“Senior Brother!”
Seeing this scene through the water mirror, Tantai Yunzhi’s eyes instantly welled with uncontrollable joy, which was immediately supplanted by deep concern.
She instinctively moved to rise from the spring, causing her spiritual energy to fluctuate and stirring the black profound qi within her once more.
“Settle your mind! Do not move rashly!” The illusory figure of a woman in palace dress immediately snapped in a stern tone. “You are at the critical juncture of refinement. The profound qi and stalactite spirit fluid are clashing within your meridians. If you lose focus or interrupt the process now, all your efforts will be wasted at best—or at worst, the spiritual energy will backfire, damaging your Dao foundation!”
“Then please, Senior, release the formation restrictions and let my senior brother through!” Tantai Yunzhi pleaded urgently, her eyes brimming with earnestness. “The formations here are profound. If Senior Brother triggers them by accident, I fear he will be injured.”
Hearing this, the illusory woman raised an eyebrow slightly. “Silly girl, you underestimate this senior brother of yours. He clearly possesses considerable attainment in the art of formations.
“As for you... girl, have you forgotten what state you are in right now? I surely do not need to teach you that men and women should maintain propriety, do I?”
With this reminder, it suddenly dawned on Tantai Yunzhi that she was currently soaking in the spiritual spring without a stitch of clothing!
And so, she shrank slowly down into the spring water until only her lovely face—flushed with an enchanting crimson—remained above the surface, the delicate tips of her ears stained a rosy pink.
Her gaze darted to the side, yet her voice carried an unusual stubbornness: “Senior, Senior Brother is not that kind of person. Besides, the spiritual mist here is so thick it is difficult to make out a silhouette. And if he had such inclinations, he would already be surrounded by wives and concubines. Since he harbors no such thoughts, this will not affect our relationship as senior brother and junior sister.”
Compared to such trifles, Tantai Yunzhi feared far more that Su Yi might make a misstep.
The restrictions here were truly potent enough to harm high-realm cultivators.
Seeing Tantai Yunzhi rationalize it all so smoothly, the woman shook her head helplessly.
“Fine, fine. If you do not mind, then I will grant your wish.”
With a gentle flick of her finger, several faint runes glowing at the cave entrance silently faded away.
On the other side, Su Yi was focusing his senses on the last few obscure formation fluctuations in the passageway ahead, preparing to navigate through the gaps, when the scene before him abruptly shifted!
The stone wall that originally seemed entirely seamless slid open to both sides without a sound, revealing a straight and spacious passageway. At the far end, a secret door inscribed with profound cloud patterns was slowly swinging open, spilling forth an even denser spiritual radiance.
“Oh?” Su Yi paused in his tracks, a flicker of realization passing through his eyes. “Looks like Tantai Yunzhi has already taken care of everything.”
This was clearly a sign that the secret realm’s restrictions had been deliberately released, sparing him the trouble of breaking the formations.
Hesitating no longer, his figure flashed as he stepped into the open passageway, arriving before the secret door in just a few strides.
Sensing briefly, he detected no aura of danger beyond the door; instead, a comforting, dense spiritual energy permeated the air.
Composing himself, Su Yi stepped across the threshold of the secret door.
The sight behind the door came into view—a cave swathed in warm mist, a bubbling spiritual spring, and stalactites dripping with dew.
His gaze immediately fell upon the center of the spiritual spring.
Su Yi’s attention was drawn first to the milky-white spring water swirling with boundless vitality and pure spiritual energy. His pupils constricted slightly as he recognized the substance at once: “Stalactite Body Tempering Fluid! It actually led me straight here.”
He subconsciously looked around. Warm mist swirled through the cave, obscuring his vision; without using spiritual energy, one truly would not notice another figure.
Finding it without lifting a finger! She must have remembered me mentioning Gongsun Lin earlier and knew I needed this kind of natural treasure.
Look at that—now this is what you call an investment!
The female lead was clearly not an ungrateful protagonist; she had genuinely taken his words to heart.
With that in mind, he walked briskly to the edge of the pool, leaned down, and cupped a handful of the milky-white spirit fluid. After carefully sensing it, he frowned slightly. “The spiritual energy is abundant, but it seems... somewhat diluted by the spring water? Its efficacy probably won’t be as pure as gathering it directly from the source.”
Murmuring to himself, he instinctively looked up, his gaze following the stalactites hanging from the cavern ceiling where the fluid was condensing, searching for the undiluted source of the tempering fluid.
However, as his eyes swept past the center of the spiritual spring, he froze slightly.
Not far away, amid the swirling steam, a head quietly peeked above the water’s surface. Wet strands of hair clung to her cheeks, and a pair of clear eyes filled with complicated emotions gazed silently at him without blinking.
Su Yi’s movements froze, his hands cupping the spirit fluid lingering mid-air. “Ah... someone’s here.”
Tantai Yunzhi looked at him, her lips parting slightly. With an inexplicable tremor, her voice softly sounded: “Senior Brother.”
Su Yi only remained frozen for an instant before turning around naturally, sitting down cross-legged with his back to the spiritual spring.
“So you were meditating here, Yunzhi. Why didn’t you say anything earlier?
“Focus on regulating your breath; stabilizing your cultivation is what matters most. Senior Brother will guard you here, so you need not worry about the outside.”
As he spoke, he gave his sleeve a gentle flick. Several streaks of light bearing a refreshing medicinal fragrance flew precisely toward Tantai Yunzhi, hovering above the spring water in front of her. They were high-grade spirit pills meant for healing and aiding concentration.
“Thank you, Senior Brother,” Tantai Yunzhi responded softly, reaching out to accept the pills.
Earlier, seeing Su Yi rush over so eagerly in her direction, her mind had gone completely blank for some reason, and she had forgotten to call out until their eyes met...
After she swallowed the pills, a short while passed before Su Yi heard the rustling of clothes behind him.
Only when Tantai Yunzhi stepped up beside him did he slightly open his eyes. Standing up and looking at the giant stalactite before them, he leaned toward her and asked, “Have you already claimed the opportunity here?”
Hearing this, Tantai Yunzhi did not rush to answer. Instead, she looked up at the illusory woman in mid-air, as if seeking her approval.
Su Yi was her benefactor, but so was the senior before her; she did not know if the senior wished to reveal herself.
Seeing Tantai Yunzhi’s hesitation, the woman felt a hint of surprise. She had assumed Tantai Yunzhi wouldn’t bother consulting her, so this considerate gesture indeed pleased her.
“Go ahead. So many people outside saw you enter, so there is no need to hide it from your senior brother.”
Seeing the senior’s assent, Tantai Yunzhi answered honestly:
“Yes. Yunzhi has already received that senior’s inheritance.”
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