The next day, everyone went to the grassland to ride horses again for a whole day.
Although Jiang Yuqing was used to riding deers in the past, Bai Xiaoshi communicated well with her.
Without needing any directions from her, Bai Xiaoshi could steadily carry her to wherever she wanted to go.
Although she could also communicate with the horses, it was still far worse compared to Bai Xiaoshi.
If a comparison had to be made, it would be like the difference between a high-tech self-driving vehicle and a manual transmission.
At night, everyone pitched tents on the grassland and lit a bonfire, whispering to each other or gazing up at the stars. The stars on the grassland were big and bright, exceptionally beautiful. Staring for too long would make one unconsciously intoxicated. Or perhaps it was the feeling of surviving a disaster that made one especially sentimental.
Jiang Yuqing leaned against her brother and started singing, "Beautiful grassland, my home. The wind blows green grass and flowers everywhere..." The song was about a shepherdess singing merrily, with the joyful melody spreading everywhere.
Her voice was bright and clear, with a touch of milk-like purity. Everyone listened as if spellbound. After she finished one song, everyone clapped and cheered loudly.
Jiang Yuqing was encouraged by the praise to sing another song: "The red sun rises in the east, its road filled with rosy glows. How fortunate I am to be born by your side, inheriting this vein of blood..."
In the tranquil night, the singing carried very far away. Everyone felt that they had never heard such beautiful singing before.
Jiang Wenyuan looked at his wife nestled by his side, then at his son and daughter sitting together. Then he raised his head to gaze at the full sky of stars. He suddenly felt extremely blissful and fulfilled.
Peaceful times like these were pure happiness!
After returning from Sha Qing County, daily life went back to how it used to be, following routines. The children went to school, Jiang Wenyuan went to work in the court of justice, and Jiang Yuqing returned to He An Hospital.
After experiencing the last great battle, the commanders of all major military camps had seen with their own eyes the capabilities of He An Hospital and Bianque Valley.
The team led by Bianque Valley set a historic record of having treated the largest number of wounded soldiers, with the lowest number of deaths, less than one fifth of previous rates. It was legendary.
This was also the main reason why Emperor Xia Jing conferred the title "Heavenly Doctor Valley" to Bianque Valley. These people deserved the name "Heavenly Doctor".
Therefore, even though the battles had ceased, many camps still sent people over to learn. Thanks to their fame, even camps from thousands of miles away in the southeast coast had sent people.
Learning these skills could save lives - which major camp wouldn't be tempted? As a result, He An Hospital became even busier than before.
But no matter how busy, everyone would still ensure Jiang Yuqing got to rest once her time was up. The child had only just recovered from serious illness, she couldn't risk being exhausted again.
No matter how much he dragged his feet, Jing Yan still packed up at the end of July and reluctantly returned to the capital city,
because his father, Emperor Xia Jing, had given him an ultimatum that if he didn't return, the throne would immediately pass to Jing Yan instead. With no choice left, he unwillingly went back.
After Jing Yan's departure, Jiang Wenyuan felt much more relaxed. With that brat no longer hovering around his precious daughter every day, he felt even the air had become much fresher.
It simply couldn't get any better! On his way to work, he hummed songs the entire way.
At the end of July, the man who sold melon seeds last year came again. He had planted 30 mu of melon seeds this year, and brought over villagers to plant a sizeable amount too.
The harvested seeds totaled nearly 9000 catties. Together with over 1000 catties of seeds harvested last year, it came to 10000 catties in total.
Jiang Yuqing matched them with the correct seasonings, spending two days to roast over 20 catties of black melon seeds and let her family have a taste. Everyone said they were delicious, especially the women.
With an estimate now, Jiang Yuqing directly passed the recipe and the melon seeds to her father, referring the man who planted the melon seeds to her father too, for him to handle the operations while she just collected money. Her father was shrewd enough that business under him wouldn't shortchange her.
Right now she had three main responsibilities - accompany her family, teach students, and cultivate. Her current cultivation level was back to zero. Not restoring it would mean any random person would be able to crush her easily, which made her feel unsafe.
Although there were many people guarding her daily travels, the saying goes: One should rely on one’s own effort. She had to restore her cultivation.
Luckily she had prior experience, and her state of mind now was much broader and steadier than before. Picking up where she left off went much faster and smoother than before, lightening her mood quite a bit.
Time waits for no one. Four years flew by in the blink of an eye. Jiang Yuqing was already 10 years old, grown into an elegant little maiden, her once childish features now faintly blossoming into beauty.
Over the four years, she had cultivated back to Great Perfection of Refining Qi Realm, and directly broke through to Initial Establishment Realm, now in early Establishment Realm.
After stabilizing her cultivation level, she fished out a few spirit swords from the pile of assorted items behind the Heritage Hall.
With no clue about their quality, she just randomly picked one she fancied and bound it as a magic treasure with a blood oath.
No matter her actual sword skills, it would at least look impressive, and flying with the sword must be extremely cool.
Just as those immortal cultivators in fantasy dramas she watched in her past life. She had craved to try it for very long.
There's a saying, The reality can be cruel compared to one’s idealized dreams . Lacking a proper master to guide her, she could only grope her way forward using the pitiful knowledge on the jade slip.
The first time trying sword flight, she hadn't stimulated the sword core properly and the spirit sword didn't even take off. After carefully studying the jade slip again and performing the correct sword technique, she tried again.
This time the spirit sword finally flew up, but only rose one and a half yards high before dropping back down. Failure!
Luckily the child was competitive by nature. Failure only made her try again. After numerous practices, the spirit sword was finally able to fly steadily.
Next she could attempt carrying a passenger for flight.
Jiang Yuqing cast out the spirit sword to hover half a foot above ground, then carefully stepped onto it and shifted her weight to check its stability. Hmm, felt pretty stable.
She then carefully input spiritual energy to propel the sword upwards, flying several hundred meters in the air and circling once without issues, very smooth.
After practicing a few times and feeling capable of it, she started playing aerial stunts - somersaults, Thomas flips, as she flipped around she gloated at Bai Xiaoshi: "Little White, see this? I can fly myself now without needing you to carry me. Isn't it extremely impressive?"
Standing atop the cliff, Bai Xiaoshi watched the show-off overhead and rolled his eyes. Who did she think she was, a monkey? Making all those somersaults.
Just as he finished mentally snarking, he saw the aerial figure scream as she and the out-of-control sword plummeted down at an alarming speed, crashing into a spindly ancient pine jutting from the opposite cliff with a loud "dong". The pitiful wail before impact echoed across the whole valley. Even from afar Bai Xiaoshi felt that collision in his teeth. (★^O^★) Serves her right for showing off.
Jiang Yuqing hugged onto the tree, her head still buzzing minutes later when she came to her senses. Touching her forehead, there was a massive protruding lump growing, almost crashing straight into a concussion.
There was the strong taste of iron in her mouth too. Opening wide, two front teeth that had just grown out fell out.
Waaaa, her new teeth were knocked out again!
Indeed, overconfidence invites trouble, just like lyrics from a song: "Retribution comes as swift as a tornado." She only had herself to blame for not putting on any protective shielding or something, which led to crashing so disastrously.
She quickly cast Rejuvenation magic to restore herself into a perfect petite goddess.
She felt relieved that Third Martial Uncle had not witnessed the horrifying sight earlier. That gossip with a glib tongue would surely bestow numerous mortifying nicknames that she resented - things like "Chipped Tooth", "Ancient Methuselah", or "Baozi Bun" head. Heh heh, she didn't even need to count off her fingers to imagine several such names.
Jiang Yuqing turned and looked around for her spirit sword, but couldn't find where it had fallen to. Just as she was about call for Little White, there was a "crack" from under her bottom that made her quickly leap onto the thicker forked branch beside.
The moment she lifted her bottom the branch she was just on snapped off entirely with a swoosh, crashing down perfectly onto a large bird's nest below. The two eggs inside were instantly smashed to smithereens.
The predatory big bird happened to return just then and, upon seeing this scene, immediately went crazy. It spotted the culprit hanging from the tree trunk along the direction of the falling branches at a glance, pounced over, and was about to start a fight.
This was a third-order Iron Talon Eagle, whose combat power was comparable to that of someone at the mid Foundation Establishment stage. To make matters worse, it found itself hanging midair, unable to maneuver into a fighting stance.
In desperation, it flapped out Little Thorn to tie the culprit to the tree trunk.
Bai Xiaoshi hurriedly said, “Big bird, don’t be impulsive first. Let’s talk this through, let’s talk this through! I really didn’t mean to destroy your nest. Besides, those two eggs aren’t even yours!”
The Iron Talon Eagle squawked furiously, “You’re spouting nonsense! Those eggs are clearly mine!”
Jiang Yuqing said, “They really aren’t yours.
It’s true that Iron Talon Eagles like yourselves have grayish-white eggs, but the two eggs in your nest have streaked patterns on their grayish-white shells. Those are clearly the eggs of Gray Feather Cuckoos, who love to engage in cuckoo tactics the most.”
The Iron Talon Eagle’s huge eagle eyes froze in shock. “Is everything you said true?”
Jiang Yuqing said, “If you don’t believe me, just fly back and see for yourself. Besides, my spirit sword is also caught in this tree. Hanging here, I can’t escape even if I wanted to.
If I was lying, you can come settle scores with me anytime.
If my words were correct, then you’ll be responsible for sending me back to the palace on the other side and helping me retrieve my spirit sword. What do you say?”
The Iron Talon Eagle had its mind muddled and its round eagle eyes circled around: “Deal! If you dare deceive me, I’ll tear you into pieces and swallow you down!”
“Wouldn’t dare, wouldn’t dare!” Jiang Yuqing released the Iron Talon Eagle.
The Iron Talon Eagle turned around and returned to its nest. Brushing aside the leaves, it finally saw that what had shattered weren’t its eggs at all. Its eggs had long been eaten by the wretched Gray Feather Cuckoos, who then switched its own eggs into the nest.
The Iron Talon Eagle shrieked furiously, planning to find those Gray Feather Cuckoos for revenge.
Jiang Yuqing hurriedly shouted, “Big bird, I won’t stop you from seeking revenge, but aren't you going to finish what you promised me first before leaving?”
Only then did the Iron Talon Eagle fly back, carrying Jiang Yuqing to the cliff top on this side of the palace, before flying back again to retrieve her spirit sword for her.
Before leaving, Jiang Yuqing didn't forget to exhort it: “Big bird, be careful when fighting fellow birds. If you get injured, come back and let me treat your wounds.”
The Iron Talon Eagle shrieked as it circled in the air, as if responding. With a flap of its wings it shot upward, its giant body disappearing into the sea of clouds without a trace.
Bai Xiaoshi had watched this interesting drama from start to finish, laughing so hard that it couldn't stand up.
Jiang Yuqing placed her hands on her waist and scolded it, “Still laughing! Laugh yourself to death why don’t you! Seeing your master meet misfortune yet not even trying to come save me.”
Bai Xiaoshi laughed until it ran out of breath: “There’s no need for that... At worst... At worst, you’d just suffer a little.
Who told you to show off? Showing off is asking to be struck by lightning. Hahahaha!”
The little girl angrily walked away, determined not to bother with the tactless and shameless mystic artifact.
Stinking brat, just you wait. Once I’ve learned how to fly on swords, I’ll definitely boot you off, kicking you far, far away.
I promise, I definitely will!
Her ladyship harbored thoughts of venting without goal as she finally learned the supreme technique of swordsmanship after two days.
After learning it, she kept flying back and forth in front of the artifact, showing off in various ways.
Bai Xiaoshi felt extremely gloomy. Just what sin had it committed in its past life to end up with this idiot of a master? This was really too much to take.
