ATPnovel Chapter 579: Yes, Sir, I Am Willing
Chapter 579: Yes, Sir, I Am Willing
Within the cave dwelling, Liu Shui sat cross-legged upon a jade bed.This jade bed was a treasure Xiao Mo had given Liu Shui, capable of steadying her mind and spirit firmly, making her less susceptible to distracting thoughts.
Before Liu Shui, a good number of elixirs were also arranged.
The first step in the breakthrough toward the Nascent Soul realm was to condense one's spiritual energy.
And so, at regular intervals, Liu Shui would take a "Spirit Replenishing Pill" from a glazed bottle and consume it.
Liu Shui's foundation had always been laid extremely solidly in her ordinary practice, and combined with the boost from these superior elixirs, she quickly finished condensing the spiritual energy within her body, successfully advancing to the second stage.
The second stage required her spiritual energy to surge through every meridian and every spiritual aperture within her body, opening up every passage throughout her entire being.
At this stage, the danger had already begun to show itself.
For the quantity and concentration of spiritual energy within Liu Shui's body now, far exceeded the ordinary, and the slightest misstep could very well cause her spiritual meridians and apertures to be destroyed by that same spiritual energy.
Fortunately, Liu Shui remained extremely careful throughout, never greedy for speed, never seeking to rush.
Through her cautious attempts, she finally passed successfully through the second stage.
However, Liu Shui dared not let her guard down in the slightest.
Because nearly seventy percent of cultivators fell at the third stage, the destruction of the Golden Core.
The Golden Core within a cultivator's body was the most fundamental cornerstone for the formation of a Nascent Soul.
Any cultivator attempting to break through into the Nascent Soul realm had to "destroy" the Golden Core within their own body then, using the essence refined from that Golden Core, gradually condense it, bit by bit, into the golden form of the Nascent Soul.
Liu Shui took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began breaking down the Golden Core within her body, piece by piece.
Each time a small fragment of Golden Core powder flaked away from the core itself, it felt as though she were holding a blade with her own hands, stripping away her own flesh and blood bit by bit, shattering her bones one by one.
Excruciating pain surged toward her in waves, like an incoming tide.
Fine beads of cold sweat broke out across Liu Shui's forehead, sliding slowly down her pale cheeks.
Her breathing grew ever more rapid, her chest heaving violently.
That agony, worse than death itself, no longer remained confined to the physical level, but reached deep into the very soul.
Several times, Liu Shui's heart nearly gave up entirely but each time, Xiao Mo's image would rise, unbidden, in her mind.
"I cannot give up..."
Liu Shui gritted her teeth, repeating this to herself over and over in her mind.
"I want to stay by sir's side... I don't want to watch him walk further and further ahead, while I can only stand in place, only able to quietly watch his back grow distant."
Liu Shui bit her lip so hard her teeth nearly sank into the flesh, using every ounce of her strength to endure the surging, tide-like agony coursing through her body and soul.
This agony, like being sliced apart piece by piece, lasted a full ten years.
Ten years later, the moment the last remnant of Golden Core within her body dissolved into fine powder and scattered completely, that agony, tearing through body and soul alike, finally vanished.
Liu Shui hurriedly steadied her mind, and began condensing the Nascent Soul within her body.
This was the fourth stage, the formation of the Nascent Soul.
Golden powder, bathed in spiritual energy, condensed continuously.
Liu Shui carefully, bit by bit, refined and shaped it.
As time passed, the form of that Nascent Soul grew ever clearer, ever closer to Liu Shui's own appearance.
Another ten years passed.
The moment the Nascent Soul fully took shape, an indescribable, profound sensation suddenly filled every part of Liu Shui's being.
She could clearly feel that the laws flowing through her surroundings now seemed entirely different from before.
No...
The laws had, in truth, never changed at all.
It was simply that she had now half-stepped into the Nascent Soul realm, and the level she now perceived, the heavens and earth she now sensed, were worlds apart from what she had known at the Golden Core realm.
"What are you all doing?"
Suddenly, a childish voice reached Liu Shui's ears.
Liu Shui, who had been deeply absorbed in comprehending the laws around her, opened her eyes abruptly.
Liu Shui saw a little boy standing before her.
"Sir..."
Liu Shui's eyes trembled faintly, staring blankly at the little boy before her and facing Xiao Mo were those page boys of the demon aristocracy.
Liu Shui would never forget this day.
This was the very day she had first met sir.
Had it not been for sir, she likely would not have survived even this day but soon, Liu Shui realized, this must be her own inner demon illusion.
The inner demon illusion was the fifth stage of forming the Nascent Soul, and the final one.
Pass through it, and the formation of the Nascent Soul would succeed, becoming from then on a cultivator of the Nascent Soul realm, able to found one's own school.
Fail to pass through it... and her body would perish, her Dao extinguished, her path of cultivation ending here in this life, with no chance to begin again.
"But why... would my inner demon... be exactly this scene?"
Before Liu Shui could gather her thoughts, Wang Zhong and the other page boys had already pounced.
Xiao Mo grappled with them but soon, Xiao Mo knocked them all to the ground.
Before long, the elders of each household arrived, having heard the commotion.
Young Miss Jingci also hurried to Xiao Mo's side, fiercely shielding him, refusing to let anyone bully him.
The years that followed unfolded exactly as they once had.
Liu Shui became acquainted with Xiao Mo and Tushan Jingci, and under their care, step by step, advanced along the path of cultivation.
She, too, would often visit Tushan Jingci's courtyard, bringing pastries she had made herself, helping with small tasks within her ability, doing everything she could to repay the two of them for their initial kindness.
At first, Liu Shui kept reminding herself over and over, “This is nothing more than an inner demon illusion. I must proceed with care in everything, and never lose myself within it."
But as the days passed, one after another, Liu Shui's awareness gradually grew hazier.
Those repeated warnings she told herself gradually lost their force.
At last...
One day, when Liu Shui woke, she had entirely forgotten that she was within an inner demon illusion at all.
Ten years later...
"Young master Xiao... I... I like you..."
On the very first day Liu Shui returned to the academy after accompanying her mother on a visit to relatives, it happened to coincide with Xiao Mo's emergence from seclusion.
She could no longer suppress the feelings that had built up within her for so long, and at last gathered the courage to speak the words hidden deep in her heart to Xiao Mo.
The moment the words left her mouth, Liu Shui gazed nervously at Xiao Mo, her heart pounding fast and hard, as though it might leap straight out of her chest.
"Sister Liu Shui... in truth... I like you too." Xiao Mo's cheeks flushed slightly as well, carrying the pure, innocent feeling particular to a young man. "Would you... be willing to become my cultivation partner?"
Liu Shui froze.
She had already prepared herself to be refused.
She had even thought through how she would force out a casual smile after being gently turned down, how she would treat the words as though they had never been spoken at all but he had given her the very best response she could have hoped for, so good it hardly seemed real.
"I... I am willing."
Liu Shui's voice trembled, her eyes reddening at once.
"I am willing to stay by sir's side always, to serve him."
The following year, an unbroken string of firecracker bursts rang out from every corner of Liu Family Village, red paper scraps swirling through the air, filling the ground with festive color.
Liu Shui put on a vivid red wedding garment, and had her face painted with festive bridal makeup.
Supported by her mother, Liu Shui climbed into the bridal palanquin, which swayed gently as it passed through the familiar paths between the fields, through the village entrance she knew so well.
Liu Shui was married successfully, wed to the person she loved most.
"First bow, to Heaven and Earth..."
"Second bow, to the honored elders..."
"Bow to each other, husband and wife..."
Amid the joyful sounds of the bowing ceremony, Liu Shui and Xiao Mo stood side by side, bending forward, raising their heads, bending forward again, raising their heads again.
Outside the hall, the daylight filtered in through the red silk, drawing their two shadows together, overlapping one another.
That night, Liu Shui sat within the bridal chamber, the red candles burning quietly.
Her small hands gripped her sleeves tightly, her heart filled with both nervousness and anticipation.
"Creak."
At last, the door was gently pushed open by the groom, letting out a faint sound.
Liu Shui's delicate body trembled faintly, her legs instinctively pressing closer together beneath her.
Her heartbeat suddenly quickened, her breathing falling out of rhythm along with it.
Xiao Mo picked up the ruyi scale wound with red silk, walked slowly forward, and gently lifted the red veil with the scale's rod.
The red veil slipped away like drifting clouds, revealing Liu Shui's blushing face.
She raised her eyes to look at him, the light in her eyes flickering in the candlelight, as though holding an entire spring within them.
The nuptial wine drained in one go, Liu Shui's cheeks flushed crimson in the candlelight.
The window was gently closed, the bed curtains slowly lowered, and Xiao Mo reached out, undoing the sash at her waist.
The wedding garment slid silently down along the woman's fair, smooth skin, like a flower unhurriedly unfurling every petal.
In the days that followed, Liu Shui and Xiao Mo lived in perfect harmony, together morning and night.
The two of them cultivated together, supporting one another along the path of the Dao.
Later, Liu Shui gave birth to a son and a daughter.
She soothed the children when they cried, and laughed along with them when they laughed.
The days slipped quietly by, marked by the morning bell and the evening drum.
She nearly forgot where all of this had begun, and forgot even to wonder whether this would ever come to an end.
Until that particular evening.
As was their custom, the whole family sat together, eating their evening meal.
The oil lamp's light stretched each of their shadows long and short and just as Liu Shui was thoroughly immersed in this happy life, unable to pull herself away.
In reality, the bracelet on Liu Shui's wrist bloomed with a green glow, gradually seeping into her spiritual consciousness.
Suddenly, the Liu Shui within the inner demon illusion froze.
The chopsticks in her hand hung suspended in midair, her entire form as though caught in a single frozen moment.
The steam still rose gently from the bowl before her, and yet she suddenly felt as though jolted awake from a great dream.
"Wife, what's wrong?" Xiao Mo, noticing his wife's strange behavior, quickly set down his bowl and chopsticks, asking with concern.
"Mother, are you all right? Are you feeling ill?" Their children, too, gathered close to Liu Shui, their small hands gently tugging at her sleeve, looking up at her, their eyes full of worry. "Should we go see a physician?"
Liu Shui gazed at them blankly for a moment, then smiled gently, as though nothing at all had happened.
She reached out and rubbed her children's small heads, then raised her eyes to look at her beloved husband.
Her gaze was as gentle as moonlight.
"I'm fine, there's no need to worry, it's only that all of this... is simply too wonderful..." Liu Shui's voice was very soft, as though afraid of disturbing something delicate. "So wonderful that it makes me feel... as though it isn't quite real."
Hearing his wife's words, Xiao Mo froze for a moment, a complicated flicker of emotion passing through his eyes.
His expression remained calm, and he smiled gently, saying softly, "Does it really matter whether it's real or not? As long as we're happy together, isn't that enough?"
"But all of this... is false..." Liu Shui said this quietly, her voice holding no anger, only a sudden, dawning realization.
As her words fell, everything around her gradually began to dissolve.
"Xiao Mo," too, slowly blurred, at last transforming into a small figure identical to herself, this being Liu Shui's own Nascent Soul.
Liu Shui slowly opened her eyes, and what met her gaze was the familiar cave dwelling.
The stone walls, the jade bed, the elixir furnace not yet fully burned out...
Everything seemed unchanged.
"Have I... passed through the Nascent Soul tribulation?"
Liu Shui lowered her head, looking at her own hands, her eyes filled with disbelief.
"Sister Liu Shui..."
At that very moment, Xiao Mo's voice came from the entrance of the cave dwelling.
Liu Shui turned her head, and saw Xiao Mo walking toward her.
His expression was gentle, just as it had always been.
"Sir..."
Liu Shui hurried down from the jade bed, running lightly toward him, her small, fair feet, tinged faintly pink, pattering softly against the cool stone floor.
She stopped before Xiao Mo, raising her head to look into his eyes, her gaze full of undisguisable joy.
"Sir, I have entered the Nascent Soul realm..."
"Mm."
Xiao Mo nodded, his gaze falling gently upon Liu Shui.
"I could sense it... the resonance of the Dao radiating from you now, Sister Liu Shui, is indistinguishable from that of the Nascent Soul realm. Congratulations, Sister Liu Shui, from now on, you are a cultivator of the Nascent Soul realm."
"My thanks to you, sir..."
Liu Shui bowed, her heart filled with joy but soon, as though remembering something, her eyes trembled faintly, a soft blush quietly rising to her cheeks, her voice growing quieter without meaning to, carrying a note of nervous anticipation.
"Sir... I once said to you before, that if I emerged successfully from seclusion... about the matter of becoming your concubine... I..."
"I've actually wanted to say this to you for a long time, Sister Liu Shui."
Xiao Mo reached out, gently taking hold of Liu Shui's fair, delicate hand, palm against palm, his tone tender.
"As long as you don't mind it, Sister Liu Shui, I would like to take you as my secondary wife. From now on, the three of us will live together, side by side, morning and night. Sister Liu Shui, are you willing?"
"I..."
…
In reality.
Liu Shui, seated cross-legged upon the jade bed, let tears fall silently, one after another, from the corners of her eyes, sliding slowly down her pale cheeks.
"Hmm, hmm..."
"Hmm, hmm..."
The jade-green bracelet on Liu Shui's wrist trembled without pause, again and again attempting to wake its owner, the tremors growing ever more violent, ever more urgent but Liu Shui, seated cross-legged upon the jade bed, could no longer sense it at all.
She had forgotten...
Forgotten that the formation array of this cave dwelling could not be entered by anyone, not unless she herself broke through and emerged, or failed the breakthrough entirely, not even by Xiao Mo.
She had forgotten... forgotten that sir had once told her that he, too, was about to enter seclusion, striving for a breakthrough into the Immortal realm, a process that would take at least a century.
So how could he possibly appear before her at this moment...
"Sir... I... I am willing..."
At last, the corners of Liu Shui's mouth curved upward faintly, and through her tears, she slowly spoke those three words.
Within the inner demon illusion, Xiao Mo reached out and gently drew her into his embrace.
And her body, in reality, dissolved bit by bit into points of light, drifting silently away, like fireflies scattered by the wind, gradually vanishing, until she could be seen no more...