Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 60 - 51: Drinking Alone in Intoxication

A few hours earlier

Evening of July 26, 2017

Li Xinyu and Li Chaolu, the brother and sister, left their family’s training ground, their bodies exhausted, feeling as if their limbs were filled with lead. Their Divine Sense was dim, teetering on the brink, completely worn out.

However, this was routine for them ever since they broke through the Wind Barrier and stepped into the Immortal Domain. Such exhaustion visited them weekly, rain or shine.

Who could blame them when they had a model mother from the Li Family Mansion? As the mistress of the third house, Zhao Yan was extremely dedicated and responsible. Before she got married, she was the pride of the Zhao Family, with astonishing cultivation and mastery of six arts, acclaimed to be no less than a goddess from Golden Jade City. Yet after marriage, she set aside everything that was hers, focusing solely on supporting her husband and teaching her children, centering her life around them.

Every week, Zhao Yan would meticulously assess Li Xinyu and Li Chaolu’s learnings and experiences from the past week, providing supplementary teaching against their shortcomings, until their entire True Essence was expended, leaving them unable to move.

"You know, I really think Mom held back a bit today," Li Xinyu said weakly.

Beside him, Li Chaolu was too exhausted even to muster disdain for the fat one, instinctively replying, "Yeah, normally we’d have to practice for at least a half hour longer until even walking was difficult."

"I kind of miss when Dad would join the training. Back then, Mom mostly focused on correcting him and didn’t have as much energy to pay attention to us... and that sneaky guy just ended up slacking off, making us bear the brunt instead!"

"That’s why you can’t rely on that fat guy."

"Hey..."

The two talked weakly as they walked, and passing by the main house, they suddenly saw a few household servants standing not far off, chatting quietly. They weren’t from the third house but looked very familiar...

Li Xinyu remarked curiously, "Hey, those are Auntie’s servants."

Li Chaolu instantly perked up, "Sister Xin is here?!"

"Hey, hey," Li Xinyu hastily interrupted, "Watch what you’re saying. If Mom hears, you’ll get in trouble for being disrespectful."

"But it’s true... she always felt more like a sister anyway." Li Chaolu mumbled, yet couldn’t stop smiling.

Unlike Shen Qingming, who harbored deep resentment toward Lu Xin, the siblings were very fond of their dainty and delicate aunt, not just because she was nice, but because whenever Lu Xin visited, Zhao Yan would personally cook up several tables of pastries and snacks to welcome her. Lu Xin had a small appetite, and the leftovers were a rare Taotie feast for Li Xinyu and Li Chaolu.

As expected, they hadn’t taken more than a few steps before hearing their mother Zhao Yan’s voice at their ears.

"Xinyu, Chaolu, come and greet your Auntie."

At the same time, they felt a warm stream of True Essence pouring from their Celestial Spirit into their bodies, instantly invigorating them and dispelling their fatigue.

Ordinarily, Zhao Yan would prefer for them to remain in a state of exhaustion a little longer to stimulate the body to produce more True Essence, but with a guest in the house, proper demeanor was essential.

Entering the room, they indeed saw Lu Xin engaged in lively conversation with their mother Zhao Yan, while the table was laden with various pastries and snacks, making their mouths water.

"Hello, Auntie," they greeted respectfully and sat in the side seats as instructed, listening to their mother and Lu Xin chat idly about gossip and tales from QingCyan Cloud City, responding here and there while seizing the chance to gorge themselves on the tableful of tea snacks.

After thoroughly satisfying her hunger, Li Chaolu sensibly prepared to take her leave; after all, the younger generation only needed to show their face and didn’t have to stay and intrude on the elders’ conversation.

But just as she was about to stand up, she felt a touch on her wrist. Looking down, she saw a fat hand. Instantly, she was flooded with a mix of shame and anger, wishing she could unleash the Hundred Flowers Sword Qi to cut that pig trotter to pieces.

However, she quickly heard the fat one’s secret communication.

"Look at the table, the plate in front of Sister Xin."

Li Chaolu focused her gaze, her eyes narrowing slightly.

On the plate before Lu Xin lay three or four apricot-colored glutinous rice balls, glistening translucently, tempting like precious jade.

"Fatty, those balls... are they sweet wine balls?!"

"Yup, they’re sweet wine balls! I even managed to swipe one when they weren’t looking—it’s osmanthus sweet wine!"

Li Chaolu grew anxious, "Is Mom doing it on purpose or by accident, giving Sister Xin alcohol?!"

"Whatever it is, we’ve got a good show to watch. Don’t be in a hurry to leave."

Li Chaolu glared at the chubby guy fiercely, "Watch a show?! Get out of here!"

Li Xinyu stared wide-eyed, "Huh?!"

"You know what Sister Xin is like when she’s drunk! What’s there to watch? Get out, or I’ll tell mom that you and Qian Yu are competing to see who can buy the most erotic paintings!"

Li Xinyu felt his heart bleeding, "Chaolu, you..."

Seeing the Hundred Flowers Sword Qi spreading everywhere, Li Xinyu, even if blood flooded like a river, had no choice but to lift his butt and leave under the pretense of revising his studies, but when he got to the door, he saw Li Chaolu still sitting there as steady as Mount Tai.

The chubby guy was dumbfounded, "Chaolu, what are you doing?!"

Li Chaolu’s eyes sparkled as she gazed in the direction of Lu Xin and Zhao Yan, clearly looking as if she was watching a good show. There was even a platter of fruit and sunflower seeds in front of her! Her peripheral vision caught sight of the chubby guy still standing dumbly at the door, and she immediately frowned. Raising her delicate hand, she stirred a gentle breeze to decisively yet slowly shut the door.

Li Xinyu looked at the closed door in front of him, and inside his heart, it felt like thousands of wild boars were running amok. However, remembering it was his own sister, he had no choice but to swallow the bitterness silently and shuffle his way back to the Cosmic Pavilion to flip through "X in Budda Years Chronicles."

On the other side, Li Chaolu was already watching as Lu Xin finished the last glutinous rice dumpling on her plate, knowing the show was about to start.

Lu Xin shouldn’t drink alcohol.

This wasn’t a secret in the Li Family Mansion. This daughter of the Lu Family had inferior cultivation aptitude in her early years and used every folk remedy and secret method available. From taking elixirs to seeking guidance from family elders, array assistance, and even sacrifices, it finally allowed her to advance to the Rain Cover Realm. Although her Spiritual Sense Cultivation was severely lacking, causing disarray in her True Essence and significantly lowering her combat ability... But still, she was a "master" of the Rain Cover Realm.

The process of Lu Xin advancing to the Rain Cover Realm back then was as exciting as a storybook. At that time, she was not yet married to Li Fengyun and was still competing with Shen Yue’e. Shen Yue’e, a talent in her own right, advanced to the Rain Cover Realm at 29, almost not losing out to Li Fengyun, putting immense pressure on Lu Xin. She was the same age as Shen Yue’e, but her cultivation realm lagged significantly, and her combat ability was even more worlds apart.

Lu Xin knew that Li Fengyun didn’t care about a woman’s figure or appearance, nor her family background, but valued academic thinking most, followed by cultivation realm, which for Lu Xin were her absolute weak points, standing in sharp contrast to Shen Yue’e. Naturally, Lu Xin was unwilling to fall so far behind her competitor, so she could only take dangerous measures and go for a risky strategy.

She began consuming elixirs frantically, seeking guidance from family elders, using massive external forces to catalyze internal reactions. In a year, she crashed from the mid-Cloud Flipping Realm directly to the Cloud Flipping Peak, just a step away from the Rain Cover Realm, but the difficulty of that last step goes without saying. The excess external help caused severe misalignment of her Spiritual Sense and True Essence, and her body’s endurance had reached its limit, unable to accommodate more infusions of external forces. Usually, it would take at least three to five years to nourish and stabilize her cultivation.

However, Lu Xin couldn’t wait another three to five years and had to take an unusual move—sacrifice and offerings. This kind of technique, which was dubbed as sinister and unorthodox from the Esoteric Sect of Heaven-Reaching City, allowed one to sacrifice one attribute of a cultivator to enhance another attribute. After precise calculations with family elders, Lu Xin thought that using this technique, combined with massive resources, she might advance to the Rain Cover Realm before thirty, becoming as formidable as Shen Yue’e.

During the sacrifice, Lu Xin chose to sacrifice her alcohol tolerance to enhance the True Essence endurance of her Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and then infused herself with immense medicinal power, stuffing herself into a Rain Cover master... Ultimately, the plan came to fruition with the full support of her Lu family elders. Lu Xin became a rare Rain Cover master under thirty on Xiangzhou Continent, even Li Fengyun himself was impressed by this wonder, considering it a major discovery in academic circles.

The price, however, was that Lu Xin’s True Essence cultivation didn’t progress an inch for more than ten years afterward. Her Spiritual Sense, polished and improved day by day, still couldn’t catch up with her True Essence progress.

And then, she was utterly incapable of handling alcohol; even a sip of rice wine could get her tipsy and disoriented.

Now, enjoying her chat with Zhao Yan too much, she unknowingly ate seven or eight sweet rice wine dumplings, the alcohol inside her body having long exceeded its limit by unknown multiples!

Li Chaolu didn’t blink an eye, afraid of missing any details. Sister Xin’s drunken antics were so rare, she wouldn’t go hysterical nor fall asleep, but rather... that reaction is hard to describe in a few words, yet truly anticipated!

"Sister Yan, I envy you so much..." Suddenly, Lu Xin sighed softly.

Zhao Yan was startled, "Envy me?"

"Yes, I’m envious of you having such wonderful children. Xinyu and Chaolu are so excellent, and they both respect you so much, while I... just have a daughter, and she hates me to the core."

Zhao Yan quickly interrupted, "Wait, you also have a son and a daughter, and your biological child is the son!"

Lu Xin seemed not to hear, only looking at Zhao Yan with shining eyes, a gentle smile on her face, speaking softly, showing no sign of drunkenness.

"Qingming, that child is really a headache... Although she’s Yue’e’s daughter and technically none of my business, she’s Fengyun’s child too, and if she doesn’t amount to anything, what would people say about me?"

Zhao Yan quickly comforted, "Everyone knows you actually love Qingming the most."

"Who loves her?!" Lu Xin pouted, tilting her head, "That woman’s child annoys me to death, with poor aptitude, a quick temper, and stubbornness. I’d love nothing more than to shove a handful of spiritual medicine down her throat to make her a Rain Cover master."

"..."

A brief silence settled in the room as Li Chaolu gobbled sunflower seeds with her head down, her stomach almost bursting with laughter.