Mortal: Li Feiyu, who came from the realm of a supreme being

In a small courtyard east of Jingzhou City, the autumn leaves turn red.

When Li Feiyu pushed open the door, Han Yunshu was standing under the old maple tree in the courtyard. After two years of secluded cultivation, the once naive girl had blossomed into a graceful young woman. The sixteen-year-old girl stood tall and straight like bamboo, and her simple gray outfit could not conceal the gentle yet vibrant aura around her—a manifestation of the inner world's creative power, born from the depths of her cultivation of the "Nuwa Mending the Heavens Technique."

She turned around at the sound of his voice, her eyes bright: "Brother Li."

"Are you settling in alright?" Li Feiyu walked to the stone table and sat down. "Being confined to this tiny place for two years, I'm afraid you're not as comfortable as you were back in Wuligou, are you?"

Han Yunshu shook her head and sat down opposite him. "If I had lived alone in the city back then, I would have inevitably attracted attention and caused trouble due to my young age. The hustle and bustle of the mortal world is not beneficial to cultivation. Besides, the travelogues and miscellaneous books that Brother Li brings each time he comes are enough to entertain me." She paused, a subtle joy flashing in her eyes. "Moreover... since the ancestral aperture between my eyebrows opened, my spirit can project outwards. Even without leaving home, I can 'see' the pedestrians and the everyday life of the city. This feeling is quite wonderful."

Li Feiyu nodded. After the ancestral aperture between his eyebrows was opened, it could actually be used as divine sense, although the specific usage details and names were different.

His expression turned slightly serious: "You should have noticed as well. Although the ancestral aperture has opened, the connection with the principles of law is extremely weak. This is the end of our closed-door approach."

Han Yunshu's gaze dimmed slightly, and she softly hummed in agreement.

In the past two years, she has made rapid progress, opening all nine orifices and the ancestral orifice. Her inner world, nourished by the "Nuwa Mending the Sky Technique", is perfectly round and self-sufficient, almost perfect.

But it is precisely at the most crucial step of "comprehending the laws of heaven and earth and integrating internal and external forces" that it gets stuck.

This world seems to be exceptionally stingy with the arts of martial arts.

"This is a great era for cultivating immortality, which is really awkward for us martial arts practitioners," Li Feiyu said slowly. "Normally, at this stage, we should be tempering ourselves in the world and comprehending the Dao through life-and-death battles. However, ordinary martial arts practitioners are already hard to defeat; while cultivators mostly use magical weapons and spells to attack from a distance. Even if we were to actually fight one, the gains might not be as expected."

He didn't say the whole thing.

The weak connection between legal principles and reason was something he had anticipated.

Therefore, although his main cultivation method, "Myriad Paths of the World," originated from the Fengyun series, after being recreated by the Six Paths, this technique also concealed a unique path of "using the other's way to nourish my way." In a world where the laws are not obvious and are obscure and difficult to understand, one can absorb the "laws" that exist in this world to perfect the connection between the inner and outer worlds, greatly reducing the difficulty of breaking through the outer realm.

Of course, Liu Dao wouldn't be so kind; this kind of training method naturally has its pitfalls.

Therefore, he plans to learn half through self-study and half through external learning to achieve a balance between internal and external approaches, and finally take advantage of the situation to return to simplicity and achieve great success.

But Han Yunshu's path was different.

The Nuwa's Secret to Mending the Sky emphasizes the creation of the origin, where the inner world is perfectly formed and requires no external embellishment.

But precisely because of this, her understanding of the laws of heaven and earth was almost nonexistent.

In this world where laws and principles are obscure, even if one's inner world is perfect and flawless, it is difficult to resonate with the outside world, let alone communicate with the heavens and humanity and ascend to the external realm.

Even he, who once controlled the laws and had an inner world that was his own, needed to find a new path to break through in this world.

For a mortal like Han Yunshu, who has never been exposed to the laws of heaven and earth, it would be almost impossible to follow the conventional path.

Of course, if she switched to cultivating the "Myriad Paths of the Universe," she might have a chance. But if that were the case, why did he bother guiding her into martial arts to practice the "Nuwa's Heaven-Mending Technique" in the first place? Wouldn't that have been pointless?

Fortunately, there is more than one way.

During Li Feiyu's last seclusion, he spent most of his time deducing this matter and actually gained some insights.

"The usual methods are indeed impossible." He looked at Han Yunshu, his gaze clear, "But different techniques should have different paths."

Han Yunshu raised her eyes, waiting for the next part to continue.

"You cultivate the 'Nuwa Mending the Heavens Technique,' and your inner world inherently contains the meaning of 'mending' and 'creating.' Since that's the case, why not use the path of cultivation to perform the act of mending the heavens?" Li Feiyu said, enunciating each word clearly. "Once you reach the Nascent Soul stage, sink your Nascent Soul into your inner world and use it to mend the heavens; your doubts will naturally be resolved. The Nascent Soul is formed from the fusion of a cultivator's soul and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, carrying its own imprint of laws. Use this to complete the missing 'laws' in your inner world, allowing the laws of your inner world to resonate with those of the external world. At that time… you might be able to break through to the outer realm in one fell swoop."

This is the "Heaven-Mending Method" he deduced: using the nascent soul of immortals, imitating the legend of Nuwa mending the heavens, to mend the deficiencies in the inner world of martial arts.

Han Yunshu was stunned.

Although she trusted Li Feiyu completely, she still had doubts: "But Brother Li, didn't you say that cultivating immortality requires spiritual roots? We don't have spiritual roots, so how can we cultivate immortality?"

"The ancestral aperture is open, the bridge between heaven and earth is complete." Li Feiyu smiled slightly. "Spiritual roots are nothing more than absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to temper oneself. The bridge between heaven and earth can even draw upon the primordial energy of heaven and earth, let alone spiritual energy?"

He had tried it when he got the "Eternal Spring Skill" from Han Li. Using the spiritual power of his ancestral aperture as a guide and in conjunction with a specific technique, he was able to autonomously select and absorb the spiritual energy of the desired attributes.

The speed was simply unbelievable.

"Although we lack innate spiritual roots, we have opened 'spiritual apertures'," Li Feiyu said. "Using these apertures as a foundation, and in conjunction with cultivation techniques, we can freely choose the attribute of spiritual energy. It can be a celestial spiritual root or a pseudo-spiritual root, depending on our needs... Why don't you try circulating your energy?"

He instructed Han Yunshu to immediately try circulating the first level of the "Eternal Spring Technique".

Han Yunshu closed her eyes and concentrated, following her instructions. After a moment, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and she whispered, "I can cultivate... The previously chaotic and unclear power around me becomes clear and discernible when the cultivation technique is activated, flowing in slowly like a stream. That must be spiritual energy, right?"

As soon as she finished speaking, a deeper wave of emotion surged within her.

Although her cultivation stagnation was short-lived, she already had a vague premonition that without a significant opportunity, her life might end there.

No matter how perfect one's inner world may be, if one cannot sense the laws of the outside world, it is ultimately a castle in the air. She even began to convince herself: being able to reach this point is already an immense stroke of luck, and one should not be greedy.

But when Li Feiyu arrived, he opened a completely new door for her.

"The Method of Mending the Sky!"

She used the path of immortality to supplement her martial arts, and her nascent soul to fill her inner world. This idea was so unconventional, yet so perfectly aligned with the original intent of the cultivation method she practiced.

In her despair, she suddenly saw a way forward. Overjoyed, she realized even more clearly how lucky she was to have met Brother Li.

She had no idea what a marvelous feat it was to graft two completely different cultivation systems together and deduce a feasible path.

All she knew was that if Brother Li said it was feasible, then it definitely was.

After the business was finished, the atmosphere relaxed.

Li Feiyu looked her up and down at her plain gray clothes and suddenly said, "Get ready, let's go out."

"Where to?"

"Let's buy some things," Li Feiyu said, getting up. "Then we'll go back to Wuligou for a few days."

Han Yunshu lowered her eyes slightly, understanding dawning on her.

After this journey, and a peaceful reunion with her family, her path truly distanced her from the mortal world. Whether she succeeds in cultivating both immortality and martial arts or not, she must not bring any trouble to that peaceful little mountain village.

She nodded without saying anything more.

In a clothing shop in the west of Jingzhou City, Han Yunshu unusually chose a dress that wasn't a tight-fitting outfit—a dark red dress embroidered with fine autumn leaf patterns. The fabric wasn't top-quality, but it was thick and soft.

Back in the courtyard, she quickly washed up, changed into new clothes, and tied her long hair, which she usually wore in a ponytail, into a simple bun, securing it with a wooden hairpin.

When I pushed open the door, Li Feiyu was staring at the maple tree in the yard, lost in thought.

Turning around at the sound, I was momentarily stunned.

The young girl stood beneath the rustling red maple leaves, her dark red dress making her skin appear as radiant as jade. It was the natural glow of vitality that came from cultivating the "Nuwa Mending the Heavens Technique," not from cosmetics.

Her almond-shaped eyes were clear and bright, her eyebrows were lightly drawn, and her lips were the color of pale cherry blossoms. She wore no makeup, yet possessed a natural and radiant beauty. Her dark hair was tied up, revealing her smooth forehead and slender neck, with a few stray strands falling beside her cheeks and swaying gently in the autumn breeze.

She still retained some of the gentle resilience of a farmer's daughter, but her eyes and brows already exuded the calm and serene aura unique to cultivators.

Gentle yet not weak, simple yet not bland, just like autumn maple leaves, turning red after frost, quiet and beautiful.

When Han Yunshu saw his gaze linger on her, as if he were moved, the corners of her lips unconsciously curved up, and her heart blossomed with a soft joy, like a spring breeze brushing against a flower branch.

She lowered her head, straightened her cuffs, and said softly, "Let's go, Brother Li."

It's time to go home.

It's time to say goodbye properly.