Chapter 71: The young master achieves Foundation Establishment in Jinjiang's first release, but his communication talisman is torn up...
Qi Mu coldly said, "What good will my death and dissipation do you? Why are you so rude?"
Dao Shen completely ignored his sarcasm, "Shouldn't you look for the reason in yourself for my rude words?"
Qi Mu was too lazy to pay attention to him. Even twins who look alike can have completely different personalities. Although his body originated from him, it was unknown what it would eventually look like. Fortunately, he wasn't cultivating his body for an extra life; he just wanted to differentiate it into a spiritual root.
As time passed, the fluctuations of spiritual energy around Qi Mu became more and more obvious. The surrounding spiritual energy flowed towards him continuously. The originally dense mist-like spiritual energy vortex in his dantian gradually developed into a liquid state. During this period, not only did he need a lot of spiritual energy to fill his dantian, but his meridians also endured pressures unlike any other.
Outside, Yao Sisi had already arrived in the south of the city, but she had no idea which area of the spiritual abode Qi Mu would rent. She stepped forward and asked the guarding cultivator, "Excuse me, which direction is the cave dwelling commonly used for breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage?"
The guard glanced at her and replied succinctly, "There are Foundation Establishment cultivators available in every area. If you want to rent one, go find the manager."
Yao Sisi shook her head: "I'm not renting it. My friend has already gone, and I'm worried about him, so I want to stay outside and keep watch."
The guard fell silent. If they were friends, why wouldn't they have discussed it with you beforehand and asked you to protect them? Why did you have to come all the way here yourself?
Yao Sisi: "Sigh, even if I ask the manager now, they probably won't tell me!"
The guard's gaze swept over Yao Sisi: "Renting a cave dwelling is a private matter, and we certainly won't tell you." Who knows if he's a friend or an enemy?
The guard didn't say the second half of the sentence, but Yao Sisi guessed it. She had no choice but to go down the mountain, find a small shop at the foot of the mountain to sit down, eat something to fill her stomach, and wait for Qi Mu's news.
She found the feeling of waiting for news too unbearable, and she would often have wild thoughts. So Yao Sisi simply called a room, went back to her room, and started drawing talismans, trying to distract herself by doing something else.
"I wonder if the young master was particularly nervous when he left home, sigh..."
"Why did I have to drink yesterday of all days! And the young master, knowing my cultivation is unstable, why did he still give me wine? Sigh..."
It's just that things are too coincidental; I never expected that the young master would be about to reach the Foundation Establishment stage right after becoming an alchemist.
Yao Sisi locked herself in her room. Half of the talisman paper she was drawing was ruined, and her success rate was less than 50%, which was far worse than before. But somehow, amidst the numerous failures, she actually managed to draw a long-distance communication talisman.
The success of this talisman surprised even herself.
"Why? I didn't sense any signs of success!"
For talisman masters, there is a kind of intuition when drawing talismans, but most of the intuition is more obvious when they fail. They thought that this would still be a useless piece of talisman paper, but they saw that its light was restrained and it actually became a talisman.
Yao Sisi put away the talisman paper, meditated to restore her spiritual energy, and only when the spiritual energy in her dantian was sufficient did she pick up the talisman brush to draw again, but the result was not ideal. She had no choice but to put down the talisman brush and take out the communication talisman she had just drawn to carefully study it.
"Things achieved by chance can't really be considered true strength!"
She sighed, but quickly regained her enthusiasm. Her finger traced the surface of the talisman, and a message appeared within: "Ri Jiu, we're planning to visit the Xuan Yun Sect in a few days. I've heard it's a very famous sect. Would you like to come with us? The Xuan Yun Sect is far away, so I'll save up your travel expenses. Come find me as soon as you're done with your work! If you're late, you'll have to go by yourself. If you're not coming, remember to send me a message talisman so I don't worry. We haven't decided on a specific departure date yet; I'll let you know when it is."
As soon as she finished recording the message, she released her finger, and the pale yellow communication symbol slowly disappeared into the air, flying into the distance.
"I wonder how the little fox is doing now..."
In the distance, Ri Jiu sat cross-legged in a dark cave. He could now transform into a human form, but upon closer inspection, his ears and tail were not hidden, and his body was covered with wounds, looking as if he had just crawled out of a trap. He was also surrounded by dried blood.
Just then, the array outside the cave moved. He reached out and a communication talisman flew to his side. His eyes lit up as he recognized it as Yao Sisi's communication talisman. He couldn't help but smile slightly: "Sisi must be missing me! I should have gone to find her sooner."
The message inside the talisman resounded throughout the cave without reservation.
Ri Jiu murmured, "Sisi wants to go to Xuanyun Sect? Then I will definitely reunite with you as soon as possible."
After he finished speaking, he closed his eyes again, but the atmosphere around him was much warmer than before.
Time passed slowly, and three days later, Qi Mu stepped out of his spiritual mansion. At this time, he was already exuding the pressure of the Foundation Establishment stage. This was because cultivators who had just established their foundation were not yet able to control their spiritual energy fluctuations.
The first thing he did after leaving the pass was to send a message to Yao Sisi. However, he did not expect that a shadow would fly over from not far away as soon as the message was sent.
The wooden hairpin in Qi Mu's hair let out a soft laugh: "Your old flame is still thinking about you so much!"
Qi Mu's brow twitched: "That's all stuff from the inner demon tribulation, don't bring it up again."
Dao Shen: "Tsk, you're clearly overjoyed to see them arrive, why are you pretending!"
Qi Mu remained unmoved by his words, instead saying, "The soul strength of a Foundation Establishment cultivator is not as weak as before. You can stay away from me and you won't be affected. If you're bored, go out for a walk by yourself."
Dao Shen was taken aback: "Chase me away?"
Qi Mu ignored him, and Dao Shen, seeing Yao Sisi getting closer, wisely kept quiet.
He stood on the flying artifact given to him by Yao Sisi. The deep purple artifact, resembling bamboo leaves, emitted a faint light beneath his feet, like a small boat carrying him soaring into the sky.
He greeted Yao Sisi. Because his cultivation had broken through to a higher realm, he felt abundant spiritual energy filling his entire body, and his flying magic weapon was much faster than before.
Yao Sisi flew to his side and saw that his face was rosy and surrounded by spiritual energy. She said, "Congratulations! You've successfully established your foundation!"
Qi Mu curled her lips into a smile, and the scene of the inner demon tribulation flashed through her mind. They joined a major sect together, spent every day together, and their feelings deepened. In the end, they became Daoist partners. Later, she learned that he had a Daoist body and was always worried. She even thought that he was practicing evil magic. The two gradually drifted apart and were eventually instigated by others to turn against each other!
Overwhelmed by grief, he finally broke through the adversity by severing his Dao body. At this moment, the Demon Realm also shattered, but he still felt uneasy. He had a premonition that if the Demon Realm hadn't shattered due to lack of energy, would he have had to kill it with his own hands to break through?
He dared not imagine the scene, and stared intently at the person who had rushed over. Seeing her happy face, he softly replied, "I'm sorry to have worried you."
Yao Sisi waved her hand dismissively: "As long as the result is good, that's fine. And the young master has quite good aptitude, having successfully established his foundation on the first try. Now all that's left is for Liu Yuan's cultivation level to improve!"
Qi Mu: "Yes, his cultivation is indeed progressing slowly. I wonder if he can be recruited into the Xuan Yun Sect."
Yao Sisi: "I heard that major sects are divided into inner disciples and outer disciples. Even if Liu Yuan can't get into the inner sect, it should be easy for him to get into the outer sect, right?"
Qi Mu: "Once we reach the territory of the Xuan Yun Sect, we will know more clearly."
As the two walked toward their lodgings, they chatted idly. Yao Sisi said, "I haven't been idle these past few days while waiting for you at the inn. I've refined some talismans, several kinds. When you go to the market, help me sell them. Just make sure the price is one spirit stone lower than the market price. We're running a stall business, and customers don't enjoy the same treatment as in a shop. Everyone wants to save money at the stall, so a lower price will help us sell faster."
Qi Mu: "Okay, I will also make a few batches of pills and sell them. That way, we can save up for the ship's cost faster."
Speaking of the fare, Yao Sisi sighed, "Sigh, I originally thought it would be easy to accumulate more than 10,000 spirit stones, but I underestimated my ability to spend money..."
Qi Mu: "It's alright. I spent nearly a thousand spirit stones renting this cave dwelling, but it doesn't matter. I'll earn the money back once I refine more pills."
Yao Sisi: "You're working too hard. You have to cultivate spiritual plants every day, and now you have to refine pills. You don't even have time to cultivate anymore."
Qi Mu: "Miss Sisi, don't worry. I only need to consolidate my cultivation these days, so I have plenty of time. But your cultivation hasn't changed much, and you still have to work hard for spirit stones every day."
Yao Sisi: "Who told us to start from scratch! I just need to draw more talismans these days. As for refining the square basin, that's relatively simple. One hour a day is enough to keep up with the sales progress. It's not as hard as you. It is said that you can't be distracted at all when refining pills."
Qi Mu: "Miss Sisi, shouldn't you also be able to focus on refining weapons?"
Yao Sisi: "No, you're overthinking it. You'd only be able to focus on crafting a high-level magic artifact if you weren't distracted. With the level and quality of that square basin, how could it possibly be worth me not being distracted? By the way, since you like playing with spiritual plants, how about I craft a better square basin for you tomorrow?"
Qi Mu joked, "Does it require complete concentration to refine?"
Yao Sisi: "Of course! You're an alchemist now, so you can't possibly not have a place to store spiritual plants."
Qi Mu: "Miss Sisi has given me so many things, haven't I given you anything yet?"
Yao Sisi said, "That's because I happen to have the skill of refining weapons, so naturally I tinker with some little gadgets in my spare time. This is nothing special."
Qi Mu disagreed: "The Yunqing Sword you gave me at the beginning wasn't forged by yourself; you bought it at a high price. You also gave me sword manuals and flying magic weapons. You've given me so many things; I could talk about them for a long time."
Yao Sisi: "I almost forgot. Once we find good materials, we'll reforge the Cloud Clear Sword for you. Now that you've reached Foundation Establishment, your weapon needs an upgrade too."
Qi Mu didn't care whether the Yunqing Sword could be upgraded or not; he felt that the current Yunqing Sword was sufficient: "You've given me so many things; it seems I can only repay you by offering myself to you."
Yao Sisi laughed and said, "After your breakthrough, Young Master, all that tension is gone, and you've become more lively. You even offered yourself to me. What, have you forgotten that I used to live and eat at your place? Besides, why didn't you give me a gift? Wasn't that little spring a gift from you?"
Qi Mu: "But that's just a derivative spring, it has a lifespan, and it basically can't grow into a real spring."
Yao Sisi comforted her, "Even if it's not derived, springs still have a lifespan. There aren't many things in this world that last forever. Most things just exist for a longer time. Just like those powerful beings, don't they also have a lifespan?"
Qi Mu: "But it would be great if we could ascend to immortality!"
Yao Sisi: "We've never ascended, so how would we know what it's like after ascending? Maybe we'll just go to a place with more spiritual energy and our lifespan will be doubled, but it doesn't necessarily mean we'll live forever."
Qi Mu: "So, is Miss Sisi's goal to achieve immortality?"
Yao Sisi: "Immortality is only one thing. I'd rather see some different scenery and join in the fun. Otherwise, wouldn't life be boring?"
After they returned to their lodgings, the group celebrated again that evening. This time, Yao Sisi had no worries and wanted to drink again...
Maybe this is what they mean by being bad at the game but having a huge addiction!
Qi Mu was very annoyed by her eagerness for wine. He put away the wine pot and refused to take it out. Yao Sisi coaxed him for a long time, "Drinking a little wine is good for your health. How can we celebrate such a good day without wine? Besides, we don't have anything major to do now. Even if I get drunk, I can just sleep it off. Your wine is really good. It helps me sleep a lot. I don't have a headache at all when I wake up the next day."
Qi Mu insisted, "You just drank some wine a few days ago, so you should drink some mild fruit wine instead. Sake is not suitable for you."
Yao Sisi said confidently, "Why isn't it suitable? I'm very versatile. Not to mention sake, even stronger liquor is no problem for me."
Liu Yuan muttered under his breath, "That's true. Anyway, whether you drink sake or strong liquor, it doesn't seem to make much difference."
Yao Sisi: "..."
"Please, Brother Liu Yuan, have some decency!"
Liu Yuan: "I'm just telling the truth..."
Yao Sisi was speechless. Didn't she know that the truth is the most hurtful?
Seeing her gloomy look, Qi Mu said helplessly, "What's so good about this sake that it's more appealing to you than all this delicious food?"
Yao Sisi: "That's different. I can eat anytime, but you never indulge me when it comes to drinks! Didn't you say you'd learn to brew wine for me to drink? Why did you change your mind so quickly?"
Qi Mu: "We haven't changed our minds, we just haven't developed a drink suitable for you yet."
Yao Sisi: "I think the sake you have in your arms is quite suitable. Sigh, why didn't I think of hiding some drinks when I went out?"
Qi Mu took a deep breath, terrified that she might sneak a drink and end up collapsing on the street. What if something unexpected happened to her?
“If you secretly buy it and secretly drink it, I will never talk to you again, and you should never come back to this courtyard.”
Yao Sisi: "Is it that serious? This kind of emotional abuse is..."
Qi Mu: "Yes, I'd rather give you the silent treatment than have you secretly drink." At this moment, he didn't even find Ri Jiu annoying anymore, and took the initiative to shield himself from the attack: "Besides, Fellow Daoist Ri Jiu also said that you shouldn't drink indiscriminately."
Yao Sisi glanced at Liu Yuan, hoping to find some comfort from him, but to her surprise, he kept his head down and ate his food, completely ignoring her.
"Hey, this is collectively treating me like this, that's domestic violence!"
Qi Munian said, "Domestic violence? You certainly know how to come up with a new term."
Yao Sisi: "It's nothing new, it's a term from where I'm from. Anyway, we live under the same roof now, like a big family. How can you treat me like this? Isn't that domestic violence?"
Qi Mu nodded: "Then are you still going to drink recklessly? If you don't, this sake is yours tonight."
Yao Sisi almost rolled her eyes: "I can tell the difference between a full meal and a full meal every time!"
Qi Mu: "Then what do you want?"
Yao Sisi's voice trailed off: "It's just... I need to drink it more often."
Qi Mu looked at her and actually nodded: "Okay, then you have to make a vow to your heart demons, promising not to secretly drink outside."
Yao Sisi said helplessly, "Isn't my word enough to be a promise? Why do I have to make a vow?"
Qi Mu: "I dare not believe a drunkard's promise of keeping his word."
Yao Sisi: "Okay, I'll send it, alright? From now on, I promise I won't secretly buy alcohol anymore. If I do, I'll let you know. I'll drink with my 'parents' by my side, okay? Anyway, I need to have someone I know with me."
Qi Mu: "You have to add a sentence, saying that if Qi Mu doesn't allow you to drink, then you can't drink."
Yao Sisi hissed, "Young master, someone like you is destined to be single forever!"
Qi Mu paused, a surge of indescribable pain welling up in his heart, but without any hesitation, he said, "Then I am willing to spend my whole life alone in exchange for you not drinking."
Yao Sisi choked up: "You've really gone too far. You've even brought up the idea of ending up alone. What will you do when you meet someone you like? Fine, fine... I give up!" Who told you to be so ruthless!
Then she added a line to her oath to her inner demons: "If Young Master Qi Mu does not allow me to drink, I will not drink; otherwise, I will make sure that I also grow old alone."
Qi Mu was satisfied and personally poured her a glass of wine, while Yao Sisi excitedly shouted from the side, "Fill it up! Fill it up!"
Qi Mu obediently filled her glass and instructed, "Eat some food before you drink, so you don't upset your stomach."
Yao Sisi nodded and joked, "I will follow Young Master Qi's teachings!"
Qi Mu used the unused chopsticks to pick up a bite of food for her, saying, "Eat well, and drink in small sips so you don't get drunk easily."
Yao Sisi: "Alright, if this keeps up, you'll soon be more nagging than my own father."
She paused noticeably at this point, and Qi Mu noticed that she was momentarily distracted. He wondered what she was thinking. Then, she picked up the food from her bowl with her chopsticks and resumed her previous smiling expression, making it seem as if his imagination had been mistaken for her momentary distraction.
That night, after Yao Sisi got so drunk, Qi Mu took her back to her room. He gently covered her with a blanket and muttered to himself, "So drunk she can't even get back to her own room, yet she still wants to go out drinking. Sigh!"
Fortunately, I forced her to make a vow against her inner demons, even if she wouldn't like it...
Yao Sisi was fast asleep, completely unaware of what Qi Mu was thinking. Even if she were awake, she wouldn't bother with such young men's thoughts.
At this moment, Qi Mu sat on the edge of her bed, glanced at her, and prepared to leave. Just then, Yao Sisi turned over, and the blanket was pressed under her. He had no choice but to use magic to lift her up slightly, pull out the blanket, and cover her with it again. As he leaned over, his hair brushed against her cheek like a small brush, making Yao Sisi feel ticklish.
In her sleep, she waved her hand, seemingly knocking something away. Qi Mu stood awkwardly by the bedside. She had just knocked half of his outer robe off. Normally, the robe wouldn't fall off so easily, but she was asleep and hadn't controlled her strength. A small flame flickered from her fingertip and landed right on his hidden button. This ordinary robe couldn't withstand her spiritual fire, and the button was instantly burned off. If he hadn't quickly extinguished the flame, not only would the robe have fallen off without the button, but the entire outer robe and inner garment would probably have been burned to ashes.
The mere thought of such a scene was enough to overwhelm him...
The next day, Yao Sisi woke up and smelled something burning in the room. She got up in confusion and searched for a long time, only to find a little bit of ashes by the bed.
This bit of ashes was a small remnant left behind because Qi Mu was in a panic before leaving yesterday, and it was dark at night, so he didn't clean it up properly.
Yao Sisi stretched and got up, then walked out of the house with a refreshed expression. She saw Qi Mu and Liu Yuan arranging spirit herbs in the courtyard. She asked directly, "Who took me back to my room yesterday? Did you notice the ashes in my room? I just looked around and didn't find anything I burned."
Qi Mu hadn't expected her to ask that, and he paused for a moment. Liu Yuan gave him a strange look, and the tips of his ears turned slightly red. "Yesterday, when I took you home and covered you with a blanket, you burned my sleeve..."
Yao Sisi: "Huh? It's dangerous for me to be drunk? No wonder you don't let me drink outside. If I get drunk and burn someone's clothes, that person will beat me up. If I encounter someone with a bad temper, they might even kill me!"
"What a loss! I'm really at a disadvantage. My fighting ability is definitely lacking when I'm drunk. For my safety, it seems I can't drink recklessly outside anymore."
Qi Mu breathed a slight sigh of relief. "It's good that you know."
Yao Sisi changed the subject: "When is dinner served? I'm going to wash up first."
Qi Mu: "Go ahead, we'll eat after we finish tidying this up, it'll be done soon!"
In the days that followed, Yao Sisi focused her attention on making talismans. She didn't go out to stroll around the streets for many days. Fearing that she would have too many talismans to sell, she went into her space and melted down many decent materials into magical artifacts. She kept only the best ones and didn't want to use them. She refined about half of the accumulated materials. When she came out of her space, she had more than a dozen magical artifacts in her hands, including two flying magical artifacts.
Yao Sisi calculated that most of these magical artifacts were low-grade, mid-grade, or high-grade, and together they could sell for twenty to thirty thousand spirit stones. These were all materials she had collected herself, and the cost was at least ten thousand spirit stones!
In other words, she made a net profit of over ten thousand, but unfortunately it was too exhausting. She was almost sick of it in the space and didn't want to refine any more weapons for a while.
She walked out of the house without taking out all the magical artifacts, as that would attract too much attention. Seeing that Liu Yuan in the courtyard did not have any decent weapons, she threw one of the magical artifacts to him. Liu Yuan did not stand on ceremony. Or rather, when she was faking her marriage with Qi Mu, there was a period of time when he treated her as the mistress of the house. Things given by the mistress of the house are considered rewards, and how could servants refuse them?
Yao Sisi was hoping to sell off the remaining magical artifacts gradually, since these items were quite expensive for ordinary cultivators and would take longer to sell.
She took out two weapons and handed them to Liu Yuan, setting a low price but not allowing him to bargain, so as not to waste time on it. After all, good things have a price range, and everyone knows that these things are relatively affordable.
"Brother Liu Yuan, thank you for selling these two weapons for me!"
Liu Yuan: "It's no trouble at all. How much do these two items cost? What are their functions? Just so I can answer any questions people might have."
Yao Sisi carefully explained the functions of the two magical artifacts, and then instructed, "When you sell the square basin, just sell these as well. When it's time, come back to cultivate early and don't linger for too long. By the way, your young master has already successfully broken through, so you should also spend more time on your cultivation."
Liu Yuan: "Don't worry, I will definitely break through before I leave!"
...
Life went on peacefully. Yao Sisi would occasionally ask Liu Yuan to make a magic artifact, while Qi Mu would brew a batch of pills every day. They gradually saved up enough for the fare. Since there was still some time before the Xuan Yun Sect opened its gates to recruit people, they planned to save some money in addition to the fare. After all, there were many places where they would need spirit stones when traveling, and they couldn't go out to explore without any money. They had time to save.
That day, Yao Sisi finally succeeded in refining another ten-thousand-mile communication talisman. Calculating the days, she estimated she would be leaving Maoling City in about a month. She sent a message to Ri Jiu, her wealthy and magnanimous voice recorded in the talisman: "We'll probably depart around the middle of next month. Try to get here as early as possible to avoid any delays. The fare is ready; just come! Be sure to come early. Little fox, stop running around wildly. Wait until we get to Xuanyun Sect before you go off to have fun. If we're going to have fun, we'll all do it together!"
After sending out the communication talisman, she meditated to recover her spiritual energy, thinking she would try again to see if she could refine it. She had a feeling she could succeed again.
As the message talisman was about to fly out of the courtyard, it was blocked by an invisible membrane. Soon, half of the membrane appeared. The Daoist body was originally meditating in the courtyard when something hit him. When he picked it up, he found it was a message talisman. The voice inside was encrypted and he couldn't hear it. He tilted his head, sneered, and crushed it to pieces with a forceful squeeze.
Not even a trace was left...
-----------------------
Author's Note: You wouldn't believe it, there's another long chapter today!
The young master in the story is increasingly showing the demeanor of a head husband in managing people!
Can Sisi still handle it?
P.S.: The author and a group of readers are grinning mischievously!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com