"You're such a stubborn mule, Brother Xiaobai!" Zhao Ya knelt beside his feet, pouting.
Zhao Yebai held the water vat balanced on his head with one hand and gently ruffled her hair with the other, offering no rebuttal, just an awkward smile.
A major upheaval had just occurred, and they could have taken the opportunity to go back and rest, but Zhao Yebai insisted that the Senior's three-day punishment wasn't over yet, so he hoisted the water-filled vat back onto his head.
Zhao Ya had no choice but to kneel alongside him willingly, though this time she pressed her body snugly against his thigh, unwilling to let even a sliver of distance open between them.
Late into the night, when all was still, Zhao Ya suddenly heard a faint snoring sound from beside her. She looked up to find that Brother Xiaobai had already fallen asleep.
Staring at that familiar face she could never tire of, Zhao Ya smiled sweetly. Only Brother Xiaobai could pull off something like this — no ordinary person who had never cultivated in this world could sleep so peacefully with a massive water-filled vat balanced on their head.
Brother Xiaobai really was the most amazing!
When dawn broke, Zhao Yebai finally stirred awake. For some reason, his brow was deeply furrowed, and several times he opened his mouth to speak, only to think better of it and fall silent.
On the second day, Zhao Yebai fought to keep himself awake, but for reasons he couldn't understand, the moment night fell he was overwhelmed by drowsiness. After exchanging a few words with Zhao Ya, he drifted off to sleep once more.
The third day was the same.
When he woke this time, Zhao Yebai suddenly sensed something different about his body, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what had changed.
He turned his head and saw Zhao Ya staring at him with a look of astonishment and delight.
"What's wrong?" Zhao Yebai asked, puzzled.
"Brother Xiaobai, you've entered the Kaiyuan Realm!"
"The Kaiyuan Realm?" Zhao Yebai looked baffled, then startled. "That Kaiyuan Realm?"
Over the past ten years, even though he had been doing menial labor as a servant on Azure Jade Peak — hauling water, doing odd jobs, never cultivating, never taught how to cultivate — he had spent enough time around Zhao Ya to pick up knowledge along the way. He knew the hierarchy of the martial path.
The Kaiyuan Realm was the second major stage of martial cultivation.
He focused inward for a moment and clearly felt it: a stream of energy he had never possessed before was flowing through his meridians and flesh, exuberant and lively.
"So this is the Kaiyuan Realm?" Zhao Yebai murmured in a daze. Ever since he was a child, he had harbored a dream — to join the Seven Stars Workshop and cultivate, to become a powerful martial artist. But ten years ago, to ensure Zhao Ya could join Azure Jade Peak without any worries, he had severed his own path forward and volunteered to become a servant there.
All these years, every time he went down the mountain to fetch water and saw those peers who had achieved success in cultivation, he felt envy, of course, but never regret.
He had long passed the optimal age for cultivation, and as he grew older, his childhood dream had slowly faded. Being able to watch Little Ya grow up year by year, becoming stronger — that was the happiest thing in his life.
He had never imagined that one day he would still be able to set foot on the martial path.
"Was it because of that upheaval a few days ago?" Zhao Ya asked. No one had taught Brother Xiaobai to cultivate, yet he had suddenly advanced to the Kaiyuan Realm — that was clearly abnormal.
Zhao Yebai shook his head. "No, I think it might have something to do with these episodes of uncontrollable sleep. Little Ya, while I've been sleeping these past few days, there's been a voice in my head, muttering away. At first I thought I was dreaming and didn't pay it any mind, but it's happened every single day."
"What kind of voice?" Zhao Ya asked tensely.
"I can't describe it," Zhao Yebai said, shaking his head. "But I remembered everything it said."
He then proceeded to recount in detail the information he had received in his dreams.
When Zhao Ya finished listening, she clapped a hand over her red lips. "This is an extremely profound cultivation technique."
"A cultivation technique?" Zhao Yebai was alarmed. "How is that possible?"
But Zhao Ya beamed. "This is a good thing, Brother Xiaobai. You don't need to worry."
Zhao Yebai's face was creased with concern. "But the Senior never lets me cultivate. If he finds out…"
Zhao Ya raised a finger to her lips with a shushing sound, then glanced furtively left and right like a little thief, whispering, "You don't tell, and I won't tell — Master won't find out. Master never teaches you cultivation, he only treats you as a servant. Now that you've had this opportunity, you should cherish it. Brother Xiaobai, have you forgotten what you said when you were little?"
Someday, I'm going to become the strongest martial artist in the world, build a big house, and bring Mother, Little Ya, Granny, and Uncle Yang all inside — and our whole family will live happily together!
For one brief moment, Zhao Yebai was tempted. But then he shook his head. "No, no, no. I have to tell the Senior and see what he says. If he lets me cultivate, then I'll cultivate. If he doesn't allow it, then I won't. Besides, there's no telling whether this technique has any problems. What if something's wrong with it, and I end up becoming some heretic?"
As he spoke, he gently set down the water vat from his head and strode straight toward the sleeping hall where Yang Kai was.
"Brother Xiaobai, you really are hopeless!" Zhao Ya stamped her feet in frustration, but there was no stopping him.
A short while later, Zhao Yebai came scratching his head, wearing a bewildered expression.
Zhao Ya had her back to him, sulking. She sat on the ground without a shred of dignity, plucking at the blades of grass beside her and tearing them to shreds.
She whipped around, eyes sharp as blades. "What did Master say?"