Chapter 42: The Weight of Time and the Scent of Salted Fish

The Summoning Department instructor, his face wreathed in smiles, feigned an air of ease as he declared:

“Of course, if any of you wish to join the Summoning Department, I certainly wouldn’t object~” he added, giving a playful wink.

A peculiar silence, however, descended upon the scene.

Known for his ‘lengthy discourses,’ the instructor was clearly not adept at jesting, and an awkward atmosphere began to spread across the training grounds.

Mu Wanqing subtly poked Su Liyue:

“Yueyue, did the instructor just recite his entire matriculation ceremony speech again?”

“Shhh…” Su Liyue stifled a laugh, her shoulders trembling slightly.

“Ahem, ahem…” The instructor cleared his throat twice to mask his embarrassment, then straightened his expression and spoke earnestly:

“Su Liyue, Mu Wanqing, Chixiao, the three of you students.”

His gaze lingered on each of them in turn.

“Regardless of whether you choose to major in the Summoning Department, the academy will assign each of you a dedicated mentor to guide you through your initial studies.”

At this juncture, the instructor’s expression abruptly turned solemn.

“But remember this: talent is merely a starting point. It is your diligence and effort in the days to come that will truly determine the heights you reach. I hope you will not squander this exceptional gift.”

Ye Xingchen listened to the instructor’s address, discerning that no crucial information remained in the rest of the speech.

His gaze unconsciously drifted towards Su Liyue, who stood not far away, and his thoughts began to wander.

It had been a full sixteen years since he arrived in this world.

For someone who had once possessed a prolonged lifespan, re-experiencing this sensation of time’s passage had initially proven quite disorienting.

Now, however, that sense of temporal displacement had gradually subsided.

Moreover, through his research over these years, what captivated him most was this world’s magical energy, commonly known as mana.

Having spent these years learning magic through Su Liyue’s body and comparing it to the spiritual energy within his own, he had discovered that mana was, in essence, another form of energy.

In their cultivation world, the emphasis was on the unification of ‘essence, qi, and spirit’ (TL Note: Refers to the three treasures of traditional Chinese medicine and Taoist internal alchemy: Jing, Qi, and Shen, representing generative essence, vital energy, and spirit respectively).

Once all three reached a certain realm, one could gradually perceive the existence of spiritual energy through cultivation.

If one then received proper guidance from a suitable master, the path of immortal cultivation could truly begin.

Mages in this world, however, were different. While they also wielded energy, their focus lay more heavily on cultivating mental power.

Within the Pentagram system, although mental power was considered paramount among the five great elements, it was not, in fact, an element itself.

One could say that mental power was the very foundation of magic; if a mage’s mental power was insufficient, their strength would never be truly formidable.

The strength of one’s mental power could even directly influence the potency of spells and the upper and lower limits of their mana capacity.

Although Su Liyue harbored the other half of his soul, Ye Xingchen’s research over the years revealed that, perhaps due to an accident during his transmigration, his cultivation and spiritual energy from his previous life had converged entirely within his male body.

Su Liyue, in her female body, not only remained completely oblivious to spiritual energy but also had to cultivate even the most fundamental energy accumulation from scratch.

While Ye Xingchen had been assisting Su Liyue in absorbing energy since childhood, cultivation was by no means an overnight achievement; it demanded prolonged accumulation and continuous practice to gradually improve.

Therefore, expecting Su Liyue to instantly reach Ye Xingchen’s current level of cultivation was clearly unrealistic.

Over the years, Ye Xingchen had also attempted to combine alchemy with his own pill refinement techniques in search of a solution.

However, on one hand, he still lacked a complete understanding of this world’s magical system, and on the other, he recognized that relying on external forces was ultimately less stable than solid internal cultivation.

Most crucially, from the mages he had encountered thus far, there remained a discernible gap in overall strength between them and immortal cultivators.

Though he was still unsure of the exact power level of the so-called ‘Eternal One,’ if the ability to manipulate time could be further enhanced…

Ye Xingchen found himself lost in thought.

If the spatial power of his male body could combine with the temporal power Su Liyue might one day master, perhaps they could truly achieve the realm of eternal life that immortal cultivators had always pursued.

After all, an ancient legend had persisted in the Spirit Realm: only when a cultivator simultaneously mastered the powers of space and time could they unlock the mystery of human immortality and truly ascend to the realm of immortals.

Ye Xingchen’s thoughts grew even more profound, his gaze piercing through the boisterous crowd on the training grounds as if he beheld a more distant time and space.

Within the cultivation system of the Spirit Realm, even peerless Emperor Realm experts, though standing at the pinnacle of existence, were ultimately a mere step away from true immortality.

Even those mighty enough to reach such a realm, when their great limit arrived, could only choose reincarnation to cultivate anew.

‘But would the person reborn truly still be their original self?’

As an immortal cultivator, he deeply understood that the foundation of cultivation lay in the strength of one’s soul. The spiritual energy cultivated through the essence, qi, and spirit would ultimately be imprinted upon the soul.

It was precisely for this reason that even after transmigrating and being reborn, he could still retain his Saint-tier cultivation.

However, the situation with Su Liyue’s female body caused him a subtle disquiet.

Though she carried half of his soul, if some unforeseen accident were to occur… Ye Xingchen’s brows furrowed involuntarily.

This unprecedented state of soul division presented consequences even he could not predict.

With this thought, Ye Xingchen’s gaze hardened with resolve. He secretly vowed to ensure Su Liyue achieved excellent results in the upcoming academy rankings, thereby securing more cultivation resources.

After all, the meager allowance they received from home each month was barely enough to support his alchemy research, let alone cover Su Liyue’s other regular expenses.

“Yueyue…” Mu Wanqing suddenly addressed Su Liyue, “Do you think if we cultivate diligently, we really have a chance to enter the academy’s top hundred and obtain better cultivation resources?”

Su Liyue unconsciously reached out and gently ruffled Mu Wanqing’s hair, a soft smile gracing her lips.

“Qingqing, you must believe in yourself. As long as we put in the effort, that day will surely come.”

Her eyes suddenly deepened.

“After all, if a person has no dreams, what difference is there between them and a salted fish?”

“Really?” Mu Wanqing’s fighting spirit was instantly ignited, her small face flushing slightly with excitement.

“Then we must redouble our efforts starting today!” Suddenly, she tilted her head, a puzzled expression appearing on her face.

“Oh, Yueyue… what kind of fish is a ‘salted fish’?”

Su Liyue froze on the spot, a bead of cold sweat subtly trickling down her temple.

‘A salted fish turning over… how was she supposed to explain that to her best friend in this other world?’

“Well…” She quickly thought of a clever excuse.

“A salted fish is a particularly foul-smelling fish, so putrid it’s like a rotten slime!”

“So putrid it’s like a rotten slime?!” Mu Wanqing’s face instantly paled, as if she had truly caught a whiff of the nauseating odor, and she hastily covered her nose with her hand.

She vividly recalled a time, on their way to the academy with Su Liyue, when they had encountered a slime that had been rotting for an indeterminate period.

The disgusting stench had nearly made her faint from the sheer foulness, a memory truly unforgettable.

‘She never imagined a salted fish could be such a terrifying kind of fish…’

At this thought, Mu Wanqing couldn’t help but shiver, murmuring softly:

“There are actually things in this world that smell worse than a rotting slime…”

Su Liyue’s reason for saying this stemmed entirely from a past event too dreadful to recall.

Back in the Spirit Realm, on the very day he ascended to the Saint tier, some utterly foolish cultivator had inexplicably sent a ten-thousand-year-old salted fish as a congratulatory gift.

The moment the gift box was opened, the entire palace was engulfed in a suffocating, putrid stench of salted fish, so potent that even his usually composed master couldn’t help but gag.