The backdrop can also be propped up.

Chapter 25 Unnamed Draft

After resting enough, Ayaka put Shiro back into her sleeve so the two of them could continue up the mountain.

Xiao Bai was unhappy and climbed up Caihua's neck along Caihua's arm.

Ayaka didn't care and let Shiro wrap her arms around her neck twice.

After Xiaobai fell asleep, Caihua picked up the package and continued climbing the mountain.

After taking only two steps, Caihua saw two figures dart past her in a flash—one was Wang Li, and the other was Wen Meiying, the little boy from the other children.

Wang Li took a few big strides and overtook Caihua, who had only taken two steps. She thought to herself that she had to climb higher than Caihua. She couldn't beat Caihua in terms of the spiritual things in the world, but in other aspects—such as who could climb faster and higher—she had to be able to beat her.

When Wen Meiying saw Caihua preparing to leave first, he immediately rushed up. He wouldn't allow anyone to be ahead of him; he was the first.

Ayaka looked at the two people climbing ahead of her at great speed and marveled at their stamina.

But I'll probably get a stitch, Ayaka thought. I'd better walk slowly.

Caihua climbed the mountain step by step, occasionally picking a few small flowers by the roadside to make a small bracelet.

After a while, Ayaka saw the two figures in front of her gradually slow down and then sit on a large rock, panting heavily.

Seeing that three people had already left, the other children sat for a while, then a few of them stood up and continued climbing the mountain.

Nolan never really liked mountain climbing, and after being mocked by Wen Meiying earlier, he disliked it even more—he and Wen Meiying were rivals at school. Wen Meiying constantly suppressed him, leading his parents to compare him to Wen Meiying several times.

Seeing the two figures at the highest point, Nolan gritted his teeth in anger, cursing inwardly: Why climb so fast! We can't even catch up, and now we look even more useless.

Nolan then quickened his pace, trying to keep up with the others—after all, he was a top-grade fire spirit root, he couldn't fall too far behind!

Caihua had been in poor health since childhood, but she improved her physique by practicing for a few days on the road. She simply walked for a while and then rested for a while to conserve her energy to continue climbing the mountain. The other children quickly caught up with her, and some of the annoying ones even turned around and laughed at her.

Caihua wasn't in a hurry. She climbed slowly, absorbing spiritual energy during her rest periods to make her spiritual roots grow stronger. Soon, she passed by the children again. They were panting, their faces flushed, and covered in sweat. Caihua didn't care. She fed Xiaobai some water and took a sip herself.

Caihua looked up at the sect on the mountain, then looked down at the ground and continued walking.

After walking a few more steps, they finally reached the first platform just before dark. Wang Li and Wen Meiying had already settled on clean stones and were asleep.

Seeing that it was getting late, Caihua stopped climbing and took out some dry food from her bag. She broke off a piece for Xiaobai and put it on a handkerchief. She then took out a straw mat and other things, planning to eat the dry food and go to sleep.

On the platform sat a small lamp made of firefly lamps—insects that resemble fireflies but emit a brighter and more beautiful light—to ease the children's fear. Ayaka lay on the straw mat, wrapped in a small blanket to keep warm, her hand behind her head, gazing at the firefly lamp.

Little White curled up and slept beside Caihua, who reached out to touch her. Then she closed her eyes and began to nurture her spiritual root.

The spiritual root has grown a little thanks to the colorful flower's active absorption of spiritual energy these past few days. But it is still very short, with its canopy only a head taller than the colorful flower.

Caihua once again mobilized all her spiritual power to nourish the spiritual root. She felt that if the spiritual root grew a little longer, she might be able to advance to another realm. However, she didn't know exactly how tall the tree would have to grow to reach that realm. Maybe it would be just a little short, or maybe there would be a long way to go.

Little White woke up groggily and found its little master cultivating in his sleep again. Tilting its head, it saw that everyone around it was asleep, so it coiled around its little master's chest, first drawing all the spiritual energy from the outside world to itself, and then transmitting the spiritual energy to its little master through itself.

As a creature of the heavens and earth, Xiaobai was favored by the spiritual power of heaven and earth. Soon, a large mass of greenish-blue mixed with black spiritual power entered Xiaobai's body, and then entered Caihua's body through Xiaobai's body.

Feeling that it was about time, Xiaobai took another lotus leaf out of her mouth and melted it into Caihua's stomach. After doing all this, she lay on Caihua's chest and looked at Caihua's face for a while, then crawled into Caihua's quilt and slept with Caihua, her face pressed against Caihua's.

After absorbing the spiritual energy, Caihua felt that her spiritual roots had grown sufficiently for the day, so she went to find Lu Renkui and the system WQBYRZM to learn to read.

Lu Renkui picked up the book. Caihua had learned more than 800 characters in the past few days, and now Lu Renkui decided to teach Caihua to memorize some simpler sentences.

Lu Renkui: "Confucius said,"

Caihua obediently repeated, "Confucius said,"

“Learn and practice it from time to time.”

“Learn and practice it from time to time.”

……

Inside the Huaiyu Sect, as soon as Chongxiang and his two disciples arrived at the East Gate, Chongxiang was dragged into the council hall for a meeting by the sect leader and the remaining sect elders.

"How was it? How did it go?! Did you find any good talents this time you went down the mountain?" As soon as everyone sat down, Elder Qin Ping, who was the most anxious, asked in a hurry.

Chongxiang waved his hand, his face beaming with joy, and said, "We found quite a few, including three top-grade spiritual roots. There's also a little girl who, although she has two spiritual roots, is rather ordinary, but she has subdued a spiritual treasure of heaven and earth."

Upon hearing the first sentence, the elders all showed joy. However, when they heard that someone else had acquired rare and precious items, they were either surprised or disbelieving.

The most dignified-looking member of the group, Sect Leader Xing'er, thought Chongxiang was talking nonsense: "Heaven and earth spirits always choose their masters according to their own preferences. Could this little girl have some kind of supernatural power that makes heaven and earth spirits willingly acknowledge her as their master?"

“I’ve seen it. That little girl was an ordinary person. Later, she somehow learned how to draw spiritual energy into her body and that’s how she grew spiritual roots.”

Fourth Elder Lin Yuqing crossed his arms and pondered: "It seems that someone told her the location of the celestial being. The celestial being was not only newly born but also had a good temperament, so it didn't take much effort for it to recognize the little girl as its master. Otherwise, I really can't think of anything a mortal girl could have that could attract a celestial being."

“That’s right.” Chongxiang nodded in agreement. “I’ve secretly looked at that spirit creature several times on the way here and discerned its aura. That spirit creature has only been born for a little over a month.”

"The biggest difference between the birth of a celestial being and the birth of spiritual treasures and herbs is that the birth of a celestial being is completely unexpected. It can only be found in places with abundant spiritual energy. If you're lucky, you'll encounter it; if you're unlucky, you either won't encounter it at all, or you'll be severely beaten by the celestial being. The person who can guide that little girl to find a celestial being that has only recently been born must be extraordinary." Elder Nan Moqu of the Huaiyu Sect pondered, "But since that person already knows the location of the celestial being, why doesn't he go and wait for its birth himself, instead of letting a mortal girl wait for it?"

"Why think so much?" said Hong Lanying, the third elder of the sect. "Perhaps that person felt guilty towards the young girl and let her take this spiritual treasure for protection. In any case, our sect is about to have a spiritual treasure, something that the other two major sects don't have. The rise of Huaiyu Sect is just around the corner!"

“Indeed, we should look on the bright side,” Lin Yuqing said, then suddenly realized something was amiss. “Where is that person from Fang Yuancheng?”

"Isn't she here?" Chongxiang stroked his beard, paused for a moment, and asked, "Didn't you tell her that today is the day for selecting disciples from the foot of the mountain, and that she shouldn't be drinking and wandering around the foot of the mountain?"

The council chamber was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Chongxiang prayed in his heart that the children would not encounter Fang Yuancheng's drunken rampage.