81 A Little Dance, Entering the World of Cultivation 5 (1/2)
An Fei glared spitefully at the outstretched grin on the minister's countenance. Her eyes glared daggers at Wei Xuan, whilst her mouth was crammed to the point of bursting.
Her cheeks couldn't store any more food, nor could she even begin to chew.
This wasn't funny!
The girl shook a dainty fist at the minister, a fierce howl ripping forth in her heart. This was pure bullying of his own daughter when she was distracted, and tormenting in such a fashion as well!
”Fei'er,” Wei Xuan intoned with an amused smile, the exhaustion on his countenance gradually easing away as he teased the young girl before him.
”How do the vegetables taste?”
Two beams of fire struck his heart, causing the minister to laugh without restraint. Finally having managed to compress the mass of food in her mouth to a manageable amount, the girl fiercely chewed, fuming in her heart.
”Father, you're too mean!”
The girl's outraged cry caused Wei Xuan to blink in surprise, before taking a good look at An Fei. Noticing that her countenance was still considerably drained, the minister quickly began to console her with both arms.
”Ah, Father was trying to get you to eat the food before it cooled,” Wei Xuan hastily spoke, ”If you consumed congealed and cold food, that would be rather detrimental to your health…”
Sneaking a glance from the corner of his eye, Wei Xuan noticed that the girl had completely ignored him, instead voraciously digging into the bowl of congee before her as well as the various vegetable dishes strewn across the table. With a moment of thought, the guilty expression on the minister's countenance instantly vanished, and a second person joined in on ravaging the plates before them.
”…Father,” An Fei spoke as soon as she had swallowed a generous piece of potato croquet, patting her full stomach in content.
”How… did you do that earlier, the phenomenon that warmed up the air?”
”Hm?” Wei Xuan frowned, his mouth full of xianbing. Chewing for a few moments, the minister finally cleared his throat, before washing his mouth with a cup of longjing tea.
”The phenomenon earlier, do you mean the array I cast earlier to ward off the cold?”
When the girl nodded with an earnest expression on her beautiful countenance, Wei Xuan hesitated for a breath.
”What I did back then,” the minister spoke whilst gesturing towards the floating symbols shimmering in the light.
”It was nothing more than a simplistic array, without a major function or purpose.”
Noticing the girl's confusion by her gaze, Wei Xuan moved the dishes on the table to the side, before preparing a large bowl of longjing tea. Gazing at the wooden table, the minister composed his thoughts before deigning to reply.
”Arrays are… they can be considered a major application of the benefits obtained from cultivating spiritual essence,” he explained.
”Formations and arrays are purely wordplay empowered by a cultivator's spiritual essence.”
”Just wordplay?” the girl repeated, a frown on her countenance.
”Mm,” Wei Xuan nodded, dipping his right index finger into the bowl of longjing tea. With swift strokes, the minister drew the symbol for 'fire' on the wooden surface.
”The symbol on the table is nothing more than an article of calligraphy, one of many characters for 'fire', 'spark', or a 'blaze'. When written, the character possesses little significance other than to convey information.”
With a gentle gesture, the minister prompted An Fei to follow suit. Dipping her finger into the cooled tea and drawing on the smooth wooden surface, the character for 'blaze' joined the 'fire' on the table.
”However,” Wei Xuan spoke with a grave tone. ”When contacting spiritual essence, these mere articles of calligraphy can possess great effect.”