Chapter 12: An Undulating Life

Ye Wenxin sensed trouble brewing, but she could not get away and could only brace herself as she agreed.

People murmured about the relationship between Ye Wenxin and Long Qing’er, once again thrusting the girl into the center of public opinion. Evidently, her plan to keep a low profile in order to kill Fairy Fengya was completely futile, and her newfound fame would only delay her advance on her greatest enemy.

Regardless, Ye Wenxin followed Long Qing’er out of the dining hall. The crowd gradually thinned, and everyone sensibly refrained from disturbing the two’s reunion.

“Speak up. Why are you with Ling Jue?” Long Qing’er’s voice sounded calm, but beneath that calmness lay a raging fire, as if any wrong word from Ye Wenxin would fan the flames and reduce her to ashes.

Ye Wenxin nervously swallowed a mouthful of saliva and reluctantly revealed that she had encountered Ling Jue while training in the woods as a means to pass the time.

“My parents used to run an herbal pharmacy, so I’m quite familiar with medicinal herbs. As a result, Ling Jue decided to appoint me as her assistant after some interactions.” Ye Wenxin did not mention her alchemy proficiency, which was what had piqued Ling Jue’s interest and led to her appointment as an assistant.

“Oh, so you spent a month together in the woods? That pseudo-gentleman didn’t do anything to you, did he?” Long Qing’er’s gaze was sharp, harboring strong animosity towards Ling Jue.

“Big Brother Ling didn’t do anything to me, Senior Sister Long, you can rest assured. After all, her target is Fairy Fengya.” Ye Wenxin replied with certainty. Indeed, perhaps only someone like Fairy Fengya could attract a figure of Ling Jue’s stature to teach in a place as incongruous as an immortal sect.

After all, she was teaching the art alchemists practiced to make their living, if rumors about this spread to other immortal sects, it would be hard to anticipate the ensuing uproar.

“Hmph! It’s precisely because Ling Jue’s target is Fairy Fengya that I despise this pseudo-gentleman. No, I should say, all men who get close to my idol deserve death!” Long Qing’er’s murderous intent surged, wishing to tear Ling Jue apart. Perhaps because Long Qing’er was Fairy Fengya’s avid fan, she adamantly resisted any intimacy between Ye Wenxin and Ling Jue.

“Could it be that Ling Jue intends to use you, this little girl, to get close to Fairy Fengya?” Soon enough, another possibility came to Long Qing’er’s mind, and her murderous intent shifted to Ye Wenxin. It was said that accompanying a ruler was like accompanying a tiger; Long Qing’er’s intentions were truly unpredictable. Ye Wenxin could not help but shiver, feeling misled by her previous displays of gentleness.

This princess was an absolute fanatic. As long as there was any connection to Fairy Fengya, she would behave like a rabid dog, biting at anyone in sight. Ye Wenxin was glad she did not reveal her murderous intent towards Fairy Fengya in front of her; otherwise, there would be another troublesome figure to deal with now.

But she had no idea how to clear this misunderstanding.

Ling Jue was a woman, and her intention in getting close to Fairy Fengya was definitely not out of admiration for her beauty. However, if Ye Wenxin were to provide an accurate answer, she could not come up with one off the top of her head.

If she were to make something up, it might lead Long Qing’er to believe she was bribed by Ling Jue. This would not only fail to improve their relationship but might also make Ye Wenxin lose the little favor this princess had for her.

After contemplating, Ye Wenxin did not continue to comment, using silence as her answer.

“You… Forget it. I’m not here to make things difficult for you. Just tell Ling Jue, if he dares to have any ill intentions toward Fairy Fengya, I, Long Qing’er, will never spare him!” Long Qing’er spoke earnestly, without invoking any backing from her family or sect. Her decision solely represented her own stance.

Unfortunately, romantic feelings between women remained a challenge even in current times. After all, there were few cultivation methods that allowed women to cultivate together, let alone becoming each other’s Dao companions. In Ye Wenxin’s memory, there were no records of such relationships between women.

Indeed, romantic involvement with Fairy Fengya was challenging enough, and forming Dao companionship between women for cultivation was even more difficult. Moreover, considering Long Qing’er’s special status, the Golden Age Dynasty would never tolerate such ridicule.

Ye Wenxin’s gaze concealed sympathy, but she still nodded, taking the somewhat hefty food box from Long Qing’er’s hand.

“Your personality is just too good. You could easily curse out Ling Jue in front of me, and I’d find it satisfying without giving you a hard time. But why don’t you curse him? Is it because you think he’s better than me?” Long Qing’er sighed as she observed Ye Wenxin’s demeanor. Upon careful consideration, Ye Wenxin had never complained. Not only that, she would never speak ill of anyone.

“You’re all my friends. Despite the misunderstandings, I don’t feel the need to speak ill of anyone in front of someone else.” Ye Wenxin did not appreciate the way people in the immortal sect conducted themselves. If it were up to her Wind and Moon Palace’s style, any unresolved issues could be settled with a fight. But now, she could not fight, so she chose to say nothing at all.

“Friends, huh? I’ll remember that. If you consider me a friend, Ye Wenxin, then I, Long Qing’er, will consider you one too.” Long Qing’er’s mood for arguing dissipated. She stopped walking, gazing at the Alchemy Workshop looming closer. With that, she bid her farewell.

“Alright then. See you tomorrow, Junior Sister Wenxin.”

After saying this, she quickly turned and left. Ye Wenxin watched the princess’s departing figure before leisurely pushing open the door to the Alchemy Workshop. Inside, Ling Jue was already seated in meditation. Sensing Ye Wenxin’s presence, she slowly opened her eyes and smiled at her.

“Has anyone been bothering you?”

“I’m your assistant, who would dare to bother me?” Ye Wenxin chuckled as she set down the food box and laid out its contents one by one.

“But why do I sense another’s essence on you?” Ling Jue sniffed lightly, detecting a faint scent of another woman on Ye Wenxin. Without needing to think, it was Long Qing’er’s touch just now that left this fragrance on her.

“Umm, because the place where the teacher gets food requires flying with a sword, so I went to the disciples’ dining hall and found a true disciple to help.”

“Let me guess, was that disciple Long Qing’er?”

“Yes.”

“Hmph, stay away from that woman. I really don’t have a good impression of her.” Even when scolding, Ling Jue’s manner remained refined, but in reality, coupled with her handsome appearance, it only made her appear effeminate in Ye Wenxin’s eyes.

However, Ye Wenxin decided not to remind Ling Jue of this matter. She liked the genuine daughterly demeanor that Ling Jue showed. Perhaps because she thought Ye Wenxin could be trusted that she could be so relaxed.

“I can’t guarantee this, since you’re both my friends.” Ye Wenxin replied vaguely. Ling Jue did not pursue further, and the two continued to eat in silence, without exchanging any words during the meal.

Now sated, Ling Jue infused a trace of qi into the food box. With a gentle toss, the food box immediately floated in the air, autonomously flying back in the dining hall’s direction.

This method of sending food boxes, akin to using carrier pigeons for message delivery, utilized qi. By imbuing the food box with one’s own essence, one can track the owner’s essence and accurately deliver the item to them. It was, therefore, only used among acquaintances or individuals with mutual trust, with very few limitations and requiring a high level of skill to operate.

As she watched the food box fly away, Ling Jue instinctively consoled, “Don’t worry. Before you join the Azure Wings Sect, I’ll ensure you step into the Qi Refining stage first. After all, with so many elixirs in the sect, feeding you a few will quickly advance your cultivation.” Cultivation was a troublesome matter, requiring not only physique but also spiritual pills, secret techniques, as well as ample time and opportunities.

Typically, cultivators would begin instructing children on strengthening their bodies and enhancing their cultivation as early as five years old. Someone like Ye Wenxin, who appeared to be around twelve or thirteen, had already missed the prime period for Qi Refining.

It also meant that Ye Wenxin needed to put in much more effort to reach the Qi Refining stage compared to other people, let alone being able to break through to Qi Refining within half a year. The way Ling Jue was playing it down suggested that she intended to use the simplest method to build up Ye Wenxin’s cultivation, by relying on pills to immediately advance her to the Qi Refining stage.

“Here, open your mouth.”

Ye Wenxin obediently did so, and felt something dropped inside her mouth. The small ball dissolved upon contact, releasing a sweet aroma, as tasty as a candy, but that flavor also told her that what she just consumed was definitely not candy.

“Here’s a bottle of first-grade Qi Refining Pills. Take one each day then meditate to digest its medicinal properties.” Ling Jue instructed like so, showing not even the slightest bit of concern for the value of an entire bottle of Qi Refining Pills. Her tone was relaxed, an attitude only a skilled alchemist could maintain even after casually using a bottle of Qi Refining Pills.

Ye Wenxin immediately agreed and began to meditate, pretending to digest the first-grade Qi Refining Pill. In reality however, for someone like her who had already reached the ninth stage of Soul Transformation, these pills were mere child’s play. But in order to enrich her character’s portrayal, Ye Wenxin decided to continue acting according to the script.

Ling Jue watched as Ye Wenxin began to cultivate, while she herself swallowed a third-grade medicinal pil

The two sat quietly in the courtyard, absorbing the essence of heaven and earth, while some black-clothed figures remained motionless. However, if anyone happened to pass by and saw those black-clothed figures, they would discover that the figures had long since perished at an unknown moment…

Early the next morning, the Azure Wings Sect held a welcoming ceremony for Ling Jue, officially spreading the news of her appointment as the sect’s alchemist. As word got out, it quickly gained traction, and before long, the news of Ling Jue becoming the Azure Wings Sect’s alchemist had circulated far and wide, known to all throughout the realm.

All sorts of rumors swirled about, the most prevalent being of Ling Jue’s association with Fairy Fengya, which vexed Long Qing’er greatly, prompting her frequent visits to confront Ling Jue, much to the frustration of the Azure Wings Sect’s sect master. However, whether it was the imperial princess or their new alchemist, he could not afford to offend either one.

But that was not the most troublesome matter for him. What bothered him the most was Ling Jue’s insistence on waiting for his assistant Ye Wenxin to reach the Qi Refining stage before commencing with classes.

“Miss Wenxin, when will you have your breakthrough?”

“Wenxin, have you been eating too little? Eat more spiritual beasts and grow up quickly.”

All the pressure fell on Ye Wenxin’s shoulders. Treated like a hog being fattened, she was bitter beyond words. She wanted to pretend to have a breakthrough, but if she did it too quickly, it would expose her true physique

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TL note: If you’re confused about why Long Qing’er didn’t react when Wenxin referred to Ling Jue with ‘her’ instead of ‘him’, the chinese pronouns for ‘he – 他’ and ‘she – 她’ sounds the same, which is (tā). So Wenxin used 她, while Long Qing’er used 他 to refer to Ling Jue.