Of course, Ai Yueli was only thinking about it in passing.
After all, unless her Master was so bored that she decided to have a child for fun, there simply hadn't been a man in this world worthy of her.
And even if it really came to having a child, judging by what Ai Yueli knew of the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden, she might very well be able to handle it herself.
"Fourth Master… Fourth Master…"
After waiting for quite some time, Ye Ling finally couldn't help calling out to Ai Yueli twice.
"Ah… sorry."
Realizing she'd drifted off, Ai Yueli quickly apologized.
If it had been anything else, she wouldn't have lost her composure like this. But when it came to the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden, even she couldn't help but get distracted.
The Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden was truly terrifying.
"It's fine. More than fine."
Although Ai Yueli's delicate face remained expressionless, her beautiful golden eyes held emotions too complex to put into words.
"That's good."
Ye Ling put on an expression of relief. In truth, the moment he saw Ai Yueli space out, he already knew he'd succeeded.
But just as Ye Ling was about to move on to the next step of his persuasion, Ai Yueli spoke again.
"However, aside from precise control, you still lack sufficient Mental Force."
"Hm?"
Ye Ling looked puzzled, adopting a posture that said he was all ears.
"I'll be straightforward."
After seeing Ye Ling's calm and steady side, Ai Yueli relaxed her guard a little and decided to explain the process of the Talisman Dao to him.
"All characters are written using a Talisman Practitioner's Mental Force. You understand that, right?"
"Yes."
"But to inscribe characters that carry the Dao, Mental Force alone isn't enough. What you need is Divine Sense."
Fearing Ye Ling might not understand, Ai Yueli explained further.
"When a cultivator reaches the Nascent Soul Stage, their soul merges into the Nascent Soul. Not only does True Qi evolve into True Essence, but their original Mental Force is refined into Divine Sense."
Although Bai Yiyi made the Nascent Soul Stage sound easy to reach, in the cultivation world it was known as a minor tribulation, and its difficulty spoke for itself.
The reason the Nascent Soul Stage was so hard for ordinary cultivators was that it marked a fundamental transformation in one's level of existence.
To put it in a slightly misleading way, once a cultivator reached the Nascent Soul Stage, they were no longer truly human. Or rather, they had evolved into a higher form of humanity.
"Fourth Master, wait a moment!"
Ye Ling suddenly caught onto something. He looked at Ai Yueli in confusion and asked,
"Aren't you only at the Golden Core Stage?"
The system might deceive him, but it would never lie about something as basic as cultivation realms. He was certain Ai Yueli was only at the Golden Core Stage.
And if the system wasn't wrong, then—
"Heh."
Ai Yueli let out a rare soft laugh. Though her face showed no expression, the shifting light in her golden eyes carried a unique charm.
"I am indeed only at the Golden Core Stage. But who told you that I'm a cultivator?"
"…"
Ye Ling fell silent. He understood what Ai Yueli meant.
The External Dao.
In ancient times, cultivation methods had flourished in countless forms.
Yet in the end, only the Immortal Cultivation lineage endured, branching out and spreading to this day.
That didn't mean other paths had vanished.
It was just that, given the scale of the present era, those paths were collectively labeled as heterodox.
Some who cultivated the External Dao appeared to be only at the Qi Cultivation Stage, yet possessed the power to crush heaven and earth, simply because they had refined their Qi for over three thousand years.
Others followed the Golden Core Great Dao, harboring thousands of Golden Cores within themselves. Though labeled as Golden Core cultivators, they surpassed even Immortals.
There were also those who entered the Dao through martial arts, fists shattering southern mountains and feet kicking apart northern seas, achieving sanctification of the physical body and roaming freely between heaven and earth.
But External Daos all shared one fatal flaw.
They came with countless restrictions, and if even a single condition wasn't met, cultivation became impossible.
"It looks like you've already figured it out."
Seeing Ye Ling's expression, Ai Yueli nodded to herself.
That meant Ye Ling's knowledge was broad. He wasn't trapped inside his own little circle.
"Fourth Master, you flatter me. I just spent the time other people use for cultivation reading books instead."
That line nearly made Ai Yueli choke.
Other people wished a day had forty-eight hours so they could cultivate. And he still had time to read?
What?
Oh right… one day of Qi Refining, five days to Foundation Establishment…
Never mind.
And with Ye Ling's terrifying talent, reading to broaden his horizons actually made sense. Spending every waking moment cultivating wasn't necessarily a good thing either.
"Ahem…"
Ai Yueli cleared her throat twice. After easing the frustration in her chest, she continued, "So even if your control over power is already at the peak, as long as what you have is still Mental Force, you won't be able to 'draw' characters that contain the Dao."
Realizing Ye Ling still had a shortcoming made Ai Yueli's tone noticeably lighter.
Facing a disciple this gifted, the pressure on her as his Master was immense.
After all, if Ye Ling could do everything, wouldn't that make her look useless?
"Fourth Master, according to what you've said, my next step is to temper my Mental Force?"
Ye Ling thought for a moment, but something still felt off.
After all—
"Oh, you finally noticed?"
Ai Yueli looked pleased. "That's right, just like you're thinking. The path of talismans is a process that goes from walking straight to flying. There isn't even a 'running' stage in between!"
Of course, this was the talisman path that had been passed down to her by the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden.
"Fourth Master."
Ye Ling's sword-like brows knit slightly. With a thoughtful look, he asked, "Isn't that a bit too hard? Is there really no transitional step in the middle?"
Too hard?
Isn't it supposed to be hard?
Hearing Ye Ling finally say the words "too hard," Ai Yueli nearly teared up.
If it weren't hard, what would she even be doing as his Master?
Kid, hard is exactly how it should be!
Ai Yueli had never felt victory was such a difficult thing to win. But after being hit again and again by Ye Ling, she felt she had finally clawed back one round.
"Hmph~"
Even her voice couldn't help carrying a trace of delight as she said, "The Talisman Dao was never meant for our human race to learn. Naturally, there's a gulf between us like a heavenly chasm."
In truth, after the efforts of countless generations of cultivators, that gulf had already been bridged. But what Ai Yueli taught Ye Ling was not some watered-down version.
Not giving Ye Ling a chance to interrupt, Ai Yueli continued, "The talisman path has two origins. One comes from the patterns on powerful demon clans, and the other comes from Dao-resonant characters naturally formed by heaven and earth."
"We human cultivators collected and compiled endlessly over countless years, and only then did we finally summarize the Talisman Dao."
"But aside from cultivators with special constitutions, ordinary cultivators cannot practice this Dao—"
Ai Yueli paused. Only after seeing the confusion in Ye Ling's eyes did she continue with satisfaction, "However, after your grandmaster improved it, many of those impossible requirements were abolished."
"As long as you take it step by step, you'll definitely be able to learn it."