Chapter 250- The Black-Bellied Demon Cultivator’s Senior Brother VS The Righteous Young Junior Brother (15)
Now that Mu Jin has embarked on the path of immortality, Ning Yizhou hopes to keep him disconnected from his past. Despite spending over a year together with this little junior, Ning Yizhou has only grown fonder of him and does not want to see him suffer any grievances.
With this in mind, Ning Yizhou took advantage of Mu Jin’s seclusion to resolve various issues. He donated the additional assets he had obtained to help orphaned children and disaster-stricken beggars, thereby repaying Mu Jin’s past grievances. He then quickly returned to the Qingliu Sect.
Ning Yizhou did not plan to tell Mu Jin about these actions, but with 003 around, Mu Jin was fully aware. He realized that his lover had gone out of his way to seek justice for him, and it touched him deeply to know that Ning Yizhou had already started defending him even before realizing his own feelings.
Thinking of this, Mu Jin felt a sweet sensation in his heart. He redoubled his efforts to overcome his bottleneck, and within just ten days—without even using Foundation Establishment pills—he had completely stabilized his Foundation Establishment stage.
When Ning Yizhou returned to the Chuanyun Peak, he found that Mu Jin had already made significant progress. Achieving Foundation Establishment in such a short time was impressive, and Ning Yizhou was naturally very pleased. He even felt a sense of pride when others praised Mu Jin.
Although Mu Jin’s rapid progress was impressive, Foundation Establishment was still considered a basic level of cultivation and did not attract too much attention. However, the peak master, Luo Kangde, made a special visit to Mu Jin, providing him with many pills and cultivation jade slips before leaving.
Ning Yizhou returned from the mountain without discussing much with Mu Jin, and Mu Jin did not bring it up either. He thought that breakthroughs were always a good thing and hoped to share the joy with his lover.
Even though their relationship was still seen as just a senior-junior one by Mu Jin, Ning Yizhou’s concern for him likely went beyond ordinary brotherly care. Ning Yizhou felt that Mu Jin’s hard work during his seclusion deserved a break. He invited Mu Jin to take a walk with him on the back mountain.
Although Mu Jin found it strange that a brief seclusion was not very challenging compared to cultivators who secluded themselves for years or even decades, he naturally did not want to refuse his lover’s kind gesture.
The back mountain of Qingyun Peak was not near the base of the mountain but still offered a pleasant view. Although it was a bit far, the scenery remained beautiful.
Many people practiced on the back mountain, and Ning Yizhou chose a less frequented path to walk with Mu Jin. He often traversed these paths and was very familiar with all of Chuanyun Peak.
Perhaps this was related to his instincts; after all, demon cultivators and spirit beasts often liked to mark their own territories. To some extent, Chuanyun Peak was his domain in Ning Yizhou’s eyes. Having lived here for many years, he naturally did not want others to encroach upon it.
As they enjoyed the scenery and chatted, most of the time it was Ning Yizhou speaking. Having lived many years, he had seen and experienced a lot, knowing many things that Mu Jin did not.
Ning Yizhou was also skilled at interacting with others, so if he wanted to befriend someone, it was hard for people to dislike him.
Ning Yizhou shared many exciting or interesting stories from his past with Mu Jin, who listened with bright, admiring eyes. Although other juniors had looked at him with similar admiration before, Ning Yizhou felt a unique sense of satisfaction when Mu Jin looked at him this way.
As they strolled, they naturally became aware of some movements in the mountains. Ning Yizhou, knowing that there were many spirit beasts on the mountain, was not surprised.
Seeing the little guy beside him suddenly stop and appear somewhat excited, Ning Yizhou noticed Mu Jin turning to him and saying, “Senior Brother, I’ve just reached the Foundation Establishment stage. How about we celebrate together?”
After saying this, Mu Jin touched his wrist, and the vine that had been quietly resting on his wrist like a bracelet suddenly extended. Then, gripping the bloodvine, Mu Jin leaped down the slope, running toward a dense area of trees.
Ning Yizhou’s vision was excellent, so he could easily track Mu Jin’s movements. He quickly realized that Mu Jin was targeting a wild boar foraging not far from the mountain. This made Ning Yizhou feel a surge of happiness.
He suddenly remembered their first meeting in their true forms—when Mu Jin was trapped and in danger from a wild boar, and Ning Yizhou had appeared to rescue him. In a way, it was like a classic tale of the hero saving the damsel in distress.
Reflecting on this, Ning Yizhou couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic, though now he was mostly filled with anticipation. He wasn’t worried about Mu Jin’s safety at this point—after all, Mu Jin had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage, and he had the bloodvine with him. Even if the bloodvine wasn’t fully matured, its attack power was still formidable.
Sure enough, it didn’t take long for Mu Jin to capture the wild boar. With his increased strength after cultivation, he easily dragged the wild boar to a nearby clearing and began gathering firewood.
Once he had gathered enough firewood, Mu Jin looked up and excitedly waved at Ning Yizhou, shouting, “Senior Brother, come quickly! Let’s celebrate together!”
Seeing this, Ning Yizhou’s face lit up with a broad smile. He quickly walked over to Mu Jin and teased, “You caught this wild boar on purpose—are you craving some meat? Little Junior Brother, most cultivators start eating fasting pills once they reach the Foundation Establishment stage.”
Ning Yizhou had meant this as a casual joke, but to his surprise, Mu Jin’s face showed a hint of unease, like a child who had accidentally made a mistake in front of a parent.
This made Ning Yizhou feel a bit guilty. He quickly patted Mu Jin on the shoulder and reassured him, saying, “There’s no harm in indulging once in a while. Fasting pills are just for convenience. If you prefer regular food, it’s perfectly fine to keep eating it. Just make sure to carry a bottle of fasting pills with you, just in case.”
Hearing Ning Yizhou’s words, Mu Jin finally relaxed and smiled, saying, “Senior Brother Ning, actually, I’m pretty good at roasting meat. Would you like to try some?”
Ning Yizhou was more than happy to oblige; he had been hoping Mu Jin would suggest this. If not for needing to maintain his current persona, he would have gladly dashed off to hunt down another wild boar himself.
Over the past year, his little junior brother had been so focused on cultivation, spending most of his time in the courtyard studying the jade slips given to him by their master or asking Ning Yizhou for advice. While having such a diligent and motivated junior brother was great, Ning Yizhou had gone a whole year without tasting Mu Jin’s delicious roasted meat, and he was definitely missing it.
Even though Ning Yizhou could occasionally go down the mountain to enjoy some good food, he always had to maintain a certain persona whenever he noticed Mu Jin looking at him with admiration.
In the past, he had spent many years playing this role on Chuanyun Peak without feeling it was a burden. But now, in front of Mu Jin, Ning Yizhou genuinely felt a bit stifled by it.
Mu Jin, however, didn’t concern himself with how Ning Yizhou felt. After all, even when he had achieved immortality in the past, he hadn’t completely given up on food. Even gods have their preferences. Although his true nature was that of a plant and he could thrive simply by rooting himself in the soil and absorbing sunlight and rain, he still enjoyed eating delicious food.
The wild boar meat was soon roasted to perfection. Mu Jin had a few low-quality spiritual fruits with him, which were typically given by the sect to lower-level disciples as a treat, offering only a slight boost in spiritual power. So using them to flavor the wild boar meat was no big deal—they would all end up in the stomach anyway.
Mu Jin had packed plenty of seasonings in his Qiankun Bag, having already planned for this moment before coming out to relax. After all, the idea of the seemingly otherworldly and refined Senior Brother sitting on a rock with him, tearing into roasted meat, was rather appealing.
Once the pork was finally cooked, Ning Yizhou took out a small knife from his pocket, cutting some small pieces of meat for Mu Jin before cutting a piece for himself and eating it slowly.
Although eating in this manner wasn’t as satisfying as reverting to his true form, seeing Mu Jin beside him, happily devouring the meat, Ning Yizhou couldn’t help but feel a unique sense of fulfillment.
After quickly finishing the meat in his hand, Mu Jin grabbed a pork leg and began to devour it heartily. Ning Yizhou hadn’t expected Mu Jin to eat with such gusto, and the smile on his face grew even wider.
It was only after taking several big bites that Mu Jin seemed to realize his behavior might be inappropriate. He immediately lifted his head, looking a bit embarrassed at Ning Yizhou, who was beside him. With a sheepish grin, he reluctantly put down the pork leg, seemingly considering whether he should follow Ning Yizhou’s example and use a small knife to slice the meat off bit by bit.
But before he could make up his mind, Ning Yizhou, who had just polished off his own piece of meat, surprised him by grabbing another pork leg and taking big bites, just as Mu Jin had done.
Seeing his usually refined and gentle lover now tearing into a pork leg without any concern for appearances, Mu Jin didn’t feel disillusioned at all. Instead, he found this down-to-earth side of Ning Yizhou even more endearing. The two exchanged glances and, after sharing a smile, continued to enjoy their meal together with great enthusiasm.
Afterward, Mu Jin took out some fruits from his Qiankun Bag, along with a water pouch sweetened with honey, clearly well-prepared for the outing.
When Ning Yizhou finished his pork leg, he noticed Mu Jin drinking from the water pouch. His eyes flickered with a hint of interest as he naturally took the pouch from Mu Jin and drank from it. He couldn’t help but think that the pouch seemed to carry Mu Jin’s scent—a light sweetness that he found quite pleasant.