, fierce roar to intimidate its surroundings. “Guu—”
Yun Miao coughed.
Qi Shubai covered his mouth to hide a smile and conjured a water bubble to safely escort the Chuhen Bao out of the courtyard.
“Want to continue?”
Yun Miao slammed the table. “Continue!”
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The soil near the window in the front yard was riddled with craters. Countless tiny underground insects were blasted out and tossed onto the ground.
The Chuhen Bao had somehow returned and was flicking its long tongue to gobble up the feeble insects.
Panting, Yun Miao collapsed onto a chair. It wasn’t that she gave up — she had run out of mana.
Since breaking into the Qi Refining Stage, a blue bar representing Ling Power had appeared beside her health bar, showing her Ling Power reserves. Now, it was completely empty.
She gloomily gazed out the window, as if she’d lost all hope.
“How can this be? If it goes on like this… when will I be able to get revenge on Lu Dajiao?”
“Damn it, why is skill acquisition so hard? Even after hiding in the game, I still have to be tortured by this little demon?”
“Please, can this world give noobs a bit more leeway? QAQ”
Qi Shubai flicked his finger in midair. A stream of water flew into the yard, smoothing the ground and sweeping up all the insects along with the plump Chuhen Bao, sending them out of the courtyard.
“A gentleman’s revenge is never too late.”
Yun Miao quickly replied, “Yun Miao’s revenge is from dawn till dusk.”
Qi Shubai chuckled softly. “Lu Junior Brother is already at the peak of Jindan Stage. He might break through to Nascent Soul soon.”
“If you want to cause trouble for him, you still have a long road ahead. Let’s stop for today. I’ll practice with you again tomorrow.”
After Yun Miao agreed, he activated the array. An invisible barrier, only detectable by Spiritual Sense, quickly enveloped the tranquil courtyard.
Then he glanced at the still dejected Yun Miao, excused himself, and returned to his own courtyard.
When he came back, he waved his hand, and two Qingci Huaping vases, a set of Wenfang Sibao, and a carved wooden box appeared on Yun Miao’s desk.
“These two vases are the ones I promised you for your flowers. The other two are gifts from Brother to congratulate you on moving in. The box contains some old books from when I first joined the sect.”
Qi Shubai explained: though just ordinary Low-grade Qi Refining Manuals, the Compendium of Five Element Techniques, and several beginner’s manuals on footwork, leg techniques, and sword techniques, he had written many notes in them. They might help Yun Miao.
The Wenfang Sibao weren’t magical items, but the phoenix carving on them was auspicious — wishing the little junior sister to rise swiftly, soaring to the clouds.
Yun Miao’s eyes brightened. More gifts? Was this NPC Santa Claus? So generous with presents?
Usually, players worked hard to give NPCs gifts but were often scolded for giving the wrong ones.
Yun Miao was deeply moved by Qi Shubai and quickly stuffed the small bundle of Ling Qi-containing wildflowers into his arms.
“Thank you, Senior Brother! These are all for you!”
The recipient’s undisguised happiness was the best reward for the giver.
Qi Shubai suddenly thought the flowers looked much better and perfect for a vase.
“Weren’t you going to keep these?”
Yun Miao boldly said, “It’s okay. I can always pick more if I want.”
Qi Shubai asked, “So generous? You really like these books and Wenfang Sibao?”
Yun Miao hesitated but finally admitted, “Actually… not really. I hate reading and writing.”
Qi Shubai couldn’t help but laugh at her honesty.
“Then why are you so happy?”
Yun Miao said matter-of-factly, “Because they’re gifts!”
No need for tedious, stinky, long quests or struggling to raise favor — just free gifts handed over easily. This was a miracle!
Qi Shubai didn’t understand the player mindset and shook his head helplessly.
So as long as it’s a gift, no matter what it is, she’d be this happy? Still just a kid after all.
***
As night fell, Yun Miao said goodbye to Senior Brother and closed the door, preparing to log off and sleep.
But just as she walked toward the bed, a faint, melancholy sigh drifted into her ear.
Yun Miao startled. “A ghost?!”
“It’s me.”
Sect Master Chang appeared before her, gently patting her head. “Xiao Miao, how was your day? Tell Master about it.”
Yun Miao looked suspicious. “I had a good day today, but Master… why do you look at me with such sadness and reluctance?”
“Do I? I don’t think so.”
Sect Master Chang forced a smile and awkwardly laughed it off, but seeing Yun Miao’s continued suspicion, his smile stiffened and turned into a sigh.
“You should still remember what I said this morning about the Five Elements Dao Body, right? I wanted to encourage you with those words, but after much thought, I felt I shouldn’t give you too much false hope. So I came.”