We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real?

Chapter 479: It Seems a Little Different Toward You

The Jianshan peak of the Hanshan Academy.

A young man stood at the summit, his gaze fixed upon the white clouds drifting through the azure sky.

The young man had grown. He wore a simple long robe, his posture upright and his bearing fine. The angles of his face had sharpened into something striking and pleasing to the eye.

So much so that over these past few years, whenever the young man accompanied his Young Miss to her studies, there were always quite a few girls in the first bloom of feeling who would sneak glances at him.

The Hanshan Academy also occasionally received visits from noble demon matrons who would come to observe the academy, and upon seeing the young man they would all make inquiries about whose servant he was.

If it were not for Tushan Jingci's refusal, Xiao Mo would by now have been purchased by one noble matron or another and turned into some unspeakable plaything.

Xiao Mo slowly closed his eyes and felt into the world around him.

As a faint intention stirred within the young man's heart, a gentle wind swept through, and the drifting white clouds gathered and condensed into a great white dragon in the sky.

Then the dragon dispersed, transforming into white birds arranged across the heavens as though preparing to migrate.

In the next instant, the hundreds of white birds took on the form of a long immortal sword hanging suspended in the air, as though at any moment it would plunge downward and pierce the earth.

Between heaven and earth, an intangible resonance of the Dao wound itself around the young man and lingered there, unwilling to scatter.

This was the middle chapter of "The Great Dream of the Yellow Millet," named "Transforming All Things Through the Heart."

"The Great Dream of the Yellow Millet" had no specific fixed techniques to speak of. But put another way, everything in the world was a technique of the Great Dream of the Yellow Millet.

As long as the heart reached it, and one's strength was sufficient, and one had a certain understanding of the Dao resonances woven through heaven and earth, then a single blade of grass, a fallen leaf, a grain of sand, a drifting cloud, all of these could become Xiao Mo's weapon.

"Xiao Mo..."

Half an hour later, just as Xiao Mo drew his spiritual energy back in, a young girl's voice called from behind him.

Xiao Mo turned around, and saw the young girl running toward him.

She was dressed in a water-green skirt, the fabric light and thin. When she ran, the hem would lift and flutter softly, like ripples spreading across a lake surface touched by the wind.

The waist of the dress was gathered to perfection, accentuating the girl's slender waist and the soft, graceful lines of her figure.

Her snow-white hair was loosely bound with a simple ribbon, and as she ran, a few strands fell loose and brushed against her cheeks, then were gently blown clear by the breeze.

Her brows were naturally dark without the aid of any cosmetic brush. Her eyes held the colors of a spring day, curving into crescent moons when she smiled, carrying within them something like the clear spring waters of the third month. Her nose was delicate and straight, her lips a soft, natural pink. She wore no cosmetics, yet she had a vitality all her own.

The young girl was now sixteen years of age, her figure not yet quite fully mature but not far from it, carrying a freshness mingled with a subtle charm, that feeling of "the girl next door just coming into bloom."

And by the standards of the mortal world, a girl her age would already have been of marrying age.

"Xiao Mo, come back with me quickly. My mother is coming today to visit. She should be here soon."

Tushan Jingci said with a bright and pleasant manner, her sweet tone neither overtly alluring nor explicitly coy, just that soft, natural charm that seemed to be the fox clan's innate gift.

"Yes, Young Miss." Xiao Mo gave a nod.

"Let us head down, let us head down."

Tushan Jingci swayed her rounded arms as she walked ahead of Xiao Mo.

Every time the hem of the young girl's skirt lifted lightly, a pebble would be sent flying far away by her embroidered shoes.

Xiao Mo and Tushan Jingci walked through the mountain forest, passing beneath the canopy of dense trees.

The young girl tilted her head back to look at the blossoms on the branches overhead. Sunlight filtered through the petals and fell across her face in small, dancing patches of light.

Suddenly she rose on her tiptoes and reached up for a high flower branch. Her sleeve slid back, revealing a length of fair, pale wrist.

When she could not quite reach it, she did not fuss, but simply called to the young man behind her.

"Xiao Mo, I want that flower."

The young girl turned her head and smiled at him, the smile clean and bright, carrying the innocence and clarity that only belongs to someone sixteen years of age.

Xiao Mo said nothing, but stepped forward, reached up, plucked the peach blossom from the branch, and held it out to her.

"Put it in my hair."

The sixteen-year-old girl turned around, leaving only her back to Xiao Mo, her fragrant hair drifting around the tip of Xiao Mo's nose.

Xiao Mo looked rather helpless about the whole thing, yet he seemed to have grown entirely accustomed to it.

He tucked the peach blossom into the strands of the young girl's hair.

The snow-white hair set against the pale pink peach blossom looked very beautiful.

"Oh, it is really getting late. Walk faster, walk faster."

Tushan Jingci glanced at the sky and suddenly realized she was in danger of not making it back in time to receive her mother. She quickly seized Xiao Mo's arm and hurried forward.

Although she had grown up yet for the young girl, it seemed as though there was not the slightest awareness of any distinction between the two of them as male and female.

"Come to think of it... it has already been roughly ten years since we came to the Hanshan Academy."

Walking at the young girl's side, Xiao Mo could not help but feel a quiet wave of feeling rise within him.

During those ten years, Jingci had graduated from Qianxue Peak and moved on to Yunxiao Peak, where she studied Confucian scholarship. Within Tushan Jingci's chest, she had even cultivated a considerable thread of Vast Righteous Qi.

Recently Jingci had also been preparing for an examination, working toward a title of Worthy.

In terms of cultivation, the current Jingci had also grown an additional three tails.

For a Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, one tail per realm.

This meant that at just sixteen, Jingci had reached the first realm of the Middle Three Realms, the Dragon Gate realm.

By comparison, he himself, the same age as Tushan Jingci, was also only at the Dragon Gate realm.

Yet he cultivated every single day, and while one could not say he had done so with complete disregard for sleep and food, he had certainly been diligent.

He had also consumed a considerable number of pills and spirit herbs and flowers but in Xiao Mo's impression, Jingci had barely done any cultivation at all. She did nothing but sleep every day.

Which showed how extraordinary a demon with noble bloodline truly was.

Xiao Mo was gradually coming to understand why the Demon Realm was a place that ranked people by bloodline.

Because the cultivation gains of an ordinary cultivator over several days could not match what this kind of demon achieved from a single night's sleep.

Beyond Tushan Jingci's scholarship and cultivation level, the grown-up Tushan Jingci had now also become the object of admiration for most of the young men at the Hanshan Academy.

By now, everyone at the Hanshan Academy knew that in the study hall on Yunxiao Peak, a Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox was pursuing her studies, and that her beauty was beyond description.

But that was to be expected.

The fox clan had always produced exceptional beauties.

Not to mention one from the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan specifically and Xiao Mo felt that among even the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan, Tushan Jingci's appearance likely had no equal.

In the past, the Lady of Mount Tu had been called the foremost beauty of the Demon Realm.

In a few more years, that title would very likely fall to Jingci.

But because no unfamiliar young men were permitted to approach Tushan Jingci's courtyard, and because Tushan Jingci rarely participated in any of the literary gatherings or poetry circles beyond spending time with her close friends, those admirers of hers had no opportunity to draw near. They could only wait at the foot of Qianxue Peak, or outside the study hall on Yunxiao Peak, all for the chance to catch even a single glimpse of her.

And after catching that one glimpse, every one of them would be rendered momentarily dazed. Only after Tushan Jingci had long since departed would they slowly come back to their senses.

Just that one glance was enough to leave them tossing and turning each night, feeling as though all the color had drained from the world.

A good number of young men from notable demon families had written letters of admiration to Tushan Jingci, but Tushan Jingci had accepted not a single one, and read not a single word of any of them.

Although the young girl had yet to experience the world's ways and did not truly understand what "love" was, she knew clearly that among all those demon young men, not a single one appealed to her.

Before long, Xiao Mo and Tushan Jingci returned to their courtyard.

Outside the courtyard, Xiao Mo could already see Liu Shui inside, hanging out laundry to dry.

Liu Shui's natural gifts were of middling quality, but her diligence was genuine.

Now twenty-one, Liu Shui had reached the early stage of Foundation Building.

By the standards of ordinary mortals, Liu Shui was already something akin to a deity from the mountain above but Liu Shui's mother did not know about her daughter's cultivation.

Her mother had always believed her daughter to be an ordinary person, and as the years passed, she had also been hoping to arrange a few marriage prospects for her daughter.

These had all been declined by Liu Shui.

And after Liu Shui entered Foundation Building, while her cultivation path beyond that point was largely something she would have to comprehend on her own, and the guidance Xiao Mo and Yueshi could offer was very limited, and no one would be coming to cause her trouble, there was no reason she needed to continue visiting this courtyard.

But Liu Shui continued coming just as she always had, frequently dropping by to sweep the courtyard, do household chores, and wash clothes.

Though what Liu Shui washed was not Tushan Jingci's clothes, since her clothes had dedicated maidservants to care for them.

Liu Shui washed Xiao Mo's and Yueshi's clothes.

It felt almost as though Liu Shui was a servant to Xiao Mo and Yueshi.

Even after Tushan Jingci, Xiao Mo, and Yueshi had all refused many times, Liu Shui still insisted.

In the end, they could only let it be.

What Xiao Mo did not know, however, was that every time Liu Shui washed his clothes, she was a great deal more careful and attentive than she was with anyone else's.

"Young Miss of Mount Tu and Young Master Xiao, you are both back."

Liu Shui saw Xiao Mo and Tushan Jingci returning and quickly stepped forward to give a bow.

"Mm, Elder Sister Liu Shui, we are back." Tushan Jingci gave a nod and immediately took Liu Shui's small hand in hers. "My mother should be coming shortly. Elder Sister Liu Shui, please stay and have dinner with us?"

"There is no need, there is no need. You should not go to so much trouble..." Liu Shui quickly waved her hand. "Today some relatives are coming to visit. I probably need to leave now, or it will be difficult to explain if I am too late."

"All right..." Tushan Jingci's expression showed a trace of disappointment. "Then Elder Sister Liu Shui, be careful on the way down the mountain."

"Many thanks for the Young Miss's concern."

Liu Shui gave a bow, exchanged a few last pleasantries with Tushan Jingci, then left the courtyard.

Only as Liu Shui was leaving, her gaze lingered on Xiao Mo a moment longer than necessary, carrying within it what seemed like a trace of soft warmth.

Tushan Jingci naturally noticed this, and turned to Xiao Mo with a question. "Xiao Mo, have you noticed that Elder Sister Liu Shui seems a little different toward you?"

"Different how?" Xiao Mo asked.

"I, I cannot quite put it into words. It just feels a little different..." Tushan Jingci puffed her cheeks.

"Then you must be overthinking it. To me, Elder Sister Liu Shui has always been like this." Xiao Mo smiled.

"Is that so? Well, all right then..."

Tushan Jingci looked at Elder Sister Liu Shui's retreating figure.

Even though Xiao Mo said so, she still felt that recently, Elder Sister Liu Shui was somehow different with Xiao Mo compared to everyone else but just as Tushan Jingci was trying to figure out exactly what was different, a familiar fragrance drifted down from the sky above.

"Mother..."

Tushan Jingci's eyes lit up with delight. She stopped dwelling on the other matter entirely and tilted her head back, looking at her mother descending through the air, waving her hand with great enthusiasm.

Tushan Xinhua landed and reverted to her human form.

"Greetings to the Lady."

Yueshi and the other maidservants gave a bow.

Xiao Mo also clasped his hands and bowed respectfully.

"Mother, you have not come to see your daughter in six whole months! Have you forgotten all about me?"

Tushan Jingci ran forward, puffing her cheeks, her tone carrying a playfully aggrieved air.

"Your mother could forget anyone before she would forget you, you little one. Only there have been a few matters lately that have kept me rather busy." Tushan Xinhua looked at her daughter with eyes full of maternal love and warmth.

"Come, let Mother have a good look at you."

Tushan Xinhua took a step back, held her daughter by the shoulders, and looked her over carefully.

"Mm. The girl has grown taller again. And prettier too."

"Well of course. I take after Mother, after all." Tushan Jingci clung to her mother's arm with a coy, endearing manner.

"You little one, when did you get such a sweet tongue?" Tushan Xinhua flicked her daughter's forehead. "But being sweet-tongued will not save you. Get ready. Mother is going to examine your studies shortly."

"What?"

The moment Tushan Jingci heard her mother was going to test her studies, she was instantly displeased.

She suddenly thought that her mother not visiting quite so often might actually be perfectly all right.

After dinner, Tushan Jingci claimed she was feeling a little sleepy and wanted to go to bed but she was still pulled back and subjected to a thorough examination by her mother.

And parent-testing-child was never a particularly enjoyable experience for anyone.

Half an hour later, Xiao Mo saw Jingci walk out of the room with puffed cheeks and a face full of aggrieved feeling.

Beyond testing Jingci's studies, Tushan Xinhua also wished to examine the progress Xiao Mo had made in his cultivation over the past six months.

When Tushan Jingci heard her mother was going to test Xiao Mo, her eyes immediately brightened.

"I am certainly not going to be the only one getting scolded by Mother. Xiao Mo can share in the experience."

So Tushan Jingci thought to herself but the result left Tushan Jingci a little unhappy because her mother was very pleased with Xiao Mo's cultivation.

"Xiao Mo, your cultivation progress truly is commendable."

Tushan Xinhua praised the young man before her.

Xiao Mo had not only reached the early stage of the Dragon Gate realm at such a young age, but the Dao resonances around him were rich and pure without the slightest impurity. This showed clearly that the Great Dream of the Yellow Millet genuinely suited him to an exceptional degree.

Given time, Tushan Xinhua felt that Xiao Mo might very well reach the Golden Core realm before he turned twenty.

What mattered most was that he was neither arrogant nor impetuous. His character was steady and composed, with none of the so-called "arrogance" that often accompanied brilliant talent.

"Many thanks for the Lady's praise. Whatever progress I have made today is entirely owed to the Lady and the Young Miss."

Although there was some embellishment in Xiao Mo's words, the cultivation resources he had used over these years had truly come entirely from the Mount Tu residence, including the cultivation method he practiced.

"There is no need to thank me. Our Mount Tu residence has been investing in you. It was no act of charity. Going forward, you need only protect Jingci well." Tushan Xinhua said.

"Yes. I will do everything in my power to protect the Young Miss." Xiao Mo replied.

Hearing Xiao Mo say he would protect her well, Tushan Jingci's eyes curved into happy crescents and a warm feeling rose in her heart but in the very next moment, a single sentence from Tushan Xinhua put an end to Tushan Jingci's happiness.

"Xiao Mo, you are still living in this courtyard currently, correct?"

Tushan Xinhua looked at Xiao Mo with a level gaze.

"Starting today, please move out and live elsewhere."