The fiery characters suspended in midair had already gone out. A gentle breeze swept through, sending Ye Ling's long hair fluttering in the wind.
His blue-green robe billowed along with it, looking especially free and unrestrained, lending him an added air of immortality.
"You really are…"
Watching this scene, Ai Yueli couldn't help but sigh. "Truly someone walking the Dao."
What Ai Yueli didn't know was that Ye Ling's gaze was currently fixed on her long, pale legs.
The wind didn't blow only for Ye Ling. It blew for Ai Yueli as well.
As a result, the hem of her qipao was lifted by the breeze, revealing what lay beneath.
To be fair, Ye Ling hadn't gone out of his way to look. It was simply a matter of coincidence. At the moment he bent down, he happened to see this beautiful sight. Naturally, he wasn't about to waste it by deliberately looking away.
After appreciating it for a short while, he straightened up and said, "Fourth Master, there's one more matter I'd like to ask you about."
"Hm?"
A glimmer of excitement flashed through Ai Yueli's beautiful eyes, but it quickly dimmed.
This kind of scene felt familiar to her. She had the distinct feeling that her happiness wouldn't last long before she was once again struck down by Ye Ling's talent.
So she merely asked in a flat tone, "What else don't you understand?"
"It's like this."
Ye Ling's gaze shifted slightly as he spoke in earnest. "When I first mentioned it to you, Master, I was hoping to learn a bit of all the Six Arts. But since the other Martial Aunts haven't returned yet, I was wondering if Fourth Master could teach me a little of the remaining five arts, just the basics. I'd like to give them a try."
Previously, because he hadn't shown Ai Yueli his "talent," he worried that asking about the Six Arts too early would make him seem overly ambitious.
But now, even a blind man could see that Ai Yueli acknowledged his talent. On top of that, he had gained such a huge wave of Emotion Points. He was well aware that this was the perfect moment.
"This…"
As expected, Ai Yueli instinctively showed a hesitant expression, but she soon relaxed.
"Alright. Tomorrow, come with me and start by learning how to make Spirit Food."
To be honest, she didn't really believe that after showing such outrageous talent in talismans, Ye Ling would still have spare aptitude to learn the other Six Arts.
Among her fellow sisters, each could be said to reign supreme in their own field. But when it came to crossing into other disciplines, they were far more ordinary, often failing to even reach a beginner's level.
Among them, Bai Yiyi, the Sect Master, was especially extreme.
Her cultivation and combat strength were peerless, yet she couldn't get a single one of the Six Arts to work for her. It was as if all her talent points had been spent elsewhere.
As for Ye Ling, leaving aside his cultivation for the moment, his talent in talismans alone was already absurd. As for the other five arts, Ai Yueli had a pretty good idea of what to expect, but she didn't want to discourage him.
No way. No way.
Surely no one would seriously think their talent could rival that of the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden?
Of course, Ai Yueli had also briefly considered whether Ye Ling might be an all-round genius like her own Master.
But that thought barely surfaced before she dismissed it. How could that possibly be true?
One incarnation of the Heavenly Dao was more than enough. How could there be two?
Hadn't she heard the saying that two tigers cannot share the same mountain?
What's more, her Master had only ascended not long ago. How could Heaven and Earth give birth to a second genius like that so soon?
But—
This child calls me Fourth Master…
Faintly, Ai Yueli felt that things might not be so simple after all.
Still, considering that he had gone from calling her Fourth Martial Aunt to Fourth Master, it didn't really seem strange.
I must be overthinking it.
Ai Yueli shook her head and returned to the small courtyard with graceful steps.
She first helped Ye Ling repair a small room, then went back to her own.
Before entering, she noticed that Bai Yiyi's room had been sealed with a layer of restriction.
My Sect Master really is too shy. How cute~
Ai Yueli assumed Bai Yiyi was simply too embarrassed to face her. After secretly teasing Bai Yiyi to herself for a moment, she didn't think any further and entered her own room.
Cultivation.
Now, her mind held nothing but cultivation!
…
Heavenly Peak Rear Cliff.
After Ai Yueli left, Ye Ling no longer bothered with the ancient texts. He had already mastered them completely.
He lay flat on the ground, eyes unfocused as he gazed at the bright moon hanging in the sky.
"How nice."
In this world, no one cared about his background, and no one looked at him strangely. As long as he put in the effort, he was rewarded. It felt even more unreal than a dream.
Most importantly, this world had given him two outstanding teachers, outstanding in every sense of the word.
Tonight, although he still hadn't fully placed his trust in Ai Yueli, his impression of her had changed fundamentally.
From the stern, disciplinarian figure he first imagined, she had become a favored daughter of heaven with her own little moods, yet someone who never lied.
If Bai Yiyi was the embodiment of innocence, then Ai Yueli represented honesty.
The label of "disciplinarian" no longer suited Ai Yueli. If he had to describe her now, she was more like a tsundere class monitor.
Kind to the core, yet held back by pride. She wouldn't actively offer help, but once she accepted someone's request, she would give everything she had to see it through.
Really… quite adorable.
Thinking back on all of Ai Yueli's reactions, a faint smile crept onto Ye Ling's lips.
In that case, he had even more reason to cultivate diligently, for their sake.
Ye Ling refused to become the weak link of the Heavenly Gate Sect. Not only would he never be a burden, he would become the strongest pillar, shielding them from wind and rain.
With his goal clear, Ye Ling sat down cross-legged and began applying the characters he had learned today to create a better cultivation environment for himself.
First came the concept of "filtering."
Ye Ling started forming hand seals, his fingers moving with astonishing dexterity, swift as lightning.
In the past, he had formed seals based on whatever came to mind, pushing forward in a single direction. In truth, he was still far from reverse-deducing ancient characters.
But after the System twisted reality, any concept he wanted now emerged almost instinctively as the corresponding character beneath his hands.
Unfortunately, his Mental Force was still too weak. At most, he could draw and combine three ancient characters, and even then he had to rely on hand seals to support them.
Even so, it was more than enough for his current needs.
The second character, "gather."
The third character, "flow."
As Ye Ling arranged the characters, the Spiritual Qi around him began to change noticeably.
The function of "filtering" was to select Spiritual Qi. "Gathering" drew it in, while "flow" was the masterstroke, accelerating the circulation of Spiritual Qi.
"It worked."
Ye Ling's face turned pale, a clear sign of Mental Force depletion, but his idea had been correct.
As long as he drew the right concepts and combined them properly, he could achieve the effect he wanted.
All of a sudden, a bold idea surfaced in Ye Ling's mind.
Artifact Refining as the carrier, Formations as the hardware, Talismans as the software.
If all three were combined, could it produce a computer… no, a spirit brain?
At the thought of this, Ye Ling found himself eagerly anticipating the remaining five arts.