62 NO TRUE CULTIVATOR WOULD EVER BRING UP JUSTICE AS A REASON TO FIGH (1/2)
Waking up from her short, two-hour nap after a night of fierce fighting, Xiao Wu quite literally had to drag her heavy body over to the edge of her bed just to stand up.
Her hair was in even more disarray than ever, with blue and purple strands scrambled in a chaotic mess, like twigs making up the nest of a bird. Around her eyes was a pair of deep, dark circles that utterly ruined her otherwise perfect complexion. In the middle of that blackness, her eyes were aflame and bright red, and although Xiao Wu had her cultivation base silently rotate in her consciousness to ease the tiredness, her Inferior Stage spiritual energy could not do much other than dispel the drowsiness. For the rest of the symptoms, she made sure to ingest an energy pill from a set of more than fifty that she had bought with her earnings: just a single one helped relieve muscle fatigue and revitalized her tired brain.
Immediately, she couldn't help lamenting that had the aftereffects of the pill been even just a millionth as inconveniencing as it tasted awful, she would never have dared to pick it up. Nevertheless, the purple-haired girl still couldn't help but admire its effectiveness as all the aching in her body was washed away.
According to the water clock, the fifth bell of the morning was about to ring, so she could wait a bit more before running to the tower.
And according to her, who had been keeping count all along…
”It's the eight day already!”
Indeed: it was already day eight since Cheng Hao first entered closed-door cultivation.
Xiao Wu sighed and brushed her hair. She then tied it up in a bun with a pin she had bought; one shaped like a lotus, to match that of her shut-in companion. Afterwards, she checked her dark circles in the mirror, bitterly musing that the efficiency of medicine could only depend on how disgusting it tasted, else it wouldn't be 'fun'.
After fixing herself up somewhat, seeing how she still had some time, Xiao Wu checked the door to the small room Cheng Hao had been quietly residing in for more than a week now.
It was still closed from the inside and, as she felt some spiritual energy fluctuations, it could only mean Cheng Hao was still meditating. Although she couldn't shake off the feeling that something might have happened for someone like that monster to be taking so long to breakthrough, she could do nothing as the room was sealed by a golden, fluctuating seal in the shape of a five-clawed, horned dragon; that protection had been none other than Blindlight's most glaring contribution to Cheng Hao's cultivating session.
That symbol had not been there the first night, so she could only guess that it was meant to keep people from going in, or maybe something from going out, as things progressed.
”Good morning brother… I know everything will be alright, but be sure to come out soon!” Xiao Wu caressed the door with a longing smile.
”Morning, Bro.” She murmured with a satisfied smile, her emerald eyes lit up with the excitement of a child seeing their partner amidst many mischiefs and adventures.
Although she called both Cheng Hao and Fuyin 'Brother', only the former was more like the older, knowledgeable, caring brother that also teased her from time to time. On the other hand, the latter was someone she felt connected and comfortable staying with: although her inexperience in this matter was quite glaring as she had lacked actual friends from a young age, she at least knew that those with this kind of connection would be the famed 'childhood friends' of legend!
The purple-haired girl nodded in satisfaction once more before leaving for the tower in order to absorb the first virgin rays of sunlight, necessary to cultivate the I See A Purple Moonlit Scripture. Once there, she sat down in a meditative state and focused her gaze onto the faraway horizon to the east.
Suddenly, the sky lit up and faint purple glimmers shot over. After Xiao Wu had finished absorbing those, she circulated the Purple Qi in the rays of sunlight that she had absorbed and added it to her own reserve of Purple Moon Qi in her Pseudo-Core.
She stood up, her long, blue and purple strands of hair fluttering in the wind. She enjoyed the view of the world coming to life for a while longer as the breeze battered her clothes. Afterwards she headed back home, jumping from rooftop to rooftop while bathing in the warm sunlight.
Just as she arrived at the hut, her cheerful expression turned into a frown as she clicked her tongue: in her tired state, she had actually forgotten to apply make-up.
Right now she looked like her true self, the little girl so beautiful that Xiao Wu should be printed next to beauty as a synonym on every dictionary.
As for why she was worrying about that now of all times…
Well, it was because, in front of her little, dear hut number 742 there were more than twenty figures standing menacingly, wrapped in pitch-black cloaks that didn't even show a single inch of skin.
…
Hidden amidst the treetops just far away enough to eavesdrop in without being caught, Xiao Wu frowned: most of those men had higher cultivation than any of the opponents she had fought so far!
One had just walked out from the house and was speaking with another figure that very much acted like the leader, pointing around and leading the small team orderly. He was also the only one who wasn't hiding their appearance beneath the dark robes: he was a middle-aged man, with a head full of white hair despite only being in his early forties, his gray-ash eyes slightly dull as hints of indescribable grief and pain could be seen deep within.
”Sir Zi Luo, it is of no use! Even I cannot break the barrier and if we use any more power, some Elder might actually notice us... We have tried to break in from other walls, but they are all protected by that mysterious golden light. Instead of causing it any damage, the strange seal is actually absorbing what we are throwing at it to replenish its own Spiritual Energy! If we keep going like this it is likely we would just end up helping out the person inside...”
The middle-aged man had a hand on his chin and was calmly twirling the hairs of his beard around his fingers. Occasionally however, his forearm and fingers would twitch uncontrollably, pulling out a hair or two while at it. Initially, he had sported a beautiful mustache and an exquisite goatee, which were both now ruined. However, he didn't appear to notice the pain as he remained expressionless, not showing even an ounce of emotion on his aged face.
As he followed his subordinates to the rear wall of the house, he witnessed first hand a golden, fluctuating film glowing silently beyond a broken section of the wall.