Chapter 13: The First Day After Master Left
Today was the first day since master had left the ruined temple.
Li Xingtian slowly opened his eyes and rose from the small makeshift bed he had assembled from a few wooden planks.
The main hall was already almost completely occupied by master and senior sister, along with a large iron pot that served both for cooking and alchemy.
There wasn't enough space left to fit another bed, so Li Xingtian slept in the small area behind the statue.
However, senior sister had already planned to build a small wooden hut outside the temple.
After all, she was the only woman among them, and some separation between men and women was only natural.
Master had already approved the plan, and senior sister had begun construction several days ago, progressing at a good pace.
Once it was finished, he wouldn't have to keep sleeping behind the statue anymore.
The main reason he disliked that space was the hole in the wall—at night, mosquitoes often invaded, and some unknown insects would crawl up and bite him.
Since he had yet to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage, he couldn't protect himself with spiritual energy, making those nightly assaults unbearable.
Therefore, he fully supported senior sister's plan to build the hut and even helped her a great deal.
At this rate, it would be complete in another two or three days.
As for the chicken from yesterday… after seeing its tragic remains, senior sister refused to take even one bite.
However, she insisted that he finish it himself.
Li Xingtian understood—since she had caught it and he had cooked it so poorly, it was only fair that he ate it.
He had expected the chicken to taste terrible after its gruesome end, but to his surprise, it wasn't that bad.
Perhaps it was because he had endured master's brutal healing elixirs before—his sense of taste had toughened.
He only found it a little gamey, a little bland, and a little tough.
Otherwise, it was still edible—at least by human standards.
Senior sister's verdict, however, was far less forgiving; she called it "boiled dead chicken bathwater."
Still, since she had already reached the Foundation Establishment Stage and could sustain herself without food, he didn't worry about her going hungry.
After all, he had promised master to look after her as best he could, and Li Xingtian was not someone who broke his word.
Although… having a junior brother care for his senior sister did sound a little strange.
Outside the temple, several waves of strong spiritual energy rippled through the air.
Li Xingtian stepped out and looked toward Li Yingling in the distance.
At that moment, she was wielding her wooden sword, using controlled bursts of spiritual power to strike at a large tree. Each strike was precise, and the tree fell cleanly under the flowing sword energy.
One had to admit, senior sister's diligence was impressive—she was cultivating her divine ability even while chopping wood for the hut.
And her progress was remarkable.
Even by Central State's standards, her talent would be considered extraordinary. When he first met her, she clearly hadn't yet mastered her techniques.
But now, after such a short time, she could wield them effortlessly.
With such aptitude, master must truly have come from Central State… though Li Xingtian still couldn't understand how someone like that could be so poor.
Could it be that master, like him, had secretly run away from a sect in Central State?
He didn't dwell on the thought. For the moment, this Heavenly Dao Alliance finally looked a bit like the sect he had imagined.
Even if it currently consisted of only three people—master and two disciples.
Noticing his gaze, senior sister, who had just felled a large tree, turned toward him.
Although Li Xingtian no longer trusted women easily in this life, when he looked at his young senior sister—entrusted to his care by master—he still managed to show a faint, somewhat strained smile.
——————
The first day after master's departure.
Li Yingling rose early. Her goal for the day was to gather and arrange all the timber for the wooden hut.
After all, sharing a roof with two men was not something a well-bred young lady like her could comfortably accept.
Temporary partitions were fine for emergencies, but living together permanently was out of the question.
Master had agreed to her request without hesitation.
ChatGPT said:
To be honest… when spending time with master, it never truly felt like the youthful, handsome man before her was her teacher.
He felt more like a close friend. Master rarely acted with the air of an elder in front of her.
Sometimes, when she got upset, master would even admit fault to her.
As someone raised in a scholarly family, Li Yingling found it difficult to imagine an elder lowering himself to apologize to a junior.
The masters she had read about in storybooks were always depicted as stern and imposing figures—men of absolute authority, whose words were law and whose faces never showed emotion.
They commanded their disciples unconditionally, never explaining their reasons.
By comparison, her master often seemed more like an overgrown child. Whenever something involved her, he would tell her to think it through carefully and decide for herself.
Even with the Water Heart Scripture, when she didn't begin cultivating it immediately, master never showed the slightest dissatisfaction.
Moreover, Li Yingling found her master to be rather lazy. Though he had never revealed his true cultivation, she could tell it far surpassed hers.
She, having reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, could go an entire month without sleep and still maintain full energy through nightly cultivation.
Yet her master—clearly far stronger—still slept soundly every night.
Perhaps she had followed the wrong master, for she too had begun to learn his bad habits—sleeping peacefully each night for no real reason.
At least, that was how she defined it.
Master called sleep "nourishing the spirit," complete with his own twisted reasoning.
Though his argument never convinced her, she had somehow adopted his sleeping schedule anyway.
Perhaps it was because watching master snore away while she continued her cultivation made her feel unbalanced inside.
Many thoughts flashed through her mind as she struck another heavy blow, felling the tree before her. Her grasp of her divine abilities had become smoother by the day.
Sensing a gaze from behind, Li Yingling turned around and saw her newly accepted junior brother.
Though she didn't understand why master had taken him as a disciple, she respected her master's decisions.
However, when that junior brother smiled at her with that slow, foolish grin, Li Yingling couldn't help thinking—couldn't master at least conduct a basic intelligence test before accepting new disciples?
Looking at Li Xingtian's silly expression, Li Yingling sighed and asked, "Junior brother… are you hungry?"
"N-no, I'm not," Li Xingtian replied awkwardly.
Hearing that, Li Yingling frowned slightly. Back in the mortal world, she had been praised as a prodigy of intellect and talent—she'd never had to deal with someone so… slow.
She honestly didn't know how to interact properly with a junior of such limited intelligence.
Especially since, after all these days of cultivation, he was still lingering around the fourth layer of Qi Condensation.
His aptitude was average at best, and he didn't seem particularly diligent either.
As the senior sister, now that master was away, it was her duty to supervise him properly.
"Junior brother, how is your internal injury? Have you recovered?"
"Almost completely," he replied.
"Good. Since master isn't here, today I'll personally supervise your cultivation." Li Yingling patted the large fallen tree beside her. "Use your spiritual power carefully to shape this into planks. It'll greatly help you improve your control over spiritual energy."
Li Xingtian was speechless. Hard labor was hard labor—why dress it up as 'training control'?
Once again, he remembered master's words: Take good care of your senior sister.
"Yes, senior sister," he said helplessly.
Hearing his response, Li Yingling didn't linger. She quickly turned into a streak of rainbow light and vanished into the distance.
She had seen the cultivation method Li Xingtian practiced—it required the blood and flesh of many demonic beasts.
A Qi Condensation cultivator couldn't possibly gather that much on his own.
So, as the senior sister, she naturally had to help him. He was building her a house, after all—it was only fair she hunted some beasts for him in return.
A fair trade.
Still…
Master, please come back soon!
Junior brother's cooking is truly inedible!
He even drank that dead chicken bathwater with such satisfaction!