Spirit Cultivation

For the next days, Xuefeng noticed that Little Ming changed completely and acted much different than earlier. After that night, she was always watching his training and when the day was over, she would hug onto his chest or climb onto his back while calling him her brother. She would listen to whatever Xuefeng said to her like a proper little sister that adored her older brother.

After a week of being together, Little Ming started getting closer and closer to Xuefeng, almost not leaving his side. One morning he realised that something was sleeping on his bed and it turned out it was Little Ming who curled herself into a ball and was laying next to him. She was hugging her legs while her head was leaning onto his body, with her cheeks rubbing on his skin.

He had a habit of sleeping with his shirt off, so she was touching his skin directly which, for him, were breaking the barrier that one shouldn't cross. Not only was she sleeping with him in the same bed, she even started snuggling to him. Yesterday she gave him a massage, as usual these days, and she must have cuddled into him after he fell asleep.

'Isn't this too much?' Xuefeng asked himself as he looked at the satisfied smile of his new sister. He didn't mind her everyday hugs and kisses on the cheek, as that was normal for him, but sleeping inside the same duvet was a breach of a barrier for him. Xuefeng didn't have much love interest to Little Ming, as he already had four other women who were filling his heart to the brim already.

"Good morning Ming." Xuefeng rubbed Little Ming's cheeks as he called out to her quietly, trying to wake her up.

"Good morning brother…" Little Ming woke up and said a little bit drowsy as she rubbed her eyes cutely. She hugged Xuefeng's chest once again while saying, "It felt so good to sleep with you… I hope we can do that every day from now on," before yawning and picking up Xuefeng's shirt, "Yaaawn… Let me help you put on your clothes…"

Xuefeng suddenly stopped her movements by grabbing her hands and said seriously, "Listen, Ming, we need to talk."

His tone instantly caused Little Ming to turn serious as well and she looked at Xuefeng, asking as if she was wronged, "...I don't like the tone you are speaking… Did I do something to make you mad?"

She could feel that something was wrong from Xuefeng's face, but she didn't know if she did anything that could make him mad. She was following what was happening in the book, and from what she recalled, she didn't make any mistakes.

Xuefeng started explaining, "Well, if we want to be a brother and sister, I don't think we can sleep together. That is usually reserved for the lovers to do. You are already big enough…" but then he saw that there was something gathering in the corners of Ming's eyes and quickly realised those were her tears which she tried to hold back.

"No, please don't cry… You are a big girl already… Big girls don't cry…" Xuefeng stopped his speech and tried to stop her from crying but her tears still fell. She started rubbing her eyes to make it stop, but it only got worse and her eyes turned red.

'F.u.c.k… why is this happening every time… I'm so weak…' Xuefeng cursed in his mind, not knowing how to solve it and in the end, he just reached out to hug her just as parents would do to their crying children. He placed her head on his shoulder while patting her on the back.

"Shhh, calm down…" Xuefeng tried to calm Ming down after she wrapped her hands around his neck, but she still sobbed. Ming hoped that Xuefeng didn't see her face at that time, because he would get really mad if he did. She definitely didn't have the face of someone sad as her lips were curved into a smile, and the tears that were dropping onto his back, was just Water Qi.

She already knew Xuefeng's weakness and didn't mind using it against him. He wasn't able to use Spirit Awareness to have a full scope of the situation if she didn't allow him to do so, which made this lie possible.

"I just want to be together with you… Sob… Is that too much? We are not doing anything lovers would do so it shouldn't be a problem, right?" Little Ming asked while fake crying. She didn't want to act but she didn't have any other choice as her time was limited.

"Sigh, well, it's not too much… But it is still a bit…" Xuefeng sighed and tried to find words to explain but he was disturbed by Little Ming once again as she pulled away from his embrace and asked while looking into his eyes, "It is your last week here and you will be gone for a long time… Can't I have those last few days for myself? I'm always alone here, without anyone to talk to...."

'Where have I heard this? I think Yiren said the same thing… Sigh…' Xuefeng looked at her and instantly felt bad. It was like emotional blackmail but he couldn't just pretend he didn't hear anything.

"Fine… But remember, we are brother and sister. We should stay within the boundaries. Okay?" Xuefeng finally gave up and just let it be. He thought that as long as he didn't do anything then it would be alright.

"Heh, thank you!" Little Ming's smile returned onto her face as she giggled cutely and kissed Xuefeng on the cheek while thanking him. She already knew that Xuefeng would agree to her request. He was too nice of a person and it would be against his morals to leave her like that.

Little Ming let go of Xuefeng by hopping out of the bed before saying happily, "Let's go proceed with the training for today! We have only a week left so we should intensify the practice."

"I'm fine with it," Xuefeng nodded while putting his shirt on while thinking, 'Sigh, I hope it will be alright.'

...….

Unfortunately, Xuefeng was wrong. At the start, it was alright as Little Ming was sleeping a small distance away from him, but that line was moving closer to him with each day and finally on the fourth day, three days before the scheduled day of his training ending, he found Ming all over him after he woke up.

She was hugging onto his chest and only giggled it away when Xuefeng woke her up. He didn't say anything as he kind of already got used to it. The same situation happened on the next days as well and even during their daily massage session, Little Ming started getting bolder.

She convinced him to let her give him a back massage and she sat down across his back while doing it. It wouldn't be a problem if she actually had anything that would cover her butt, but she didn't. Her soft bottom was almost n.a.k.e.d as she only had a few cute hoodies which she used as dresses.

He couldn't focus on the massage she gave him at all as the only thing he felt was her butt constantly moving around on his back. Fortunately, she had a pair of panties or he would definitely not let her do as she pleased.

It didn't feel bad for him at all and that's what was making him worried. Once you pass a certain boundary, it would be hard for you to go back to the way it used to be. To distract himself, Xuefeng focused more on his training, to push himself in those last three days, and his effort paid off.

On the last day, Xuefeng reached the same mastery with his skills that he had with his sword and could compete with almost five to ten cultivators at the same time, who were on the same level as him. The stronger his enemies were, the fewer opponents he could take.

The strongest enemy he faced in the whole training was a Spirit Emperor with the same number of mastered elements as him. Xuefeng could fight the shadow without losing until his Qi was exhausted. He understood how important increasing the Spirit Qi was, so he decided to focus on that too when he goes out.

"I guess that's the end of our training. It has already been a month since we started. Only three days passed in the outside world, right?" Xuefeng asked after he was reborn from dying to the Spirit Emperor shadow.

"Yes, I set the time flow to be exactly ten times faster. It should be afternoon, three days later in the outside world…" Little Ming confirmed before she hugged Xuefeng and placed her chin on hisp chest while looking upwards, before saying with a sigh, "Brother, how about you stay some more with me? I will miss you…"

Xuefeng smiled warmly and patted her on the head while asking. "You know that I can't. I will try to visit you after some time. You are my little sister, after all, remember?" Even if she was a bit misbehaving in the last week, Xuefeng was still happy that he found himself a sister. He was an only child and always wanted to have one.

"Yeah…" Little Ming looked to the side and hugged him even tighter. She was doing so well with entering into his heart, but in the end, she was out of the time to finish the job.

Xuefeng lowered himself to match her height and said while rubbing her cheeks, "Don't worry, I won't forget about you…"

"I know… Give me your wrist, I will present you with something." When they separated, Little Ming suddenly reached out and held onto Xuefeng wrist.

She grabbed it with both hands and suddenly he felt a sharp pain that was nibbling his arm., "Aah, it hurts."  When she uncovered his wrist, he saw a simple gold bracelet with nice empty sockets in the shape of an oval. He couldn't help but ask curiously while touching it, "What is this?"

"It's something very precious. If you are in danger in the future, you just need to call my name three times and it will protect you." Little Ming explained as she glided with her fingers on the bracelet structure. Seeing her gaze, Xuefeng realised that it was definitely a treasure.

"What are those sockets for? Oh, I also can't take it off. Is it glued to my arm and that's why it hurt?" Xuefeng asked surprised that he couldn't move it in any way.

"You will not be able to take it off unless you get all nine crystals, and put them into the sockets. You will find them in the Heaven Realm after you ascend. The bracelet will lead you to them, so do not worry. You don't need to focus on them for now." Little Ming answered.

"Oh, okay. Thank you. I see in your eyes that it's important to you." Xuefeng thanked her. Even if the aspect of not being able to take it off would be a bit troublesome, he believed it was definitely a treasure which was worth it.

"Smooch…" Suddenly, as Xuefeng was watching the bracelet, he felt something soft touch his lips and before he could react, his surroundings changed, as he was enveloped by darkness.