Eve returned to the Platinum Tree Palace with Xu Xin and the purple-haired girl.
Back in his quarters, Xu Xin began practicing Primordial Unity Breath Kung Fu, which he had postponed due to the visit to the Divine Tree.
In the primordial universe, there was chaos. When a stream of energy arose from the chaos, the order of the universe was created, and heaven, earth, and humanity came into being. Thus, primordial unity symbolized the origin of the universe.
Primordial Unity Breath Kung Fu was a practice that sought that stream of energy from primordial unity.
Heaven, earth, and humanity were born from a stream of energy from primordial unity, and heaven, earth, and humanity were the Three Talents, so Primordial Unity Breath Kung Fu could be said to have commonality with Three Talents Energy Cultivation while also containing more profound insights.
Xu Xin sat in a full lotus position and moved his spiritual body.
Primordial Unity Breath Kung Fu had aspects that flowed naturally from Three Talents Energy Cultivation, and his spiritual sensitivity had developed as much as his spirit had been nourished.
So he felt no difficulty at all in practicing Primordial Unity Breath Kung Fu. Rather, it felt like it was filling in what had been lacking, knowingly or unknowingly, while practicing Three Talents Energy Cultivation.
The foundation he had built with Three Talents Energy Cultivation was incredibly solid, but it certainly had rough parts, and Primordial Unity Breath Kung Fu refined those parts as if it had been designed to do so from the beginning.
'It's like scratching an itchy spot.'
Like a baby with teeth weaning off milk and chewing food. Xu Xin naturally transitioned from Three Talents Energy Cultivation to Primordial Unity Breath Kung Fu.
Following the formula of Primordial Unity Breath Kung Fu, Xu Xin's spiritual body digested the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Despite digesting more spiritual energy than with Three Talents Energy Cultivation, its purity did not diminish at all. This was the result of the combination of Xu Xin's solid foundation and the profundity of Wudang Sect's cultivation methods.
"Whooo..."
Xu Xin concluded after performing one session of Primordial Unity Breath Kung Fu.
But suddenly, he sensed a presence at the door.
'Are the Elves bringing a meal? It does seem like that time.'
When Xu Xin turned his head, he saw purple hair. The purple-haired girl was peeking her head through the open door.
"Can I come in?"
The purple-haired girl asked in a sleepy voice.
"Please come in."
With Xu Xin's permission, the purple-haired girl walked to him with her short legs.
"What were you doing?"
The girl asked Xu Xin, who was sitting in a full lotus position.
"Martial arts."
Xu Xin answered.
"Martial arts? What's that?"
"It's something like... a game that I enjoy."
"Hmm."
After briefly looking at Xu Xin's full lotus position, the girl soon lost interest and her expression became languid.
"By the way, what brings you here?"
"I came to tell you my name. Eve gave me a name."
"Oh, is that so? I'm curious what name it is."
"My name is Lethe."
The way Lethe spoke her own name with that tiny mouth was incredibly cute and adorable. Xu Xin automatically smiled, as if seeing a young disciple of his sect.
"That's a very pretty name. My name is Xu Xin."
"I know. I heard and memorized all the names when the brothers and sisters told each other their names in front of Mother Divine Tree."
"Memorizing all names after hearing them once. You're smart."
Lethe seemed to be in a better mood at Xu Xin's compliment.
Just then, Elves came with fruit baskets. It was already time for dinner.
"This is perfect timing. Would you like to have dinner together?"
The girl accepted Xu Xin's invitation.
After the Elves brought Lethe's share of fruit baskets as well, they ate facing each other.
As Lethe ate a fruit similar to grapes, she said.
"Eve told me. She said she'll help me get accustomed to using magic while taking care of me."
"I see."
"And she said she'd take me along to clear out those things called magical beasts or whatever. So I can practice magic against them and gain experience."
"Oh."
Lethe ate three baskets of fruit and whined that she was full.
"Xu Xin. Are you also being cared for by Eve?"
"Yes. I'm indebted to her."
"Then are you also learning magic from Eve with me?"
Xu Xin shook his head.
"No? Why?"
"I have no magical force in my body. So I can't learn magic either."
At the mention of having no magical force, Lethe blinked and then patted Xu Xin's shoulder.
"How pitiful. Hang in there, Xu Xin."
Xu Xin smiled lightly at that pure consolation.
※※※
After their introduction, Lethe often came to visit Xu Xin.
She would show off the magic she learned from Eve, and each time, Xu Xin would praise her abundantly, finding her endearing.
Lethe always had a languid face as if everything was troublesome, but when she heard Xu Xin's praise, she seemed quite pleased.
Although Xu Xin's practice was sometimes interrupted by Lethe's occasional visits, he never considered it an interruption.
Instead, Xu Xin would play various games with Lethe.
Though they didn't go outside the quarters, Xu Xin's quarters were so spacious that they could play hide-and-seek or tag inside.
When playing tag, Lethe would fly around wildly using magical wind to escape.
Then Xu Xin would use his lightness skill to chase after Lethe, but he could never catch her, not even once in a hundred tries.
Lethe's innate magical force as a High Elf far surpassed the results of Xu Xin's eighty years of training.
However, Xu Xin did not fall into a sense of futility despite his eighty years of training results seeming modest.
He knew that everyone had their own path.
That path was one where simply walking it silently was enough.
It was a path where there was no need to compare with others, nor a reason to pity oneself.
If one enjoys one's own path, isn't that already exhilarating?