Xiao Yuansi

"Qingsui Peak of the Qingchi Sect?" Li Tongya and Li Xiangping exchanged startled glances. After hesitating for a few breaths, Li Tongya said, "An envoy from an immortal sect must have something to do with Jing'er." Li Xiangping rose at once and led everyone down the mountain. Yet just as they stepped out of the courtyard gate, they were met by a cultivator clad in a moon-white robe, a string of brocade pouches hanging from his waist. The cultivator had handsome features and an ethereal air. Standing quietly before the courtyard, he looked at them with a genial smile. "Xiao Yuansi of Qingsui Peak greets you, fellow Daoists," he said, clasping his hands in a light salute. "Li Xiangping of the Li family pays respects to the envoy of the Qingchi Sect." Not daring to presume, Li Xiangping hastily bowed alongside the people behind him. Xiao Yuansi shifted slightly aside to avoid receiving the full bow and smiled warmly. "You are all my junior brother's family; there is no need for such grand ceremonies. I come today purely on personal terms, not as an envoy of the immortal sect." The Li family members murmured their compliance, and Li Xiangping said deferentially, "Immortal Master, please come inside." Before this esteemed cultivator of the Qingchi Sect, Li Tongya and his companions felt no different from common mortals. This address of 'Immortal Master' came with utter sincerity. Xiao Yuansi walked into the courtyard, found a seat, and spoke softly: "I was originally tasked with important sect business to capture a demon beast in Lixia Commandery. My junior brother missed his family dearly, so I had him write a letter for me to carry along to Mount Dali. "Chasing that beast back and forth took up a great deal of time. I only managed to slay it yesterday, and so I have arrived unannounced. I hope none of you take offense." "Not at all, not at all! The Immortal Master traveled tens of thousands of li to deliver our family letter—our Li family is beyond grateful!" Li Xiangping replied respectfully. Seeing Xiao Yuansi hold out a greenish bamboo cylinder as thick as a thumb, he hurriedly accepted it. "Go ahead and read it first," Xiao Yuansi said with a smile, taking a sip of the tea a servant had brought up. Li Xiangping and the others nodded repeatedly. Li Tongya scraped away the wax seal on the bamboo tube with his thumb, then tipped it into his palm. A curled roll of pale white paper emerged, and he quickly unrolled it to read. *Jing bows his head in greeting. Having been away from home for over a year, I wonder if my brothers and father are well. Everything is peaceful for your son in the immortal sect. I have now condensed the Qingyuan Wheel, Yujing is in sight, and I have taken up sword arts, advancing my cultivation by leaps and bounds...* *Senior Brother Xiao Yuansi has reached the seventh layer of Qi Refinement and excels at alchemy. He is gentle, honest, and kind. Should anything arise at home that you cannot resolve, you may seek his help. If you lack anything, do not hesitate to ask him; once he returns, I will repay him within the sect...* *A jade slip is delivered alongside this letter, containing a sword technique called the Mystic Water Sword Art. The spells I have practiced are all handed down by the sect and cannot be shared, but this Qi Refinement sword technique was a gift from my senior brother. I asked him, and he gave his permission to send it to the family. It is not exceedingly difficult, and the family may practice it for self-defense...* *I hear that the Tangjin Sect has been stirring up trouble along the border. For now, the family should exercise forbearance. I have already asked Senior Brother to speak with the garrison cultivator stationed in Lixia Commandery. If anything happens at home, use the jade seal to call for aid...* *I am living very comfortably in the immortal sect, so do not worry. Cultivating here yields twice the result with half the effort, far better than Mount Dali. Have any major events occurred at home? Is Xuanxuan behaving well? Has there been... anything unusual at home? Please write back to me.* After reading the letter, Li Xiangping felt a surge of heartache, his eyes reddening slightly. Cupping his hands toward Xiao Yuansi, he apologized, "Forgive our lack of manners for keeping the Immortal Master waiting." Xiao Yuansi waved his hand with a smile and laid a jade slip upon the redwood table. "No need for courtesy; it is only human nature. This is what my junior brother asked me to bring along." Seeing Li Tongya step forward to put the jade slip away, Xiao Yuansi said mildly, "If the family faces any difficulties or has any questions, feel free to ask." Li Tongya and Li Xiangping exchanged a look and spoke in unison, "We indeed have some doubts. Immortal Master, please come with us." Dismissing the attendants, the brothers led the way up the stone path through the mountain compound. Before long, they arrived before a lush, leafy banyan tree. Circling gently behind it revealed a small tree bearing five fruits. "Oh?" Xiao Yuansi lowered his gaze. Forming a hand seal, his hands took on a lustrous, jade-white glow before he reached out to touch a fruit. After inspecting the leaves closely for several breaths, he explained, "This spirit root is called the Shejiao Fruit. A single tree should bear six fruits in total. Rising along the stem, the higher the fruit, the earlier it ripens. When the first fruit matures, only by picking it will the one beneath continue to ripen. "Such is the nature of this spirit root: the gap between one fruit ripening and the next is about five years. You could say it bears fruit once every five years, one fruit at a time. Judging by the color of this top one, the previous fruit was picked over four years ago, and this one is about to mature as well." Xiao Yuansi brushed aside the lowest branches, and indeed, a tiny, pale-green fruit rested there—the newly grown sixth. "May we ask what this fruit is used for?" Li Tongya listened attentively and asked with deference. "Our Qingchi Sect also possesses over a dozen of these trees. Every few centuries, one will yield a golden fruit used to breed new saplings. As for these crimson Shejiao Fruits, most are used to concoct Sheyuan Pills, which are awarded to meritorious disciples in the Embryonic Breathing and Qi Refinement realms to accelerate the speed of wheel nourishment and qi refinement." Li Tongya and Li Xiangping stared at each other in dismay. The Li family was destitute; where could they find an alchemist? Despite cultivating for so long, neither had ever tasted a single pill. Noticing the troubled look on their faces, Xiao Yuansi chuckled. "If eaten raw, one fruit would probably only shorten the time of wheel nourishment and qi refinement for a single person." Seeing them hesitate to speak, Xiao Yuansi suddenly understood. "For this current fruit, I can open a furnace and concoct a batch of pills for you first. With my current skill in alchemy, this batch of Shejiao Pills should yield about seven to eight. According to the usual custom, however, I will deliver six to you, and any surplus belongs to me." Li Tongya and Li Xiangping naturally agreed at once, overflowing with joy as they expressed their thanks. Xiao Yuansi nodded, tapped a brocade pouch at his waist, and a jade box materialized in his right hand. Summoning a strand of dharmic power, Xiao Yuansi tapped where the fruit joined the stem, then cradled it with power so the Shejiao Fruit settled gently into the jade box. "Aside from certain special herbs and spirit fruits, most must be stored in jade vessels to preserve their spiritual nature. Using dharmic power to pick them ensures the fruit remains undamaged," Xiao Yuansi explained in a gentle voice as he harvested it. "I will start the furnace to refine the pills tomorrow!" With another light tap on his brocade pouch, the jade box vanished from his hand, leaving Li Tongya and Li Xiangping watching in sheer envy. "Is there anything else?" Xiao Yuansi asked with a smile after storing the jade box away. "Thank you, Immortal Master!" Li Xiangping and Li Tongya thanked him first, after which Li Xiangping drew an animal-hide scroll from his sleeve and presented it to Xiao Yuansi with both hands. Xiao Yuansi took the hide scroll, untied the white cord binding it, and unrolled it with a flick of his right hand. "Mist Barrier Array?"