Xin Xiu had read a few cultivation novels before, and she was always curious about one question: why were there only Chinese people in these cultivation novels, with no foreigners appearing? Even if foreign friends didn't understand Chinese-style cultivation, they should still appear if they objectively existed.
At this moment, she felt that she was probably about to see a foreign friend in this cultivation world.
Sure enough, there was a travel-worn man sitting in the Cloud Pavilion. His appearance didn't look like a cultivator at all, but more like an adventurous backpacker who had just returned from touring the desert for a few days or drifting at sea for a few months.
He sat there, already surrounded by several senior and junior disciples, listening to him speak. Xin Xiu pulled the third senior brother along with the other disciples, just in time to hear Senior Brother Tao Jun say: "...At that time, I was sucked into an underwater vortex, thinking I was doomed to die. Who knew that in the moment of desperation, I would end up in a strange world where the scenery and customs were very different from ours. I spent several decades there before finding a way back..."
"Senior Brother Tao Jun, apart from that demon ghost you mentioned earlier, didn't you bring back anything else?"
A look of regret appeared on Tao Jun's face as he clapped his hands, "Of course I did, but while crossing that strange sea, everything was lost. Only that demon ghost luckily followed me and didn't end up in a watery grave."
Hearing this description, Xin Xiu thought that the senior brother seemed to have gone to some strange place through the sea, which sounded even more like going to a foreign country. If that really was a foreign friend, they might just have different hair and eye colors, so calling them a demon ghost didn't seem right. Also, where was that unfortunate captured foreigner now?
Senior Brother Cai Xing, sensing her urgency, directly asked, "Senior Brother Tao Jun, where is that strange creature you brought back? Why don't we see it?"
Tao Jun replied, "You came a step late. Just now, Elder Yan Sha came by and took that thing away, saying he wanted to try using it for alchemy."
Xin Xiu: "?!" Is it that cruel? She knew about Elder Yan Sha, who was skilled in alchemy and had once sent disciples to deliver medicine to her.
She tugged on Senior Brother Cai Xing's sleeve, "Senior Brother Cai Xing, let's go take a look quickly."
Cai Xing agreed, "Yes, let's hurry, lest Elder Yan Sha has already used it up. Wouldn't it be a pity if we couldn't see it?"
Several others also wanted to see, so they rushed to Elder Yan Sha's place together. Cai Xing called out as he entered, "Elder Yan Sha, we've come to see the demon ghost Senior Brother Tao Jun brought back! You haven't thrown it into the furnace yet, have you?"
Elder Yan Sha, who was warming up the furnace, scolded without turning his head, "How could I throw it into the furnace without processing the material? I never refine live creatures in alchemy, don't you know that? You truly have no talent for alchemy!"
Xin Xiu breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes scanning the hall, "Elder, where is it? We don't see it."
Elder Yan Sha replied, "It was making too much noise, shouting who knows what. I found it annoying, so I put it in the back hall."
Xin Xiu thought: If you can't understand it, old sir, it's probably speaking a foreign language.
The group rushed to the back hall, most out of curiosity to see the spectacle, but Xin Xiu was prepared to rescue someone.
The back hall was not noisy, but very quiet. In the corner was a cage covered with a black cloth. Xin Xiu was the first to go over and lift the black cloth, but after seeing clearly what was inside, she quietly covered it back up.
...What was this thing?
It looked really strange.
She felt foolish. She only knew that this thing had "a high nose, deep-set eyes, green eyes, and golden yellow hair," but she hadn't thought that it wasn't human-shaped at all, so it couldn't possibly be the foreign friend she had guessed. A misstep, misled by modern society again!
This creature did indeed have a high nose and deep-set eyes, but its nose was like a rhino's horn, not only high but also very sharp. Its eyes were sunken like two black holes, emitting green light from within. Apparently, "green eyes" didn't describe the iris color, but actual green light. The golden yellow hair wasn't just on its head, but long fur all over its body, like a mop.
Xin Xiu had never seen such a creature before, and it was no wonder the senior brothers called it a demon ghost. The two small green lamp-like eyes did give off an eerie feeling in the darkness.
The others also crowded around to take a closer look, discussing various similar descriptions from ancient texts.
"It's a yellow monkey, isn't it? The body shape looks somewhat like a monkey."
"That's too hasty a conclusion. Yellow monkeys don't have such a whip-like tail."
"I see it has no mouth on its face. How does it eat? Perhaps it doesn't need food?"
"Let me try something." A senior sister took out a fruit from her pouch of treasures and threw it into the cage. The strange creature came closer to sniff it, then suddenly shouted at the curious crowd outside the cage. This shout was also peculiar, sounding almost like the noise of nearby construction, no wonder Elder Yan Sha found it annoying.
As it opened its mouth to shout, the needle-like fur on its body bristled. Now everyone could see its mouth, which split open from the neck area. When closed, it was completely invisible, and only upon careful observation could one notice a ring of golden yellow scales the same color as its fur.
While the discussion was heating up, Xin Xiu casually remarked, "I wonder if this thing is edible and how it tastes." This successfully silenced everyone, causing them to turn and look at her.
Cai Xing said, "Junior Sister Xin Xiu, you really dare to eat anything, don't you? We're all seeing this thing for the first time, and you're already considering whether it's edible."
Xin Xiu replied, "Someone has to be the first to eat it, right? How would we know if it's edible without trying?" Besides, isn't it in the nature and habit of Chinese people to first consider whether something can be eaten when discovering a new species?
Elder Yan Sha came in with a knife and said, "Let this old man research it first and refine it into pills. If it's not toxic, I'll save you a piece of meat."
Then, under the watchful eyes of his disciples, he shaved the strange animal. Holding a handful of fur, he lectured the disciples: "Alchemy starts with the materials. Sometimes, things like the fur and horns of such creatures can have unexpected effects."
Xin Xiu touched the golden yellow fur and said, "Elder, can I have a small handful of fur?"
Elder Yan Sha asked, "Oh? Are you interested in alchemy? Do you want to learn from your elder? With your dual affinity for gold and fire, you're quite suitable for alchemy."
Xin Xiu replied, "No, it's not that. This fur is quite stiff, I want to take it back to make a brush." It would be great for brushing the panda mother's fur.
Elder Yan Sha: "..."
Having witnessed a new species from another world, Xin Xiu returned to Secluded Bamboo Mountain with her brush-making material. She searched the mountain for suitable bamboo, cutting a piece to take back and make a brush. She also needed to make some tableware, like bowls, plates, and chopsticks, as the ones she had made before kept mysteriously disappearing. Xin Xiu suspected they had been eaten by the two temporarily raised panda cubs.
It certainly couldn't have been her and her master who ate them.
Since becoming a cultivator, there hadn't been any significant changes to her body yet, but her handyman skills were improving daily. Whenever she needed something, her first reaction was to make it herself. If she didn't know how, she would first ask her senior brothers and sisters, and only if that failed would she turn to her master for a solution.
Previously, when the panda cubs ate her bed, she and her master made a new one together. She had thought her master relied on artifact refining for everything, but it wasn't so. To make a bed, he simply went to cut bamboo, then split, chopped, and whittled it. Seeing her master sitting in the courtyard, honestly making a bed, she was quite shocked by this down-to-earth method.
Her master was truly frugal. In terms of enjoyment, Xin Xiu felt she could surpass her master by a hundred years.
The first skill she learned from her master, the great artifact refiner, was how to make a bed from bamboo.
Then her master repaired the walls, while she helped by making a ladder. The second skill she learned from her master, the great artifact refiner, was how to make a ladder from bamboo.
Perhaps soon, she would be able to make everything from bamboo. If her cultivation didn't succeed and she returned to her own world, she might become a bamboo craftsperson.
Having gone through all this, making a brush was no challenge for Xin Xiu.
Shentu Yu was inside his refining furnace, his mind immersed in artifact refining. He grabbed a handful of his old hair and gently blew it forward, causing the strands to attach to the gradually forming liquid in front of him.
This was a type of soft gold he had found years ago in another human body. It was highly malleable but too soft, and he had never figured out what to make with it. Now it was perfect for crafting the body of the iron-eating spirit beast. This way, the finished product would feel softer to the touch than ordinary iron-eating spirit beasts.
The most important aspect was that this material, while appearing soft, had strong defensive properties and incredible toughness. An iron-eating spirit beast crafted from this might be impervious to swords and spears, serving as protection when accompanying the disciple on future journeys.
However, this was still only a semi-finished product, requiring many other materials for its refinement. While creating the shape of an iron-eating spirit beast was easy, crafting a spiritual tool capable of nurturing a tool spirit was no simple task. Even he couldn't guarantee success. He had run out of several materials, but fortunately, his body that wandered outside had been replenishing crafting materials, so he could have it return to complete the inventory.
Today's crafting would pause here. Shentu Yu pondered how to nurture a tool spirit in such a spiritual tool, carefully considering material combinations to perfect the final product. He then walked into the kitchen.
The kitchen occasionally held food his disciple had respectfully given him, mostly sweets he had never tried before. There were cloud-soft pastries and slightly golden-brown soft biscuits that tasted even better when dipped in honey, as well as another type of crispy biscuit that was quite delicious.
It was precisely because his disciple put such thought into these offerings that Shentu Yu wanted to craft the most unique iron-eating beast spiritual tool for her.
Today, the kitchen held a stack of crisp biscuits. Shentu Yu ate these honey caramel cookies, and finally, out of habit, also ate the bamboo tray they were on. To him, the round bamboo tray was not much different from the cookies, except it wasn't as sweet.
Just as Shentu Yu finished eating, Xin Xiu returned with a simple brush she had made.
"Master, look, can you guess what kind of hair this brush is made from?" she asked.
Shentu Yu took it and examined it closely, retrieving a fragment from his long memory. "I once passed through a sea vortex to another small world, where there were many strange things. All living creatures there were covered in fur, with hair like silver pine needles." This was naturally an experience of his body that wandered outside, but since he had one soul in two bodies, it counted as his own experience.
"Oh?" Upon hearing her master's words, Xin Xiu realized it was very similar to Senior Brother Tao Jun's experience, and quickly recounted it.
"The thing Senior Brother Tao Jun brought back is now with Master Yan Sha. Would you like to go see it, Master?"
Shentu Yu shook his head.
Xin Xiu had guessed her homebody master wouldn't go join the excitement, so she wasn't surprised. Things like the Rakshasa Kingdom and sea vortexes had nothing to do with her, a novice who had just entered the world of cultivation and wasn't qualified to leave the mountain yet. She just listened out of curiosity. Now she had other things to do, like trying out this brush!
Watching his disciple run up the mountain again, calling for her "mother," Master Shentu sighed softly and stood up.
His earlier words of comfort to his disciple weren't entirely false. His disciple hadn't been negligent in her recent cultivation, and the golden fire spiritual energy in her hands was quite strong. The feeling of touching the fur wasn't very pleasant.
However, Xin Xiu was very measured today. After petting the giant panda for a while, she began to focus intently on brushing its fur with the brush, occasionally reminiscing about brushing her dog's fur in the past.
The soft fur that had become a bit ruffled from her earlier petting became neat after brushing, like pristine white snow that no one had stepped on. The sight made Xin Xiu want to pat it again, to mess up that white belly fur.
Unable to resist the temptation, she found herself repeating the process of patting, then brushing, then patting again once it was neat.
Shentu Yu remained silent, allowing her to pet as she pleased. Only when her brush had collected a good amount of fur and she was about to clean it off did he gesture for her to set the fur aside instead of discarding it.
Master Shentu thought that this fur could be used to craft the iron-eating beast spiritual tool for his disciple, which would make the fur texture more realistic.
