“Senior Wang!” Rong Kaixuan was full of smiles as he looked at Wang Xiaoxiao in the main hall. “This is the first time you’ve come to my place to look for me.”
There was a gleam in Wang Xiaoxiao’s eyes as she smiled. “That’s right. It seems like I haven’t been a good master and shown you enough concern.”
Rong Kaixuan was stunned and scratched his head. “Master?”
Wang Xiaoxiao nodded her head meaningfully and replied, “I was the one who taught you basic spellcasting, so if I’m not your master, what am I?”
Rong Kaixuan didn’t know what to say for a while. He finally smiled bitterly and said, “Alright, master it is then.”
When he was learning the Art of Spellcasting, Wang Xiaoxiao had only guided him in spells for two elements and even placed strict restrictions on how many spells he could learn. Rong Kaixuan learned all the other spells himself.
When Wang Xiaoxiao insisted on claiming to be his master, Rong Kaixuan had no choice but to agree to that with a sad face.
Beautiful women often enjoyed certain special privileges. Besides, back when Wang Xiaoxiao stood up for him the first time they met at the marketplace, her valiant pose was deeply etched onto Rong Kaixuan’s mind. Even though his heart was moved because he was grateful to her for doing that, he wasn’t going to argue with her over an unimportant matter like this now.
Wang Xiaoxiao smiled prettily and said, “This is for you.” She threw a pouch about the size of her palm over. It landed neatly in Rong Kaixuan’s hands.
Rong Kaixuan looked in surprise at Wang Xiaoxiao as he opened the pouch.
There were a small phoenix-shaped jade pendant and two small jade bottles inside the pouch.
“Senior Wang, what are these things?” Rong Kaixuan asked in a confused voice.
Wang Xiaoxiao glared at him but didn’t correct the way he addressed her. Instead, she said, “This jade pendant is a little trinket from my father. The jade pendant is made from nephrite and has been soaked in an extremely special sort of medicine. If you walk in a forest, it will keep most snakes and insects away. Also, there’s an automatic defense mechanism on top of the jade pendant. If you’re attacked by someone very powerful, it will automatically build a protective wall around you and can take a hit from a Gifted Fighter.”
Rong Kaixuan’s expression changed. He quickly said, “Senior, I can’t accept such a valuable gift.”
Wang Xiaoxiao smiled faintly and said, “What did you call me?”
“Senior…” Rong Kaixuan suddenly froze. Wang Xiaoxiao glared at him hard and angrily. In a tiny voice that sounded like an ant speaking, he awkwardly said, “Master.”
Wang Xiaoxiao wrinkled her pretty nose slightly and sounded rather displeased. “If I’m your master, then call me Master. What is this Senior Master? You have no manners.”
Rong Kaixuan thought that Wang Xiaoxiao was clearly his senior. When he looked at Wang Xiaoxiao’s incomparably beautiful face, he couldn’t get any of those words out.
Wang Xiaoxiao’s face reddened slightly. Normally, she wore a veil if she was going to meet with strangers. She didn’t bother to do that when she was in the Hall of Spiritualists or if she was going to see someone she knew.
When Rong Kaixuan looked at her so intensely, for some reason, she felt her heart start to pound. She instantly suppressed the beautiful feeling in her heart.
“Since you call me Master, as your Master, I have to prepare a little gift for you,” Wang Xiaoxiao said. “This little trinket is not of much use to me. Since you’re entering the mountains soon, its insect-repelling characteristics will be useful to you. As for those two jade bottles, one of them contains a Red Yang Pill, and the other is a Dark Yang Pill. One is for replenishing True Qi, and the other is for replenishing Spirit Power. There aren’t a lot of them in each bottle. There are just five pills each, so you have to use them sparingly. Do not simply consume them unless you are completely drained of energy.”
Rong Kaixuan blinked and asked in surprise, “Why?”
Wang Xiaoxiao’s expression gave off a different sort of charm as she explained in a low voice, “These are all Spirit Pills. Their medicinal effect is extremely strong. In most cases, a cultivator will only start to use such pills after they have reached Advanced Stage. Your case is a little special, and you’re going into the deep mountains to cultivate even though you aren’t at a sufficient level yet. It’s fine if you don’t run into any trouble, but if anything does happen and you consume all your True Qi and Spirit Power, you should take one pill.”
Rong Kaixuan nodded gravely and replied, “I understand. Thank you so much, Se… Uh, I mean, Master.” He wanted to call her Senior, but the moment the first syllable left his lips, Wang Xiaoxiao glared at him so fiercely that his heart trembled. He quickly changed his form of address, making her break into a smile.
“Hmph, at least you’re smart enough.” Wang Xiaoxiao smiled. Two tiny dimples appeared on her sweet little face. The entire room seemed to be filled with the warm feeling of spring.
Rong Kaixuan held his breath and looked at her intensely. He suddenly had a really weird thought in his mind.
If only time could stop forever at this moment. Wouldn’t that be so lovely?
Wang Xiaoxiao blinked and quietly said, “I have to go back now. Take care of yourself.” She turned and left. Her graceful figure disappeared quickly like a shooting star.
Rong Kaixuan looked at the pendant and the two bottles of pills in his hands. It was difficult to control the emotions in his heart.
Wang Xiaoxiao was walking at a steady pace that didn’t seem very fast, but the way her body moved was fascinating. In moments, she arrived back at the Hall of Spiritualists and made her way to that little bamboo forest.
“Grandpa Xuan, I’ve passed both bottles of pills into Junior Kaixuan’s hands.”
“Excellent.” Elder Jiexuan laughed heartily and said, “With those few pills on hand, that young man should be able to survive the mountains.”
Wang Xiaoxiao asked, “Grandpa Xuan, since you’re so worried about him, why didn’t you advise him against going into the mountains?”
Elder Jiexuan shook his head and replied, “Why should I stop him? Oh, this young man has such a terrifying gift in the Art of Spellcasting, and he’s a naturally born talent in fighting. This sort of talent needs to go through training and dangers to truly and quickly mature.” He had a smile on his face as he said, “Otherwise, with his constitution and gifts, I could be thick-skinned and get some Five Colored Orpiment for him rather easily.”
Wang Xiaoxiao shook her head slightly and said, “Grandpa Xuan, if it’s too dangerous, he might as well not go at all. Aren’t you afraid that he will run into some dangers?”
“Of course I am.” Elder Jiexuan nodded. “Of course, I’m afraid of that, but real gold is unafraid to be refined by fire and jade doesn’t become anything valuable without being carefully polished. If I shelter him because I’m afraid that he will run into danger, then I’m limiting what he can achieve in the future. I’m counting on him to become a pillar of the Rong clan in the future. If he can’t even get past such small dangers now, then how is he going to face greater challenges in the days to come?” He laughed loudly and said, “Besides, Jielin has his fair share of enemies, and he’s very anxious when it comes to his grandson. I’m very sure he will send someone along to protect Kaixuan, so you don’t have to worry.”
Wang Xiaoxiao looked at him and said, “Grandpa Xuan, you have a point. Could I go out and cultivate too?”
Elder Jiexuan’s expression instantly changed. He quickly said, “No, you must definitely not go out.”
Wang Xiaoxiao scoffed quietly and said, “But Grandpa Xuan, as you said, a flower that is grown in a greenhouse will never be able to experience the powerful winds and rains of the natural world. I have been stuck at the Spiritualist level for a year now. If I want to break through to the next level, I should go out there and endure some wind and rain.”
Elder Jiexuan laughed awkwardly and said, “Xiao’er, your situation is different. Given your gift, you should have had a brighter future. But your health…”
Wang Xiaoxiao smiled faintly and replied, “I’ve been taking pills regularly all these years, and I’ve never felt any discomfort.”
Elder Jiexuan hummed to himself for a while and said, “Your father asked the Rong clan to take care of you, and that is both our honor and our burden. Have you thought about how the Clan Head is going to account to your father if you run into any dangers while being under the care of the Rong clan?”
Wang Xiaoxiao’s expression slowly darkened and fell. She quietly sighed. “Grandpa Xuan, am I going to be that bird that’s locked up in a cage and will never get to truly see what the sky looks like?”
Elder Jiexuan frowned and went into deep thought. After a long time, he finally spoke up. “That’s alright, I suppose. If you can reach Spiritualist Mentor after cultivating hard at home, I’ll let you go outside and see the world.”
Wang Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Since I’ve already said so, of course, it’s true.”
Wang Xiaoxiao immediately gave off an indescribable sense of energy. It seemed as if her entire body was emitting a glorious glow that couldn’t be compared.
When Elder Jiexuan saw the obvious change in her, he thought that it wasn’t a bad thing to let her go out and cultivate either.
****
Three days later, Rong Kaihua, Rong Kaili, and Rong Kaixuan set off for the mountains together.
The famous Sirius Mountains of the county stood at the back of the Rong clan Main House. This huge mountain range stretched across three large counties. All the Clan Heads of the Rong clan before didn’t know how long it stretched for.
There were many entrances to the mountain. The estate where Rong Kaixuan lived in since he was born was one of them.
The three cousins stayed one night in the estate. They went separate ways the next day to enter the mountain.
They each had a Communication Talisman. This thing was not only useful for communicating messages to one another, but it was also useful for sensing where each other was.
With this item in hand, they were able to avoid getting lost or losing each other even if they split ways.
It wasn’t the first time Rong Kaihua and Rong Kaili had entered the mountain. They were fairly familiar with the mountainous forests in this area. Rong Kaixuan had been told several things about the mountain before going in. When he really went in, he realized that what he saw was very different from what he experienced.
Perhaps it was because they had been instructed by Rong Jielin beforehand, but Rong Kaihua and Rong Kaili never offered to help Rong Kaixuan with anything. They just let him walk by himself in the forest. The only condition was that they had to contact each other every few hours.
Some ferocious wild animals were prowling around outside the mountain, but these animals with no Spirit Power in them weren’t frightening to Rong Kaixuan anymore.
Even though he never provoked them on purpose, if any of the wild animals were dumb enough to attack him, he wasn’t going to show them any mercy.
Of course, as he walked deeper into the mountains, he spent most of his energy on looking for Five Colored Orpiment. As Rong Jielin told him before, this sort of treasure was hard to come by. It wasn’t going to be easy for him to find any.
After several days, Rong Kaixuan and his two cousins kept going deeper. After they entered a dense forest of rubber trees, Rong Kaihua and Rong Kaili suddenly jumped up with a start.
They were horrified to see that the talismans in their hands had lost the marking that belonged to Rong Kaixuan.
The two of them ran to meet each other and were soon gathered together, but they couldn’t find any trace of their Fifth Brother. Just when they were becoming anxious and uneasy, a figure flew in from nowhere. It was the person in the family whose cultivation level was second only to the head of the family, Rong Cai.
The old man had a grim expression on his face as he asked, “Where’s Young Master Kaixuan?”
He had a Communication Talisman on his hands too, but the marking from Rong Kaixuan had faded.
The three of them looked at each other. They felt a cold air overwhelm their bodies, which made them shiver.