Chapter 51: Something Big Happened Yesterday

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Something Big Happened Yesterday

"I’ll have to trouble you then, Senior Brother."

Ye Linglong nodded. She hadn’t known that Purple Bamboo Peak had disciples who specialized in delivering letters. The last time she and Ji Suyao delivered a letter, it had taken them a full two hours to return from the station.

"I’ll pass the message to Senior Brother Yang."

Liu Chen nodded. In the end, it was Senior Brother Yang who would be running the errand anyway, so her words didn’t really mean much to him.

Ye Linglong looked like she wanted to say something but held her tongue. Seeing the faint smile on Liu Chen’s face, she understood that he hadn’t misunderstood her at all—he was just being difficult on purpose. That was rare. Her senior brother usually gave off such a serious impression.

Thinking back, Ye Linglong realized she had missed certain details before. While her senior brother never joked around, he could still be considered gentle. At the time, she had been so focused on escaping her ill fate that she had overlooked these things.

The night was beautiful. Inside the kitchen, as Liu Chen heated water, he coated several bamboo leaves with Spiritual Power. With a flick of his fingers, he shot them straight into the stove’s fire.

The flames flickered. Without the protection of his Spiritual Power, the once-vibrant leaves were instantly reduced to ash.

[Flying Flower Skill Proficiency +1]

’My junior sister was right. This Magic is indeed better suited for women to cultivate.’

Liu Chen couldn’t help but shake his head. His two junior sisters had also practiced the Flying Flower Skill that afternoon, and he felt their results were a little better than his.

This didn’t bother him, though. After all, suitability meant little in the face of Proficiency. Once he reached the Beginner level, any skill would become suitable for him. And if he evolved it into something unique, he could even redefine the very essence of the Magic.

Liu Chen delivered the hot water to his two junior sisters, then returned directly to the Bamboo Garden to complete the last of his daily cultivation routine.

After another uneventful night, the date was now the second day of the seventh month.

In the morning, after completing his Body Tempering, Liu Chen stood guard for his two junior sisters while practicing the Withering Skill. Streaks of orange Spiritual Power fell upon the bamboo leaves before him, instantly reducing them to ash.

’If all goes well, my Withering Skill will reach the Great Success stage today.’

Liu Chen narrowed his eyes and continued to practice the Withering Skill. After repeating the process a dozen more times, he felt a sudden trance-like state wash over him. In that instant, his understanding of the veins and nodes of Life Force deepened considerably.

[Withering Skill: Great Success, 0/5000]

’So that’s how it is. It’s not the veins of Life Force, but the Spiritual Veins. For plants that contain Spiritual Power, eliminating that power means the end of their life. By a strange twist of fate, my Withering Skill can actually make Spiritual Power itself wither. That’s quite useful.’

Liu Chen mused to himself and turned to look at his two junior sisters. He could perceive the Spiritual Veins within their bodies—the phantasmal bamboo leaves constructed by the Purple Bamboo Scripture Body Tempering Chapter.

’If it works on plants, what would happen if I used it on a Cultivator?’

Liu Chen narrowed his eyes. An idea was forming, but he certainly couldn’t test it on his two junior sisters. Still, if it could truly affect other Cultivators, it would undoubtedly become an excellent trump card.

By directly withering the Spiritual Veins that circulate and store Spiritual Power, a Body Tempering Realm Cultivator would likely lose all combat strength on the spot. In a more extreme scenario, years, or even decades, of arduous cultivation could be wiped out in an instant.

’Wait, Magic is also woven from Spiritual Power. Does that mean it also has Spiritual Veins?’

Liu Chen’s gaze shifted as another thought occurred to him. If that were the case, he would only need to understand the structure of an opponent’s Magic to disable it completely. With his Proficiency system, he could easily spend a little time learning his opponent’s Magic, and then it would just be a one-sided beatdown.

"Senior Brother, what are you thinking about?"

Ji Suyao had just finished her Body Tempering when she saw Liu Chen standing there, lost in thought. That alone would have been fine, but his expression was something she had never seen before. On any other day, if she saw someone with a look like that, she would have turned and fled without a second thought.

"I was thinking about how to continue practicing the Withering Skill."

Liu Chen collected his thoughts and looked at Ji Suyao. It wasn’t a lie, but if he told his junior sisters about his new ideas for the Withering Skill, they would probably think he was a madman. Even though both of them had recently reached the Beginner stage with the skill, Liu Chen knew their path was completely different from his.

The results of their practice made this clear. When Liu Chen used the Withering Skill, the bamboo leaves looked as if they had been incinerated. In contrast, when his junior sisters used it, it seemed to merely accelerate the plant’s natural withering process.

"No wonder you cultivate so fast, Senior Brother."

Ji Suyao’s expression soured. The thing she dreaded most each day was having Ye Linglong discuss Magic with her.

Especially after their senior brother explained things. She always felt like her brain turned to mush. She could understand everything he said and could perform the actions he demonstrated, but when Ye Linglong started analyzing it all, it was like listening to a foreign language.

"It’s getting late. Once Linglong finishes her Body Tempering, you two can go dig for Bamboo Shoots. I’m going to see if Senior Brother Yang is here yet."

Liu Chen shook his head. Ji Suyao was more of a pragmatist; she didn’t care for all the messy theory. After watching Liu Chen a few times, she could imitate the Magic almost perfectly. Ye Linglong, on the other hand, was a theorist. She preferred to understand the ’why’ before she got to the ’how’.

Liu Chen couldn’t say who was right or wrong. After all, both had learned their methods from him. When faced with a new Magic he didn’t understand, Liu Chen would simply brute-force his practice until he reached the Beginner stage. Only after getting his foot in the door could he begin to study its theory.

In a way, his two junior sisters, when combined, mirrored his own approach to cultivation.

"Got it. You should go, Senior Brother."

Ji Suyao waved him off and turned to look at Ye Linglong, who was still in the middle of her Body Tempering. Ye Linglong’s sessions always took longer than hers—by about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. She claimed it was because her constitution was weak, which was why it required more time.

Ji Suyao didn’t really understand it, but since their senior brother hadn’t said anything, it must not be a major problem.

Meanwhile, just as Liu Chen reached the entrance to the bamboo forest, he saw Senior Brother Yang approaching at a leisurely pace.

"Junior Brother, something major happened yesterday."

Upon seeing Liu Chen, Yang Haichen quickened his pace. Many Outer Disciples had already been discreetly asking him who Liu Chen was. His visits to the back mountains to find him were no longer a secret.

"What happened?"

Liu Chen was curious. For the Grand Elder’s own apprentice to speak with such urgency, the matter had to be significant. Although Liu Chen didn’t like to go looking for gossip, if something was truly important, he felt he should at least be aware of it.

"That Outer Sect senior brother who claimed to be a Spirit Chef’s disciple—the one who was sentenced to death for slaughtering innocents—was supposed to be executed by the Law Enforcement Hall today. But last night, a Steward from the Law Enforcement Hall vanished, along with several disciples and the prisoner himself."

Yang Haichen walked up and said this bluntly. Liu Chen shot him a look, then turned and walked back into the bamboo forest. The matter was indeed a big deal, but it had absolutely nothing to do with them.

"Junior Brother, wait up!"