Free Web NovelAfter taking his leave of Madam Tushan, Xiao Mo returned to the woodshed and opened the copy of Great Dream of Yellow Millet that Madam Tushan had given him.
At first, Xiao Mo had thought that he was only five years old, yet Madam Tushan had handed this book to him just like that.
She did not even know whether he could read.
How was an illiterate servant supposed to teach himself Great Dream of Yellow Millet?
But after Xiao Mo opened it, he discovered that this book was extremely strange.
Even though Xiao Mo could read,
even if he could not read, it would not have mattered when looking at this book.
As long as you looked at it once, it was as though those words were the flowers and grass of nature itself, the mountains and waters themselves, and you would naturally understand them.
But the moment your gaze moved away, you would retain no impression at all.
[When chaos first divided, being and non-being were born together. The Dao itself is wordless, so dreams are used to make it clear. This method is called Great Dream of Yellow Millet. Rest upon emptiness, lie upon mystery, borrow the false to cultivate the true.]
[Within the palace of empty brightness, build a dwelling in the land of nothing.]
[When night grows deep and all is still, lower the curtain and close the senses, keep the image of the white gleam between the brows, and let it gradually transform into a green lotus bearing a jade pillow.]
[In an instant, the body becomes like withered wood, the heart like cold ash, the six gates shut tight, a single breath moving in secret. Only when the sound of tides rises beside the ears does one know this body now stands in the Jasper Capital.]
Xiao Mo read every single word in the book with great care.
Although Xiao Mo had never cultivated Daoist spell arts before,
as he read this cultivation method, it gave him a vague feeling from somewhere unseen—
that this was orthodox Daoist cultivation in the purest possible sense.
After all, with some cultivation methods, the moment you begin learning them, you can feel that something is wrong, feel that they are wicked to the extreme.
Casting off all stray thoughts, Xiao Mo gathered his mind and carefully read one word after another.
Gradually, Xiao Mo entered a mysterious and indescribable state of self-forgetting.
Xiao Mo’s consciousness gradually blurred.
He felt as though he was not reading at all, but dreaming.
He dreamed that he had become a leaf between Heaven and Earth, rising with the wind and falling with the wind.
He also seemed like a dandelion, scattering with the wind, yet taking root again wherever the wind set him down.
When Xiao Mo emerged from that “dream” and came back to himself, he discovered that the sun had already set and night was about to fall.
And he had already turned through ten pages of Great Dream of Yellow Millet.
Xiao Mo slowly let out a deep breath, and it was a breath of foul air.
Rising to his feet, Xiao Mo felt that even his body had grown much lighter.
“I’m at the first layer of the Qi Refining Realm?”
Xiao Mo said in surprise.
Although the first layer of the Qi Refining Realm was no different at all from an ordinary person,
no matter what, he had only cultivated for a single day, yet he had already stepped onto the path of cultivation.
Xiao Mo did not know whether this cultivation method was truly that powerful, or whether his talent for cultivating dao arts really was that good.
Xiao Mo opened Great Dream of Yellow Millet once more and wanted to continue reading, but when he tried, he found that it no longer flowed as smoothly as those first ten pages.
Moreover, with every word he read, it felt as though a great mountain were pressing down on his heart, leaving him tired and heavy.
“Dao arts follow the heart. Let all things take their natural course.”
Recalling those eight words written in Great Dream of Yellow Millet,
Xiao Mo knew that his soul had already reached its limit.
Cultivation had to be taken slowly.
It could not be rushed, and it could not be forced.
“Madam Tushan said I should rest properly for a while anyway. I can just learn it slowly.”
Xiao Mo closed the book and felt a little hungry.
Just as he was about to go to the kitchen courtyard to find a couple of steamed buns to eat, someone knocked on the woodshed door.
Xiao Mo opened the door and saw Madam Tushan standing before him with an elderly man.
“This servant greets Madam.”
Xiao Mo cupped his hands and bowed.
“Mhm.”
Tushan Xinhua nodded, looked at Xiao Mo, and then immediately felt that something was a little strange. A ripple of spiritual power swept past him.
“You’ve reached the first layer of the Qi Refining Realm?” Tushan Xinhua asked in surprise.
When she had treated Xiao Mo’s injuries before, Tushan Xinhua had known that Xiao Mo’s natural foundation was good, and that learning Daoist spell arts should go rather smoothly for him.
But Madam Tushan had not expected that in less than a single day, he would step into the first layer of the Qi Refining Realm.
“The first layer of the Qi Refining Realm?” Xiao Mo feigned ignorance. “Madam, what is the first layer of the Qi Refining Realm?”
“It means you’ve already stepped onto the path of cultivation, even if it’s only a small step,” Gui Ning said with a smile as he bent down to look at the little boy before him. “You’re Xiao Mo, aren’t you? I’m Jingci’s grandfather. I heard you protected Jingci last night. Thank you.”
“So you are the Old Master. This servant greets the Old Master.”
Xiao Mo bowed once more.
“The Tushan residence took this servant in and allowed this servant to survive. That was already the grace of saving my life. Since the Young Lady was in danger, it was only proper that this servant stand in front of her. I would not dare accept the Old Master’s thanks.”
“Hahaha, you little fellow really do know how to speak. You don’t seem like a child at all. You seem more like a tiny grown man.”
Gui Ning took a jade pendant from his robe and handed it to Xiao Mo.
“This jade pendant is quite good. Wear it. It can gently nourish your spiritual power and will benefit your cultivation in the future.”
“This...” Xiao Mo looked toward Madam Tushan.
“Take it. I said before that I would reward you. How could I go back on my word? This is what you deserve.” Madam Tushan nodded.
“Yes.”
Xiao Mo accepted the jade pendant with both hands.
“Many thanks, Old Master. Many thanks, Madam.”
“Cultivate well. Your talent truly is very good. In the future, you will surely accomplish something.”
Madam Tushan spoke to Xiao Mo.
“Also, starting tomorrow, you won’t be living here anymore. I’ve already prepared a courtyard for you.”
“In two days, Jingci will be going to the academy to study, and you will be Jingci’s book boy. From now on, you will go along with her. Do you understand?”
“...”
Xiao Mo was somewhat surprised.
Although it was true that he had saved Tushan Jingci last night, and it was only proper for them to reward him for it, was this not a little too much?
“What’s wrong? You’re unwilling?” Gui Ning asked with a smile.
“I am willing. I’m only a little too shocked...”
Xiao Mo hurriedly answered in a frightened tone.
“Hahaha.”
The old man laughed heartily a few times, patted Xiao Mo on the shoulder, and straightened up.
“We’re leaving. Get some proper rest. We won’t disturb you any longer, little fellow.”
“This servant will see the Old Master and Madam out,” Xiao Mo said.
“There’s no need for such trouble.” fгeewebnovёl.com
The old man shook his head.
And just as the old man’s words fell, when Xiao Mo raised his head, both the old man and Madam Tushan had already vanished.
Gui Ning and Tushan Xinhua left the kitchen courtyard and walked along the stone path through the residence.
The old man took a letter of introduction from his robe and handed it to Tushan Xinhua.
“When Xiao Mo reaches the Golden Core Realm, give this letter to him. If he is willing, let him go to Seeking Immortality Mountain to cultivate.”
When she heard the three words “Seeking Immortality Mountain,” Tushan Xinhua’s face paled a little, and her small hand clenched tightly around her sleeve.
“Father, on Seeking Immortality Mountain...”
“I know. She is there, in Seeking Immortality Mountain.”
The old man drew his sleeves together.
“But Jingci is your daughter. Is she not your own daughter as well?”
“If Xiao Mo truly is Jingci’s love tribulation in the future,
then she also has the right to meet the husband she is destined to marry.”
