Chapter 33: Southern Spirit Crane - Teaching
On the beach where bones were buried, Nan Linghe was holding a branch and drawing lines on the sand. Xia Wei and Lucy were sitting beside him, carefully observing the changes in the sand.
"Let's start with the simplest numbers. Come, repeat after me: one, two, three... ones, tens, hundreds..."
After drawing a long row of characters, Nan Linghe picked up the branch in his hand, pointed at the characters on the sand, and patiently explained them to Xia Wei and Lu Xi.
"One, two, three... ten, a hundred..."
Xia Wei sat there obediently, and under Nan Linghe's guidance, she tried hard to engrave the appearance of each word into the deepest part of her mind. After a while, she felt dizzy, her eyelids became heavy, and she was about to fall asleep.
The proud talent of the reincarnated immortal seemed to have lost its effect at this moment. Xia Wei's little head rose and fell like a buoy on the river. Her eyelids were drooping. Suddenly, she opened her eyes with a start. After sitting up straight, she couldn't help but look at Ye Jie and complained, "Master, why is it so difficult to learn to read?"
Ye Jie was beside her, flipping through the tome on the Hundred Refinements of the Body, and he expressed his helplessness: "Don't look at me. As the reincarnation of an immortal, it would be unacceptable if you can't even read. Let your Senior Sister He help you out."
Xia Wei had no choice but to put on a bitter face and continue studying.
Nearby, Lu Xi stared blankly, completely unaware of Nan Linghe's intentions. Nan Linghe let Xia Wei memorize the details herself, then walked over to Lu Xi, raised a finger, and poked the word on the sand with a branch: "One."
Lucy seemed to understand what she meant and imitated her and said, "Xi..."
"One." Nan Linghe shook his head and corrected.
"Seven..." Lucy said.
"One!" Nan Linghe emphasized his tone.
"meaning…"
After Nan Linghe's repeated corrections, Lu Xi finally pronounced a similar syllable. Nan Linghe nodded with satisfaction, raised two fingers, and poked the word next to "one": "two."
After some memorization, Xia Wei also picked up a branch and wrote down the words she had just memorized on the beach. The effect was very significant. With her hard work, she quickly mastered the words about numbers.
Nan Linghe showed a look of surprise. He found a branch for Lucy and asked her to copy the words on the beach as well. Then he went to teach Xia Wei the new words.
"Next, I'm going to teach you about animals." Nan Linghe picked up a branch and wrote the corresponding word on the beach every time he read a word, "Human, monster, crane, fish, fairy, shrimp, tiger, pig, dog, dragon, crab..."
Even Ye Jie couldn't stand it any longer. He didn't know what kind of trouble would happen if the confused Nan Linghe were to teach Xia Wei, so he put away the book and walked over:
"Wouldn't this burden Xia Wei's memory? How could she remember all these words with different meanings piled up in front of her? Forget it, let me do it."
Ye Jie took the branch from Nan Linghe, smoothed the words on the sand, drew two horizontal lines on the ground, and said:
"Animals are divided into three categories: those that fly in the sky, those that run on the ground, and those that swim in the water. The first row is the ones that fly in the sky: dragons, cranes, and birds... The second row is the ones that run on the ground: humans, tigers, pigs, and dogs... The third row is the ones that swim in the water: fish, shrimp, and crabs..."
Seeing Ye Jie coming to her side, Xia Wei's relaxed posture suddenly disappeared. She straightened her back, pursed her lips slightly, and looked at Ye Jie with her picturesque eyes without blinking.
"Why are you looking at me? Look at what I wrote!" Seeing that Xia Wei was distracted again, Ye Jie was furious and reached out to knock her on the head.
Xia Wei covered her head with her hands and cried out, then pouted coquettishly before concentrating on copying the words on the beach.
On the side, Nan Linghe was also patiently instructing Lu Xi. Xia Wei could only illiterate words, but Lu Xi couldn't even speak. What Lu Xi had to learn was not only literacy, but the entire writing system including pronunciation.
Nan Linghe spread out his left palm, raised two fingers of his right hand, and pointed at the seven on the ground: "Seven."
Lucy imitated her and said, "I mean..."
"It's not one, it's seven." Nan Linghe said with a bitter face.
"Xi..." Lucy seemed to understand what she meant, but also seemed not to.
Finally, Nan Linghe ran to Ye Jie with a helpless look on his face: "Brother Jie, what should we do now? How long will it take to teach Lu Xi?"
Ye Jie smiled and said, "It's still early. It's too early to give up now. Do you want to lose to Xie Xinyu who challenged you in the competition? It's nothing special. If you have time and patience, you can complete this A-level mission."
Hearing Ye Jie mention Xie Xinyu's name, Nan Linghe had to stop complaining. She didn't want to embarrass Brother Jie in front of that ghost messenger. However, she still felt a little embarrassed about how to teach Lu Xi. She pursed her lips and said:
"Now I can use my fingers to show Lucy numbers up to ten, but what if I have to teach her numbers up to one hundred and one thousand? Where can I find so many fingers?"
Ye Jie patted her head and said, "According to what you said, when we teach her the names of the animals later, such as the Fairy Mountain Crane, the Cloud-grazing Blue Ox, the Deep Pool Giant Dragon, the Nine Heavens Divine Dragon, the Golden-winged Dapeng, and the Six-eared Macaque, do we really have to capture those fairy beasts?"
Nan Linghe sighed, as if he was worried about this matter.
"Wait, you don't really think so..." Ye Jie's mouth twitched. Judging from Nan Linghe's reaction, it seemed that he was right.
Ye Jie shook his head helplessly: "No matter what, you should try to communicate with her more. Maybe Lu Xi will understand just by listening to us talk... What is she doing?"
The two turned around and saw that Lucy had squatted down at some point. Instead of copying the words like Xia Wei, she was drawing on the ground with a branch.
Lucy drew a circle on the beach below her with herself as the center, which wrapped her whole body. Then she drew a small circle with a radius of one inch smaller inside the circle.
"Is that a magic circle?"
Ye Jie came to her side and saw that the circle Lu Xi drew on the beach was flawless, with smooth lines and no flaws. It was obviously the starting point for setting up a magic circle, but at the moment when the small circle was connected, Lu Xi's eyes showed some confusion.
She had white hair and red eyes, and she stared at the circle below with confused eyes. She did not make the next move for a long time. She tried hard to recall, but excessive thinking stimulated her mind, causing her to tremble and bend down, letting out a trembling and painful roar.
Seeing this, Nan Linghe ran over with concern, helped Lu Xi sit down, took out a packet of medicine powder from his arms, and carefully fed her to drink it. Lu Xi's expression gradually improved, and her face gradually calmed down.
"What is that?" Seeing Nan Linghe actually took out this kind of medicinal powder, Ye Jie was stunned and then asked.
"This is the powder Sister Bai Luo gave me. She said it can relieve Lucy's pain..." Nan Linghe said without thinking, but Ye Jie was even more confused.
"Bai Luo? Are you talking about Bai Luo, one of the head maids in the wine country?"
The image of the sickly-looking head maid sitting on the wooden chair also emerged in Ye Jie's mind.
Nan Linghe nodded. "Bai Luo came to your house looking for you not long ago, but Brother Jie wasn't home. She also saw Lu Xi and, after hearing about my mission, examined her. She told me that Lu Xi had suffered a severe brain trauma and had lost a large portion of her memory. She also gave me some medicinal powder, saying it would relieve Lu Xi's headache."
"Why did Bai Luo come to see me?" Ye Jie was puzzled.
"She said that Mint asked her to come, and she also said that Mint reminded you to keep her mushrooms safe and not eat them secretly." Nan Linghe replied.
"Mushrooms..." Ye Jie's mouth twitched. Because Mint left in a hurry, many of the mushrooms she brought with her were left in Xia Wei's hands. Among them were three crimson burning mushrooms and a dozen or so different types of mushrooms with strange appearances. "Who would eat those highly poisonous underworld mushrooms?"
Among them, Ye Jie asked Xia Wei to carry the three burning mushrooms with her as a killing move when encountering danger. As long as she eats them, she can burst out a full-strength attack equivalent to that of the early third stage, which is enough to catch the enemy off guard. The burning state brought by the flames is also enough to make the tough enemy drink a pot.
Ye Jie rubbed his chin. If the Burning Body Mushroom hadn't grown beneath the Soul Devouring Abyss, he'd have wanted to pick some himself, using it as Xia Wei's self-defense trump card. He didn't know where the mint came from, so he'd ask her next time they met.
Shaking his head, Ye Jie glanced at the exhausted Lu Xi, then at Xia Wei, who was copying words on the beach until her eyes were dizzy, and couldn't help coughing.
"Okay, let's move on to the next exercise. The next exercise is the application of the technique."
As he spoke, Ye Jie also glanced at Nan Linghe. Seeing that she was in a daze, he pushed her over and said, "Okay, now it's your turn."
"Me?" Nan Linghe pointed at himself, his eyes wide open, as if he didn't understand what Ye Jie meant.
"Don't underestimate the fact that you achieved the peak of the first level of cultivation under the baptism of first-level spiritual power when you tore the book. However, Xia Wei, with the same level of cultivation, is more than enough to defeat a hundred of you. This is the difference in strength brought about by the cultivation method."
Ye Jie shook his head helplessly: "As an official ghost messenger, you don't know any martial arts. Isn't that a bit unreasonable? I used to know two martial arts. Now it's your turn to learn from Xia Wei."
Ye Jie continued, "Your current goal is to master the Soul-Breaking Arrow. My understanding of it is very limited. It took me ten years to master it. I'm afraid I can't teach you much about it. But Xia Wei is different. She's a genius who can master the Soul-Breaking Arrow in just one hour. With her guidance, I believe you'll be able to master this technique quickly."
Nan Linghe shrugged, his eyes filled with uncertainty. "Even Brother Jie needed ten years to master the Soul-Breaking Arrow. I'm afraid it will take me even longer..."
Xia Wei came over with a smile on her face: "Senior Sister He gave me such a precious sachet and taught me how to read. Now is the time for me to repay Senior Sister He. Don't worry, Xiao Wei will definitely teach you!"
Ye Jie also comforted her, "Don't worry, the Soul-Breaking Arrow is only a low-grade human-level technique, it won't be that difficult. With Xia Wei's help, I learned the high-grade human-level Cloud-Blinding Eyes in just one night. You will definitely succeed."
Ye Jie took out the book on the Soul-Breaking Arrow and recited the contents on it. Xia Wei came to Nan Linghe and carefully explained to her the difficulties in the casting process.
"When practicing this technique, you must maintain a calm mind, free of any distracting thoughts. Feel the spiritual energy flowing through your soul, focusing your consciousness on the forefront of this flow. Imagine yourself transformed into spiritual energy, flowing alongside the endless spiritual energy... When the Soul-Breaking Arrow condenses, pour all your will and awareness into it. Don't use it as a weapon to kill the enemy, but as an extension of the path you are practicing..."
Xia Wei's explanation was detailed and fascinating. She patiently explained every difficulty in the casting process and every trick of the spiritual power circulation.
Nan Linghe opened his bright eyes and listened to the mystery of the martial arts. Even Ye Jie felt as if his eyes were opened when he heard Xia Wei's sermon. The martial arts problems that had troubled him for decades were thrown behind him at this moment. Many problems were solved. In a trance, he felt as if he had been enlightened.
An hour passed, Ye Jie closed his eyes, his arms trembled slightly, and all the spiritual power in his body was mobilized with his movement. He raised his hand, and a solid black arrow condensed in his palm.
"It's done! This is the Soul-Breaking Arrow at the Grand Perfection stage!"
Feeling the absolute power contained in the pitch-black arrow, Ye Jie's face lit up with joy. He didn't expect that he was the one who benefited the most from Xia Wei's preaching. Combining his sixty years of experience in practicing the Soul-Breaking Arrow, he broke through to the great success stage in one fell swoop.
Ye Jie took out the torn page and saw that the column of skills, 【Soul-breaking Arrow (Minor Success)】, became blurred for a moment, and then turned into 【Soul-breaking Arrow (Great Success)】.
Seeing this, Xia Wei also showed a happy expression, with the corners of her mouth slightly raised, and she gently applauded Ye Jie.
On the side, Nan Linghe slowly raised her hand after listening to Xia Wei's careful explanation. A thin, yet solid, black arrow also condensed and took shape in her palm.
"Very good, your Soul Breaking Arrow has also reached the basic level!"
Ye Jie laughed out loud. He didn't expect that after just one day of practice, he could make such rapid progress. Both Xia Wei and Nan Linghe had made rich gains, and so did Ye Jie himself.
Several people smiled at each other. The learning from each other's strengths and weaknesses in practice also made everyone develop an inseparable tacit understanding. Even without words, just a glance could understand what was in each other's heart. When they were together, they also felt the warmth of family.
Suddenly, a gurgling sound came from Xia Wei's stomach. She scratched her head embarrassedly. After a day of practice, her stomach was empty.
Ye Jie smiled and said, "Xiao Wei, you must be hungry. Let's go and test the power of the Soul Breaking Arrow."
Under the leadership of Ye Jie, the few people who had restrained their auras quickly approached the area where the monsters were active and saw a few lone crayfish.
Seeing this, Ye Jie reminded them, "Ghost Messengers cannot kill at will, even monsters, unless they are actively attacked. Those crayfish can't even see us, so how can they actively attack us? Because of this, the final blow to end the monster's life must be delivered by Xia Wei."
Nan Linghe nodded, she raised her fair and delicate right hand, and a small black arrow condensed in her palm.
Ye Jie took a step forward and stood side by side with Nan Linghe. He raised his dry and slender right arm, and the huge black arrow was ready to be launched.
Xia Wei followed and stood side by side with Ye Jie. She raised her slender and nimble right hand, and a larger black arrow had locked onto the target in front.
Another slender and elegant right arm was raised, and a pure white arrow emitting brilliant light, like a stream of light, was condensed in the palm of his hand.
"Huh? What's going on?"
Noticing that there was one more arm raised, and three people raised four arms in total, Ye Jie frowned and found that things were not simple. After taking a closer look, he found that the person standing next to Xia Wei was Lu Xi.
Seeing that several people maintained a uniform posture, Lucy seemed to have discovered something interesting and wanted to join in. The moment she raised her hand, a pure white arrow that was completely different from everyone else's condensed in her palm.