Full Time Servant

"Boss, watch that little glutton and don't let it come in again. Otherwise we'll only be able to eat dry rations, maybe not even dry rations..." Xiaoyao's voice came from inside.

"I know, I will. Little Chi Chi, don't cause trouble, okay? Your master is very busy, don't add to his chaos. If you want to eat, go to your own storage." The girl stroked Chi Chi's head, if it could be said to have a head.

"Chi chi..." Chi Chi called out seemingly innocently, apparently wanting to say something, but no one could understand.

"Little furball, behave yourself, okay. Otherwise I'll pluck out all your fur..." The Young Miss grabbed Chi Chi and pulled it back and forth.

"..." Chi Chi didn't even dare to cry out anymore.

"Seventh Sister, the environment here is quite nice. Did the family specially arrange this?" The Young Miss started chatting about nothing again.

From when she entered, the Young Miss felt this place was different. Within the servant quarters, it had the feeling of "great hermit hidden in the market," and also a sense of "emerging from mud without being stained."

When she saw the interior environment, the Young Miss felt this even more strongly. If speaking purely in terms of luxury, this place was far inferior to the Young Miss's own courtyard, but here had a unique atmosphere. That simple feeling that was also elegantly refined and otherworldly.

Such design could only be described with two words: ingenious.

This courtyard appeared to be inside, but from the outside one couldn't feel its existence. At the same time, it looked so elegantly refined yet was integrated into these servant quarters.

This was a very contradictory existence, but it cleverly prevented people from feeling the contradiction, this was the magical aspect of this courtyard.

To create such a place would definitely require no ordinary person, so the Young Miss naturally assumed this was the family's achievement.

"No, it was built bit by bit by Xiaoyao." The girl shook her head lightly and said.

"What? Impossible." The Young Miss asked. At this moment, she felt somewhat strange. Why didn't she seem to feel surprised or shocked? Could it be that she also thought this was normal?

"It is a bit unbelievable. If I hadn't watched him change this place bit by bit, I would doubt whether he did it. The design here incorporates his studies in landscape gardening, architecture, medicine, and even Taoist mystical arts." the girl said softly.

"I can understand Taoist mystical arts, using some formations to confuse others, but what does medicine mean?" The Young Miss couldn't quite understand the girl's words.

"I'm not very clear either. I only know he said some environments and herbs can make people's mental state relaxed and promote blood circulation..." the girl said.

"This works too? This kid is too surprising. Originally I thought he was just a servant who knew everything, now I feel like he's a genius who knows everything." The Young Miss said. Of course her words were somewhat contradictory and were quickly pointed out.

"Servants can also be geniuses." the girl said very seriously.

"...Don't nitpick my words. That's what I meant. I'm very curious how he grew up, and also, with such abilities, why is he still willing to be a small servant?" The Young Miss said very doubtfully.

"I've asked this question too. He said he just wants to fulfill a servant's duties properly, and also that he continues being a servant because he temporarily can't find other work." The girl stared ahead blankly as she spoke. She had asked similar questions more than once and gotten basically the same answers.

When the girl asked Xiaoyao, she asked why Xiaoyao continued being her servant, not why Xiaoyao continued being a servant. Though the questions were similar, the meanings were quite different.

Of course, for the Young Miss's question, this answer could also explain it.

"Can't find... it's that he doesn't want to find..." The Young Miss said faintly. For someone like Xiaoyao, finding good work would be effortless.

Xiaoyao himself wasn't a long-term contract servant and had no indenture contract. If he wanted to leave, it was his freedom, no one could stop him.

If he wanted to repay the Mo family's nurturing grace, his work over these many years had already repaid it.

Perhaps his view of nurturing grace was different, so he continued staying with the Mo family. This was also human nature, because everyone's view of kindness differs. For the same thing, some people remember, some forget, some repay with a gushing spring, while others just return courtesy casually.

Or perhaps, as Xiaoyao said, he truly couldn't find work, not because he couldn't find work he was capable of, but because he couldn't find work he found interesting.

"It smells so good. What's being made inside?" The Young Miss suddenly smelled a fragrant aroma, and within a very short time smelled several other fragrances.

This seemed like the feeling of several dishes being completed in a short time. If there were several sets of cooking equipment inside that would be understandable, but there was only one person inside, how could such an effect be achieved?

"I don't know. Xiaoyao never repeats dishes when cooking for me..." the girl shook her head in reply.

"Never repeat? Is it because you're rarely together, or because he rarely cooks?" The Young Miss asked puzzledly.

"We are together rarely, because normally I cultivate alone. I don't want to trouble Xiaoyao." The girl seemed to be answering the question but also seemed to not be talking about this matter.

Right, although they weren't together every day, the time together wasn't little, there would always be a few days each month and a period each year together.

When the two were together, Xiaoyao couldn't possibly let the girl cook herself. It was always him. Even if it was one dish per meal, that wouldn't be few, let alone that each meal had more than one dish.

If the Young Miss knew this situation, she would definitely be habitually surprised or slightly shocked. Though her numb nerves weren't affected by such stimulation anymore, she would still find it somewhat unbelievable. How did Xiaoyao make so many different dishes?

"Right, what do you cultivate? Why can't I tell what martial techniques you use?" The Young Miss asked. This topic suited her appetite, she really wanted to know.

"I cultivate Clear Jade Technique. My martial arts are sword techniques and palm techniques, sword techniques primary, palm techniques secondary." the girl replied.

"Clear Jade Technique? Isn't that a Mo family mental method?" The Young Miss asked.

"No." The girl shook her head.

"If the mental method isn't, then the martial techniques definitely aren't either. Just now watching your movement and palm techniques, they completely lack the feeling of Mo family martial arts. Even if you have your own style, there should at least be some traces, but you have none at all. That means what you use can't be Mo family martial techniques." The Young Miss stroked her chin while speculating, and a trace of gravity appeared on her forehead.

"Right, they're not. The sword technique I cultivate is Lone Star Sword, the palm technique is Lone Star Palm." the girl replied.

"Lone Star Sword? Lone Star Palm? Why have I never heard of them?" The Young Miss asked in confusion. When Clear Jade Technique was mentioned earlier, she still knew of it, but she had no knowledge of the latter two.

Clear Jade Technique was an extremely superior internal cultivation method. Quite a few people on the continent cultivated this internal method, but the Mo family didn't practice it. They all cultivated Mo family mental methods.

This wasn't because Mo family mental methods were stronger than Clear Jade Technique, but because the Clear Jade Technique available in the Mo family and even the entire continent wasn't complete. Those cultivating Clear Jade Technique could at most reach the sixth layer, the mental formulas for the seventh layer and beyond were only available by entering Clear Jade Palace.

Entering Clear Jade Palace was so difficult it made people shrink back in fear. At the same time, Clear Jade Palace only possessed the seventh and eighth layers - they themselves didn't have the ninth layer of Clear Jade Technique.

However, those who could practice to the eighth layer already stood at the continent's peak. The Clear Jade Palace Master was good proof. She was the ninth-ranked person on the Heavenly Rankings. It was said the strength of the top ten on the Heavenly Rankings was mysterious, ranked by everyone based roughly on information and didn't represent true strength rankings.

Therefore, the power of Clear Jade Technique was evident. It's just that Clear Jade Technique lacked the ninth layer, so many people wouldn't choose it. Since even overcoming all difficulties to enter Clear Jade Palace wouldn't get them the highest level, they simply chose other internal methods that could advance to the top level.

These internal methods weren't inferior to Clear Jade Technique in cultivation, and future achievements wouldn't lose to Clear Jade Technique either. Therefore, more people chose these internal methods, like the most common Formless Divine Art, Clear Void Energy, and so on.

However, even so, those who could cultivate Clear Jade Technique to the sixth layer could still become continental powerhouses, because those reaching the sixth layer had already entered the ranks of King-level experts. If the sixth layer was perfected, they could even step into Emperor-level.

Emperor-level experts on the continent could be counted. This could be seen from the Heavenly Rankings. It was the ranking of Emperor-level and above experts. Reaching Emperor-level qualified one for the Heavenly Rankings, and the current number of people on the Heavenly Rankings wasn't even two hundred.

Even so, few people chose it, because humans always want bargains. If they could have perfect things, they absolutely wouldn't choose defective ones. This was human nature.

The vast majority wouldn't consider whether they could cultivate this defective thing to completion. In fact, even given the best conditions, most people could at most cultivate to the fifth layer of Clear Jade Technique, or even lower.

If everyone could cultivate to the end, then each would be Emperor-level or even legendary existences.

Actually, in Xiaoyao's words, martial cultivation didn't depend on what kind of internal method and martial techniques you practiced, but on how far you could walk on this path.

If you couldn't walk far, even given the best mental methods and techniques, you'd still be like that. If you could walk far, then even with ordinary mental methods and techniques, you could still go far - just taking slightly more time.