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

I have been in the Star Palace for three years.

Li Feiyu sat cross-legged in the main hall, his spiritual energy flowing within him, his aura solid – he was at the tenth level of Qi Refining, on par with Ling Yuling.

He opened his eyes, his face calm and serene, devoid of sorrow or joy.

Three years to reach the tenth level of Qi Refining from scratch is not an exaggeration. With the talent of a Heavenly Spiritual Root, plus the monthly supply of pills from the Star Palace, and some resources smuggled from Han Li, five years to reach Foundation Establishment is already a deliberately suppressed speed.

Too much speed makes a genius stand out, but too much slowness doesn't suit someone with a Heavenly Spiritual Root. This pace is just right.

As he was thinking, a clear voice came from outside the main hall:

"Junior Brother Li, are you there?"

Ling Yuling's voice came from outside the main hall, a little softer than usual.

Li Feiyu opened his eyes and raised his hand to release the restriction. Ling Yuling walked in, and unusually, she didn't sit down immediately today, but hesitated for a moment at the door.

"What's wrong?" Li Feiyu asked.

"I have a problem with my cultivation..." she said, then paused, "Never mind, you go ahead and do your thing."

"Come in." Li Feiyu had already sat back down on the prayer mat. "Which place?"

Ling Yuling then walked over and sat down, taking out a jade slip from her sleeve and handing it to him.

Li Feiyu took it and probed it with his divine sense—it was the cultivation technique Ling Yuling practiced, called "Azure Sea Technique." It was an ordinary water-based cultivation technique in the Star Palace Scripture Pavilion, not particularly profound, but it was balanced and peaceful, and unlikely to cause any problems.

"The third level, the Tide Rising Chapter." Ling Yuling pointed to a passage of incantation in the jade slip, "It says here, 'The tide rises from the sea, from gentle ripples, wave after wave, endlessly.' When I cultivate, I always feel that my spiritual energy gets stuck at this point, like... like the waves suddenly dissipate halfway through."

As she spoke, her brows furrowed slightly, clearly indicating that she had been troubled by this problem for quite some time.

Li Feiyu looked at the incantation but did not answer immediately.

He had never practiced the "Azure Sea Technique," but the principles of cultivation remained the same despite variations. The so-called "tidal rise" was actually the process of spiritual energy accumulating and layering within the meridians. If it got stuck, it was either because the rhythm of accumulating energy was incorrect, or the timing of releasing it was wrong.

"Run it once and let me see," he said.

Ling Yuling nodded, closed her eyes, and focused her mind, forming hand seals. After a moment, a pale blue spiritual energy rose from her dantian and flowed slowly along her meridians. Li Feiyu watched intently, his gaze following the movement of that spiritual energy.

Upon reaching the point described in the incantation, the spiritual energy indeed stagnated for a moment, then scattered and became chaotic like beads from a broken string, instantly disintegrating the momentum it had accumulated.

Ling Yuling opened her eyes and sighed, "That's how it is."

Li Feiyu pondered for a moment, then asked, "Senior Brother, have you ever seen real ocean waves?"

Ling Yuling was taken aback: "What?"

"The waves," Li Feiyu said. "I grew up by the sea and have seen them countless times. When the tide comes in, it doesn't separate into waves, but rather, before one wave recedes, the second wave follows, and then the third rises. The front waves make way for the back waves, and the back waves ride on the front waves as they surge upwards."

Ling Yuling seemed to be deep in thought.

"What you did just now was to create a wave, wait for it to completely subside, and then start the second wave," Li Feiyu said. "This creates a gap in the middle, and the momentum that has been built up naturally dissipates. Try it, and see if the next wave starts before the previous one has completely subsided."

Ling Yuling lowered her head in thought, and after a moment, she closed her eyes again and began to circulate her internal energy.

This time, her spiritual energy flowed noticeably more smoothly than before. The first wave of spiritual energy had barely passed the barrier when the second wave followed, the two energies overlapping and their momentum suddenly increasing. She relaxed her brow and continued to urge it forward, the third and fourth waves surging up one after another, layer upon layer, truly possessing a sense of "rising tides."

Li Feiyu watched quietly until she completed one cycle of circulation.

Ling Yuling opened her eyes, a smile appearing on her face: "It's much smoother now."

"Senior brother has high comprehension; he understands things immediately," Li Feiyu said casually.

Ling Yuling glanced at him, somewhat embarrassed: "Don't give me that. Me, with high comprehension? If I had high comprehension, why couldn't I figure it out myself?"

Li Feiyu smiled but didn't reply.

Ling Yuling stood up, took a few steps, and suddenly asked, "You said you grew up by the sea?"

"Um."

Which sea?

"Inner Sea, a small fishing village called Baimu Village on Thorn Island," Li Feiyu casually made up. "The villagers all make a living by fishing, and I went out to sea with them a few times when I was a child."

A hint of curiosity flashed in Ling Yuling's eyes: "And then?"

"Later..." Li Feiyu paused, "Later, the Li family found me and said that I had Li family blood. They asked me if I wanted to cultivate immortality, and if so, I could come to the Star Palace."

He spoke calmly, without trying to exaggerate anything.

Ling Yuling remained silent for a moment, then said softly, "Then you are stronger than me."

Li Feiyu looked up.

"I've been here since I was a child." Ling Yuling looked out the window. "From as far back as I can remember, I've been on the upper level of the Holy Mountain. I've never gone out, never seen the sea, never seen any of the things you're talking about."

Her tone was calm, but Li Feiyu could hear what was hidden beneath that calm.

"If you wish to see me, you can do so after you have established your foundation," he said.

Ling Yuling turned her head to look at him, and suddenly smiled: "You didn't say that last time."

"Last time was last time." Li Feiyu said without changing his expression. "Last time, Senior Brother just wanted to go to the market, so there was no rush. But seeing the sea is different; that's a serious matter."

Ling Yuling was taken aback, then burst out laughing: "Serious business? What's so serious about watching the sea?"

"Read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles." Li Feiyu said seriously, "Cultivation is not just about meditation and qi cultivation. The world is vast, and the more you see, the broader your horizons become, and your state of mind will naturally change. With a different state of mind, cultivation will naturally be smoother."

Ling Yuling looked at him, her gaze holding something indescribable.

"You speak so maturely, you don't sound like you're eighteen at all," she said.

Li Feiyu smiled slightly: "Although Senior Brother doesn't speak in a mature and old-fashioned way, he doesn't sound like he's seventeen years old either."

Ling Yuling was taken aback, then a slight smile appeared on her lips, and she didn't reply.

After a moment of silence, Ling Yuling put away the jade slip, thanked them, and turned to leave.

As she reached the door, she suddenly stopped and asked without turning her head:

"Do you think... after I reach Foundation Establishment, I'll really be able to go out and see the sea?"

Li Feiyu watched her retreating figure and said, "As long as Senior Brother wants to, he can talk to Elder Ma, and he will definitely agree."

Ling Yuling didn't say anything, and walked out.

The main hall returned to silence.

Li Feiyu withdrew his gaze and continued to cultivate with his eyes closed.

……

The main hall returned to silence.

Li Feiyu sat down cross-legged, but did not immediately begin cultivating. Instead, he fell into deep thought.

Ling Yuling's expression today reminded him of something.

Three years had passed, and he had observed this "Senior Brother Ling" quite a bit. In terms of aptitude, she was definitely not a Heavenly Spiritual Root—otherwise, it would have been impossible for her to advance from the sixth to the tenth level of Qi Refining in just three years; this speed was typical of a True Spiritual Root. However, in terms of resources, the Star Palace provided her with a rather generous allowance, with her receiving roughly the same amount of pills as him each month.

The pay is decent, but there's no one to guide me.

I live on the 69th floor, but I've never been to Tianxing City.

Nominally a disciple of the Star Palace, yet seemingly isolated from the world.

Li Feiyu closed his eyes and pondered, fragments of memories from the original work surfacing in his mind.

Ling Yuling, daughter of the two Saints of the Star Palace.

Given her status, she should be a pampered second-generation immortal, showered with love and affection, getting whatever she wanted. But the Ling Yuling before her lived like an orphan, neglected and unloved, even less fortunate than Wang Chan, the young master of the Ghost Spirit Sect.

Ling Yuling had no one to talk to, so she could only come to him, her "Junior Brother Li".

Why is this happening?

He pondered for a moment, and suddenly a possibility came to mind.

The ages of the two saints.

In the original story, the Twin Saints of the Heavenly Stars are ancient monsters who have lived for nearly a thousand years. High-level cultivators generally do not consider having children unless they have a family business to inherit.

If that's the case, why did the two saints wait until they were eight hundred years old to have Ling Yuling?

There's only one answer... she's the alternative.

Having failed to advance to the Nascent Soul stage multiple times, the two Saints must have sensed something before their final seclusion to cultivate the Primordial Magnetic Divine Light. If they failed again this time, there would be no more chances. Such a vast Star Palace must have someone to inherit it.

And so, Ling Yuling was born.

She wasn't the child the two saints conceived with great anticipation, but rather a contingency plan: "If we fail, someone else in the Star Palace will take over."

From birth, they were entrusted to the elders for upbringing, while the two saints went into seclusion to cultivate, ignoring their concerns.

Her identity was known only to a very few elders and was considered a top secret of the Star Palace.

Therefore, she was never short of treatment because she was the "young master"; but that was all, because the two saints simply didn't care about her.

She lived like a sophisticated prisoner, with resources but no freedom; with status but no support.

No wonder that ridiculous situation arose later—the dignified young master of the Star Palace was almost killed by two minor characters in the early stages of Core Formation. It wasn't that she was being modest; she was genuinely embarrassed. What real skills could a cultivator who had been left to his own devices since childhood, without any guidance, possibly possess?

Only after the two saints emerged from seclusion and knew they were doomed did they pour all their energy into empowering her, forcibly raising her from the early Nascent Soul stage to the middle Nascent Soul stage.

It was then that Ling Yuling truly experienced the "joy of being a spoiled brat".

But now?

Now she's nothing more than an awkward backup option, living in an exquisite yet cold cage.

Li Feiyu opened her eyes, her mind clear.

Gaining resources by cultivating a good relationship with Ling Yuling? That's a dead end. She's just a backup plan herself; what can she offer Li Feiyu?

The resources of a Heavenly Spiritual Root are naturally plentiful, but that's all. The fixed monthly ration of pills is enough for cultivation, but far from sufficient for his plan to reach the Nascent Soul stage within a hundred years.

He needs to think of another way.

As for Ling Yuling...

Li Feiyu glanced in the direction she had left and shook his head slightly.

She remained trapped in an awkward situation. It wasn't that the Star Palace had mistreated her; rather, no one seemed to care about "treating" her properly. She was like a valuable item being temporarily stored away, only to be truly utilized when its owner returned.

Before that, she could only learn by herself, cultivating day after day on the sixty-ninth layer of the sea of ​​clouds.

Li Feiyu withdrew her gaze and closed her eyes to meditate again.

It's none of my business how other people behave. He has to walk his own path.