Chapter 163: A Promise Is a Promise

He remembered this cave.

To conceal the massive cave behind, they deliberately placed the sleeping stone platform in front—who would ever knock on such a place, let alone strike it while practicing martial arts?

Besides, who would dare practice fist techniques inside Siguoyan?

Do you have too much energy in your dantian and want to feed more to Siguoyan?

Cheng Lingzi silently watched Pan Yun.

Pan Yun smiled nervously at him.

Cheng Lingzi sighed—what else could he do?

"Let it break, then."

Pan Yun pondered, "So the mountain's array isn't carved into the stone walls? At least, not on this wall."

Cheng Lingzi glanced at her. "You're clever, using me for elimination."

"Senior brother, my array knowledge is high, and I'm truly interested in this array—won't you consider teaching it to me?"

Cheng Lingzi: "If you promise to come to the summit and guard with me for twenty years, I'll teach you."

After a moment's silence, Pan Yun asked, "Will this promise still hold ten years from now?"

Cheng Lingzi frowned, curious. "You're young now, the perfect time to learn. If you promise to guard with me for twenty years, you'll be in your prime afterward—why delay it until ten years from now?"

That wouldn't be worth it.

Pan Yun said, "I have a major task ahead."

If she were alone, she'd sprint down the mountain to find her senior brother and immediately agree to Cheng Lingzi—but she still had her father and brothers to consider.

She had to rescue them from Datong before she could fully follow her own interests.

Cheng Lingzi raised an eyebrow but didn't ask what her task was. After a brief thought, he said, "Fine. Ten years from now, come find me. If you promise to guard Siguoyan with me for twenty years, I'll teach you its array."

Pan Yun's eyes lit up. She held out her palm. "Deal!"

Cheng Lingzi slapped her palm. "Deal."

Having made the pact, Cheng Lingzi finally peered into the hole she'd smashed. He shook his head. "You've got guts. Be careful—you might fall in. There's a great demon down there. If you fall, it'll swallow you whole. Even if I rush down, I doubt I could save you."

Pan Yun asked, "What kind of great demon?"

"Don't ask. Just know it's a great demon."

Pan Yun: "Then this hole..."

"Leave it," Cheng Lingzi waved. "As long as you don't mind how monstrous it looks."

"What's monstrous about a black hole?"

Cheng Lingzi lowered his voice. "Don't you feel it? That something monstrous crawls out of the darkness, slowly inching toward your bed..."

Pan Yun looked baffled. "You've always said only physical strength works inside the mountain—no spiritual power or internal qi. I don't believe anything can crawl up from below."

Cheng Lingzi: "You trust me, then."

Pan Yun grinned at him. "I trust you completely."

Cheng Lingzi smiled faintly and turned to leave.

But as he reached the summit, he saw Zhang Wei and Xue Hua waiting off to the side.

He frowned. "What are you doing here?"

Zhang Wei glanced at Xue Hua.

Xue Hua stepped forward and bowed. "Senior brother, something from below needs to be delivered to Sister Pan Yun."

Cheng Lingzi raised an eyebrow. "When did someone confined in Siguoyan start receiving deliveries from outside?"

Xue Hua flushed, whispering, "It's the elders' order."

Cheng Lingzi snorted. "What is it?"

Xue Hua immediately brought over a sealed wooden barrel.

Cheng Lingzi stepped forward, sniffed, and raised an eyebrow. "Body-strengthening herbs. Pan Yun angered Zhang Zi and the others—how did they agree to send her these herbs?"

Zhang Wei and Xue Hua lowered their heads. They dared not speak of the elders' affairs.

Cheng Lingzi didn't need their explanation—he figured it out himself. "From what Pan Yun said, Wang Feiyin from Mount Sanqing is here too. Has Zhang Liuzhen's condition relapsed? You're here because you need something from him..."

Their faces turned redder.

Cheng Lingzi thought a moment, then reached out and took the barrel. "Alright. I'll deliver it to her."

The two widened their eyes in surprise—he'd agreed so easily.

Everyone knew Cheng Lingzi was infamous for his coldness, second only to Lin Jingle. They expected a long struggle—otherwise, the academy heads wouldn't have sent them up.

Especially Xue Hua—he was sent because Xue Taixu had a decent relationship with Cheng Lingzi.

Cheng Lingzi noticed them standing still. He raised an eyebrow. "What? Do you want to watch me carry it into the cave?"

"No, no, no!" Zhang Wei hurriedly said. "Master Wang only said if you accept it, that's enough. Of the entire academy, he trusts you most." Cheng Lingzi's lips curled. "He has good judgment."

Cheng Lingzi waved them off and carried the barrel to Pan Yun. "Your senior brother really knows how to calculate. Even while imprisoned—excuse me, while confined to Siguoyan—you still get your benefits."

Pan Yun asked, "Does soaking in body-strengthening herbs here work better?"

Otherwise, why would her senior brother break rules on someone else's territory just to send her a barrel of herbs?

Cheng Lingzi smiled at her. "Try it and see."

Fine, she'd try.

After Cheng Lingzi left, Pan Yun patted the barrel all over and finally found a line of writing in a corner.

It instructed her to dissolve the herbs in a pot of water, then soak—and to boil another pot of water as backup.

This batch of herbs was specially prepared: soak for four ke, adding hot water every ke to activate the potency.

Since she couldn't use spiritual power or internal qi inside the cave, boiling water was the best activator.

!. Read

After finding the formula, Pan Yun boiled water, cleaned two natural pools, then transferred all the liquid from the barrel into the pools, leaving the barrel empty.

She poured the boiling water into the herbal solution, took a deep breath, and stepped in.

The thick herbal scent clung to her nose. Just like below, she felt nothing at first—she thought she'd have to wait longer—but then the potency surged into her body, pushing relentlessly.

She felt her pores forced open, the herbs forcing their way into her meridians.

The potency was fiercer than what she'd soaked in on Mount Sanqing. What stunned her was that her internal spiritual power and qi offered zero resistance—they welcomed the incoming potency instantly...

This was nothing like any previous herbal bath.

After a moment's thought, Pan Yun realized it wasn't the formula—it was Siguoyan.

Before, whenever she soaked in herbs, her internal energy would instinctively resist the incoming potency, causing some loss.

Here, her energy seemed to welcome the herbs.

So the potency transformed her body optimally—but also hurt more.

Pan Yun cried out in pain, then clenched her teeth, forcing herself to circulate the potency inside—until finally, the pain overwhelmed her, and she stopped trying. Let the herbs wander where they would—they'd reach what needed forging anyway.

Her face twisted in agony, then went blank as she slumped against the barrel's edge. After Pan Xiao reported each ke, she mechanically lifted the kettle from the stove and poured in more boiling water.

The softened potency surged again, flooding her body anew.

After three cycles, when the four ke were done, Pan Yun was no longer the Pan Yun of yesterday.

She sat in the barrel, catching her breath. As the potency faded, the pain lessened.

Pain was a shifting threshold—it rose to a peak, then fell.

So now, she didn't hurt at all!

Pan Yun smiled. Pan Xiao stepped back in alarm. "Y-you—you're insane?"

Pan Yun clenched her fist before her eyes. "I just feel absurdly strong."

"Ha—" She threw a punch—no spiritual power, no internal qi—but a fist aura shot out.

Pan Xiao stared, dumbfounded.

Pan Yun threw her head back and laughed loudly. "Too bad I can't soak three times a week—if I could, by the time I leave, I might even become invulnerable!"

Funny—Wang Feiyin thought the same.

So he emptied his pockets, exchanged all their money—except what they owed Dai Yong for medicine—for more body-strengthening herbs. He told Xuan Miao: "Watch carefully. Send her a barrel every three days."

"Siguoyan lets her absorb herbs at maximum efficiency. Three days apart, if she trains, by the time she leaves, even if she doesn't become invulnerable, ordinary blades won't kill her."

Xuan Miao: "... enior brother, you spent all our money on herbs—how will you get back to the mountain?"

"Pfft. Daoists cultivate simply—walk on two legs. As for food, I'll just swing by the academy's dining hall. But you two..."

Wang Feiyin paused. "As abbot, I can't favor one over another. Since this opportunity is rare and all the money went to Little Sister's herbs, there's a gap in Xuanzhen and San's body-strengthening supplies. You two go earn money—fill the gap. Let anyone suffer, but never the children."

Tao Ji muttered, "Senior brother, I thought you'd feel sorry for me and Sister—but you just want us to fill the gap."

Wang Feiyin rapped his head. "How old are you? Still competing with your disciples? When you trained, did I ever miss you a single day's herb? Go! Go! Xuan Miao will watch over them—you go down and earn money."

Wang Feiyin cursed the Zhang family again. "If they hadn't acted so recklessly, I wouldn't distrust them so much. I'd have to leave someone to watch the herb brew—otherwise, Xuan Miao and you could go down together and earn double in a day."

Tao Ji rubbed his head. "Senior brother, there's a shortage of Daoist physicians here, but no shortage of talismanists or ghost-catchers. Sister probably won't earn much."

Even Xuan Miao turned to look at him, fingers tracing his sword hilt. "Third brother, my ways of earning money aren't limited to talismans or fortune-telling."

Wang Feiyin sighed. "I worry about you. You go down alone—I'm afraid you'll get bagged, quietly beaten to death one day."

Xuan He also feared it. "Grandmaster, maybe Fourth Uncle should go with Father to earn money? We'll brew the herbs for Little Uncle and deliver them to the summit with Brother Zhang."

(End of Chapter)