Chapter 344

"Foundation Establishment is simpler than I imagined, and also more difficult than I imagined."

"The three trials of Foundation Establishment you mentioned, I had none missing: strong soul, pure spiritual energy, robust physique; the preparation was flawless. She was afraid I would be greedy for progress, so she specifically made me wait three more months after reaching Qi Refining Great Perfection, and only gave me the Foundation Establishment Pill after personally checking that my spirit, essence, and energy were sufficient."

"The three disasters of spiritual roots, I also passed safely. Whether it was the tongue, the dantian, or the primordial yin, there were no omissions."

"When I broke through the dantian barrier, the path to Foundation Establishment was already beckoning to me. At that moment, I only needed to complete the connection of the main meridians and restrain the spiritual power to succeed."

"But just at that time, my heart monkey went wild and my mind horse galloped. I held onto the determination to catch up with your footsteps and went for it in one go. But just as I was about to succeed, I became anxious about gains and losses: if I really establish my foundation, will you still want me? Clearly, she is even more outstanding than me."

Perhaps it was because she had been healed once by Luo Chen's pure wood spiritual power.

Or perhaps it was the emotional fluctuation upon seeing Luo Chen.

At this moment, Gu Caiyi was talking continuously, as if it were a flash of brilliance before death.

"When I woke up, my dantian was more than half destroyed, and the vast spiritual power that had nowhere to be restrained had already ravaged my meridians into a mess."

"Foundation Establishment, from then on, failed."

The woman looked at Luo Chen blankly.

"I know, the Dao companion you want is not someone beautiful as a flower, but a good person who can walk with you on the path of cultivation."

"If I cannot establish my foundation, in a few decades, I will only turn into a handful of yellow earth, causing you unnecessary sorrow."

"Originally, I didn't want to act like this, like a little girl."

"But, I'm afraid!"

"I'm afraid that if I don't say it now, in a few years, I will die. By then, there will be no more chance..."

"You won't die!"

Luo Chen interrupted her.

Firm and decisive!

"I am not comforting you, nor am I lying to you. In at most one year, I will definitely be able to cure your injuries."

Gu Caiyi tugged at the corners of her mouth, somewhat dazed.

She murmured.

"Really?"

Luo Chen didn't speak, just nodded heavily.

The woman's mouth curled slightly, and a glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes.

"You should rest now!"

"Are you leaving?"

"They are here."

Gu Caiyi was stunned for a moment, then a blush appeared on her face, and she let go of Luo Chen's hand.

Luo Chen tucked the corner of the quilt for her.

He stood up and opened a corner of the window to let some fresh air into the room.

Then, he left the room calmly.

Behind him, Gu Caiyi watched his departing back and gradually closed her eyes.

In the snow, figures were moving.

After that bright red figure walked out, there were waves of greetings.

"President!"

"President!"

"President!"

Luo Chen stood with his hands behind his back, scanning the crowd with a calm expression.

"Everyone go back; we will hold the Luo Tian Council in three days."

"Hui Niang, stay!"

The crowd looked at each other, but under Luo Chen's growing majesty, no one raised any objections.

After paying their respects, they each left.

At this moment, on the snow, besides messy footprints, there were only a man and a woman with equally messy thoughts.

Sima Hui Niang didn't speak, just stretched her long neck to look at Luo Chen.

Luo Chen didn't speak either, just looked at her like that.

A year and a half had passed, and she was even more graceful than before, but her clear, beautiful cheeks had thinned quite a bit.

After a while, Sima Hui Niang lowered her swan-like neck and said softly, "You're back."

"Yes, I'm back. You've worked hard during this time."

As soon as the words "worked hard" came out,

for some reason, Sima Hui Niang felt a soreness in her nose.

She lowered her head and shook it slightly.

"Working for you, it's not hard."

Luo Chen sighed, walked forward, and gripped the woman's soft, boneless hand.

"Tell me, what is the situation?"

The situation, naturally, was not the situation of the Luo Tian Society.

It referred to the situation of the owner of this small courtyard behind them—Gu Caiyi.

Held by the man, with the surging, fire-like masculine aura coming from his nose, the heavy stone in Sima Hui Niang's heart finally fell.

She turned back and looked at the small courtyard.

"From the day you left Danxia, Hall Master Gu reached Qi Refining Great Perfection and applied to me for a Foundation Establishment Pill with her accumulated merits over the years."

"At that time, I indeed had a Foundation Establishment Pill in my hand. It was one of the three gifts sent by Tantai Jin during my Foundation Establishment ceremony."

"According to reason, I should have granted it to her."

"But I had discussed with you before that the Luo Tian Society is in a period of rapid development and needs a lot of manpower. Hall Master Gu is in charge of the Golden Hall and is the most important link in turning output into profit; the Luo Tian Society cannot do without her. Plus, Hall Master Murong's Foundation Establishment order was ahead of hers, so I waited until three months after Hall Master Murong successfully established her foundation before giving her the pill."

Luo Chen listened carefully to her words.

They corresponded with what he heard from Murong Qinglian and Gu Caiyi last night.

Clearly, Hui Niang had omitted some details.

For example, letting Gu Caiyi stabilize her Qi Refining Great Perfection realm for fear she would be greedy for progress.

For example, specifically renting the best second-tier low-grade cave dwelling for her.

"Before the Foundation Establishment, Elder Wang Yuan and I assessed that Hall Master Gu had a solid foundation and spiritual energy even purer than mine and Duan Feng's; logically, her success rate should have been higher than ours."

"But sometimes, as long as it's not absolute, there will be accidents."

"She failed."

"The injuries are very serious, more serious than when my older brother failed."

"In the name of the Luo Tian Society, I spent a lot of money to invite the famous medical expert Sun Yuezhi from the Immortal City."

"The result after the diagnosis was quite bad."

"According to Expert Sun, Hall Master Gu's foundation was too solid; although she was a Qi Refining cultivator, her spiritual energy was almost no less than that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. It was precisely because of this that after the Foundation Establishment failed, the destructive nature of the spiritual energy on her body far exceeded that of an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator's failure."

When Sima Hui Niang said this, Luo Chen's heart stirred.

Suddenly.

He realized the main reason for Gu Caiyi's failure!

The heart monkey and mind horse going wild were just triggers.

The main reason was the vast spiritual energy that was as pure as that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

Logically, a Qi Refining cultivator shouldn't have such terrifying purity of spiritual energy; even Luo Chen didn't have such a foundation back then.

But!

Over the years, Luo Chen had occasionally given her Jade Dew Pills to take.

This was a second-tier spiritual pill that even Foundation Establishment female cultivators of the Ice Fortress coveted!

Even though Luo Chen used an improved secret technique to let Gu Caiyi take them in parts, the medicinal power still allowed her to forge an incredibly powerful and pure spiritual energy.

Among the same rank, the strength of one unit of spiritual energy was almost three or four times that of others.

During Foundation Establishment, with her soul foundation not yet at the Foundation Establishment stage, how could she control it freely?

"Is it actually my fault?"

Luo Chen's throat felt a bit dry; he had never thought he would do bad things with good intentions.

If there were no Jade Dew Pill factor,

Gu Caiyi might have reached Qi Refining Great Perfection a few years slower, but she could have had a solid foundation to impact the Foundation Establishment stage.

Even if she failed, it would at most be like Sima Xian, resting for a few years to recover as before.

Instead of being like this now: dantian broken, meridians incomplete, vast spiritual energy blocked in the body, constantly eroding the flesh.

Sima Hui Niang didn't notice Luo Chen's guilt, and continued to talk about the subsequent situation.

Gu Caiyi was seriously injured, and after Expert Sun's treatment, she gave a corresponding treatment plan.

It could not be cured by ordinary spells; it required slow treatment with medicine.

Moreover, during this process, it was best not to have external spiritual energy enter the body, which would cause greater damage to her body.

Therefore, Sima Hui Niang arranged for Gu Caiyi to be in a quiet place on Danxia Peak.

The spiritual energy here was extremely thin.

In addition, she also had Min Longyu use a formation to construct this spiritless environment.

Wang Yuan would also come to check from time to time, and use the bright force condensed from blood energy to strike into Gu Caiyi's main meridians to prevent the accumulated spiritual energy from destroying the main vessels.

Otherwise, if it were completely ruined, she would never be able to continue cultivation in this life.

There was also Feng Xia, who had been inseparable for the past year, taking care of her day and night.

"Everyone has tried their best!" Luo Chen sighed.

Sima Hui Niang's emotions had stabilized, and she nodded, "They are all friends who have supported each other along the way. Even if Foundation Establishment is hopeless, at least her cultivation base should be preserved. I have already inquired that in three years, the Medicine King Sect might auction off a few Canghai Pills. By then, repairing the dantian might not be impossible!"

The Canghai Pill takes the meaning of "the sea changing into mulberry fields."

It is the supreme spiritual pill for repairing a cultivator's dantian and sea of energy!

It was auctioned once decades ago, and one pill sold for the high price of 50, 00 low-grade spirit stones!

"You have a heart," Luo Chen said, squeezing the soft, boneless, slender hand in his.

Sima Hui Niang smiled, "As long as you don't think I'm deliberately targeting her."

"Am I that kind of person?"

"But your expression just now..."

Holy land, ten thousand immortals worship, various domains offer tribute, can be a god of one side, words follow the law, none do not follow!

Luo Chen rubbed his brow; he had been traveling for a day, constantly on guard against whether robbery cultivators would appear on the road.

He didn't even have time to rest after returning, and then he had to check Gu Caiyi's injuries, while also being careful not to hurt her.

To say he wasn't tired would definitely be a lie.

Under these circumstances, how could he deal with the senior management with a relaxed smile?

"Here!"

A long sword of autumn water appeared in Luo Chen's hand.

"A gift for you, do you like it?"

Sima Hui Niang's eyes lit up, and she took the flying sword.

It was a magic treasure!

And a water-attribute magic treasure that suited her very well.

She performed a sword flower, joy appearing in her eyes.

On the snow, the woman danced with the sword, her skirt fluttering; it was truly beautiful.

While Luo Chen admired it, there was still a trace of worry in his eyes.

"Three years is too long!"

When Gu Caiyi woke up from her sleep in a daze,

she saw Feng Xia tidying up things in the room.

She scanned the room and did not see the figure from her dreams.

A feeling of emptiness instantly filled her whole body.

But soon, this feeling flew away.

The man walked in from outside the room.

"Sister Xia, is everything packed?"

Feng Xia nodded, "Just some personal clothes, it's already done."

"Then let's set off!"

"But, Senior Sun said that it's best for Caiyi to avoid external energy entering her body; is it really okay to leave here?"

"Blocking is not as good as guiding; her theory is only established under the condition that there is no solution."

While speaking, the man had already arrived at Gu Caiyi's side.

Gu Caiyi bit her lip and asked in confusion, "Where are we going?"

"To my home; I promised you, I will definitely cure you."

Luo Chen smiled slightly and picked her up amidst the woman's exclamation.

Feng Xia watched this scene with teary eyes and draped a furry coat over her.

"It will be fine; everything will get better."

They left the small courtyard.

Luo Chen cast a spiritual energy defensive shield, then held Gu Caiyi and boarded the Langqi flying boat.

"Sister Xia, when Caiyi is better, we will treat you to a drink; bring Duan Feng along then."

Feng Xia stood in the courtyard, watching the flying boat slowly take off, waving her hand vigorously.

On the flying boat.

Gu Caiyi sat on a soft and warm chair, her heart and eyes full of the man in front of her.

The moment he picked her up,

this life seemed to be complete.

Even though there was a stinging pain from time to time, the corners of her mouth couldn't stop curling up.

Luo Chen looked at the woman with a smile on her brows and couldn't help but laugh, "Are you that happy?"

"Yes, I'm just very happy."

"Luo Chen, I really like you!"

Luo Chen was stunned; even though she had expressed her feelings before, he was still caught off guard by such a naked confession.

But thinking about it carefully,

this was the Gu Caiyi he first knew.

Radiant and elegant!

Daring to love and hate; as long as she decided on something, she would firmly do it.

For this, even if she had to give up the generous treatment at Tianxiang Tower and the reputation of the famous Miss Gu of Dahefang, she would not hesitate.

It was because of him that she had suppressed her original personality all these years.

Now that she was seriously injured and couldn't see hope for the future, she finally stopped suppressing herself.

Luo Chen's expression was gentle, and he gently patted the back of her hand.

"When your injuries are healed, I will help you establish your foundation."

"Whether I establish my foundation or not is no longer important," Gu Caiyi said with curved eyes, "Now that you are by my side without barriers or airs, it is enough. Even if I die now, I feel fearless."

The Luo Chen of the past had no airs.

When living in the Sihe Academy, he was always sponging meals and drinks, his eyes darting around.

Later, after experiencing more things, so-called airs, majesty, and demeanor emerged naturally.

At this moment, the two of them getting along indeed had fewer barriers.

Suddenly, Gu Caiyi asked, "Are we going to your cave dwelling?"

"Yes, I haven't been back for a long time; when we get to the cave dwelling, many things will be easier to handle," Luo Chen nodded.

Gu Caiyi hesitated, "But for more than a year, she has been living there. Is it not very good for me to go now?"

Luo Chen stood up and couldn't help but pinch her nose.

"Why are you being so 'tea-like'?"

"What is 'tea'?" Gu Caiyi asked, tilting her neck.

Luo Chen was speechless; he really didn't know how to explain it.

Gu Caiyi didn't pursue the question and said firmly, "Anyway, I have decided on you. Even if she wants to compete with me, unless you don't want me anymore, I won't leave you."

Luo Chen stroked her cheeks, which were so thin they were almost skin and bone, with pity.

"Don't worry!"

"Hui Niang is not the kind of person you think; everything has been arranged."

"She has already moved out; a friend of mine gave me the usage rights to a high-grade cave dwelling on Tianlan Peak, and Hui Niang will go there to live."

Gu Caiyi rubbed against Luo Chen's hand and murmured:

"Actually, I know she is different from me; she is more independent and stronger. Even though she had a relationship with you, she never used this identity."

"Even when facing me, who was hostile, she never took it to heart; instead, she helped me establish my foundation with all her might."

"But sometimes, I just can't help but get angry."

"I don't know if I'm angry at her, or at you, or perhaps I'm also angry at my former self."

Luo Chen didn't make a sound, letting the other party chatter.

The woman at this moment was at her weakest and also most sensitive.

What he had to do was cure her.

Let that former Gu Caiyi return.

What Expert Sun couldn't do, he had a certain degree of confidence he could accomplish.

"That third-tier Rebirth Pill came just at the right time!"