Being bad at comforting girls was only part of it. More importantly, Ye Ling wanted to figure out how the System actually made its judgments.
When his Master deemed something "reasonable," did that mean she first believed it was feasible and then acknowledged it as reasonable?
Or did it mean that as long as she approved, the System would directly twist reality and force it to become "reasonable"?
The difference between the two was huge. If it was the former, then the difficulty was quite high. He would have to find a Master like Bai Yiyi, someone whose thinking was… missing a screw or two.
If it was the latter, things would be much simpler. Ye Ling could just go down the mountain, hire anyone at random to act as his Master, and have them openly approve his ridiculous cultivation ideas.
Sure, he would be labeled insane, but once he actually succeeded, the face-slapping would be loud and satisfying.
Because of that, Ye Ling felt this was something he needed to probe carefully.
Before Bai Yiyi could speak, he asked a targeted question. "Master, how do you think I should start cultivating right now?"
With the System's help, Ye Ling could already sense spiritual energy. As long as he wanted to, he could even forcibly draw it into his body. The absurd fantasy he had mentioned earlier had already become reality.
Still, he wanted to see how Bai Yiyi planned to teach him, so he kept all of this to himself.
"Good disciple, start by tempering your spirit."
With a casual flip of her hand, a thread-bound book appeared in Bai Yiyi's grasp. As she handed it to Ye Ling, she explained, "Your soul is strong, but it has never been cultivated. This is the Jade Spirit Body Cultivation Method, a spirit-body technique collected by my grandmaster long ago."
"Since you still have a human body, you can't actually cultivate it. However, it contains methods for tempering the spirit, which you can learn from."
"Once you're able to control your mental power, you can then draw in spiritual energy to temper your body."
To be fair, when it came to cultivation, Bai Yiyi really did seem reliable.
Her explanation was clear and orderly, without any deliberate mystification. Even an ordinary person could understand what she was saying.
If she could talk like this all the time, she would definitely be well liked. What a shame.
The body-tempering path of cultivators relied entirely on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Without it, no matter how hard one trained, they would only ever be a mundane martial artist.
For Ye Ling to temper his body, the prerequisite really was absorbing spiritual energy. But with the System's assistance, he had already crossed that threshold.
So instead of taking the Jade Spirit Body Cultivation Method, he asked Bai Yiyi, "Master, could you describe what spiritual energy actually is?"
His real goal was to see whether Bai Yiyi had simply ignored this loophole, or whether she had some way of getting around it.
Naturally, he felt the former was more likely. Still, this was the Heavenly Gate Sect. Its previous sect master had ascended as an immortal. Who knew if there really was some way to patch this flaw?
After all, many things that were impossible to the outside world might be trivial within a secluded sect.
Besides, everything Ye Ling knew so far came from what the System had fed him, along with the novels he had read before transmigrating. There were plenty of things he genuinely needed to ask Bai Yiyi about.
What he didn't expect was for Bai Yiyi to look puzzled in response.
"Hm?"
Confusion appeared on Bai Yiyi's adorable little face as she asked him in return, "Good disciple, spiritual energy is just spiritual energy. Can't you feel it?"
"???"
Faced with her confusion, Ye Ling became even more confused himself. He did his best to stay calm and laughed lightly. "Master, you're joking. Spiritual energy is formless and colorless, scattered throughout heaven and earth. How could ordinary people possibly find it?"
"Really?"
Bai Yiyi extended her fair, delicate hand toward Ye Ling. Nothing appeared on her palm, yet she asked him, "Isn't this spiritual energy?"
"…"
Ye Ling didn't know what to say. The main problem was that he really could sense spiritual energy now. And on Bai Yiyi's small hand, there truly was a wisp of spiritual energy gathering.
He could only dodge the issue and speak around it. "Master, people down the mountain don't even know what spiritual energy is."
"There are really people like that?"
Bai Yiyi's eyes flew open, her cute little face filled with disbelief.
Seeing her reaction, Ye Ling silently confirmed something in his heart. She wasn't lying.
In fact, she really didn't look like someone capable of deceiving others. It would already be impressive if she managed not to get deceived herself.
"Master, could you see spiritual energy the moment you were born?"
Sticking to his pragmatic mindset, Ye Ling still asked the question, looking at Bai Yiyi with a hint of suspicion.
"Is there something wrong with that?"
Bai Yiyi bit her lip, looking slightly uneasy.
"No. That's proof of your talent, Master."
Ye Ling's face remained blank, but inwardly he let out a bitter smile.
Are you serious?
Shouldn't I, the transmigrator, be the protagonist here?
How did I end up running into a genius Master right from the start?
Before transmigrating, Ye Ling had seen plenty of geniuses like Bai Yiyi, the kind who had no self-awareness. They always thought they were ordinary, when in reality they simply had no idea what the people below them were like. That was why they considered themselves "ordinary."
Still, Ye Ling wasn't discouraged. After all, he now had a cheat. His future wouldn't be any worse than those geniuses.
In fact—
Aren't geniuses like these just here to get slapped in the face by me?
Thinking that, Ye Ling's mood improved quite a bit. He looked at Bai Yiyi's palm and asked, "Master, is what you're holding spiritual energy?"
In truth, if Ye Ling didn't have the System, then even if the entire space were filled with spiritual energy, he still wouldn't know what it was. He might even suffocate due to the lack of air.
"That's right."
Bai Yiyi answered his question first, then replied with a somewhat uneasy expression, "How could I be considered a genius? My junior sisters may not be as strong as me in cultivation, and they can't beat me in a fight either, but they're really amazing!"
???
Are you actually praising them?
Your cultivation and fighting ability are both higher than those senior aunts'. What more do you want?
Looking at Bai Yiyi's utterly sincere expression, Ye Ling felt a jumble of emotions.
No, I can't let you keep pretending like this!
A gentle smile appeared on Ye Ling's handsome face as he said, "So this is spiritual energy. Thank you for the guidance, Master."
As soon as he finished speaking, the mental power in his mind surged out, wrapping up the spiritual energy gathered in Bai Yiyi's palm and forcefully dragging it into his own body.
"Hm?"
Bai Yiyi's beautiful wine-red eyes widened as she stared at Ye Ling as if he were some kind of rare treasure.
"Master, could you gather a bit more spiritual energy for me?"
Seeing Bai Yiyi so stunned, Ye Ling couldn't help feeling a little pleased, though his mind remained clear.
Now, he needed to let the System's reward take effect. And to do that, he had to put on a proper display of what real genius looked like in front of Bai Yiyi.