Chapter 55: The World’s Most Valuable Chicken
“I want to cultivate. Only by becoming an immortal cultivator can I avoid being bullied.”
Liu Miao looked at Su Huanhuan, her tone calm but filled with determination.
After a few simple questions, they learned why this seemingly confused girl always wanted to hang around Luohe—she wanted to learn cultivation.
According to her, the mountain village where she used to live had been caught in the crossfire between two cultivators.
She happened to be in town with the villagers at the time, luckily escaping disaster.
Her words didn’t express any extreme emotions; she spoke as if describing an inevitable natural disaster.
Perhaps it was precisely because she recognized the profound gulf between the two worlds that she wanted to peer into that other realm.
“Hmm… she’s good material.”
After hearing Liu Miao’s words, a hint of appreciation flashed in Su Huanhuan’s eyes.
This child had some ambition and drive… which suited her taste.
Although her original intention was just to use her to keep Gu Jing in the dark, seeing her calm temperament, guiding her toward the demonic path… might not be a bad idea.
This desire to become stronger for self-preservation aligned perfectly with Su Huanhuan’s cultivation philosophy.
She was absolutely right—in this world, if you don’t become powerful, you’ll be bullied by those who are.
Whether it was herself or that stupid fox who took over a decade to escape, they were both the same.
So Su Huanhuan’s greatest goal had always been to become someone who couldn’t be bullied by anyone, but who could bully anyone.
Now she was genuinely interested.
“Child, what was your name again?”
“Liu Miao.”
“Good, Liu Miao, you’re not bad. I can teach you.”
“Really…”
“Wait, teach what?”
However, Luohe frowned and stepped forward to interrupt Su Huanhuan.
“We’re talking here, what’s it to you?”
“You’re in danger yourself, and you’re thinking about taking a little disciple?”
“What, that’s not allowed?”
“Stop causing trouble for her.”
Ignoring Su Huanhuan’s dissatisfied look, Luohe turned to Liu Miao.
“The path of immortal cultivation is inherently cruel. Countless people who step onto it live in misery their entire lives. Though she has agreed, she ultimately doesn’t take it seriously.”
“Who says I’m not taking it seriously?”
Luohe ignored Su Huanhuan’s protest and continued:
“But since she’s promised, there’s no going back. If you want to learn, I’ll lead you through the gate.”
“Hey hey, wait a minute.”
Su Huanhuan rushed in front of Luohe.
“I said I would teach her, how are you stepping in?”
“Is your cultivation method suitable for decent people? Don’t make a perfectly good girl practice until her blood energy rages.”
“So what, you’re going to look down on it?”
“I don’t look down on it, but it’s not appropriate. Teaching demonic arts in this place—are you deliberately trying to harm her?”
“Hmph…”
The two kept bickering, leaving Liu Miao overwhelmed.
They were like a middle-aged divorced couple fighting over child custody.
From Luohe’s perspective, he personally had no issue with so-called demonic arts.
But objectively speaking, practicing demonic cultivation made one more likely to be targeted, especially for a seemingly slow-witted child like Liu Miao.
Moreover, according to her, there was a sword-wielding cultivator in Xianfeng City.
She might return only to be cut down immediately, which would render all his efforts to keep Liu Miao uninvolved completely pointless.
After arguing for a while, Luohe simply gave the choice to Liu Miao herself.
“You decide. Do you want to learn from me or from her?”
One’s own fate should be decided by oneself.
“…”
Liu Miao looked at Su Huanhuan in her bright red clothes, with the black mark on her forehead, exuding an evil aura.
Then she looked at Luohe with his blue clothes and blue umbrella, deathly still… well, also exuding an evil aura, and fell into deep thought.
In her mind, she saw Luohe using Su Huanhuan’s body, swinging one sword strike after another while she hid in the bamboo grove.
“…”
Sometimes, Liu Miao could be a somewhat practical child.
Logically, Su Huanhuan was the first to offer to teach her, so she shouldn’t be so fickle.
But with the opportunity right in front of her…
Liu Miao inconspicuously moved closer to Luohe.
“You little…”
“She’s made her choice, don’t complain.”
Luohe smiled and patted Liu Miao’s shoulder, thinking she truly had potential.
He looked at Liu Miao and placed a finger on her chest.
Liu Miao neither startled nor avoided it, allowing him to do this.
However, the feeling was truly strange—her body felt no physical touch at all.
Yet there was a mysterious sensation connecting her to Luohe.
“Cultivation is about cultivating one breath.”
“Drawing the energy of heaven and earth into your body, cultivating the transformation of all living things. When you perceive the existence of spiritual energy, you’ve taken the first step into cultivation.”
“At that moment, you’ll feel how different this world is from the one you previously knew.”
As Luohe finished speaking, Liu Miao’s whole body suddenly shook.
She felt as if her entire being had suddenly become clear. She could now distinctly see the clouds in the sky, hear distant water, and smell the fragrance of unopened flower buds.
She sensed that everything in the world was covered by a captivating, colorful misty veil.
Refracting a dazzling, stunning beauty that seemed both tantalizing and unreachable.
So that was spiritual energy…
Liu Miao felt an unprecedented sense of wonder.
Because Luohe had opened her meridians for her.
Generally speaking, ordinary people’s meridians are closed.
Some people naturally suited for cultivation have open meridians from birth and begin unconsciously absorbing spiritual energy through their breathing from a young age. The world they see is very different from that of ordinary people.
So they exhibit unusual qualities and behaviors from a very young age, making them easy to identify.
But even those with naturally closed meridians can have them opened later through the techniques of a great cultivator.
However, this requires extremely powerful control of spiritual energy, typically only possible for those at or above the Yuan Ying stage.
Although Luohe wasn’t at Yuan Ying, he could still do it. He had considerable skill in using spiritual energy precisely and appropriately.
“How does it feel?”
Luohe’s calm question pulled Liu Miao back from her shock and daze. Now, even Luohe seemed to shine more brightly in her eyes.
“It’s, it’s amazing…”
“This is the world as seen by those who can perceive energy. You’ll need to get used to it quickly.”
“Next, I’ll teach you a breathing technique for absorbing spiritual energy, giving you a foundation in the immortal path.”
“First use my method to accumulate spiritual energy. If you truly have potential on this path, even without my additional help, you’ll know how to proceed.”
“Good luck.”
Luohe had opened her meridians and taught her a technique, but he didn’t teach her how to use spiritual energy in combat.
Essentially, he brought her straight to the Qi Condensation stage, but she could only practice condensing qi.
If she had insight, she would naturally understand the next step of seeking Foundation Establishment when she reached her peak, and at that point, she wouldn’t need Luohe to teach her.
If she couldn’t figure it out… then with her aptitude, there was no need to struggle on the path of cultivation.
Being an ordinary person with good health and longevity wasn’t bad either.
After all, not everyone was like Su Huanhuan, nor did everyone need to become someone determined to make a name for themselves in the cultivation world like her.
As Liu Miao listened to Luohe’s abstruse words, she felt an indescribable emotion and impulse building within her.
Little did Liu Miao know that the clay pot of bamboo shoot chicken soup she had just given to Luohe might be the most valuable chicken in this world.
I can’t wait…
She wanted to run back to Xianfeng City immediately and tell Flower Boss that she was going to become a cultivator.
Taught by a kind ghost gentleman named Luohe.