We are in a city near the river. Not far from Blood Valley.
I want to immediately train Shun Jin in swordsmanship. She only needs to master one sword move to make it an effective weapon against King Fong, who's already in the early stage of the Soul Transformation realm.
Each cultivation level has three stages: early, middle, and late. This applies from the lowest cultivation level, the Mortal Realm, except for the very peak cultivation level.
God Realm.
From there, there are no more stages. Each person's development depends on individual talent. If two cultivators of that level were to fight, mountains would crumble, islands would be flattened, and lakes would dry up. The same thing happened the other day; if my fight against the spirit king had continued, Blood Valley would have been wiped off the map.
Here lies the problem. Since three days ago, when I explained to Shun Jin that she would become the spirit king's wife and I was given six months to bring Rastella to the spirit king so Shun Jin could be free from the curse of the ring given by the spirit king, Shun Jin has become quieter and unwilling to speak to me. She even openly avoids me.
I find it difficult to teach her swordsmanship and the next stage of cultivation in the Mortal Realm. She even deliberately slacks off during physical training and sword swinging.
I walked towards the Hunter's Pagoda. I wanted to meet someone there to ask for advice.
"Good morning, is there any—you again, crazy man."
This is Mao. The manager of the Hunter's Pagoda in the city near the river, not far from Blood Valley.
She looked at me with an annoyed expression. As if hoping I would leave as soon as possible. Or even hoping never to see my handsome face again, because if so, she would be annoyed because she is less handsome than me, even though she is a woman.
"What do you want? That Mental Pill again?" Mao asked with a cynical tone.
I pulled out a mental pill from my black and white robe. It was made from white snake skin sewn into a cool black and white robe by the most skilled craftsman in this city. As payment for making this cool robe for me and Shun Jin, I gave him the remaining white snake skin, and the craftsman was overjoyed to receive it.
"Apparently, I don't need it. My disciple somehow managed to stay sane, even though her personality has changed after training in Blood Valley for seven days and successfully achieving an advancement."
I handed the Mental Pill to Mao, who raised an eyebrow.
"Your disciple? Blood Valley? Achieved an advancement?" Mao repeated the core of my statement with a serious face. "You have a disciple? And you told her to train in that cursed place where even cultivators above the Nascent Soul level struggle to survive? But your disciple managed to train there for seven days and came out sane and with a cultivation advancement? What a good story, crazy man. You almost buy me to believe it."
Mao sneered. She really didn't believe my story.
I sighed. "Believe it or not. But I'm having a bit of trouble right now. My disciple used to have a spoiled, cheerful, and never-give-up personality. Now she's the opposite and acts cold towards me."
Mao narrowed her eyes.
"Alright... So?"
"So I can't teach her the things she needs to learn because of her changed personality."
Mao grinned widely at my words. She opened her fan and covered her mouth to laugh at me, and I was confused about what she was laughing at.
"Your disciple. Is she a girl?" Mao asked.
I nodded. "How did you know?"
"From the way you talk, you sound like you're complaining about your partner changing her attitude towards you. Are you sure you didn't do anything wrong to her? Make her angry? Sad? Disappointed, for example?" Mao asked while fanning her face, which continued to smile annoyingly. I don't think she's taking this seriously.
"I..." I tried to recall what I had said a few days ago, ever since Shun Jin started acting cold towards me. It was the day she woke up and I explained about the spirit king and the problem. At the end, I told her to part, gave her a lot of white snake meat as a celebration gift for her cultivation advancement, and she's been quiet ever since?
"Eat as much as you want. You've just reached the earliest cultivation level. Consider this a celebration for your advancement."
I remembered that remark. My brow furrowed. Was it because of that? Was Shun Jin angry because her cultivation advancement celebration was just white snake meat?
"What? Did you remember something, crazy man?" Mao asked curiously, seeing my thoughtful expression.
I nodded hesitantly. "At that time, as a celebration for her advancement, I grilled white snake meat for her and made it my celebration gift. Could she be angry because of that?"
Mao slapped her forehead with her fan.
"No. No. No. You are so insensitive, you stupid crazy man. She is a girl. She must have her own reasons and desires. You should ask her directly. Men, you're all the same. Never understand what girl want." Mao snorted in annoyance at my recent remark.
I flinched. So Shun Jin didn't want her cultivation advancement celebration gift to be just meat? She wanted something else as a celebration gift for her advancement?
It was like I received a revelation from the heavens. I smirked slightly. Alright then, this is easy after all.
"You've helped me a lot, Mao. I'll come back here again if your advice is useful." I tossed a silver coin to her. Mao caught it, shaking her head. "See you." I walked away without looking back at the Hunter Pagoda shop. Before I left, I heard Mao say something softly.
"I'm sure he still haven't realized it, stupid crazy man." Then he grinned. "I'm sure he'll be back again tomorrow."
***
I approached Shun Jin confidently. She was in the inn room. She had just finished bathing. Still wearing a wet towel wrapped around her body.
"Shun Jin. After contemplating for a long time, I finally realized the reason you've become colder and tried to avoid me lately."
Shun Jin seemed indifferent. But she was still listening to me.
"You're angry, aren't you? You're angry with me because your cultivation advancement celebration gift was just grilled white snake meat. I'll retract what I said back then. Because of that, I will give you a chance to ask for one other thing as your cultivation advancement celebration gift. You can ask me for anything."
I crossed my arms, smiling confidently.
Shun Jin seemed even angrier, and her hands were tightly clenched.
She then punched me in the stomach, pushing me out of the inn room. Then she locked her room door with a wooden beam.
"You perverted, stupid crazy man! Insensitive! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!!!"
I stood silently in front of Shun Jin's inn room door.
Am I still wrong?
At a time like this, only Ye Jing can give me a clue.
I looked up at the ceiling.
"Oh Ye Jing. Give me a little hint on how to deal with this tantruming disciple of mine."
***