I Idle in the World of Immortal Cultivation
Chapter 30: Farewell
At dawn, Su Xiaoxiao woke up.
Lin Luo leaned against the stone wall, his eyes closed. His phone rested on his knee, the screen still lit. He had been awake since the moment her breathing changed. Cultivators of the Nine Cycles Mystic Art didn't shut off their awareness completely while resting. That was one of the benefits of body-cultivation techniques.
He didn't open his eyes. His phone buzzed first.
[Nine Cycles Mystic Art · Second Cycle – bottleneck update in progress… Third Cycle available in 24 hours.]
Then it buzzed again.
[Lightning Prison Indestructible Body · First Layer – 85% progress. Training update accelerating… Second Layer available through level skip in 24 hours.]
Then Bone One's update.
[Bone One – Entering static state. Invincible + unable to move. Duration: 24 hours. After completion, cultivation will increase by three minor layers.]
The corner of Lin Luo's mouth twitched slightly. He didn't open his eyes. An alt account increasing by three layers at once had never happened before. He thought about Bone One running who knew how many laps around the ancient battlefield being chased by that Nascent Soul demon beast, his skeleton breaking and repairing over and over. That persistence must have triggered some hidden mechanism.
Beside him, Yue Long's phone buzzed. She didn't wake up. Her rabbit ears popped up first – turned half a circle in the air – and then she launched herself out of the chair, fumbling for her phone, nearly falling off.
"Ah ah ah—"
[Buddhist cultivation updating… Buddhist cultivation system available in 24 hours.]
[Buddhist cultivation explanation: Collect merit and devotion. Merit comes from good deeds. Devotion comes from followers' prayers.]
[Diamond Body → Fudo Myoo's Resolution. All previous skill proficiency inherited. Defense level increased.]
Yue Long stared at the screen, her rabbit ears straight up, her red eyes wide. She jumped up from the chair.
"Master! Master, look at this! Fudo Myoo's Resolution! The mortal's books mentioned this – it's a divine Buddhist guardian technique! Much stronger than Diamond Body! By several levels! Several! Not just one or two!"
Lin Luo opened one eye and looked at her. "I see it."
"Master, how can you not be excited?! This is Fudo Myoo's Resolution!" Yue Long shoved her phone right in front of Lin Luo's face, nearly hitting his nose.
Lin Luo reached out and pushed the phone aside. "Excited. Very excited."
Yue Long stared at him for two seconds. "You're not excited at all. You only opened one eye."
"The other one is excited too."
Yue Long pouted, pressed the phone to her chest, her rabbit ears twitching. She smiled for a long time, then suddenly remembered something. She looked down at the screen again, and her smile froze.
"Wait. Master, right now I'm at human Foundation Establishment, training the lowest-level Qi Drawing Technique." Her finger scrolled across the screen. She looked up at Lin Luo, her red eyes full of confusion. "How do I use Fudo Myoo's Resolution? I can't train Buddhist techniques yet. The Buddhist system hasn't opened. The system says it opens in twenty-four hours. So what do I do for twenty-four hours? Just stare at the wall?"
Lin Luo finally opened both eyes. "Wait."
"Wait?"
"Wait twenty-four hours. The system will tell you."
"…Oh."
Yue Long put her phone away and sat back down in the chair. Her rabbit ears were still twitching. Her legs were twitching too. She couldn't sit still. Like there was a thorn on the chair. She looked down at her own hands, then at Su Xiaoxiao. A thought was running through her head. When Diamond Body shattered, the Nascent Soul demon beast's presence had pressed down on her from all sides, and she hadn't died. The shield shattered. She was thrown across the ground, hit the dirt, and got back up. It wasn't that her defense was strong. It was that her constitution had been tempered by the presence in that one moment.
Her Foundation Establishment Layer 2 hadn't come from climbing up from Qi Refining one layer at a time. It had been bought with merit. The merit the mortal had accumulated in his lifetime had turned into cultivation the moment she joined the Idle Sect. But merit was a consumable. Once it was used up, it was gone. Now the system had given her a new way – collect merit and devotion. She had to help people, save people, protect people. That was how she would grow stronger.
She looked at Lin Luo. Then at Su Xiaoxiao.
"Master."
"Yes."
"In the future, I need to help more people."
"Yes."
"Save more people."
"Yes."
"Protect more people."
"Yes."
"…Can you say something else?"
"I can."
Yue Long waited.
Lin Luo didn't speak.
Yue Long's rabbit ears drooped. "You're idling again, aren't you?"
"Yes."
Yue Long took a deep breath and stopped asking.
---
Su Xiaoxiao moved. Her fingers curled slightly above the blanket. Then her brow furrowed, and she coughed twice. The sound wasn't loud – muffled, like there was something in her throat.
Lin Luo was already up, walking to the bed and crouching down.
"You're awake?"
Su Xiaoxiao opened her eyes. Her pupils were unfocused for a moment, then found him. Her gaze settled on Lin Luo's face. She stared for two seconds, then slowly smiled. She coughed twice more.
"Water…"
Yue Long already had water ready. Su Xiaoxiao took a sip. Her throat moved. The coughing stopped. She tried to sit up by pushing against the edge of the bed. The moment she lifted her shoulder, she frowned – the wound through her chest wasn't fully healed yet. The medicine was still working. The bone was growing back, but the flesh hadn't healed. Lin Luo pressed her shoulder down.
"The medicine is still working. Don't move."
Su Xiaoxiao didn't move. She lay on the bed and looked at Lin Luo. She looked for a while, then coughed twice more.
"You're coughing because the injury isn't healed," Lin Luo said.
"I know." Su Xiaoxiao's voice was still hoarse. "I just feel like coughing."
Yue Long leaned in from the side, a bowl of chicken soup in her hands. The soup was still steaming. The smell of angelica and red dates filled the stone chamber.
"Sister Xiao, drink this! I made it! I watched the pot this time – didn't burn it, didn't put too much salt. Master said you can't eat salty food when you're healing, so I only put a tiny bit – just a tiny bit."
Su Xiaoxiao looked at Yue Long, then at Lin Luo. She pushed against the edge of the bed and slowly sat up. The pain from the wound made her bite her lip. She coughed twice, but she didn't stop moving. Yue Long handed her the bowl. She took it, lowered her head, and took a sip.
"How is it?" Yue Long leaned in, her rabbit ears up, her eyes bright.
"It's okay."
"What does 'okay' mean? Good or not good?"
"Good."
Yue Long smiled so wide her rabbit ears shook. "Then I'll make it for Sister Xiao every day!"
Su Xiaoxiao took another sip, handed the bowl back to Yue Long, and turned to Lin Luo.
"Your arm healed?"
Lin Luo rolled up his left sleeve to show her. Two dark red scars still marked his forearm. The wounds from the piercing had closed. The scars were new, pink flesh showing through them.
"Ugly," Su Xiaoxiao said.
Lin Luo pulled his sleeve back down. "You don't have to look at it every day."
Yue Long interrupted from the side. "I don't think it's ugly. Master's scars are cool."
Su Xiaoxiao looked at Yue Long. Yue Long blinked. Her rabbit ears turned a circle. Her expression was innocent.
Su Xiaoxiao reached out, pinched Lin Luo's chin, and turned his face toward her. "Thinner."
"Haven't eaten much in three days."
"Go to Drunken Immortal Residence. I'll treat you."
"Do you have spirit stones?"
"No. You pay."
Lin Luo smiled. Su Xiaoxiao's fingers were still on his chin. Their faces were very close – close enough to feel each other's breath. The morning light came through a crack in the mine and fell between them.
Su Xiaoxiao raised her other hand.
Yue Long stood nearby with the empty bowl, looking at Su Xiaoxiao, then at Lin Luo.
"Um… I'll go wash the bowl first." She turned and took two steps, then turned back. "The bowl is washed. I already washed it. I washed it a moment ago." She turned and took two more steps, then turned back again. She stood at the entrance of the stone chamber, her back to them, her rabbit ears straight up – eavesdropping.
"Yue Long." Lin Luo's voice came from behind her.
"Yes!"
"Turn around."
Yue Long turned around slowly. Her rabbit ears drooped over the brim of her hat. Her red eyes stared at the ground. The corners of her mouth were pulled down.
"I wasn't watching. I didn't see anything. I was just standing here. Standing. That's all."
Su Xiaoxiao pulled her hand back. Lin Luo stood up, took the empty bowl from Yue Long's hands, walked to the table, filled it again, and brought it back to Su Xiaoxiao.
Yue Long stood still. Her rabbit ears slowly went up. She looked at Su Xiaoxiao, then at Lin Luo. The corner of her mouth curved up, then she quickly pressed it back down.
---
The Fire Phoenix Sacred Ground people arrived faster than expected. Faster than even Sect Leader Lu Yuan had expected.
Su Xiaoxiao was still drinking her second bowl of soup when hurried footsteps came from outside the tunnel.
"Brother Luo – there are a lot of people outside the mountain gate – in red robes – they say they're looking for Senior Sister Su – the Sect Leader said not to come out – "
Yue Long's rabbit ears shot up. Su Xiaoxiao set down her bowl. Her expression changed slightly. She coughed twice.
"The Fire Phoenix Sacred Ground."
(End of Chapter 30)
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Current Status
Main Account · Lin Luo
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Layer 3 (Displayed: Qi Refining Layer 1)
Nine Cycles Mystic Art: Second Cycle (bottleneck update in progress, Third Cycle available in 24h)
Lightning Prison Indestructible Body: First Layer 85% (Second Layer available via level skip in 24h)
Defense: 650
Attack: ~380
HP: ~600
Spiritual Energy: ~20%
Spirit Stones: ~4750
Possessions: Spirit Recovery Pill ×4, Life Extension Pill ×0, Bone Mending Pill (below top-grade) ×3, Antidote Pill ×3, Light Talisman ×4, Mountain Pass Token ×1, Drunken Immortal Residence VIP card, Myriad Treasures Pavilion VIP card, Realm-Breaking Talisman (authentic), half a broken sword, pale green jade slip, beast-hide map, Spirit Vein Heart, Secret Realm Core Spirit Stone
Skill: Spirit Eye Technique
Disciple: Yue Long
Sect Members: Yue Long, Su Xiaoxiao (joined, life bound, phone issued, temporarily away)
Special Status: Nine Cycles Mystic Art Third Cycle soon available, Lightning Prison Indestructible Body soon to level skip
Alt Account · Bone One
Cultivation: Qi Gathering Layer 9 (bottleneck) → Static state, will increase by three minor layers in 24h
Status: Static (invincible + unable to move)
Alt Account · Blood One
Cultivation: Qi Gathering Layer 8
Status: Hidden – Demon Abyss second layer
Alt Account · Rat One
Cultivation: Spirit Gathering Layer 6
Status: Spirit field at mine land
Sect · Idle Sect
Sect Leader: Lin Luo
Members: Yue Long
Level: 2
Idle Bonus: +15%
Special facilities: Sect Gathering Array, High-grade shield formation
Idle Sect Disciple · Yue Long
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Layer 2
Status: Guarding the mine
Buddhist cultivation update: System available in 24h
Current technique: Qi Drawing Technique (human Foundation Establishment) → Will obtain Fudo Myoo's Resolution
Personality: lively, talkative, can't keep secrets, acts cute, goofy, pretends not to see things she shouldn't
Spirit Stone balance: ~1100
Possessions: disciple-dedicated phone, low-grade storage pouch, Zixiao Sect inheritance token, Greenwind Sword (repaired)
Diamond Body: shattered, about to transform into Fudo Myoo's Resolution
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Appendix: Special Cultivation Systems for Lin Luo and His Alt Accounts
Immortal Cultivation (Main Account · Lin Luo):
Qi Refining → Foundation Establishment → Core Opening → Fusion → Heart Movement → Golden Core → Nascent Soul → Soul Departure → Spirit Separation → Body Integration → Cave Void → Great Ascension → Tribulation Transcendence
Demon Cultivation (Alt Accounts · Bone One, Blood One):
Qi Gathering → Body Refining → Core Condensation → Desire Embodiment → Devouring → Demon Infant → Soul Departure → Sense Separation → Body Fusion → Void Break → Great Ascension → Tribulation Transcendence
Beast Cultivation (Alt Account · Rat One):
Spirit Gathering → Intelligence Awakening → Body Tempering → Bone Refining → Beast Core → Transformation → Soul Condensation → Spirit Roaming → Body Purification → Void Training → Great Ascension → Tribulation Transcendence
Note: The above are the exclusive cultivation systems for Lin Luo and his alt accounts. Everyone else (side characters, enemies, etc.) uses the traditional system: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Void Training, Body Integration, Great Ascension, Tribulation Transcendence.
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(End of Chapter 30)