Feiyun had no wariness towards Nalan Xuejian. Others coveted the scripture but not her.
In his opinion, saving her was far more important than leaving the kingdom.
A seven-inch golden Buddha floated in the air with a continuous holy glow. Seven images of silkworms were changing behind the Buddha, from an egg to a newborn….
Each image was extremely profound, especially the latter stages.
Nalan Xuejian wasn’t interested in Buddhism but still wanted to recover her appearance in order to stick around Feiyun without using a veil.
Thus, she focused on comprehending the scripture. She was on the first one, Silkworm Egg. Feiyun was on the second, Young Silkworm.
His cultivation was limited by the scripture right now. The only way to improve was to comprehend the content further. External items no longer had an effect.
After obtaining the phoenix ocular bones, his gaze reached the omniscient level. This allowed him to learn everything extremely fast. He could learn something in a day while others would require a year.
Moreover, he had memories of his past life and the comprehension of the heavenly dao. Thus, he could sense this dao faster, allowing him to improve quicker than others.
He could learn more than one hundred transformations in one day, up to four hundred. The Silkworm Egg diagram had three thousand transformations. He used just three days to finish it.
Nalan Xuejian had six sarira in her body, a perfect physique for Buddhist cultivation. Her comprehension was excellent as well so she made quick progress with Feiyun’s help.
She learned two thousand transformations in one month, exceeding his expectations.
They have been going to the field for some turnips, no, some spirit medicines and ginseng. They drank from the spirit spring and opened several more shrines, finding amazing stuff inside.
Alas, no truly powerful weapon.
Xuejian improved tremendously after cultivating this scripture. Her lifespan seemingly recovered as well as she became younger and younger. Unfortunately, she still didn’t let him see her.
Every time he touched her veiled hat, she would let out a cry. Once he pulled back, it turned into laughter.
Today, Feiyun brought Xuejian to an empty plain and said: “Gonna give you some really good stuff.”
He held the Buddha in one hand and shot out a ray with the other. It flew to the sky like a yellow river, more than one thousand meters long. A treasure light acc.u.mulated up there, looking like a divine river.
“It’s pretty.” She leaned her chin on both hands; her elbows rested on the railing of a stone bridge.
Suddenly, a golden drop flew towards her and fused with her body. This majestic power was as pure as can be.
A Buddhist light erupted around her. Lotus flowers emerged beneath her foot and a halo appeared above her head.
“This is the essence of Buddhism gestated by the kingdom. Channel your energy and absorb as much as possible.” He said.
The essence gestated by a high-level realm. Just one drop was enough to help a Heaven’s Mandate cultivator go up one or two levels.
He didn’t give it to her at first because he was afraid that her body wouldn’t be able to handle it. Now, after a month of cultivating Golden Silkworm, she had recovered plenty.
He waited for her to stabilize before swallowing twenty drops of essences on his own. He sat cross-legged in the air and started to cultivate.
After a month, he had learned 10,000 transformations from the second diagram.
He refined all twenty essence drops in just three days, reaching intermediate Heaven’s Mandate, very close to the next level as well.
He didn’t think that this was the full saturation and swallowed ten more drops. He managed to reach late Heaven’s Mandate on top of creating an eighth phoenix bone. His physique improved again.
He felt completely different and could sense a barrier between life and death. This force circled around him but grasping it remained difficult.
He knew that this was the power of the life-and-death cycles. Grasping a sliver of this power meant that he would become a pseudo Enlightened Being. Fully controlling it and finis.h.i.+ng one cycle would mean entering the Nirvana realm.
He knew this power well and the method to channel it. Alas, he still lacked a certain something - the right amount of cultivation power.
He had an advantage compared to others because he had this knowledge already. It would be easier for him to grasp it and turn it into his own power.
As for the other inexperienced geniuses? Some might be stuck here for the rest of their lives.
‘It should be easier at peak Heaven’s Mandate.’ He thought.
Nalan Xuejian had finished refining her single drop as well and reached fourth-level Heaven’s Mandate.
She held her jade beads and wore the Nalan Robe, looking like a beautiful Bodhisattva descending from above.
She looked at her hands first. The yellow hue had turned into a milky color again just like that of a baby. A Buddhist glow circulated on top of her skin.
She couldn’t contain her excitement and touched her face. She quickly ran to the spirit spring and lifted the veil in order to look at the reflection, on the verge of tears from happiness.
“Hey, you’re being a little narcissistic right now. Haven’t you looked enough?” Feiyun stood behind her and said.
“No, still not yet.” She put down the veil and hugged him; her head buried in his chest. She found it to be very comforting like a safe harbor.
“Can I see you right now?” He whispered into her ear.
“Not yet, I haven’t recovered fully. I can become even younger and prettier.” She held her hat tightly, afraid of Feiyun exposing her.
“Okay, fine, I won’t look. Just know that you’re the prettiest, no one is prettier.” He laughed.
“Prettier than Nangong Hongyan?”
He fell into silence and thought about the soul taken away by the empress.
It has been more than forty days now. The capital should be surrounded. Has it fallen?
It shouldn’t go down that easily because the empress and the previous emperor were still around. Plus, the dynasty has been reinforcing that place for thousands of years.
But what if it had indeed fallen?
Moreover, the three months deadline with the Evil Woman was approaching. Who knows what that maniac would do?
“You want to go outside?” Xuejian could read his mood.
“I have to.” He nodded; his voice seemed a little dispirited.
She grabbed his hand tighter. The last month has been some of the happiest days in her life. She didn’t want him to leave but knew that she couldn’t keep him here.
“I can help you.” She untied her belt and took off the Buddhist robe: “I know that you care too much about face and can’t ask me. Here, take it.”
She only had her inner dress on now, revealing her snow-white neck accentuated by her long, black hair. Her curves were beautiful and elegant. She really looked like a Buddhist immortal in the legends.
He stared at her. In reality, he knew that the five garments combined could stop the existence in the stone coffin.
However, he couldn’t ask her because he felt guilty for what he had done to her. He never thought about taking this garment away.
He believed that the Firebird Gown belonged to Nangong Hongyan only. The same for this Buddhist robe and Nalan Xuejian. No one else should wear them.
In the end, he still accepted the robe still carrying her warmth and sweet fragrance. He smiled: “It has nothing to do with face. I just don’t like wearing women’s clothing.”
“Then why did you wear Nangong Hongyan’s dress?” She immediately asked.
The five garments were connected so it was normal for her to sense it.
“Are all women so sensitive?”
“I won’t mind as long as you don’t let another woman wear my robe. Go, I know you want to go outside. Tell the monk that I’m at the fourth level now so that he’ll stop jabbering to me everyday like a housewife.”
“I will.” He put on the fifth garment, opened the portal, then flew out.