He Transmigrated Into The Body Of A Useless Little Disciple, Whose Innermost Thoughts Were Overheard By Demonic Master! - Chapter 3

Yao Ling felt disgusted the moment she saw the smile on Gu Xingchen’s face. After summoning her flying sword, she grumbled, “Second Senior Brother, who are you putting on a show for? Don’t you also think that the eldest Senior Brother has been too concerned with the junior brother lately and neglected his cultivation?”

“Someone who has been unable to break through to the Golden Core stage for three years naturally has a lot to say to someone who has been unable to break through to the Nascent Soul stage for three hundred years.”

After complaining, Yao Ling left. Although they were fellow disciples, the internal competition was fierce. One could not expect mutual help; if they did not stab each other in the back, it was already considered benevolent. Yao Ling disliked Gu Xingchen intensely because he was a smiling tiger who had tricked her several times under that gentle, harmless expression. As Gu Xingchen left, he cast a meaningful look in the direction Lin Mingsi had departed.

Xie Rong could already control a sword at his Foundation Establishment stage, but he suffered from a moderate fear of heights. He traveled either by crane or by hitching a ride on someone else’s sword. Once Lin Mingsi discovered his phobia, he would proactively take Xie Rong wherever he went.

Tugging on Lin Mingsi’s sleeve, Xie Rong whispered, “Senior Brother, do you think Master has been a bit strange today?”

Lin Mingsi looked back at him and said gently, “Master looked at you five times today, and one of those times lasted longer than four seconds.”

Xie Rong was surprised. He had thought the Master only looked at him twice. “Senior Brother, why does Master keep looking at me? I haven’t caused any trouble lately. Could the Martial Uncle have complained to Master? But I only ate a few of his spiritual fruits; surely that wouldn’t be enough to warrant this.”

Lin Mingsi pondered for a moment, then chuckled when he saw Xie Rong’s unease. “Little Junior Brother, do not panic. Master probably looked at you more because of the upcoming sparring between peers. If you had made a real mistake, Master would not just look at you; he would have reprimanded you directly.”

Xie Rong thought that made sense. He was just a failure who could not break through to the Golden Core stage after three years. If Master were dissatisfied, he would have scolded him openly rather than using his gaze to issue secret warnings. Xie Rong lowered his head to look at his own belt, thinking to himself, Maybe it is because my belt is also sky-blue, and since Master likes sky-blue, he looked at me a few more times.

Xuan Yue, calculating the distance at which he could hear Xie Rong’s inner voice—about one hundred thousand meters—could not help but look down at his own clothes. I like sky-blue? How come I did not know that myself?

When they arrived at Xie Rong’s cave dwelling, Lin Mingsi’s brows finally relaxed. For some reason, he particularly liked Xie Rong’s dwelling; the layout gave him a feeling of comfort, warmth, and ease. He knew that the soft, wide chair was called a sofa, and although lying on it looked improper, it was genuinely comfortable. Lin Mingsi sat on the sofa with a smile and asked Xie Rong, who was brewing tea, “I remember you are not skilled in techniques. If someone challenges you, have you thought of a way to respond?”

Xie Rong sighed at the mention of this. He placed the brewed spiritual tea in front of Lin Mingsi with a troubled expression. “Senior Brother, you know me. I am slow to learn anything, and I forget things easily. I suspect that in my life before the last, I was a stone, or perhaps an unrefined piece of raw iron.”

Lin Mingsi quite liked the spiritual tea brewed by Xie Rong. Although he did not understand why the most potent brew was poured away, the tea after the second infusion was indeed milder in spiritual energy. He now followed Xie Rong’s habit of discarding the first cup.

After drinking slowly, Lin Mingsi saw Xie Rong watching him with a dazed expression and smiled. When he first learned that Xie Rong liked to stare at others while daydreaming, he had been surprised, thinking Xie Rong had some sort of issue. After becoming familiar with him, he realized that Xie Rong simply liked looking at good-looking people. Although Xie Rong had never complimented him directly, the frequent dazed smiles were enough to explain everything.

Seeing Lin Mingsi smile, Xie Rong suddenly covered his frantically beating heart and swallowed invisible drool, sighing inwardly, There are countless cultivators in this world, yet I have not met one who is ugly. The mortal body, once washed by spiritual energy, quickly purged its impurities. The long process of spiritual cultivation actually adjusted one’s appearance. Even a fifty-point mortal would improve to eighty upon starting cultivation, so it was rare to see an ugly cultivator. Everyone had their own beauty and characteristics.

Xie Rong was a severe beauty fanatic. Since coming to this world, he felt every day was a holiday. Whenever he felt unhappy, he would go to the training grounds to look at the faces of his fellow disciples, and his mood would improve. He kept a personal beauty ranking, recording the appearances of those he met. Currently, his Master was ranked first, and Lin Mingsi was second.

Lin Mingsi waited patiently for Xie Rong to return to his senses. Xie Rong’s gaze was always clean, so he did not feel offended. He asked softly, “Would you like me to teach you some common techniques?”

Xie Rong instinctively wanted to nod, but he remembered that Lin Mingsi was a cultivation fanatic—out of twenty-four hours a day, he probably spent twenty-three and a half practicing. Xie Rong’s mind was simple, and his face reflected whatever he was thinking.

Lin Mingsi sighed and smiled, his voice remaining gentle. “It is fine. I have been stuck at the Golden Core stage for three hundred years; I have long understood that mindless cultivation cannot break a bottleneck. Since I have been wanting to reflect on things lately, teaching you these techniques counts as a review for me.”

Xie Rong knew that disciples from outer peaks often gossiped about Lin Mingsi, saying that since his cultivation had stagnated for three hundred years, breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage was hopeless. He also knew that under Lin Mingsi’s persistence of practicing day and night, there was immeasurable public pressure. He feared that Lin Mingsi might collapse under the weight of it, so having him distracted by teaching techniques was a good idea; perhaps staying busy would keep him from dwelling on other things.

Lin Mingsi prepared a dish for Xie Rong. Upon seeing the vibrantly colored food, Xie Rong looked at it with apprehension. “Senior Brother, are you sure this Stir-fried Fish Bone with Mushroom Slices is edible?”

Lin Mingsi nodded calmly. “It is edible.”

Just as Xie Rong reached out with his chopsticks, he pulled them back quickly, his tone righteous and stern. “It is not that I do not trust you, Senior Brother, but I think tasting dishes should be left to a professional. I think that spiritual bird in the back mountain looks promising; I will go catch it to taste this for you.”

It was not fear; it was simply that Lin Mingsi had not mastered the skill of cooking. The last time he made Spiritual Fruit and Turtle Soup, Xie Rong had suffered from diarrhea for an entire day and only recovered after taking detox pills. He had been able to abstain from food after reaching Foundation Establishment, so food no longer entered his cycle of reincarnation. That he had been forced to use the bathroom for an entire day showed the sheer power of that dish.

Lin Mingsi smiled slightly at Xie Rong. While Xie Rong was stunned by his face, he quickly placed a piece of food into Xie Rong’s mouth. Xie Rong was stimulated by the intense fishy smell and snapped out of his dazed state, looking at Lin Mingsi with a complex expression. Lin Mingsi saw the expression and smiled gently. “It seems this new dish is not cooked well enough. I will go back and improve it.”

Xie Rong swallowed the food with great difficulty, grabbed Lin Mingsi’s wrist, and said with great solemnity, “Senior Brother, you are so busy; leave trivial matters like cooking to me. Do you like fried or stewed? Do you like meat? I will go make some for you right now.”

Without waiting for a reply, Xie Rong took the colorful dish to the kitchen and returned shortly after with three dishes and a soup. Lin Mingsi had long known that Xie Rong could cook and that his food was delicious. After eating a meal there and agreeing to meet at the back mountain the next day, Lin Mingsi stepped on his sword and returned.

Xie Rong stood at the entrance of his cave, watching Lin Mingsi’s retreating figure, feeling a sense of relief as he sighed helplessly. “A person of such peerless grace, why is he so obsessed with cooking?”

The next morning, Xie Rong crawled off his jade bed in a daze. Perhaps because he was used to being a mortal, even after many years in the cultivation world, he still could not get used to replacing sleep with meditation. Xie Rong had the habit of eating, and fearing that Lin Mingsi might bring him breakfast, he quickly prepared a simple meal and placed it in his storage ring.

He reached the back mountain before Lin Mingsi and brought out the breakfast, greeting him with a warm smile. “Senior Brother, although you have already reached the state of abstaining from food, it is fun to have a meal once in a while. Come, let’s have breakfast together; I just made these.”

Lin Mingsi used to never eat breakfast; he feared he did not have enough time for practice and had relied on energy pills during the Foundation Establishment stage. When did he start eating? It seemed to be from the time his relationship with Xie Rong grew closer.

Lin Mingsi took out a table and chairs from his storage ring and began brewing tea. Xie Rong lay lazily in his chair, nibbling on a steamed bun while asking Lin Mingsi, “Senior Brother, what are your thoughts when you look at the distant mountains and clouds?”

Lin Mingsi looked toward the spiritual mountain opposite them and asked in confusion, “The opposite side is the Red Flame Peak, which has always been on good terms with our Snow Cloud Peak. What thoughts could I have?”

Xie Rong smiled, fed the last piece of the bun to his mouth, and said vaguely, “I am different from you, Senior Brother. I cannot see the Red Flame Peak. I only see the free and unrestrained sea of clouds, the lively and joyful cranes, and the lush, prosperous spiritual trees.”

“The scenery in my eyes changes every day, but one thing has never changed: my heart.”

“Senior Brother, why can you only see the Red Flame Peak?”

Lin Mingsi stared intently at Xie Rong for a long time; the teacup in his hand was nearly crushed. Why did he never see the free clouds or the lively cranes? Why could he only see the Red Flame Peak?

Lin Mingsi fell into deep thought, and then, with a blank look in his eyes, he raised his head to look at Xie Rong and asked, “Why, why can you see the free clouds, while I cannot?”

Seeing Lin Mingsi’s serious expression, Xie Rong was perplexed, not knowing what had happened. He just felt it was too quiet and was chatting casually. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Perhaps it is because our mental states are different. Senior Brother is entirely devoted to cultivation, so naturally, you cannot see the sea of clouds or the flowers and trees by the roadside.”

“But I am different from you. My heart is not on cultivation, which is why I can see the clouds and the scenery around me.”

Lin Mingsi frowned tightly and asked the question he had been worried about but had never dared to ask.

“Little Junior Brother, are you truly not afraid of death?”

“Do you know that you only have two hundred years of lifespan left? This time will pass in the blink of an eye; are you not worried at all?”