Stepping into the courtyard, it was indeed quiet; there was no sign of Qiu Ning.
Passing through the elegant front courtyard, an even denser, purer warmth greeted them, mingled with the faint fragrance of jade.
Deep within the courtyard, a spirit spring roughly a zhang across came into view.
The crystal-clear water exhibited a warm, milky-white hue, with a faint white spiritual mist wafting over its surface. At the bottom of the spring, an enormous, uncut slab of warm jade was faintly visible—the very core of this Warm Jade Spirit Spring.
“All right, this is the place.” Ouyang Qing stopped in his tracks and pointed at the spirit spring. “Girl Gongsun, get ready and calm your mind. Brat Su, weren’t you going to prepare the spiritual ingredients? Make haste.”
Su Yi nodded, carrying the Flesh-Regenerating Grass, the Marrow-Cleansing Fruit, and the Stalactite Body Tempering Fluid to a stone platform off to the side specifically meant for processing medicinal herbs.
He needed to temper their medicinal properties to make them gentler and easier to absorb, aiming to minimize Gongsun Lin’s pain during refinement as much as possible. This was not difficult, so it did not require Ouyang Qing’s assistance.
“Good, I’ll leave the rest to the two of you. Yunzhi, come with me. Qiu’er has some medical canons here that I need to pass on to you.” Having brought Su Yi and Gongsun Lin here, Ouyang Qing did not intend to stay long.
Seeing this, Su Yi asked casually, “Does Elder Ouyang hold Junior Sister Tantai in high regard as well?”
In the original plot, the female lead had received inheritances from far too many elders, leaving Su Yi somewhat confused.
Hearing this, Ouyang Qing rolled his eyes. “Yunzhi originally came to consult me today. If not for you, brat, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time.”
“Is that so?” Su Yi blinked, taken aback, and glanced back at Tantai Yunzhi.
Beside him, Gongsun Lin suddenly tugged on his sleeve, glaring at him.
“Enough, hurry up and get started.”
“True, business comes first.” Su Yi nodded, then bowed to Ouyang Qing. “Junior Sister Tantai possesses exceptional talent. I’ll trouble Elder Ouyang to hold nothing back in teaching her.”
“Enough, do you think I need you to tell me that?” Ouyang Qing waved his hand, then departed with Tantai Yunzhi.
...
Along the path after leaving the courtyard, Ouyang Qing stroked his beard and couldn’t help sighing under his breath:
“Ah, watching the two of them grow up bickering and playing together... Now Brat Su has become increasingly steady and dependable, showing such devotion... It probably won’t be long before this old man can drink a cup of wedding wine for the Young Manor Lord.”
His words carried an elder’s gratified amusement, clearly taking Su Yi and Gongsun Lin as a couple.
Tantai Yunzhi, overhearing from the side, was slightly taken aback. A visible look of confusion appeared on her cool face. She turned to look at Ouyang Qing, her tone bearing an earnest incomprehension. “Senior Brother Su is getting married? How could that be?”
To her eyes, although Gongsun Rou had constantly urged him, Su Yi was noble, pure-hearted, and entirely devoted to the Dao. Moreover, he showed meticulous care and consideration to every junior brother and sister in the manor. How could marriage suddenly be brought up?
Hearing this, Ouyang Qing stopped stroking his beard and looked at Tantai Yunzhi’s utterly bewildered expression, thinking that this girl was truly naive to an astonishing degree in certain matters.
“Su Yi and Gongsun Lin grew up together as childhood sweethearts. Now he treats her with such wholehearted devotion, putting her first in everything. Anyone with eyes can see his intentions. If this isn’t what Dao companions are, then what is?”
After listening, Tantai Yunzhi slowly shook her head. Looking up with clear, resolute eyes, she earnestly countered, “That isn’t true, Elder Ouyang. Senior Brother Su is like this with everyone.
“The way you put it makes it sound as if Senior Brother Su giving Senior Sister Gongsun help is special treatment, but in truth, Senior Brother treats everyone equally.”
Ouyang Qing was choked up by Tantai Yunzhi’s earnest and straightforward retort. Looking into the young woman’s pure, spotless eyes, he momentarily did not know how to explain to her the subtle and complex distinction between romantic love and fellow-disciple camaraderie.
Thus, all he could say was, “Sigh, in any case, just consider them a pair. Have a bit of discernment in the future, and when that day truly comes, offering them your congratulations can’t go wrong.”
Ouyang Qing’s words lingered in Tantai Yunzhi’s mind, leaving her thoughts somewhat tangled as she walked behind him.
Why did Elder Ouyang believe that Senior Brother Su would end up with Senior Sister Gongsun?
‘Besides, offering congratulations? Congratulating Senior Brother...’
For some reason, she felt that until she saw the two of them together with her own eyes, there was no way she could ever bring herself to say those words.
...
Meanwhile, back at the spring, Su Yi had already carried the prepared spiritual ingredients before Gongsun Lin. The liquid, a mixture of essences from the three top-tier spiritual medicines, gave off a refreshing, rich aroma and boundless vitality.
“Are you ready?” Su Yi looked at Gongsun Lin.
Gongsun Lin looked at the bowl of spirit fluid before her, nodded firmly, and took the jade bowl with a determined gaze. “Mm! Let’s begin!”
Taking a deep breath, she suppressed the churning stray thoughts in her mind. Following Su Yi’s prior instructions, she held the jade bowl containing the blended essence of the three spiritual medicines and stepped into the Warm Jade Spirit Spring step by step.
As the warm spring water enveloped her, she dared not delay and immediately drained the spirit fluid from the bowl in one gulp.
The medicinal fluid entered her stomach, initially like sweet rain moistening her meridians.
Soon, however, a searing yet non-violent medicinal power detonated within her. Working in tandem from the inside out with the pure yang qi of the Warm Jade Spirit Spring outside her body, it began scouring her sinews and veins.
At the same time, Su Yi calmed his mind beside the spring. Using his own spiritual power as a guide, he projected the circulation path of the 《Jade Soul Glazed Body》 cultivation technique across the distance, clearly mapping it into Gongsun Lin’s sea of consciousness.
“Calm your mind and focus your spirit! Guide the medicinal power to circulate along this path!” Su Yi’s voice was steady and clear.
He had prepared for this moment for over a decade. As long as this succeeded, there was virtually no chance of Gongsun Lin darkening in the future.
When that time came, what the demon clan would have to face was not just the female lead, Tantai Yunzhi, but also Gongsun Lin, who was originally supposed to be a villain.
Although this villain still retained a bit of a young girl’s tsundere pride and naivety, lacking the cold ruthlessness of the original story, her strength was nonetheless genuine.
At the thought of future events, the corners of Su Yi’s mouth couldn’t help curling up.
Within the spirit spring, Gongsun Lin guarded her mind closely. The milky-white spring water rippled around her as pure warm jade spiritual qi intertwined with the medicinal efficacy of the Stalactite Body Tempering Fluid and the other ingredients, penetrating into her body strand by strand through her skin.
As the cultivation technique circulated, a faint glazed luster began radiating from all over her body, and jade light seemed to flow beneath her skin.
The plain white robe she wore had long been thoroughly soaked by the warm spring water.
The sodden fabric clung tightly to her skin, clearly tracing every undulating curve of her body—her slender yet supple waist, her shapely bust.
Those curvaceous contours, looming through the hazy steam and faint glazed radiance, added a heart-stopping allure.
An indescribable bashfulness instantly rushed to Gongsun Lin’s cheeks, burning far hotter than any blush she had ever felt when bickering with Su Yi before. She could even feel the tips of her ears burning.
‘I’m going to die of embarrassment... My clothes... are completely clinging to me...’ Subconsciously, she wanted to curl up or cover herself with her arms.
Yet she had to concentrate fully right now, and the clammy cling of wet garments against her skin along with the shame of having her curves laid bare nagged at her like maggots on rotting bone, continuously distracting her mind.
She did not even dare look up at Su Yi by the shore, terrified that she might catch an unusual look in his eyes.
‘Ugh, we haven’t even reached that step yet, and he’s practically seen everything.’
In truth, however, thick white mist surged over the spring; Su Yi could only perceive Gongsun Lin’s consciousness and spiritual power to confirm her safety and monitor her body tempering process.
“Hold on! This is a critical juncture, do not lose focus!” he barked in a low, stern voice, carrying an unquestionable urgency. “Guard your mind firmly and guide the medicinal power to break through the bottlenecks!”
Hearing Su Yi’s stern voice, the bashfulness in Gongsun Lin’s heart inexplicably dispersed by more than half, replaced by self-derision and resolve.
‘That’s right, what kind of time is this to be thinking about such nonsense!’
Being protected so well by Su Yi and her mother had made her mindset far too immature.
‘How can I seek the Dao with an attitude like this!’
‘Besides, I have to become stronger. Otherwise, where will I find my confidence!’
For some reason, she thought of Tantai Yunzhi, whose astonishing talent had suddenly blossomed after Su Yi brought her back. Silently berating herself, Gongsun Lin bit the tip of her tongue hard, the sharp pang instantly clearing her head.
She threw all of her focus and will into guiding the medicinal power, and faintly, a glazed radiance surfaced across her skin.
Rate on N.U.
