Little Snowball was the gentlest of the three, so Song Miaozhu started with him. She picked him up and set him on her knees. He immediately rolled onto his back. He loved having his belly rubbed more than anything. His soft, furry little belly wobbled with every stroke, and Song Miaozhu couldn't resist giving him a few more rubs.
After just two or three strokes, Little Snowball was already purring. She gently took one of his paws and checked it. As expected, there was hardened dirt lodged in the crevices of his paw pad. Normally, Song Miaozhu wouldn't dare force it loose.
If the dirt had stuck that well, it likely meant the paw had been injured before. Pulling it off could tear the skin again. Carefully, she broke the clump apart with her fingers, then used a wet wipe to clean the area. It started to sting near the end, and Little Snowball let out a pitiful little cry, shifting uneasily.
"Easy now," Song Miaozhu soothed, pulling out a cat treat as a bribe.
Little Snowball immediately settled down, letting her handle his paw. She dipped a cotton swab in the Moonlight Dew and gently dabbed it on the small wound. Then something incredible happened. A small tear—no larger than a mung bean, exposing flesh and lightly bleeding—began healing right before her eyes.
Little Snowball noticed something too. He shifted positions and licked the treated paw a few times. After that, he didn't resist her inspection at all.
Next came Little Goldie. Little Goldie was rounder than Little Snowball, with a pudgy belly that overflowed her lap, so she had to examine him on the floor. The three cats always played together, so his paw pads had the same issue. She followed the same process: clearing the dirt, then applying the Moonlight Dew.
Little Goldie was greedier, though. One cat treat only bought her access to two paws. She had to threaten to withhold dinner to check the remaining two. Once she was done, Little Goldie flipped over and scampered away.
Meanwhile, Little Coal, who had been watching silently, walked up and raised a paw of his own.
As expected of the self-declared boss of Xiaozhu Mountain, all four of Little Coal's paws were in perfect condition. She gave him a treat anyway. But Little Coal didn't leave. Instead, he circled the Moon Dew Paper Lamp.
Song Miaozhu caught on. "You're not hurt. You don't need it!"
That night, Little Coal returned limping. Sure enough, she found a small thorn lodged in one of his front paws. After removing it and applying Moonlight Dew, Little Coal finally lifted his chin and gave her an affectionate head bump, then returned to his favorite spot.
"..." Song Miaozhu stared. "Did you seriously hurt yourself just so I'd treat you?"
Sometimes, she truly suspected these three cats understood more than they let on. Especially Little Coal. Still, this little round of first-aid proved that the Moon Dew Paper Lamp was indeed effective at treating minor wounds. And this was just the simplest healing paper creation from the Secret Art of Paper Crafting.
Even more powerful ones existed, like the Paper Vine Blossom and the Heartweaving Cocoon. Unfortunately, even with the spiritual energy stored in her spiritual platform, her current cultivation level wasn't enough to activate those two. So she added the Moon Dew Paper Lamp to her daily spirit-nourishing routine.
It and the Shadowbind Paper Lock had reached the level of spirit tools around the same time, without requiring much extra effort. Interestingly, both gained somewhat similar features upon awakening.
The Shadowbind Lock no longer needed direct sunlight to absorb radiant force; it now gathered daytime Yang energy on its own.
The Moon Dew Paper Lamp, meanwhile, absorbed nighttime Yin energy and condensed it into Moonlight Dew.
Once they became spiritual tools, neither one depended on the weather anymore. The Shadowbind Lock could charge even on overcast days, and the Moon Dew Lamp could condense dew regardless of whether moonlight actually shone on it.
Of course, the brighter the sunlight or moonlight, the faster their absorption. Their core functions hadn't changed. The lock still restrained shadows, and the lamp still healed minor wounds. But having less dependency on weather was a huge improvement.
Song Miaozhu hadn't wanted to reveal where she lived, so relying on sunlight or moonlight had been inconvenient. Now, she could just clear out low corners of the cave and place them there to work undisturbed.
The Shadowbind Lock had no energy limit. The Moon Dew Paper Lamp, however, could only hold a finite amount of dew, and she couldn't store it in other containers.
So during cultivation breaks, she began crafting more lamps.
After activating them, she let them gather dew until full, then stored each paper lamp and its contents on a rack made of Yin wood.
Since her cultivation level still lagged behind, she stopped learning new paper-crafting techniques for now. Instead, she focused on practicing the ones she already knew, cultivating diligently to build her strength. Spirit stones flowed in faster than she could spend them, and her power grew steadily and quickly.
Azure Realm Stage Three... Stage Four... Stage Five...
Time in the mountains passed unnoticed. Before she realized it, years had gone by.
[Elite Masters Exchange Group]
Yu Lichuan:Family, it's been three years, but I finally reached Azure Realm Stage One! The Azure spirit crystal is beautiful. If I could draw, I'd show you what it looks like.
Zhang Yunxi:Is this a humblebrag? It is, isn't it?
He Zhen:Master Yu, is Azure Realm really that much more efficient?
Yu Lichuan:So fast! I've only condensed one Azure crystal, but the Spirit Nurturing Pearl that used to need ten units of red spirit energy now only takes one unit of blue-green to activate.
Wu Azurefeng:I wonder what stage Master Song is at. She hasn't mentioned her level in a long time.
Yu Lichuan:She entered the Azure Realm stage back when I was still in Red Stage Two. Azure crystal condensation is at least ten times harder than red. She must be at least Azure Stage Five now.
Yuan Liben:I'm guessing Azure Stage Six.
Le Pengkun: I'll go bold—Azure Stage Seven!
Back at the Anshou Hall Paper Shop, the little paper servant at the phone stared at the chat and rapidly typed:
Song Miaozhu:I'm at Blue Spirit Stage One.
Her master had said that once she reached Stage Two, it would be time to reveal the existence of blue spirit energy.
She was currently condensing her second blue crystal.
This felt like the right moment.
The group chat fell silent.
Yu Lichuan: B-Blue Spirit?
Yin Chunan:According to SEIU rankings, we only go up to Red Stage Nine and Azure Stage One, right? What's Blue Spirit?
The paper servant kept typing.
Song Miaozhu:After Azure Stage Nine comes Blue Spirit Stage One.
Yu Lichuan:That means... nine layers of Azure spirit crystals. One layer takes ninety thousand units of energy. You've already gathered 810,000?!