Chapter 46: A Convenient Mother
Luo Xue turned her head and saw a lazy woman, reeking of alcohol and with disheveled clothes, leaning against the corner, holding a worn-out gourd in her hand.
Her eyes were hazy as she looked at Luo Xue, yet a sly smile played on her lips.
“Are you…”
Luo Xue frowned slightly, but quickly realized something and blinked.
“Senior Sister’s master?”
Ever since Luo Xue was brought back, this Peak Master of Falling Flower Peak had been in secluded cultivation, existing only in legends.
Even Senior Sister rarely mentioned her, and whenever she did, a worried expression would appear on her face.
There weren’t many people who could make the expressionless Senior Sister show any emotion…
Luo Xue was one, and her master, “Venerable Falling Flower,” Luo Huaxin, was another.
The surname “Luo” in this life came from her.
“Very clever.”
In the blink of an eye, Luo Huaxin appeared in front of Luo Xue.
Then, a pair of soft hands reached out and gently pinched Luo Xue’s cheeks.
“But not clever enough.”
“…Mmm.”
With her cheeks being pinched, Luo Xue couldn’t speak clearly.
“Since you call Bai Zhanying Senior Sister, how can you call me ‘Senior Sister’s master’?”
Luo Huaxin let go of her hands, but couldn’t resist poking Luo Xue’s cheeks again.
They felt so soft.
“Mmm… but I haven’t officially entered the sect…” Luo Xue mumbled.
“Oh right, not yet a disciple… that is a problem.” Luo Huaxin narrowed her beautiful eyes. “How about calling me Mother? You have my surname anyway.”
“…”
Luo Xue almost choked on her own spit, making Luo Huaxin burst into laughter, completely without any image of a venerable master.
In high spirits, Luo Huaxin was about to take another sip from her gourd when she caught sight of the teacup in Luo Xue’s hand and paused.
“How about we have a toast, Mother and Daughter?”
“…Minors are not allowed to drink alcohol.”
Luo Xue’s eyelids twitched. This Venerable Falling Flower seemed quite different from the rumors.
Wasn’t she said to be heartbroken?
Why did she seem more like a carefree drunkard…
“You don’t know good stuff. This is immortal wine brewed by yours truly. Many people would beg for it.”
Luo Huaxin pouted, but didn’t insist. She just sat down next to Luo Xue and continued drinking alone.
Luo Xue didn’t know whether to leave or stay. Sitting here felt strange.
To be honest, after so many lifetimes, this was the first time she had a mother…
After a moment of awkward silence, Luo Xue decided to find something to say.
“…Mother?”
Luo Huaxin spat out her wine.
“Cough, cough…”
“Maybe… we should change the way we address each other?”
Luo Xue scratched the back of her head.
“Oh, I actually quite like it, hahaha…”
Luo Huaxin was very amused. She put her arm around Luo Xue, her soft body, reeking of alcohol, pressing against Luo Xue’s small frame, her breath warm against Luo Xue’s ear.
“You’re the first to call me Mother. I have to say, it’s a novel experience!”
“Where’s Senior Sister?”
Luo Xue asked curiously.
Senior Sister, like her, was also an orphan, taken in and raised by Luo Huaxin on Falling Flower Peak.
“She has a mother, but she’s dead.” Luo Huaxin took a sip, a flicker of reminiscence in her eyes. “An orphan of the Bai family… Never mind, I won’t bore you with these old stories.”
It seemed Luo Huaxin didn’t want to delve into this topic, so Luo Xue didn’t press further.
“What do you want to ask?”
Luo Huaxin changed the subject, seemingly casually glancing at Luo Xue.
But even this faint glance from the corner of her eye felt like a sharp blade piercing through Luo Xue’s heart, as if she could see through everything.
Venerable Falling Flower, whose reputation rivaled the Sect Master of the Peerless Summit Sect, was more than just a drunkard. Her strength was likely even greater.
Daoist Ziyang, whom Luo Xue had considered a mortal enemy in her previous life, wouldn’t even be able to withstand the pressure of her aura.
Luo Xue hesitated slightly and asked in a low voice,
“Do you think… Senior Sister wants me to pass the Immortal Ascension Gate?”
Luo Xue couldn’t tell.
Senior Sister seemed to want her to pass, but also seemed to not want her to. Perhaps even Senior Sister herself wasn’t sure.
“Do you… want to pass this Immortal Ascension Gate?”
Luo Huaxin asked in return.
“…Of course.”
Luo Xue nodded.
“Then, she wants you to pass.” Luo Huaxin smiled faintly, a gentle charm on her slightly drunken face. “Xiao Xue, whatever you want to do, just do it. No matter what, Xiao Yingying is here, and so am I.”
“Even if the sky falls, I’ll hold it up.”
…
The night passed.
When Luo Xue woke up, the drunken Venerable Falling Flower was gone.
Last night’s conversation felt like a dream, but the lingering smell of alcohol in the room was enough to prove that it wasn’t.
“I was still forced to drink a little…”
Luo Xue held her head and smiled wryly.
She couldn’t refuse this drunkard mother and had taken a sip of the immortal wine from her gourd.
It made Luo Xue’s head dizzy, like she had a hangover.
However, besides the slight discomfort, the benefits of this sip of immortal wine were also obvious.
Luo Xue looked within her soul and saw that her cultivation, after breaking through to the Innate Realm, had stabilized.
The first step of the Innate Realm, Soul Cultivation, was about to be completed, and she was about to enter the next stage, Body Forging.
If Soul Cultivation was the prelude to separating mortals from immortals, Body Forging was the true chasm between them.
The limit of martial arts in the mortal world lay in Body Forging.
The Divine Sense born after completing Body Forging was a method only immortals could possess, something mortals could never achieve in their entire lives.
With a single thought, instantaneous changes were within their control.
However, in terms of combat power, there wasn’t much qualitative change between Soul Cultivation and Body Forging.
The battles between these two realms relied on techniques and combat experience.
…Luo Xue still didn’t have any advantage in this aspect.
“If only I had a technique, even just one…”
Luo Xue sighed softly and sat up.
Then she saw a jade slip and a note on the small table beside the bed.
“Hmm?”
Luo Xue picked up the note and her expression turned serious.
It was left by Luo Huaxin.
The messy handwriting showed Luo Huaxin’s state of mind when she wrote it.
“Xiao Xue, it’s rare for me to come out for some fresh air and see you. I originally planned to just watch from afar and leave, but I couldn’t resist talking to you.”
“Although we’ve never met before, you’re the second child I’ve watched grow up… Oh, sorry, I wrote that wrong, you haven’t grown up yet, hahaha…”
“And your personality is much better than Xiao Yingying’s. She’s such a bore, not as fun as you. Our first meeting as mother and daughter can be considered a memorable night.”
“Anyway, since you called me Mother, I can’t treat you poorly.”
“This jade slip contains a Dao technique inheritance I obtained by chance when I was young. It’s quite extraordinary and has nothing to do with the Peerless Summit Sect. Consider it a meeting gift from your mother.”
Under the dim candlelight, the woman held her wine gourd, using her condensed spiritual power as ink, writing freely on the paper.
Beside her, a young girl slept soundly.
As she finished writing, a faint smile appeared on her face.
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