Another sunny morning found Su You humming a little tune, singing a ditty, and cooking up a delicious feast, completely content.
This was his seventh day in this world. Every single day, apart from eating fish, he ate fish, and more fish...
The main reason was that digesting the divine essence contained within the fish meat took far too long. Each bite required at least half a day just to be fully absorbed.
And needless to say, the meat of this Carp King was truly miraculous. It had never spoiled, maintaining a dazzling luster, tender and bursting with fresh flavor.
Su You had benefited immensely from it as well. He now frequently stood by the lake, gazing at his reflection in the clear water, drooling over his own good looks.
What a dashing, handsome, and strikingly gorgeous young man!
Su You sighed in endless admiration. Ah, although he had been handsome in the past, he had never been handsome to this degree. His flesh was now clean and flawless, his skin crystal-clear like jade and tender enough to drip water, enough to make any woman jealous.
*Holy crap, wouldn't I make a great cross-dresser...*
Su You imagined himself in a long dress, radiating boundless charm. *Ah, too pretty. No, no, I'm tempted.*
Then Su You snapped out of it with a start. *Damn it, what am I thinking? Am I that kind of person?*
Besides, there was still a celestial beauty by his side. Compared to her, he was like a firefly trying to rival the bright moon—a difference as vast as heaven and earth.
To have such a fairy-like sister accompanying him, how wonderful life was...
Su You was overjoyed. Xixi was a wonderful person. Although she spoke very little—rarely uttering three sentences a day, while he was the one constantly chattering away—he could feel that Xixi wasn't annoyed at all. She was very gentle, but her temperament was simply too cold and aloof, making her seem utterly out of reach.
Over these past few days, Su You had also come to understand the mystery surrounding Xixi. Apart from him, no living being could see Xixi, sense a single trace of her aura, or even touch her.
Xixi seemed as though she did not exist in this mortal world. No living being could perceive her, and unless Xixi made physical contact with him, she was almost entirely incapable of inflicting the slightest harm upon anything in this world.
However, Xixi could touch certain living creatures, though even that was very limited. He had once seen Xixi extend her jade finger, and a butterfly landed on her fingertip.
Yet when Xixi held his hand, she could erase primordial fierce beasts with a flick of her finger and level a mountain peak with a single breath.
The scenario he feared had not happened; at the very least, he must still be quite important to Xixi.
This was hard to comprehend... He was like a medium, connecting Xixi to the outside world.
Su You had pondered this for a long time without understanding why.
The most likely explanation was the Taiji Diagram within his body.
Xixi had no way of knowing how long she had been alone and desolate. She was like a ghost drifting between heaven and earth, non-existent to all things in the world, with no one to confide in and no one to touch. Only the cold, unfeeling rocks and lake water could slightly bear her existence... until Su You arrived.
What Xixi truly thought in her heart, Su You did not know, but he had a faint feeling that over the past few days, Xixi had seemingly been testing his character.
She often gazed quietly at Su You, cold and detached, without speaking, as if pondering something.
And Su You had also been trying his absolute best to be a well-behaved, handsome youth.
He believed Xixi would make her own judgment.
Xixi had promised to teach him Immortal Arts. This world was vast and mysterious, and Su You desperately wanted to cultivate immortality and become a powerhouse capable of soaring through the skies and tunneling through the earth.
*With the sun and moon in my palm, plucking the stars, there is no one in this world quite like me!*
He was waiting, waiting for Xixi to finish his "assessment."
He just didn't know how far he was from the realm of plucking stars and sweeping across the heavens and earth, or when he would finally reach it.
Still, the feeling of getting a free ride every day was quite comfortable...
"Ouch!"
After taking a couple of bites of the fish meat, Su You couldn't bear the surge of energy anymore and plunged headfirst into the lake.
"Glug, glug, glug..."
Ah, so refreshing...
If possible, Su You would gladly live this leisurely life forever. Just looking at the picturesque Xixi every day was more than wonderful enough.
Of course, it would be even more perfect if he could cultivate immortality at a leisurely pace while gazing upon the fairy sister's peerless beauty every single day.
"Xixi—come over and eat some meat! It's fragrant and sweet!"
Su You crawled out of the water and shouted toward Xixi, who stood lonely and isolated in the distance.
In truth, although Su You shouted like this every day, Xixi had never once come over to eat the fragrant fish meat.
This time, however, Xixi's thoughts seemed to have shifted slightly. She walked over with a graceful, swaying gait, looked calmly at Su You, and said, "Do you want to learn Daoist Arts?"
Su You was suddenly startled, followed immediately by a surge of excitement. *Holy crap, can I finally cultivate immortality?!*
"Of course!" Su You replied eagerly.
With a cold expression and peerless beauty, Xixi extended a slender jade hand upon hearing this, grabbed Su You casually, and flew up into the sky as if she were hoisting a little kitten.
"What are you doing? Xixi, where are you taking me?"
Su You was somewhat bewildered. Wasn't it supposed to be about learning Immortal Arts? Where were they going?
He hadn't finished eating the Carp King yet!
It would probably take another few years to finish...
*Splat!*
Su You plunged headfirst into the dirt, eating a mouthful of mud.
*I say... could you be a little gentler next time and let me change my posture first?*
Then Xixi's elegant, clear voice rang out right beside him: "Beat it to death."
Su You: ?
Beat who?
Was she always this fierce?
Su You raised his head and saw a sturdy wild boar right in front of him. It was two meters long, with black skin and tusks over half a meter long. At a glance, it was clearly some kind of mutated beast, and very difficult to deal with.
No... Xixi, aren't you joking a bit too much?
What happened to passing down the teachings?
Sister, do you perhaps have some sort of misunderstanding about cultivating immortality?
Looking at the ferocious wild boar, Su You couldn't help feeling his legs turn a bit weak. Upon seeing this puny human plummet from the sky, the wild boar also grew furious, its massive, copper-bellied eyes glaring fiercely at him in a terrifying manner.
Su You hurriedly scrambled to his feet, wanting to ask Xixi for help. This wasn't a game for mortals, okay? But Xixi had already vanished from the spot, nowhere to be seen.
Su You stared dumbfounded at the wild boar before him, his calves trembling. Wasn't the script supposed to go differently? Xixi, did you forget to teach me Immortal Arts first, let me cultivate for a year or two, and then send me out to gain experience?
This was way too ruthless! I don't want to cultivate immortality anymore, okay?!
"Roar!"
Sensing Su You's terror, the wild boar let out a roar and charged forward like a tank, its long tusks aimed straight at Su You to pierce right through him!
*Swish—*
In his panic, Su You subconsciously leaped upward, jumping two meters high to dodge the strike.
*Bam!*
The wild boar crashed straight into a tree.
*Stay calm, calm down!*
A bead of sweat dripped down Su You's forehead as he stared unblinkingly at the wild boar, which had overshot and slammed into the tree, trying to figure out how to deal with it.
After seven days of baptism by the divine essence within the fish meat, he had long since grown immensely strong, agile, and possessed absurdly fast reflexes.
Yet he had zero real combat experience, and furthermore, he was facing a ferocious species like a wild boar. If he wasn't careful, he could be impaled by those tusks and die on the spot, right then and there!
Though Su You figured that if he truly reached the brink of death, Xixi would surely step in to save him, he also refused to be looked down upon by Xixi. He understood now—this was still a test for him. He absolutely could not back down. Since Xixi had already promised to teach him Immortal Arts, as long as he managed to kill the wild boar, he would definitely be able to cultivate!
The moment to prove his courage had arrived.
By this time, the wild boar had already yanked its tusks out of the tree.
Su You's breathing grew slower and slower. He concentrated his mind, slowly calming himself down. Ahead of him, the wild boar turned around and charged at him once more.
*Boom, boom, boom—*
The ground thundered under the wild boar's charge. Su You held his breath and stood motionless until the very moment the wild boar was about to hit him. Then he sidestepped, evading the boar's frontal assault, and threw a punch straight into its flank.
"Ouch!"
The wild boar let out a pained howl, stumbling sideways and nearly crashing to the ground.
*There's a chance!*
Su You're eyes lit up. Seeing the effect of his punch, he was instantly filled with confidence. Pressing his advantage, he leaped forward, straddled the wild boar's back, and slammed a ferocious punch right into its head.
"Ouch!"
The wild boar let out a slaughterhouse-like squeak, its head bloody and battered. Even its tough, thick hide couldn't block Su You's fists. Su You rained blow after blow down upon the beast until, finally, the wild boar collapsed limply to the ground, its face covered in blood.
*Ha, easily solved!*
A delighted expression spread across Su You's face as he climbed down from the wild boar in high spirits. There was nothing to it—utterly vulnerable!
*At the peak of immortality, defying the world, with me, Su You, the heavens exist!*
Suddenly! The very moment Su You stepped down, the wild boar—which had seemingly stopped moving—suddenly lashed out with a hoof, kicking Su You straight in the abdomen.
*Pfft!*
Su You immediately spat a mouthful of blood, flying backward for dozens of meters and scattering a spray of blood across the sky!
*So painful!*
Su You snapped a few small trees in half and crashed down into the jungle, clutching his stomach in agony and curling up into a shrimp-like shape. He felt as though his stomach had been kicked clean through, his insides churning violently, and his intestines spasming in a tangled knot.
Had his physical constitution not far surpassed that of an ordinary mortal, that single kick would have killed him!
*I let my guard down...*
Coughing up blood and writhing in agony, Su You regretted it so much his intestines turned green. On his very first fight, he had made a grave mistake. That was a real fierce beast—it really would kill people!
In the distance, the wild boar actually staggered back to its feet. Its eyes were bloodred, glaring at Su You with burning hatred. Then, lowering its tusks horizontally, it charged straight at him once more!
*I'm dead!*
Su You was panic-stricken. For the first time, he felt the terror of life and death. At that moment, he was in too much pain to muster any strength, unable even to roll over. This time, he was a goner for sure!
*Xixi, save me!*
Yet, until the wild boar charged right up to him, Xixi did not appear, acting as if she truly didn't care whether he lived or died.
Su You's eyes widened to their absolute limit, his pupils contracting. Stimulated by the intense crisis of life and death, with no time to think at all, he forcefully flipped his body over, narrowly dodging the boar's tusks. Then he shoved off the ground with all his might, throwing his entire body into a desperate, ferocious slam against the wild boar—whose tusks were buried deep in the earth.
"Ouch!"
The wild boar, weighing over a thousand pounds, was actually sent flying by Su You's tackle!