The months passed in a blur as yu'er focused entirely on progressing in her cultivation. Her mother had made a strict schedule that often left her numb. It did not come easy as the torturous training was hellish.
She sufferd the pain of an herb bath every three days in order to recover her already fatigued body. It not only would improve her constitution but recover the spirit Qi used during her endurance training. Her mother did not allow rest at all as during the day, she would train her body fiercy under a pressure array while her breaks consited of learning the few skills her mother could teach her. During the night she would cultivate to the best of her ability.
Her mother had first began to teach her about Alchemy since she had both fire and wood elements. Under her tutalage she was able to become a second ranked alchemist in the span of two years. Her mother was ecstatic knowing her daughter was so talented and often didn't let her sleep in order to make the best out of their time. Herbs were the main factors in alchemy so as Long Daiyu studied and researched their uses she began to dive into the branch of gourment masters.
Although she could only concut level one dishes with her set of skills ,they were extremley delecious and helpful to her body. The ranking for the dishes were similar to Alchemy and required delicate handwork along with the processing of the ingrediants with spiritual Qi. Long Daiyu never thought cooking in this world was so unique as extensive amounts of consentration along with the constant adapting to different techniques were to be exersised in order to reach adequate results with the ingrediants.
They would extract immpurities gathered and carry small amounts of spiritial Qi aiding the tempering of her bones. Knowing that eating could benefit her body, it only made the glutton Long Daiyu more passionate about learning Alchemy and herbs.
While her mother was proud of her genius daughter for being such a passionate youngster, all Long Daiyu thought about was dinner!
Five years had passed in the blink of an eye, and Long Daiyu was now ten. Young people in sects would start cultivating at that age while they would learn everything necessery before. But Yian on the other hand had to balance learning, Cultivating, and training for yu'er all at once.
To her suprise although time was limited Yu'er progressed at an alarming rate before her eyes. Not only did Yian begin to teach her Alchemy which took lots of time and resources but she taught her the basics of being an Array master. Although she could not set up arrays due to her current strength still being weak, she had a vast knowledge of how they worked and liked to watch her mother create them.
Yu'er was currently at the peak-stage of foundation building, and once she broke through to core formation she would be able to start her real journey in the world of martial arts. Only then would her true talent be revealed. Many talents cultivation would slow down after breaking into the core formation level. As breakthroughs to higher levels were difficult and needed certain environments to advance.
Yian knew she would have to experience the outside world in order to make a breakthrough. She had watched as Yu'ers cultivation speed slowed after the incident with the elements which left her with wonder.
The dark element hid itself in her body but did not appear as one of the elements she could weild which made Yian guess if it had came and helped her cultivate as a favor.
She could'nt help but sigh as she looked at the small figure outside under the vast stars. Her small delicate hands moved with firmness as she purified the herbs before carefully cutting them. Her moves were complex yet filled with elegance ,anyone who looked could tell that she had practiced the technique over and over again in order to reach her current state. The child immersed herself in a world where only the ingrediants were visible and gave off an unapproachable aura. Even Yian was afraid of disturbing her as a single mistake could make the current herbal soup loose some of its potency.
Soon the child threw the last ingrediants into the small pot and the suffocating aura that surrounded her earlier was completly gone replaced by a serene feeling. The child turned with happiness evident in her face as she smiled towards her mother and small dimples deepened on her round cheeks. Her yu'er hadn't changed much these few years as her cultivation had slowed down her growth, or so she thought.
Under the constant luxurious nurturing of Yian along with the many great herbs and pills consumed, Long Daiyu did not look like your average ten year old. Her skin resembled jade while her features were so well proportioned she seemed more like a doll than a human being. If brought out into the world, many would think she was a child born of a goddess who had accidentally come to the lower realms.
What mother didn't want their daughter to be beautiful?
Yian had taken it upon herself to take care of yu'ers apperance as if she were a peice of art brought down from the heavens itself. She constantly made Yu'er consume products beneficial to her skin, hair, and nails while she made creams, pills, and elixirs all according to her condition. She did not allow her daughters hands to change under her strict training and maintained them as if they had never touched anything harsh in their lives. If one saw her hands, they would think of the princesses that where pampered to the state they didn't have to grab a single thing themselves.
She had even went to the extent of making a pill using a rare herb pursued by thousands, in order to prevent any body hair from ruining her childs skin in the future. Many would spit blood at the fact someone dared use the light bending dandy Lion in order to make a pilll to prevent body hair!
Yian on the other hand thought the use of this expensive herb was worth it as she would probably never use it even if she kept it. Looking at her innocent child take out two bowls to serve the herbal soup she couldn't help but blush a bit. Her child was just to pretty, if any wild man dared go near her in the future she wouldn't think twice before sending them to hell herself.
Mothers were defiantly scary when it came to protecting their children.