Chapter Fifteen: Sentiment

  The bright moon is in the sky, and a thin spiritual energy emerges from the cracks in the ground, floating gently in the air.

  Lin Xiao sat cross-legged on a mountain rock near the cliff, his hands clasped together and pressed against his lower abdomen, slowly inhaling and exhaling. A faint thread of spiritual energy drilled into his body from the top of his head, a warm red light flickered subtly within him, and a hint of heat wafted around him, scorching the nearby grasses to a withered yellow.

  He had obtained the True Fire Technique, and was also given a 'Three Flavors Departing Fire Pill' by Dan Fuyu to assist him. Lin Xiao spent seven days and seven nights, finally converting all the Longqing Technique true energy in his body into Departing Fire true energy. In the process of conversion, about 30% of the Longqing Technique true energy was lost, but after all the true energy was converted into Departing Fire true energy, Lin Xiao not only didn't feel that his strength had regressed, but instead felt that his vitality was becoming more and more vigorous, his power more and more formidable. It seemed that with just a casual breath, a burst of explosive power could erupt from within him.

  Indeed, practicing a qigong method that matches one's own five-element attributes is most beneficial.

  The Evergreen Formula is indeed the foundation of Hui Chun Valley, with a nature that is extremely gentle. During Lin Xiao's transformation of his true energy, he didn't feel even half a bit of pain, and his entire body's true energy had already been completely transformed.

  "Hoo~~~" A mouthful of turbid air sprayed out, and a faint red glow shot out several feet away, igniting the withered grass on the edge of the cliff. Lin Xiao got up after completing his exercise, feeling the warm and cozy true energy inside his body, and recalling the strange sensation he had when he was refining medicine in the Huichun Hall, he couldn't help but think to himself: "Perhaps the Firework Dao is the most suitable for me? Ah, Master and the others' arrangement is indeed 'farsighted' and 'wise and powerful'."

  "Hey, hey, little brother!" Lin Xiao was lost in thought when he suddenly heard Yao's soft call from behind the mountain rocks.

  Lin Xiao suddenly turned around and was shocked to see Yao'er, who was covered in dust, holding four pheasants in her hands. She was peeking out from behind a boulder, beckoning him over. Lin Xiao instinctively looked around, then hastily walked over to Yao'er's side, squatting down beside her behind the boulder. Lowering his voice, he asked, "Yao'er Shijie, what are you doing?"

  The little medicine's mouth pouted and his head tilted to one side, saying in a very unhappy tone: "You've been practicing your skills for seven whole days now, I'm almost starving to death."

  "Ugh..." Lin Xiao sighed: "The hut in the valley..."

  The young girl scowled, her face darkening as she spoke in a fierce tone: "The Master ordered everyone to go into seclusion and cultivate, saying that we need to reflect on the insights gained from the past five years of alchemy. The kitchen hasn't been lit for several days now, where am I supposed to find food?" She flailed her arms angrily, her voice rising in indignation: "What's even more infuriating is that not a single steamed bun has been taken out of the kitchen, humph!"

  Lin Xiao nodded and said, "Sister, no need to say more, I understand. Hmm, let's find a quiet place, I'll roast mountain chicken for you to eat. Mmm, this Valley Closure Dan..."

  Ya'er looked at Lin Xiao in shock, and said unhappily: "Bai Gu Dan? Is it better than roasted chicken? Is it better than mantou? Why should I eat Bai Gu Dan?"

  "Ah, yes!" Lin Xiao smiled wryly and took the four pheasants from Yao'er's hands.

  Yao'er clapped her hands happily, then patted Lin Xiao's shoulder forcefully: "Younger brother, from now on, older sister's belly is in your care."

  This remark was extremely mysterious, Lin Xiao wanted to laugh but couldn't, and instead felt a slight urge to cry. However, when Yao'er patted his shoulder, he saw that her palm had many fine yet deep scars. For no reason, Lin Xiao's heart ached slightly, and he instinctively turned over Yao'er's hand, asking in a low voice: "Shifu, what happened?"

  With a sorrowful expression, she gazed at her palm, which was covered in wounds and dust. Medic's tears came easily. As she wiped away her tears, she looked at Lin Xiang with a pitiful expression: "Ugh, those mountain chickens are so hateful. I used my Palm Thunder to chop them up, but they're all inedible now. I can only use my hands to catch them, but they always dart into those short bamboo thickets... Ugh, it's killing me."

  A pale face with two streams of tears, big eyes full of water, a small red mouth twitching, Lin Xiao's heart also fluttered up. He constantly reminded himself that he shouldn't be moved, shouldn't go on like this. But he couldn't help but put down the pheasant, grasped both of Yao's hands in his, and gently blew air onto her small hands. "Hmm, it's not a big deal, just apply some topical ointment, and it'll scab over in a day."

  Lin Xiao gently comforted Yao'er, just like his mother had comforted him when he accidentally fell and scraped his palm as a child.

  A warm and soft **soaking** had taken over Lin Xiao's heart, he grasped the small hand of Yao'er tightly, unintentionally adding a bit more strength. The smooth palm, as if boneless, made Lin Xiao instinctively recall the scene where Yao'er fed him the miraculous lotus root to save his life. Those rosy lips, sweet breath, Lin Xiao's heart violently throbbed, wave after wave of hot blood rushed to his forehead, causing his vision to blur, and his youthful heart to ache with anxiety, fear, and confusion.

  Lin Xiao cried out in his heart: "Heavens, what's wrong with me?"

  The little girl saw the tenderness on Lin Xiao's face that made her heart skip a beat, and she also saw the hesitation and fear behind that tenderness. She didn't understand what Lin Xiao was afraid of, but she straightforwardly wiped away her tears, and with a dirty small hand, she pinched Lin Xiao's pale little face hard. "Hmph, Sister knows you're good at catching mountain chickens, so from now on, all the food I eat will be handled by you! Hmph, hmm, Master said that the entry-level skills and everything else will be taught to you by me, so you have to listen!"

  "What? Ah! Won't do?" Lin Xiao's scalp exploded, and the short hair on his temples stood up involuntarily. Let Yan Ru teach him the introductory skills? How reliable could this be?

  Lin Xiao was still in a daze and hadn't had time to express any opinion on Dan Fusheng's arrangement when Yao'er stood up, carrying the four pheasants in her left hand and Lin Xiao in her right. She walked towards the back mountain of Hui Chun Valley, laughing and chatting all the way. After a while, a column of blue smoke rose from a deep valley in the back mountain of Hui Chun Valley, and a strong aroma wafted through the air. Then, the sound of Yao'er's cries of "wow" could be heard as she was splattered with hot oil from the roasted chicken.

  "Wow, I'm so full!" The medicine child satisfyingly licked the oil and fat off her fingers until they were clean, contentedly patted her belly, and then lay down on the ground in a very un-ladylike manner. She even lifted up one leg, with her toes lightly swaying back and forth, humming some sort of mountain tune, while staring blankly at the geese flying high in the sky.

  Lin Xiao covered the bonfire while quietly gazing at Yao'er. This silly and confused senior sister brought him a kind of unprecedented tranquility and warmth. It felt as if he had originally lacked a piece of his heart, but was suddenly made whole by something. Lin Xiao had thought that in this world, he was already a lone figure, even with Dan Feng and Dan Fu Sheng around. But Yao'er's appearance made him feel like there were still people who cared for and loved him.

  Although the medicine child didn't say it, Lin Xiao knew that after choosing to practice on the high stone on the cliff, the medicine child had been appearing and disappearing at the edge of the cliff for several days. Lin Xiao's side was sprinkled with a lot of snake-repelling powder, although the powder was sprinkled a bit too much, covering the ground around him with half an inch thick layer of powder, but the medicine child's intention, Lin Xiao could truly feel it. This was a concern that had no other emotions mixed in, purely because she cared about Lin Xiao.

  Apart from his own mother and father, Lin Xiao had never felt such care from anyone else. Hu Zhute and Mr. Wei, they didn't care about Lin Xiao, but only expected him to take over Hui Chun Tang and replace Lin Yao, that prodigal son. As for these subtle differences, Lin Xiao, who was sensitive since childhood, could clearly distinguish them.

  His own mother and father are dead, now in this world, only his medicine can care for him with such instinct.

  Dān Líng Dào rén and Dān Fú Shēng accepted him into the Great Luo Dan Dao, but it wasn't because they had any good feelings towards Lin Xiāo. Perhaps it was purely out of a sense of responsibility that the Great Luo Dan Dao had towards its outer sect disciples.

  By the side of a small stream, Lin Xiao washed his hands clean and sat down beside Yao'er. Yao'er had somehow plucked a long grass, she held the grass stem in her mouth, her tongue moving the grass stem, and the long grass leaves danced happily. Yao'er was self-satisfied playing with the long grass, Lin Xiao was also self-satisfied watching Yao'er.

  After a long time, Yao'er finally came back to her senses. She stared blankly at Lin Xiao and asked: "What are you staring at me like an idiot for? Didn't you eat enough earlier? I only..." Her face turned slightly red, a rare sight, as she muttered: "I only ate three half-roasted chickens! No big deal, next time I'll save one for you."

  "Hmm, I'm not hungry." Lin Xiao was taken aback for a moment. After cultivating the True Fire Technique, Lin Xiao suddenly discovered that his demand for food had greatly decreased. The half-roasted chicken he had just eaten was already stuffed into his stomach with great difficulty. On the other hand, Yao'er, whose cultivation level was much higher than his, was still so greedy when it came to eating? Was it true that people without a heart or lungs were more ferocious when it came to eating?

  Lin Xiao stared blankly at Yao'er, and Yao'er also stared blankly at Lin Xiao.

  The two of them gazed at each other for a while, and Lin Xiao suddenly came to his senses. He hastily turned his head away, but his small white face was already flushed red.

  Yao'er suddenly burst out laughing, she jumped up and stuck tightly to Lin Xiao's arm. She excitedly asked: "Shidi, you should have fully converted your true energy by now, right? Hmm, what kind of spells did you learn before? Do you know any practical spells?"

  "Magic?" Lin Xiao's ears perked up, and he shook his head repeatedly: "Magic? I don't know how!" Lin Xiao felt a mix of tension and anticipation in his heart. 'Magic' was something legendary. Although he had already joined the Great Luo Dan Tao, and even been struck by Ya Er's Palm Thunder once, Lin Xiao still thought that 'magic' was something elusive and intangible. Every boy has a dream of flying through the skies and escaping to the earth, and Lin Xiao was no exception. Ya Er's words had grasped Lin Xiao's attention tightly.

  "Hehe!" Yao'er winked and patted Lin Xiao's shoulder: "Master said that we have to wait until your true energy is fully converted into true yuan before teaching you some basic spells. However, Master Sister will teach you one move ahead of time since you roasted those chickens earlier."

  After bowing her head in thought for a moment, Yao'er shook her head and said: "You have a purely fire-based physique, so many spells you won't be able to cast. Hmm, I don't know any purely fire-based spells either. However, the true yuan of a purely fire-based physique is just like that of a purely wood-based physique, it's most suitable for unleashing the power of the Lei Jue. Alright, I'll teach you Palm Thunder instead." Yao'er puffed out her chest and smiled proudly: "My Palm Thunder is famous throughout the entire Hui Chun Valley!"

  Lin Xiao was attracted by Yao Er's chest-puffing posture, and his gaze involuntarily fell on her chest. However, in an instant he thought of Lin Shan's instruction 'don't look at what is not polite', he desperately turned his head away, but as a result, he used too much force, his neck suddenly made a 'crack' sound, which scared Yao Er, who hurriedly grabbed Lin Xiao's neck and asked if he was possessed by evil spirits.

  Lin Xiao's face turned red, he hastily changed the subject and dryly said: "Sister's Palm Thunder, must be incredibly powerful, that's why it's famous in the valley, right?"

  "Hmmph!" The little face of Yao'er scrunched up, she glared at Lin Xiao with a bit of anger and shouted: "Invincible? Big deal! Sister's Palm Thunder!"

  The corners of her mouth twitched violently, and Yao'er suddenly thought of something infuriating and jumped up, punching and slapping Lin Xiao's head. Lin Xiao was beaten to the point where he couldn't lift his head, and he hastily hugged his head and curled up on the ground, shouting: "Yao'er Shizi stop, it hurts～～～"

  "Hmph!" Yao'er puffed out her chest and glared at Lin Xiao's head, striking it several times in anger. "Sister's five elements are extremely balanced, not a single element is more or less than the others, so I can cultivate all kinds of spells." However... Yao'er's face turned gloomy, she sat down on the ground with a sigh, and said dejectedly: "It's just because it's too balanced, that no matter what spell I cast, my power is only about 30% of others'. Alas~~~~"

  Lin Xiao blinked his eyes and saw the dark and injured look of Yao, Lin Xiao's heart felt a sour feeling. However, he didn't know how to comfort Yao. As for the five elements attributes, spell power and other things, he was completely an outsider, what reasonable words could he say to comfort Yao?

  However, after half a year of getting along, Lin Xiao had already gotten used to Yao's sudden mood swings - suddenly happy, suddenly sad, suddenly angry, and suddenly confused. He hastily pulled on one of Yao's long locks of hair and laughed, saying: "Shifu, you still haven't taught me the Palm Thunder technique!"

  "Oh? Ah, yeah!" Yao'er wiped away the tears on her face and suddenly became spirited again. She sprang to her feet, vigorously patted off the dust on her clothes, smiled brightly, and put her hands behind her back, circling Lin Xiao twice. Lin Xiao looked at Yao'er in confusion, only to see her shaking her head and saying: "Little brother, this Dao method... what's it called? Ah, how did Master teach me back then? Let me think, let me think..." Yao'er had just started to lecture Lin Xiao, but suddenly forgot the words, and for a moment, she got angry and slapped her own forehead.

  "Uh, don't worry, Sister. I've learned the Taoist way and won't do anything reckless." Lin Xiao hastily consoled her as he saw Yao'er repeatedly slapping herself on the head with great force.

  "Oh, yes!" Yao'er said with a sudden realization: "Master said back then that the power of Taoist magic is too great and cannot be used for evil deeds. Otherwise, our sect will not forgive you. Hmm, that's right, he said so. Now listen carefully, I'll give you a Thunder Summoning Seal to cultivate Palm Thunder, and you can slowly follow the Palm Thunder incantation to communicate with the thunder power between heaven and earth and release the Palm Thunder."

  Yaoyao's face turned extremely solemn, her right hand formed a sword finger, and the tip of her finger had a faint purple-blue electric light flashing. Yaoyao let out a muffled hum, and her sword finger fiercely pointed at Lin Xiao's brow.

  A bolt of lightning power directly struck Lin Xiao's body, and he only felt that his whole body was standing on end. The lightning power made every part of his body tremble violently, numb and yet extremely comfortable.

  The Da Luo Dan Dao is not famous for its Taoist methods, and compared to some cultivators who specialize in Xuan Tao, those cultivators can transform their cultivation into a powerful thunderbolt that can be released from their body. The various methods of the Da Luo Dan Dao do not have such powerful might. The various thunder methods of the Da Luo Dan Dao mostly rely on borrowing external power. The senior members of the sect give the younger generation a seed of power, which is used to communicate with external energy. With the true yuan as the driving force, and that seed communicating with the external world's great power, transforming it into various attacks, this is the core idea of the Da Luo Dan Dao's attacking Taoist methods.

  This kind of attack method actually also conforms to the Taoist doctrine of heaven and man being one, taking the power of heaven and earth for oneself. However, the Dàluó Tiān Dào's (Big Dipper Heavenly Way) method is somewhat similar but not quite right, the heavenly power they borrow is much weaker than that of other cultivators who use the power of heaven and earth in their Daoist methods.

  In short, Dalantao's aggressive Taoist magic can only be considered barely satisfactory, but for Lin Xiao, it was already sufficiently magical.

  Lin Xiao's comprehension was originally not bad, with a pure fire-based physique and the fully transformed true energy of the Departed Fire, using the pure yang true energy to drive the power of thunder and lightning, which was even more beneficial.

  Following the handprint and heart method taught by Yao'er, Lin Xiao flipped his hands over, and a surge of true energy inside him stirred up, driving that spark of lightning to circulate within his body for a small cycle. Suddenly, Lin Xiao felt an extremely fine, numbing power rapidly pouring in, making his whole body feel tingly. An invisible force was gathering in the center of his palms, growing more and more abundant, while at the same time, the true energy inside him was being rapidly consumed. In just the blink of an eye, Lin Xiao felt that his dantian had become empty and hollow, as if all his true energy had been transformed into nothingness, and the flesh and blood within his body seemed to be sucked dry by that force!

  Just when he felt something was off, the energy in his palm had grown so powerful that Lin Xiao could no longer control it.

  "Ah!" A loud shout, Lin Xiao opened his mouth and a mouthful of blood spurted out. A blue electric light as thick as chopsticks and only a few feet long shot out from the center of his palm, blasting a boulder hundreds of feet away into powder.

  The deafening sound echoed through the valley, causing the boulders to explode into countless fragments that splashed everywhere. Yao'er applauded and laughed loudly: "Little brother, well done! Hmm, sister used half a month's worth of effort to crack open the first... uh, little brother? Little brother?"

  Poor Lin Xiao spat out fresh blood and fainted to the ground, his whole body still convulsing constantly, just like a frog that had been skinned but was still twitching. His cultivation was fundamentally insufficient to support him in unleashing the Palm Thunderbolt, this most basic of techniques. A single bolt of lightning had exhausted all his vital energy.

  The little medicine was so scared that she jumped up on the spot, rushed to Lin Xiao's body, and patted his face hard with her hands. Tears fell down again 'plop'.

  "Little brother~~~~ Waaah, it's sister's fault~~~~ Sister forgot, Master said that the true energy hasn't transformed into true yuan yet~~~~ Waaah, it can't hold on~~~~~ Sister forgot~~~~~ Don't blame sister~~~~~" Ya'er pinched Lin Xiao's two cheeks until they were swollen and red, muttering: "Hurry up and wake up, hurry up and wake up?"

  A slap in the face sent Lin Xiao's mouth bleeding, and only then did Yao suddenly slap her own forehead.

  "Heh heh, got confused, got hurt, just take some medicine pills, what's the big deal?"

  While laughing, Yao took out handfuls of Dan medicine from her sleeves. After carefully examining the various Dan medicines for a while, Yao's face, which had just smiled, suddenly showed tears again.

  "Ugh, how come there isn't a single healing medicine? I remember, these past few days..." He tilted his head and thought for a while before Medicine finally frowned and sighed: "I'm doomed. These past few days have been spent busy making medicine to repel snakes and insects. Healing medicine, huh? I wasn't good at it to begin with?"

  "Medicine!" A gentle voice like water came from the side: "Use this 'Huiyuan Dan'." A slender white hand handed over a pale golden pill.

  "Oh! Huiyuan Dan? Just what the doctor ordered!" The medicine girl, still in a daze, didn't even see who handed her the pill. She mechanically grabbed the pill and forcibly pried open Lin Xiao's mouth, tossing the pill into it.

  Lin Xiao was struck by a bolt of lightning, but it turned out that he had exhausted all the vital energy in his body. There wasn't even a single drop of saliva left in his mouth. The medicinal pill was placed in his mouth for a good while, yet it still remained stuck on the tip of his tongue, unable to be swallowed. Medicine Child furrowed her brow, and naturally reached out to take out the medicinal pill, placing it in her own mouth where she used her saliva to dissolve the pill into a fragrant liquid that filled the air. She then fed it to Lin Xiao mouth-to-mouth.

  "Ah~" The one who handed the Huī Yuán Dān to Medicine was a Taoist nun with a snowy white complexion, looking elegant and beautiful. She wore a light purple Taoist robe and stared blankly at Medicine's natural actions, her beautiful face twitching violently several times. The feather duster in the Taoist nun's hand trembled slightly, apparently her heart was also surging with waves.

  "Medicine!" The Taoist nun called out again.

  "Huh?" Yao'er blinked blankly, turned her head to look at the Taoist nun. The face with tears suddenly burst into a brilliant smile, she jumped up and threw herself into the Taoist nun's arms, and forcefully kissed the Taoist nun's face: "Master... you're out of seclusion? Waaah, Yao'er almost died!~~~ Master also punished Yao'er earlier, not allowing Yao'er to refine the elixir!"

  The Taoist nun's face stiffened, and it seemed that the medicine boy's mouth still had Lin Xiao's saliva on it. The Taoist nun's heart was really unclear what kind of taste it was now.

  "Hmm!" He let out a soft hum, and Lin Xiao slowly opened his eyes.

  The medicinal power of the Huiyuan Dan was rapidly replenishing Lin Xiao's depleted energy, and his eyes, which had been blurry for a moment, snapped back into focus after he blinked hard, and only then did he clearly see the Taoist nun and the medicine boy in her arms.

  Seeing Lin Xiao woke up, Yao'er hurriedly called out: "Young Shidi, this is our Shifu's wife Dan... what was it again? Shifu's wife, what is your Dao number?"

  Lin Xiao was silent, Dao Gu was silent, after a long time, the two of them simultaneously let out a soft sigh.

  In the innocent and bewildered gaze of Yaoyao, Daoist nun Danxia Linxiao nodded slightly and smiled: "From now on, you can also call me Shifu (Master's wife)."

  Gently rubbing the messy hair, Danxia smiled and said: "Your true energy has all been converted into Departing Fire True Energy, tomorrow you can go to the Alchemy Room to take up your post."

  Lin Xiao hastily bowed to Danxia and replied respectfully: "Yes!"

  The little medicine was in Danxia's arms, rolling her eyes and slowly blowing a bubble from the corner of her mouth.