Chapter 15: It’s Just Fluffy!

Yu Xiu’s guess was correct.
The spiritual energy she transferred couldn’t break through the defensive layer of Bu Xiwei’s body—it couldn’t enter her meridians at all, only envelop her body’s surface.
But even so, the hand Bu Xiwei had been clutching her head with gradually relaxed. The whiteness from the force in her fingertips faded. She slowly released her grip until she lowered her hand completely.

Seeing this, Yu Xiu increased the output of her spiritual energy, enveloping Bu Xiwei’s entire upper body.
This was already her limit. Bu Xiwei’s body instinctively consumed foreign spiritual energy, and persisting like this was a considerable drain on Yu Xiu herself.

Just as the spiritual energy in Yu Xiu’s body was about to run out, and she was preparing to retrieve a bottle of spiritual energy replenishing pills from the silver hairpin in her storage, Bu Xiwei finally regained consciousness.
Her face was still pale, but her eyes had life in them again.

Looking somewhat dazedly at Yu Xiu, who was half-squatting in front of her, Bu Xiwei couldn’t quite remember what had just happened.
She blinked, her voice soft and airy, like someone waking from a dream.
“…What happened to you?”

A trace of helplessness flickered in Yu Xiu’s eyes.
Shouldn’t it be her asking Bu Xiwei what happened…?

“It seemed Your Excellency was suffering from a severe headache just now,” Yu Xiu said anyway.

As for using her spiritual energy to help Bu Xiwei relieve the pain, she didn’t mention it.
She quietly withdrew the hand resting on Bu Xiwei’s shoulder and stopped transferring her spiritual energy.

Bu Xiwei took a moment to collect herself. The pallor on her face faded, and she returned to her usual demeanor, but she still couldn’t recall what had just happened.

Bu Xiwei actually knew what was going on from the symptoms Yu Xiu described.
It was nothing more than… tsk.

Forcibly trying to remember would only make the symptoms worse. And Bu Xiwei didn’t want to lose control in front of Yu Xiu again over such a trivial matter.
She was here to support Yu Xiu—she had to ensure she could.

Yu Xiu didn’t press her, but Bu Xiwei’s perception was sharp. From the lingering traces of spiritual energy around her, she could tell what Yu Xiu had done.

These problems of hers… even she found difficult to solve, let alone someone else.
There’s no need to drag Yu Xiu into this.

Glancing at her hand, Bu Xiwei didn’t offer any explanation. Instead, she looked out of the cabin and asked,
“Are you heading back to the Five Elements Sect?”

Yu Xiu sat back down in her original spot and nodded. “Mm.”

The Five Elements Sect had already contacted her.
Besides Huangshi Town, where she’d gone, and Wuli Pu, where Jiang Hanxing had gone, the other two dens had cultivators dispatched to handle them.
Mo Hui had also sent a message via communication talisman, saying that some matters on Chiyang Peak required her attention.

Since more clues about the Han family’s evil cultivators would only come after the other teams returned, Yu Xiu had nothing urgent to do.
She might as well return to the Five Elements Sect first.

However…

Yu Xiu glanced at Bu Xiwei, visibly troubled.

As a personal disciple of the Five Elements Sect, she’d gone out on a trip… and returned with the venerable figure of the demon world. No matter how you looked at it, it was… hard to explain.

Even during formal visits, leaders of the righteous and demonic paths would meet at a neutral site—never in each other’s sects—to ensure fairness.
No one just walked into the other side’s home base.

Let alone someone like Bu Xiwei, who clearly had no intention of making a formal visit. She simply wanted to follow her. Wherever Yu Xiu went.

Bu Xiwei saw through her thoughts with a glance. Letting out a casual “heh,” she said,
“What’s there to be conflicted about? When we get close to the Five Elements Sect, I’ll just turn into a bird again.”

“You can just tell others I’m a spiritual pet you picked up during your trip, can’t you?”

After a pause, she added seriously,
“A natal spiritual pet.”

It was extremely common for cultivators to raise spiritual pets.
But just as a sword cultivator only had one sword they considered their natal sword, a natal spiritual pet meant a unique spiritual beast—intimately bound and spiritually connected to the cultivator.

Yu Xiu: “…”

The dignified Demon Lord is volunteering to be my spiritual pet. And with such enthusiasm…

Shaking her head imperceptibly, Yu Xiu tacitly agreed to the suggestion.

There was no point disagreeing. Bu Xiwei would do it anyway. Whether she agreed or not didn’t matter.

The rest of the journey passed uneventfully.

Bu Xiwei did vaguely recall what had triggered her earlier state. It seemed she had been thinking about Yu Xiu’s natal spiritual sword—it looked slightly different from what she remembered.

But it wasn’t uncommon for a natal weapon to change subtly over time as a cultivator refined it and grew stronger.
Dismissing the matter, Bu Xiwei—as promised—transformed into the ultramarine, golden-fluffed dumpling of a bird.
Now familiar with the process, she flew onto Yu Xiu’s silver hairpin and followed her through the Five Elements Sect’s protective formation.

With Bu Xiwei’s cultivation, the protective formation didn’t react at all.

Yu Xiu looked at the deceived formation, feeling… a little complicated.

Upon returning to Chiyang Peak, Yu Xiu first headed to Chiyang Palace to deal with sect affairs.

As usual, Master Chiyang was nowhere to be found—not on Chiyang Peak, and not anywhere nearby.

Mo Hui had no reaction to the little bird dumpling that had appeared on Yu Xiu’s silver hairpin. He simply and diligently assisted Yu Xiu in completing the tasks at hand.

It didn’t take long. Yu Xiu handled everything with great efficiency, leaving the remaining execution to Mo Hui.

Flying back to her own peak on her sword, Yu Xiu spotted Xing Zan, who had clearly been waiting for her with eager eyes.

“Sister Xiu!” The little girl in a goose-yellow dress beamed with joy and longing. “You’re back!”

Bu Xiwei looked at the girl, puzzled.

Who is this?

During her time by Yu Xiu’s side, Bu Xiwei had never seen this person before.

Glancing at Xing Zan, Bu Xiwei immediately noticed she was just a mortal—there wasn’t even a trace of spiritual energy or spiritual roots. Only then did it dawn on her: this little girl must be Yu Xiu’s immortal servant.

In the cultivation world, immortal servants were common among cultivators.

They were either mortals with no spiritual roots or those with incomplete “waste spiritual roots,” their cultivation paths completely severed. Such individuals survived by attaching themselves to cultivators, trading service for protection and resources.

Since they posed no threat—and because some were quite useful—cultivators would sometimes give them pills or treasures, extending their lives far beyond that of ordinary mortals.

This was the ultimate dream for most immortal servants.

If a cultivator was both generous and powerful, their immortal servant could live nearly five hundred years as a mortal.

Even if this little girl received such a gift from Yu Xiu, she would have long passed away by the time Bu Xiwei met Yu Xiu in her past life.

Besides, Bu Xiwei remembered that rather than keeping immortal servants by her side indefinitely, Yu Xiu preferred to let them stay for only a period—until they came of age or matured—and then release them.

The girls Yu Xiu chose as servants always had tragic backgrounds. But after a few years of serving by the side of a famous immortal in the number one immortal sect, they gained knowledge, experience, and a notable reputation. With the travel money Yu Xiu gave them upon their release, they had excellent prospects—whether starting a business or getting married in the mortal world.

Bu Xiwei recalled hearing Yu Xiu mention this once. She had said she didn’t want to dominate anyone’s life and wanted to give them the freedom to choose their own paths.

At the time, Bu Xiwei had wanted to ask:

What if an immortal servant wanted to give up their own life, just to stay by your side?

But their relationship wasn’t very close back then, so she never asked.

Later, as she came to understand Yu Xiu better, Bu Xiwei figured out the answer on her own.

Yu Xiu would give them the right to choose their own lives—but only after removing the option of staying by her side.

A classic Path of Emotionlessness approach.

Seeing Xing Zan again—the little sister she had watched grow up—Yu Xiu’s expression softened. She chatted with the girl for a few moments before Xing Zan’s attention shifted to Bu Xiwei.

“A little bird!” she exclaimed, eyes lighting up as she looked at Yu Xiu’s silver hairpin. “What a round and fat little bird! Like a fluff ball—so cute!”

Bu Xiwei: “…??”

Fat? What fat? She was just extra fluffy! That was Yu Xiu’s preference!