Chapter 33: My Identity Revealed (Part 2) Who did you say brought me out? ...
Fu Yunshu's fingertips trembled slightly, and his heart suddenly tightened.
He hadn't expected Yin Lisheng to be so perceptive, noticing the clue in just one sentence.
It's also his own fault for being too careless and forgetting how clever this kid is.
Fu Yunshu subtly shifted his gaze, his tone indifferent: "Song Wenzhuo has already mentioned your matter to me."
Yin Lisheng frowned slightly, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.
He stepped forward, his gaze intense: "What did the Sect Master and Master say? Does this disciple know?"
"The emergence of Duan Yuan is no small matter, so Song Wenzhuo naturally had to report it to me. Moreover, the spiritual energy within your body is still somewhat disordered and your foundation is unstable, which is obviously due to the use of external forces to forcibly improve your cultivation. This matter is not difficult to see."
Yin Lisheng remained silent for a moment. Just a moment ago, an absurd thought flashed through his mind—could Su Yun be the Immortal Venerable Huaiwei?
The person who reached out to him when he was most helpless, the person who silently protected him while he was cultivating, the person who stood in front of him without hesitation when he was in danger, the person who left without saying goodbye... wasn't he actually always right in front of him?
But this idea was utterly ridiculous. Who was Fu Yunshu? The only Mahayana cultivator on the entire continent, the renowned Immortal Venerable Huaiwei, how could he possibly disguise himself as a teenager to participate in some entrance examination, and... be so kind to him?
Yin Lisheng mocked himself inwardly, thinking, "What a fool's dream."
He whispered, "Master is indeed insightful."
Fu Yunshu turned his head slightly and caught a glimpse of Yin Lisheng still standing in the same spot, his eyes filled with sorrow. He felt a pang of pity in his heart.
For a child who has suffered from loneliness since childhood, it must be very painful for a friend to leave without saying goodbye. Is it too cruel of me to do this?
Just as Fu Yunshu was struggling with his decision, Yin Lisheng took the initiative to change the subject.
"Didn't Master just say that my foundation is unstable? What should I do now?"
Fu Yunshu was slightly taken aback, not expecting him to suddenly bring up these things, but he became serious when it came to business, putting aside all the previous irrelevant talk.
His expression turned serious: "Your most urgent task is to stabilize your cultivation level."
"Although Duan Yuan helped you absorb a large amount of spiritual energy to improve your cultivation, this spiritual energy was not obtained by you through your own cultivation and has not yet been fully integrated with your body. If you cannot control it properly, your cultivation will definitely stagnate in the future, and the spiritual energy will backfire, damaging your foundation."
Yin Lisheng nodded; he had roughly guessed these things from the conversation between Su Yun and Duan Yuan that day.
"Master, what should I do?"
Fu Yunshu pondered for a moment and said, "First of all, you need to calm your mind and focus your spirit these days to sort out the spiritual energy in your body. Although the spiritual energy that Duan Yuan helped you absorb is pure, it is too complex. You have to refine it one by one and transform it into your own cultivation. This process cannot be rushed. It may take one or two months at the least, or two or three years at most. You must proceed step by step."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and waved it, and a soft light flew from his fingertips, transforming into an ancient scroll that floated in front of Yin Lisheng.
"This is the 'Mind-Clearing and Spirit-Concentrating Technique.' Take it and practice it. This technique can help you calm your mind and regulate your spiritual energy. Practice it for one hour each morning and at sunset, without slacking off."
Yin Lisheng: "Yes, disciple will certainly not fail Master's trust."
Fu Yunshu patted his head and softened his tone: "There's no need to be too nervous. The key to cultivation is perseverance. You have excellent talent. As long as you take it seriously, you can make up for this flaw very quickly. Besides, I'm here and I will make sure nothing happens to you."
Yin Lisheng nodded again, his gratitude towards Fu Yunshu growing even stronger. He truly felt the other's care and guidance towards him at that moment.
"It's still early. Go and rest for a while. You can start your cultivation later."
After sending the servants to bed, Fu Yunshu didn't rest. A disciple isn't something that can be discarded at will; now that he's taken in, he naturally has to start taking good care of him.
In previous years he was alone, but now there is another person. Many places in Tingxuefeng need to be changed, especially those naughty creatures in the back mountain. He needs to give them a good talking-to. His little apprentice is still young and his cultivation is low. He can't let them bully him.
Yin Lisheng did not fall asleep quickly. He had never taken a nap since he was a child, and he had not done anything that required much effort today. He was wide awake now.
"Hey, if you can't sleep, come chat with me." It was Bai Tuanzi's voice.
“I could,” Yin Lisheng said with some distress, “but I’m not very good at chatting with people.”
"What an idiot!" the white dumpling said, exasperated. "Go into your sea of consciousness first."
“Oh,” Yin Lisheng obediently replied, concentrating his mind to enter his sea of consciousness.
Compared to the vastness of Fu Yunshu's sea of consciousness, Yin Lisheng's sea of consciousness was extremely small. All around was pitch blackness, with only a small patch of light in the center.
A sapling, only as thick as Yin Lisheng's arm, stood alone in the center.
The white ball sat very unceremoniously on the sapling, which was bent into an arc shape as if it would break in two at any moment.
Yin Lisheng quickly scooped the white ball out, afraid that it would be crushed by the sapling.
"What is this?" He curiously touched the tender bud on it. The little bud trembled twice, and very intelligently folded its leaves. Yin Lisheng smiled happily.
"I don't know," the white dumpling glanced at the sapling with disdain. "I was there when I entered your consciousness, who knows when it appeared."
Yin Lisheng teased it a couple more times, but the sapling seemed shy and didn't want to pay attention to him anymore, so Yin Lisheng stopped bothering it.
"Did you call me in for something?" Yin Lisheng asked.
The white dumpling said, "Let me see the secret manual that Fu Yunshu gave me."
Yin Lisheng asked in confusion, "The manual is outside, how can I give it to you?"
“Your master treats you quite well, yet the medium for that manual is a magic artifact. It’s such a waste,” the white dumpling said with a pained expression. “From the moment you picked it up, this manual belonged only to you. Its contents are already engraved in your mind. You can recall them if you think about them carefully.”
"Even if others get it, they won't be able to see it. Moreover, this magic weapon can at least withstand a full-force attack from a Void Realm cultivator. It's a good thing to save your life in a life-or-death situation."
"Is it such a precious magical artifact?" Yin Lisheng was flattered. To be honest, he had only met his master for the first time today. His master had only heard some things about him from the sect leader. Why was his master being so kind to someone he had just met?
He carefully recalled Duan Yuan's instructions, and one by one, elegant and graceful characters slowly emerged in his mind.
Yin Lisheng couldn't quite understand it because he was illiterate.
This made Yin Lisheng feel a little embarrassed, as if he was going to disappoint his master's good intentions...
But he noticed that the white dumpling's expression gradually changed, and the whole person... no, the whole dumpling looked like it had swallowed a fly and was feeling uncomfortable.
"What's wrong?" he asked hesitantly.
"Your master's kindness to you is beyond ordinary, it's spoiling you!" The white ball flew to the words that were shining with golden light, its voice excited.
"At first, when I heard about the 'Qingxin Ningshen Jue' (Clear Mind and Concentrate Technique), I thought it was some kind of low-level secret manual. I thought I should check it first to see if there were any problems."
Yin Lisheng was still puzzled: "So is there a problem?"
White dumpling: "Of course, no problem. I was wondering why you chose such an awful name. Turns out it was written by your master himself."
Yin Lisheng was stunned: "Did Master write this himself?"
"Yes, this is the cultivation method he wrote down for you word by word, the most suitable for you to use now. If you cultivate it seriously, not only will your body not have any problems in the future, but because you have laid a solid foundation, before the Nascent Soul stage, you can almost fight three people at the same level without being at a disadvantage."
What Yin Lisheng and Bai Tuanzi didn't know was that Fu Yunshu had rushed to finish this manual last night, which was why he was late for today's apprenticeship ceremony.
"The Secret of Clearing the Mind and Focusing the Spirit" was a gift from Fu Yunshu to Yin Lisheng, and it was also the first gift he made by hand.
The white dumpling sighed softly, "I never imagined that there would still be a genius with such a thorough understanding of cultivation after ten thousand years! Back then, Chi Du was only just touching the threshold of the Mahayana stage at his age, but this person has already reached the middle stage of Mahayana. No wonder he sealed away only half of my power so easily..."
Yin Lisheng didn't listen carefully to what it said next, thus missing a good opportunity to learn the true identity of "Su Yun".
His mind is now filled with that sentence—"This was written word by word by your master."
Yin Lisheng was somewhat confused: "Duan Yuan, I really don't know if I'm unlucky or lucky now."
"What the heck?" The little white dumpling looked completely bewildered.
"I suffered neglect from a young age, yet I was the only survivor when the Yin family was destroyed; after enduring countless hardships to reach the Qingyuan Sect, I was unexpectedly drawn into a strange dispute. Fortunately, I met Qiu Nan, Yan Shuangwan, and Su Yun, and we managed to get to where we are now safely; just when I thought everything was going well, Su Yun left without even saying a word, but then I met a master who cared so much for me..."
"Duan Yuan, it seems that the Heavenly Dao has been playing a not-so-funny joke on me all along."
The little white dumpling was speechless: "Didn't you notice? Fu Yunshu is..."
—No, no, I can't say that!
The little white dumpling suddenly covered its mouth. Although it was unclear what Chi Du had agreed to with Yin Lisheng, judging from Fu Yunshu's previous behavior, that person clearly did not want Yin Lisheng to abide by the agreement with Chi Du, and even shamelessly said that if there was a problem, Chi Du should come and cause him trouble.
Yin Lisheng already trusted Su Yun a great deal. Now that he knew that Fu Yunshu was Su Yun, who was both his master and had always been so good to him, wouldn't Yin Lisheng be completely devoted to Fu Yunshu?
If Fu Yunshu were to use a few more persuasive words to make Yin Lisheng forget Chi Du's words, wouldn't Chi Du be so angry in the afterlife that he would beat it up and then lock it in the secret realm for tens of thousands of years?
No way! I don't want to guard that broken box anymore!
Seeing that the white ball of dough remained silent, Yin Lisheng became somewhat curious: "What is a Master?"
The white dumpling silently apologized in her heart: I'm sorry, child. For my own safety, you shouldn't try to find out that Fu Yunshu and Su Yun are the same person until you fulfill your promise.
"It's nothing, I just mean Fu Yunshu is a really good person! A really good senior!" the little white dumpling said casually.
Yin Lisheng nodded in agreement: "You're right."
That was the end of that matter.
Since there was nothing wrong with the manual, Bai Tuanzi told Yin Lisheng to continue resting. After all, he couldn't read yet and wouldn't understand its contents, so it was better to rest and recover before discussing anything else.
While Yin Lisheng was resting, the white ball flew out of his body to get some fresh air, but it was pinned down by a dark shadow as soon as it flew out the door.
"Ahhh, what's that coming? Let me go, let me go!" It screamed in fright, and the thing opposite it disgustedly moved its paw away a few feet.
Only then did the white ball of fluff have time to observe the other party—it was a cat, a very beautiful white cat with blue eyes.
An ordinary white cat couldn't possibly harm the spirit of the Broken Abyss Sword; this was definitely no ordinary cat. The white ball of fur stared warily at its opponent. The cat and the ball of fur stared at each other in silence. Slowly, the white ball of fur discovered a sense of familiarity in its blue eyes—the damned sword that had been pressed against its neck yesterday.
"Are you Han Qi?" the white dumpling gritted its teeth.
"It's me." The little white cat lazily flicked its tail. Unlike the white ball's grumpy boyish voice, the little white cat's voice seemed to have followed its owner's, cold and indifferent yet with a hint of hoarseness. However, its tone seemed to be somewhere between a teenager and a young adult, not yet mature, which brought a unique texture and made it particularly alluring.
This really annoyed the white cat. "Damn it! I'm tens of thousands of years older than this guy, yet my voice is still so childish! And this cat has absolutely no respect for its elders!"
"Why are you grabbing me? Put me down right now!" the little white dumpling roared angrily.
The little white cat didn't listen to him. He narrowed his eyes, and a cold glint flashed from his sharp claws.
"Answer my questions first, and then I'll decide whether or not to let you go."
The little white dumpling retorted, "Who are you? Why should I listen to you? I'm not in the mood to mess around with you. I'm leaving."
"Heh—" the little white cat snorted coldly, and then—
It tossed the white ball high into the air, treating the dignified spirit of the Broken Abyss Sword like a fluffy ball.
"Don't lose it! Aaaaaaahh ...
A piercing scream came from the white ball of fur's throat, leaving the little white cat speechless. It didn't know how this little guy could make such a loud noise with such a small body. Luckily, the owner's house had a soundproofing array, otherwise it would have attracted Yin Lisheng's attention.
"Will you tell me or not, hmm?"
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you, just put me down!"
After the dizzying discomfort subsided, the white ball of dough finally came to his senses. He said fiercely, "I'm very busy, so ask me what you need to ask quickly."
"Did you say anything to Yin Lisheng that you shouldn't have?"
Now the little white ball finally understood why the cat had come to bother him. He instantly forgot his earlier grievances and said arrogantly, "If you mean your master, a dignified Mahayana cultivator, went and tricked a child, then of course I—"
"I advise you to think carefully before you speak." The little white cat brandished its paws.
The little white ball of fur remembered the fear of being dominated by those cat claws, and it cowered again: "Fine, I didn't say anything!"
"That's good." Having gotten the answer she wanted, the little white cat turned to leave.
"Hmph, Fu Yunshu has been deceiving Yin Lisheng's feelings like this, he'll get his comeuppance sooner or later. Once Yin Lisheng finds out, let's see if he'll make a scene!" Bai Tuanzi said fiercely, unwilling to give up.
The little white cat paused, its sharp gaze fixed on the white ball of fluff. "You'd better not say that yourself, otherwise—"
The gaze was so cold and icy that the white ball of fur stood on end, and it shrank back and stopped talking.
"Chi Du, what kind of lousy junior are you? Fu Yunshu threatened me, and he used my Cold Cry Sword like a football. Is that right? Is that right? What kind of pathetic life are you living?!"
After receiving a satisfactory answer from the white ball of fluff, the little white cat was in a great mood and waddled over to Fu Yunshu's side.
Fu Yunshu was roasting a rabbit. He had been fasting for many years and did not care about food or drink, focusing solely on cultivation, so there was no kitchen in Tingxue Peak.
But Yin Lisheng is still a child, at the age when he is growing. He can't go without food. He can't let him live worse after coming with him than when he was in the Yin family. That would be a real sin.
Fu Yunshu happened to hear that there were also spirit rabbits on the back mountain of Xuefeng. He had seen Qiu Nan roast one in the secret realm before, so he figured it shouldn't be too difficult. He caught one and prepared to give it a try.
“You’re back,” Fu Yunshu said, rubbing the little white cat’s head. “I only asked you to remind Duan Yuan not to tell anyone. What did you do? I could hear it meowing from far away.”
"We had a friendly exchange," the little white cat lied without batting an eye.
"Really?" Fu Yunshu scratched its chin again and began to pet the cat skillfully.
The little white cat whimpered twice and settled into a comfortable position on Fu Yunshu's lap.
The image of the handsome, white-robed immortal and the noble, elegant cat cuddling together is captivating.
The premise is to ignore the increasingly pungent and strange smell.
The little white cat suddenly stood up and jumped onto Fu Yunshu's shoulder in a few quick movements.
"Are you sure there's nothing wrong with the rabbit you've prepared?"
Fu Yunshu brought the rabbit closer to examine it. "It does have a strange smell, but I really did cook it the way Qiu Nan did it a couple of days ago."
The little white cat sniffed and said helplessly, "Did you bleed?"
Fu Yunshu: "What?"
"You haven't even cleaned the blood out of this rabbit! And it's all burnt, you know that eating it will give you diarrhea!"
“Alright,” Fu Yunshu raised his hand and cast a spell to eliminate the mess in front of him. “Hmm, it seems Yin Lisheng will never appreciate my skills.”
The little white cat rolled its eyes. Thank goodness Yin Lisheng hadn't eaten it, otherwise its silly master's newly accepted apprentice might be gone tomorrow.
Fu Yunshu sighed with his head down: "Sigh, we should just have Song Wenzhu send people to deliver meals to us every day."
Song Wenzhuo would not delay in following Fu Yunshu's instructions. In less than a quarter of an hour, a heavy three-tiered food box was delivered.
Fu Yunshu glanced at the food and saw that it was full of chicken, duck, fish and meat, enough to fill a large table and feed him and Yin Lisheng for several meals.
"This child is so honest. I told him that all I needed to do was prepare some simple dishes." Fu Yunshu said helplessly.
The little white cat said, "Your disciples and grand-disciples all wish they could worship you and treat you like a god, so naturally he can't really do what you say."
"That's why I initially wanted to try it myself, but unfortunately I failed."
The little white cat said, "Promise me, if you don't have the talent, let's not try it lightly, okay? We might as well just accept being fed."
"Alright," Fu Yunshu said regretfully.
Yin Lisheng had a good sleep, and when he woke up, Fu Yunshu had already set out the meal.
Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a soft and warm glow inside. Yin Lisheng's gaze naturally fell upon Fu Yunshu, who stood by the window.
He stood tall and straight, his elegant figure accentuated by a moon-colored robe. He held a book lightly in his hand, his expression focused and serene. A gentle breeze from the window lifted a few strands of hair from his forehead, revealing his picturesque face.
"You're awake." Fu Yunshu put away his book. "Come and eat."
After putting on her shoes, Yin Lisheng trotted over.
He looked up at Fu Yunshu: "Why didn't Master tell me that the 'Qingxin Ningshen Jue' was made by you personally, and that it was so precious?"
"It's nothing serious, nothing to talk about," Fu Yunshu said matter-of-factly. "Since I've accepted you as my disciple, I should still give you the proper gift."
"For me, it's enough that this gift can serve your purpose; its production process and origin are not important."
Yin Lisheng stared intently at him: "Disciple understands, disciple will certainly not fail Master's expectations."
“That’s good,” Fu Yunshu nodded in satisfaction. “Come and eat. After you finish eating, you can start practicing the ‘Cleansing Mind and Focusing Spirit Technique’.”
Yin Lisheng's chopsticks froze in mid-air. He awkwardly touched his nose, wishing he could disappear into the ground. "Disciple...disciple is illiterate."
Fu Yunshu finally came to his senses. He had almost forgotten that Yin Tangyue was blind and could not possibly teach Yin Lisheng to read.
Noticing that Yin Lisheng seemed somewhat inferior, Fu Yunshu gently comforted him: "It's okay, I'll teach you after we finish eating. No one is born knowing all the characters. It took me more than a month to learn the characters in my first mental cultivation manual."
Yin Lisheng was somewhat surprised: "Even someone as powerful as Master took so long?"
Fu Yunshu nodded and said, "Really."
However, some facts have been omitted. The characters used in the cultivation world are not the simplified characters he used in modern times. In his first life, Fu Yunshu did indeed spend some time recognizing the characters.
Just leave the lunchboxes outside the door; a disciple will come to collect them the next day.
Fu Yunshu pulled Yin Lisheng to the desk to begin teaching, but looking at the clothes on the person, Fu Yunshu remembered something he had almost overlooked.
“I almost forgot,” Fu Yunshu tugged at Yin Lisheng’s clothes to check. “Come with me to the main peak tomorrow. You haven’t received your disciple’s robes yet. Also, I heard from Song Wenzhuo that you seem to have two close friends? One girl has become Song Wenzhuo’s disciple, and the other has become Gu Zhinan’s disciple. You can meet them tomorrow.”
"Yes!" Yin Lisheng nodded heavily.
Fu Yunshu chuckled and pinched his cheek. "Are you that happy?"
Yin Lisheng blushed slightly and remained silent, so Fu Yunshu stopped teasing him.
"Let's get started."
The next day, Yin Lisheng followed Fu Yunshu to the main peak.
The news of Immortal Venerable Huaiwei accepting a disciple had spread throughout the entire Qingyuan Sect yesterday. Everyone was curious about what kind of person Immortal Venerable Huaiwei could make an exception and accept as a disciple. Knowing that they would be coming to the main peak today, they all took the opportunity to "inadvertently" pass by the two of them.
The suspicious, scrutinizing, or strange gazes from the crowd made Yin Lisheng slightly uncomfortable, so he hid behind Fu Yunshu.
“You are my apprentice, Fu Yunshu,” Fu Yunshu looked down at the somewhat timid Yin Lisheng, “You will encounter more and bigger scenes in the future, under the spotlight. If possible, I hope you can try to overcome them on your own. After all, it won’t hurt you to let them see you.”
"However, if you are really scared, it's okay, it's not a big deal."
Yin Lisheng shook his head. "I'm not afraid."
He did indeed try his best to ignore the disciples' gazes on the rest of the way, which was much better than before.
Fu Yunshu felt somewhat gratified. Although the past environment had brought many shadows and shortcomings to Yin Lisheng, he had indeed been working hard to overcome and improve them step by step.
He was right about him.
Yin Simiao had been waiting at the door for a long time, with Yan Shuangwan following behind him.
"Greetings, Immortal Venerable Huaiwei—" The two greeted Fu Yunshu together.
Fu Yunshu nodded, "No need for formalities."
Yin Simiao gestured for him to enter: "Peak Master Du of Beast Taming Peak has just returned. Master and several other peak masters are waiting for you inside."
"Is that so?" Fu Yunshu entrusted Yin Lisheng to the two of them. "Then I'll go in and take a look. I'll leave Yin Lisheng in your care."
"This disciple will certainly take good care of my great-uncle."
Fu Yunshu trusted Yin Simiao quite a bit, and upon hearing this, he stopped chatting and quickly went inside.
After Fu Yunshu's figure disappeared from sight, Yin Simiao looked at Yin Lisheng with a mournful expression: "It's over, now I really have to call you Grandmaster Uncle."
Yin Lisheng and Yan Shuangwan both chuckled.
"If Senior Brother Yin had known this would happen, he shouldn't have been so talkative yesterday," Yan Shuangwan said softly.
In just one day, Yan Shuangwan was much more cheerful than before. Her bangs had been cut shorter, no longer obscuring her vision, revealing surprisingly stunning eyes, and her complexion was no longer as pale as before, but rather rosy.
As a friend, Yin Lisheng was very happy for her.
“Sigh, you’re right,” Yin Simiao said with a worried look. “I was so stupid, really. When we were climbing the Heavenly Ladder, the Ancestor cared so much about my Uncle and even personally entered your dream to bring you out. I should have realized it back then.”
Yan Shuangwan's face stiffened. Yin Simiao looked down and saw Yin Lisheng gripping her sleeve tightly, his eyes bloodshot.
"Who do you think brought me out?"
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Author's note: Little Yin has made a great contribution!
I wrote a rather fragmented chapter, but I personally quite liked it; it's a heartwarming and ordinary slice-of-life story. [rainbow emoji]
Debt repayment progress 2/9
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