Simulation becomes reality, have I ever looked down upon the eternity?

Chapter 508 You Sanfeng's Warning: The Unremarkable Senior Brother Zhou! (3k)

Before the morning dew had dried, you pushed open the wooden door of the thatched hut and were met with Nie Qingzhu's solitary figure standing among the bamboo grove.

You seemed puzzled and about to ask, but she spoke first: "Zhou Jing, you suddenly lost your breath yesterday and slept soundly all night."

"You're all fine now, you can go."

You opened your mouth, about to speak, when a jade-green pill the size of a longan appeared before you.

[Nie Qingzhu's voice came again, "Cultivation is fundamental. Focus on breaking through to the Body Shaping stage. With this pill, you can save several months of effort."]

You accepted the pill, thanked the elixir, and left. Your figure gradually disappeared at the end of the mountain path.

A woman in white gracefully emerged from the bamboo grove.

"Aunt Zhu, was this child sent from another branch of Fangcun Mountain?"

Nie Qingzhu shook her head and slowly said, "If we're really talking about age, he's still too young. Besides, his current progress in cultivation isn't likely to attract our special attention."

"However, this young man is sincere at heart, so he can be considered a disciple of the peak, but let's observe him further."

The woman in white nodded, gazing at the snow-covered bamboo forest, and said softly, "I will be in seclusion for the next few days to study the sword technique. I'll leave the affairs of the peak to Aunt Zhu."

After speaking, the figure in white walked back into the forest.

Nie Qingzhu wanted to dissuade him, but the words caught in her throat.

She knew that the sword technique the woman in white had been studying in seclusion was none other than the "Seven Killing Sword Manual."

[Back then, it was precisely because of this item that Xiao Qingfeng was thrown into chaos... Is he destined to follow that path again?]

Nie Qingzhu could only sigh softly.

You walked through the bamboo forest covered in frost, and unexpectedly met You Sanfeng again at the fork in the road.

The senior disciple remained in the same posture as yesterday, with more than three inches of snow piled on his shoulders and frost clinging to his eyebrows and eyelashes. Only the spiritual energy flowing around him proved that he was still in meditation.

[They actually stayed here all night?]

You were secretly surprised, but then you saw him suddenly open his eyes.

His eyes gleamed like a sword being drawn from its sheath, causing the surrounding snow to fall in a flurry.

You Sanfeng looked up at the sky and muttered to himself, "I didn't realize a night had already passed."

He looked at you, his tone now colder, "Junior Brother Zhou, you are truly blessed."

"Even with a bluefish, Elder Nie never stays overnight in the back mountain."

"I waited here all night before finally seeing Junior Brother Zhou."

You simply smiled and asked, "Senior brother, what advice do you have for me?"

The mountain breeze suddenly froze!

[You Sanfeng's cultivation at the mid-stage of the Dao Embryo realm was revealed, swirling like an autumn wind, causing the surrounding green bamboo to bow its head, yet not a single snowflake fell.]

This meticulous control demonstrates the depth of his skill.

【The strange thing is!】

The spiritual pressure, powerful enough to crush an ordinary cultivator at the peak of the Body Shaping Realm, parted on its own like a stream encountering a reef when it approached within three feet of you.

You Sanfeng's expression shifted slightly to surprise before returning to normal. "I knew I underestimated you. Well... otherwise, you wouldn't have earned the elders' attention."

He appeared before you in the blink of an eye. "However, no matter how much Elder Nie favors you, I advise you to stay away from Qingyu."

You Sanfeng brushed past you, staring straight ahead, his tone icy, "She's not someone you can touch."

He trudged through the fine snow, his footsteps making a soft, rustling sound.

At that moment, a calm voice came through.

"Fangcun Mountain has such a rule? How come I, Zhou Jing, didn't know?"

[You Sanfeng paused, his brow furrowed, and turned to look. He saw you standing on the steps, your hands tucked into your sleeves, your face calm.]

"Senior Brother You, aren't you meddling a bit too much?"

[You Sanfeng's brows furrowed, a sense of wind and thunder brewing subtly within his sleeves, causing the surrounding air to seem to tremble.]

You seemed oblivious, your wide sleeves billowing in the wind.

[You Sanfeng suddenly looked up at the distant, icy pool, then silently lowered his head, concealed his aura, and walked away without another word.]

You turn your head to look at the icy pool, where a sword intent is just pointing.

[It's Du Yu, the sword fanatic and disciple of that peak master.]

"Thank you very much, Senior Brother Du."

A barely audible hum echoed from the depths of the mist, then silence returned.

You didn't seem to care and walked away along the path.

Upon entering the spirit garden, you paused slightly. Aside from the elderly person pruning the spirit plants, strangely, there was another person present.

A young girl's figure stood beside the stone table.

[She looked to be fourteen or fifteen years old, dressed in the robes of the Xiaoqingfeng sect. She was half a head taller than you, with an oval face and delicate features. The baby fat on her oval face hadn't completely faded, which made her almond-shaped eyes even more lively.]

As you approached, the girl exclaimed with delight, "Senior Brother Zhou, you're finally back!"

[You naturally know this young woman; she's a junior disciple of Xiaoqing Peak who entered the mountain last year. She's a few years older than you, but also your junior sister—her name is Shen Qingxue.]

Shen Qingxue's background wasn't high, just like yours; her grandfather was also a lay disciple of Fangcun Mountain.

However, over the past year or so, he has displayed remarkable talent, already reaching the late stage of Body Shaping.

[On the surface, his cultivation level is still above your mid-stage Body Shaping realm.] [The old man said from the side, "You brat, did you go to the Heavenly Music Pavilion to listen to music? I heard the new musician... why hasn't he returned all night?"]

As soon as you finished speaking, the girl's eyes widened, and she looked at you nervously.

[Tianyin Pavilion is also one of the eighteen branches of Fangcun Mountain, but it is entirely populated by female disciples who are skilled in musical instruments. Their music can enhance cultivation and cleanse the mind. They also run a business of welcoming and seeing off guests, and are well-known far and wide.]

[Many of Xiao Qingfeng's disciples had neglected their cultivation, spending their days at Tianyin Pavilion, not only exhausting all their merit points but also lingering there.]

Xiao Qingfeng now forbids newly admitted disciples from going to Tianyin Pavilion.

You shook your head helplessly. "Elder Nie summoned me."

The girl finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The old man continued, "Qingxue came to wait for you yesterday, and knowing you weren't there, she came again early this morning. I've heard her mutter 'Why isn't Senior Brother Zhou back yet?' eighty times."

"Qingxue, you've really flattered me. I never realized you were such a good kid."

Shen Qingxue frequented the funeral parlor and was acquainted with the old man.

Shen Qingxue blushed and looked down at her toes.

You secretly wondered, why had Shen Qingxue suddenly come to your door?

[Following your usual principles, the best course of action is to cultivate discreetly on Little Green Peak. It would be best to remain an insignificant person until your time for cultivation is up, then quietly descend the mountain – that is the righteous path.]

However, even someone as cautious as you is not immune to oversights.

In other words, Senior Brother Zhou, who had been playing the hawk his whole life, ultimately suffered a setback.

[That's the reason!]

[After you took on the task of caring for the new disciples and looking after the spirit fields at Xiao Qingfeng last year, you discovered that the spirit field assigned to Shen Qingxue was located in a very remote area.]

[This is a low-grade spiritual field, not only lacking in spiritual energy but also low-lying, making it difficult to retain even the spiritual rain that falls.]

[That day, when you were inspecting the spirit fields, you saw Shen Qingxue kneeling by the cracked ridges, desperately digging at the hardened clods of earth with her small hands.]

Her palms were red and raw from the sand and gravel, yet she stubbornly scooped water from the dried-up irrigation canal. Her clumsy yet persistent manner reminded you of the disaster victims in Qinghe County.

[You then used your self-created techniques—"Minor Cloud Rain Technique" and "Thick Earth Technique"—several times.]

Who would have thought that, just one month later, this spiritual field would be re-evaluated and become a top-grade spiritual field?

[The spirit rice that was originally harvested twice a year can now be harvested four times a year in this field. Even more astonishing is the extraordinary quality of the spirit rice produced; both its taste and the spiritual energy it contains far surpass those from ordinary spirit fields.]

[With this batch of spirit rice, Shen Qingxue made a name for herself not only on Xiaoqing Peak, but also in the Fangcun Mountain area.]

This result was unexpected even by yourself.

This newly initiated female disciple is clearly not mentally challenged.

She knew perfectly well that ordinary "Minor Cloud Rain Technique" and "Thick Earth Technique" were absolutely insufficient to transform a single acre of spiritual land, let alone alter its entire feng shui. Such a miraculous transformation was simply unheard of.

This seemingly ordinary Senior Brother Zhou is actually a person of great hidden talent.

[You have explained many times that the spirit field was originally a "mature spirit field," and its improvement in quality was simply a natural evolution, nothing to be surprised about.]

However, Shen Qingxue remained unconvinced. So, you decided to set up several tests to gauge her character.

[As it turns out, she was an extremely good person at keeping her mouth shut; she would never ask questions she shouldn't ask, and she would never spread rumors she shouldn't say.]

So you applied your insights into spiritual practice, your ingenious ideas, and even some untested attempts to her.

[Shen Qingxue, who originally had mediocre talent and ordinary cultivation, became a core disciple whose name even Elder Nie remembered within just two years.]

That's why her admiration for you has reached the point of complete utmost respect.

[What's even more surprising is that she's also learned your tricks—appearing unassuming on the surface, but secretly having already perfected her physical cultivation, only one step away from solidifying her spirit.]

【now!】

She stood before you, her expression slightly grave: "Senior brother, these past few days, the spirit fields tended by my fellow junior brothers and sisters have been attacked by a group of spirit insects of unknown origin. The leaves have been devoured, leaving them scattered and broken... If this continues, I fear we will be unable to complete this year's harvest."

"We didn't want to trouble our senior brother, but we used our merits to invite him from the Spirit Herb Hall; we had no other choice."

"So, we still managed to get our senior brother here."

As you listened to Shen Qingxue's description, your brow furrowed slightly.

[A rampant infestation of spirit insects? That's strange. Little Green Peak's spirit fields are always protected by arrays, making it difficult for ordinary insect pests to invade.]

"Senior brother, these are leaves and insects."

Shen Qingxue brought several stalks of spirit rice. Their verdant leaves were covered with jagged, serrated edges, glowing with an eerie red light, as if scorched by flames.

[Upon closer inspection, you see a strange, blood-red insect crouching among the veins of a leaf. It is three times the size of a normal fire locust, its six transparent wings swirling with blood-red patterns, its needle-like mouthparts constantly dripping corrosive saliva, and its secondary eyes filled with ferocity. It is clearly lifeless.]

"We've tried cleansing spells and insect repellent, but these insects... they're not afraid of them at all."

After some thought, you taught Shen Qingxue a precious technique for repelling insects: the crafting of nine silver needles.

Shen Qingxue's eyes immediately lit up. "Thank you, Senior Brother."

[You waved your hand, saying you have an appointment at Qiyun Peak tomorrow and probably won't be able to find time to check on the spirit fields. Otherwise, you'd be quite curious about these strange spirit insects and would definitely want to investigate them.]

Shen Qingxue wanted to stay a little longer, but the matter was urgent, so she left in a hurry.

The next day, you finished packing.

You then went to Qiyun Peak, already eagerly anticipating your descent.

[After more than two years of spiritual practice on the mountain, I've come down to experience life in the human world.]

(End of this chapter)