Chapter 026

Chapter 26: Purple Spirit Cave Abode

Although she had not known Pei Xuan for long, Ye Wan Wan felt that experts at his level were usually hard to read. She thought of Yan Ding, because with just one look he kept all the disciples from moving. Even Yan Ding’s most trusted, Ji Chang Huai, never dared to throw a tantrum in front of him; he behaved by the rules and never offended. That was the expert’s aura Yan Ding had drilled into them. This time, though, Ye Wan Wan had made two requests in a row, each one more outrageous than the last, and Pei Xuan agreed to both. He and Yan Ding were not the same. His cultivation was higher, but his temper seemed gentler. [No, junior sister, that’s your illusion,] Fang He An would have said.

Ye Wan Wan’s request to live alone was not a joke. She truly wanted her own space. Pei Xuan’s cave abode was wonderful, and the Azure Sea Soulstone could nourish the Primordial Spirit, but in the end it still belonged to someone else. Doing anything there felt inconvenient. She planned to go to the Spirit Market to find materials and build her own cave abode. If a big one was not possible, a small one would do. But this was not something she could finish soon, and she had to wait. Whether she had enough Spirit Stones was a problem.

While she was considering drawing more Spirit Talismans to sell or going to seek a hidden mine, Pei Xuan took out a small magic tool from his sleeve. Ye Wan Wan stared at it for a moment. Pei Xuan said calmly, “I made this casually a long time ago and failed the refinement. It’s a half-finished piece. You won’t find materials quickly right now. Use this first.”

The little tool bounced into Ye Wan Wan’s hand. Her palm tightened, but she still grinned and teased: “You’re really giving it to me, Master?”

He replied, “Is it strange for a master to give a disciple a gift?”

“It’s not strange,” she said with a laugh, but in truth this was the first gift she had ever received.

Pei Xuan asked lightly, “Do you want me to go with you to try it?”

“Okay,” she said.

They stepped out of the Azure Sea Soul Manor. Ye Wan Wan studied the tiny house in her palm for a while, and Pei Xuan patiently guided her: “A drop of blood will do.”

Ye Wan Wan followed his instruction. After a moment of Blood Binding, the little house in her hand glowed. With a thought, a cave abode unfolded right before her eyes.

The small spiritual abode settled beside the Azure Sea Soulstone’s grand residence. Its body was a soft purple, delicate and restrained. Next to the magnificent, imposing cave next door, this one looked much more low key and graceful, yet it still carried the maker’s style: cold. Even so, the pale purple color softened that chill.

Ye Wan Wan glanced at Pei Xuan. He read the question in her eyes and said evenly, “Since it’s yours, do you still need my approval to enter?”

She laughed: “Master, come in with me.”

Pei Xuan did not accept: “I made it. Of course I know what it is. Go on your own.” He turned into a stream of light and returned to the stone platform. Ye Wan Wan thought for a moment, then went inside.

She pushed open the gate and saw a spacious courtyard. A Barrier wrapped the yard, shutting out the cold at the peak of the Snow Mountain and forming a little world of its own. Around the courtyard stood east and west wings. One could be used as an alchemy room. The other could serve for Artifact Refining. The rooms were broad and could be extended or reshaped at will.

Past the front court and through the central yard lay another courtyard, again with two wings and four rooms in a row. When Ye Wan Wan walked farther back, she found that after two courtyards there were no more houses. Instead, a curtain of water formed a Barrier at the rear. Thinking of what Pei Xuan had said about it being a half-finished piece, she understood.

Back in the front court, Ye Wan Wan realized she liked the yard most. It took up half the entire abode, yet it blocked the mountaintop wind and snow. Inside the Barrier, there were all four seasons, with four-season weather. For someone who wanted to plant some Mystic Spirit Grass, it was perfect. With her Talisman Arts, it would be more than enough.

Since she now had a cave abode, she moved her things from Disciples’ Peak. That left only the newcomer Li Wan Zhi on the peak. Li Wan Zhi complained, “Even you are abandoning me.”

“I never wanted you,” she said coolly.

After packing, Ye Wan Wan left without a backward glance, which made Li Wan Zhi fume for a long time: “So you get a master and toss your senior brother aside, humph.”

Ye Wan Wan thought about how Dou Ming had said the same sort of thing before, but later he got a junior sister and forgot Little Seven. She shrugged with a touch of self-mockery. [Why think about these people? They’re just trash.]

Living on the summit of Snow Mountain saved her the time of going up and down each day. With Pei Xuan, she spent two hours daily sitting in quiet cultivation, training the Spirit Refining Art. She spent two hours practicing swordwork, and two hours tempering her body in the cold spring. Even drawing talismans became faster, though it was hard to sell them for good prices now, because not many people knew about the Spirit Market yet. It would need time to spread. Because of that, she only did a bit each day to stay sharp, and put most of her focus on cultivation.

She smoothly broke through the thirteenth level of the Qi Refining Stage and entered Foundation Establishment for the second time. Ye Wan Wan did not forget her plan to keep going without stopping. She closed herself off to charge at Core Formation.

Half a year later, a muffled boom rolled across the peak of Snow Mountain. Everyone sensed it. “Heavenly Tribulation Lightning,” someone said. Sect Master Li Ming De stroked his beard with a cheerful smile: “These children are moving quite fast.”

Bending over fields, Xun Yin looked up at the sound and muttered, “I haven’t even figured out this spiritual grain yet, and they’re all about to make it useless. I wasted half a year.”

Fang He An tipped back his bamboo hat and asked, “Where’s the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning from?”

Xun Yin smacked him: “You brat, the new junior sister has already surpassed your Core Condensation. When are you going to amount to anything?”

Fang He An stumbled: “Senior uncle, I reached Core Formation long ago!”

“…Oh. I forgot.”

“That makes me even madder. You’re already at Core Formation, so why are you still mooching your senior sister’s sword,” Xun Yin snapped.

Fang He An looked depressed: “Because there’s still that thing in the Sword Tomb, how can I face anyone,” he muttered, not daring to talk back. He stared toward Snow Mountain where the lightning boomed and crackled.

“Junior sister’s cultivation speed is really fast, but isn’t she Five Spiritual Roots,” he said. Xun Yin looked at a white flower blooming on a spiritual herb and answered, “Five Spiritual Roots are still five Heavenly Spiritual Roots.”

Thunderclouds churned overhead. Ye Wan Wan stood beneath them, calm yet faintly puzzled. The last time she formed cores there was nothing like this. The five Golden Cores in her dantian trembled, as if the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning was affecting them.

She lowered her eyes slightly. [Could there be Array Arts under Black Ice Cliff that shielded heaven’s sight?] Thinking was one thing, but she still had to face the tribulation. She looked up at the clouds without wavering and called out, “Come!”