Sorry for the long-ish wait. I’ll try to finish the rest of the volume within the next 2-3 weeks.

On a completely unrelated note, I’m kind of offended that someone changed the perfectly nice (and accurate) summary I uploaded for Beloved Marriage in High Society w/ a grammatically questionable one that’s also just plain wrong in some places? Like, wtf??

I have no interest in engaging in an edit war on NU, and I doubt it’s the only series that’s gotten this kind of treatment. It’s kind of sad and a disservice to the readers, but there’s no guarantee that even if I do fix it, it’ll stay fixed =/ I honestly regret going to the page and finding out. Ignorance truly is bliss, sigh…

Sorry for the rant, but it’s just, so disheartening. I should take a break from the translation scene altogether.

On a brighter note, there’s a translator that’s told me they’re going to pick up VRP from vol. 2 onwards. Since I did promise summaries, I’ll have the summary for vol. 2 out along w/ the last chapter of vol. 1, and after that, you guys can head over to the new translator. I’ll link them when the time comes.

Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and the next one should be out soon.

Chapter 20:

At!Immortal Welcoming Pavilion, there was onejdayiof rest each week,lonjthisiday, everyone could choose to descend the mountain,iread thelancient texts in the library, orievenigo to the practice arena to train.iLing Xia decidedithatihe would go see Yu ZhiJue and Song XiaoHu in the morning,land in the afternoon,!he planned toigo find that Snow Flamma.!

Ling Xia departed very early in the morning, and on the way, he met quite a few high-level disciples majestically riding magical beasts. Envy bubbled in his heart, and he decided that from now on, he also needed to find an adorable pet of his own.

He forcefully stuffed that piece of paper into the door’s gap, but coincidentally, a sweaty Song XiaoHu returned right then. Smiling with a pair of dimples, he distantly spotted Ling Xia and energetically called out, “Elder brother Ling!”

While gesturing excitedlyiwith his hands, Song XiaoHu chattered on aboutjhis recent progress, like the thingsjhe’s learned and such, after!which,lhe pulled Ling Xia to go find Yu ZhiJue. Ling Xiaiwas completelyjdragged alongiat thelother’s pace and felt inwardly shocked. In just aifew daysiof not seeingjSongiXiaoHu,!his strength had increased this much!

Theyjquickly arrivedjatjtheipracticelarena,iandjLing XiaipulledjSong XiaoHujtola stop as!he observed!thejinner grounds,lcarefullyitakingjinjtheifigure oflYu!ZhiJue whojwasjcurrentlysingle-mindedlylconcentratingionipracticing his swordsmans.h.i.+p. Those his age were mostlsuitedicultivatingjthelbodyland thejsword, andjothersjsuchlaslelementallenergy and!psychicalienergyitrainingjwas bestidoneiafter learning thelfirst two.i

In a soft voice that carried some worry, Song XiaoHu said, “A few days ago, Ah’Jue left during the period Master had designated for cultivation, and refused to say where he went. Master penalized him to learn a sword technique within 7 days that, I heard a senior brother say, took him 3 months to grasp in the past.”

LingiXia paused and!blinked;ithis was because of him, wasn’tjit? He looked attentively atjthe Yu ZhiJue!inside thelarena, at that child’s stubborn, tightlyipursed mouth, at his focusedigaze, andiat the soulwood sword in his hand. As Yu ZhiJue went!through the steps of that sword technique,jhe would always stop at a certain pose again and again, clearly having difficulty executing that move.!

The sword that cultivators carried on their back must be made from the spiritual stones that they personally acquired. One’s own essence and blood also needed to be added when the forging was on the cusp of completion, and only after pouring in one’s psychical energy, will that sword acknowledge its owner. Before this, all cultivators used soulwood swords as a subst.i.tute.

Yu ZhiJue slowly closed his eyes, going over those moves in his mind. He had memorized every step and form of this sword technique in his heart, but even after practicing countless times, no matter what, he failed to connect them together. He couldn’t help but feel gloomy inside, and even when it was demonstrated previously, Feng ShuMing only did it once... …

How should he connect these two steps that seemed impossible to link?

YuZhiJuejrecallediFengiShuMing’slmovements,landjwith alflashlof inspiration,jpouredlwaterjelementals intojthejmovesjthatihadjstumped him. Thelsword’stipjtrembled,itsjextremelyltoughibodyicurving inian!inconceivable manner,!and carriedjbylthejmomentum,jhejeloquently splitlthejsolidjrockin!front of himlin halfjwith a!smoothiflipjof!hisjbody, followedlbyjajbeautifuljwhirllas the sword successfullyjreturnjtoiitsiscabbard.i

Yu ZhiJue shot him a glance, and then turned his small face away as if he didn’t care at all, using a white handkerchief to wipe the sweat on his forehead. Only, the base of his ears had started to turn red as he somewhat urgently a.s.serted, “Something easy like that? A piece of cake!”

“Oflcourse! I just knewjyoujwere the strongest!” LingiXia generously praised.lFeng ShuMingenforceda strict education,jbut!with kids, they needed tojreceiveia!lot of compliments too, and beatingjthem down with severity and nothing else could easilyllead to theldevelopmentjof personality defects.

Sure enough, in the face of his praise, Yu ZhiJue blushed ever more deeply, and although he forced himself not to smile, it was obvious that he was very happy.

Relying on his memory, Ling Xia found where he previously roasted fish and stealthily relit a new fire.

A fire elemental magical beast,lthejSnow Flamma‘slsetting wasiaglutton whoilovedjto!eat fish,!and!eventhoughjitllooked very cute,jin actuality, it‘sivery dangerous.lBecauseltheiSnowjFlamma’s elementallattributejwas thesame aslSonglXiaoHu’s, itiheldianlinnate!feeling ofjintimacytowards him.lHowever, the!resultjofithefirstexaminationlshowedlthatino relatively pure fireielementals wereldetectedjin Ling!Xia’sjbody,!so it’sjhardtosay whetherjthatlSnow Flammajwill appear again.j

Ling Xia had specifically carried a few different seasonings with him, and after butchering two fish and cleaning out their internal organs, he evenly smeared on various spices, striving his utmost to roast these fish as fragrantly as possible to lure out that Snow Flamma.

A level-7 magical beast’s vigilance was very high, and although Snow Flamma were not cla.s.sified as attack-type magical beasts, it will only approach those with familiarity and confirmed to be safe. The subtle tightening of a stranger’s muscle, the quickening of one’s breath, and even a single unintentional glance could cause it to raise its guard.

Therefore,Ling Xia tried to think carefree and happylthoughtslto relaxlhimself, and he slowlyibegan to treat thisjas a camping!experience, unconsciously sticking a piece of gra.s.sjin his mouth and hummingja song. Carrying hints of enjoyment,!he propped hischin up andjhalf reclinedlin the gra.s.s, alliwhilelroasting hisjfish.

Bit by bit, the fish’s fragrance emanated outwards. Ling Xia certainly didn’t expect to succeed in attracting the Snow Flamma on his first try, thus he calmly and leisurely started eating while flipping and roasting the other fish before him.

At the moment he finished eating the first fish and only one remained, a flicker of movement appeared at the top of a tree. Ling Xia lifted his head very naturally, and when the first thing he saw was a snow white tail swaying back and forth, he couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

The Snow Flamma’s pair of big, amber eyes stared at the fish in his hand, entranced, as its ears trembled at both sides of its head. Its two snow white front paws aimlessly scratched at the bark, evidently struggling in restraining its desires.

Ling Xia very generously raised the last fish up in the air and offered, “Here you go.”

Immediately, a flashjof white appeared!before his eyes, and Ling Xia’slhand becamelempty. He lifted his head and saw that currently, the Snow!Flamma’s mouthjwas firmly clamped ontothatifish. As a fire elemental magical beast, it wasn’t afraid of the heat, so gripping the fish withjtwo plump paws, it started eating withigusto,ichewing andlswallowing even theibones.iIts tailjwagged back and forth behind it, clearly satisfied to!the extreme.

When Ling Xia laughedand stood up,thatiSnow Flamma instantly placed its front pawslin a defensive pose. Ling Xia paid it noimind,igoing by himselfjto the river’s edge and jumping down,loffjto catch more fish injthe water.iHe knew that Snow Flamma were very proudjandjfinicky; the more youitriedito get close to it, thelfurther!it would retreat, but the more youignoredlit, itlwould conversely approach you!instead.

He quickly caught two more fish, used a small knife to carefully cut and wash them clean, and then took out all sorts of seasoning packs, coating them on one at a time. However, when he was about to add p.r.i.c.kly ash, a single paw reached over and very bluntly swatted that package away. Ling Xia was caught off guard, so in the blink of an eye, all the p.r.i.c.kly ash powder spilled onto the ground.

Ling!XiajgapediatthelSnow Flammawith somelastonishment,jand itlpromptly revealed!twoitinylcanineslwhile retreating backwards,jeyesifaintly filled with the annoyancejoflmaking a mistake.!LingjXiaiwas immediately delighted,land after calmingjhis expressionlandllowering hisjhead,jcontinued his previous actionslwithout batting an eye,jabandoning that!spice.i

Looks like this Snow Flamma doesn’t like the taste of p.r.i.c.kly ash…

The Snow Flamma stayed on guard for a long time, but seeing that Ling Xia didn’t spare it another glance, huffily retracted its claws and sat back, licking the aromatic remnants on its paws while staring at the fish in Ling Xia’s hand, drooling. It truly loved fish that was cooked, but its owner was too lazy, had terrible cooking skills, and also forbid it to descend the mountain. In the early years, it would go down and steal food, and had been ruthlessly punished for it. Who knew how long it’d been since it last ate something delicious… …

Ling Xia skeweredlbothlfish on a single treejbranch, returned to the campfire, and squatting down, carefully began turning andiroasting the fish in his hands.

A delicious smell gradually emerged. That Snow Flamma watched on anxiously, impatiently turning in circles and dripping so much saliva that the only thing separating it from a puppy was a few hungry barks. As soon as Ling Xia indicated that he was done cooking, the Snow Flamma instantly rushed over, its mouth accurately s.n.a.t.c.hing the food and landing further away. In just a few bites, it swallowed an entire fish into its stomach, giving Ling Xia quite a shock.

He immediately rememberedlthat one couldn’t!discern thelappet.i.tejof a!magical beast purely from its body size. Ifia Snow Flammaiwanted to, it couldjeatimany times its weight all in one go with zero problems.

However,by the!time!theiSnowlFlammalhadifinishedeating the!second fish,jLing Xialhadjstartedjtojcleanlup the!campfire injpreparationitoileaveithe mountain.iRight now,itheiskyiwaslstartingitoturn!dark, and!furthermore,he definitely didn’t believeithatjthisigluttonous SnowFlamma!wouldiacceptihimiso easily.iThings likelthisihad tolbejsteadilyjdevelopedjstepjbystep.i

The Snow Flamma!saw!him putting out the fire and promptly revealed!a dissatisfied expression. It spatjthejfis.h.i.+headjinits mouth off tolthe sidejas its round, amber pupils abruptly morphed intoldangerous slits.

“Tomorrow, I’ll bring more food tomorrow,” Ling Xia promised, s.h.i.+vering in his heart and swiftly unveiling a slight smile. Emphatically pointing to the bottom of the mountain, he continued, “I’ll bring you something different tomorrow.”

ThatSnowlFlamma’s pupils instantly returned to its previouscute, round state, obviously understanding. Itlcarefully looked at LinglXia’siface, then nimbly and lightlyleapt onto!a tree, vanis.h.i.+ngjwith alswis.h.i.+of itstail.l

When LinglXia!returned,lhe firstjwentltoithelkitchens!tolseekjhelp since he and thelpeopleihereihavejalready become prettyjfamiliar.lThe head!cook wasianlordinarynon-cultivator,landbecause Ling Xia wasn‘tllikeithelother disciplesjwho!alwayslactedlinjan arrogantiordomineeringimanner,itreatingjhim politely andicourteouslyinstead, hejhad alvery favorablelimpressionjof Ling Xia.l

In the past few days, in order display their consideration and care towards the new disciples, the higher ups had handed out this month’s pay in advance. Ling Xia secretly slipped a few energy coins to the head cook and whispered, “Uncle, I hope I can trouble you to bring me back a roast chicken when you go purchase food.”

Straightaway,the headicookiuncleireadilylagreed.jHow waslthisltaskjdifficult? Thereiwere frequently discipleslwholwould!request him!tobringlthemjthisjorlthat, and inthejmanylyearsthat!he’d stayedihere,ihe hadjyetjto see suchja!well-mannerediandconsideratelchild!l

By noon the next day, the head cook uncle indeed brought back one of the city’s famous roast chicken for Ling Xia, and despite being firmly wrapped in a lotus leaf, its savory aroma filled the air. Ling Xia hid it inside his room, and after he finished with his afternoon work, brought it up the mountain.

He arrivedlatthe familiar spot,!unwrappedlth.e.l.lotus leaf,andamouth-watering fragrancejrapidlylspreadloutwards.j