[A/N: This chapter is just filler. There's a slight interaction with Ning'er, but nothing much beyond that. I'm posting it just so I don't run out of chapters today.]
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Chapter 7° Goddess's breakfast!
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After Xiao Ning'er disappeared into the forest, the facade of exhaustion on Xiang Yun's face faded. Although he still felt some weariness from the sleepless night and the energy he had spent, it wasn't enough to stop him.
Soon after, he also left, heading toward the inn he had rented. The previous night had been dedicated to relentless reading, and the day to action. A good night's sleep was more than necessary.
The inn was modest but perfectly adequate: a cozy bedroom, a bathroom with a spacious tub, and a small room for cultivation.
Xiang Yun first washed off the dust and grime from his body in warm water, then changed into a set of light, comfortable clothes and collapsed onto the bed.
Within minutes, the sound of his rhythmic breathing filled the room, and he drifted deeply into the world of dreams.
A night passed like that.
…
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The noise at the door pulled him from sleep. 'Who could it be at this hour?' Xiang Yun slowly opened his eyes and got up, staggering slightly, still wrapped in wrinkled clothes.
'Young Master, here is your breakfast. Have a good day.' A gentle voice came from outside, followed by the sound of footsteps descending the stairs.
He opened the door and pulled the small breakfast tray into the room. Steam rose from the hot meal. 'Not quite like my parents' cooking, but still looks delicious.' He smiled, still groggy.
But before anything else, Xiang Yun washed his face and brushed his teeth, dressed in his daily outfit, and only then began to eat.
In less than ten minutes, all the plates were clean. Most of the food was fairly ordinary, so it didn't fully satisfy his hunger.
He had noticed that ever since arriving in this world, his appetite seemed insatiable. Fortunately, even eating a lot, cultivation prevented him from gaining excess weight.
'Let's go, another day begins,' he murmured, stretching before leaving the inn. The chilly morning wind brushed against his cheeks, making his now-neatly arranged white hair sway gently.
He then began the familiar walk to the Sacred Orchid Institute.
Five minutes later, already near the institute's gates, he spotted Du Ze, Lu Piao, and Nie Li walking together.
Curiously, Du Ze seemed to be the leader of the trio at that moment. Xiang Yun pondered, feeling that it made sense.
Lu Piao was too playful. Nie Li, though destined for greatness, was still the weakest in the group. Thus, leadership naturally fell to Du Ze. The other two — Wei Nan and Zhu Xiangjun — would join them later, but their development would be far more limited than these three.
His gaze then landed on Ye Ziyun, and next to her, like a guard dog, was Shen Yue. At that moment, Ye Ziyun noticed him too. The two exchanged a subtle glance, a silent greeting.
However, upon seeing this, Shen Yue's eyes darkened immediately. 'Xiang Yun, you'd better not try anything with her. Or else…' He clenched his fists.
But Xiang Yun paid him no attention.
'Humph!' Shen Yue huffed and looked away, but his heart burned with uncontrollable rage and jealousy.
He had never seen Ye Ziyun greet anyone besides Xiao Ning'er. She didn't even greet him properly. So why was it different with Xiang Yun? That ignited his soul with seething fury.
Unfortunately, he had neither the authority to question Ye Ziyun about it nor did she have any obligation to answer him. And so, Shen Yue was left with no choice but to bottle up his hatred and blame everything on Xiang Yun.
Xiang Yun didn't pay attention to any of them.
He scanned the crowd for Xiao Ning'er but didn't spot her.
'Since I told her I'd find a way to fix her cultivation technique, I guess I can take some time today to research that.' He thought, and that's exactly what he did.
He hadn't forgotten his quest to fix her technique — or maybe find a similar but more advanced one.
'Besides, those old books seem way more interesting than Shen Xiu's dull and monotonous lectures.'
Shen Xiu was beautiful, sure. But her class didn't teach anything he didn't already know. So... well, beautiful women could be found anywhere in Glory City.
Right now, knowledge was far more valuable.
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[Library]
The Sacred Orchid Institute Library in Glory City was like a sanctuary — silent and filled with hidden knowledge.
Xiang Yun was immersed in the reading of an ancient tome on the creation of cultivation techniques, with soft sunlight from the windows illuminating the yellowed pages.
With each word he absorbed, he had to pause and reflect, processing the knowledge. Creating a cultivation technique wasn't just about writing it down in a book. It required vast knowledge, personal experience, and a moment of enlightenment.
At the moment, he had neither the knowledge nor the experience. Enlightenment only came by chance — and many people went their entire lives without ever experiencing it.
'This... is amazing! Looks like aside from finding a different technique for Xiao Ning'er, I'll have to either buy one or negotiate for one with Nie Li. If he wakes up.'
Xiang Yun set the book down with a sigh.
Suddenly, a soft shadow fell across his desk, making his heart skip a beat as he looked up, startled.
Standing there was Xiao Ning'er, her long reddish-brown hair falling over her shoulders, a hesitant yet gentle look in her eyes. In her hands, she held a delicately wrapped lunch in a silk cloth.
'Excuse me, Xiang Yun…' she began, her voice barely more than a whisper in the stillness of the library.
'I… I wanted to thank you for your help yesterday. You were very... kind.' A light blush colored her cheeks as she extended the package. 'I looked for you in class, but they said you were here, so I... well, I prepared this for you. I hope you like it.'
Xiang Yun took the lunch with a smile. 'This… isn't this the "Goddess's Breakfast" chapter from the original novel?' he smiled inwardly, but still expressed his gratitude.
'You didn't have to go through the trouble, Xiao Ning'er, but thank you. It looks delicious.'
Xiao Ning'er nodded and sat beside him. When her eyes fell on the open book on the desk, her expression of gratitude turned to curiosity, then genuine surprise.
The book Xiang Yun had been reading wasn't written in the common language of Glory City. Archaic, intricate symbols adorned the pages — undecipherable to most people.
'This book…' she murmured, her voice filled with awe and confusion. 'It looks like the ancient script from the Snow Wind Empire. Can you actually read this, Xiang Yun? That's incredible.'
'Hm? Snow Wind Empire? Why–' Xiang Yun abruptly stopped speaking, his mind going into a brief shock.
'Could this be…' He looked at the book in front of him.
'Could this be my "golden finger"...?' Yes, it made so much sense. If anyone could read these books, they wouldn't be so easily accessible here. — Much less to someone like him; even the heads of the major families didn't have easy access to this ocean of knowledge.
But because it was like a dark, unmapped sea, the City Lord hadn't bothered to hide it. After all, who would know the languages of every empire and ancient era stored here?
At least in Glory City, there was no one.
Xiang Yun quickly snapped out of his shock, glancing at the books scattered around, all seemingly in the same script. Then he looked at Ning'er — 'Oh, it's not like that. I can't fully understand it yet, but I've learned a few words from my parents, so I'm still learning.' — He smiled, then quickly changed the subject, relieved that Xiao Ning'er didn't press further.
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[A/N: Yes, I know Ning'er's hair isn't that color. The Translator left it like that, when I wrote that it was orange-brown.]