The morning on Plum Peak started normally even if I arrived later than the given time. Sun Lingling had already entered her new cultivation room, or from the looks of the Formation’s runtime, she hadn’t left since last night, on the other hand, Wang Yang was in the library reading novels to train his comprehension. Entering the kitchen, an intruder was eating a bowl of chilly oil noodles like it was his own house.

“Yo partner, I finished the rooms yesterday.” Chen Zhipeng smiled, his face red because of the spice.

“Took more time than expected.” I sighed seeing him ignore the words, the reason for the delay was also clear. “So, did you make any progress with that?”

“Glad you asked! It had its complications, but in front of my genius it was child’s play.” He smirked to himself before his mood took a dive. “But to use it one would have to master splitting their consciousness into two parts and control the other, it isn’t as simple as controlling a flying sword as the main body will have their movements limited from the strain. We would need someone at the Peak of Nascent Soul Realm just to test this out.”

“This is why I told you to never neglect your Mind realm and cultivation, you can master these techniques as soon as you step into the Nascent Soul realm, so it is on you,” I said passing him some milk so he stopped hanging his tongue out.

“It ish… too time-consuming, anyway, I’ll train in it now or I wouldn’t get to use that.” Chen Zhipeng gulped down the whole bottle of Milk before digging right into the noodles again. “But what about you, partner? …Do you have some shortcuts planned like before?”

Although he tried to weave this into the conversation, Chen Zhipeng wanted that method too because training the mind realm techniques was time-consuming, so many cultivators only did them at the end. As long as one becomes conscious of their spiritual body, they can start learning techniques and practice. Normal cultivators only came in contact with the spiritual body at Nascent Soul Realm, other cases involved having a Heaven or Divine Grade root that affected one’s spirit, which was as rare as dragons and phoenixes in the Cultivation world.

I didn’t need to use any secret artifacts or techniques to split my intent, stepping into Nascent Soul Realm previously I had trained all mind realm techniques to the highest levels possible. With those insights I developed a way to split the consciousness from the Golden Core Realm onwards for Wang Yang, this way was much faster than the usual books on the subject circulating these times as it had taken inspiration from the talents of the past and future. However, it would be a waste to simply give it away.

“I may have a way to make the training about 50% easier.” It was an artifact I made with Chen Zhipeng in the future to help Wang Yang.

His eyes shined brighter than ever, Chen Zhipeng loved to make things that made his life easier. He wouldn’t even cultivate if the artifact he was making didn’t need him to be at a higher realm of cultivation, in a way he was the most dedicated to his craft than anyone I knew, above all he was sensible.

“So, what do you need in return, partner?”

I smiled. “Three of your best shield artifacts and three Blue Dragon Cauldrons that Bian Que had you make last time. I need them in this week. If you delay, do not blame me for not helping you, and I want three Soul Arena Jades, considering you do get the blueprint.” Since the name of an unknown artifact was already dangling in front of him, he had no way out.

“Geh!” His face twisted like he had bitten into a lemon, although I didn’t like to do it, using the stick sometimes was necessary with Chen Zhipeng, that is what I’ve learned from Gu Fei.

“If you think it is too mu—”

“No No, everyone knows that my partner is the most upright and handsome man on this continent, how can he make unreasonable requests?” Chen Zhipeng said before I could pull back the offer.

“Why is your face twitching then?” Compliments won't work with me, he should know that well.

“It is the spice, the spice I tell you, I really can’t handle it. But it is tasty so I have to finish.” This guy needed to learn how to lie, but his straightforwardness was one of the reasons this partnership lasted this long.

“But for you to hurry this much, are you going somewhere too, Partner?”

“Going somewhere too?” I asked handing him some sweetened banana milk.

“You didn’t know? Well, you weren’t around so it makes sense, Zhao Jun left the Sect a few hours ago. Saying that he needs to conduct the inspection earlier this year or something.” He scoffed. “He’s probably out there plotting something.”

“Is that so? Something big must’ve happened.” I feigned ignorance to the end, after all, the way to Qingyun Province and my herb gathering locations were in opposite directions.

“Even then, why does him leaving turn into such a big deal? No one asks questions when I leave. He isn’t even that cool compared to me.” Chen Zhipeng rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I’ll go and work on the things you asked.”

Tapping on the gem bracelet he activated the concealment array and left the place unnoticed, since I had already hidden my storage ring, he clicked his tongue he went away. It was a more compact version of the Shadow cloak that I used, although there are more artifacts I want him to make for the disciples, Wang Yang will end up finding better ones down the line much faster with me around.

Unlike the normal treasure-hoarding cultivators, Wang Yang had always shared what he found after taking what he needed. It may be the secret to his unending luck or something, regardless things wouldn’t be different this time either.

After cleaning up the kitchen and adding more dishes to the array, I entered the library to see Wang Yang yawning. He was reading the novel Records of the Legendary Alchemist, a mortal scholar in the golden age claimed that he had seen the journey of Pill Grandmaster Zhou Fan in his dream and wrote it down in one sitting abstaining from food and sleep for a week.

The story was still a big hit after three thousand years among cultivators because of the high entertainment value, and most importantly its clever use using scenarios to teach idioms and integral parts of cultivation. Such books helped in comprehension for people who weren’t used to reading as the language was much simpler than the ones in the Cultivation Methods and Technique books.

“If you don’t focus on the words, it would be a waste of time.” I said as soon as he noticed my feet falling on the wooden floor.

“Well…” Wang Yang scratched his cheek; it wasn’t easy for a non-reader to get into reading that fast. In a way, he was doing better than last time.

“When you read, try to paint a vivid picture in your mind, one where you can see even the tiny details.” I flipped to the later pages and picked a random sentence that he had yet to reach. “Amidst the rustling leaves and the murmuring stream, Li Mei and Zhou Fan stood as equals, bound together by the shared experience of a battle fought with honor and grace. What comes to your mind about this?”

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He thought for a bit before closing his eyes, trying to imagine as I said. “All I can think of is that they fought on equal footing in a forest.”

“That is a barebones picture.” I said.

“What does Master think about this?” Wang Yang asked the same question as last time.

Some people had trouble visualizing scenes in their mind, while some did it like second nature, just like how some people do not hear a voice in their head and some do not. Wang Yang lacked practice with visualization, which is why his first task was to build that habit by reading novels with no pictures because cultivators needed a rich imagination to decode the descriptions in cultivation books, it also helped in controlling Qi much more efficiently. For me, visualization had always been my strongest suit because of my first life.

“For starters let me tell you about the place where this is happening, rustling leaves and murmuring stream. The background is a forest, since the leaves are rustling it should be a breezy day, without the mention of flowers it should be around the 11th month when it is dry and a little cold, fitting for a face-off. Since a stream is nearby and the novel is said to be set in Hunan Province at the start, the type of trees should be Green gourd trees, their green leaves are awfully large and do not fall off the branches until the end of winter, which makes the rustling part more understandable. Li Mei and Zhou Fan stood as equals, bound together by the shared experience of a battle fought with honor and grace. These two fought in such a place on an equal footing, but their battle was one where they respected their opponents and didn’t use underhanded methods. What does that mean? Do they respect each other that much? Are they rivals or something more? Were they happy with a draw or something else? Not to mention it creates a great contrast with the weather and their surroundings, to me the main point of this line isn’t about the battle, but rather the bond between these two.” The more I spoke, the more immersed Wang Yang seemed to get.

“I don’t know why… but I can see them smiling at the end regardless of who won, before I thought that they would have serious looks while trying to kill each other.” Wang Yang muttered, and that view was the picture that I had in my mind.

“There are a lot of things you can derive from simple lines, that is why you should never skim through any passage even if the words look simple or you feel like you know them, you will never be able to see the full picture if you only put half of your mind to it. Always keep that in mind.”

When reading or cultivating, making a mountain out of a molehill was necessary. Having more questions than answers was always a good thing for me, picking things apart at the base level was the reason I could reach this stage even with my lacking talent. So, if someone like Wang Yang learned that, he would soar much higher than anyone in history. He had already done it once without mastering that part, so I could only guess what heights he’d reach after he learned this.

“I won’t let you down, Master.” He seemed more motivated now, once he saw the path, Wang Yang always had an easier time following through.

“That’s a good attitude to have.”

“Also Master, I completed the dummy challenge the day before yesterday, I can now split it 8 times out of 10.” He said with a much bigger smile. “Now I won’t have to do the sword swings, right?”

“You can do those at your discretion, but first you must show it to me.” Although I had already seen him do that with Sun Lingling’s little guidance, it would be better to see it with my eyes to build a habit in Wang Yang to show the end result.

Though he seemed happier to get away from the books for now, we entered the courtyard where Sun Lingling was swinging her sword with her long sleeves fluttering with every turn of her wrist. The slashes were woven together to form a tight net of graceful attacks that had the right amount of power while giving her room to fall back.

The famed Complete (Offense and defense) sword style of the Sword Princess, huh? Did she teach her or did Sun Lingling learn it through the Ashen sword this time? During our duel, this sword style was something that only existed in concept.

The Sword Princess must've had completed that sword style before she went missing, but as far as I remember I hadn’t seen Sun Lingling using it. Before regression, her attacks always had an unparalleled level of sharpness to them, like a ferocious tiger ready to tear anything apart in her way. Something must’ve changed or she deliberately never used this style in the future I knew of. A more aggressive style was sure to increase her strength, something she pursued almost as if possessed.

“Greetings Master and Junior Brother Wang.” She stopped to greet us, sheathing the sword in one movement, she walked over. “I apologize, I was too engrossed in practicing and didn’t notice Master’s arrival.”

“Although I would say that it is a good thing that are lost in training, but always be mindful of your surroundings even when you are in your backyard. You too Wang Yang, don’t let your guard down at any moment, be alert at all times so no one can sneak up on you.” Part of the reason I still suppressed my presence and footsteps was to test them, and the over the past week Sun Lingling has shown a great sense of awareness of her surroundings unless she was training, but Wang Yang had barely spotted me before hearing my voice unless I gave myself away.

“We will keep your lessons in mind.” They said, I do hope Wang Yang learns it on his own.

“Alright then, let’s start with Wang Yang’s progress.” At my words, he merrily brought the monk dummy to the center.

However, unlike what he said, Wang Yang made the dummy split nine times out of ten. He seemed quite pleased with that as Sun Lingling stood by my side, watching over him with a serious expression. She should be able to see it too, Wang Yang was getting closer to the first hurdle of martial path cultivators on his own, but it was too soon for him now because he lacked the usable Qi.

“You did great, Wang Yang. I didn’t expect you to do it at such speed. What should I do, your reward still hasn’t arrived yet.” I said, giving him a boost of confidence.

“Senior Sister Sun helped me a lot, I look forward to the reward though.” Wang Yang placed the dummy away with satisfaction.

I didn’t expect Sun Lingling to help him this quick, however, the faster they become conscious of one another the better it would be for their growth. Although Wang Yang couldn’t face Sun Lingling in terms of talent for the sword yet, he was more than enough to be a rising talent on Tiger Peak, a Peak specializing in Martial Path.

“Then Lingling, it is your turn.” Now it was time to set an ever-increasingly difficult goal in front of Wang Yang.

“Yes, Master.” She brought the Invincible Iron Monk out of the warehouse with one hand, a statue that weighed 100 kilograms.

She had made flying progress herself in a week, not only did she enter the 6th stage of the Qi gathering realm, but also learned three sword techniques as far as I was aware of. Taking the stance of the most lethal of the three, she stood in front of the Invincible Iron Monk, with a clean step forward her straight sword came down a drop of rain landing right on the glabella.

“Woah…” Wang Yang stared wide-eyed at the iron monk, it was cleanly cut into two, the slash glowing in a hue similar to the setting sun. No one had to tell him that this one was different from the one he trained with.

With my used sword she had learned the Iron splitting sword, the second stage of Master’s personal Sword Style. Even if she didn’t show it, Sun Lingling already should’ve learned Earth splitting sword, which is the first stage.

I did give her those swords on purpose to see her learning speed, but this has exceeded my expectations. Real talents are terrifying.

In the Jade Sword Hall, she couldn’t learn a sword technique from the used swords till she reached the 5th Pillar of Foundation Establishment Realm because of restrictions of her spiritual roots. Maybe it was Wang Yang’s presence, or she wasn’t able to learn properly in that place, thinking of how the Head of Jade Sword Hall is, the second option seemed more likely.

“Master, this disciple has a request for the reward next time.” Sun Lingling looked me in the eye. Seemed like she needed something specific, after all, she had more pills she could use in a few months already because of how many times she had beaten Wang Yang in the daily duels.

“If it is something within my power then I will get you the reward, so don’t be polite.” There was only so much she could ask for that I didn’t have.

Sword techniques? I had too many of them from all over the world, from past or future, all stayed at my fingertips. Artifacts? Chen Zhipeng could help, or the close by Grotto Heavens would have them, one way or another I’ll get them for her. Pills? I could make them myself or give Liu Zhi another wine recipe to get it.

Yet, what she asked for was something I least expected.

“For the next reward… may I have a chance to face Master in a duel?”