Chapter 51: Passing Immortal Sect 9 Part 2

His waist and abdomen suddenly tightened, a broken sound spilling from his mouth.

“Got it now?” Xun Ji asked again.

The tail touched and withdrew. Lu Yun Ting’s frenzied heartbeat threatened to burst from his chest; he gaped, unable to speak.

“Really dumb.” Xun Ji sighed lowly. “I’ll teach you once more.”

No, no! How can I… How can I treat him like this…

The snake scales were ice-cold and rough. Lu Yun Ting trembled all over, panting heavily against Xun Ji’s shoulder.

But before he could rebuke, the tail withdrew again.

“Don’t go…” His body betrayed his consciousness, uttering words of retention.

“Not going. It’s just that the snake scales are hard; I can’t control the force well.” Xun Ji scooped up his limp body by the waist, letting him sit steadily in his lap.

“So, you do it yourself.”

What is he saying… How can I…

Why not?

He’s helping me. He’s making me feel good.

So what if it’s a Snake Demon? This must be a kind Snake Demon, that’s why it’s helping him like this.

Lu Yun Ting’s hands were bound behind his back, his eyes blinded by the curse. Only his waist and legs were free to move wantonly.

That was enough.

His chest pressed tightly against the man’s. He leaned to his ear and pleaded softly:

“Teach me once more, alright? This time… I’ll definitely learn it.”

Lu Yun Ting did learn it—and learned it very well. But this guy was the type who ate and didn’t bury; once the Restriction’s backlash receded, he passed out cold, leaving Xun Ji, whose tail had been thoroughly messed up, to stare speechlessly at the cascading clouds.

Xun Ji went to great lengths to retrieve the Buddha Heart Stone from beneath the cloud waterfall, then went to even greater lengths to finish the work Lu Yun Ting hadn’t completed, repairing the Passing Immortal Bridge. Using a massive amount of spiritual power made his depleted Spiritual Veins wail again, but fortunately, this was on the Passing Immortal Bridge—the consumed portion was quickly replenished by the surrounding abundant spiritual energy, so he didn’t suffer too great a loss.

The protagonist’s trouble was solved, but Xun Ji’s own trouble remained unsolved.

Staring at his half-human, half-snake body, he really wanted to drag the System out and yank out its chip.

[Host, don’t rush. Once you fully master the Transformation Technique, you can freely switch between human and snake forms!] The System said guiltily.

“Do I need you to tell me? The problem is, what do I do now?”

The first Snake Transformation had been a “gift” from the System when he drew the skill. Now that his Transformation Technique wasn’t mastered, he couldn’t change back to human or to the Little Silver Snake.

He sneaked all the way back to the small cabin on Duansxue Peak, burrowed into Lu Yun Ting’s bed, and practiced diligently. Before he made any progress, this little brat Lu Yun Ting not only failed to break through to Late-Stage Golden Core but also claimed his Dao heart was unstable, trapped by love, and wanted to descend to the mortal world.

If not for the Emotion Vein Unsealing Progress bar rising to 15%, Xun Ji really wanted to beat this endlessly troublesome guy.

The plot had already deviated greatly from the original. Lu Yun Ting hadn’t fled, hadn’t developed a romance line with Su Yanran, hadn’t gained little brothers, and hadn’t broken through to Late-Stage Golden Core while on the run. Although Xun Ji had personally handled Su Yanran’s plot line to patch it up, what about the friendship line with the little brothers? What about the stalled cultivation?

[Host, why not personally step in again?] The System suggested.

It seemed that was the only way. Xun Ji sighed inwardly. He had come to this world disguised as the protagonist’s master, thinking he could live a few leisurely immortal days, but now forget leisure—not even master days were left!

Since Lu Yun Ting was entering the mortal world, his “little brother” naturally had to be a mortal too. Recalling the large group of little brothers from the previous Small World, Xun Ji’s spirits finally lifted a bit. Acting as an immortal required skill; acting as a mortal was a piece of cake!

*

In the mortal world, Trapped Dragon Hill, Treasure Pearl County.

In the city’s teahouse, the storyteller held a feather fan in his left hand and slammed the Storyteller’s Gavel with his right, his voice booming like a bell, his tone resounding.

“To speak of our Treasure Pearl County’s origins, it has quite the backstory.

Legend has it that a thousand years ago, this place was a barren wasteland, with only continuous mountain ranges spanning the continent. Suddenly one day, a celestial phenomenon appeared on the horizon—a Black Giant Dragon tore through the void, descending from the upper realms on clouds!

The Black Dragon was shielded by golden light, its momentum rainbow-like. Wherever it passed, it bestowed blessings of sweet rain; withered trees bloomed upon encounter, stagnant waters flowed again, and even the old farmers tilling the fields, brushed by that Dragon Breath, saw their rotten, decayed Spiritual Veins instantly revive, turning them into immortals who soared through the skies!”

The teahouse immediately erupted in boos. The tea guests shouted loudly: “Master Liu, you’ve told Treasure Pearl County’s origin story a hundred or eighty times, and each one is more outrageous than the last!”

“Exactly! Do you all believe that old farmers tilling fields could grow Spiritual Veins and become immortals, or do you believe my eighty-year-old father is the sect leader of Du Xian Sect!”

The crowd burst into laughter, rebuking him for disrespecting the immortal sects while slyly congratulating his father on his birthday.

Master Liu didn’t get angry, merely chuckling: “This is the version I’ve summarized from reading all the county’s strange tales, the one closest to the truth. Will you listen or not?”

“Listen! Of course we’ll listen!” The crowd egged him on. “No matter how outrageous!”

Master Liu shook his feather fan and continued.

“The Giant Dragon held a Treasure Pearl in its mouth, piercing clouds and spewing mist, seemingly just passing through this world on its way to a farther place. Yet it never expected this would become its final resting place.

At that time, the mortal world flourished, but the Cultivation World languished with depleted spiritual energy. Many cultivators abandoned the Immortal Path and died in depression. The Giant Dragon’s passage caused an uproar in the Cultivation World; the immortals had never seen such a majestic spiritual entity, so a thought arose in their hearts.

“What thought?” A tea guest couldn’t help asking.

“That is… Guess what, everyone?” Master Liu smiled and teased suspensefully.

Boos rose again. Amid the crowd’s dissatisfied urging, a warm voice rang out from a tea table.

“Greed.”

Master Liu was slightly startled and looked toward the voice, only to see a youth in moon-white robes with a jade-like face and clear eyes smiling brightly at him.

Xun Ji stood up, walked to Master Liu, and bowed.

“Dad, was I right?”