Chapter 48 - 32: Junior Sister’s Breakthrough

Chapter 48: Chapter 32: Junior Sister’s Breakthrough

"That’s true," Mu Xiaoyu nodded. "Then, Senior Brother, in the future, could you take me to try all the delicious foods you’ve had?"

"If you work hard on your cultivation, I’ll think about it," Li Yinsheng chuckled.

Mu Xiaoyu’s little face immediately scrunched up like a bitter melon. "Cultivation is so tiring..."

Li Yinsheng pointed at the remaining Crane Egg. "Eat this. With the nourishment from the Crane Egg, your cultivation speed will increase, so it shouldn’t be as tiring anymore."

"Mhm!" Mu Xiaoyu nodded, picking up the rest of the Crane Egg and gorging on it without a care for her image.

Watching Mu Xiaoyu eat with a look of utter satisfaction, Li Yinsheng subtly licked his lips. Truth be told, even though the Primordial Energy inside was completely useless to him, it was indeed quite delicious. Once he was no longer strapped for cash, he could go find Huang He to ask if he had any more Crane Eggs and whether he was willing to sell them.

Thinking of money, Li Yinsheng reached out and touched his Qiankun Bag. There were five hundred thousand talismanic coins inside. Minus the final payment to the Jade Altar Temple... No, wait, he hadn’t even paid the down payment yet, so it was actually the full payment.

Regardless, after deducting this sum, there would still be over four hundred thousand left. It was more than enough to immediately complete the final tier of the "Wealth of Cultivation" mission and claim the fifty years of Cultivation reward. However, Li Yinsheng did not plan to claim it right away this time.

That would be too much of a loss.

After a True Cultivator refined their Soul and opened their Sea of Consciousness, they could practice a Cultivation Technique specifically designed to temper the Soul and Divine Sense. Moreover, the predecessors’ notes stated clearly that for a Daoist, such a Cultivation Technique was of paramount importance.

Li Yinsheng had scoured the entire Scripture Pavilion but found no Cultivation Technique for tempering the Soul and Divine Sense. Therefore, if he claimed the reward now, it would be equivalent to wasting fifty years’ worth of Soul-tempering time.

Fifty years... Strictly speaking, his current Cultivation was still less than a hundred and fifty years—it was only a hundred and forty-eight years. Fifty years was more than a third of his current Cultivation; how could he waste it like that?

Besides, although he couldn’t find a Soul-tempering Cultivation Technique in the Scripture Pavilion, he wasn’t completely without leads. As a former Daoist, his Martial Uncle must have practiced such a Cultivation Technique before, right? He just needed to find a suitable opportunity in the next few days to confess his Cultivation level to his Martial Uncle and then ask her for the Soul-tempering Cultivation Technique. Wouldn’t that solve it?

It was only a matter of a few days anyway, so Li Yinsheng wasn’t in a hurry to claim the reward.

While his thoughts wandered, Mu Xiaoyu set down her plate. Then, she suddenly let out a miserable wail. "Ah! Oh no! I ate too fast and forgot to try what it tastes like dipped in soy sauce and minced garlic!"

Staring at the spotlessly clean plate, Mu Xiaoyu clutched her chest, her face filled with absolute agony, looking as if she had just lost a million taels of gold.

"Don’t be sad, Junior Sister. If you work hard on your cultivation in the future," Li Yinsheng tempted, "I’ll consider going to the Yellow Crane Temple to ask if they have any more Crane Eggs to sell."

"Really?!" Mu Xiaoyu’s sorrow instantly turned to joy.

Right then, a series of light, fine, and crisp sounds echoed from her body, sounding like dozens of strings of shattered jade pieces shaking and clinking together. This sound had also appeared when she first became a Beginner in the Qingxuan Scripture, but this time, it was even clearer and more melodious.

"Huh? Why does my body suddenly feel so light?"

Mu Xiaoyu paused, her face full of surprise. She took a few steps back, moving away from the table and chairs, and then jumped forcefully with her arms raised high. Even with the hundred-and-twenty-jin weight of the Quenching Essence Lock hanging on her, her fingertips almost touched the roof of the dining hall.

"Oh, the Second Layer of the Qingxuan Scripture?" Li Yinsheng nodded in satisfaction.

The First Layer of the Qingxuan Scripture only trained Primordial Energy without cultivating Magical Power. Therefore, with the consumption of this Crane Egg, directly breaking through to the Second Layer was nothing to be surprised about. For future breakthroughs to the Third Layer, both Primordial Energy and Magical Power would be indispensable.

"Junior Sister, try Gathering Spirit and Qi, and focus on Qi Sinking into the Dantian," Li Yinsheng instructed from the side. "Visualize a cool, thin stream flowing out of your Dantian."

Mu Xiaoyu followed his instructions. A cup of tea’s time later, she opened her eyes. "Senior Brother, I feel it! But it’s so thin, like a sewing needle."

"Mhm, that is Magical Power. After reaching the Second Layer of the Qingxuan Scripture, the first wisp of Magical Power is naturally born, though it is still very weak right now." Li Yinsheng said, "However, compared to those Cultivation Techniques that skip building a foundation and go straight to cultivating Magical Power, yours is already quite impressive. When ordinary Cultivators directly condense Magical Power, it only feels slightly thicker than a strand of hair.

"Once you follow the Heart Method of the Second Layer and cultivate for a few more days to nurture and strengthen this wisp of Magical Power, you can try learning some simple Magic."

"Magical Power!" Mu Xiaoyu’s face lit up with joy, and she cheered. "Does that mean I can take off the Quenching Essence Loc—ahem, I mean, I can adjust the weight of the Quenching Essence Lock myself and cultivate even harder!"

"Oh, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten," Li Yinsheng said. "Having reached the Second Layer of the Qingxuan Scripture, your body is much stronger and healthier. This hundred and twenty jin is nowhere near enough."

He snapped his fingers. "Let’s adjust it to three hundred jin."

THUD.

Caught completely off guard, Mu Xiaoyu’s entire body grew incredibly heavy. She immediately face-planted, her chin smacking hard against the wooden floor.

"Uh..." Li Yinsheng awkwardly scratched his cheek. "It seems you need a couple of days to adapt before moving up to three hundred jin. Let’s drop it down to two hundred and fifty jin for now..."

"Senior—Brother—!"

Into the night sky, Mu Xiaoyu’s deeply respectful roar directed at Li Yinsheng echoed out of the dining hall.

Meanwhile, at the largest Spiritual Eye of the Xuanzhen Temple, the moon hung high in the sky. The wind rustled through the surrounding tree canopies, creating a soft RUSTLE. Meng Yu, leading her Junior Brother and Junior Sister, was still diligently constructing the Bright Spirit Refining Array.

"Senior Sister Meng," the Junior Sister complained while using a Technique to wedge a thin pillar covered in dense runes into the ground. "Midnight is almost over. We should go back and rest. I haven’t practiced any Anti-Aging Technique. Even for a Cultivator, staying up this late makes you age faster."

The Junior Brother, who was assembling several different materials on the side, chimed in in agreement. "Junior Sister is right, Senior Sister. There’s barely any profit in this order to begin with; we’re just earning some hard-earned labor fees.

"Since it’s already just labor fees, there’s no need to work ourselves to the bone, right? It’s not like finishing ahead of schedule will get us paid extra."

Meng Yu, who was currently carving the core Array runes, heard their complaints and said indifferently, "I have some matters to attend to back at the temple. The sooner we finish this order, the sooner I can return."

According to the rules of the Jade Altar Temple, disciples with unfinished outside orders were required to prioritize their completion unless they encountered an urgent matter. They were not allowed to waste time on unrelated trivialities. If she wanted to return to the Sect, she had to wrap up this order first.

"Senior Sister, *you* want to go back, but we don’t. The temple’s rules are so strict; it’s much more liberating to stay at the shop..." the Junior Sister muttered.

Although the Junior Brother didn’t speak, he nodded in agreement.

"Once this order is done, I’ll forfeit my share of the payment and split it between the two of you as compensation for working day and night with me," Meng Yu said calmly.

"You’re the best, Senior Sister!" The Junior Sister’s Technique for driving the pillars suddenly sped up by thirty percent.

"You’re the best, Senior Sister!" The Junior Brother finished connecting the materials and immediately hurried to the next spot.

Seeing the two of them regain their motivation, Meng Yu nodded and went back to carving the Array. The sooner she finished this order, the sooner she could see Li Yinsheng.

Of course, more than seeing Li Yinsheng, what she cared about was that once she was done, she could return to the temple and ask her master just what kind of Daoist Temple the Xuanzhen Temple actually was.

She had never even heard of this Daoist Temple’s name before. Just like the Yellow Crane Temple, they didn’t even have a shop under their own name in the Baoguang Temple. Yet, a Cultivator inside who looked no older than his early twenties somehow had much more profound Cultivation than her, someone of the Temple Master’s Direct Lineage.

She was never the type to get to the bottom of everything, but this time, her curiosity was truly piqued.