In the midst of one piece of music after another, Mu Yanxi lost herself.
She felt as if she were immersed in an ocean of music, unable to extricate herself. She had underestimated the realms and attainments of these Sound Dao Grandmasters.
Even if it were just a recording, even if it were the simplest “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” or “Two Tigers,” they could turn the mundane into the miraculous through their fingers, directly pulling the listener into a musical illusion and allowing them to experience the beauty of the Sound Dao.
The Taiqing Immortal Domain itself was an illusion, and the qin sound was another layer of illusion—illusion layered upon illusion.
Through a few of the most basic songs, the foundational knowledge of the Sound Dao was instilled directly into the audience.
This was the “grass, trees, bamboo, and stones can all be swords” within the Sound Dao realm: all things in the world could be a qin, wherever there was sound, there could be music, and wherever there was music, there was the Sound Dao. The Great Way was simplest, returning to the original state.
Just as Mu Yanxi was lingering in the world of music, reluctant to leave, she suddenly heard Hai Lingxue’s impatient voice by her ear:
“Mu Yanxi! You’ve been in the bathroom for almost two hours! Please consider that other people need to use it too.”
“Eh?!”
Mu Yanxi immediately snapped out of that mysterious illusion world, only then realizing that she had no idea how long she had been soaking in the bathtub.
When she entered the Taiqing Immortal Domain, she had turned the spiritual water tap on just a little, letting it slowly replenish the spiritual water. Even so, the spiritual water in the tub had decreased by nearly half.
“Hiss! I’m at the seventeenth layer of Qi Refining?!”
As Mu Yanxi felt the abundant mana throughout her body and her much stronger physique, she had actually broken through another minor realm in the illusion just now.
She knew that breaking through a minor realm in Qi Refining now was basically equivalent to breaking through from early Foundation Establishment to mid Foundation Establishment.
But after rising three levels last night, she had risen another level less than twenty-four hours later.
Roughly speaking, that meant Mu Yanxi had advanced from early Foundation Establishment to late Foundation Establishment great perfection in a single day, entering the False Dan Stage.
This speed was too absurd, especially since Mu Yanxi didn’t even have a spiritual root.
The only explanation was that the big meal she had eaten today replenished a huge amount of mana, and then the spiritual water she absorbed brought her directly to a bottleneck. She had then used the illusion of the Sound Dao Master to break through.
Although those basic, introductory tunes did not state that they had any effect in aiding cultivation, the Sound Dao Masters had long turned the mundane into the miraculous, integrating their own Dao into the music.
Especially since this recording was intended for teaching beginners—it directly infused the Great Way through music, giving even the most basic songs the effect of breaking through bottlenecks.
Under the influence of these multiple factors, Mu Yanxi accomplished the miracle of rising four levels in a single day.
Her feeling at the restaurant yesterday was correct: this was real immortal cultivation—listening to music and soaking in a bath while advancing. If there had been a bottle of wine beside her, wouldn’t that be truly divine?
“Hey! Mu Yanxi, are you okay? If you’re not dead, say something! I’m going to break the door down!” Hai Lingxue called out, but her tone carried a hint of worried urgency.
“Wait! Stop! Don’t break the door! I… I’m coming out right now!”
Mu Yanxi quickly jumped out of the bathtub, and the Virgin Fairy Bathing Method instantly dried the water droplets from her body. Without even time to put on clothes, she wrapped herself in a towel and opened the door.
***
Outside, Hai Lingxue and Lei Mulan were standing, both with expressions of concern. Seeing that Mu Yanxi had come out unharmed and was mentally normal, they breathed a sigh of relief.
“Yanxi, why were you in the bathroom so long? Lingxue and I almost wanted to break the door down…” Lei Mulan had just started speaking when Hai Lingxue suddenly exclaimed:
“Yanxi, you broke through to the seventeenth layer of Qi Refining?”
Lei Mulan also looked surprised. She and Hai Lingxue were at the fifteenth and eighteenth layers of Qi Refining respectively.
As demon cultivators, they were stronger than other races at the same realm, but they were about on par with Mu Yanxi.
The key thing was that Mu Yanxi had already risen three levels yesterday and gained a small reputation in the dorm.
Now she had advanced another level today. Both of them felt inferior to this cultivation speed. Could she be a genius?
“Well, I ate quite a bit of spirit chef cuisine today and accumulated a lot of mana in my body. Then I tried meditating a little just now. I cultivate a water element technique, so I broke through in the bathroom.”
Mu Yanxi quickly came up with an excuse.
The two of them looked unconvinced. They had both eaten the same dinner—Mu Yanxi had eaten, and so had they. Lei Mulan had actually eaten more than twice as much spirit chef cuisine as Mu Yanxi, yet she hadn’t broken through.
However, Hai Lingxue didn’t press the matter. Instead, she said:
“Congratulations on breaking through again, Mu Yanxi. But please keep in mind that the dorm bathroom is shared. If you keep staying inside to cultivate in seclusion, others won’t be able to use it.”
“Understood, I’ll be careful about that.”
Mu Yanxi said apologetically. Everything about this dorm was good except for this one point: all facilities were shared. It wasn’t like her previous cave dwelling, where she was the only one and could use everything freely.
Still, the feeling of being cared for wasn’t bad. Hai Lingxue and Lei Mulan—the anxious and concerned expressions they had just shown weren’t fake.
In her past life, many seniors had died in their own cave dwellings from Qi deviation or failing to break through, only to be discovered decades or even thousands of years later, already turned to white bones.
“If you cultivate a water element technique and need high-concentration spiritual water, I suggest you go to the Lingyue High Sect public bath.”
“Not only is the spiritual water quality higher there, but they also have better bathing agents, which will be more beneficial for cultivation,” Hai Lingxue said seriously.
“I’ll think about it.”
Mu Yanxi nodded in agreement. Yesterday, Shangguan Yun had already mentioned the public bath to her—it was more suitable for cultivating water element techniques.
Most importantly, the public bath was open twenty-four hours a day. Mu Yanxi could cultivate for as long as she wanted without disturbing her roommates’ use of the bathroom.
Seeing that Mu Yanxi had agreed, Hai Lingxue pulled Lei Mulan into the bathroom after she moved aside, saying while dragging:
“Today I’m definitely giving you a bath. Don’t even think about running.”
Lei Mulan’s ears drooped as she was dragged into the bathroom. Before the door closed, she was still shouting:
“I don’t want a bath right now! Next time, for sure!”
Mu Yanxi just smiled. As a demon cultivator, Lei Mulan was much stronger than Hai Lingxue. If she really wanted to resist, this wouldn’t be the reaction—it was just feigning refusal while accepting.
Sure enough, soon the bathroom echoed with the girls’ coquettish cries.
They were clearly trying to seize the opportunity while the mana from the spirit chef cuisine hadn’t dissipated to engage in double cultivation, and they just happened to choose the bathroom as well.
Although the illusion had been interrupted by Lei Mulan and Hai Lingxue, the foundational knowledge of the Sound Dao had already been infused into Mu Yanxi’s mind through the masters’ music.
Mu Yanxi felt that she now knew at least ninety types of musical instruments and could already operate the Sound Dao technique. She had even memorized more than a dozen common sheet music pieces.
She walked back to the bedroom and saw Shangguan Yun sitting at the desk, wearing glasses and looking over documents. When Shangguan Yun saw Mu Yanxi come in, she smiled and said:
“Another breakthrough? Looks like tonight I’ll be even more entertained.”