Chapter 110: Seventh Senior Sister's Changing Habits

Within the Danyuan, only Xu Chen and the three Elders remained.

Xu Chen, his entire body tense, squeezed his thighs together and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead as he bowed, saying, "Disciple truly does not know why this happened."

Xuan Chen Zhenjun waved his hand with a strange expression on his face and said, "Rest assured, we three old fellows will not probe deeply into this matter. But remember, all opportunities have their causes and effects; whether good or bad, you must bear it yourself. Since you possess this special ability, it is both your own good fortune and the good fortune of our entire Taiyuan Sect. I hope you will guard your original heart, remain neither arrogant nor impetuous, and not act recklessly. Furthermore, you need not be too nervous. If you feel anything is amiss, you may come to find me and the two Elders to discuss it at any time. Since you are a disciple of our Taiyuan Sect, I naturally hope your path of Dao will be smooth and everything will be well for you in the future, and that you will be able to carry forward our Taiyuan Sect. Let us end today's pill refining here. I still need to go into seclusion for a period of time; the remaining matters will be properly arranged by the two Elders!"

"Respectfully sending off Senior Brother!"

"Respectfully sending off Great Elder!"

The two Elders and Xu Chen bowed in salute together. Xuan Chen Zhenjun nodded slightly, took a step forward, and transformed into a gust of clear wind, disappearing from sight.

"Chen'er, you have been refining pills all day and are very tired. Go back and rest first; we shall discuss other matters tomorrow!" Xuanhe Zhenren waved his hand.

"Yes, this disciple takes his leave!"

Xu Chen bowed once more and exited the Pill Refining Room. Not until he walked out of the Danyuan gate did he finally let out a long sigh. Then, he mounted his sword and soared into the air, heading toward the Medicine Garden against the whistling cold wind and swirling, fine snowflakes.

The small wooden house was lit by an oil lamp.

Zhao Xuan was sitting on the broken, tiny bed, holding Xiao Huli and lost in thought.

Seeing Xu Chen enter, Zhao Xuan stood up and said happily, "Junior Brother, you're back. Did the three Elders give you a hard time?"

Xu Chen closed the door and shook his head with a bitter smile, saying, "Not really, but I fear I won't have any peace from now on. Sigh, being in the spotlight really does invite trouble."

Zhao Xuan covered her mouth and laughed, "Who told you to go and learn pill refining for no reason? Refining pills would be one thing, but you had to go and mess around with it like a know-it-all."

Xu Chen flopped onto the bed with a thud and sighed while looking at the dim ceiling, "Forget it, let's not talk about this. The Great Elder indicated he would not pursue this matter!"

After a moment of silence, he suddenly crawled up and asked, "Senior Sister, have you eaten the Great Origin Pill I refined earlier? How does it feel?"

Zhao Xuan nodded immediately, "I was just coming to find you to talk about this. I thought you would take a long time to return, so I sent Xiao Huli back first, then took the Spirit Pill to refine it and prepare to feel some changes. But after taking this Spirit Pill, it was about the same as an ordinary Great Origin Pill; I didn't feel the changes that the Great Elder and Seventh Senior Sister spoke of."

Xu Chen was stunned. He took a jade bottle from his Storage Bag, poured out a Spirit Pill that was as green as jade, and after observing it carefully for a long time, said, "The Spirit Medicine used for this pill is no different from the others, except for the Soul Power. However, its appearance and aura are vastly different, so there should still be some difference. Could it be that after I used Soul Power to help Senior Sister repair her Meridians last time, the Soul Power in this pill is too weak to produce any medicinal effect?"

Zhao Xuan was also stunned, then nodded with a very serious expression, "So it was indeed Junior Brother who used Soul Power to help me repair my damaged Meridians last time. But the aura of that Soul Power was truly very powerful, thousands or tens of thousands of times stronger than the aura of this pill. It made me almost... almost die from the pain..."

Speaking of this, Zhao Xuan's face turned beet red, and she lowered her head, her voice becoming so soft that almost only she could hear it.

A strange emotion surged in Xu Chen's heart, and his heart suddenly began to beat a little fast.

The room fell silent for a moment, and the atmosphere became somewhat ambiguous and awkward.

"That... Senior Sister, did you fully recover after repairing your Meridians last time? Do you want me to help you repair and clear them once more..."

Zhao Xuan felt the blood rushing through her entire body and wished she could escape immediately, but thinking of another matter, she forced herself to stay. Finally, with a flushed face, she nodded and hummed like a mosquito, "Okay!"

Xu Chen:...

I was just asking politely; I thought you would refuse.

But I didn't expect that I would end up trapping myself again.

Moreover, I spent the whole day refining pills and am tired and hungry, yet Thirteenth Senior Sister, who is usually understanding and gentle, didn't notice at all.

"Senior Sister, aren't you afraid of the pain?" Xu Chen asked curiously.

Zhao Xuan blushed and hummed softly, "It hurts, but I can endure it!"

Xu Chen could only stand up helplessly and say, "Senior Sister, prepare yourself first; I'm going to drink some water."

By the time he returned from the kitchen after gulping down a ladle of cold water, Zhao Xuan was already sitting on the bed, having actually taken off her skirt and outer garment, wearing only two small undergarments.

Seeing Xu Chen's dazed expression, Zhao Xuan lowered her head, blushing, "I'm afraid I'll bleed later and get my clothes dirty again!"

Alright, that is a powerful excuse, but Senior Sister, your appearance without clothes is a huge temptation to me. I have only cultivated for five years, and my Dao heart is not yet very stable...

Xu Chen muttered to himself as he climbed onto the bed, barely suppressing his restless heart as he sat down. He took out the Dust-Avoiding Bead and placed it between the two of them, then closed his eyes and sank his mind into his Sea of Consciousness. Xiao Huli jumped onto his lap and lay down, actually closing its eyes as well.

Outside the door, the cold wind whistled, and the forest waves were like the sea.

The two of them each regulated their breathing and circulated their energy, slowly entering a state of forgetting both themselves and the world.

An Escape Light wrapped in cold wind and fine snow broke through the air and landed in front of the small wooden house in the blink of an eye.

However, just as it landed, the Divine Sense was suddenly withdrawn, and all vital energy was concealed.

Inside the house, where the lamp flickered, indescribable sounds could be faintly heard.

Qu Mei's cheeks turned red instantly, then she gritted her teeth, crept stealthily back to the front of the small house, and pressed her ear against the tightly closed window.

A moment later, Zhao Xuan's pained groans came from the room.

Qu Mei could not take it anymore, turned around, mounted her sword, and fled in a panic. Before leaving, her body bumped into the window with a clatter.

The two people in the room woke up almost simultaneously. Xu Chen's Demon Refining Art stopped circulating, and two strands of Divine Sense rushed out of the house almost at the same time, just in time to see the figure of Seventh Senior Sister fleeing into the distance.

"Sigh, it's impossible to explain this time. When will Seventh Senior Sister ever change this bad habit of eavesdropping at corners!" Xu Chen sighed lamentably.

Zhao Xuan was so embarrassed that her whole body felt like it was burning; her face was as red as blood, and she dared not speak.

Xu Chen helplessly composed himself and said, "Forget it, let's continue. It's not the first time anyway. Let her think whatever she wants; as long as our conscience is clear, it's fine!"

"Mm!" Zhao Xuan nodded, her heart pounding.

Then the two of them resumed regulating their breathing and circulating their energy, and the room became quiet once again.

Winter passed and spring came; in the blink of an eye, another month had gone by.

Xu Chen's life became extremely regular: he would refine pills for one day and rest for three. These three days were mainly used for studying artifact refining and sitting in meditation.

During this month, he no longer refined ordinary first or second-grade Spirit Pills, but instead devoted all his efforts to refining the so-called Taiyuan Soul-Entering Pill.

The Taiyuan Soul-Entering Pill was the name given by the three Elders and the various Senior Brothers and Sisters of the Taiyuan Sect; in reality, it was just a Great Origin Pill infused with Soul Power.

But in truth, only Xu Chen knew that what he infused was not so-called Soul Power at all, but the Mysterious White Qi produced after the Blue Light Treasure Bottle refined the Black Mist, Soul Beasts, and the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus.

This white Qi seemed capable of anything; it could strengthen the Soul, repair and strengthen Meridians and the dantian, and even temper the physical body. It was simply an all-purpose substance.

But as for what this white Qi actually was, Xu Chen had been completely baffled from beginning to end.

In the end, he could only attribute it to the fact that the Blue Jade Bead was a celestial treasure, so this white Qi must be related to a True Immortal.

He believed that as long as his cultivation continued to grow, the day he reached Void Breaking and Ascension, he would eventually find out the origin of the Blue Jade Bead and understand what this mysterious white Qi was.

Therefore, after the initial period of confusion, he gradually put the matter to the back of his mind and stopped thinking about it.

As for the several batches of Soul Power Pill he refined one after another, they were all distributed among the members of the Taiyuan Sect to consume; excluding the two cheaters, Xu Chen and Zhao Xuan, the effects could be said to be heaven-defying.

Whether it was the two Elders whose realms had already been at the True Essence Late Stage for decades, or the Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Sister at the True Essence Mid Stage, or even the several senior brothers and sisters whose cultivation was only at the Kaiyuan Realm, everyone had recently felt that their Soul and body had strengthened significantly, and with the addition of sufficient Qi Replenishing Pill, their cultivation was naturally rising rapidly.

Even Xuanhe Zhenren, without using the Sanyuan Golden Lotus, felt that his damaged Dao foundation had already recovered seven or eight tenths.

At present, Seventh Senior Sister Qu Mei and Jiu Shixiong Lu Yuan were already preparing to attempt Foundation Establishment.

As for the remaining two, the cold and aloof Eighth Senior Brother Fang Yun and Tenth Senior Sister Lin Yuyao, they also seemed to have reached a bottleneck in Qi refining, but because they lacked the Guiyuan Pill, they naturally could only continue to wait for an opportunity.

Furthermore, although this Spirit Pill mixed with white Qi could strengthen the Soul and physique, it was not an endless process of continuous strengthening; rather, after consuming a certain quantity of the pills, the strengthening effect would significantly decline, and continuing to eat them would have no effect.

Although this phenomenon made everyone feel regretful, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the normal phenomenon; after all, this was what accorded with common sense.

Because almost all Spirit Pill would have this kind of medicinal effect decline if taken too much, especially breakthrough pills, which were generally a one-shot deal; once the first attempt to break through was unsuccessful, taking the same pill again would result in the effect being nearly halved, and the third time it would be halved again; generally, if one could not break through after three attempts, it was basically the end, and there would be no further opportunity.

Otherwise, if one type of Spirit Pill could be consumed indefinitely to strengthen oneself, then there would be no need to cultivate at all; one could just pop pills all the way to becoming a True Immortal, and the world would definitely fall into chaos.

The two Elders naturally felt much more relaxed, and they could barely accept their doubts regarding Xu Chen's alchemy.

(End of this chapter)