Chapter 38: A Breakthrough Under the Waterfall and a Misunderstood Reunion

Downstream from the grand waterfall of Bitter Cliff Peak, within the Azure Luan Sect.

Due to the terrain, the surging river water plummeted from above, crashing into the ground like a colossal water dragon.

Its roar was immense, its current incredibly swift.

Merely gazing upon this waterfall, one couldn’t help but feel a profound reverence for nature.

Yet, at this very moment, beneath this awe-inspiring waterfall, a slender, exquisitely beautiful figure sat perfectly still upon a flat bluestone.

She remained unmoving, allowing the water dragon’s relentless blows to strike her delicate form.

Were it not for the hem of her long white gown swaying gently in the current, one might easily mistake this captivating woman for a statue beneath the cascade.

Indeed, the mesmerizing woman beneath the Soul Condensing Waterfall of Bitter Cliff Peak was none other than Su Mei, the esteemed Peak Master of Azure Luan Sect’s ‘Violet Radiance Peak’.

Su Mei had actually arrived here early that morning.

Initially, her Dao heart had been thrown into disarray by the innocent, head-tilting smile of her little fox-girl disciple, prompting her to seek tranquility in this secluded spot.

As for why she didn’t simply recite the ‘Heart Cleansing Incantation’ as she usually would?

That was because ever since she had practiced with the little one last night, using the cultivation method ‘recorded’ in the ancient texts, Su Mei found that the ordinary Heart Cleansing Incantation could no longer solve her problem.

Thus, to prevent herself from acting strangely in front of her two disciples, she had been compelled to come to this Soul Condensing Waterfall to calm her mind.

While meditating, Su Mei’s thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the various sweet flavors and the little one’s soft whimpers from the night before.

As she pondered her ‘post-meal’ sensations from last night, recalling the little one’s boneless, delicate form and its taste, a surprising realization dawned on her.

Su Mei, submerged beneath the icy waterfall, discovered that her body—her innate allure—was slowly beginning to warm.

Accompanying this rising heat was a long-stagnant cultivation, which finally surged with the impetus to break through the ‘Golden Core bottleneck’.

Faced with such an opportunity, Su Mei naturally wouldn’t let it slip away. After eight hours of soul-condensing body tempering, she had done it.

Her Golden Core stage, which had been stagnant for years, had finally broken through to the early Nascent Soul stage.

Feeling the powerful surges of internal energy emanating from her body, far more abundant than during the ‘Golden Core stage’, Su Mei gently swept her fair hand towards the waterfall.

Her red lips parted slightly as she softly declared,

“Break!”

With that almost imperceptible sound, the magnificent waterfall before her quickly parted.

It was as if a pristine silk scroll had been cut down the middle, revealing a space approximately three *zhang* wide.

From within this cleared space, Su Mei looked outwards, following the path her qi had cleaved.

She saw the evening glow in the sky already beginning its descent.

After a quick mental calculation of the time, Su Mei’s lips, as crimson as fire, curved into a slight smile.

She then murmured to herself, “Little Xi, how do you think your master should reward you the day after tomorrow? This time, I’ll teach you to speak gently.”

****

Two days later, Su Mei, having advanced to the ‘Nascent Soul realm’ and meditated for two days to stabilize her cultivation, rose early in the morning.

She intended to thank her adorable little disciple, who had unknowingly helped her in secret.

After emerging from the Soul Condensing Waterfall and clearing away the water with her internal energy, she first proposed to the elders of the Azure Luan Sect a dormitory inspection for prohibited items and a ‘little girl’s plan’ for the younger disciples.

Only then did she fly on her sword towards the exquisite wooden cabin of her senior disciple, Bai Luozhu, located on the mid-slope of Violet Radiance Peak.

Due to her breakthrough, Su Mei was in an exceptionally good mood today.

As she rode her sword, she thought of her cute little disciple, whom she hadn’t seen in two days.

Realizing that a significant part of her advancement was due to the little one’s intangible help, Su Mei secretly resolved to be extra gentle when teaching the little one to speak later.

As the thought of ‘teaching’ crossed her mind, Su Mei’s slender index and middle fingers involuntarily twirled twice.

Noticing her small gesture, Su Mei gave a self-deprecating smile, then accelerated her sword flight.

****

As the wooden cabin was a location Su Mei herself had chosen for her senior disciple, Bai Luozhu, on her peak, Su Mei, as the Peak Master, naturally knew its whereabouts.

Just as she descended before the exquisite wooden cabin’s entrance, gracefully leaping from her ‘Jade Radiance Sword’, she saw a small white ball of fluff collide into her embrace.

Along with its light weight and a fragrant breeze that Su Mei found utterly delightful, came a soft, sweet, and rather naive girlish voice.

“Master, I’m finally back, xi~”

Seeing her little fox-girl disciple, who had willingly thrown herself into her arms, now able to speak, Su Mei was stunned.

She wasn’t sure if she was more surprised by the little one’s actions or by the astonishing speed of her learning.

In any case, Su Mei, having just dismounted her sword, paused for a moment before instinctively scooping Xiao Xixi, who was still rubbing against her, into her arms.

After scrutinizing the little one, Su Mei gently reached out and tapped her delicate nose, then playfully remarked,

“Little Xi, I’ve told you to eat slower normally. Look, you’ve bitten your lips!”

Upon hearing Su Mei’s words, Xiao Xixi, held in her embrace, felt utterly wronged.

In truth, during the two days Su Mei had been away, Xiao Xixi, as the one involved, knew for certain that she had only eaten one meal—before her senior sister, Bai Luozhu, had fully awakened her ‘seductive’ attribute.

As of this moment, she hadn’t had a second meal.

So, why would her delicate lips be broken if she hadn’t eaten?

At the mention of this, a blush involuntarily crept onto Xiao Xixi’s cheeks.

It was because, over the past two days, her senior sister and the female protagonist of the book, Bai Luozhu, had subjected her to two days of ‘devilish’ training.

The content of the training was to read ‘3000 Ancient Poems’.

Each time she mispronounced a syllable, Senior Sister Bai Luozhu would lean in and ‘educate’ her.

Initially, Xiao Xixi even enjoyed it, intentionally mispronouncing a few syllables.

After all, while she wanted to stay away from her senior sister, honestly, Xiao Xixi, who had never experienced such a thrill, genuinely enjoyed the sweet allure of her fragrant and soft senior sister.

But slowly, with each mistake, Xiao Xixi realized that things were gradually slipping out of her control.

As her senior sister’s proficiency improved, she could distinctly feel that after every mistake, the ‘punishment’ and ‘teaching guidance’ became increasingly skillful.

This led to a vicious cycle: after every ‘mistake’, Xiao Xixi felt lightheaded, and the cycle continued.

Mistake equals muddled, muddled equals mistake equals punishment, punishment equals opponent’s skill improvement equals even more lightheaded and muddled, leading to a vicious cycle.

She had spent the entire previous day engaged in this ‘teaching’ activity. By the end, Xiao Xixi even felt her mind go numb, as if it was about to break.

Just moments ago, Xiao Xixi had still been practicing speaking.

Upon hearing her system’s prompt, and to prevent herself from ‘breaking’, she finally chose to throw herself into her master’s embrace. After all, compared to her senior sister, who was ‘seducing’ a fox, her master, Su Mei, was practically her savior.

However, now that she was safe in her master’s arms, facing her senior sister’s smiling eyes from the side, Xiao Xixi recalled her master’s teasing words.

Ultimately, she didn’t have the courage to tell Su Mei the truth. After all, if she revealed the truth, what about her dignity, having been bullied for a day and a night?

However, Xiao Xixi was unaware that her small act of not revealing the truth was interpreted entirely differently by her senior sister, Bai Luozhu, who stood nearby.

At this moment, Bai Luozhu simply thought that her innocent fox-girl junior sister had been completely ‘brainwashed’ by her, the senior sister’s, human way of interacting over the past two days.

Just as the three of them were ‘misinterpreting’ the situation, a deep male voice suddenly echoed.

Hearing this familiar voice, Xiao Xixi, nestled in Su Mei’s arms, instinctively looked in the direction of the sound.

She then saw that the newcomer was her villainous brother, dressed in white.

Seeing her brother after several days, and recalling the recent ‘devilish lessons’, Xiao Xixi felt an immense sense of familiarity.

Just as Xiao Xixi was about to leave her master’s embrace to get a better look at her brother, she suddenly noticed something.

Why was there another large red exclamation mark above her brother’s head?