88 The Trifles of Body Tempering 2 (1/2)

The study of the Flowing Wind Residence greeted the first breath of spring in a fit of uneventful stillness.

Two maidservants scuttled about, drawing back the curtains and tidying the various articles of furniture, chattering to each other regarding a vast area of subjects, not shying from politics, cultivation, to even street gossip.

They seemed not like servants, but more like blood-related siblings.

From their actions, demeanor, or aura, there was not a single inclination of the submission or timidity found in the commonplace servant belonging to an official's manor.

”Fourth Young Miss, do you have any special requests for breakfast this morning?”

One of the maidservants called towards the depths of the study, slinging a thick padding of fabric around her body as she picked up a basket with her right hand. Grabbing a red parasol of oiled paper, the servant paused at the door, her head tilted to the side.

”This… maybe some xiaolongbao? Oh, and a little bit of soy sauce would be perfect.”

A soft voice rang from the center of the building, obscured by a dense maze of fabric and furniture.

Hearing the hesitant desire within, the maidservant chuckled with a hearty smile before unlocking the double doors with an experienced hand.

”Then, this servant will be back. Sister Ying, take care of the Fourth Young Miss!”

Xiao Wen called as she raced out of the study. Making sure to close the doors to divert the chilly temperature, the maidservant took a deep breath of fresh air, a happy smile blooming on her pretty countenance.

”The first breath of spring is truly beautiful…”

Rolling her neck and stretching her arms, Xiao Wen grasped the wooden basket with her hand. As the maidservant dashed through the Flowing Wind Residence, the nearby servants could hear her muttering several words under her breath.

”Xiaolongbao with the edges trimmed neatly, with a side of scallops. Xiaolongbao…”

The actual spoken content produced a rather comical clash with the solemn expression on her countenance, yet Xiao Wen couldn't care.

–

”Fourth Young Miss, shouldn't you be resting?” Xiao Ying called from the fringes of the study.

”Reading the this early in the morning, wouldn't it become detrimental to the Fourth Young Miss' condition?”

”Xiao Ying, be at ease, I'll just be reading the manual,” a young girl replied from the drawing table.

”I won't be pondering on its contents until I recovered, just as I promised.”

”Then that's good! The Fourth Young Miss, when the temperature warms, should step outside to experience the fresh air outside, ah!”

Conversing with the maidservant as she cheerfully dusted the furniture near the walls, the girl revealed a small smile before adjusting her position on the half-moon chair.

Relaxing her shoulders, she reached for a thin book with a tattered leather cover and bold calligraphy.

.

Described from Wei Xuan's perspective, the manual clenched within her hand was a complete set of cultivation and martial arts techniques.

Furthermore, it could bolster a cultivator to the Nascent Soul Realm, equivalent with the emperor of Great Yong and the powerhouses of the Shattered Star Continent.

That was of course, disregarding the smuggled into her possession by an elder of the Three Lotus Sect.

Since her verbal mishap, An Fei had reluctantly but dutifully upheld the role of a diligent learner.

Ultimately, most of her knowledge was exhorted from the unwitting maidservants. In their defense, they were more than willing to provide supplementary knowledge to the Fourth Young Miss, thus forming a remarkably awkward cycle of events.

”A complete set of martial arts and cultivation techniques…” the girl murmured to herself, tapping on the leather cover with her knuckles.

”No wonder why those people were scrambling for completed techniques back at the mysterious Pagoda of Sun and Moon…”

Cultivation and martial arts, were inevitably interrelated by a close and fragile thread. If complemented in a balanced resolution, the practitioner was capable of producing a might far surpassing the limit his original abilities could exert through a single technique.

Similarly, any disruptions in the delicate balance between a practitioner's cultivation or martial arts capability completely disemboweled such benefit, transforming into a nasty thorn that ate at the practitioner's abilities.