Lizi did not know whether to respect her young mistress’s decision or counsel her to rethink her options. It was by no means a horrible ambition. However, there were simply so many other things Anji could choose from and excel at. This text is hosted at novel-fire.net
While her personal maid was fretting internally, the gardener in charge of the landscape beamed. Unlike the other children of the Celestial Dragon Sect, Anji was different. Although every other young master and mistress were well-liked, Anji was the servants’ favourite. It was no secret how Anji loved hanging out at the physician’s clinic and the kitchen. However, it was also her first time exploring the gardens and talking with gardeners at length about raising plants.
After receiving a sack of fertiliser from the friendly gardeners, Anji left and announced offhandedly how she wanted to become an herbalist in the future.
"Father," Anji called out when she arrived at Mingfeng’s study. "I have a present to give you before we start our lesson!"
Keeping his promise to teach and oversee his youngest daughter’s cultivation progress, Mingfeng smiled and tried his best to hide his fatigue from her. The Celestial Dragon Sect leader had chosen to forfeit sleep to cope with Anji’s lessons and the mountain of administrative matters that required his attention.
"Good morning, Anji. I see that you’ve picked up a new hobby?" he questioned the sack of fertiliser Lizi was carrying on her daughter’s behalf.
Pulling out a small cloth sachet, Anji presented it with both hands to her father. There wasn’t enough for her teacher yet, but Anji already had plans to increase the production of these special leaves.
"Anji learned a lot from the gardeners how to care for a plant," she explained. "These are the persimmon leaves I carefully selected so Father can enjoy them as tea. Unfortunately, the persimmon plant takes a long time to grow. I don’t have enough leaves to give shifu."
Hearing how Anji prioritised him over Yan Ping, Mingfeng could not keep a wide smile away from his face. After two long months, it finally felt as if his daughter had returned to him both in heart and in person. Touched by her gesture, Mingfeng called a servant on duty to prepare a pot of water to brew the tea while conducting his first lesson with Anji.
"I’m sure the persimmon plants under your care will grow wonderfully," he reassured his daughter.
Nodding, Anji promised to take good care of them. It was a precious gift from Grandpa Chen, and she intended to nurture the special potted plant carefully. If it worked, Anji intended to do more research about spiritual herb cultivation.
"Please let me know if the tea tastes good," Anji requested in a serious tone. "I’d have to change the formula if the effects are bad."
Seeing how serious Anji was, Mingfeng nodded in approval. Before Anji arrived, he overheard her saying she wanted to become an herbalist with his enhanced hearing. Although it might not be a serious commitment, he approved her ambition. Seeing Anji strive for something she wanted to do was reassuring. For the longest time, his youngest daughter showed no signs of wanting to decide her path in life, resigning to fate that her short life would flicker out any moment.
Now, it was different. Anji was brimming with life and ambition. Although Anji was already decided as Yan Ping’s successor, having a secondary goal or hobby was good. Life was more than just a title or a responsibility. It was also a journey.
After the tea was brewed, Mingfeng took a whiff and noticed the mild woody scent mixed with something else he could not place a finger on. Taking a sip, he savoured the tea, expecting it to be bitter. However, the first taste was slightly sweet, resembling a ripe persimmon or honey. There was still a bitter undertone that highlighted the mild sweetness, but it only enhanced the experience. A tea would be popular for mild refreshments on a hot summer midday.
Judging from her father’s reaction, Anji wondered if the effects would occur immediately. So far, there has been no change in his energy signature. Not wanting to be too obvious with her intention, Anji refrained from using her Heavenly Eyes.
"It’s a good tea," he noted. "Your mother would also enjoy it. The taste is light and refreshing, mildly sweet with a slightly bitter undertone. Are you going to make more of this in the future?"
Nodding, Anji smiled awkwardly. She meant to make her father drink the tea himself instead of sharing it with others, much less serving guests. However, it could not be helped. She had no idea if the tea’s effects worked in the first place.
It was fine. Anji would work harder and test it on the plant instead of just the leaves. If she remained consistent, she would know the results by the end of next week. For now, she should focus on learning how to activate the meridian paths and widen the channels from her father.
Gu Ying and Lizi excused themselves from the study as the father and daughter commenced their lesson.
In the study, Mingfeng checked Anji’s pulse and qi circulation. His daughter had a surprisingly smooth qi circulation seldom seen in Initial Core cultivators. Yan Ping did not lie when she claimed how different Anji was from other cultivators. Not only was his youngest daughter’s control on par with those of the Enlightened Core level, but the purity of the energy in her golden core was one of the purest he had ever seen. Yet, it was void of elemental influence.
Apart from the weakness of her physical body that had not been accustomed to infusing her qi with her muscles and bones, Anji’s newly created meridian pathways were very thin and narrow. He needed to teach Anji how to tamper with her channels to advance from the Initial Core to the Strengthened Core. Her golden core’s power and level of control did not match her physical abilities, resulting in aura leakage. Mingfeng introduced aura concealment arts for his first lesson before pathway tampering, which was a little more physically demanding.
"Today, I will teach you a new breathing and circulation method to help you conceal your qi aura," Mingfeng announced. "For normal cultivators, this is only necessary after they reach the Refined Core. However, your core is too powerful, and your meridian pathways cannot fully process the amount of qi you are circulating within when you are not meditating. Hence, there has been a constant leakage of qi since you came down from the mountain."
Rummaging through the piles of books he prepared, Mingfeng pulled out one and passed it to his daughter. It was an intermediate technique that was difficult to learn but easy to master.
Anji received the book with both hands and read the title. The technique her father wanted to teach her was the Mudskipper Meditative Breathing Technique.
Like mudskippers that could breathe on land and water, the technique’s key point was to alternate between breathing into the physical body and into the meridian pathway. When breathing into the meridian pathway, Anji did not have to do anything special. However, she had to empty her lungs fully upon its exhale. The opposite happens when she is breathing into the lungs. According to the scripture, Anji had to inflate her lungs when breathing into the physical body fully but only exhale half that air.
"The dichotomous breathing method allows the golden core time to process the new energy while expelling the energy that is not needed through your breath. Over time, your body will adapt this technique accordingly, learning how much time it requires to process inhaled energy and not taking more into the meridian pathways until it has been fully processed internally."
It didn’t sound easy, but Anji decided to try it. Although she had no idea how long her golden core would take to fully process new qi in her meridian pathways, this meditation method was much simpler than the energy transfer and merging technique Grandpa Jin taught her last night.
Wordlessly, Mingfeng demonstrated the technique once to Anji and compelled her to mimic his actions.
Without missing a beat, Anji sat cross-legged and closed her eyes. She counted the number of breaths she took and paid attention to the processing of the newly introduced qi in her body while repeatedly inflating her lungs. With hawk-like attention, Mingfeng observed his daughter’s breathing technique and corrected her whenever she tensed up unnecessarily. Together, they worked hard to ingrain the new breathing technique in Anji until it was time for lunch.
By the time Anji opened her eyes, she felt slightly lightheaded from all that breathing. Thankfully, her father arranged for them to dine together, and she could pause the Mudskipper Breathing Technique during meals and exercise.
"Remember to practise this breathing method for an hour later," Mingfeng reminded. "I’ll check on your progress tomorrow. Gu Ying will be around when you practise."
Nodding, Anji noticed that there were more dishes on the table than usual, even though only two people were eating. Mingfeng grabbed his chopsticks and started piling various dishes into Anji’s bowl. Once more, her rice bowl looked like a small mountain of meat and vegetables, covering the rice below. It had been a while since she had seen a rice bowl mountain. The familiar sight made her giggle.
"Let’s eat, father!" Anji picked up her chopsticks and grabbed a piece of fish for her father to return the gesture before digging in carefully.