Chapter 4

Although the Xiyan Sect was small, it had more than three hundred people, among whom no more than sixty were genuine cultivators. They were the true masters of the Xiyan Sect, while the rest were ordinary people, servants, laborers, helpers, and hired workers. These nearly three hundred people formed the true underclass of the Xiyan Sect.

Although Mi Xiaojing was only thirteen years old, he was a legitimate disciple of the Xiyan Sect and held a respectable position within it, owning a formal residence for cultivation.

Following the tall walls of the Xiyan Sect, he walked toward the back courtyard and soon arrived at a side gate. Pushing open the gate, Mi Xiaojing entered the back courtyard, where the meditation rooms were located.

Mi Xiaojing sneaked toward the meditation room. He had skipped both the morning and afternoon classes today, and if the head monk discovered this, he would be scolded again. Just as he turned through a moon gate, he heard someone say,

"Ah, Senior Brother, you skipped class again!"

Mi Xiaojing was startled.

"May the Ancestor of Cultivation protect me! Who is spreading such nonsense!" He turned his head to look.

Standing by the moon gate was his junior brother, Zhang Ke, who was the head cook in charge of the large kitchen. Originally, he was Mi Xiaojing's senior brother, but because his cultivation level at the Yuanjue stage was surpassed by Mi Xiaojing, he was demoted to a junior brother. He was already in his forties and had no hope of advancing to the next realm. Despite this, he and Mi Xiaojing had a good relationship.

The Yuanjue stage is equivalent to the Qi Condensation stage in the cultivation world and is divided into three phases: the first phase is Conversion, the second phase is Cultivation, and the third phase is Enlightenment.

Zhang Ke, at forty years old, was still at the Conversion phase and could not even reach the Cultivation phase. In contrast, Mi Xiaojing, at thirteen, had already reached the Enlightenment phase. With enough accumulation, he might advance to the next level.

Thus, the young Mi Xiaojing was actually Zhang Ke's senior brother. Fortunately, Zhang Ke had taken good care of Mi Xiaojing when he first started his cultivation, and as the head cook, he often left some food for Mi Xiaojing. The two had a good relationship.

Zhang Ke had a scruffy appearance, a broad and fat body, and was a super obese man. He was smiling broadly.

"Senior Brother, this time... Oh, who hit you? Your clothes are torn!"

Mi Xiaojing looked smug but deliberately put on a calm expression.

"I encountered a lone wolf, but I enlightened it, and it stopped biting... I released it back into the wild. May the Ancestor of Cultivation protect me, bless my compassion, and bless my enlightenment of the lone wolf..."

Zhang Ke was extremely surprised.

"What? A lone wolf... enlightened? It didn't bite you? What's going on?" His accent was very heavy, and "shrimp" meant "what" in his dialect.

Mi Xiaojing briefly recounted the incident.

Zhang Ke's mouth dropped open, and after a moment, he burst into a fit of laughter.

"Ha ha ha! Ha ha... Ha ha ha!"

"May the Ancestor of Cultivation protect you, Junior Brother, you'll laugh yourself to death!"

Zhang Ke pointed at Mi Xiaojing, tears streaming down his face.

"Ha ha, that... that was enlightened by the Ancestor's compassion... right? Ha ha, it was almost strangled to death... right? Ha ha, Senior Brother, you almost killed it... where's the enlightenment... ha ha! It was scared away, right, ha ha!"

Mi Xiaojing felt depressed by Zhang Ke's laughter but couldn't help laughing at his comical appearance.

As a result, the two of them laughed like madmen by the moon gate. After a while, Zhang Ke noticed that Mi Xiaojing was laughing even more exaggeratedly and was stunned. He panted, "Senior Brother, what are you laughing at?"

"Ha ha, I'm laughing at the ridiculous person..."

Zhang Ke was dumbfounded.

"What do you mean?"

Mi Xiaojing finally stopped laughing and walked inside with a smug expression, saying, "The heart of cultivation, Junior Brother Zhang Ke, you lack insight..."

Zhang Ke was thoroughly confused, his mind in chaos. His cultivation talent was very poor, and he was one of those people who found it extremely difficult to advance. He had barely reached the Conversion phase and could not progress to the Cultivation phase, stuck at the first stage. At forty years old, he still had to occasionally seek advice from Mi Xiaojing.

However, Zhang Ke's talent was so poor that even if Mi Xiaojing wanted to guide him, it was like trying to enlighten a block of wood. How could he possibly make any progress?

Zhang Ke was completely bewildered. The heart of cultivation? Ridiculous person? What's the connection?

Muttering to himself, Zhang Ke followed Mi Xiaojing to the house. Mi Xiaojing looked up at the sky.

"Junior Brother, is it time for the meal?"

Zhang Ke was suddenly alarmed. He let out a strange cry and ran off.

"Senior Brother, help me out later, enlighten me... May the Ancestor of Cultivation protect me!" As the head cook, he was responsible for the large kitchen, and this was not the time for idle chatter. It was almost dark.

He ran off in a flash.

Mi Xiaojing chuckled. He knew that as long as he said something vague, he could confuse Zhang Ke, which was the best way to deal with him.

Arriving at his house, it was a small brick and wood house, one side against the courtyard wall, the other side next to a large Zen tree. Behind the house was a small vegetable garden with some vegetables and herbs.

The house had only three rooms. The room closest to the courtyard wall was Mi Xiaojing's, while the other two were occupied by his senior brothers. However, these two were following the elders outside the city to the Lingcang Sect and would not return for a year.

Outside the door was a long, six-foot-long, two-and-a-half-foot-wide blue stone platform, where Mi Xiaojing laid out the herbs, wild fruits, and vegetables he had collected. These were his personal items, and in the austere Xiyan Sect, both food and clothing were very simple.

Not eating meat was fine for Mi Xiaojing, as he had never eaten meat since childhood, but eating tasteless food was something he could not endure. He always had to find something to eat, and cultivation was very draining on both physical and mental energy. Without proper nourishment, how could he endure it?

This was also why Mi Xiaojing often skipped classes. These classes were not like those in a school but were unique to the Xiyan Sect. There were morning, afternoon, and evening classes, usually involving the recitation of mantras, and sometimes the head monk would lecture on the mantras. These were important daily activities for the cultivators.

Mi Xiaojing lived very freely in the Xiyan Sect because he had not yet found a master, so no one was in charge of him. Having grown up in the sect, almost everyone knew him, and he was considered a little local boss in the Xiyan Sect.

Skipping classes was a regular occurrence for Mi Xiaojing.

Opening the door, the small room did not need to be locked, and there was no lock. Mi Xiaojing placed the basket at the door and then entered the room.

The room was not large. A clay bed took up half of it, with a low table at the foot of the bed. A dark red, shiny bamboo mat was laid on the bed, and at the head of the bed was a quilt full of patches, neatly folded. However, the quilt did not have any cotton inside, and like a patchwork robe, it was washed until it was white.