Chapter 412: Chapter 411: Two Spirit Medicines, the National Master Appears
With permission granted, Xia Qianqian, who waited outside, walked in.
In just seven days, the transformation of this Princess Wenqu was considerable.
Although ambitious in the past, she was far from being tough on the outside but weak on the inside.
Her whole person emitted a weak aura from head to toe.
Truth be told.
Xia Qianqian, seven days ago, was highly appealing to men.
Why so?
Despite her elevated status, she seemed very weak at heart.
Weak, to put it nicely.
Put bluntly, she was easy to bully.
This did not imply that Xia Qianqian was soft-natured, but because she lacked confidence due to her inability to venture into cultivation, she felt inferior and could not hold her head high in public.
Such a woman easily triggered protective instincts in some people.
But more often, people wanted to bully her in various ways.
Elevated status.
High above others.
And yet very easy to bully.
As you understand.
For those with higher status than hers, that was another story.
For those with lower status, who wouldn’t want to have a royal princess under him and rub against her as he pleased?
Bullying the weak is human nature.
Xia Qianqian, as a princess.
This status alone, to some despicable individuals, was simply a perfect object for their invasion and abuse.
That was the old Xia Qianqian.
The current Xia Qianqian had undergone an earth-shattering transformation.
Just by observing her upright posture as she entered, one could tell she was not to be messed with.
Looking at her indifferent expression, it revealed a trace of high place’s chilliness.
This change, frankly, caught Li Jing off guard.
He knew Xia Qianqian was ambitious and had a thoughtful mind, given time to rectify her shortcomings, she would undoubtedly stand tall.
He never imagined, however, that she could transform this much in just seven days.
What had she...
Gone through?
While Li Jing was still surprised, Xia Qianqian, who had entered the door, greeted him, bowed in courtesy, and closed the door.
She then turned around, and in a blink of an eye, resumed her former self, as the vulnerable princess when they first met, which left Li Jing, who was observing her, puzzled.
"Master above, please accept your disciple’s bow."
Xia Qianqian transformed as she spoke, reverting back to her original state in an instant, which left Li Jing, who was scrutinizing her, stunned.
By the time he reacted, she was already kneeling on the ground bowing.
Facing this situation, Li Jing’s mouth twitched repeatedly.
Setting an example as a teacher, he naturally wouldn’t have such thoughts.
Accepting a disciple was even something he wouldn’t do.
Until recently, having just learned the formal practice, and his magic skills were all learned by cheating, what could he possibly teach others?
This abrupt act of acknowledging him as a master messed up his mindset a bit.
However, he knew.
Given Xia Qianqian’s nature, there was no reason for her to suddenly acknowledge him as her master.
The latter should clearly know that this kind of act would only disgust him.
Observing Xia Qianqian, who was kneeling on the ground bowing, Li Jing couldn’t help but glance at the deep gully exposed from her bowing down.
He hadn’t noticed before, but this woman was quite...
Cough!
Withdrawing his gaze, Li Jing spoke.
"Get up."
"Yes."
Xia Qianqian obediently got up, her face looking innocent.
Facing her obedient expression, Li Jing furrowed his brows.
Frankly speaking.
He couldn’t understand how a person could change so much in just seven days.
Regardless of Xia Qianqian’s attitude when she first entered, acting cute now was definitely not something she would do before; she was at best respectful towards him.
Looking back.
Xia Qianqian’s provocative attire and self-confident display of cleavage were also quite unnatural.
Da Xia women.
Aren’t they all very conservative, wrapping themselves up tightly?
Li Jing had observed.
Only Queen Xiao Xi and Third Princess Xia Yuxi dressed rather provocatively, but not the previous Xia Qianqian.
Was it because she was influenced by the culture of the present world after contact with them, or was she... body-snatched?
Shaking his head silently, Li Jing said.
"Although I’m not sure what you’re playing at here, as far as I remember, apart from the cultivation method I offered you, I haven’t taught you anything else?"
"No, Master, you’ve taught me a lot."
Xia Qianqian gently smiled, speaking confidently.
"Master, you may not like being called this way, but in my opinion, Master has taught me a lot about how to conduct myself. I am willing to call you master. As for the cultivation method, that was a trade between Master and Qianqian, right?"
Upon hearing Xia Qianqian’s words, Li Jing frowned.
How to conduct oneself?
What the hell was going on?
He wondered if he had ever taught Xia Qianqian how to behave.
Just as he was unsure of what to say, Xia Qianqian fetched a waist bag-like item and offered it to him with both hands.
"Master, this is a storage bag, similar to the space equipment you have in the big world. It contains the reparations General Shao Neng owed you previously. You left in a hurry last time and didn’t have time to claim them. Your disciple thought you would be back sooner or later, so I... collected them for you."
"..."
Li Jing.
To be honest, he had almost forgotten about Shao Neng’s reparations.
Not that he was a forgetful rich man.
Instead, it’s compensation he already received.
When he stole from Canglong Mountain previously, he had cleaned Shao Neng out completely.
Why would he remember the "compensation" he had already gotten?
This wave by Xia Qianqian...
Speechless, he looked at Xia Qianqian, who had a full-faced innocent look, having a foreboding feeling.
This woman, she almost blurted out the term ’extortion’ just now.
Plus, to the thing about her learning a lot about human nature from him, Li Jing knew without a doubt what she had learned from him.
The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and Li Jing wasn’t sure what to say to Xia Qianqian.
Having promised to become a queen, she first learned to be a bandit instead...
This was all his fault.
With a helpless smile, he rubbed his forehead and took the Storage Bag from her hand.
The compensation from Shao Neng, he had already "taken."
But if he could have more of it, he wouldn’t mind.
Moreover, Xia Qianqian had already obtained it for him. It was a loss not to accept it.
As for being addressed as Master, letting her do so if she was willing wouldn’t hurt him.
Upon getting the Storage Bag, Li Jing’s eyebrows raised slightly as his heart moved.
Inside the Storage Bag, there were only two Spiritual Objects.
Yet, these two Spiritual Objects were indeed on the level of Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure.
This Xia Qianqian...
She exceeded the master!
Li Jing had rightly checked when he plundered Shao Neng. Although General Shao was wealthy, there were no Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures in his private collection.
But Xia Qianqian had managed to extract two of them...
How did she do it?
Normally, cultivators have their valuable items stored within their personal storage space.
In the world, there was no safer place than this personal storage.
Unless they allowed it, others couldn’t open their personal storage space, nor investigate.
Managing to extract two Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasures from Shao Neng, Xia Qianqian obviously had to put a lot of thought and means into it, giving Shao Neng quite the distress.
Taking out the two Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasures from the Storage Bag, Li Jing eyed them up and down.
These two Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasures were not Spiritual Materials that he usually got, but two strains of Spirit Medicine.
The stems and roots were very fresh, seemingly just picked, and it seemed possible to plant them.
He didn’t need them right now, but he could cultivate them in the Little Universe.
While thinking this, Li Jing’s pupils turned golden.
Eye of True Vision, activated.
With the Eye of True Vision in use, he immediately understood the functions of these two Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure Spirit Medicines.
One of them resembled a white lotus. It had a significant nourishing effect on the Primordial Spirit and could heal severe Primordial Spirit injuries.
This was, without a doubt, a good thing.
Spirit medicines that could nourish the Primordial Spirit were rare, and those that could heal Primordial Spirit injuries were even rarer.
This one was of Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure level!
It was difficult to say how precious it was in Da Xia.
But in the present world, its value would certainly be astronomical.
Especially for people in urgent need of healing for their Primordial Spirits.
The only disappointment was that this white lotus hadn’t fully grown, so its medicinal effect had to be discounted.
But it wasn’t a big issue.
As Li Jing had anticipated before, the white lotus had been recently harvested and its roots and stems were still fresh. So, it wasn’t a problem to plant it in the Spirit Spring Pool to let it grow on its own.
Then he looked at the other spirit medicine that resembled a succulent plant.
The function of this spirit medicine was simple and crude.
Its branches and leaves were rare, directly edible types. Consuming and absorbing them would enhance physical strength. The stronger the body, the more effective the consumption.
Directly edible spirit medicine was very rare.
Spirit medicine wasn’t the same as spirit fruit. It was not suitable for casual consumption.
Concerning the increase in physical strength, the corresponding function was not rare.
But its effect was remarkably significant on the Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure level.
However, the most valuable part of this spirit medicine was that it could be classified as a succulent plant.
As long as the roots remained, and the environmental conditions were suitable, it could still grow back after the branches and leaves, that are of high utility, were picked. But the growth time was relatively slow.
Damn!
The people of Da Xia really were extravagant...
The two strains of Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure level spirit medicine, having one unripe and one which could be exploited indefinitely, wasn’t it squandering resources to dig them out?
Fortunately, the one who did the digging had some brains and didn’t cause the roots of the two spirit medicines to break.
Conveniently sending the two spirit medicines into the Little Universe, throwing the white lotus into the Spirit Spring pool to let it grow on its own, Li Jing then let the succulent grow at the base of Canglong Mountain where it would receive the most water and was protected by formations.
After settling the two strains of spirit medicine, the golden light in his eyes faded away, and he smiled up again.
"You did well, I’ll take these two strains of spirit medicine."
"These rightfully belong to Master."
Xia Qianqian giggled, then curiously spoke.
"Master, were you just using some kind of Eye Art to observe the spirit medicine?"
At her words, Li Jing blinked.
If this were any other time, he wouldn’t have indulged Xia Qianqian’s curiosity.
But having just obtained two strikingly characteristic Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure level spirit medicines...
How did that saying go?
Take what you can, give nothing back.
After some thought, he waved his hand and took out a pen and paper from the Little Universe. He hastily wrote down the incantation for the Sky Eye Technique.
"This is the incantation for the Sky Eye Technique. Try to learn it. This Eye Art is very practical but difficult to learn, so whether you can master it or not is up to you."
Xia Qianqian’s face brightened at his words.
She had already begun cultivation.
Having only started on the path of cultivation a few days ago, everything about cultivation was new and interesting to her.
That’s why she couldn’t resist asking a question.
Actually.
If it hadn’t been for Li Jing being in a good mood after accepting the spirit medicine, she wouldn’t have dared to ask.
Who would have thought that just by asking a question, she got the incantation from him?
Li Jing’s strength was undeniable to Xia Qianqian.
The practical pupil technique he spoke of was extraordinary.
Not to mention he was using it himself.
Carefully accepting the paper inscribed with the Sky Eye Technique mantra, Xia Qianqian respectfully responded.
"Thank you, Master, for granting me this magic skill."
Hearing this, Li Jing felt odd, but he didn’t mind.
"You’ve come looking for me, so I assume direct reports from the house have informed you. Your father’s birthday celebration is still ongoing. Is it fine for you to return so soon?"
"No worries."
Xia Qianqian smiled thinly, proudly straightening her impressive posture.
"With your keen eyes, Master, you should be able to see that I’m different from who I used to be."
Li Jing was speechless.
All she had done was enter the path to cultivation, didn’t she?
What’s the essential difference between a novice cultivator and an ordinary person?
At most, it allows a person who’s just starting out, like her, to stand more upright, no longer considered useless by others.
However, before she truly grows into her potential, revealing this wouldn’t bring much benefit, and it might even present more trouble than good.
Considering that Xia Qianqian might have made amends to ensure the teachings of cultivation before returning to her fief, Li Jing did not concern himself with her any further.
Just as he was about to speak, Xia Qianqian began.
"Actually, I was planning on returning later. When the informants shared the message with me, they made it clear that you did not wish to disrupt my schedule, Master. I understand your intentions. However, an unexpected event occurred tonight. I felt it was necessary to inform you as soon as possible."
"Unexpected event?"
Li Jing tilted his head.
Xia Qianqian was very clear.
She had come to give him a heads up.
So, what’s the issue that I need to know about immediately?
As he was pondering, Xia Qianqian whispered.
"Just before I came back, the National Master made an appearance at my father’s birthday party."
?
Li Jing.
Shi Miaoying showed up at the birthday party!?
Hiss...
What’s going on here?
Did she know I’m in Da Xia Imperial City?
Unlikely.
Even if they had only interacted briefly, Shi Miaoying couldn’t even confirm whether he was from the Big World.
Moreover, if Shi Miaoying had come for him, she wouldn’t have dared to reveal herself so openly. Instead, she would have remained hidden, attempting to deal with him.
So why did this woman suddenly appear?
With hundreds of questions lingering, Li Jing inquired.
"Shi Miaoying’s appearance, it wasn’t just to wish your father a happy birthday, was it?"
"Master, you see right through it. She didn’t come solely for the birthday."
Xia Qianqian respectfully replied.
Clearly, this person has a tendency to curry favor, intending to appease him further. Li Jing "tsk" at this and said.
"Get to the point."
Xia Qianqian indeed planned to please Li Jing.
Her "Master" was kind and easy to talk to.
More importantly, he was generous.
A few gestures of flattery, might grant her some extraordinary benefits she would otherwise not receive?
Like the Sky Eye Technique, which Li Jing adeptly uses?
Tasting the words coming from Li Jing’s mouth, Xia Qianqian instantly backed off, clearing her throat and adding,
"According to her, she discovered an unusual astral alignment indicating that the century’s beast tide will be different from the usual ones. She planned to join the forces heading to the northern Da Xia. She also requested from Father a force of one hundred thousand soldiers to prepare a formation along the coastline as a precautionary measure."
Listening to Xia Qianqian’s account, Li Jing stroked his chin thoughtfully.
This "observing the stars" excuse is nonsense.
Shi Miaoying’s heritage indeed had a slight connection to the stars, in relation to the Big Dipper’s layout.
But, it had no essence in relation to the vastness of the starry sky.
And Li Jing had noticed.
Though the Heavenly Saint Land was filled with hanging celestial bodies at night, there was in fact no Big Dipper.
However, one thing became clear now.
Shi Miaoying’s appearance was because the Century Beast Tide was fundamentally disrupted, and as a result, there would be no Beast Tide this year.
This woman probably hoped to repair the situation to prevent a disruption in the development of the Sky Demon Great Method.
How she intended to address this was somewhat beyond Li Jing’s imagination.
But one thing was certain.
This method was somehow related to Shi Miaoying requesting an army of one hundred thousand from Xia Zhengyang...
This is truly intriguing!
Merely Shi Miaoying was enough to pique Li Jing’s interest.
How could he not anticipate her measures to address the disruption in the development of the Sky Demon Great Method?
Looking at Xia Qianqian, Li Jing posed another question.
"Did your father accept her request?"
Xia Qianqian was blissfully unaware that Li Jing was lusting after Shi Miaoying, nor did she understand what the National Master of Da Xia was secretly planning.
But she did know, Li Jing was intensely interested in Shi Miaoying.
"Of course, my father agreed to Shi Miaoying’s request."
Replying to Li Jing, Xia Qianqian began divulging more details.
"While my father received support from only Longyu and the Northern Major League, both of whom have deep ties with Da Xia, two things haven’t changed: Shi Miaoying is still the National Master of Da Xia and she was the one who single-handedly opened the passage between the two realms. My father’s trust in her hasn’t diminished in slightest, he tends to obey her every command."
Hearing that Xia Zhengyang had only received support from Longyu and the Northern Major League, Li Jing was slightly surprised, and confusedly asked.
"There are so many forces in the Big World, but Da Xia only received support from two? Did the rest go to support the sect forces?"
"It’s not that my father didn’t put in effort."
Xia Qianqian replied, with a hint of helplessness in her voice.
"You understand the complexities of the Big World’s power structures better than I. The various forces find ways to undermine and plot against each other while maintaining a façade of harmony. For this expedition, the present world forces reached a sort of consensus to maximize their benefit."
Listening to Xia Qianqian’s explanation, Li Jing had a rough idea of what was happening.
As Xia Qianqian said.
The present world forces fight openly and in secret, but unless there is no other choice, they would not openly go to war.
There’s always been an unspoken understanding amongst them.
Normally speaking.
It’s very difficult to expect all the present world forces to stand on the same side.
But if there was enough benefit, the impossible might just become possible.
Xia Qianqian only mentioned that Longyu and the Northern Major League are supporting Da Xia, but did not mention which side other forces have chosen to support.
But a single mention of maximized benefits easily explains a lot.
Take Da Xia for example.
Perhaps Xia Zhengyang could present irresistible benefits.
But if there are many supporters of Da Xia, the benefits would naturally have to be divided amongst many.
With only Longyu and the Northern Major League supporting, wouldn’t all the benefits Da Xia could offer belong to these two?
Similarly.
Other forces including White Hawk that chose to support the sects could monopolize the benefits the specific sects could offer.
This time, Da Xia’s attempt to outsmart the present world forces was countered with the same strategy by the sects!
The unique understanding occasionally shown by the present world forces broke their calculations.
And in order to get enough Netherstones, they had to accept it...
Thus.
Who is behind all this?
Li Jing squinted his eyes.
The present world forces indeed have an understanding among them, but they would not easily reach an agreement without a sufficiently far-sighted and influential figure.
After thinking about it and realizing it doesn’t really concern him, Li Jing quickly gave up pondering and put this matter at the back of his mind.
If he didn’t know of Shi Miaoying’s appearance.
The already non-existent beast tide might still have some hope.
Now that he knew, he definitely could not let Shi Miaoying get what she wanted.
As the saying goes.
Finish what you start, help until the end.
He has brought hope for change to Da Xia, even Shi Miaoxue is pondering how to use the next century to restore everything to normal, he naturally could not let that hope turn back into despair.
Of course.
Whether Da Xia could change or not, Li Jing was not interested.
"I know everything now."
Indifferently, Li Jing looked up.
"When exactly will the team to fight the beast tide set off?"
"Midnight tonight."
Xia Qianqian replied, then thoughtfully added.
"Eleven o’clock at night, big world time."
Upon hearing this, Li Jing nodded, then couldn’t help looking at her.
He didn’t have a good sense of time.
Xia Qianqian however remembered this for two reasons.
First, during his absence, she not only learned a lot about the present world through interaction with its people, but she also deliberately did some homework.
Second, facing his scrutiny, Xia Qianqian sat with her knees together, looking docile. She imitated him and tilted her head in a cute manner.
"Master?"
"..."
Li Jing.
This one was quite good at playing cute.
After a moment of silence, Li Jing took a bucket from his Little Universe storage and filled it with spirit spring water. Then he took out some leaves from the Succulent Spirit Medicine plant.
"You possess good talent, but you are new to cultivation and entered it quite late. Take this Spirit Spring and Spirit Medicine, and use them when you are free to improve your physique."
Saying so, he added lightly.
"I am not personally interested in taking on an apprentice, and I don’t really have anything to teach you. Once you embark on the path of cultivation, everything ultimately depends on you."
Upon hearing this, Xia Qianqian’s eyes sparkled, and a trace of light appeared in her eyes.
Real discipleship was not what she expected.
She also knew that it was a one-sided wish on her part.
But Li Jing speaking so straightforwardly made her feel somewhat wronged.
However, she didn’t hesitate to accept his gifts.
Seeing Xia Qianqian looking wronged yet not hesitating to accept the gifts, Li Jing couldn’t help but chuckle. He conveniently fished out a spiritual material he couldn’t even remember where it came from, an arc of red electricity flashed in his palm, and instantly formed a purple flying sword.
Using a single material for artifact refinement would not yield an outstanding product.
But it was very pure.
In this instance of artifact refinement, Li Jing was also incredibly lucky.
Despite the casual refinement, it unexpectedly resulted in a Treasure-level 10.
Just a step away from achieving a Spirit Weapon.
Seeing Li Jing producing the sword so casually, and it looking so extraordinary, Xia Qianqian’s eyes widened in amazement.
On the other hand.
Li Jing secretly lamented over the grade of the spiritual material.
Creating a Treasure-level 10 with a casual refinement was due to his luck, but mostly the high quality of the spiritual material.
Couldn’t it have become a Spirit Weapon if it was combined with other materials?
There was no turning back after starting the process, plus seeing Xia Qianqian looking at him expectantly, Li Jing casually handed over the flying sword.
"I don’t have much to give to you. As a princess, you must have changed a lot and will not lack spiritual objects. This is all I can give to you. It does not have a name yet, you can name it."
"Thank you, master, for the gift."
Xia Qianqian expressed her gratitude, clutching the flying sword like a treasure and examining it from all angles.
Seeing this, Li Jing couldn’t help but smile, adding in a light tone.
"You should go back to the palace now, today is your father’s birthday, it is not very polite for you to leave halfway. When the team sets out to fight the beast tide at midnight, I will leave here, and we probably will not meet again."
Upon hearing this, Xia Qianqian’s expression darkened.
Li Jing continued speaking regardless.
"Take good care of the attendant who was cheated into coming here by you. You must be very curious about who she is, but some things are better left unquestioned. You are too weak right now, it’s not advisable to know too much. Maintaining a good relationship with her and complying with her can bring great benefits to you if you wish to become a queen in the future."
On hearing these words, Xia Qianqian’s gloomy expression slightly changed, and she quietly nodded, stood up, bowed and excused herself.
...
