Sky Pride

Chapter 295 22- A Fortune Gathering Toad. All Kinds of Fortune.

”Grandpa?”

Are you still set on not becoming someoneʼs disciple? Because he would be a fantastic master in a lot of regards. A terrible one in others, of course, but thatʼs just people for you.

”Iʼm not treating someone who has, based on what he has let drop, forty three children he has never met become my second dad. No chance. None. As far as I can tell, the only person other than himself he ever really cared about was his disciple. Who was a… challenging person.”

Fair. But you are going to rip him off for everything you can, right?

”Not my strong suit, but yes.”

Go for some kind of medicine teaching or manual, plus a cultivation manual. Nothing heʼs going to give out is going to be worse than third rate. No idea if itʼs better or worse than the Skytreading Art, mind you.

Tian looked around Voidcatcherʼs cultivation ground. It was a garden, yes, but only superficially. Or, perhaps it would be better to say it was structured like a garden, in the same sense that the Dawnlight Larkʼs five layered pagoda was ”structured like a house.” Tian had become familiar with it, one eaten herb at a time.

The whole garden, every leaf and twig, every droplet of dew, every breeze that tousled the soft blossoms, was integrated into a single creation. The only word Tian had to describe it was an ”array,” one built on principles of the Art of Wind and Water so profound, they were impossible to recognize on first glance. At least for a complete novice like him. It felt like the wrong word. Too dismissive and diminishing. It was a place perfected. Every aspect of it was designed to enhance the healthy flow of qi, and particularly to nurture wood and water.

Every breath was heavy with wood and water qi. Advent of Spring roared along joyfully, and even the Hell Suppressing Body Sutra was keeping very cheerful with all the free-floating yin qi. It would be impossible to completely recreate back in his cave home, but he had picked up a little bit here and there. Enough to make improvements, at least.

Voidcatcher had been pretty heavy with the hint to drink some of the pond water. And that it would make him quite sick. Tian laughed silently. When he first arrived, that might have alarmed him. Now, it was just another day. He squatted down by the side of the pond, and slid his hands into the water. The cold drilled into his flesh yet again. He was less protected from the pond, now, though he could still feel it was being subtly suppressed. Perhaps that was what made it safe to drink.

Tian scooped up a mouthful, and drank it down. His eyes shot open, staring into the wild blue sky. Had he ever truly tasted water before? He thought he had, but this! This was full of life and stillness. Gathering and nurturing and storing up all in readiness for wood to grow.

The flush of energy was incredible, then agonizing, then incredible, then agonizing… His stomach cramped so hard he thought it must be folding up. He fought down the instinct to vomit. You could take what you liked from the Myriad Colors Heaven, if you could take it. He had been hurt many, many times before. This was manageable.

Then his cultivation arts really kicked into life.

When Voidcatcher returned, he found Tian kneeling with his palms turned up on his knees, looking into the sky with religious ecstasy.

”Hits you that way the first time. You are finally full of energy. For the very first time in your life, you are properly full. My clone is looking over-” He cut himself off, then shifted to ”my old disciple. Itʼs definitely him, by the way, but… not your problem.” He shook his head, still wearing the human disguise.

”I got to be rather fond of Old Toad, even if he sneered at my tea. If there is something I can do to help-” Tian felt like he was speaking over a great distance, his voice whispery in his ears.

”Oh, he is fine. It seems I found why I was so certain I owed you. The next person who sneers at my so-called superstition is feeling the flat of my tongue! But this is too much, the scales arenʼt balanced. You even activated his physique and fortune gathering power, though from what I can see, no fortune has yet reached you.”

”Respectfully, Senior, I must disagree. It let me study under you. Your methods are highly effective. I wasnʼt speaking nonsense before. I learned a very great deal from you.”