Tales of Demons and Gods : The Legend of Xiao Ning'Er

Xiao Ning'Er was suddenly jerked out a deep sleep by a loud disturbance outside her room. She looked up groggily, confused for a moment, until she heard some more loud knocking on the wooden door leading into her private courtyard.

Then she heard voices calling out to her, "Ning'Er! Ning'Er!! Are you in your room? Is everything all right?"

She looked out of her window and realised that the sun was already high in the sky. The cloaks she had created yesterday consumed far more energy than she expected. She'd have to consolidate a higher level of cultivation before she attempted to make them again.

She quickly jumped out of bed, ran out of her room and opened the door to her courtyard. Immediately, she saw the anxious faces of her friends. Even Ziyun was there.

Nie Li said with an alarmed voice, "Are you OK? We went to library as you asked us to and started cultivating while waiting for you but after you didn't come for so long, we got worried and came over."

Lu Piao added, "Who knew you were actually just getting more beauty sleep...", putting extra emphasis on the word 'beauty'.

"I'm so sorry, I stayed up late last night working on something and only managed to sleep in the morning." Xiao Ning'Er said as she saw Ziyun looking at her with a troubled expression. With a twinkle in her eyes, she asked playfully, "Would you like to see what I created with my amazing skills?"

"Wwoooooowwwwww...that's amazing!!!" they exclaimed as they tried to adjust their eyes to the cloak that she had activated around her body.

"I can't even see where you are exactly. It's almost like I'm an old person with terrible eyesight when I look in your direction...when actually, I want to be seeing you clearer." Lu Piao winked at Xiao Ning'Er.

Xiao Ning'Er took off the cloak and said out loud absentmindedly, as though she were speaking to herself, "Doesn't someone have a girlfriend already..."

"What? Wait...do you mean Xiao Xu...how did you...she's not my girlfriend...yet...what???" he stammered out without thinking, as the others around him laughed at his predicament and reddening face.

"You better be careful of what you say to Ning'Er in future because she seems to know a lot," Du Ze said, with a deadpan face. The group laughed even louder at this but no one could quite figure out whether he was being serious or continuing the joke. "These cloaks are works of art, Ning'Er," he praised her undisguised admiration.

"Thanks, everyone. I'm sorry I only made a set for myself and Ziyun so far since she's my best friend. If you all like it, I can make some for you in the future." Xiao Ning'Er replied. Ziyun's mouth turned upwards in genuine joy when she heard these words, taking them to heart as her eyes glowed with happiness.

Since Zhang Ming had already put it like that so passionately, the other boys had no choice but to agree so they could preserve their manliness in front of the two most beautiful girls in Glory City. But Xiao Ning'Er managed to catch a glimpse of Wei Nan turning away with downcast eyes as he muttered, "I wouldn't have minded such a miraculous and useful piece of equipment. Stupid Zhang Ming..."

She chuckled to herself as she turned to Ziyun, asking her, "This courtyard is too small for us to train in and the library can be quite restrictive in terms of rules. Do you think we could use a training hall in the City Lord's Mansion? I don't want to impose but it would be perfect to find a private place to train over the next two months."

Ziyun didn't hesitate, "Of course! I can get special passes made for trusted friends so that you can all come and go freely, in the non-restricted areas of my home. I just never had to request for these passes before..."

They made their way to Ziyun's house as she updated them, "Oh, I forgot to mention, I went over to speak to vice principal Ye Sheng this morning in case we got into trouble for skipping class and were disqualified from taking the exam in two months. He told us not to worry as long as we could show up at the exam and show a satisfactory level of progress in our cultivation and strength!"

What Ye Sheng had not told her was that Shen Xiu had stormed into his room to demand for their group, except for Ye Ziyun, to be expelled or at least suspended from the Holy Orchid Institute but how could he consider anything so drastic when the mysterious grey robed elder had specially requested for him to look out for Xiao Ning'Er? It was out of the question and he had told Shen Xiu accordingly.

The training hall was like nothing they had ever seen in the Institute. Weapons, gleaming with deadly intent, lined one side of the hall, and there were numerous courtyards and sparring rings spread out all over. They stood in the middle of the majestic hall, feeling goosebumps appear on their arms, as they stood in awe of the place where the Snow Wind Family's greatest experts trained...where Lord Ye Mo himself had trained.

Ziyun led them to one corner, "As long as we keep to these side courtyards and sparring rings, and not get in the way during the times that the adults train in the main sections, they won't bother with us."

While in the Institute, they had not begun any physical or martial arts training yet because this would only begin after they reached bronze rank. Therefore, they would spend their mornings listening to lectures to increase their general knowledge, then spend afternoons practicing their cultivation techniques.

However, Xiao Ning'Er knew that the fastest way for their cultivations to grow was through a cycle of developing hands-on martial comprehension, and then allowing that comprehension to drive their cultivations forward, especially when they needed to break through certain bottlenecks they would arrive at along the way.

She began to pair them up. Since those from a noble family background would have some basic training in martial arts, they would each pair up with someone from a commoner background and begin guiding them with the martial arts they had learnt. This would enable them to quickly gain a greater level of comprehension, where the one guiding would also gain insights since they now took on the 'teacher' role and understood things from a different perspective.

Nie Li paired up with Du Ze, Lu Piao with Zhu Xiangjun, Ziyun with Zhang Ming since he seemed the straightforward type without hidden intentions, and Xiao Ning'Er paired with Wei Nan, curious to know what type of person he was after noticing his response to the cloaks she had made just now.

Wei Nan was an unexpectedly sharp and quick learner, understanding the essence of the basic martial arts that she started him off with. In her past life, she had learnt hundreds of powerful martial techniques of which she could choose from to impart. While the rest of the group continued their pairing exercise, Xiao Ning'Er decided to move on to sparring with Wei Nan.

Although he did not have martial arts background, he had a quiet intelligence in barehanded combat that suggested that he had been enough street fights in the past to hold his own. His strikes were rough and unpolished but effective, and he was not tentative in striking at vital spots the moment he saw any opening. Of course, he could never lay a hand on her as she was always three steps ahead of him, but she was impressed with his potential nonetheless.

After awhile, she instructed the group to begin cultivating. As they sat in the small courtyard together, it was a good thing no one else was around at that time because the spiritual force swirling around them as they practiced their cultivation was unlike anything Glory City had ever seen. Their powerful cultivation techniques caused the area around them to vibrate with a restless energy, as their bodies gently radiated a myriad of hues from the overflow of soul force within them.

After a few hours, they went back to the martial arts component of the process, and repeated the same method over again. By the time the sun started to set, Ziyun had broken through to 1-star bronze rank, and Du Ze was showing signs that he was near the border to his breakthrough as well.

Everyone was ecstatic at their progress, realising that it would be no problem to pass the upcoming exam, and they couldn't wait to see Shen Xiu's expression when they all succeeded. Nie Li in particular stood there in silent thought as he reflected on the miracles that Xiao Ning'Er had created in such a short time. He decided resolutely that if it were within his capability, he would help her to achieve any of her dreams and goals in the future.

They said their goodbyes to each other and made their way back home.

In the meantime, the servants from the Snow Wind Family had hurried all over the city since morning, frantically buying up all the Purple Haze Grass available in the marketplaces. With the incredible amount that was being bought, all the stock in the shops going back for several years had been completely cleared out.

Those in the marketplace were astonished at the purchases because as far as they knew, this herb was rather useless except that it could be burnt, where its smoke would act as an effective insect repellent. For a family to purchase hundreds of thousands of pounds of it was something inconceivable. What could they want it for? Whatever it was, there would be a shortage of Purple Haze Grass in Glory City for three years as it took around that time for this herb to grow to a level that it could be used.

Xiao Ning'Er arrived back to her room and took out the 30 pieces of Alderblood paper she had purchased yesterday, laying them out on the table. She pulled out a spirit knife, a small and slender tool shaped like a scalpel, specially made for cutting with high precision. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths as she slowly visualised the shapes that she wanted. Then, she channeled a sliver of soul force with perfect control into the spirit knife until the razor-sharp edge glowed with azure light, before starting to cut into the stiff paper.

Wood from the Alderblood tree was especially good at absorbing soul force and then letting that force explode out all at once. The thick paper was a rich copper colour with streaks of red the colour of blood shown along the wood grain, hence the name. She methodically sliced intricate forms out of the paper with perfect symmetrical lines and when she was finally done, 60 beautiful shapes lay in front of her.