I Idle in the World of Immortal Cultivation
Chapter 24: Before Leaving
When Su Xiaoxiao's master sent word, she was helping Yue Long loosen the soil around the Purple Mushrooms in the mine.
The inner court disciple's messaging talisman vibrated three times in her sleeve. Su Xiaoxiao put down her small shovel, pulled out the talisman, and channeled spiritual energy into it. The characters appeared on the talisman stroke by stroke – "Return quickly." Only two words, but the strokes were heavy, almost poking through the paper.
Su Xiaoxiao stared at the two words for two seconds, stood up, and brushed the dirt off her skirt. "Master called me. I'm going back."
Yue Long poked her head out from the spirit field, her rabbit ears up. "Will you come back, Sister Xiao?"
"Yes. I'll come back tonight."
Su Xiaoxiao left. Yue Long crouched back by the spirit field and continued loosening the soil. She worked very slowly, as if waiting for someone.
---
That night, Lin Luo opened his eyes in the stone chamber of the mine. His phone screen was lit. A message popped up on the idle interface.
[Idle Cultivation complete. Breakthrough successful.]
[Current cultivation: Foundation Establishment Layer 3]
Spiritual energy flowed out from his dantian, much denser than the last breakthrough. The Second Cycle of the Nine Cycles Mystic Art hadn't changed, but his attack and HP had increased slightly. He opened his status panel and glanced at it, then scrolled to his message list – several unread messages, all accumulated during idling.
Bone One: Qi Gathering Layer 8 → Qi Gathering Layer 9. Rat One: Spirit Gathering Layer 4 → Spirit Gathering Layer 5. Blood One hadn't changed – still at Qi Gathering Layer 7.
Lin Luo dismissed the messages one by one. He didn't tell Yue Long right away. He put his phone back beside his pillow and closed his eyes.
Soon.
---
Two days later, Su Xiaoxiao came to the mine alone. She wasn't wearing her formal inner court robe, but everyday clothes – a silver-white inner shirt, a dark green skirt, her hair tied up with a simple wooden hairpin. No makeup. Her lips were pale. She looked like she hadn't slept well, or like something was weighing on her mind. She stood by the spirit field for a while, watching. The Purple Mushrooms Yue Long had planted had grown their third leaves. The Flamebloom buds were larger than yesterday. Under the boost of the sect gathering array, the Glow Mushrooms grew fifty percent faster than outside. Their caps were open as wide as a palm, their golden light reflecting on her dark green skirt like scattered gold dust.
Then she walked over to Lin Luo.
Lin Luo was chopping wood. The axe rose and fell, steady rhythm, exactly the same as always. Wood chips flew and clung to the cuffs of his gray chores uniform. He didn't brush them off.
"Lin Luo, I need to talk to you."
Lin Luo put down the axe. "Go ahead."
Su Xiaoxiao took a deep breath. Her fingers clenched in her sleeve, then relaxed. "The Fire Phoenix Sacred Ground has chosen me. Not the Sacred Ground of the Cangxuan Sect – the greater world of the Phoenix Kingdom. The Fire Phoenix Sacred Ground."
The axe leaned against the chopping block. Wood chips were still falling from the blade. Lin Luo's hands rested on his knees. He didn't move.
Yue Long came running from the spirit field. She ran very fast, still holding her watering can. Water spilled in a crooked line behind her. The spout hit a rock, splashing water on her skirt. She didn't care. Her rabbit ears popped out from under her hat, standing straight up, their silver-white fur trembling slightly in the wind. Her face went from rosy to pale. Her red eyes were full of disbelief.
"They said the heavenly phoenix bloodline in me needs Nirvana to fully awaken." Su Xiaoxiao's voice steadied – like a pool of water, the surface calm, the depths churning. "The Cangxuan Sect doesn't have the conditions for it. The Fire Phoenix Sacred Ground does. They sent me an invitation to be a visiting cultivator for three years."
Her gaze moved from Yue Long to Lin Luo. "After three years, when the bloodline awakens, I'll come back."
Yue Long stood between them, the watering can still in her hand, water dripping from the spout onto the ground, making a small dark patch. Her eyes were already red – as red as the Flameblooms in the spirit field. Her lips moved several times, but her throat felt blocked, and no sound came out.
"When do you leave?" Lin Luo asked.
"Three days from now."
The mine shaft fell quiet. Wind blew through the spirit field, gently shaking the caps of the Glow Mushrooms. The Purple Mushroom leaves rustled. Flamebloom buds trembled on their stems. Su Xiaoxiao's dark green skirt swayed gently in the wind. The collar of her silver-white inner shirt revealed her pale neck, and just below her collarbone, a patch of skin glowed faintly gold – the mark of the heavenly phoenix bloodline, more visible than a few days ago. The timing for Nirvana had indeed arrived. It couldn't be delayed any longer.
Yue Long stood between them. Her rabbit ears slowly drooped, hanging limp on either side of her hat like two leaves drenched by rain. Water still dripped from the watering can in her hand – drip, drip, drip – hitting the stone floor, the sound very soft, but each drop seemed to fall on her heart. Tears welled in her eyes but wouldn't fall.
"Sister Xiao, do you really have to go?" Her voice was thick with tears, like a rabbit whose tail had been stepped on – hurt but afraid to cry out.
Su Xiaoxiao shook her head. A very light movement, but firm. "The best age for the bloodline to awaken is now. One year later, the success rate drops ten percent. The sect elders calculated it. If I go now, the success rate is seventy percent. If I wait another half year, it will be only fifty percent."
Thirty percent. Thirty percent chance of failure. Could she die? Yue Long didn't dare ask. Su Xiaoxiao didn't say. A seventy percent success rate didn't sound low, but thirty percent wasn't low either. One in three would die. No one knew who that would be, but someone would.
Su Xiaoxiao's fingers clenched inside her sleeve. Her nails dug into her palm, leaving small crescent indentations. She was willing to gamble. Because if she won, she would become stronger. Strong enough to stand beside that person – without always hiding behind, without always being pulled back, without always watching him charge ahead alone while she just watched from behind. She didn't want to stand behind anymore.
Yue Long's tears fell. She didn't cry out loud. The tears just fell silently – one drop hitting the ground, raising a tiny puff of dust; another drop hitting the lid of the watering can, making a soft "tap."
Su Xiaoxiao reached out and patted Yue Long's head. A very light, very slow movement – like petting a little rabbit. Her fingers passed through Yue Long's silver-white hair. It was soft, just as she had imagined. Yue Long's ears hung limp at her sides, not raised – soft, like two pieces of silk.
"Take care of him," Su Xiaoxiao said.
Yue Long nodded hard, flinging tears onto Su Xiaoxiao's hands. The teardrops rolled down her skin, leaving faint wet trails.
Su Xiaoxiao turned to Lin Luo. His face had no expression, exactly the same as always. But Su Xiaoxiao had known him a long time. She could see a thin film in his eyes – not tears, but something else. Like the last light on the horizon at dusk – not gone, just hiding.
"Wait for me," she said.
Lin Luo looked at her. Morning light shone through the cracks in the mine, landing on Su Xiaoxiao's face, warming her pale complexion. Her lips were still white, but her eyes were bright – bright enough to reach into a person's heart.
"Yes."
One word. No pleading. No sadness. No extra words. But Su Xiaoxiao understood. Having known him for years, this "yes" was the heaviest thing he had ever said.
She smiled, turned, and walked away. Her dark green skirt swayed gently in the morning wind. Her silver-white inner shirt collar showed the pale curve of her neck. She didn't look back. Not that she didn't want to – she couldn't. She was afraid that if she looked back, she wouldn't be able to leave.
---
That evening, the three ate together in the mine. Not Glow Mushroom soup – food that Yue Long had brought back from the Drunken Immortal Residence. She ran two round trips by herself, carrying the food box in her arms, sprinting fast with her rabbit ears poking out from under her hat, streaming in the wind. The food was still hot. The braised pork was glossy and oily. The steamed fish was steaming. The sauce on the sweet and sour pork ribs still sizzled on the plate. The spiced beef was sliced thin and stacked neatly. And there was a pot of spirit wine. The pale gold liquid shimmered under the spirit stone lamp. The scent of wine mixed with spiritual energy drifted from the spout, spreading through the stone chamber.
Su Xiaoxiao drank a lot. More than last time at the Drunken Immortal Residence – cup after cup, not letting Yue Long pour, doing it herself. Wine spilled on the table, but she didn't wipe it up, just swept it with her sleeve and kept drinking. Her sleeve was soaked through, the dark green fabric turning almost black. She didn't care. Her face went from pale to flushed, the roots of her ears burning hot. Her fingers gripped the cup, her knuckles white.
Yue Long drank too. She wasn't good with alcohol. Last time she had turned red after two cups. This time, before she finished her first cup, her rabbit ears were already drooping. After the second cup, her face was as red as the Flameblooms in the spirit field, from her ear tips to the roots of her neck. After the third cup, her hand holding the cup began to shake.
"Sister Xiao, you have to come back." Yue Long held her cup, her face red, her eyes red, her ears drooping. Her whole body looked like a little white rabbit soaked in the rain.
"I will." Su Xiaoxiao raised her cup and drained it. Wine spilled over the rim, running down her chin, dripping onto the collar of her silver-white inner shirt, leaving a small pale gold stain. She didn't wipe it.
"If you don't come back, Master will be stolen by me." Yue Long said it, then laughed herself. But as she laughed, tears fell again – tears on her face, but her mouth was curved – crying and laughing at the same time, like a fool.
Su Xiaoxiao looked at Lin Luo. "Will he?"
Lin Luo raised his cup, took a sip, and didn't answer. The candlelight fell on his face, softening his usually expressionless features. There was a faint flush behind his ears – very light, hard to see unless you were looking closely.
Su Xiaoxiao stared at that faint flush for two seconds, and the corner of her mouth curved.
Lin Luo picked up a piece of braised pork and put it in Su Xiaoxiao's bowl. The meat was layered with fat and lean, braised until soft, falling apart at the touch of chopsticks. Su Xiaoxiao looked down at the meat and smiled. She picked it up, put it in her mouth, and chewed for a long time, as if memorizing the taste. She raised her cup and drained it. Yue Long raised her cup and drained it too – then started coughing violently. Her rabbit ears shook with each cough. Tears came out. Her whole face scrunched up.
"Master, water!" Her voice came out between coughs, hoarse and barely audible.
Lin Luo handed her water. Yue Long gulped a big mouthful, water spilling from her lips, running down her chin, dripping onto her skirt. The coughing finally stopped, but tears still hung on her face, her eyes red, her nose red. She looked pitiful. Her red eyes looked at Su Xiaoxiao.
"Sister Xiao, I'll miss you."
Su Xiaoxiao patted her head again. More slowly than in the afternoon. Her fingers lingered in Yue Long's hair, her fingertips gently stroking her scalp, as if memorizing the feel of it. Yue Long's hair was very soft, the silver-white strands glowing faintly in the candlelight, like threads woven from moonlight.
"I'll miss you too."
The two women raised their cups one last time, then hugged each other. Su Xiaoxiao's chin rested on Yue Long's shoulder. Yue Long's rabbit ears pressed against Su Xiaoxiao's cheeks. Neither spoke. They just hugged, for a long time.
---
The next day, Su Xiaoxiao didn't come to the mine. She was packing at the Cangxuan Sect's inner court. Clothes, pills, technique jade slips – not much. A small bundle held everything. She folded her favorite white dress and put it in, folded her dark green cloak and put it in, then thought better of it and took the cloak back out – the road would be cold, she might need to wear it. She draped the cloak over the back of a chair and kept folding.
Yue Long went to find her. She didn't announce herself. She just ran straight into the inner court residential area. The inner court guards tried to stop her, but she said "I'm looking for Su Xiaoxiao," and they let her go – the whole Cangxuan Sect knew that Su Xiaoxiao had become close to that chores disciple, and that a silver-haired, red-eyed Jade Rabbit girl was always nearby.
Yue Long pushed open Su Xiaoxiao's door and saw her folding clothes. Without a word, she crouched down to help pack – folding each piece neatly, sharp creases. Su Xiaoxiao watched as Yue Long folded her favorite white dress into a neat square. She didn't say she'd just come to stay a little longer. Yue Long's hands were clever. The folded clothes were sharp and neat, better than her own folding.
In the afternoon, Su Xiaoxiao went to see Sect Leader Lu Yuan. She didn't send a notice in advance. She went straight to the study door and knocked.
Lu Yuan's voice came from inside. "Come in."
Su Xiaoxiao pushed the door open. Lu Yuan sat behind the desk, a brush in his hand, writing something. When he saw her come in, he put down the brush and leaned back in his chair.
"Your master told me about the Fire Phoenix Sacred Ground." Lu Yuan's tone was flat, giving nothing away. "It's one of the best inheritances in the Phoenix Kingdom. Going there is better for your future than staying in the Cangxuan Sect." He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and set it down. "I have only one request – don't forget the Cangxuan Sect."
Su Xiaoxiao didn't speak. She stood in the middle of the study, back straight, hands at her sides. Sunlight came through the gaps in the window lattice, falling on her face, gilding her outline.
Lu Yuan looked at her for a long time. His gaze moved from her face to her shoulders, from her shoulders to her hands. Her hands were steady. Not shaking.
"Go back and train well," Lu Yuan said, picking up his brush again.
---
In the evening, Su Xiaoxiao went to the Chores Hall's woodshed.
Lin Luo was chopping wood. The axe rose and fell, steady rhythm, exactly the same as always. Wood chips flew, clinging to the cuffs of his gray chores uniform, a few also landing on his shoulder. He didn't brush them off.
Su Xiaoxiao stood at the woodshed door and watched for a long time. The evening light came down over the courtyard wall, stretching both their shadows long. Lin Luo's shadow rose and fell with his axe. Her shadow didn't move.
Then she walked over, crouched down, and stacked the scattered firewood neatly, one piece at a time. Neither said a word. Lin Luo chopped. Su Xiaoxiao stacked. The sound of chopping and the sound of stacking intertwined – one fast, one slow – like a duet with a strange rhythm.
When the last piece of wood was chopped, Lin Luo stuck the axe back into the chopping block. The blade sank into the wood with a dull "thud." Su Xiaoxiao stood up, brushed the wood dust from her skirt. Her fingers were coated with a fine layer of powder. She brushed several times before they were clean.
"I'm going."
"Yes. Here. In case you get lonely." He pulled a banana from his robe and tossed it to her. "Take it. If you're bored on the road, just sniff it. You won't be bored anymore."
Su Xiaoxiao looked down at the banana. It was an ordinary banana, its yellow skin speckled with a few brown spots – probably from being pressed in his robe. The corner of her mouth twitched. Then her whole face turned red – from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears, from her ears to her forehead. She snatched the banana and glared at Lin Luo. Her eyes held embarrassment, annoyance, laughter, and a desire to hit him but not being able to bring herself to.
"Lin Luo, you just wait for me."
"Don't run."
She chased after him. Lin Luo stepped over the low threshold of the woodshed and started running. Su Xiaoxiao was less than two steps behind him. He ran around the moss-covered flagstone path, where thin green grass grew between the stones, its tips wet with evening dew. He ran across the empty front yard of the Chores Hall, where the old locust tree's shadow stretched long on the ground. She ran faster and faster, her footsteps slapping on the stones.
He stepped out of the Chores Hall gate. She threw the banana at his back. Lin Luo caught it, broke it in half. The fruit was white, with a faint sweet smell. He handed half to her.
"Don't waste it."
Su Xiaoxiao took the banana and took a big bite. She chewed with her cheeks bulging like a hamster. Her eyes suddenly turned red. Not from crying – from anger. She punched him lightly. The force wasn't strong – like a kitten play-fighting. Lin Luo caught her little fist. Her hand was cool, her fingers slender, with thin calluses on her palms – worn from holding a sword.
She was angry and amused at the same time. She took another big bite, mumbled something that sounded like "pervert." Her voice was soft, nasal, not like an insult – more like a spoiled complaint.
Lin Luo didn't answer. He ate the other half of the banana. The fruit was very sweet – almost too sweet.
The two stood like that, holding hands, neither looking at the other. The dusk slowly deepened. The red clouds in the sky went from deep red to dark purple, from dark purple to gray-blue. The moss on the courtyard wall turned dark green in the twilight. The old locust tree's shadow disappeared from the ground, melting into the night.
Su Xiaoxiao handed Lin Luo the banana peel. Lin Luo didn't take it. So she stuffed it into his sleeve. Lin Luo tried to stop her, but then held her hand instead. Their faces were very close, looking at each other. The banana peel was tossed into Rat One's storage pouch to be used as fertilizer. Su Xiaoxiao's face turned red. Shy.
"Time to go."
"Yes."
She turned, let go of his hand, and walked into the dusk. The official road stretched ahead, running straight toward Suihuang City. The trees on both sides rustled in the evening wind, their leaves turning black in the fading light. After a dozen steps, she stopped and looked back at him.
Lin Luo was also looking at her. Their gazes met in the twilight, a silent moment between them. In their eyes – worry, longing, unspoken reluctance, and deep within, a wish for each other's wellbeing.
They smiled together.
Then turned, and continued walking the paths their lives would take.
These few days together had taught them that the cultivation world was not a safe and peaceful place. Every day could be the last. Every meeting could be the last. After this parting, they might never see each other again. Only by training hard could they protect the ones they wanted to protect.
---
The night deepened. Yue Long came back from outside, carrying an empty food box. She had gone to the Drunken Immortal Residence to buy dry rations for Su Xiaoxiao's journey – dried meat, flatbread, pickled vegetables, wrapped in oiled paper, stacked neatly in the box, layer by layer. And a cloak – dark green, Su Xiaoxiao's favorite color. The cloak was cotton, not thick, but very soft, with a ring of white fur around the collar.
She returned to the woodshed door and saw Lin Luo still sitting there. No axe in his hand, no phone – just sitting, looking toward the mountain gate, at the dusk where Su Xiaoxiao had disappeared, now turned into deep night.
Moonlight fell on his face, outlining his profile – forehead, nose, chin – a cold, hard line. The corner of his mouth still held a trace of a smile that hadn't faded, very faint, hard to see unless you were looking closely.
Yue Long walked over and crouched beside him. Her rabbit ears drooped, resting on her shoulders. Her silver-white hair hung loose outside her straw hat, drifting gently in the night wind.
"Master, do you miss Sister Xiao?"
Lin Luo didn't answer.
"I miss her too."
---
On the third morning, Yue Long found a letter at the entrance of the mine. Morning dew had dampened one corner, the ink slightly blurred, but the characters were still readable – "To Lin Luo, personal." The letter wasn't sealed. It was folded twice and tied with a green silk ribbon – the one Su Xiaoxiao used to tie her hair. A strand of her long hair was still wrapped around it.
Su Xiaoxiao's handwriting.
Yue Long gave the letter to Lin Luo. He unfolded the paper – pale yellow paper, folded in thirds, each fold very neat. Only one line on it:
"Wait for me to come back. I will be the Idle Sect's senior senior disciple."
The characters were very neat. Each stroke seemed to have been written and torn up, written and torn up again, many times before settling. No extra words. No signature. But every character was Su Xiaoxiao's. The ink was uneven – "Wait for me to come back" was very dark, the strokes heavy; "senior senior disciple" was slightly lighter, the strokes trembling faintly.
Lin Luo looked at it for a long time. Morning light shone through the cracks in the mine, falling on the letter, making the pale yellow paper almost transparent. The ink showed through from the back, the characters reversed, but he recognized every one.
Yue Long leaned in to look. Her eyes turned red again. "Master, is Sister Xiao telling the truth?"
"Yes."
Yue Long folded the letter carefully and tucked it into Lin Luo's sleeve.
"Then I also want to be the Idle Sect's madam." [T/N: "Madam" as in the sect leader's wife – a playful claim]
Lin Luo gave her a skeptical look, looking her up and down. "...No, you can't."
"Hmph!" Yue Long pouted, but the corner of her mouth still curved up slightly, forming a shallow arc. She looked down and fiddled with the storage pouch at her waist, winding and unwinding the drawstring around her fingers several times.
Lin Luo looked at her, then pulled another banana from his robe and offered it to Yue Long. "Want one?"
She was still pouting, but she took the banana. And the corner of her mouth smiled. Not a big smile, but there was light in her eyes. (The joy of a foodie.)
---
(End of Chapter 24)
Current Status
Main Account · Lin Luo
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Layer 3 (Displayed: Qi Refining Layer 1)
Nine Cycles Mystic Art: Second Cycle
Lightning Prison Indestructible Body: First Layer (idling, ~24h remaining)
Defense: 650
Attack: 350 → ~380
HP: 1650 → ~1800
Spirit Stones: ~8250
Possessions: Spirit Recovery Pill ×8, Life Extension Pill ×1, Antidote Pill ×3, Light Talisman ×4, Mountain Pass Token ×1, Drunken Immortal Residence VIP card, Myriad Treasures Pavilion VIP card, Realm-Breaking Talisman (authentic)
Skill: Spirit Eye Technique
Disciple: Yue Long
Alt Account · Bone One
Cultivation: Qi Gathering, Layer 9 (breakthrough confirmed)
Status: Idling at Ancient Battlefield (Blackscale Wolf)
Alt Account · Blood One
Cultivation: Qi Gathering, Layer 7
Status: Hidden – Demon Abyss second layer
Alt Account · Rat One
Cultivation: Spirit Gathering, Layer 5 (breakthrough confirmed)
Status: Idling at mine shaft (farming)
Sect · Idle Sect
Sect Leader: Lin Luo
Formal Disciple: Yue Long
Members: Bone One, Rat One, Blood One
Guest Elder (soon departing): Su Xiaoxiao (Fire Phoenix Sacred Ground, 3 years)
Level: 2
Idle Bonus: +15%
Special facility: Sect Gathering Array
Idle Sect Disciple · Yue Long
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Layer 2
Status: Idling
---
Appendix: Special Cultivation Systems for Lin Luo and His Alt Accounts
Immortal Cultivation (Main Account · Lin Luo):
Qi Refining → Foundation Establishment → Core Opening → Fusion → Heart Movement → Golden Core → Nascent Soul → Soul Departure → Spirit Separation → Body Integration → Cave Void → Great Ascension → Tribulation Transcendence
Demon Cultivation (Alt Accounts · Bone One, Blood One):
Qi Gathering → Body Refining → Core Condensation → Desire Embodiment → Devouring → Demon Infant → Soul Departure → Sense Separation → Body Fusion → Void Break → Great Ascension → Tribulation Transcendence
Beast Cultivation (Alt Account · Rat One):
Spirit Gathering → Intelligence Awakening → Body Tempering → Bone Refining → Beast Core → Transformation → Soul Condensation → Spirit Roaming → Body Purification → Void Training → Great Ascension → Tribulation Transcendence
Note: The above are the exclusive cultivation systems for Lin Luo and his alt accounts. Everyone else (side characters, enemies, etc.) uses the traditional system: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Void Training, Body Integration, Great Ascension, Tribulation Transcendence.
---
(End of Chapter 24)