Master, where are you touching?

I’ve hit the jackpot.

This was the only thought in Gong Ning’s mind.

Five days ago, Jiang Yuyao, under the pretext of striking while the iron was hot, had requested Gong Ning to intensify Tao Lingling’s training.
Gong Ning also thought it was a good opportunity to observe her disciple’s disposition.

Therefore, Gong Ning doubled the intensity of the training on top of the original plan.

She had to get up in the morning to meditate, then run a lap around the Heart-Sword Hall’s Carefree Mountain before she could return for breakfast.
After that, she had to perform a set of body-forging movements to loosen her muscles and joints, followed by weighted strength training.

When she was exhausted, she would be fed a Qi-Nourishing Pill and then had to hold a horse stance to train her endurance.
After a short break in the afternoon, she would have to go through another round.

Gathering qi and nurturing her spirit was no problem for her.

She also quickly learned to channel spiritual energy through her body.

In terms of comprehension and perseverance, among all the people Gong Ning had seen, only Jiang Yuyao could reach this level.

Moreover, Gong Ning could see that Tao Lingling was doing everything seriously and enjoying it.

But this disciple always had some strange little quirks.
After her run, she would insist on collapsing onto her, and after her horse stance, she would insist on having her give her a massage.

Just like at this moment, Gong Ning’s fingers were currently gripping her disciple’s calf to help her relax.
This girl was always so frank and open.
During the massage, she simply lifted her skirt.

Faint lines could be seen on her long, fair calves, indicating that her disciple had been doing these things before.
Her calves were healthy and firm.

“Master, up, a little higher, hmm, ah… that feels good.”

Hearing her disciple’s soft moans echoing in her ears, Gong Ning couldn’t help but add a little more force.

“You’re not embarrassed at all.”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about?
If it feels good, you should cry out.”

Now that she was completely a woman and her disciple wasn’t repulsed by it, she no longer held back, placing her palm on her disciple’s thigh, accurately pressing the acupoints to clear her meridians and bones.

“You must have been tired these past few days.”

“Not tired at all!
With Master by my side, Lingling isn’t tired at all!”

“Stop with the sweet talk.”

“I’ll say it, and Master will be happy to hear it, won’t you?
If Master is happy, I’m happy.”

“Then you are not allowed to speak from now on.”

Gong Ning tried to force a stern face, but the corners of her mouth kept curving up.
Hiding her thoughts and not letting joy or anger show on her face was still too difficult for her.

“I’ll say it, I’ll say it… Nn-ah!
Master, where are you pinching!”

For a moment, Gong Ning really thought she had touched something she shouldn’t have, but seeing her disciple’s radiant smile, she understood she had been teased again.

“You have no rest time tomorrow.
Go read in the library.”

“Will Master teach me then?”

“If I don’t teach you, how will you understand?”

“That’s great!
As long as Master is by my side, that’s the best rest.”

Gong Ning didn’t respond this time.
She buried her head, focusing on massaging her disciple’s leg, her long, loose hair concealing her flushed cheeks.

Actually, Tao Lingling could understand.

Just like how she had instantly mastered the “Burning Gold Technique,” most simple techniques were no longer difficult for her.

But compared to amazing her Master, Tao Lingling preferred a slow and steady stream, letting her teach her over and over again, making her happy, making the corners of her lips constantly curve up.

This was what she owed from her past life, those times she had abandoned, those feelings she had failed.

****

Gong Ning arrived at the bathroom.

The sensation of her disciple’s touch still lingered on her hands.

This ethereal feeling was unnoticeable as long as she didn’t pay attention to it, but she found she couldn’t help but pay attention.

Jiang Yuyao leaned against the door, eyeing her suspiciously.

“You’re over a hundred years old, yet you’re like a little girl.
How did I never see that you were such an emotional person?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?
I was just… just a little embarrassed, that’s all.
Help me light the fire.”

Jiang Yuyao snapped her fingers casually, and a wisp of flame flew from her fingertip into the firewood.

“This disciple of yours is not bad.
If she had my talent, she might not be unable to become the next me.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard you praise someone.
It’s as if no one in the Heart-Sword Hall cultivates seriously.
Speaking of which, do you have any idea why the Heart-Sword Hall is so pathetic now?”

“That’s their own business.
I have no obligation to save those who know they are stuck in a mire but do nothing.
What about you?
Are you just going to continue like this?”

She suddenly turned the topic to Gong Ning herself.

“Me?
Are you referring to my cultivation?”

“What else?
Are you saying that just because your cultivation was crippled, you’re unwilling to cultivate anymore?
Or did the heavenly tribulation in the past destroy your courage, making you afraid of it happening again?”

Gong Ning poured the medicinal liquid in her hand into the bathtub.
Preparing a medicinal bath was a technical skill.
One needed to control the quality, ensuring it was not too much or too little, that no impurities were mixed in, and that no rejection reactions occurred.

“As for me, having a little cultivation, being able to live a bit longer, is enough.”

“You’re going to cultivate the ‘Longevity Art’?”

“Probably.”

Jiang Yuyao frowned.

“You’ve collected cultivation techniques for a hundred years.
You can practice whatever you want, yet you insist on cultivating the Longevity Art that everyone has?”

“Then what should I cultivate?
The Art of Creating Yin and Yang?
The Nine Serenities of Profound Yin?
Or the ‘Nine Brilliances Sword Art of the Moon Goddess’?
You know what kind of trouble that thing has brought me.
I’m so weak now, and I have a disciple.
I can’t dare to reveal any treasures.”

Ever since Gong Ning came to this world, she had found what she wanted to do.
A long time ago, she began to collect secret lore, traveling far and wide for those wondrous cultivation techniques.

Most of the cultivation techniques and magical treasures in her possession were unknown to others.
Only the Nine Brilliances Sword Art of the Moon Goddess was a coming-of-age gift from her parents back then.

This technique could only be practiced by women.
When it was given to her, it was only intended as a gift for a future Daoist companion.

Yet, it had been coveted for over a hundred years.

She ladled the hot water from the pot into the bathtub, and the medicinal fragrance instantly filled the room.
After stirring it a couple of times with a wooden stick, the mixture was more or less ready.

“You’re really willing to splurge on the ingredients.
This single medicinal bath is worth half a year’s resources for an ordinary disciple.
I never saw you treat yourself so well back then.”

Jiang Yuyao leaned against the door, still watching Gong Ning with a casual air.

The steam curled up, the heat rising.
Her misty face, combined with the posture of her labor, truly had the air of a fairy descended to the mortal world.

“She’s worth it.”

“But even so, she won’t be able to defeat that Lu Yunling in the new disciple competition.
I just learned something.
Lu Yunling, at the Qi Refinement stage, defeated a Foundation Establishment disciple.”

Gong Ning’s hand, which was adding firewood, paused.

“No wonder that old guard who doesn’t allow for any variables agreed to the Sect Master’s request.
So they really did find a genius.”

****

Meanwhile, Tao Lingling sat in her room.
Taking advantage of the free time, she once again opened the “Spirit Refining Art.”

This thing was a bit profound and couldn’t be understood in a short time, so she planned to do her homework in advance to amaze her Master later.

Studying several pages gave her some insight and an understanding of how to cultivate this thing.
Her hands itching, she began to cultivate according to the first page.

But the moment she assumed the posture, she felt a palpitation in her heart.

Tao Lingling simply assumed it was a characteristic of a demonic technique and forced herself to continue.
But the deeper she went, the more suppressed she felt, as if a heavy stone was pressing down on her heart, and her soul was about to be dragged into a bottomless abyss.

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and abruptly opened her eyes.

The scene before her was shocking.

Countless souls, densely packed, floated before her.
They had no facial features, no limbs, only a vague form.

Of course, she knew what these were.

These were all the innocent people she had devoured in her past life, those lost souls with nowhere to go.