Even If You're My Senior, It's Still Forbidden - Chapter 8

Su Jin’an was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

She had thought Ji Weining would ask why her body had reacted so differently from what was described in the spiritual cultivation manual, but instead, she posed this question.

“Senior Sister, I wish to be like you.”

“The Master saved my life, and I no longer want to remain as I am now.” This was also the easiest question for her to gloss over, so she continued, “With demonic energy frequently appearing these days, I desire strong spiritual power. I don’t want to suffer through such events again, and I hope to be able to protect others, just like you, Senior Sister.”

“If it’s still too troublesome, we can wait until later.” Su Jin’an’s expression dimmed. She knew she had been too impatient, aware that what lay ahead for her was more than just reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

Ji Weining reached out and patted her shoulder reassuringly. “It’s not troublesome at all. If you wish to go, Junior Sister, I will handle the rest.”

Ji Weining repeated the same words, leaving Su Jin’an puzzled about her intentions. After all, she was merely her junior sister, what could she possibly want from someone who had nothing to offer?

Thinking that she had nothing of value for Ji Weining to seek, Su Jin’an decided to take things one step at a time.

“I’m fine now, Senior Sister. You can return to your room and rest.” She had been troubling Ji Weining for the past two days, and recalling how she had stayed in her room the previous night, Su Jin’an suspected she hadn’t rested properly.

“Would you like to eat something now, Junior Sister?” Ji Weining asked hesitantly, unsure whether her junior sister had reached the stage of fasting.

If she had, she should be able to abstain from food by now. Otherwise, her cooking skills would once again go to waste.

Su Jin’an touched her stomach, feeling a slight hunger, and nodded. Her Foundation Establishment seemed different from others, she hadn’t reached the fasting stage, and her spiritual marrow didn’t even meet the standard for Foundation Establishment. It was all thanks to the surge of spiritual power her senior sister had given her that she had broken through.

“Then I’ll go cook something. I’ll be back soon.” Ji Weining wasn’t entirely sure about her junior sister’s condition, but since she said she was hungry, she would cook. Her junior sister was new here and still unfamiliar with many things; Ji Weining wanted to help her settle in gradually.

Mention of cooking reminded Ji Weining of the bowl of noodle paste from the morning, it was terrible. She had forgotten to deal with it!

Returning to the kitchen, she retrieved it from her Qiankun bag and saw that, as expected, it had congealed and multiplied. What was once a small half-bowl had now become a full bowl. After so much time, it was no longer edible. What a waste of food.

After disposing of the spoiled noodle paste, Ji Weining set about preparing a suitable late-night snack.

It was already nighttime, so she thought it best not to make anything too hard to digest. After some consideration, she decided on red bean porridge. She added black rice, peanuts, and glutinous rice, using her spiritual power to speed up the cooking process. A sprinkle of white sugar later, and the red bean porridge was ready in an instant.

This was a skill she had honed over the years using spiritual power to prepare food. An ordinary person couldn’t achieve such speed. With precise control over spiritual energy, the heat and ingredients were perfectly balanced.

Ji Weining scooped up a spoonful to taste. It was sweet, with the soft, fragrant texture of red beans and the excellent flavor of peanuts. All the ingredients blended harmoniously into one delightful bowl of red bean porridge.

Ji Weining scooped a small bowl of red bean porridge. It was still rather hot, so she carefully held the rim and placed it on a tray.

Warm porridge is good for the stomach. She had heard long ago that red bean porridge was also a nourishing food for mortals. It would be a good chance to let her junior sister try it and see if the rumor was true.

Entering the room, she found Su Jin’an flipping through a book. Nowadays, she was already studying spell-related texts. Since she had built her foundation, it was time to continue learning. She had already read all the foundation-building books available here, but none offered a solution to her current predicament.

She recalled the thing her mother had made her eat that day. Was it her doing?

Her throat began to ache unconsciously, and she frowned again. It was uncomfortable, she couldn’t even pinpoint exactly where the discomfort came from.

“Junior Sister, come have some porridge. I specially made red bean porridge, infused with spiritual energy. It’s very fragrant and sweet.”

“My throat hurts a little,” Su Jin’an replied, her voice hoarse, a detail Ji Weining noticed.

These seemed like symptoms common among mortals. She was most accustomed to treating immortals, so while she knew a bit about mortal ailments, her knowledge was limited.

“It’s still a bit hot. Have some first, Junior Sister.” Ji Weining shook the nearby stove gently. The kettle on it was completely empty, so she picked it up and headed out. “I’ll go fetch you a cup of water.”

“Mm,” Su Jin’an nodded. Ji Weining brought the red bean porridge and set it before her. She had already troubled her senior sister too much over the past couple of days, so she added, “Be careful on your way, Senior Sister. It’s dark outside, and the path isn’t easy to walk.”

Su Jin’an touched the bowl, picked up a spoon, and took a small sip. It was indeed hot.

How did it taste? She was afraid she might not fully appreciate her senior sister’s kindness.

After taking the kettle outside, Ji Weining made a quick trip to the kitchen and scooped out several spoonfuls of her treasured honey. She had brought this honey back from her travels up north, the honey from that region was exceptionally good.

After preparing a cup of honey water, she carried it back, poured a cup for her junior sister, and handed it to her.

Su Jin’an took the cup casually and drank it all in one go. Her throat didn’t seem to hurt as much anymore it seemed drinking more water really helped.

“How’s your throat now?”

“Much better,” Su Jin’an said, realizing her voice was no longer hoarse.

Ji Weining poured another cup into the teacup. “The honey water tastes good, doesn’t it?”

Only then did Su Jin’an realize she had been drinking honey water. The honey had dissolved into the water, leaving a faint yellow hue. No wonder plain water didn’t have such an effect, this honey was clearly no ordinary honey.

“Indeed.”

After a few more cups, Su Jin’an finished the bowl of red bean porridge and resumed reading. When she looked up, she noticed her senior sister was still in her room.

“Senior Sister, aren’t you going back to your room to rest?”

“Alright.”

She had indeed stayed in her junior sister’s room for quite some time, it wasn’t really appropriate. Ji Weining stood up and prepared to step out of the room, but once again, that mysterious force restrained her, as if it knew her intentions and refused to let her leave her junior sister’s room.

[Please romance your junior sister!]

The divine message appeared again. She glanced up at the sky, it was already as dark as the previous night.

Ji Weining gave up struggling, withdrew her steps, and turned to her junior sister. “What if something happens to you during the night, Junior Sister? It would be safer if I stayed by your side tonight.”

Su Jin’an stared into her eyes, unsure whether her words were genuine or not, but she sensed no ill intent. It was completely different from the way those people had looked at her.

“Are you going to sleep now, Junior Sister?”

Su Jin’an shook her head. Having just woken up, she truly couldn’t fall back asleep now.

“Sister, do you have time to teach me some spells?”

“Right now?”

“Yes.”

“Of course I can. What would you like to learn, junior sister?”

“This one.” Su Jin’an flipped through the book to a page titled “Spirit Fire Technique.” “I saw you using it earlier in the kitchen.”

Back then, she hadn’t understood what spell it was. Only now did she realize that her senior sister had expended a considerable amount of spiritual power just to cook a meal, a rare practice in the world.

“This is simple. First, look at the center,” Ji Weining pointed out.

On that page of the book was the diagram of the Spirit Fire Array, the most basic of minor spells. Yet, its potential was immense, allowing practitioners to refine their control over heat, range, and targets of combustion.

“The core of the array is fire, while the surrounding formations control the heat, range, and targets.” Arrays were drawn through the manipulation of spiritual power.

“Let me demonstrate for you, junior sister.” White, translucent threads rose from Ji Weining’s palm, tracing the array from the book. The moment the array took shape, a flame flickered to life in her hand.

“Would you like to try touching it?” Ji Weining extended her other hand, stroking the flame without any sign of burning, as if she were touching an ordinary object.

Curious, Su Jin’an reached out to touch the flame as well. Its temperature was surprisingly low, feeling more like a warm puff of air than a fire. She looked up and asked, “Is this the heat control?”

“Clever junior sister,” Ji Weining praised with a smile. Then she added, “Now, if you draw the spell faster, you won’t need to sketch the array stroke by stroke, nor will the spiritual power need to manifest visibly, the flame will simply appear.”

With a clench of her fist, Ji Weining extinguished the flame in her palm. Then, with a casual snap of her fingers, the candle on the table ignited, casting a dim, yellowish glow across the surface. This was a real flame, and Su Jin’an hadn’t even seen how it was produced before it appeared.

Su Jin’an pondered for a moment. Perhaps her senior sister didn’t even need to use her hands, she could simply manipulate the surrounding spiritual energy to form the array. She extended her own palm, rolling up her sleeve slightly, and began with the method she had learned the previous day. A ball of spiritual power materialized in her hand, though it was far less refined than what her senior sister controlled.

Unable to guide the spiritual energy to draw the array, Su Jin’an decided to directly shape the energy into the form of the array. She had memorized the array’s pattern at a glance, but executing it was another matter. She focused on forming a circle with the spiritual energy, then transforming it into the pattern of the array. The fire array had only one pattern, resembling the ancient character for “fire,” which wasn’t too different from the modern character. Su Jin’an recognized it easily and committed it to memory.

Around the circle, the spiritual energy morphed into multiple “fire” characters, while the central circle grew smaller. The moment the array took shape, flames burst forth, scattering like sparks in all directions.

“Sister, I succeeded!” She looked at Ji Weining and laughed joyfully, like a child.

The next second, she glanced down and saw that the sparks from the flame in her hand had landed on Ji Weining’s robe. Clutching the flame, she pointed helplessly at the hem of her senior sister’s garment with her other hand. “Fire!”

Ji Weining only noticed that the flame in her hand was about to singe her hair, so she reached out and grabbed the hand holding the fire. Instantly, the flame in Su Jin’an’s hand was extinguished.

“The hem of your robe,” Su Jin’an reminded, pressing her lips together.

Ji Weining glanced down at her clothes, the fire on the hem had gone out, but her hand was still gripping Su Jin’an’s. A section of her robe had been burned away. She waved her hand dismissively, unconcerned, and instead said cheerfully, “You’re quite talented, junior sister! You succeeded on your very first try.”

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