When Li Yuan wrapped himself in a robe, he returned to the room, moved aside the paperweight, and picked up the letter on the table to read.
’My dear husband, I need to leave for a while. I planned to wait for your return to tell you.
But ti waits for no one, and I must go.
I will return in a month at the earliest, or three months at the latest.’
The slanted, sharp characters in ink appeared on the white paper.
They carried an inexplicable sinister aura, reminiscent of a dark path taken by unconventional demonic outsiders, like a king cobra hiding in the cracks of an earthen wall...
The signature was: Jing Shuixiang.
Li Yuan looked at this letter for a long ti, then put it away, rose, and set off again, heading to the Vine Pavilion.
...
In mid-April, the vines were lush green.
This reminded Li Yuan of the ’forest elf-like worlds’ he had read about before crossing over.
The Vine Pavilion was very quiet; compared to the turmoil of this world, it was like a paradise away from the world.
Li Yuan reaped the benefits, continuing to flip through notebooks.
There were no cultivation skills in the Vine Pavilion, but there were plenty of notes.
They included notes on alchemy, beast taming, and puppetry.
Li Yuan couldn’t do alchemy, as that skill was monopolized.
Unless he reached the Sixth Grade level in alchemy himself, he could not cultivate skills from the thods in these notes.
The notes related to beast taming and puppetry were few, clearly not the domain in which the Divine Wood Hall excelled.
Speaking of beast taming...
Li Yuan couldn’t help recalling that the Hall Master promised him two secret skills that he still hadn’t received, causing him so unease.
It wasn’t that he was desperately eager for those two secret skills, but rather that the Hall Master didn’t seem like soone who would go back on his word.
The only explanation was that the Hall Master had forgotten.
But how could soone as a Fourth Grade forget sothing?
As for the Hall Master reneging, that was also impossible.
Li Yuan didn’t delve further into it; many aspects of the Hall Master were terrifying to ponder, and he had no curiosity, just wanting to stay away.
...
Several days later.
Li Yuan left the Vine Pavilion and continued to attempt the training thods in the notes.
But this ti, he failed.
The new training thod failed to cultivate a skill.
Returning ho, Jing Shuixiang was gone, and Cui Huayin had returned.
The two won never got along; normally, when Jing Shuixiang took care of him, Cui Huayin would always find an excuse to return to her family.
"Son-in-law, I reached the Sixth Grade." Yaojue smiled mischievously, leaning over to take Li Yuan’s arm and then turned to Cui Huayin, saying, "The lady’s progress is also swift. She often says that your phrase ’one year, one life and death’ gave her great inspiration while with ."
"As long as cultivation is going smoothly."
Li Yuan smiled, glancing at his wife.
After not seeing her for so ti, Cui Huayin’s stunning face carried a few hints of frigidity, like specks of darkness in light, or black amidst snow, giving her a sowhat sinister air.
"What happened?" Li Yuan asked with so concern.
Cui Huayin seed to know what he was asking but didn’t want to elaborate, so she replied lightly, "It’s just about cultivation."
"You’re practicing the Withering and Flourishing Skill."
Li Yuan suddenly rembered that the Hall Master seed to practice the sa skill.
Yaojue said, "Son-in-law, it’s like this, the Withering and Flourishing Skill is a complex core cultivation skill in the Divine Wood Hall, reserved for those with exceptional talent to practice.
Practicing this skill ans either going from withering to flourishing, or from flourishing to withering...
To go from withering to flourishing starts cold and frosty, then grows vibrant and full of life.
So those who practice this skill usually choose to go from withering to flourishing; it’s said that the Hall Master did too.
Now, the Hall Master is so righteous and unwavering, having completely succeeded."
"Yaojue," Cui Huayin coldly interjected, "Speak less about cultivation."
Li Yuan was stunned for a mont and asked, "Is there sothing you can’t tell ?"
Cui Huayin said, "I’m afraid ntioning these things will distract you."
She didn’t elaborate, and it took Li Yuan a mont to figure out her convoluted thinking.
She considered herself an independent practitioner, unable to break through to the Sixth Grade, and thought discussing the prospects of any cultivation skill might dishearten him, so she simply didn’t ntion it.
"I’m not that fragile," Li Yuan said.
"Not that fragile?" Cui Huayin looked at him skeptically, "Then who was it that drank all the strong wine, playing ’Longing’ on the rooftop?"
Li Yuan said, "It was ."
"You’re hosick... When a man is hosick, it’s a display of vulnerability," Cui Huayin said softly, "A single leaf can tell autumn, so I don’t want to talk about so topics, for your sake."
Li Yuan said helplessly, "Don’t overthink it..."
"Trouble arises from neglect, matters start from detail, one must investigate," Cui Huayin said with a royal air.
Li Yuan sidestepped the topic and suddenly asked, "If the south is pacified, would you be willing to dress in cloth garnts and accompany back ho? I used to be a hunter, and I still wish to hunt, one man, a bow, a dog, and a pot of wine, roaming the mountains and fields..."
"Yes, yes! I have never lived such a life," Yaojue clapped her hands.
But as she clapped, she was stopped by a glare from Cui Huayin.
Cui Huayin sighed, "I’m sorry, husband. The woman you married isn’t one who can dress in cloth garnts and spend her life in the mountains and fields.
She will remain loyal, by your side until old age.
But she won’t enter the kitchen, nor will she wash, or step on such muddy lands, to pursue a cheap sense of freedom and ease."
"I’m sorry,"
She said softly, "Even in your dreams, I cannot accompany you to live that kind of life."
For a mont, the air fell silent.
And Li Yuan’s laughter broke the silence, as he asked, "How’s your recent cultivation?"
Cui Huayin replied, "I cultivate every day, but when I co ho, I don’t want to talk about cultivation."
The two suddenly found themselves without a topic.
So they busied themselves with their own things, eating, bathing, going to bed, sleeping together...
Co daylight, Cui Huayin gets up for cultivation before the dawn breaks.
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