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Two months passed quietly in the serene meditation of Cangmin Mountain.
Baichuan, who had firmly declared that he would become "the most powerful person," locked himself inside the Songyan Hall, and suppressed sobs could be heard intermittently.
The reason is simple: he entered the Dao, but he failed to become a sword cultivator, a saber cultivator, or even a magic cultivator, let alone a cultivator like Bai Ji.
The moment his fingertips touched the medical book in the library, a gentle yet powerful life force surged into his meridians, guiding him onto the path of cultivation, and he became a medical cultivator.
A precious monk, yet often seen as needing protection.
A cultivator who saves lives, yet seems unable to wield his sword to protect those he cares about.
This was completely contrary to his day and night practice of sword techniques and study of sword manuals, and to the future he hoped for.
The huge gap between expectations and reality made this child, who was just over ten years old, feel unprecedentedly wronged and confused, and he could only shut himself off and cry.
When Yun Qian arrived, Bai Ji was already kneeling by the door, softly coaxing her through the narrow crack for a long time.
"Baichuan, don't cry!"
"I'll protect you from now on, really!"
"Baichuan, answer me..."
Its round body almost disappeared into the crack in the door, trying to peek inside, anxious and helpless.
Looking at the small figure, Yun Qian initially chuckled, but then she heard a suppressed sob coming from inside the door, and her heart softened. She stepped forward and gently lifted Bai Ji from the ground. The little guy still had ink stains on his body from drawing talismans; a few days ago, he had successfully entered the Dao while concentrating on drawing talismans, becoming a magic cultivator as he had wished.
“Draw a cleaning talisman, your clothes are all dirty.” Yun Qian patted his lapel, her tone gentle.
"Yes, Senior Sister." Bai Ji obediently replied, a flash of light appearing at his fingertips as a basic cleaning talisman landed on his body, instantly dispelling the stains. He obediently retreated behind Yun Qian and whispered, "Senior Sister, Bai Chuan is very sad."
Yun Qian nodded. Of course she knew that children of this age were the most sensitive.
Bai Chuan desperately wanted to become stronger and possess powerful abilities. Every day before dawn, he would go to the mountaintop to practice his swordsmanship. In his spare time, he would either study the sword manual or practice his moves repeatedly against the wooden stake.
But opportunities are mysterious and cannot be forced through effort. The long-awaited opportunity in medicine captured him the moment he touched the medical book.
Such a disparity would inevitably leave anyone feeling disappointed.
She walked to the door, but didn't force it open. Instead, she leaned against the doorframe and sat down, her skirt spreading out on the cold floor. Her voice was very soft, carrying a soothing gentleness:
"Baichuan," she called out, "I have something I want to tell you."
The sobbing inside the door paused slightly, and although there was no response, Yun Qian knew he was listening.
"Remember when I told you? I'm a mixed cultivator, I don't even know how I entered the Dao. In the eyes of the world, mixed cultivators are the lowest and weakest among cultivators." She calmly asked, "But, Baichuan, Baiji, do you think I'm weak?"
She has never gone down the mountain to compete with anyone, so she doesn't know how the outside world judges her. However, Bai Yan once personally affirmed that she has good talent, so she should not be too bad.
At least, she still had this confidence in front of her two junior brothers who were just beginning their cultivation journey.
Bai Chuan remained silent.
Bai Ji shook his head vigorously. In his heart, his senior sister was the most powerful person besides his master.
Yun Qian's lips curled slightly as she continued speaking into the doorway: "People like to categorize everything, dividing it into different classes, as if labeling everything determines its fate. But among sword cultivators, are there no those who have been defeated by miscellaneous cultivators? In the path of medicine, have there never been great masters who saved the world and were admired by all?"
Her voice was clear and firm, each word reaching Bai Chuan's ears:
"Whether a person is strong or not has nothing to do with the 'title' above their head, but only with their heart, their will, and the sweat they shed."
"No one says that healers can't wield swords, nor does anyone say that healers can only hide behind others to heal and save lives. Strength doesn't depend on what you are, but on who you want to become and how much you're willing to pay for it."
Inside the room, the crying had long since stopped, leaving only the faint sound of breathing.
After a while, the door hinges creaked softly, and the tightly closed door was pulled open from the inside.
With red and swollen eyes, Bai Chuan walked out with his head down and silently sat on the other side of Yun Qian, flanking Bai Ji on the left and right, protecting his senior sister in the middle.
Yun Qian reached out and gently ruffled his soft hair. "From now on, every morning, you will come with me to the mountaintop to practice your swordsmanship."
Bai Chuan looked up at her with his reddened eyes.
Yun Qian met his gaze, her expression earnest yet gentle: "I believe you will become the most powerful medical cultivator in Cangmin Mountain."
Bai Chuan muttered softly, his voice thick with nasal congestion, "But I'm the only healer on Cangmin Mountain right now."
Seeing that tears of grievance were about to overflow again, Yun Qian quickly tried to salvage the situation: "Who said that? When we restore our sect and strengthen our power in the future, how could Cangmin Mountain only have one healer? At that time, you will be the most senior among them, with the highest swordsmanship... uh, the best medical skills, and the most capable fighter!"
Bai Chuan pouted, her voice trembling with tears as she questioned, "Senior sister, are you trying to coax a child?"
Yun Qian smiled and asked him in return, "Are you a child?"
"I am not."
"I'm not trying to coax a child."
Bai Chuan was speechless at her tongue-twisting words, and finally managed to hold back his tears, leaving only slightly red eyes to prove his sadness.
Finally, she managed to appease her junior brother! Yun Qian secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After the two children had fallen asleep peacefully, the moonlight had filled the courtyard.
Yun Qian returned to Jinghe Courtyard, where a pool of spring water, drawn from the mountains, flowed gently, shimmering in the moonlight. She squatted by the pool, gathering spiritual energy at her fingertips, and carefully sketched runes on the smooth stone surface of the pool.
As the final stroke was completed, the runes glowed faintly, and the pool water seemed to be propelled by an invisible force, gradually rising with steaming heat. Yun Qian loosened her clothes and stepped into the pool. The warm spring water instantly enveloped her entire body, dispelling the chill and fatigue of the night.
After washing up, she used her spiritual power to carefully dry her long hair and lay back on the bed. However, before falling asleep, her thoughts were always particularly active. She couldn't help but worry again: Now that Baichuan had become a medical cultivator, he would definitely need a lot of medicinal herbs to study medical skills and refine pills in the future. But the climate of Cangmin Mountain was special, with low temperatures all year round, and many delicate spiritual plants and herbs simply could not survive. What should she do?
The more she thought about it, the more urgent the matter seemed. Yun Qian suddenly sat up, all sleepiness gone. She grabbed a plain-colored outer robe and put it on without bothering to straighten it, then strode quickly toward the library.
The library seemed even more empty and secluded in the dead of night, with only a few luminous pearls embedded in the walls emitting a hazy, soft glow. Yun Qian wrapped her thin outer robe tighter and squatted down among the rows of tall bookshelves in the corner, using the dim light to begin searching for the book from her memory.
She remembered glimpsing a formation in an ancient book of formations that could alter the climate and raise the ground temperature on a small scale. At the time, she only found it intriguing and didn't look at it closely. Now that she needed to use it, she couldn't recall the specific method of setting it up and had to come here in the middle of the night to "cram for the last minute." As she searched, she regretted not having taken a closer look before.
After flipping through the pages for what seemed like an eternity, her fingertips finally touched a book with an old-fashioned cover adorned with strange patterns. Overjoyed, she pulled it out, ignoring the cold floor, and turned to lean against the heavy bookshelf, eager to open it.
However, just as she turned to lean against it, she caught a glimpse of a white figure that almost blended into the shadow of the bookshelf, which had been silently standing not far behind her.
"Ah!" Yun Qian gasped in fright, instinctively sitting up abruptly. The back of her head slammed solidly against the hard bookshelf with a dull thud.
She was in so much pain that she immediately crouched down, clutching her head, tears welling up in her eyes. The robe draped over her shoulders slipped to the ground from the violent movement.
A hand with distinct knuckles reached out, silently picked up the outer robe, and gently draped it back over her shoulders.
"Why are you reading a book so late?" Bai Yan's uniquely emotionless, flat voice rang out above her head.
Yun Qian clutched the back of her head, which was still throbbing slightly, and it took her a while to recover from the sudden shock and pain. She frowned, looked up at the silver mask so close to hers, and complained in a trembling voice, "Master?"
"Um."
"Why do you walk so quietly..." she said, rubbing her head. She then reached out and tugged at Bai Yan's wide sleeve hanging by his side, her tone slightly reproachful and even a little rude. Only after feeling the fabric's texture did she quickly withdraw her hand.
Bai Yan seemed somewhat surprised by her sudden action. His gaze lingered on her withdrawn hand for a moment before he realized her intention. Her cultivation was far lower than his, and she could not distinguish between the primordial spirit and the physical body. She could only use this most direct method to confirm it.
After a long while, a barely audible sigh was heard, and Bai Yan's voice, tinged with a hint of helplessness, rang out: "It is the real person."
"Master, have you finished your seclusion?" Yun Qian stood up, holding the book on formations, and carefully examined him in the dim light of the library.
The mask concealed everything, and the light was dim, so she couldn't see his expression. But her intuition told her that Bai Yan seemed a little more composed than when he said he was going into seclusion.
"They'll need to remain in seclusion for a few more days," Bai Yan said briefly, then asked, "Have those two already entered the Dao?"
“Hmm.” Yun Qian nodded. “Bai Chuan entered the Dao through medical books, and Bai Ji entered the Dao while drawing talismans.”
Bai Yan nodded slightly, which was exactly as the divination indicated.
"Will you personally teach them tomorrow?"
Bai Yan nodded again.
"Then, Master, I'll take my leave now. I'll go find a suitable place to try setting up an array," Yun Qian said, hugging the book in her arms tightly.
Bai Yan turned to look at her. Although he didn't speak, the question in his eyes was easy to understand. Yun Qian understood, opened the book of formations in her hand, and in the dim light, held up the page that recorded the special formation to him: "I want to try to set up this 'Spring Breeze Formation'."
She explained, “Now that Baichuan has entered the path of medicine, he will inevitably need various medicinal herbs in the future. The temperature on the mountain is too low, and many spiritual plants cannot survive. I plan to use my own true energy to operate this array to raise the temperature of a small area, so that Baichuan can focus on studying medicine and have enough medicinal materials available.”
Bai Yan's gaze lingered on the mysterious array diagram for a moment before landing on Yun Qian's eyes, which were slightly bright with excitement and anticipation.
From the moment he first met Yun Qian, he knew she was an anomaly, a variable who had disrupted predetermined destinies and even seemed to know parts of the future. He had lived for countless years, able to see through people's hearts and divine the secrets of heaven, yet he could not see through her. The divination regarding her was always a void and chaos. He did not know how she entered the Dao, nor could he clearly perceive her cultivation level as he could with others. This was usually the case when a low-level cultivator faced a high-level one, but in her case, it was completely reversed.
At first, he had doubts, wondering if bringing such an unknown variable back to Cangmin Mountain was too hasty. However, after spending these years together, he knew clearly that he had not made a mistake. Yun Qian's inherent kindness, her composure in the face of adversity, and the heartwarming concern she inadvertently revealed were unlike anyone he had met in his long life. She would worry about his health, and in the dead of night, for her junior brother's request, she would tirelessly search through ancient books to prepare to set up this extremely energy-consuming formation.
Yun Qian is a variable, that's for sure.
But perhaps it was her appearance that forced a glimmer of hope out of the cold divination that originally pointed to the inevitable decline of Cangmin Mountain.
Yun Qian chose a spot on a flat, open area near the western courtyard. She took out several high-quality spirit stones from her storage bag and carefully placed them in different positions according to the ancient texts. She possessed exceptional talent and comprehension in array formations, so Bai Yan wasn't worried that she would be stumped by the formation. Therefore, he didn't interfere, simply standing quietly to the side like a silent guardian. Occasionally, when she was concentrating on her deductions and encountered slight hesitation, he would speak softly, offering a few pointers on key points.
Under the moonlight, the girl's focused figure intertwined with the gradually brightening light of the spirit stone, creating a tranquil and hopeful scene.
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