Study for Seconds, Rest for Hours

The report of Liu Bu's death and the end of ShenMing Wu's contract with HaiShen Yu was at once bruited abroad and plunged through the ears of the cultivation world in confusion.

This piece of small news was circulated from mouth to mouth, with each mouth telling a slightly different story than the other. Despite this, the brothers and sisters of ShenMing Wu could not care less. After all, they were too high in the sky, anyway.

"Do I have to do this?" Yu Xuelan groaned and lumped her upper body over the table.

Wu Zhitian nodded, dipping his brush in black ink before gently gliding the brush across the paper with the utmost professional mannerism.

The distracted glanced around the room, noticing that there were a lot of ink scroll paintings lying on the shelves and in the corner of the room.

They were quite dusty, which hinted the impression that the scrolls had been left there for months.

"Sect Master Wu, do you like painting?"

Wu Zhitian slowly tightened his grip on his paintbrush subconsciously and didn't respond, only glancing at the girl's empty book in silence.

"I'm injured," she said and raised her left arm up, waving it around.

"You're right-handed?"

"I still feel the pain all over my body! It's like my entire body is throbbing!"

"You were drunk last night?"

Yu Xuelan frowned and looked away. The days of quietness in Wu Zhitian's study room had soon stopped since she arrived. However, he felt more peace with the noise of her voice compared to when the room was in complete silence, with the only noise being the rustles of the leaves and the afternoon chirps of the birds.

"Sect Master Wu, did I do anything weird last night when I was drunk?"

He remained silent and waited for the girl to say more.

"Like, um..."

"Oh, do you mean when you jumped on m-"

The girl yelled and instantly jolted up in a panic, covering both of her ears with her palm to block out his words.

"Ignorance is bliss, ignorance is bliss, ignorance is bliss," she chanted.

"I apologize for everything I said or did last night. Please, just forget about it. What you saw was just an illusion. Like, a bad, bad dream."

"Ah, okay. You did nothing, don't worry."

Yu Xuelan was in disbelief and thought that he was just trying to make her feel better. A sigh escaped her lips, and she glanced outside the window where the birds chirped amongst one another. However, she noticed that no human voices could be heard, nor had anyone passed by.

She continued to flip through the pages of ShenMing Wu's cultivation manual. It was best for her to learn the basic techniques of this sect since she could not keep cultivating like she used to. They would soon find out that something was wrong with her and it would appear too suspicious. Yet, it was easier said than done since her core formation had already nurtured, forging itself to suit the ways of HaiShen Yu.

She continued studying the cultivation methods and attempted to memorize a few pages.

"I got it!" Yu Xuelan exclaimed in joy, "Lend me a stick."

Wu Zhitian didn't question her and walked towards the window, reaching out his arms to pluck off a branch from the tree that grew close by his room before handing it to Yu Xuelan.

"Watch closely! This disciple has learnt greatly!" She smiled.

Yu Xuelan pushed her arms forward and pointed the branch upwards. A subtle light gathered around the tip and Wu Zhitian gazed at whatever she was trying to do curiously, watching in anticipation.

After an intense moment of concentration, a small bubble formed from the point of the branch and flew up, popping before it even reached the ceiling.

Wu Zhitian, "....."

Yu Xuelan, "....."

They stared at each other in silence until Wu Zhitian started clapping but the girl stopped him in embarrassment.

"Wait, wait, wait. What did I do wrong? That's strange, a tornado was supposed to happen." Yu Xuelan muttered and rubbed the back of her head in confusion.

The fact that she was attempting to summon a tornado even though the cultivation manual was about meditation and the calming of one's soul caused Wu Zhitian to question what the girl had been reading for the past three hours.

"Hm... I should conduct secluded meditation to regulate my Qi circulation to prevent myself from collapsing like last time," she thought.

Since her soul and spiritual core were still adjusting to this new body she was given, the flow of her Qi circulation was rather irregular.

...

The sky washed with the brightest blue while the sun's body illuminated its warmth across the horizon.

She spent her time writing on the manual vigorously and Wu Zhitian continued documenting on ShenMing Wu's records diligently. He glanced up at her, who was still immersed in scribbling in her booklet and tried to take a glimpse at what she was writing.

He tilted his head in confusion and Yu Xuelan noticed he was stealing glances at her work.

"Tada!" She grinned brightly and beamed in delight, showing him her 'cultivation method' manual.

Wu Zhitian stared at the manual blankly. It was a drawing. The drawing was intricately constructed and was quite appealing to the eyes.

Yu Xuelan had studied many arts and literature when she was living up to the image of a refined sect master's daughter. Although sadly, her skills had diminished yet her ability in painting still seemed to remain the same.

Wu Zhitian still stared vacantly at the portrait, not blinking, because the person Yu Xuelan had painted was the girl in the ink scroll paintings that were hung in the room he put her in. Except, the girl's smile in the painting did not produce the impression of obliviousness. The lady in Yu Xuelan's doodles had an innocent, bright smile.

Yu Xuelan flapped the portrait around before staring at it from afar, appreciating how she did not lose her artistic touch. If she did, then she would truly be upset that she suffered all those years for nothing.

"Do you like it?" She smiled, and the boy nodded.

"I have more!"

Yu Xuelan laughed and began flipping through the entire manual, which was filled with portraits of possibly everyone from ShenMing Wu.

The unpredictability of the girl made him speechless, wondering how she had the time to do all of this. Most importantly, he was confused by how Yu Xuelan was already familiar with all the faces of everyone at the Feather Temple.

She continued to scribble more things in the manual, and Wu Zhitian watched her happily draw away. Who knew that the corners of his lips raised and without knowing, he had stopped writing on his documents and simply watched the girl draw with a carefree smile.

That was once shattered.

...

"Come with me to Hufeng City."

"Hufeng? Have demons invaded the city?" Yu Xuelan asked.

"There's a festival going on tomorrow night."

"Festival? Really? I can go?" She asked with eyes beaming in excitement, and the boy nodded.

"When are we going?"

"This afternoon."