Pathway

Chapter 4: A Xiu Ying In Time [2]

"Mastery of the mind. Order and harmony within oneself. Only by this can one's conscious awareness be free to understand the laws and nature of the universe and become harmonized with the universe."

Zhang Xiu Ying put a blue crystalline in her mouth and closed it with a crunch, as strong Chi energy stormed her dantian. She commenced the circulation of the Chi energy from her dantian through her meridians and back into her dantian. As a demigod, she could handle the storming effect of the crystallines without any difficulty. She didn't stop, but continued her breathing exercise and meditation using the astral primal technique.

"Understanding true mortal self is the beginning of understanding the true nature of our universe."

After cultivating for some time, she exited the chamber taking one blue crystalline with her and headed towards the training area. She would be practicing her Phoenix Inferno mystical art with her sword, Navaris. This was an ancient ancestral heirloom of immense value belonging to her mother's bloodline. The feather blade alone, was crafted from the single tail feather of a primordial phoenix at the heart of the Eternal Rest. Certainly, it was a lowgrade heavenly weapon.

After becoming a full demigod as a result of her rapid advancement and development, her mother had decided to give her the heirloom. What was the point in her keeping it? She couldn't bring out the full power of the sword, and by the way things were going, it would take her forever to reach a stage of using it fully. Who else could she even give it to?

Before she left her birthplace, there was no member of her clan that could even wield it properly talkless of utilising its full powers. And if her daughter could become so powerful in a short time as a demigod, what prevented her from having it? She could only be a heavens sent to do that. Therefore, her mother had decided that the sword would be safe in her hand and would be properly used.

She was slowly swinging the feather blade. Her martial art was already at the Yinhu[Silver tiger] level, where she could call herself a young master. Her swordsmanship was still at the expert level. Also, she knew she had a long way to go before reaching the legend level. She had to become a master and then a grandmaster before becoming a legend.

Although not much of a difference and she was at a bottleneck, her joy was in her mystical arts. She was at the fourth stage of the Phoenix Inferno technique.

"Both mind and body must be cultivated to understand true self. The rhythm of a sword and the motion of fire. They nourish the body and soul, yet they can also be destructive. It takes a true self discovery to bring out the constructiveness of a sword and the protectiveness of fire. Intent of the heart determines the nature of a martial and mystical arts. Peace is needed, yes, inner peace, in order to be one with nature."

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She thrust her sword forward and flaming ribbons spread out from it. They covered the training area in spirals of flame without burning anything. The spirals of the flaming ribbons was truly a beautiful scene to behold.

"Art is nature and nature is art. "

Zhang Xiu Ying smiled appreciatively at her father who was joining her for training. Her parents had been exceedingly supportive of her right from her birth. Ah, what a wonderful parents she had. In this life or another, she couldn't have wished it any other way. She was perfectly happy with her life and the direction she was going. They continued practicing for a period of time before her father waved her down.

"Xiu Ying, let's stop the practice for the afternoon. Let's go inside. You need to have a nourishing meal and a rest. Your mother is preparing the yellow coloured mountain goat. As a rare and magical animal, it will surely nourish your body and the baby further."

"Father, with all this magical animals, by the time I give birth, I would've turned to a magical animal."

"That would be a sight to behold, Xiu Ying. A magical phoenix flying through the sky with wings of inferno. A magical sight indeed."

Zhang Xiu Ying's mind wandered off to the image of her nascent soul after the words of her father. Her nascent manifestation had been a mini avatar of herself with feathered armour and flaming wings. A flaming bird? She laughed, dismissing it from her mind as her father joined her in laughter too.

They left the practice ground and headed towards the direction of the cave. Once inside, Zhang Xiu Ying could help but aroma she was smelling took over her mind. Her mother was a genious immortal when it was about magical food. By the time she set her sight on the food, she was already floating in a dreamlike world. Setting themselves around a wooden table at the centre of the living chamber, with pots of steaming goat meat on it, they beamed in delight as they went for their share.

Zhang Xiu Ying savoured the meat with her eyes closed after taking a bite.

"Oh mother! This is truly amazing. I never knew animal meat can be this tasty. Thank you mother for this wonder and you too, father, for finding this meat."

"This is a rarity, Xiu Ying. The quality of the energy in the meat will strengthen the bones in your body and nourish your blood. Even the baby will benefit from it. That's why you need to eat a lot of it. Even if you can finish it all, that will be better. Please go ahead."

"Huh? Father, do you want the baby to have goat horns and goat hooves?"

They all exploded in laughter and resumed their magical feast. Zhang Xiu Ying continued to devour the magical food while glancing at her parents. The content smiles on their faces gave her all the joy she wanted.

"I love you so much, father, mother."

"We love you too, Xiu Ying."

"Never forget that."

Zhang Xiu Ying nodded in response. How could she ever forget that? Their existence had been mostly about her. They had given a lot for her welfare right from her childhood and are still doing so, now that she was pregnant. How can their love for her, ever escaped her memory? It would never happen.

An hour after the magical feast, Zhang Wang Jing left for the market to sell some of the goat milk from the farm leaving Zhang Li Qiang and Zhang Xiu Ying in the living chamber. Few minutes after Zhang Wang Jing left, Zhang Li Qiang went into his room and changed into his new farming attire. He turned to Zhang Xiu Ying as he was passing the living area.

"Xiu Ying, I will be in the farm if you need me."

"Okay father."

Zhang Li Qiang left their cave and headed towards the farming area of the land. On his way, he glanced back at his daughter apprehensively. After all, she was their only daughter. Only the three of them left now after the death of her husband when a portal had opened in their village and an army of fiends had passed through from the nether plane to attack them.They had managed to vanquish them, but many of the villagers had died from the sudden attack. Many of the villagers were just foundation stage and evanescent core cultivators. Only two elders of nascent souls, were present at that time. Such a sad memory. His family had left the village after that.

He could still, clearly, remember his daughter's husband, Zhang Long Wei. A good natured man of the evanesce core stage from the Meadow-Wood village who happened to bear the same ancestral name as theirs. He was a good husband and always looked for the interest of their child when he was alive. But since he was no longer here, raising a child alone in a deadly world of cultivation without a father would, have been very difficult for any mortal mother. Although their daughter was a demigod, they wouldn't take the risk. Hence, they had decided to try their best to ease the burden as much as they could.

The good thing? Zhang Xiu Ying was pregnant.