It had already been several days since their return from the Foundation Establishment secret realm.
Inside Su Yi’s dedicated cultivation chamber at Divine Might Manor.
He stood quietly before a red sandalwood table, his solemn gaze sweeping over several items laid out upon it: a stalk of Flesh-Regenerating Grass with emerald leaves and faint streams of light shimmering through its veins; a translucent Marrow-Cleansing Fruit that emanated a delicate, exotic fragrance; and a small white jade vial wreathed in a milky-white spiritual mist at its mouth—precisely the Stalactite Body Tempering Fluid he had obtained from the core of the secret realm.
In addition to these natural treasures, an ancient jade slip lay open on the desk, engraved with spiritual runes forming five bold, vigorous characters—《Jade Soul Glazed Body》. It was an exceptionally rare Earth-rank body tempering technique.
“Flesh-Regenerating Grass to strengthen the foundation, Marrow-Cleansing Fruit to reshape the sinews, Body Tempering Fluid to scour the marrow... and on top of that, this Earth-rank 《Jade Soul Glazed Body》.”
Tapping his fingertips lightly against the tabletop, Su Yi muttered to himself, “Stacking these resources together, the effect should be more than enough.”
“Kid,” a woman’s voice, tinged with a hint of laziness and curiosity, abruptly echoed in the quiet room—audible only to Su Yi. “Tinkering with all those baubles... are you planning to put yourself through a thorough marrow-scouring and sinew-cleansing? With your current foundation, there shouldn’t be any rush, right?”
The source of the voice was naturally Lin Chan, who had settled into Su Yi’s “Homeland” space and was slowly recovering with the help of the Heavenly Longevity Pill and Origin Tracing Pill.
Though she was in recuperation, her divine sense could still perceive the outside world. Seeing the grand display Su Yi had laid out, she could not help but feel puzzled.
Hearing her, Su Yi turned his head and replied, “Senior Lin is awake? How do you feel?”
“Mm, I won’t be dying for the moment, but reshaping my life origin and repairing my Dao foundation is not the work of a single day.” Lin Chan’s voice carried a faint trace of weakness, yet it was already vastly better than the near-dissipated state she had been in when they first met.
“Don’t change the subject. Did you prepare all this for Yunzhi?”
Su Yi shook his head, his gaze remaining fixed on the herbs upon the table as he spoke calmly: “Yunzhi’s foundation is solid, and her Five Elements Dao Physique is an exceptional constitution to begin with.”
“These are prepared for another of my junior sisters.”
Pausing, he added, “She should be arriving shortly.”
Right as he spoke, several gentle knocks sounded from outside the room.
With a slight thought from Su Yi, the door swung open silently.
A young woman stood outside, dressed in plain white robes.
Gongsun Lin’s fingers twirled unconsciously around a strand of white hair. An almost imperceptible flicker of surprise and delight gleamed in her eyes as she asked, “Why did you look for me?”
She was indeed somewhat taken aback.
Ever since returning from the secret realm, Su Yi, as the commander of the expedition, had been rushed off his feet—not only handling the aftermath, taking inventory of the gains, and reporting to the sect higher-ups, but also personally paying a visit to Elder Zhao’s residence to offer condolences and compensation.
Yet now, he had actually gone out of his way to make time to meet with her.
Hearing her question, Su Yi beckoned her inside. His gaze lingered for a moment on her striking white hair, and he smiled. “Naturally, it’s because I haven’t seen Junior Sister in so long and missed you.”
“Hmph, you lie without batting an eye.” Hearing his frivolous words, Gongsun Lin turned her head aside, yet a smile inevitably curved the corners of her lips.
Right as Gongsun Lin stepped into the chamber, Lin Chan’s slightly surprised voice sounded in Su Yi’s mind: “Oh? A congenital deficiency, followed by the erosion of her life origin by yin-cold energy, leading to withered meridians and a hidden affliction?”
“This sort of hidden affliction... isn’t particularly rare among low-rank cultivators. Body cultivators who practiced improper methods or suffered severe yin-cold injuries might end up with it.”
To put it bluntly, back when the body could still be remodeled and the danger first surfaced, she failed to receive top-tier, targeted resources in time to nourish and repair it.
By the time she grew stronger and had the means to acquire resources, the hidden affliction was already like the tangled roots of an old tree, deeply entwined with her cultivation and life origin into a chronic malady. Simply put, when it could be cured, there was no capability; when the capability arrived... it was already incurable.
Pausing, her voice carried a touch of bewilderment as it entered Su Yi’s sea of consciousness: ‘Kid, with Divine Might Manor’s heritage, there shouldn’t be a lack of conventional resources to treat this kind of hidden ailment. Why let it drag out until now?’
Su Yi silently replied in his heart: ‘The manor has methods, but none could be as gentle and thorough as a natural treasure like Stalactite Body Tempering Fluid, which concentrates the essence of heaven and earth into absolute purity.’
After all, cultivators couldn’t just reset their cultivation at will. When nurturing a talented character, one naturally had to provide the absolute best. Only when left with no other choice would Su Yi settle for second best.
Hearing this, Lin Chan looked baffled.
“You’re certainly sparing no expense. An Earth-rank body refining technique plus so many spiritual treasures—you’re treating her even better than Yunzhi.”
‘Indeed. I’ve invested even more in Gongsun Lin than in Tantai Yunzhi. I only hope for extraordinary returns,’ Su Yi remarked with a trace of helplessness.
In all honesty, nurturing characters in reality was vastly harder than in a game.
Still, it didn’t matter. Gongsun Lin had already been raised by Gongsun Rou like a child bride, so he knew her through and through. He didn’t dislike her either; if anything, he was quite fond of her.
Besides, Gongsun Lin’s villain script had now been completely overturned. Barring any accidents, they would become family sooner or later anyway.
“Hey, why did you go quiet again?”
Gongsun Lin sat down beside Su Yi. Ever since she entered, he had abruptly frozen in place, wearing an odd expression.
As she spoke, her gaze shifted, falling upon the spiritual ingredients on the desk and the jade slip of 《Jade Soul Glazed Body》.
“What are these? You want to temper your body?” Gongsun Lin picked up the technique scroll, but before she could inspect it closely, a hand gripped her wrist.
“Just auxiliary ingredients for soaking in a spirit spring. All right, Junior Sister, accompany me to Hundred Herbs Hall.” Without giving her room to argue, Su Yi stowed away the spiritual materials and pulled her toward the door, his movement as natural as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
“Eh?!” Gongsun Lin was startled by his sudden action. A shiver ran through her, and she instinctively tried to pull her hand back.
The warmth passing through her skin made her heart skip a beat. Two patches of rosy blush instantly flared on her cheeks, staining even the tips of her ears crimson.
“Wh-what spirit spring soaking? Together?!”
...
Inside Hundred Herbs Hall, the fragrance of medicinal herbs curled gently through the air.
In an elegant side hall, an elder dressed in plain grey robes, with white hair and a youthful complexion, sat upright in the seat of honor.
At this moment, he looked upon Tantai Yunzhi seated below with a smile, his eyes filled with undisguised appreciation.
“Hehe, I truly never expected it,” Elder Ouyang stroked his beard and chuckled, his tone tinged with wonder. “That girl Gongsun Rou has such a fiery, tempestuous temperament, yet she managed to take in a disciple so gifted in pharmacology and spiritual plants. Even this old man feels a bit envious.”
Hearing this, Tantai Yunzhi bowed slightly from across the room. Her expression was respectful, and her voice was clear, cool, and humble: “Elder praises me excessively. Yunzhi has only scratched the surface of this path, and what little I know is entirely thanks to Master not giving up on me and teaching me patiently. To receive Master’s favor is already my greatest fortune; I dare not harbor any other thoughts.”
Seeing this, the appreciation in Ouyang Qing’s eyes deepened, and he said with a hint of regret, “You little girl, everything about you is fine except that you’re far too modest.”
“What a pity that this old man has been immersed in the Dao of alchemy all these years and never cared to join the commotion in the Council Hall. Otherwise, the one who picked up such an enormous bargain might have been me.”
Tantai Yunzhi merely returned a polite yet distant smile, offering no reply.
She was well aware of the status and capabilities of the elder before her—he was the highest-ranking grandmaster of medicine refinement in Divine Might Manor.
Her opportunity to come to Hundred Herbs Hall for advanced studies this time had also been made possible by her master Gongsun Rou’s strong recommendation.
Just as Elder Ouyang was about to say more, a flurry of hurried footsteps came from outside the side hall. A disciple walked up to him, bowed, and announced:
“Elder, the Young Manor Lord requests an audience.”
‘The Young Manor Lord? It’s Senior Brother Su.’ Hearing the disciple’s words, Tantai Yunzhi’s back straightened unconsciously.
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