Xia Jin’s Touching Moments

After finishing all that, Xu Jinghuai sat back down beneath the tree.

Although he had disrupted the spiritual energy vortex, an excess of Qi had already surged into Xia Jin’s body. Xu Jinghuai had helped as much as he could; it was not appropriate for him to interfere further in another’s cultivation.

The rest was entirely up to Xia Jin’s own fortune.

Xu Jinghuai gazed at the figure in the pond with her eyes closed, adjusting her breath, yet his expression held not a trace of worry.

‘My disciple is a protagonist; how could she possibly fail to cross such a minor hurdle?’

‘She might even give me a surprise. Don’t novels often have plot points where one achieves enlightenment through destruction and breaks through several minor realms in a row?’

Thus, Xu Jinghuai wasn’t worried at all. He even picked up his Oracle Network token with a clear conscience and started another game.

On the other side.

Sitting cross-legged in the Green Water Pond, Xia Jin’s consciousness sank into a dim world. She opened her eyes blankly, looking around at a space so dark she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.

“Where is… this?”

“Shizun…”

Xia Jin scrambled up from the ground. Encountering such a situation for the first time, she couldn’t help but feel a little afraid.

She remembered working very hard to follow Shizun’s instructions…

How could this happen?

Shizun hadn’t mentioned what to do in a situation like this…

Xia Jin extended a foot, instinctively wanting to explore. But her raised foot hovered in mid-air before she pulled it back.

‘I can’t see anything here; I can’t run around blindly, or I won’t find my way back.’

‘If Shizun comes looking for me, it would be a huge hassle.’

Reason told her that staying put was the correct choice.

Xia Jin took a deep breath and sat cross-legged once more. In her mind, she recalled the Qi Condensation method taught by Xu Jinghuai and began to absorb spiritual energy.

This time, the feedback from the outside world was far stronger than ever before.

Even with her eyes closed, she could clearly sense the spiritual energy surrounding her.

With just a slight rotation of the cultivation method, this dark world seemed to be lit by an oil lamp; countless transparent, pure, crystal-blue specks of light suddenly ignited one by one. Eventually, these specks filled every corner of her field of vision.

They were dancing with joy, as if they had come to life.

Having practiced the method and sensed the environment for half a day, Xia Jin knew these specks were spiritual energy.

However, Xia Jin had an illusion.

She felt that as long as she willed it, she could summon the spiritual energy in this space for her own use.

The sensation was magical. It was something she had never felt during the initial process of drawing Qi into her body.

Back then, she could feel the majestic energy around her, and the energy was obedient, but she couldn’t control its movement as effortlessly as she could now.

Subconsciously, as if by instinct, Xia Jin beckoned all the light specks around her to gather at a single point.

They slowly converged, merging into a hazy, crystal-blue sphere.

The specks of light that originally spanned the entire space finally gathered together.

But it didn’t stop there.

The crystal-blue sphere began to shrink gradually—from the size of a watermelon to an apple, then from an apple to a walnut. As it changed, the sphere became increasingly solid.

Finally, the sphere transformed before Xia Jin’s eyes into a single, crystal-clear drop of liquid, like a water droplet.

Xia Jin opened her eyes and reached out to touch that tiny drop. A faint, refreshing chill traveled up from her fingertip—waking her mind without feeling cold.

She tried bouncing the droplet up and down with her finger; it was soft and elastic, with an excellent tactile feel.

“What exactly is this…”

Suddenly, Xia Jin’s consciousness flickered. The dark space before her eyes vanished.

When she opened her eyes again, she was surrounded by clear green pond water. Beneath her was the large bluestone with flecks of moss, and in the distance, her Shizun was sitting under the willow tree by the bank.

Xia Jin realized she was back.

‘Was it a dream?’

A flash of confusion crossed her eyes.

It was then she suddenly realized her senses were much sharper than before.

Her ears could capture the sound of the wind in the grass, and her eyes could spot a fish hiding beneath the duckweed at a glance. The whole world had become much clearer.

In the distance, Xu Jinghuai naturally noticed Xia Jin’s reaction.

‘Has she already adapted to the Qi in her body?’

‘That was pretty fast.’

Xu Jinghuai put away the Oracle Network token, rose, and flew through the air to land in front of Xia Jin.

“Congratulations, disciple. You have successfully entered the Qi Condensation stage, officially stepping onto the path of cultivation to become a cultivator.”

“Really! Shizun! I’ve become a cultivator?” Xia Jin still found it hard to believe.

She had become a cultivator too? One of those people everyone admired?

Xu Jinghuai smiled and nodded. “Mhm, yes. You did great, Jin’er.”

Hearing Xu Jinghuai’s confirmation and praise, Xia Jin’s eyes brightened. She was inevitably excited and agitated, yet for a moment, she didn’t know how to celebrate.

Then, her stomach spoke for her.

Grumble~

A long, continuous growl erupted, impossible to stop. In this quiet, emerald pond, it was so clear that Xia Jin’s face instantly turned red, her eyes swirling like dizzying spirals.

‘Eek! How embarrassing!’

She felt like not much time had passed since breakfast; how could she be hungry again so soon!

Xu Jinghuai, however, wasn’t surprised.

In truth, Xia Jin wasn’t to blame. Once one sank into cultivation, the perception of time became blurred; in the future, it would be normal to stay in seclusion for ten or a hundred years.

It was actually long past noon. If Xia Jin had woken up any later, she might have missed dinner.

Taking Xia Jin’s hand, Xu Jinghuai said softly, “Come, let’s go cook since you’re hungry.”

“Man is made of iron and rice is his steel; missing a meal makes you feel the ordeal—there’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

The words he casually tossed out made Xu Jinghuai’s stature grow tall once again in Xia Jin’s eyes.

“Shizun…”

‘It’s so good that Shizun doesn’t look down on me for being a glutton, sniff sniffs…’

Looking at Xu Jinghuai holding her hand, Xia Jin suddenly didn’t know what came over her, but she wrapped both hands around his arm.

By the time she realized her actions were out of line, her head was already leaning against that arm.

Xia Jin hurriedly looked up to see his reaction, wanting to pull away, but she found that Xu Jinghuai showed no sign of displeasure.

Instead, he said airily, “If you feel tired, there is no harm in leaning against your teacher’s arm for a while, but you must work as hard in your future cultivation as you did today. No slacking allowed.”

Indeed, Xu Jinghuai simply assumed that because it was her first time cultivating, she had exhausted too much energy and was leaning on him for support.

This was a good omen. It meant Xia Jin was beginning to trust and rely on him.

Since that was the case, what was wrong with letting her lean on him for a rest?

To Xia Jin’s ears, however, it meant something else.

What Xu Jinghuai had said to her at the very beginning had come true once again.

Shizun really was indulging her willfulness!

Xia Jin was deeply moved. She gave up the idea of pulling away and leaned comfortably against Xu Jinghuai’s arm, even rubbing her small face against it.

She said in a soft, sweet voice, “Shizun, this disciple will definitely work hard in the future to live up to your expectations!”

Xu Jinghuai only gave a soft “Mhm” and said no more.

Immortal power lifted them both, carrying them away from the Green Water Pond and back toward the pavilion.