Chapter 33 – Vast-Body Art (IV)

Chapter 33

Vast-Body Art (IV)

I have to admit, I didn’t expect this now-expectant girl to be so obedient over the past two months. Then again, she was just entering… those years, so maybe I got a bit lucky? Nonetheless, she didn’t practice Qi even once despite me never explaining much of why, instead just drinking tea as prescribed and doing random chores.

However, whatever patience she had in her had long since worn thin; the radiance in her eyes was unconcealable, and the desire contained therein couldn’t be pushed back any longer.

Luckily, it didn’t need to be.

“When I took you in, I told you I’d offer you a true path,” I said, trying to sound as grandiose as I could. It was a bit difficult, truthfully, as the two of us had a bit of an audience: that being Long Tao and the mute boy Hua. “And you’ve endured well,” finishing, I fished out the pre-prepared tome from my robes. It was relatively thin, as I only included up to the second form–it’d be at least a couple of years (God, I hope so; let her not be a freak, too!) before she’d need the others.

She took it with trembling fingers, as though she were grabbing ahold of the world’s most divine treasure.

“It’s a method suited solely for your unique physique,” I added. “I won’t be able to help you cultivate it beyond offering some shallow advice. However, as far as I understand it, you will need quite a lot of resources; you don’t have to worry about that. Here’s the first batch.” I handed her a satchel of about 50 mid-grade stones, which I hope is enough to last for at least half a year. Though, knowing my luck, that’s not lasting a month. “Ask your Senior Brother to teach you the auxiliary art to extract the Qi from the Spirit Stones at a much higher purity.

“Whenever you’ve run out, come find me and I’ll give you more. However, you are not allowed to descend the mountain carrying any of them. If you need to buy something, come find me first, and I’ll give you lower-quality ones to spend.”

“Disciple obeys, Master!” She hugged both the stones as well as the tiny tome and fell to her knees; honestly, I… well, I feel all sorts of awkward. There’s a twelve-year-old girl digging her knees into the floorboards, and all I want to do is screech and tell her to get up… but I endure.

There are many things that this world finds acceptable that I never will–no, I won’t allow myself to. But as when you’re a tourist, you adjust; bit by bit, I hope that Long Tao influences her slightly on how she treats me. Less a godly entity to bow to and more this… weird-ish uncle that gives her stuff on occasion and then shoos her away.

“Alright, that’s enough of that,” I coughed and dismissed her. “Go study. It won’t be easy, but I hope that you’ll succeed in the competition in four months’ time. There are more rewards for you if you do.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Yes, Master!”

She truly ran off as though there were demons chasing her; the joy on her face erupted like fireworks, and even I couldn’t help but smile.

There was no way I could understand her–after all, cultivation to me was… well, it wasn’t really anything just yet. I don’t cultivate–mostly because I just can’t. If there’s an approximate, though, it’d perhaps be like that time I broke my arm in high school and could only stay on the bench for like 3 months, watching my school’s basketball team play while I acted like a cheerleader.

At the end, when the doctor cleared me and I could also start playing… perhaps I felt a little bit like her. Even though I sucked, and none of my shots would go in, there was a sense of liberation… like a weight had been lifted off of me.

“Master,” Long Tao startled me out of my nostalgic thoughts; I looked at the boy with an askew gaze, suspicious. He had mostly remained quiet and distant for the past month and a half, rarely initiating a conversation. Now that he has… I’m scared.