Earth Spirit Milk
While the Wang Clan descended into madness, Li Ruo and Xue Feng arrived back at the estate.
Landing in Xue Bai's courtyard, the couple could see their son practicing the sword as Xiao'er watched from the side while kicking her feet in the pond.
"Bai'er, how's your swordsmanship?" Xue Feng asked with a bright smile as he landed.
Not bothering to turn around, Xue Bai answered, "Tedious, I still can't understand Sword Law yet. If I hadn't seen Uncle Huo do it yesterday, I would think that you were lying to me."
"Bai'er, Sword Law is something that took Brother Huo decades to understand and master. Just because you saw him do it once and asked me what it was doesn't mean you are going to master it. If that were the case, there would be many more Law Engraving realm cultivators in the world." Xue Feng replied bitterly.
In order to advance to the Law Engraving realm, one needed to have ample Spiritual Qi and be at the peak of the Dharma Idol realm, but they also needed to understand a law deeply.
While Li Huo managed to comprehend two laws, the one he used the most was his Sword Law, even going so far as to engrave Sword Law runes onto his Dharma Idol and use it as his natal weapon.
Xue Bai grew curious about this and asked Li Huo to showcase his Sword Law in hopes of sparking some enlightenment within himself, which would help him understand Sword Law as well.
This, of course, didn't happen, and now Xue Bai was bummed out, swinging his sword, trying to understand it himself.
"Bai'er, Husband is right. How about you try to comprehend your space element instead of trying to grasp Sword Law? Husband and your Uncle Huo can always guide you with Sword Law, but your space element is something you have to comprehend yourself." Li Rou gently persuaded as she sat down next to Xiao'er.
Xue Bai's space element was something that they had never even heard of, much less seen before. So Li Ruo wanted Xue Bai to focus more on that than Sword Law.
With the latter, Xue Feng and Li Huo could help him at any time. But with his space element, Xue Bai could only drudge along blindly, carving out his own path.
Finding her words reasonable, Xue Bai acquiesced.
"Fine. But I'll get it eventually."
He had wanted to learn Sword Law early because, through it, he would be able to use sword kinesis and fly with that before the Qi Sea realm.
Though just the very idea of comprehending a law in the Blood Exchange realm was arrogant and mad, Xue Bai knew it was possible, especially with how high his comprehension was.
However, since Li Rou advised him to focus on his strengths, he decided he would only try and comprehend Sword Law by himself and not in front of his parents. Nevertheless, Xue Bai was confident he would be able to do it, and it would also be a lovely surprise for his parents.
"Mother, Father, you two look different. What happened?" Xue Bai asked as he finally turned around. He had noticed something different about the air around the two, but once he looked at them fully, he realized that something about them changed.
Currently, Li Rou and Xue Feng look almost ten years younger than they did yesterday.
Yesterday, Li Rou looked like a mother in her early to mid-thirties, while Xue Feng had the appearance of a fierce middle-aged general. But now, the two looked like they were in their mid-twenties, barely even looking old enough to be Xue Bai's parents.
Hell, Li Ruo looked young enough to be his older sister right now.
It was a stark change, and if Xue Bai hadn't lived with his parents for his entire life, he could've mistaken them for different people.
Smiling, Li Ruo decided to explain the situation. From what the Spirit Cleansing Fruit did to them after they killed Wang Yin, Li Ruo didn't leave much of the story out. They were all family anyway, and it wasn't that big of a secret. Telling Xue Bai about it wouldn't do any harm.
Xue Bai was more than stunned by everything, but it was reasonable. He also felt slightly left out, but after thinking about it more, he realized that Li Ruo's actions were the most appropriate.
Bringing a Blood Exchange realm child along to a fight between powerhouses like Wang Yin and Xue Feng wasn't the brightest of ideas.
"Alright, enough of us. Bai'er, how is your cultivation going? I heard that you set a high goal for yourself. What is your goal?" Li Rou asked curiously.
Xue Feng had told her about Xue Bai's idea of wanting to go out and pillage the Southern Continent. He also offhandedly mentioned Xue Bai's goal to Li Ruo, not thinking much of it.
However, Li Ruo found that part the most interesting of the entire story. As Li Rou's son, Xue Bai's goals were very much her concern, and she wanted to know what they were.
"I want to reach the Bone Strengthening realm before the sixth month of 975." Xue Bai answered thoughtfully.
Both of his parents' jaws dropped slightly at this. But they very quickly regained their composure, with Li Rou asking a follow-up question first.
"Bai'er. That's a very high goal. I know that you have an Earth-grade Martial Vein, but even so, isn't that too much?" Li Rou couldn't help but ask in shock.
The sixth month of 975 was only 18 months away, and for Xue Bai to reach the Bone Strengthening Realm, he would have to advance almost a stage a month.
"I believe in my potential, Mother. And with my memories, I can guarantee that I'll be able to reach my goal." Xue Bai answered confidently.
Li Rou wanted to try and tell Xue Bai to lower his goal a little, but after seeing him radiate so much confidence, she swallowed the words in her mouth.
But unlike his wife, Xue Feng was confused about something else.
"Why the hell is your goal so specific? Is the world ending on that day?" Xue Feng asked with a raised eyebrow.
Xue Bai choked on air and wanted to slap himself on the forehead.
"Something important, but there isn't much need for you two to know. Just know that the world is going to change soon."
Xue Bai's answer was cryptic, but with him refusing any other questions relating to it, Xue Feng eventually gave up.
The family would spend the rest of the morning talking about various things in life until Xue Feng and Li Rou had to leave for work.
"Bai'er, since we killed Wang Yin earlier, you are safe to leave the estate to look for those opportunities you keep mentioning. But just make sure to bring the Wang Twins along with you." Xue Feng spoke as he left.
"But Bai'er, remember, no matter how valuable that opportunity is, your life is worth more. You, with your potential, will become an Immortal even if you miss one chance, so take care of your life." Li Rou spoke as she gave her son a hug before flying off.
After bidding them farewell, Xue Bai went over to call the Wang Twins for their new job of protecting him.
Despite advancing their cultivation and breaking into the Law Engraving realm, the Wang Twins still kept up their same diligent and intense cultivation routine.
Sadly, their diligence didn't mean much, as with their limited potential, their cultivation bases had been stalled at the 1st stage of the Law Manifestation realm without showing any signs of advancing. It was a painful feeling, but the two were hopeful for the future, especially with the enigma of Xue Bai as their Young Master.
Through this trip outside, Xue Bai hoped that while getting spirit fruits for himself, he could also get a few items that could possibly help the cultivation speed of the two twins.
At this point, instead of being Xue Feng's subordinates, it was better to call them Xue Bai's, and as his first pair of subordinates, Xue Bai wanted to treat them well. After all, once an immortal ascended, even the pigs followed.
So, while Xue Bai didn't plan for the two to become his right-and-left-hand men, he still had to treat them well. He would have the meat, and they would have the soup. It was a fair deal.
However, sadly, spirit fruits that helped cultivators in their realm were rare. Moreover, even if they were available, they were located much farther away than Snowy Wind City's forest. So Xue Bai couldn't help the two for the time being.
But even after telling them their cultivation bases would be paused for the time being, neither of the twins even broke into a frown. Instead, the two laughed.
"Young Master, us breaking through to the Law Manifestation realm outside the secret realm was more luck on our part. If it weren't for you allowing us to use that chance to break through, we would've been stalled at the peak of the Law Engraving realm, perhaps even until now. So even if we spend another year at our current cultivation stage, we'd be content." Big Wang explained merrily.
"Yes, Young Master, it's all thanks to you that we could even reach our current position. If Master hadn't made us your bodyguards, we still would've most likely been meddling in the early stages of the Law Engraving realm. And besides, Big Brother and I plan to spend more time comprehending our law, as we have been giving it less attention these past few years." Little Wang seconded.
Seeing that the twins were okay with their situation, Xue Bai didn't say anymore and got into the carriage they had prepared.
After giving Little Wang the first set of coordinates, the group of four set off.
The first opportunity that Xue Bai planned to grab, while useful for him, was mainly for Xiao'er. It was a huge puddle of a natural treasure known as 1,000-year-old Earth Spirit Milk.
Earth Spirit Milk was in the category of treasures like ginseng, where the older they became, the higher their rank.
10-year-old Earth Spirit Milk wasn't classified as a natural treasure and could only be used as a cosmetic item for cultivators.
100-year-old Earth Spirit Milk was categorized as a middle Yellow-grade natural treasure.
And 1000-year-old Earth Spirit Milk was categorized as a peak Yellow-grade natural treasure, and so on, with every 1000 years bringing the grade up by two stages.
There could also be older and different variants, but Xue Bai didn't think they existed on this mortal plane, putting them out of his consideration.
And what Earth Spirit Milk did was extremely special. It could purify a cultivator's body from all impurities it had within. While also elevating the cultivator's Martial Vein Rank by a level. There was a limit on the Martial Vein's advancement, however.
The cultivator's Martial Vein wouldn't go higher than the rank of the Earth Spirit Milk.
So, for example, if a cultivator had a high Yellow-grade Martial Vein and consumed a 1000-year-old Earth Spirit Milk, his Martial Vein would advance to the peak Yellow-grade. However, no matter how much more 1000-year-old Earth Spirit Milk he consumed, his Martial Vein rank would never advance.
This, when paired with Xiao'er, who had raised her cultivation base by consuming pills like candy and only had a mere high Yellow-grade Martial Vein, made the peak Yellow-grade 1000-year-old Earth Spirit Milk a perfect treasure for her.
Purifying the body of Xiao'er would save her years of bitter cultivation. It would allow her to smoothly progress through the following cultivation realms, as impurities within her body had already started to pile up, serving as blockades that nearly halved her cultivation speed.
The more pills one consumes, the more impurities build up in one's veins. And like a congested road, the Spiritual Qi they would absorb would have to go around the impurities or, worse, get sucked into them, making that Spiritual Qi useless and also wasting the cultivator's time.
So for Xiao'er, who was basically a pill jar in human form, the 1000-year-old Earth Spirit Milk fit her perfectly.
And the Martial Vein advancement only served as icing on an already perfect cake.
Also, Earth Spirit Milk had a great beautifying effect, and Xue Bai wanted to give some of it to his parents as congratulations for their breakthrough into the Xiantian Great Realm. Li Ruo would love it, while Xue Feng would most likely be forced to consume it by the former.
While the two were already married, who would want their partner to be ugly? Xue Feng didn't care much about his appearance, but Li Rou did. And Xue Bai could already foresee his mom forcing the natural treasure down his father's throat.
Xue Bai's first pillaging would have other natural treasures, but as the highest rank and closest, his first stop was the 1000-year-old Earth Spirit Milk.
A few hours of carriage riding later, they arrived.
"Young Master, we can't get any closer to the first set of coordinates you gave us. There is a cliff here stopping us!" Big Wang yelled out to Xue Bai, who was inside the carriage.
Nodding, Xue Bai got out.
Getting out of the carriage, Xue Bai found himself still on the trail that led through the forest, but to his left was the cliff he was looking for.
"Little Wang, come and fly me down this cliff. And Big Wang, you watch our surroundings. Make sure no one sees or hears us being here." Xue Bai quickly threw out orders.
Both twins obeyed quickly, and Xue Bai's orders were quickly followed. After making sure that Xue Bai had a good grip, Little Wang flew down the cliff.
"Young Master, where do you want me to fly to? There is a lot of fog here." Little Wang asked as they quickly descended the cliff.
Little Wang knew that Xue Bai wouldn't be able to see anything with his low cultivation, so he wanted to be Xue Bai's eyes. But he needed to know what they were looking for to do that.
"It's a cave that's about the height of a grown man. And at the mouth of the cave, there is a thick dying branch." Xue Bai answered.
In cultivation novels, there are many stereotypical scenes. From saving a beauty from being assaulted to going out to train only to find a heavenly treasure, such scenes were abundant.
And comically, Huo Long found the Earth Spirit Milk in such a way. After being chased and driven to near death by a group of enemies, Huo Long was forced to jump off a cliff in order to preserve his own life.
Of course, he wouldn't fall down this entire cliff, but instead, through his plot armor, despite being unconscious, he managed to land on the branch Xue Bai was looking for.
After waking up, Huo Long would then proceed to consume the 1000-year-old Earth Spirit Milk, break through his cultivation bottleneck, and kill his enemies.
It was a typical scene in any cultivation novel, but now that Xue Bai was here, this fortuitous encounter would belong to him.
With a proper image, Little Wang quickly found the cave matching Xue Bai's description, and after gently dropping him in the mouth of the cave, Little Wang turned around and let Xue Bai do his business.
Inside the cave, Xue Bai found the 1000-year-old Earth Spirit Milk easily. The cave was not only very small, but the 1000-year-old Earth Spirit Milk also sat directly in the center of the cave, making it harder to miss it than to find it.
Quickly scooping it up and placing it within a sealed container, Xue Bai flew out with the help of Little Wang.
Though the Earth Spirit Milk was definitely the most important item they would grab today, it wasn't the only one. And wanting to be home before nightfall, Xue Bai didn't want to waste any time.
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