The seventh day.
Today was the seventh day He Qiu had been diligently practicing the Seventh-Order Sword Incantation.
He had slept well last night, and it was already noon when he woke up.
Feeling groggy, He Qiu spent another hour lazing in bed before finally forcing himself to get up.
After grabbing his washbasin and towel, He Qiu headed out to the forest stream behind the pavilion to wash up.
He washed his face, dried off, brushed his teeth, and rinsed off…
Phew, he couldn’t help but admire the geography of the Longyin Sect.
This was a level of natural beauty that the heavily polluted forests of his previous life could never match.
Sitting by the stream with his bare ankles in the water, He Qiu looked up at the blue sky, his mind at peace.
‘Oh right, I need to try summoning the Sword Spirit again.’
Suddenly, he remembered the business he hadn’t finished yesterday.
He couldn’t let Senior Sister Ling Ran’s afternoon of sword instruction go to waste.
Because he had slept so soundly and was still groggy, He Qiu had almost forgotten this important task.
Closing his eyes, He Qiu began to recall the sensation of yesterday’s successful summons.
‘I remember… first, my palm felt itchy. Then, it felt like something was taking root and sprouting in my Spirit Vein. Finally, a sharp ice shard burst forth from the bone in my palm…’
That was roughly the procedure.
But after several attempts, He Qiu still failed.
He couldn’t replicate yesterday’s Sword Spirit no matter what he did.
‘Damn it, I clearly remember it being like this.’
He Qiu moved his left hand back and forth, but no matter how he flexed his fingers or gathered his strength, he couldn’t summon that ice shard from his palm.
And while He Qiu was immersed in his cultivation—
“You insolent man, who gave you permission to soak your feet in the stream?”
An ethereal, crisp voice came from behind him, its tone strict and filled with reproach.
He Qiu turned around to see a girl with pale gold hair and deer horns staring coldly at him.
Delicate cherry-pink silk ribbons floated around her.
She looked like a Celestial Spirit dwelling in nature, blending perfectly into the verdant mountains and clear water.
The spiritual energy radiating from her was strong.
He Qiu instinctively guessed she was someone important.
“And you are?”
“A mortal has no right to know my name.”
The girl huffed and ignored He Qiu, walking straight toward the stream.
He Qiu reflexively stood up.
He worried he might have unintentionally offended this Celestial Spirit by trespassing on her territory… or maybe the stream where he was washing his feet was her “drinking water”?
In any case, he seemed to have made her angry.
“Hey! Are you thinking about something rude? I have never taken a single sip of water from a stream you’ve washed your feet in!”
The Celestial Spirit snapped, as if she could read his mind, refuting He Qiu’s internal complaints.
He Qiu’s eyes widened.
He didn’t think he wore his thoughts on his sleeve, yet this mysterious deer girl had seen right through him.
‘Does she have mind-reading powers?’
Regardless, He Qiu decided to apologize first.
Being polite to powerful-looking people was a valuable life lesson he had learned as a scholar on this fantasy continent.
“My apologies. I didn’t mean any offense.”
“Hmph, I know~”
Upon receiving his apology, her sulky expression vanished.
She walked toward He Qiu, bypassed him, and sat down by the stream with a little “heigh-ho,” plunging her fair, bare feet into the clear water.
…
He Qiu watched her, his lips twitching.
She just scolded him for washing his feet, so why was she putting her own feet in?
Were her feet that much cleaner than his?
Could it be that this stream was her private bath?
“I said, don’t keep thinking rude things about me. I can hear every little thought you have.”
The girl spoke without turning back.
Her pale gold hair fell softly onto the grass.
Although her voice was slightly playful, it remained ethereal and pleasant.
Half-doubting her, He Qiu cautiously sat down beside her.
She didn’t push him away, simply swinging her feet in the water as she sat in silence, lost in thought.
“You just called yourself a Celestial Spirit. So, are you really the kind described in myths… a natural Celestial Spirit formed from a spirit beast with 100,000 years of cultivation?”
“Only 100,000 years? Are you looking down on me?”
Lu Ling gave He Qiu a proud, haughty look.
He Qiu took a breath and tried again.
“A million years?”
“Still wrong.”
“Ah, well… it can’t be 10,000,000, can it?”
He Qiu felt that 10,000,000 years of cultivation was impossible.
Based on the history books he’d read, he doubted this continent even had a 10,000,000-year history, let alone beasts of that age.
Just as He Qiu became increasingly suspicious, Lu Ling couldn’t hold it in any longer.
She burst into laughter, her voice sounding as sweet and natural as a child’s.
“Pfft, haha! I was just teasing you~”
“How could there be a spirit beast with 10,000,000 years of cultivation? I’m just a deer spirit with 30,000 years… But even at 30,000 years, I’m very powerful in the Spirit Cultivation Realm! Stop looking at me so rudely!”
She swung her feet gently in the water, creating small splashes and ripples.
Her playfulness was charming rather than annoying.
“…”
He Qiu was speechless.
He watched the eccentric girl with a complicated expression.
Were all ancient beings with tens of thousands of years of cultivation this mischievous?
“If you keep complaining about me, I’ll turn you into a little turtle!”
The girl puffed out her cheeks, leaned forward, and stared into He Qiu’s eyes with her bright, golden pupils.
Her hair was a natural pale gold, but her eyes were even brighter, reflecting a golden shimmer like sunlight.
She had the presence of a true creature of nature.
Honestly, He Qiu believed she was a Celestial Spirit.
Between her natural spiritual aura and her beautiful, otherworldly appearance, she didn’t seem human.
Besides, humans didn’t grow long deer horns on their heads.
He hadn’t expected to meet a Celestial Spirit just by going out to wash his face…
Just how many powerful beings were hiding within the Longyin Sect?
“…”
Unable to figure the girl out, He Qiu decided to stop talking.
He rolled up his pants, put his feet back into the water, and sat beside her.
This time, Lu Ling said nothing.
It seemed she hadn’t been truly angry from the start.
That stern look had just been an act to scare him for fun.
Strangely enough, both He Qiu and Lu Ling seemed to enjoy soaking their feet in the stream.
It was peaceful and relaxing, almost like a natural water massage.
Finally, having had her fill of relaxation, Lu Ling spoke up.
“He Qiu, do you know why you can’t summon the Frost Sword Spirit?”
Her words were a bombshell.
First, He Qiu didn’t understand how she knew his name.
If this was mind-reading, it was terrifying.
Maybe she had already seen through his identity as a transmigrator…
‘This is straight to the ninth level.’
Furthermore, Lu Ling even knew about the bottleneck he was facing.
It was as if she were omniscient regarding his affairs.
Was this the sensory ability of a 30,000-year-old Celestial Spirit?
Truly incredible…
“Hmph~ You’re finally showing me some respect. You even called me ‘Celestial Spirit’ in your head.”
“Uh, respected Celestial Spirit, do you have a way to help me break through this bottleneck?”
He Qiu felt that the girl wasn’t a bad person.
Since she had appeared and started a conversation, she must have some intention.
He asked her directly.
Since she could read minds, there was no point in hiding his thoughts anyway.
“There’s a way. I’ll lend you some spiritual energy to help you summon the Sword Spirit.”
The girl spoke casually, tilting her head to gaze at the blue sky.
Her profile was beautiful, and under the sunlight, she radiated an elegant, natural grace.
She enjoyed soaking her feet and staring at the sky, just like He Qiu.
Lu Ling continued, “He Qiu, your problem isn’t that you haven’t grasped the method of summoning a Sword Spirit. It’s that your Spirit Vein is too weak and empty. You simply don’t have enough spiritual energy to summon a Sword Spirit of that level.”
“Then what should I do?”
He Qiu lacked confidence.
He had been told he had a Wasted Spirit Vein during his entrance test; his Spirit Sea was born almost entirely devoid of spiritual energy.
Suddenly, he recalled something from the records he had read.
When a cultivator formed a contract with a spirit beast, the two could connect their Spirit Veins, share spiritual energy, and circulate power between each other…
‘Is this Celestial Spirit planning to… with me?’
The moment that hopeful thought appeared in He Qiu’s mind, the deer-horned girl crushed it.
“Don’t get any ideas. I already have a Spirit Master.”
And a spirit beast could never contract with two Spirit Masters at the same time.