True to her promise, Anji designed a water-conjuring spell and created a bath everyone enjoyed. Gu Ying and Bai Dajin were in charge of charging the spell, and everyone had a good soak. The horses could also drink to their fill, and they slept peacefully under a blanket of stars.
The next day, the horses galloped energetically and entered the first sparse forest they had seen in two days. The weather was cooler, and there were more birds in the area.
"There should be water in this area," Mingshen told Anji. "With this many trees, it should be possible to find it."
Thrilled, they travelled through the small grove, and Gu Ying offered to hunt so they could have some meat with their dried buns. Fortunately, there were many mountain chickens to hunt for lunch. The Mystical Qilin Sect was near here, and Anji had mixed feelings.
"Brother," she called out while Gu Ying and Bai Dajin roasted the freshly caught chickens. "What was it like for you to leave the mountain with your sworn brother Zhang Mou? Was it scary? Did you not miss father and mother?"
Humming, Mingshen wondered if his youngest sister was having separation anxiety. It was common for young children to have it. Anji, who had been raised in the sect her whole life and pampered with constant attention from everyone, might not be ready for this. However, her shifu summoned for her, which was a favour that not even their father could refuse.
When Mingshen left the Celestial Dragon Mountain, he was already older than Anji. He also did not prefer the constant company of others, which is why he often spent his time alone in the library. Unlike Anji, who enjoyed being around others, the three other Zhao siblings were introverted and preferred alone time. Yihao would spend his alone time in the mountains causing mischief, while his older sister would use it to focus on her martial arts training. Hence, it was difficult to answer Anji’s question.
"Zhang Mou is a reliable person," he explained. "I never once felt like I was in danger, and he taught me many things I could never learn if I continued to remain in the sect with Father and Mother. After all, what I read in the books is just knowledge without experience. Besides, Father always sends his shadows to watch us wherever we go. I was never in danger even outside the Celestial Dragon’s territory."
Nodding along, Anji glanced at Gu Ying, who had been sent to accompany her. She had no idea if Bai Dajin counted as the shadow her father sent. However, Anji knew her parents, who worried about her more than Anji worried about herself, would never allow her to leave without proper preparation.
"Did you not miss them?" she asked. "I won’t be seeing anyone for a very long time. I’m unsure if shifu would allow me to see Gu Ying frequently while focusing on my successor training. There might even be isolation training where I cannot see anyone else. What if I forget how Father and Mother look when I finish training? By the time I finish training, you might already be married!"
Mingshen had not considered all these when Anji first asked the question. It was his mistake. However, after understanding his sister’s perspective, Mingshen had no words of comfort for her.
Unlike the rest of them, Anji’s training could take even decades to complete, away from them. Although cultivators lived longer than others, they were also not immune to the passage of time. Many things could happen in two decades. The war might even be concluded while Anji studied spells. Their parents would grow older, and her siblings would become adults. Many things will change, and while Anji’s memory of them remained frozen in time, her familiarity with them would become more distant as everyone moved on without her. Content originally comes from NoveI[F]ire.net
"Father told us that no matter which sect you choose to belong to, you’d always be the precious fourth princess of the Celestial Dragon Sect. We don’t know when you’ll complete your training, but everyone will await you. The gardeners promised to take care of your persimmon plant. It might become a tree by the time you finish, but it will still undoubtedly be the seed you nurtured. It’s the same for all of us. We might grow old, become fat, marry, or even lose an arm. However, the blood that flows in all our veins remains unchanged. Some things change with the passage of time but some things remain constant throughout. All you need to do is seek the constant things, and we will do the same. Who is to say you won’t become an absolute beauty that will destroy kingdoms? Our sect will be too busy rejecting all the marriage proposals you will be getting to care if you’ve changed. I doubt we will stop being overprotective of you, even if you become a sage."
Thinking about the hypothetical situation, Anji giggled a little. Her brother’s reassurance about a far future they did not know would happen lifted the weight in her heart. However, everything he said seemed like it would come true even if she did not know it yet. Some things would never change, no matter how much she thought about it. Her parents would continue to love her over protectively, and Anji’s love for them would never waver. That was what family meant.
Hearing that there were people who would constantly think and wait for her return made Anji more determined to succeed. Grandpa Jin told Anji that her cultivation knowledge was already more advanced than even her bodyguard. However, it was due to her weak physical vessel that it was capped at the Strengthened Core stage. Anji worked hard daily, but that was her limit. It was difficult to strike a balance, so the golden dragon helped Anji seal her physical cultivation. That was not the same for her soul cultivation. Anji continued to work hard at that, never taking for granted her gifted nature.
If she could convert her soul cultivation to bridge the gap between her golden core and body, there might be a way for Anji to complete her training with Yan Ping in less than a decade. She refused to remain in the Mystical Qilin Sect her whole life and live like a nun. She still wanted to eat chilli pork dumpling noodles at least one more time before the old Wang couple passed on!