LZR Chapter 5 Part 3) Settling Into A New Life

The long road ahead was what I was facing now. Bai Yu and the others had already taken off. I am not sure if they had some means to reach town besides walking or running, but they did not go towards the road when they left.

I did wish I had some new clothes, though. My current clothes, although clean, had patches and dirt stains on them. I had a feeling that as soon as I enter a place that sells pills, I will probably be looked down upon. There is no getting around it, though. If I want to make money, I will just need to put up with it and do what I need to do.

After walking all day, night fell, and I entered the pagoda and had dinner with my mother. I noticed that the entire place was spotless like it had been cleaned a few times. “Mother, if you want, you can walk with me for a bit every day for a change of scenery. I know being cooped up in here is not really all that fun.”

I watched as my mother paused her chopsticks and looked at me. I could see the hesitation in her eyes. She bit her lips lightly before asking, “Will it cause you to be delayed?”

“Delayed? Not at all. I was able to meet some people from Taindao Academy today. They gave me a token to take the entrance test at that time. I am hoping to have enough to rent a house for you. This way, while I am at the academy, you can spend some time out in the city doing as you want while I am at the academy.” I had no thoughts of failing the entrance test. Some may say I am arrogant, but I have the ability and knowledge to be arrogant when it comes to something like this.

I will not say I can go out and defeat an immortal right now. By no means do I think I ever could, especially at my current cultivation, but that did not mean I was afraid of anyway below rank five qi gathering. Although I might be pushing it a little, even then, it would not be an easy battle. But I was sure I could easily deal with a rank two or three qi gathering realm cultivator. Ranks four and five would be difficult only because the chasm between ranks was quite large.

“Then, I will walk with Rou’er for a while during the day.” My mother smiled. She looked a little excited it seemed she wanted to get out and about but was worried about dragging me down. But there was no way my mother could drag me down. She was my mother, after all. I would rather skip the academy recruitment if it meant making sure my mother did not feel too lonely. I am only five, so there were many years ahead of me. The academy would be a good place to cultivate, but it was not a necessity, not with the knowledge I had.

I stuffed my mouth full of food and beamed my mother a bright smile. She smiled back and asked me how I met Bai Yu and the rest, I explained to her in detail everything that happened. Her face paled slightly when I told her about the devil cultivators, but I assured her that I was in no danger at any time. I did make sure to leave out the elder waiting outside. My mother knows that being a cultivator is a path filled with blood. Danger lurked around every corner, but our world was based on being strong. If I was not strong enough, we would still be bullied in the village. If I was not strong enough, my mother would still be working herself to death, and I would end up being a naive child who could only watch as her mother died and, soon after, perish herself.

Fate has given me the chance to allow my mother and me to live good lives. If not for my early intellect of knowing what I needed to do to survive, I would not have been able to become a qi gathering cultivator. Life is not simple. Life is about working hard to gain every advantage you can get. Some might say I am lucky, but luck is also part of one’s strength, and I will abuse that luck for as long as possible.

“That was good!” I patted my protruding belly. My mother was an amazing cook. She was using the spiritual hers we had here and was roasting the meat just right while adding the herbs that went well with the meat. All of this was something I could have only dreamed of before. Most of the villagers would probably never get to taste such food. But here I was eating it every day. And we did so without money. I hunted for the meat and foraged for the herbs. I did not take from the herb garden since that was mainly for pill refinement. The herbs we used in cooking were all over the place in the forest. I did not need to walk far to find what I needed.

“Ruo’er, what are your plans for the night?” My mother asked as she stood up and started to clear the table.

“I plan to refine some pills. I need to start saving them up to sell so when we reach Xiaguang Town. I can hopefully sell a few bottles worth to make some money. After that I plan to sit on the jade pillow to cultivate.” I answered. I was hoping to reach rank two qi gathering before I reached town, but it might not happen.

“Make sure you get a few hours rest. Even if you are in the qi gathering realm, it does not mean you do not need to sleep. Get at least four to five hours of sleep a night.” My mother was right. Just because I was in the qi gathering realm did not mean I did not need to sleep. I can cultivate and it would rejuvenate my body, but I still needed some sleep. This was mainly for my mental health.