"Pa!"

 

Then I saw Fairy Lingyue extend her hand and point at the evil ghost's brow with a milky white light, drawing a rune on its brow.

 

When the rune entered the evil ghost's brow, it stood up with a blank expression. Then, it ignored Fairy Lingyue in front of it and muttered to itself as it turned and left:

 

"Why did I fall here? Whatever, I should go back and report to the king. When I see the king, I'll tell him that there's a little cultivator taking care of the medicinal garden in Green Bamboo Residence. We can wait until the herbs in his garden mature and then take his life and the herbs. Maybe the king will reward me with a fresh and tender heart and liver. How delightful!"

 

At the end, the evil ghost couldn't help but shake its head and seemed very satisfied with its plan.

 

"Sigh, although it's risky to let the tiger return to the mountain, I hope Little Taiping will understand my intentions in the future," Fairy Lingyue murmured as she watched the swaying evil ghost leaving.

 

Although Xu Taiping hadn't become her disciple yet, and she didn't know if he would be willing to become one, it didn't prevent Fairy Lingyue from imagining herself as his master.

 

But she definitely wouldn't admit that the main reason for doing so was her loneliness after spending hundreds of years in the Earth-Hiding Fruit. She wanted to have some fun.

 

***

 

The next day.

 

Xu Taiping woke up early.

 

First, he went to the medicinal garden to clear the weeds. Then, he added some soil to the place where he buried the Earth-Hiding Fruit. After all, the Earth-Hiding Fruit would be his reliance in the cultivation world, and he couldn't let anyone steal it.

 

Since Fairy Lingyue returned to the Earth-Hiding Fruit last night, she hadn't appeared again. Xu Taiping thought she might not come out for another month.

 

After clearing the weeds in the medicinal garden, he spent the morning tidying up the three thatched cottages in Green Bamboo Residence.

 

The environment of the thatched cottages was very simple. There was a bedroom with only a bed, a hall, a kitchen, and a thatched toilet built behind the medicinal garden.

 

While cleaning the kitchen, Xu Taiping found two interesting things – a water jar that never ran dry and a rice jar that produced a jar of rice with just one merit coin.

 

With water, rice, and a dried fish hanging on the wall, Xu Taiping had his first meal in Qingxuan Sect.

 

After eating, he made the bed with the sheets and quilt from the cabinet, then sat cross-legged on the bed and took out the jade scroll and bronze mirror given to him by West Wind Pavilion.

 

"When Fairy Lingyue taught me the Bone-Cleansing and Marrow-Washing Soup recipe, she lightly touched my brow. The method of transmitting cultivation techniques with this jade scroll is also by sticking it to the brow. This should be the common method of transmitting cultivation techniques in the cultivation world," he muttered softly as he picked up the jade scroll.

 

According to the pavilion master of West Wind Pavilion, this jade scroll contained a Qi Refining technique of Qingxuan Sect, as well as many rules of Qingxuan Sect and instructions on how to use the bronze mirror.

 

"Phew… The things transmitted by this jade scroll are much more than what Fairy Lingyue taught me with her touch."

 

Feeling the continuous flow of text in his mind, Xu Taiping felt dizzy and almost fell off the bed.

 

Fortunately, after a while, no new text appeared in his mind, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

 

But then he noticed another problem.

 

The text that entered his mind was like books on a bookshelf. He had to read and understand the content by flipping through them.

 

"So the method of transmitting cultivation techniques with this jade scroll is somewhat different from what Fairy Lingyue taught me. Fairy Lingyue's touch directly taught me how to prepare the medicine according to the recipe, while this jade scroll can only stuff these things into my head."

 

Xu Taiping carefully felt the difference between the two methods.

 

"But it's also possible that it's because the content is different, which leads to this difference."

 

He immediately added in his mind, then stopped worrying about it and focused on reading the lines of text in his mind.

 

***

 

Three days later.

 

After spending almost three days, Xu Taiping finally finished reading all the content in the jade scroll.

 

As the pavilion master of West Wind Pavilion said before, the content in the jade scroll mainly consisted of three parts – the "Fading Sunset Scripture," the "Summary of the Functions of the Mysterious Mirror," and the "Code of Conduct of Qingxuan Sect."

 

During this period, he also dug up the ground in the medicinal garden while "reading."

 

***

 

"According to the method taught in the jade scroll, after digging up the ground, I can collect some animal dung and dead branches and leaves to burn and fertilize the soil."

 

"But there's no rush to do this. Today is the first day of the month, the day when Elder Ziyang gives a sermon. He will talk about the 'Fading Sunset Scripture' and the basics of cultivation. It only happens once every three months, so I must not miss it."

 

"After listening to the sermon, I can also choose the seeds to buy in the bronze mirror. This way, I won't waste the merit coin."

 

While eating alone in the hall, Xu Taiping began to plan his activities for the day and casually tore off a page of the calendar from the wall.

 

When he tore off a page of the calendar, the words "First Day" were revealed, and there were annotations written in red ink next to it, such as "Seeking knowledge is auspicious, avoid disturbing the soil," and other small words.

 

He bought it yesterday when he asked a Spirit Bird to help him buy daily necessities. It cost him six merit coins, which made him feel heartbroken for a while.

 

***

 

After finishing his meal, Xu Taiping returned to his bedroom.

 

He took out the bronze mirror from the box and carefully placed it on the broken table in front of him.

 

On the table, besides the bronze mirror, there was half a bowl of water, a few petals, and a merit coin from Qingxuan Sect.Xu Taiping recalled the method of using the bronze mirror, then dipped his hand in the bowl to get some clear water and dripped it onto the mirror. He then placed a few petals and the merit coin on it.

 

"Whoosh…"

 

Almost at the moment he placed the merit coin on the bronze mirror, a breeze suddenly blew out from the mirror, carrying a faint scent of sandalwood.

 

Immediately after, a voice came from the mirror:

 

【Xu Taiping, the named outer disciple of Qingxuan Sect, stay where you are. Elder Ziyang is about to start his sermon. If you miss it today, you will have to wait another three months】

 

Having fully read the contents of the Jade Scroll, Xu Taiping was not frightened by this voice, because it was mentioned in the "Record of the Function of the Mysterious Mirror" that this was the voice of the spirit of the mirror.

 

According to the "Record of the Function of the Mysterious Mirror", the spirit of the mirror is like a guide, helping you find what you want to see in the mirror.

 

Of course, the forbidden areas of the Qingxuan Sect are exceptions, and each "guidance" requires a merit coin.

 

"Thank you, Lord Mysterious Mirror."

 

Xu Taiping expressed his gratitude.

 

The spirit of the Mysterious Mirror is not entirely inanimate, so in his view, it is necessary to say thank you.