Chapter 18 - Let Nature Take Its Course
'I have two good and one bad news. Which one do you want to know first?' A small golden orb landed on his palm and asked.
"Well, let's start with a bad one." He answered bravely. If it's really that bad, he will improve his mood by listening to two good news afterwards.
'The bad news is that because I helped you increase your talent too much, I overused my Fate Qi. Because of that, you have to gather the next Fate Fragment as quick as possible.' Ling told him the truth right of the bat.
"What? How much is 'As quick as possible'?" His heart started to beat uneasily.
'About 1 month.' She said shortly.
"What?! How do you expect me to find someone with Fate Fragment in a month? That's the easy part. I also need to find a way to kill them, which I don't even know if I'm capable of doing yet." Xuefeng complained agitated.
'Don't worry, when you were sleeping, I was investigating. That's the good news I have for you.' She sounded proud.
"Okay, shoot. I hope it's a good one." He waved hopelessly.
'I can sense that there is a sealed Fate Fragment somewhere in this clan. It's moving constantly, so I guess it's on someone's body. The person might not even know what he is carrying.'
"Oh! That's great. If it's someone from the clan, then we can probably convince him to give it to us." Xuefeng breathed a sigh of relief, but thought irritated 'She could just say that from the beginning instead of playing with me…'
'Yeah, that's what I also thought.' She said excitedly.
"So, what's the second good news you wanted to tell me?" He asked curiously.
'Because of the Heavenly Tribulation, you obtained Lightning Qi that is now lying in your dantian. I have a special Twin Spirit Art in my memory that will let you can learn how to use this Lightning Qi and how to gather more. It was left behind by my previous host.' Ling informed.
"That's great! With it, I won't need to expose my talent when I travel in the future. Do you have any more Spirit Arts?" Xuefeng asked with stars in his eyes. Earlier he wondered how cultivators could fight with their Spirit Artefacts without any Martial Arts or something.
After he researched, he found out that Martial Arts are called Spirit Arts in this world. With one Spirit Sword, you can use various Spirit Arts to strengthen your attacks.
'Unfortunately, I only have this low ranked one. I'm too weak now. Almost all my memories are sealed. After you gather Fate Fragments for me, I will gradually recover.' Ling sighed.
"Okay, I get it. Can we communicate without me coming inside here?" It was quite troublesome to split his mind and do two things at the same time.
'Actually, you just need to call my name and I will hear it. I will answer directly in your mind.' She already connected to his neural system, so it wasn't a problem.
"Okay, great. Then I'm going, I have to meet my parents." He willed with his mind and he disappeared from the hidden space. He opened his eyes and he was still inside the bathtub.
'Ling, one two three, do you hear me, over.' He tested the communication in his mind.
'I can hear you clearly, over.' Ling's voice sounded as she copied him.
'Okay, I was just testing, over and out.' He found it so funny that he chuckled.
After he cleaned himself, he wiped himself with a soft pink towel that was hanging on the side and put on his robe. He didn't mind the colour and left the bathroom with a towel in his hands. He was drying his still wet hair while walking.
When Wuying saw him with a pink towel in his hands, she blushed.
"Did you use that towel to wipe yourself?" She asked shyly.
"Yeah, why not. It's just a towel." He said indifferently as he didn't mind the colour.
"Uhm nothing…" She turned her head away.
Seeing her change of expression, he asked intrigued "Is this maybe your towel?"
"Why you ask when you already know the answer!" She lightly threw a pillow at him which he easily dodged.
"Haha, uhm, it smells nice." He smelled the towel as he teased her.
"I'm not playing with you anymore. I will wait outside." She hid her red face in her hands and left the room.
Xuefeng sat on the bed as he ate the breakfast she made for him. Although she didn't need to make it for him, she was stubborn and cooked for him every day. After some time, the kitchen staff got used to it and stopped making him any food.
'She looks so cute when you tease her... ' Xuefeng suddenly thought but then realized something.
'Since when did I start teasing other girls like that?' He usually only teased Tianshi. Were his feelings for her so shallow?
'Meh, it's not like I can meet her ever again…' He put the feelings behind him as he finished the last bite of his breakfast. It was delicious. The only thing he somewhat recognized was rice. Although it was brown and had more flavour than the normal rice he got used to on earth.
When he stepped into the courtyard, he took a deep breath of fresh air. If any person from China lived here for a moment, they wouldn't want to go back to that smog-polluted air on earth.
The air already stabilized after yesterday's events and with each breath, he took a lot of Spirit Essence into his lungs. Because of the Spirit Essence in the air, people here lived much longer on average than on Earth.
Even those who didn't cultivate could live up to 100 years without problems. Those who cultivated could live up to 150 if they took care of themselves.
When he looked around the courtyard in search for Wuying, he spotted her sitting gently on a small boulder near the pond. The sun was shining on her face and she looked like an angel, in her white long-sleeved dress.
"So pretty…" He watched as he commented subconsciously.
In Xuefeng's courtyard, there was a pond and a flower garden in the middle. Xuefeng plucked a white flower that looked like a white Lily and approached Wuying.
When she noticed him, she turned and smiled at him. "What a beautiful day." She commented as she watched the koi fishes swim in the pond.
Xuefeng came to her side and planted White Lily into her hair.
He admired his final touch and said, "Much better now."
Wuying touched the flower to adjust it but didn't remove it. It was something given by him after all.
"Let's go, your parents are waiting for you." She grabbed him by the hand and led him out of the garden. She only let go of his hand after they left the courtyard.
'I thought her hands would be rough, but they are surprisingly soft.' He felt a weird urge to squeeze it.
'Well whatever, I will let nature take its course.' He finally decided.