Chapter 44: A New Path and a Playful Proposition

Sometimes, ideas are brilliant.

Yet, their execution demands the perfect timing.

Upon entering, Su Mei had undeniably found her little fox-girl disciple’s new strawberry panties utterly adorable, even feeling an urge to give them a playful squeeze. However, considering the early hour—daylight still lingered—she feared provoking a rebellious streak in the child. Ultimately, despite being a formidable Nascent Soul Realm expert, she harnessed her immense cultivation to rein in her true desires.

Nevertheless, even though the little one was currently wide awake, preventing Su Mei from acting on her immediate whims, a subtle smile soon curved her lips as she glanced down at the bowl in her hands.

After all, didn’t she possess other ways to interact with the little one?

****

Moments later, Xiao Xixi, now clad in a dress, once again settled into her Master’s soft embrace, being fed delicate morsels with a pair of exquisite jade chopsticks.

In truth, being fed by a beautiful elder sister was quite enjoyable for Xiao Xixi, who had long grown accustomed to such gentle warmth. However, after she had eaten her fill, her beautiful Master casually remarked:

“Little Xixi, having finished this meal, you now owe your Master two spirit stones. I’m warning you, you’d best hurry and repay your debt, or else, as your creditor, I might get impatient and come collecting!”

Though Xiao Xixi could clearly sense the playful teasing in her Master’s voice, a flicker of uncertainty still gripped her. She recalled her Master’s ‘scheming’ nature during their ‘lessons’ just a few days prior.

What if she truly delayed too long, and her Master actually came ‘collecting’?

‘Emmmmm…’ The thought of those ‘lesson scenarios’ sent a shiver of impending crisis through Xiao Xixi.

Fortunately, this sense of danger quickly dissipated from her heart.

As for the reason?

Today, she planned to seek out ‘Protagonist Ye Chen’s’ destined ring! The mere thought of the elixirs and spirit stones within that ring, as described in the original text, filled her with a profound sense of satisfaction, a feeling of ‘bitterness turning into sweetness,’ even before she had found it.

Watching the little one in her arms, Su Mei observed how the face that had just moments ago resembled a small, bitter gourd now subtly beamed with a smile, practically screaming, ‘I have a plan!’

Silently witnessing this, Su Mei mused, ‘When things are unusual, there must be a deeper reason.’

Unbeknownst to Xiao Xixi, her Master had already taken notice of her intentions, even before she had made her move.

****

After a late breakfast—or rather, lunch—it was time to commence the day’s cultivation.

Soon, Su Mei, as the Master, once again carried Xiao Xixi down the mountain on her sword, much like the day before, arriving at the Outer Sect Disciple area.

Given Su Mei’s previous two instances of personally escorting Xiao Xixi, the little fox-girl, down the mountain, her arrival today did not attract undue attention from the outer sect disciples.

Seeing that she wasn’t being gawked at today, Xiao Xixi’s eyes lit up. If everyone had been as curious as yesterday, her task of finding the ring would have become significantly more difficult.

While the security of the Azure Phoenix Sect seemed decent so far, this was, after all, a world of cultivation. From a darker perspective, ‘murder and treasure snatching’ were merely basic operations. Considering the ring’s immense value and her own meager Qi Condensation Realm cultivation, Xiao Xixi ultimately decided it best to act discreetly.

As Xiao Xixi intently pondered her ‘path to riches,’ she felt a warmth settle on her head. Then, her beautiful Master’s gentle voice, like that of a kind elder sister, drifted into her ear.

“Little Xixi, what are you thinking about so intently? You’re not thinking about anything lewd, are you!?”

A warm breath tickled her ear. Xiao Xixi, whose ears were quite sensitive, felt a tingle spread throughout her body, so much so that she barely registered the words themselves.

Su Mei watched her little fox-girl disciple shiver adorably. To maintain her image as a Master among the other disciples, she refrained from further teasing Xiao Xixi. Instead, she continued:

“Little Xixi, you explored for a whole day yesterday. So, from now on, do you want to pursue scholarly arts or martial arts?”

Xiao Xixi had given this question considerable thought during her exploration of the Azure Phoenix Sect yesterday.

In the cultivation world of this novel, most cultivators pursued martial arts.

Why?

Because martial cultivation involved direct, physical experience. Compared to the intellectual breakthroughs required for scholarly cultivation to advance realms, the progression in martial cultivation was relatively easier.

Moreover, its combat effectiveness was generally far superior to scholarly cultivation. A profession with fast leveling and high damage was popular everywhere, so it was perfectly normal for more people to choose martial cultivation, in Xiao Xixi’s opinion.

But that applied to the vast majority of cultivators. As for Xiao Xixi, her response was clear:

“Master, I want to study scholarly arts!”

Indeed, Xiao Xixi had considered many factors in choosing scholarly arts for her cultivation path. The decisive factor among them was that the original ‘Xiao Xixi’ in the novel had pursued martial arts after entering the Azure Phoenix Sect.

As the ‘villainous siblings’ in the book, while their hearts were not pure, Xiao Xixi clearly remembered that whenever the two were mentioned in her reading, they were always cultivating or meditating—in short, they were quite diligent in their practice.

However, despite the original ‘Xiao Xixi’s’ diligent cultivation, due to her ‘lustful spirit root,’ her cultivation remained stuck in the Qi Condensation Realm until she was ambushed by the Azure Phoenix Sect’s Elder Yun He and taken to the Joyful Union Temple, where she finally awakened, after her villainous brother Xiao Changgu committed suicide by jumping off a cliff.

Remembering how the original ‘Xiao Xixi,’ despite her strenuous efforts, never even reached the Qi Solidification Realm, the current Xiao Xixi decided to forge a new path, choosing a completely different route.

After all, no matter what she studied, her cultivation would stagnate if she didn’t engage in ‘lustful’ acts due to her ‘lustful spirit root.’ Given that, wouldn’t it be better to happily study scholarly arts indoors than to exhaust herself daily with arduous martial arts training outdoors?

Moreover, during her visit to the scholarly hall yesterday, Xiao Xixi had observed carefully. The elders (teachers) in this cultivation world were much like university professors, adopting a hands-off approach. There was virtually no supervision for their studies; it relied entirely on self-discipline.

Didn’t that mean she, as a scholarly cultivator, would have ample time in the future to pursue ‘side quests’?

Thus, after weighing all these reasons, Xiao Xixi finally declared her intention to pursue scholarly arts.

Su Mei was somewhat surprised to hear the little one choose ‘scholarly arts.’ Given how close Xiao Xixi was to Xiao Changgu, she had assumed the little one would follow in her brother’s footsteps.

However, looking down at the petite and delicate Xiao Xixi, Su Mei conceded that her choice was indeed a sound one. For instance, considering the basic martial arts lesson of ‘hitting sandbags,’ Su Mei imagined that if Xiao Xixi were to punch a sandbag with her tender little hands, it was less likely the sandbag would move, and more likely her little disciple would ‘whimper’ and cry for a while. By choosing scholarly arts, such a situation could be entirely avoided.

Soon, Su Mei recalled that her little disciple had learned to speak within just two days of her absence. This was simply an enchanting talent. Remembering the little one’s outstanding vocal skills, Su Mei, whose own cultivation path also involved ‘scholarly arts,’ suddenly had an idea. She had found a way to boost the little one’s cultivation.

The next second, she turned to her little disciple and said, “Little Xixi, how about Master teaches you to play the xiao tonight?”