Volume 4, Chapter 56 – Advancing Again (3)

Just because there were things she had not done, and things she had been too lazy to think about, did not mean Bai Xiang exercised no control at all over this body.

True, she had not wanted to make any alterations to it.

This body was still being allowed to grow naturally, and the increasing maturity of her figure was proof enough of that.

But even if she did not consciously want it, her subconscious mind would still let thoughts wander.

She hated trouble and did not want to spend time grooming her body.

So her body would not make her groom it, and would instead naturally slow the growth of certain parts.

Bai Zhuqing did not know the inner workings of this, but she had never cared much about the details anyway.

At this moment, when Bai Xiang had restrained herself from using Illusory God effects to bewitch her, and she herself had gradually grown used to that face and learned to withstand its impact, she suddenly began to feel a little insecure, a little afraid of losing what she had. She only felt that the person across from her was so perfect, so beautiful, that she did not seem like someone who should exist in reality at all.

I’m not really some kind of genius either. If there’s anything special about me, it’s only that I inherited some of Auntie’s legacy and maybe possess some incomplete fragment of her talent.

With that thought, the distance between the two of them seemed to stretch all at once. Bai Zhuqing felt like a mortal of the dusty world, while this warm little pool of water suddenly became a river of stars across the cosmos, and she was gazing across it at an immortal.

Following her heart, Bai Zhuqing naturally did not want that feeling to continue. So she treasured even more the single foot she held in her hands. Under the water, she kept stroking the top of Bai Xiang’s foot, pressing acupoints in her sole with her thumb, as if only by holding this thing in her grasp could she feel safe, could she feel that she and Bai Xiang really did know one another, and really did share this bond.

Feelings rose of their own accord, and neither of them realized that this change was deepening. So naturally there was no one to interrupt it, to stop Bai Zhuqing from growing a little extreme in her attitude, drawing on qi-force and instinctively pressing it into Bai Xiang’s acupoints through the sole of her foot.

“Mmm…?”

That kind of acupoint stimulation was far too intense. Bai Xiang came back to herself at once, letting out a soft, suppressed sound before she could stop it.

Then she lifted her head, golden pupils half-open, and looked at her younger sister in puzzlement, unable to understand what exactly she was doing.

Hadn’t they agreed that this sort of thing was only for when they were cultivating?

Bai Zhuqing was not the type to break her word, so what kind of mental stimulus had she suffered now?

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“Auntie…” Bai Zhuqing’s body went rigid. She knew she had done something wrong. She felt the foot in her hands being withdrawn by Bai Xiang. Although she knew this was her own fault, her heart could not help feeling abruptly hollow, as if something precious had been taken away.

“Of all things to pick up, you pick up this sort of hobby.”

Bai Xiang felt that Bai Zhuqing had perhaps failed to consider that, given the way they were sitting and positioned, many things were naturally mirrored between them. Reaching into the water, she caught hold of the girl’s slender ankle and, ignoring her startled cry, applied a little force and drew one delicate foot up out of the water.

“Auntie…!” Bai Zhuqing’s whole face flushed bright red. She looked as though she wanted to say something, but all that came out was hesitant stammering.

This kind of thing… doing it herself and having someone else do it to her were completely different!

For Elder Sister to look at her feet like this…

Even the soles of her feet were being seen…

Bai Xiang paid no attention to her embarrassment. She simply focused on the skin of the girl’s sole, reddened from soaking, and the lines of her foot, like a scholar who had finally obtained the specimen she wanted and was studying it with full concentration.

Most of Bai Zhuqing’s body had gone limp into the pool, with only her head still above the water. She did not dare look at the sight of Bai Xiang examining her feet. Covering both eyes with her hands, she curled her toes and trembled a little.

But after a while, even that emotion could not sustain itself.

Unable to resist, she parted her fingers just a little and peeked through, only to see Bai Xiang with her brows faintly drawn together, muttering to herself while also lifting her other foot to inspect it.

What is she doing?

Bai Zhuqing went blank.

Had some kind of mutation happened to her body? Something strange enough to make Xiang’er react like this?

“Don’t talk. Let me think.”

Bai Xiang raised a hand to stop her and stayed right there, continuing to think.

Another several dozen seconds passed. Bai Xiang let go of the girl’s ankle, then rose from the water with a splash.

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Th-this…!?

Bai Zhuqing stared in surprise as Bai Xiang simply stood up like that, then waded forward a few steps, looking down at her from above before slowly crouching, parting her legs and sinking most of her body into the water once more.

Splash…

As the water rippled and broke apart, that trembling beauty too was veiled in shattered reflections of light, only appearing and disappearing with the rise and fall of the water.

And so was that face, with its flawless, exquisite features. Especially those majestic golden pupils as they lowered toward her, until they were almost nose to nose with her own.

“Your qi trait…”

Bai Zhuqing was still trapped in that beautiful sight and unable to pull herself free when she suddenly heard Bai Xiang ask, “Your qi trait… are there many others with the same sort of trait as yours?”

My trait… does she mean fine-grained control?

“I usually pay too little attention to my disciples.” Bai Xiang’s tone was a little low. “For something like this… I can only ask you.”

There seemed to be a trace of self-reproach in her voice, and Bai Zhuqing snapped out of her daze at once.

No, how could this be Elder Sister’s fault?

It was because I failed to make a proper report. This should be my own oversight!

“N-no, it’s not like that!” she answered hurriedly. “I… I’ve already been compiling statistics on this. At present there are 1,029 recorded cases, and basically no two people’s qi traits are exactly the same.”

“Not exactly the same?” Bai Xiang narrowed her eyes. “Do you mean no one is exactly the same as you, or that no one is exactly the same as anyone else?”

“The second one!” Bai Zhuqing said firmly. “I swear it. I couldn’t possibly remember that wrong!”

I see.

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Bai Xiang nodded and leaned back a little from her forward posture, her upper body straightening by habit.

She was considering a very important matter, namely whether a qi trait could count as an alternative kind of divine pool.

A divine pool seized rules and then manifested them, and once that manifestation succeeded, it became a personal order and structure belonging to oneself.

A qi trait, by contrast, required no seizure. Once a person entered the path, it would naturally form according to that person’s temperament and Inner Body-scape.

At first glance, the two seemed to have nothing to do with one another. But what if one considered the body and the self to be a small world?

If a divine pool was a system of rules and order for that small world, then why could a qi trait not also count as rules and order?

At the very least, for Qing’er, her fine-grained control was one of the pillars that had brought her this far. Every step of her cultivation revolved around that trait, so why shouldn’t it be seen that way?

The instant that thought arose, it was as if Bai Xiang had brushed aside a veil of fog. Her vision suddenly felt broad and clear.

A world.

A small world.

Yes… if one changed perspective and looked at the balance between Order and Loss of Order from that angle, then many things became clear and straightforward, without so many twists and turns.

Does Xiang’er even realize what she’s doing…?

Bai Xiang was immersed in insight and filled with emotion, and did not notice that the girl below had been staring up at her so intently that she had begun swallowing repeatedly.

From this angle, in this posture, kneeling in the pool with her legs slightly parted…

It happened to reveal certain beautiful things that the girl could hardly put into words, and kept her staring without blinking.

“Maybe I’m overthinking it.”

Bai Xiang came back to herself and only then noticed that, at some point, her younger sister’s face had turned bright red. The little head sticking above the surface of the water was as red as a monkey’s backside. She was obviously shy to the point of death, yet still staring at her with wide eyes, as if she would never again have a chance to see her like this.

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“Have you seen enough?”

Bai Xiang bent down slightly.

Bai Zhuqing could no longer speak and could only nod blankly along.

“Then get up.”

Bai Xiang stood once more and stepped out of the bath with the light behind her.

She did not mind rewarding her little pet now and then, but that was not all she sought in life.

This line of speculation still needed to be tested further on her little pet.

And so, a few minutes later, the two of them left the washroom in bathrobes and sat down together on the bed in full lotus position. Their bodies were set at a slight angle to one another, pressed together in an odd posture.

“Your cultivation is still too weak,” Bai Xiang said plainly. “Next, I will continue tempering and excavating hidden acupoints. What you need to do is use your fine-grained control to sense every change taking place inside my body, and observe me with everything you have.”

“Observe?” Bai Zhuqing parted her lips.

She glanced at the pale skin visible where Bai Xiang’s robe hung open below the neck, and her expression turned a little strange.

“That’s right.” Bai Xiang nodded.

She thought of it as a kind of test for her.

If fine-grained control could achieve this without any guidance or prompting from her, then that trait…

At least in Bai Xiang’s view, it was not something that simple.