Ying Ruoli whispered to the jujube tree, then walked away a few steps with a smile on her face and sat down on the stone table under the tree. Wei Wuwei, who was sitting opposite her, just maintained his normal smile and tried to relax as much as possible.
"Mr. Wei, when did you meet Uncle Ji? Where did you practice in?"
Wei Wuwei kept smiling and glanced towards the kitchen, where smoke was coming out of the chimney.
"In response to your words, I was assassinated outside the county. When I returned to the county, I accidentally learned that there was a strange person living in seclusion in the county. So I brought my ancestral jade to Ju'an Pavilion to seek answers to my doubts. That's how I got to know you. Later, with your help, my son and I were able to enter Yuhuai Mountain to practice."
The dragon girl nodded slightly. It was indeed Yu Huaishan. Ying Ruoli actually didn't have a good impression of Yu Huaishan's people, but those who were related to Ji Yuan were of course exceptions. Besides, her father had already said it was over, so it didn't matter.
"Tell me about your family. I'm free anyway. If there's nothing private to say, I'd really like to hear it."
Wei Wuwei certainly didn't dare to disobey the Dragon Girl's request, and there was nothing he couldn't say.
"Since Madam Ying wants to hear it, I will tell you everything I know. Now my son Yuansheng and I are both cultivating in the Jade Embrace Holy Land. To have achieved this today, we must mention the skin of the demon tiger..."
The reason why Wei Wuwei came here this time, in fact, was not only to visit Ji Yuan in person at the end of the year, but also to ask Ji Yuan something. Their Wei family also had business dealings with the Jiang family in Luping City of Zuyue Kingdom. Some time ago, they received news that the official master who saved Wei Wuwei outside Ning'an County that year was suspected to have appeared in Zuyue Kingdom, but even Qiu Feng could not predict this person. Wei Wuwei instinctively felt that he was special, so he thought of asking Ji Yuan.
While Longnu was listening to the interesting stories of the Wei family like listening to a story, Ji Yuan in the kitchen finally boiled the water. Although he had just been going through with it before, since he had chosen to burn wood to boil water, of course he had to see it through to the end and give his life a sense of ritual.
Ji Yuan brought out the remaining tea sets in the kitchen on a tray.
"I don't have anything good to offer you. Try this tea made from jujube flower honey crystals. It's a rare treasure, and only Ji can drink it."
Ji Yuan put down the tray, took the teapot with dense crystals and poured tea for Long Nu and Wei Wuwei. At the same time, Ji Yuan glanced at the jujube tree, thinking about what Long Nu and the jujube tree had just said. It couldn't be just repeating what they had said before. Why would they have to whisper? As for the topic of the public benefactor that Wei Wuwei had mentioned to Long Nu, Ji Yuan also heard it in the kitchen, but he had no intention of answering it. At most, he would evade it from a mysterious angle.
Half an hour later, Wei Wuwei got up and said goodbye first. Ji Yuan had no plan to go to the Wei family for the New Year. Instead, he asked Wei Wuwei to meet Yu Huaishan. He, Ji, might go to ask for answers about some things related to the Tianji Pavilion. At the last Xianyou Conference, the Tianji Pavilion had not even had a representative because it had closed its cave heaven long ago. Ji Yuan had long planned to go and take a look, and this idea became even stronger after recent events.
Ji Yuan sent Wei Wuwei to the gate of the courtyard. Wei Wuwei stood outside the courtyard and saluted Ji Yuan and the dragon girl beside him.
"I will take my leave now. Sir and Madam Ying do not need to see me off!"
Being with a dragon, Wei Wuwei felt a lot of pressure, especially knowing that although the dragon looked gentle and polite, he was actually very scary when he was really angry. Now that he was about to leave, he felt relieved.
Ji Yuan returned the greeting and suddenly spoke when Wei Wuwei was about to turn around.
"Master Wei, although you did not go to the Immortal Tour Conference with me, I believe you also know about the Immortal Ferry, right?"
"Well, I do know."
Wei Yuansheng had already told Wei Wuwei about this matter a long time ago, so he was certainly not unfamiliar with it. He was just wondering why Ji Yuan suddenly brought up this matter before leaving.
Ji Yuan smiled and said.
"The Immortal Ferry and the Cultivator's Market are a place where cultivators from all over the world can communicate with each other and share what they have. It's actually quite good. The head of the Wei family is a talented businessman, so you can think about this matter more."
Wei Wuwei was stunned for just a moment, then a light flashed in his eyes. He leaned over to look at Ji Yuan, and the latter looked at Ying Ruoli beside him.
"Yuhuaishan has its own background. Patriarch Wei should go back and think about it carefully. It may be a great place to go. Besides, the Dragon Clan is rich and may need help."
Ji Yuan said this in front of Ying Ruoli, basically telling her that if it was really possible, he wanted to get at least the dragon clan of the old dragon's lineage to help, or even bring them into the group. Ying Ruoli herself is the Great River God, and her cultivation is bright. She has a bright future and is qualified to discuss matters.
With Ying Ruoli's intelligence, how could she not understand Ji Yuan's meaning? She smiled and spoke without any hesitation.
"Uncle Ji is right. Patriarch Wei can go back and think about it. Or you can just let Yu Huaishan know. Apart from lending a name, you don't need them to help you in any way. I will help you."
Wei Wuwei's heart skipped a few beats, his thoughts racing and his spirit agitated.
"Wei understands. Think about this carefully!"
After bidding farewell again and again, Wei Wuwei left in a hurry with excitement. The Wei family is now a family of immortal cultivators under Yuhuaishan Mountain, hidden in the secular world. If they can really make a few more steps forward with the help of the Immortal Ferry and the Market, their future will definitely be extraordinary.
…
Wei Wuwei left, but Ying Ruoli stayed, with the reason that she wanted to help the jujube tree complete a key step in its cultivation. Ji Yuan couldn't refuse this reason, so he naturally agreed. He was also very curious and wanted to figure out why Ying Ruoli, a Chi Jiao who didn't understand how the spirits of plants and trees cultivated before, suddenly knew how to help the jujube tree, a spiritual tree.
On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, which was that night, Ji Yuan stood in his room with the door closed, but he could see through the window paper that Ying Ruoli was sitting cross-legged under the jujube tree. Both the man and the tree had their own radiant aura.
The little paper crane and a bunch of small words were all pasted on the door, looking outside cautiously, and even the small words didn't make a sound.
Ying Ruoli had been sitting under the tree, the tree swaying in the wind, her clothes fluttering in the wind, she opened her eyes and looked at the main house opposite, the lights in the house were off, and she could not feel Ji Yuan's breath, thinking that Uncle Ji should be asleep. She looked up at the crown of the jujube tree and smiled.
"Uncle Ji's way of cultivation emphasizes following the natural course and accepting the wonders of heaven and earth. Under Uncle Ji's protection, you have avoided many detours, but you have never taken this crucial step. Are you afraid of making a bad move?"
“Rustle, rustle, rustle…”
The branches and leaves of the jujube tree swayed gently, responding to Ying Ruoli's words.
"Originally, I didn't understand the cultivation of plant spirits, let alone your spiritual roots of heaven and earth. But now I understand. It's not that you don't know how to cultivate. Take a picture to record the picture and observe the beauty. I know how to help you. This help can help you take a big step forward. In short, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Remember our agreement, okay?"
After saying this, Ying Ruoli slowly stood up, stretched out her body, turned around, and walked around the jujube tree, as if she was dancing. After a while, she was dancing around the jujube tree with the spiritual wind in the courtyard. Gradually, blurry silhouettes seemed to appear everywhere in the courtyard, all of which were different states of Ying Ruoli's body shape, not only dancing postures, but also various postures of walking, sitting, standing and lying.
This blurry, yet very elegant silhouette was like fog and fantasy, and Ying Ruoli's movements did not stop. From time to time, a light white mist came out of her mouth, making the courtyard of Ju'an Pavilion hazy.
“Woo… woo… woo…”
The spiritual wind containing the energy of spring blew by, not only driving the fallen leaves in the yard, but also carrying up the blurred silhouettes, just like the breeze carrying the smoke, and also flying around the jujube tree. The wind passed through the treetops and circled around the trunks, and the shadows became more and more blurred.
At night, Ying Ruoli had never slept in the side house arranged by Ji Yuan. Every night she would help the jujube tree in the yard. One day, two days, three days, and by the fourth day, the blurry misty silhouette in the yard looked less and less like Ying Ruoli herself.
"Using the shadow to understand the shape?"
Ji Yuan looked at the figures in the courtyard and suddenly realized something. At least he understood at this moment that the jujube tree also needed a process of observing the Tao to condense its spirits, just like the enlightenment of ordinary cultivators, except that this process was about taking the physical body.
Among the tree spirits, there are actually quite a few very strange homonyms for both men and women, which is a bit like the tree spirit in A Chinese Ghost Story that Ji Yuan saw in his previous life. The reason for this may be that the spirits of plants and trees did not have their own choices at the key step, or had difficulty making their own choices. This cannot be considered wrong in terms of cultivation, but it is somewhat weird.
Ji Yuan understood after a little thought that the jujube tree should be more inclined to choose to transform into a female form. Otherwise, wouldn't it be inappropriate for him to observe the form of a near-path person
This was the fourth night that the Dragon Girl had been staying in the Ju'an Pavilion, and it was also the New Year's Eve of the Bingwu Year. Ji Yuan withdrew his gaze from the courtyard, walked to the bed, placed the Qingteng Sword against the head of the bed, then took off his coat, lay down on the bed, covered himself with a quilt, and closed his eyes.
Tonight is New Year's Eve, and everywhere is filled with a joyous atmosphere of family reunion. In a while, it will be the time when the New Year is coming and the air is rising. Ji Yuan is lying on the bed practicing in his dream, and is not worried at all about the practice of the jujube tree.
"Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa… "
A burst of firecrackers sounded. On the morning of the first day of the first lunar month, similar firecrackers were heard everywhere in Ning'an County. Ji Yuan opened his eyes, sat up from the bed, and glanced at the door. The little paper cranes and a bunch of small words were all pasted there, as if they had not been moved all night.
The first day's sunlight shone obliquely on the door of the main house and on the jujube tree, casting mottled spots of light in the yard.
Ying Ruoli was sitting beside the stone table with a smile on her face. In her sight, there was a young woman in a green silk dress under a jujube tree. She was looking at her hands and feet with curiosity and joy, her face revealing excitement and nervousness.
"Squeak~"
The door of the main house was opened by Ji Yuan from the inside, and the two people outside looked at Ji Yuan who was standing in front of the door.
"Morning, Uncle Ji!" "Morning, Master!"
Ji Yuan's gaze fell on the girl in green who looked very nervous, and said with a smile on his face.
"Condensing the spirit is a step forward, which is indeed a gratifying thing, but it cannot compare to the physical body, and it cannot even get away from the jujube tree. However, it can speak, and its consciousness will not be trapped in the tree body all the time."
Seeing that Ji Yuan did not show any displeasure, Lu Yi let out a long sigh and bowed to Ji Yuan gracefully.
"Thank you, Master, for your advice. Mother Zao knows now!"