Chapter 5

For the past 1000 years, bai feng jiu had been training in the mortal realm. Time worked differently here than in the heavens, one mortal year accounted for just one day in the heavens. So, every 2 mortal years, she would jump from one mortal world to another and so far, she had been through 182,500 worlds. She had promised herself to complete full 1000 immortal years in the mortal realm and there were still 10 months of that time left. If her calculations were correct, she still had 150 more worlds left to experience in that time.

Although during the past 1000 years she had probably been through every mortal job one could get. She had been a clerk, a baker, a librarian, a maid, a tea shop owner, a stall owner, a courtier, a painter, a cleaner, a fight master, sewing lady and much more. These were just the ones she remembered. Going through so many tribulations, she could feel her cultivation increase every day. What her grandfather said had been true. These experiences had a way of shaping people from the inside out. She had experienced the pains and trials of the common people, seen dynasties fall and rise, understood what the people needed from their ruler and most of all, what a ruler should never do. These experiences had given her a new perspective, the perspective of a ruler. She understood what those classrooms couldn’t teach her. A subject that was a skill now.

Well, that was not the only skill she had gained over the past thousand years. She came here for training and training is what she had done. She had gained mastery in all her subjects slowly over the years. It had started with zhe yan. He began teaching her medicine when she first came down here. For two months every mortal year, he would come down to teach her. After she had a considerable grasp over that he had started teaching her about the spirit also. Both subjects together had made it a lot easier for her to understand. After that she had smooth sailed through it all. 8000 mortal years later, zhe yan had declared he had nothing left to teach her in spirits and medicine, she now knew everything he did and could easily practice it also. Not wanting to stop her training, she had asked him if he could teach her something else. Zhe yan had just told her to wait.

Next time when they were scheduled to meet, he had not come alone. Aunt’s shifu, the god of war, mo yuan had been with him. Seeing her perplexed face, zhe yan had announced, “xaio jiu meet your new teacher, mo yuan.”

She was shocked but still remembered her manners, “queen of qing qui, bai feng jiu greets god of war, mo yuan.” Being a queen, she couldn’t bow to him, so she settled for joining her hand and nodding. With the greetings out of the way, she waited for zhe yan to explain.

Understanding her confusion, zhe yan went on, “after I returned from the last visit, I saw mo yuan waiting for me. Seeing him gave me the idea that what better teacher than mo yuan was there. He had taught your hellish aunt after all. So, with a little bit of persuasion he agreed to teach you sword fighting, magic, Buddhist scriptures and military stratagems.”

This time feng jiu kneeled in front of mo yuan, “I would be honoured to have you as my teacher.”

“rise feng jiu. I accept you as my student. And make no mistake, this is not because the old phoenix pleaded on your behalf, but only because I see the same potential in you that I saw in your aunt back then. “

“what am I supposed to call you since I am not a disciple?”

“call me mo yuan only. Your station doesn’t allow you to call me anything else. Now, before we start, we need to address two problems first. First, Study of magic needs practice in a safe environment and in the mortal realm, you can’t practice heavy magic or it will backfire. Second, I will not be able to come here every time. So, what do you suggest we do?”

Feng jiu pondered on the situation for a bit then with carefully measured words she said. “the aura and cultivation can be used to create an extension of the world. It is a safe place untouched by the elements of the realms. But its strength, depth, safety and access depend on the aura and cultivation of the one creating it.”

“very well, feng jiu. Now, I believe zhe yan has taught you about spirits. So, would you like to give this a try.”

She nodded in understanding. Aura was the part of one’s spirit and aura magic doesn’t backfire in the mortal realms as it was the core of every being. Sitting down a few steps back in the lotus position, she extended her aura and started giving it shape. After careful moulding, she stood in the middle of a look-alike valley of qingqui. She felt someone behind her and turned to see mo yuan and zhe yan behind her.

“you have the potential to outdo your aunt, feng jiu. I haven’t yet strengthened this place with my magic but still your aura and cultivation had created this place with such precision and power that it can handle both mine and zhe yans essence. That is a considerable feat feng jiu, one I was not expecting you to achieve just now. It takes immortals thousands of years to make a place similar to this, let alone one that can handle essences like ours.” Mo yuan turned to zhe yan nodding and said, “you have taught her well, zhe yan.”

Zhe yan laughed at that, “believe me, it’s not me. She learns like a leech, draining every ounce of knowledge you have. I told you, you have never had a student like hers. She is special. Mo yuan.”

Blushing feng jiu bowed her head.

“you might be onto something there, brother. But for now, let us continue with the task at hand. I will fortify this place with my cultivation, feng jiu. This will allow both of us constant access to this place and it won’t collapse until something were to happen to either one of us. Any time one of us is here, the other will know. This place is exclusively for your training. So whenever I come here, you have to report within five minutes, understood?”

“understood.” She nodded.

With that said, she felt a golden hue starting to cover the entire valley. This was mo yuan’s cultivation.

After that, mo yuan started teaching her sword fighting. Slowly, he added on the other subjects of magic, military stratagems and Buddhist scriptures. Because of the vast nature of these subjects, it took 350,000 mortal years for her to master them. That wasn’t her end goal though. She wanted to know as much as mo yuan was willing to teach her, many mastered the subjects but few knew them well, she wanted to know them inside out and that was exactly what she told him. To say mo yuan was surprised would be an understatement, he had gotten to know her curious nature very well but what she was saying depicted a maturity much above her years. He could see why the old rock was so taken by her. These little foxes, they made them special in qingqui.

Mo yuan had agreed to her request of continuing her training. Since, she didn’t need continuous supervision now, they won’t be following the earlier schedule. He would call for her when it was time for a session and she is to continue with her self-training always.

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