Chapter 9: First Encounter with the Cultivation Realm

  Seeing his puzzled look, Xīaozǐ didn't explain much and directly said to Xiǎo Liúxīng: "Although this girl is a rare, innate Qíu Shuǐ body, she's not mature yet. Your physique is slightly better than hers, and you're male, so males should take care of the weak. The process of receiving the divine enlightenment will involve some suffering, that's why I chose to enlighten you. You two are my third and fourth disciples. You'll be Third Brother, and the little girl will be Fourth Sister. Your two senior brothers will be known to you later. As for your junior sister's cultivation, from now on, it will be up to you to teach her in place of me."

  "After I impart this to you and the divine consciousness disappears, I'll tell you about our sect's tenets: Good and evil are directly pointed out by one's own heart, likes and dislikes are directly pointed out by one's own heart. This can also be considered as me teaching you life's principles. If you don't understand now, it doesn't matter, you will eventually come to understand. Just remember them for now. Alright, that's all I have to say. Next, bury my remains 10 zhang outside the cave entrance under that big stone, dig a hole five chi deep. Come here." Xīao Yǎo Zǐ said as he beckoned to Xiǎo Liú Xīng with his hand.

  "You two have a rare talent, one that I've only seen in my lifetime as a teacher. Your future achievements will definitely far surpass mine, especially yours, even I couldn't see through you. You must work hard and remember this advice: always keep some strength in reserve when dealing with people, don't show mercy to those who deserve none, thoroughly eliminate them if needed. Don't repeat my mistake of being harmed by showing too much kindness. Take it as a warning, remember it well! Alright, that's all I'll say for now. Relax your body, I'm going to start the energy transfer. It will hurt a bit later, endure it for as long as you can. The longer you endure, the more I'll be able to pass on to you. Do you understand?"

  I didn't expect that my immortal master would really disperse soon. At this time, the little meteor suddenly felt a pang in his heart, it was so hard to bear. Although they had only been together for less than a minute, he could feel that Xīao Yángzi was genuinely kind to him. In this world, there were only a handful of people who were truly good to him, including the shopkeeper. He had long thought that when he had the chance, he would definitely repay these people's kindness. But now his master was about to leave, and it wouldn't even be possible for him to repay him.

  "A real man should be strong and independent, no need to be so feminine!" Seeing Xiaoliuxing's appearance, Xiangyaozi let out a loud shout, "Relax, I'm starting now!" After finishing speaking, he didn't even wait for Xiaoliuxing to react, and pressed his hand onto his head. Then, Xiaoliuxing's whole body began to emit a green glow, while Xiangyaozi's own body became increasingly faint. This shocked the little girl Chun Tian who was standing on the side stiff. It wasn't until Xiangyaozi gave her an encouraging smile that she felt better.

  And as for Xiaoliu, when Xiangyuzi's hand touched his head, he felt something drilling into his brain, making his head ache unbearably, a pain he had never imagined before. He furrowed his brow and gritted his teeth, but within seconds, Xiaoliu's head began to sweat profusely, his expression twisted in agony. He struggled, yet persisted. He didn't want to disappoint Xiangyuzi; if he could endure for just a little while longer, it would make Xiangyuzi even happier, and allow him to leave with an even lighter heart. This was also a way of repaying her kindness.

  Seeing Xiaoliuxing's painfully twisted expression, Xia Chun Tian burst into tears, not knowing whether it was fear or heartache for her brother. About half an hour passed, and Xiangyaozi's figure slowly faded away, finally dispersing into the air. Before he disappeared, he was smiling, if only slightly.

  He wanted to laugh wildly, crazily, and there was no happier moment than this. A child who had not undergone any training, a mere child, had not fainted from pain even after being subjected to his full-force pouring of memories for half an hour! This meant that he had completely accepted all the experiences of his life! Over 800 years of experience in one lifetime! This was what made him most happy. The pouring of memories was like transmitting memories into a soul, and the soul was the true self of the cultivator, later to become the yuan infant. To transmit memories into it, one had to first tear it open, then fill it with memories, forcing them in. The more memories transmitted, the more the opening would have to be torn wider. The pain of the soul was thousands, tens of thousands of times more painful than cutting flesh and scraping bone! Ordinary people would faint from pain after a few seconds, while those who were stronger could last for ten or twenty seconds, which was already quite good. Even in his own prime, relying on the help of his true yuan cultivated through years of practice, he knew that he could at most endure for ten minutes. And yet, this disciple before him had relied solely on his own willpower to persist for a full half hour!!!

  His future achievements, he didn't dare to think about it anymore, maybe even the legendary Divine Realm, and perhaps more!!! This was Xīao Yóu Zǐ's last thought as he dissipated after soothing Little Liú Xīng Líng's wounded soul.

  Xiaoyaozi disappeared into thin air with a smile on his face, and our little meteor, at the beginning, he kept going with a belief, persisting all the time. After Xiaoyaozi soothed his soul wound for the last time, all his pain disappeared without leaving any trace, as if nothing had happened. Moreover, Little Meteor felt very comfortable, just like lying in a thick quilt on a snowy day, warm and cozy inside. Except when he was in his grandfather's arms, Little Meteor hadn't felt this way for a long time.

  Suddenly, Xiao Liuxing felt that his head seemed to have something more, and after a slight thought, many pictures poured into his mind like a flood - it was the memory of Xīao Yáo Zǐ's life, from the beginning of his memory, all the way to being injured and living in seclusion at the bottom of the cliff, from being brought into the Xiūzhēn realm by his master, to becoming the number one person in the Xiūzhēn realm through his own efforts and his master's help.

  Drip by drip, the little shooting star watched as Xīao Yǎo Zǐ went through his life experiences and saw the changes in his thoughts. Completely and utterly, the little shooting star understood that the realms of the Cultivation World were divided into: Foundation Building, Fusion, Valley of Abstinence, Golden Elixir, Nascent Soul, Departure from the Mundane, Division of Spirits, Union of Bodies, Tribulation Crossing, and Great Vehicle. He also knew that his master was not a deity, and that the Cultivation World was only the lowest level, with the Immortal Realm above it, and the Divine Realm above that. He also understood why Xīao Yǎo Zǐ had specifically instructed him to bury his own bones under that large stone and dig three feet into the ground. Because this too was a kind of test.

  Test the mind of his apprentice. Because under three feet at a designated location, Xīyáng Zǐ buried two peerless treasures. Not even he himself knew what they were or what they could do, and there was also a storage ring that collected everything from his life. If his apprentice did not respect him as their deceased master after receiving his inheritance and did not bury his remains according to his words, then they would not obtain the two peerless treasures and the storage ring.

  Xiao Liuxing, who inherited all of Xīyángzi's memories, now has a comprehensive encyclopedia of spiritual cultivation. Although he doesn't understand the meaning of many things, it doesn't matter; he can learn slowly and will eventually come to understand them later on.

  After browsing through the life of Xīao Yǎo Zǐ, Little Meteor felt sad for his master's passing, but then he perked up. His master had already passed away, and being sad wouldn't do any good. Little Meteor, who had been independent since he was very young, wasn't that sentimental; some things were fine just remembering them in his heart, and there was no need to express them. "A Yuan Ying like Master's that didn't disperse after death can be reincarnated. Hopefully, I'll have the chance to meet Master's reincarnation in the future and repay him properly then." Little Meteor thought to himself, greatly broadening his horizons.

  It's been a long time, but the actual time that has passed is not very long. From the beginning of Xīao Yǎo Zǐ giving Liú Xīng a brain dump to Liú Xīng finishing browsing his memories, it only took about 40 minutes or so, and most of that was spent on the brain dump. Liú Xīng spent just over ten minutes browsing through his entire life's worth of memories. Reading one's own memories is like blinking an eye - decades pass in an instant. Although Xīao Yǎo Zǐ lived for hundreds of years, ten-odd minutes were more than enough, and that was only because there were many insights about Xiū Zhēn in his memories that left Liú Xīng dazed for a while; otherwise he would have woken up even earlier.

  "Brother, what's wrong with you? Wake up, brother, waaahhhh~~~" Just as he woke up, Little Flowing Star found himself lying on the ground and heard Little Spring shouting anxiously in his ear while shaking his body. This concern moved Little Flowing Star deeply. After being knocked on the head by Carefree, not only did Little Flowing Star not feel tired, but instead, after waking up, he felt extremely clear-headed and full of energy all over his body.

  So, as soon as he opened his eyes, he immediately got up. "Brother is fine, don't cry in the spring, okay?" He wiped away Little Spring's tears with one hand while awkwardly comforting him with the other. This was actually the first time Little Flowing Star had ever comforted someone, and it felt strange, a bit unnatural. Seeing that his brother was awake, Little Spring's fear dissipated, and with his comfort, he quickly stopped crying. Kids are like that, their tears come and go quickly.

  He pulled Little Spring, who still had water droplets on his face that hadn't dried yet, to his side and stood in front of the skeleton on the bed. Xīaozǐ, although he was dead, was still their master. They were about to move his remains, so naturally they had to pay their respects with a bow. After all, one day as a teacher is a lifetime as a father - it's a basic principle that people can't forget.

  Then, with Xiaochun Tian, they knocked nine heads on the remains of Xiao Yaozi. After that, Xiaoliu Xing dug three feet at the designated location and put his remains in it. Of course, he also took out the three treasures. After burying the remains, Xiaoliu Xing didn't rush to look at the three treasures, but instead pulled Xiaochun Tian to knock nine more heads on Xiao Yaozi's grave.

  Since little Liuxing started digging the ground, Xiaochuntian had been quietly following him. Nothing was said about Master's disappearance, which must have given this young mind a certain impact. Too many things happened on that day: the villain came to her home to catch her, then Little Liuxing appeared and killed the villain, then they started fleeing, fell off a cliff, and finally Master disappeared. Everything happened too fast for her to adapt.

  So when Little Stream buried the remains of Xiao Yaozi, and brought her back to that cave again, she soon fell asleep leaning on Little Stream. In Little Spring's heart, there was also such a thought, perhaps, after she woke up, she could see her parents again, and return to her carefree home, only with an additional brother, and, of course, Master.