I have a panel that reduces proficiency.

Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Xuanzhu's bare foot, which had been kicking halfway through the air, came to an abrupt stop, its toe no more than three inches from Fang Shi's face.

She quickly withdrew her leg, turned around, and said, "Sister Wanxia, ​​don't talk nonsense. Saying such things in the street will make people angry."

"yes."

Fang Shi casually chimed in, "Anyone who knows they have a wife with smelly feet would be angry."

"you--!"

Xuanzhu suddenly turned her head, and the talisman in her hand exploded with purple light.

"cough!"

Wanxia coughed, covered her mouth with the back of her hand, and said, "Thank goodness it wasn't. I was almost scared to death just now."

Xuanzhu narrowed her eyes and said, "Did I scare you to death?"

Wanxia said, "It wasn't me who was scared to death, it was my sister. Her face turned pale just now."

17

Chaolu quickly stepped forward and pulled Wanxia behind her, saying, "Senior, Wanxia is talking nonsense. She just slipped and fell in the snow and is probably confused."

Xuanzhu glanced at the morning dew, then at the evening glow, and finally at Fang Shi, before giving a faint "Oh."

Chaolu turned around and pushed open the wooden door of the dilapidated house.

The room was extremely cramped. There was a wall just two steps from the entrance. There was no bed, only a straw mat made of dry grass and a thin quilt covered with patches on the mat.

On the old wooden table in the room sat a chipped earthenware jar, with a few dried herbs stuck inside. The air was not filled with the usual musty smell of a poor family, but rather with a faint medicinal fragrance.

Fang Shi stood at the door, his gaze shifting from the straw mat to the old wicker basket in the corner, and then to the earthenware jar on the table.

Before he entered the house, he had considered exploring the area outside the dilapidated house.

But after taking a few steps into the distance in the snow, his legs could no longer move.

It's like the map in a game hasn't been opened yet. When you reach the boundary, there's an invisible wall blocking your way. No matter how much you want to move forward, your feet won't budge.

Xuanzhu said, "The realm of thought has boundaries, and those outside these boundaries cannot trespass. This world is but a small square inch. The place you can leave is the place the master of this realm wants you to see."

Chaolu walked into the house, took out a chipped charcoal brazier from next to the stack of old wicker baskets, and took some charcoal wrapped in oil paper.

There wasn't much charcoal, just a few scattered pieces.

She didn't throw the charcoal directly into the basin.

Instead, he first picked up a few dried herb stems from the stack of wicker baskets, broke them into small pieces, and spread them as a layer at the bottom of the pot.

He then pulled out a small handful of dried moss from a crack in the wall next to the straw mat, fluffed it up, and placed it on the stem.

Then he picked out the smallest few grains from the broken charcoal, about the size of a fingertip, and carefully arranged them around the moss, like arranging chess pieces, one by one, neatly stacked.

Finally, he pulled a few strands of dry grass from the old straw mat, twisted them into a small bundle, and stuffed them under the moss as kindling.

He struck the flint a few times, and sparks flew onto the dry grass, igniting a small orange glow.

She lay down on the ground and gently blew on the small flame. After a few breaths, the flame licked the moss and then the medicinal stem, crackling and burning.

The charcoal fragments, enveloped by the heat of the medicinal stems, slowly turned red.

Only when the topmost piece of charcoal emitted a red glow did Chaolu straighten up and push the charcoal brazier towards Fang Shi and Xuanzhu.

Xuanzhu glanced at the charcoal brazier and said, "I don't need this."

Fang swore, "I don't need it either."

As Wanxia sat on the straw mat, rubbing the spot on her chest where she had been kicked, she looked up at the sound and said, "In this cold weather, brother is dressed so thinly, and senior isn't even wearing shoes or socks, yet you don't shiver at all. Could it be that you've both reached the late stage of Qi Refining and are immune to heat and cold?"

Fang Shi was stunned for a moment.

Xuanzhu said, "That's right."

Fang Shi said, "Only those at the late stage of Qi Refining can be immune to heat and cold? This is just an ordinary winter, not some extremely cold and desolate place. Besides, those sisters also have the first level of Qi Refining within them, how come they live no differently from ordinary people?"

Xuanzhu said, "Why be surprised? Each realm has its own way, and each world has its own rules. One level of Qi Refining in this realm has shallow magical power and no great supernatural abilities."

Fang Shi said, "The Luofu Mountain we passed through on our way here is not like this."

Xuanzhu said, "The Dao changes with the times, merely altering the balance of Heaven and Earth."

Next, Wanxia took out a rough pottery jar from beside the straw mat, picked out a little ointment with her fingertips, and applied it to Chaolu's bluish-purple hand.

Chaolu took the ointment, and also loosened Wanxia's collar to apply a layer to her.

As before, Fang Shi remained an outsider unable to intervene in this predetermined plot.

After applying the medicine, Chaolu spread the patched thin quilt on the straw mat, turned to Fang Shi and Xuanzhu, and said, "Brother and senior, if you don't mind, please make do with the straw mat for the night."

Xuanzhu said, "I don't need this."

Fang Shi said, "No need, I can sit here all night."

Chaolu didn't say anything more. She returned to the straw mat and snuggled up with Wanxia under the thin quilt, keeping each other warm.

Fang Shi sat down against the wall, closed his eyes, and regulated his breathing.

He did want to move this "plot" forward as quickly as possible, but it wasn't something he could simply push aside.

Having gone through all this trouble, he had no time to chat with Xuanzhu. Instead, he had many details of the newly developed "Yuanyun Technique" that he had not yet clarified, so he took this opportunity to deduce them.

【Yuanyun Technique (Proficient): 99/20】

Fang Shi wasn't surprised at all that his skill level had dropped from 138 to this level.

The "Yuanyun Technique" is far superior to the "Xiaoshuiyun Technique." He was already quite satisfied that he only lost 39 points and didn't fall back to the beginning.

The Yuanyun Manual is a dynamic exercise, with stances, footwork, power generation, and breathing all developed in motion. However, this does not mean that it cannot be practiced in stillness.

Fang Shi slowly guided his Qi according to the method, but the feeling of spiritual energy entering his body was exactly the same as usual.

It was completely different from what Xuanzhu had described—the world was different, the Dao realm was different, and it was exactly the same as when I was cultivating before.

He opened one eye and glanced at Xuanzhu.

The female Taoist priest was sitting cross-legged by the door with her eyes closed, meditating. The jade bead on her hairpin was glowing faintly. It was unclear whether she was truly in deep meditation or doing something else.

Fang Shi withdrew his gaze, closed his eyes again, and focused his mind on his meridians, continuing to practice the stillness cultivation method of the "Yuanyun Technique".

[Yuanyun Technique Proficiency +1]

Rustle, rustle.

A series of light footsteps approached, like someone stepping on the muddy ground beside the haystack.

Fang Shi suddenly opened his eyes.

The roof above was old and worn, and the ground beneath felt like it was covered with hay.

He had fallen asleep without anyone noticing, and a warm mass was pressed against his left arm.

Look down.

-

Xuanzhu was curled up to his left, her arms wrapped around his left arm, her cheek pressed against his shoulder.

Like Fang Shi, she was clearly sitting upright by the door before going to sleep, but somehow she rolled onto his arm.

That little face was exquisitely sculpted, with the soft, still-childish flesh on her cheeks pressed out slightly, round and plump, like a freshly peeled lychee.

The sandalwood hairpin had slipped out of her hair at some point, her black hair was scattered on the dry grass, and the jade bead the size of a red bean was also tilted in her hair, its faint light obscured.

Rustle, rustle.

Fang Shi quickly looked away from Xuan Zhu's face and followed the sound of light footsteps.

Chaolu had gotten up at some point and was hunched over, carefully moving towards the door.

When she reached the door, she opened it just wide enough for her to squeeze through sideways.

A gust of cold wind blew in through the crack in the door, carrying fine snowflakes that stung Fang Shi's face, chilling him to the bone.

Xuanzhu, still asleep, snuggled closer to his arm.

"Morning dew, where are you going?"

Fang Shi opened his mouth to call her, but as before, Chao Lu could not hear his voice, and he could not move at all.

When Chaolu's slender figure completely disappeared into the wind and snow outside the door, Fang Shi felt the invisible restraint around him suddenly loosen.

He raised his left arm, and Xuanzhu, who was holding his arm, slid down with his movement, her head rolling from his shoulder to his chest. She didn't wake up, but just mumbled something indistinctly.

Fang swore, "Wake up."

He reached out and nudged her shoulder, then patted her face. Her round little face swayed slightly from the pats, but her breathing remained even and deep.

Fang Shi simply ignored her and got up to walk towards the door.

But he could clearly see Chaolu's slender figure not far ahead, yet he couldn't move fast enough and could only maintain a distance that was neither too close nor too far, always following behind her.

Between night and snow, the town was exceptionally gray and white.

The windows of the low houses along the road were dark, and the doors were tightly shut.

The morning dew that was walking ahead had already turned white.

With each step she took, snowflakes fell softly from her legs; with each step she took, her body leaned slightly forward.

Fang Shi's curiosity about Chao Lu's whereabouts grew even stronger.

She doesn't seem like someone you can ask for help, so why would she go out in the middle of the night?

Suddenly, a ridiculous thought popped into Fang Shi's mind—could it be that Chao Lu was a monster, looking for a secluded place to breathe in the moonlight?

The moment the thought popped into his head, he laughed.

Not to mention that he had already guessed Chaolu's identity, there was no moonlight for her to breathe in on this gloomy snowy day.

Before long, Chaolu turned onto a road without any houses.

The snow had accumulated even more here. The low stone walls on both sides of the road were still discernible before, but as you walk further, even the stone walls are swallowed up by the snow. The terrain under your feet also rises slightly, as if you have entered a slope.

As the snowflakes fell thicker and thicker, Fang Shi could barely see Chao Lu's silhouette. He could only stare at that swaying outline in the snow curtain as he continued onward.

After walking for a while, the slope came to an end, the terrain suddenly leveled out, and the view opened up before us.

Ahead, rows of low-lying silhouettes rose up in the snow, covered by a thick blanket of snow.

Some of the outlines had wooden signs stuck diagonally in front of them, the surface of which was covered by snow, with only half of the corner showing.

Some of the outlines didn't even have wooden signs in front of them, only a branch with snowflakes hanging from it.

The morning dew passed through these outlines, reaching a corner outline.

There was a low stone embankment there, where the snow was deeper than elsewhere, and the outline was almost completely smoothed out.

Morning dew stood before that silhouette for a moment, then squatted down and began to brush away the snow.

She first used her left hand to brush away the top layer of snow, and then stretched out her right hand as well.

But as soon as she bent her hand, which was still bruised, her knuckles trembled, and she hissed in pain.

She paused for a moment, then pulled her right hand back and placed it on her knee, continuing to sweep with only her left hand.

As she swept, Chaolu's movements slowed down.

His left hand was still resting on the outline, but his shoulders began to tremble slightly.

"Father, Mother—I really can't afford next month's rent. My hand is injured, and the medicine is taking longer to make, so I won't get many spirit stones. Wanxia was also kicked in the chest. I'm useless; I couldn't even protect my younger sister—"

Tears fell drop by drop onto the snow, spreading out in a small patch before being quickly covered by newly fallen snow.

"Wanxia wants to go deep into Mount Luofu to find the Frost Grass. How can she possibly get there? The mountains are snowbound, and monsters roam freely. With her current cultivation level, she'll never come out again. I can't dissuade her; she's determined to go. I'm so afraid she won't come back. What should I do?"

Gradually, the morning dew stopped crying.

But her left hand was still sweeping the snow off the grave.

The snow was falling heavily, and the places she had just swept were covered with a layer of white snow again in no time, so she swept them again.

Again and again.

Later, she couldn't sweep anymore.

She sat there in front of the grave, cross-legged.

Before long, not only did his hair turn white, but his shoulders turned white, and his body turned white as well.

Fang Shi stood not far away, watching her being swallowed up by the snow little by little.

The next day.

Xuanzhu opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was Fang Shi's chest, which was very close to hers.

She was startled at first, then realized that she was curled up on her side next to him, her arms still wrapped around him. Fortunately, there was only a crumpled clump of hay in her arms, nothing else.

She quickly stood up, glanced down at her disheveled Taoist robe, and then looked at Fang, who was still lying on the straw mat—

She swore, and kicked his shin.

"Wake up! What did you do to me last night? Why did I wake up to find myself lying in the same bed with you?"

Fang Shi was kicked twice by her. He frowned, opened his eyes, glanced at her, and said, "You rolled over here by yourself. I called you but you didn't wake up. Instead, you come to ask me what I did."

"Nonsense. I was clearly meditating by the door last night, how could I have moved here for no reason? You must have taken advantage of my meditation to do something."

"If I had the power to do something, the first thing I would do is tie your feet up to prevent them from kicking around everywhere."

"you-

—"

Just then, the door was pushed open from the outside.

A gust of cold wind carrying fine snow rushed in. Chao Lu stood at the door, a few flakes of unmelted snow still clinging to her body.

Her complexion was normal, showing no signs of fatigue from staying up all night.

"Brother, senior, you're awake."

Fang Shi glanced at her, sat up from the straw mat, and turned to Xuan Zhu, saying, "It's time to get down to business. Stop arguing."

Xuanzhu naturally knew that now was not the time to dwell on things—besides, she wasn't entirely unaware of what had happened last night.

The outburst just now was simply because I was caught off guard and lost my composure upon waking up.

She snorted, flicked the hem of her Taoist robe, and said, "This Celestial Venerable will not stoop to your level."

As morning dew entered the house, she squatted down beside the straw mat and gently nudged the still-sleeping evening glow.

Wanxia groggily turned over, one hand still clutching the spot on her chest where she had been kicked, her eyes half-open as she asked, "Sister, what happened—"

Chaolu took out a book from her bosom and handed it to Wanxia, ​​saying, "Wanxia, ​​this book, 'Minor Concealing Breath Technique,' is for you."

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