Murim's Weakest Princess-Chapter 58: Living With Shifu

The next day, Anji followed her shifu to the secluded hut behind her family’s mountain. After hearing many stories about willpower, she had been thinking about it all night, resulting in a lack of sleep. The young princess had only four hours of proper sleep before Lizi woke her up.

"Good morning, shifu."

Hearing the sleepiness in Anji’s voice, Yan Ping laughed internally. She expected Anji to have trouble with the energy conversion problem. However, her student was too studious. The problem was not very difficult to solve. While she was away discussing new training plans for Yihao, Anji was playing with Bai Dajin, who spewed a lot of nonsense. If willpower were enough, there would be superheroes everywhere. Why didn’t all those demonic sect worshippers suddenly turn into powerful experts when they were faced with death during the war? ƒгeewёbnovel.com

With everything that happened, there was always a logical reason. If the golden core could transform energy into different states with different qualities, surely spells could produce something similar. The seals and valves she designed vastly differed from the conman Taoists who exorcise ghosts and demons. The Mystical Qilin Sect prides itself on quantitative and qualitative analysis in its research field relating to cultivation. The only reason why Bai Dajin was able to pull off that cheap miracle was due to his uncanny beast-like intuition and luck. Although his golden core had been damaged, it wasn’t unusable like Anji’s, which had been sealed away tightly by her father. He simply employed a function of his golden core that he did not previously develop when he was close to death’s doors, and it ended up saving his life. For Bai Dajin, who was only focused on the way of the blade his entire life, he barely dabbled in other aspects of cultivation, such as spiritual recovery or mind and body strengthening spells.

"Here," she handed Anji the same bronze mirror from two days ago. "You have enough hints over the past few days. An external force is often required to convert energy from one form to another. Some energy sources, like fire, do not need to be converted to emit light. It already emits light while offering heat. However, energy sources like coal are not useful in their regular form. It is only useful when other elements, such as fire, are present to draw fuel from its existence. You can also change wood into charcoal by applying heat. The wood used to build a house can no longer do that in its charcoal form. However, it gains new properties, such as charcoal, that could nourish the barren fields, which it could never do with wood. Your job is to figure out how to convert them accordingly."

Pushing a book across the table, Yan Ping calmly boiled a new pot of tea. Anji took the book and realised her shifu did not expect her to solve the problem herself. Although her teacher was sometimes difficult to understand, Anji still smiled and thanked her for the beginner spell guidebook.

"I’ve never encountered any books like this in the library," Anji noted. "Can spells be used by people without qi?"

Chuckling mysteriously, Yan Ping slowly poured out two cups of tea unhurriedly. Anji waited patiently as her shifu poured the tea properly without spilling or overflowing it this time. She stared at the cup and wondered if this was also a different kind of lesson.

Using qi to cool the tea a little, Yan Ping smelled the fragrance of the new flowers she used. Instead of chrysanthemum, Doctor He sent her a new concoction of herbal tea made from spiritual herbs. It was still a prototype, but if this proved effective, she would also make her students cultivate a tea-drinking habit.

Taking a sip and waiting for Anji to follow her example, Yan Ping stealthily activated her enhanced senses using the newly learned soul arts to better study her student’s energy fluctuation.

"This came from the Mystical Qilin Sect," she explained. "It’s not a secret book, but this one’s special. I had to get it delivered, so it took a while. Did you have fun at the clinic yesterday? I heard that Bai Dajin shared a lot of stories."

Afraid that her teacher would be mad she wasn’t taking her reflection studies seriously enough at the clinic, Anji quickly took the initiative to apologise first. However, Yan Ping only questioned why her student was apologising.

"Did you revise the Five Elemental theory while you were there?" she asked.

Anji nodded. She did not need much time revising the theory she already knew well. Doctor He also quizzed her, and the adults were helping her revise by sharing their knowledge and experiences. It wasn’t as if everything had been meaningless chit-chat. Thanks to the White Tiger Sect Leader, Anji thought she learned many ways of applying that theory in martial arts.

"Then why apologise?" Yan Ping raised a brow. "You’ve not done anything wrong, although I won’t recommend believing everything you hear from Bai Dajin. He’s an idiot when it comes to cultivating because he focuses more on martial arts than enlightenment."

"Ahaha..." laughing uneasily at how easily Yan Ping brushed off the amazing White Tiger sect leader’s accomplishments, Anji took a closer look at the book her shifu had given her.

Flipping through the pages hesitantly, Anji kept glancing at her teacher’s face to judge how she would react. However, she quickly became lost in the interesting contents of the book. Although it was only a beginner guidebook, the explanations were easy to understand. However, the reader first had to understand the Five Elemental theory very well in order to apply the techniques mentioned in the book.

"From today onwards, you will study basic spells with me. The seals and valves in your body are also spells created by me. To use them, you must first understand how they were created. I received permission from your father to oversee your training until you’ve mastered all the basic beginner spells. You have one week. You will eat, sleep, shower and study with me in this hut during this period. Of course, I’m a blind person and would need some assistance with some chores. Nobody else is allowed here, so it will be your duty to assist me with them. Any questions?"

That tone did not warrant exceptions, so Anji quietly swallowed her confusion and shook her head. Isolated training away from her family in the sect with her shifu sounded difficult. Anji knew that her shifu was highly independent while blind, but it made sense that she sometimes required external assistance. However, Anji wondered if she could do the chores Lizi normally did in addition to studying, training, and supporting her shifu’s needs.

Yan Ping ignored Anji’s apprehension about the difficulties ahead of her for the week. Her father initially opposed such a thing as well. However, Yan Ping pointed out how Anji would have to do those things when she moved to the Mystical Qilin Sect. Knowing the overly protective and pampering Celestial Dragon Sect, nobody would teach the youngest princess how to fend for herself. Everyone waited on the child’s hand and foot all the time. How would she become independent when she was away from her family? Yet, she wasn’t a merciless villainess. Yan Ping secretly made preparations beforehand. It was a rushed job of scouting edible plant spots and setting up a wide area spell to ward off dangerous animals and beasts on the mountain for Anji to forage in. Moreover, the Celestial Dragon Sect worked hard to redirect a stream so it would flow into a manually dug pond within walking distance of the isolated hut. The difficulty was decreased significantly after a long discussion with Doctor He about Anji’s physical limitations.

One week. Anji steeled her resolve. Between learning beginner spells and chores, she was more worried about chores due to her poor physical stamina. Despite the concerns, part of the small child rejoiced at the rare opportunity she would never have inside her sect. The first taste of freedom and independence was very sweet.