Chapter 103: Bathing Picture

The tenth day of the first lunar month.

It is not long until school starts.

Chen Shu drove Chen Jiaoshou's retro-styled car, taking Qingqing, the little girl, and Taozi out for an excursion.

There are still very few tourists this season.

Many tourists come to visit Bai City every year, mostly concentrated during the summer vacation, and most people choose to travel around Jinghai.

Jinghai is 140 kilometers in circumference, featuring one prefecture capital, one ancient city renowned both domestically and abroad, and several beautiful, quiet ancient towns, all backed by green mountains. There are over a dozen coastal attractions of varying sizes on the east and west sides of the sea; some are bustling, some are quiet, some are for cultural appreciation, some are for scenery, and some are for drinking and wild fun. Most tourists just pick a few popular spots at random and leave after staying by the sea for a few days.

If you want to explore in depth, the homestays around the ancient city are very cheap; in the off-season, you can even find standard rooms for a few hundred yuan a month, so you could easily come and stay for a month or two.

Late autumn and early winter are the best times; Bai City is as warm as spring, and it is precisely when tourists are scarce and the scenery is at its most beautiful.

Buy a second-hand scooter for a few hundred yuan, sell it to the next tourist when you leave, and if you have the gift of gab, you might even make a few dozen yuan after tidying it up.

Chen Shu and Qingqing grew up in Bai City, so they have basically visited all of these places.

Leaving Bai City and heading east, following the national highway for about twenty or thirty kilometers, you will drive onto a mountain road. When you drive to the top of the mountain, you will see an open space where you can park, and there is a small pavilion on the open ground.

At this moment, if you look to the right, you will discover—

You are located on the summit of a ring-shaped mountain, and in front of you is a nearly circular crater about ten kilometers in diameter and two or three hundred meters deep.

Chen Shu parked the car here.

There is a small hill on the open ground, about ten meters high, and the pavilion is right on that small hill.

The three of them climbed the steps up.

The wind in Bai City is always strong, and it is exceptionally strong on the mountaintop, blowing until one feels chilled to the bone, but the scenery before their eyes is intoxicating.

This is a massive meteorite crater, said to have been left over four hundred million years ago. After hundreds of millions of years of wind and frost, it is now full of life, and the spot where they are standing is on the ring of mountains surrounding the crater.

The plants in the pit below are still lush and green in this early spring, and the overall scene is deep green.

But there is more than just plants below; there is also a small town. Several clusters of dense, beautiful buildings are scattered in different locations within the pit. You can see small cement paths crisscrossing to connect the world below, you can see farmland holding water and reflecting the sky and white clouds, and you can see emerald green grass.

It is almost noon, and wisps of smoke are rising.

The sky is azure, white clouds hang low, and the clouds leave dark shadows on the ground, while other places have visible beams of light shining in.

It is as if it were an independent little world.

This place is not a tourist attraction, but Chen Shu has always felt that it is the most beautiful place in Bai City.

"The weather is really nice."

"Mm."

"The first time I came here, I was just passing through in a hurry." Chen Shu pointed downward, where the red-roofed houses displayed vibrant colors under the sunlight, and the intricate cement paths shimmered with the texture of white jade. "After I got home and thought back on it, I felt this place was like a paradise on earth. Later, I thought that when I had the chance, I would definitely ride a bike here, wander around everywhere inside, and explore this paradise thoroughly."

"Why didn't you come?"

"I was afraid that the feeling only existed from up here, and that once I went down, it would be just like everywhere else."

"Your heart needs to be big enough."

"How big?"

"Big enough to contain it."

"Then I'm not that big; I can only contain you."

"..."

Ning Qing pursed her lips and focused on enjoying the scenery.

The little girl on the side was holding a cartoon water bottle with a plastic tube sticking out. She bit the tube to drink water, watching the vast scene in the distance intently. There was only the *whoosh* of the wind blowing across the mountaintop in her ears; as for what her brother-in-law and sister were saying, she could not hear them.

Taozi was also quietly squatting to the side.

One hour later.

"Let's go."

Chen Shu and Qingqing walked down from the pavilion.

The little girl was wearing headphones and listening to music, lost in observing the changes in light and shadow below caused by the moving clouds, seemingly oblivious to the outside world, but as soon as her sister and brother-in-law took a step, she followed along quite naturally.

It is actually quite bustling down below.

Nearly ten building complexes are scattered throughout, each with at least a hundred houses, including restaurants, shops, and accommodations, with a large road running through the middle.

The three people and one cat ate lunch.

The afternoon was spent wandering around.

They walked slowly along the paths between the farmlands, walking from one complex to another, then to the next. When there was nowhere left to go, they climbed the opposite mountain to look down at the scenery below from a different perspective, and then they would have new places they wanted to visit.

That night, they stayed in the pit.

The next day.

They followed the provincial road in the middle through this large pit and arrived at a county town called Kudu, which used to be a base for the Buddhist Sect in this area.

Historically, the Daoist and Buddhist sects have always reached their "peak" periods from time to time; this is related to whether the Imperial Family at the time had deep cooperation with the Buddhist or Daoist sects, and also which side the Imperial Family trusted and favored more.

The previous dynasty highly esteemed the Buddhist Sect.

Consequently, the Buddhist Sect was once incomparably prosperous at that time.

The dynasty before that esteemed the Daoist.

By the current dynasty, the Grand Ancestor himself supported the Royal Court, a force no weaker than the Daoist or Buddhist sects, so he did not rely too heavily on either the Buddhist or Daoist sects.

There is nothing to do in Kudu County; it just has good weather, is quiet, and has a low cost of living.

Chen Shu found a quiet hotel and opened two rooms.

One double room and one standard room.

"Xiaoxiao..."

"I know, brother-in-law."

"Know what?"

"Brother-in-law is about to advance again, and needs Sister to watch over you." The little girl was very sensible, her tone serious, "So you two go to the room with one bed, and Taozi and I will sleep in the one with two beds."

"......"

Chen Shu turned his head to glance at Qingqing, and seeing Qingqing was expressionless, he grinned and still said, "You and Taozi stay in the room with the big bed."

"I don't like sleeping next to Taozi."

"Woof??"

"Stop messing around, or you'll get hit again later."

"Oh."

The little girl walked straight toward the room with the big bed, swiped the key card several times, realized something, and came back to find her brother-in-law to exchange it for another one.

Chen Shu turned his head to exchange a look with Ning Qing, then also swiped the card to enter the room, while saying to Qingqing:

"Do you have a strange feeling?"

"What strange feeling?"

"About us getting a room together for the first time."

"It's not the first time."

"The first time staying in one room."

"It's to watch over you."

"But no matter how you put it, it's our first time getting a room and being in the same space, don't you have even the slightest strange feeling inside?"

"No."

"Hmph, you really don't like me!"

"Formalism is undesirable."

"......"

Chen Shu hung his backpack on the hook behind the door, which contained a brand-new set of clothes, then involuntarily glanced at the bathroom—the bathroom was an area partitioned off by glass, the bottom half was frosted glass, and the top half was transparent; Chen Shu compared it, and it was roughly level with the top of his chest.

It wouldn't actually expose anything, it was just weird.

"Emmm..."

I'll just kick Qingqing out when the time comes.

Chen Shu took out the Auxiliary Potion and the Restoration Pill, exchanged a look with Qingqing, and without wasting words, sat cross-legged on the bed and started drinking immediately.

The Spirit Sea became irritable again.

The familiar feeling of pain arrived once more.

Chen Shu kept his eyes tightly shut, and his mouth was also pressed into a thin line...

Forget it, I'm too lazy to describe it.

That night.

Chen Shu still kept his eyes tightly shut.

At this moment, he had already successfully advanced.

Just like the failure last time, this success was also within expectations; he had a full understanding of his own situation.

But the changes after this advancement were significant.

The Spirit Sea was a mess and had not yet stabilized; he only knew it was much larger than before, and he would only know the specific increase after it stabilized.

But it was definitely much larger than every previous increase.

Besides the Spirit Sea, the amount of Spirit Power his body could contain would also greatly increase. Furthermore, a portion of the Spirit Power was undergoing deep fusion with his body and Spirit Soul, which would perform a major strengthening of his body and Spirit Soul, and his lifespan would also increase by a significant margin as a side effect; this was something the first three tiers did not have.

When this process ended, Chen Shu would be a true Intermediate Cultivator.

"......"

Ning Qing prepared a glass of water for Chen Shu.

Although Chen Shu had already successfully advanced and the subsequent stabilization and transformation process held no danger, she still couldn't help but cast glances at him frequently.

Under the Spirit Field Effect, the hair on Chen Shu's body surface faintly emitted a subtle glow, especially his hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows. If one looked with a Spirit Eye, one could only see a figure sitting cross-legged, covered by powerful Spirit Power; this Spirit Power was constantly changing, transforming his constitution.

It should take a while longer...

Ning Qing went to take a shower.

Steam rose in the bathroom.

The height of the frosted glass could cover up to the chin for most girls, but Qingqing had a bit of the Heavenly Human Bloodline and was quite tall, only a little shorter than Chen Shu, so the frosted glass could barely cover her chest.

But it didn't matter anyway.

He wouldn't wake up regardless.

The night gradually deepened.

Chen Shu finally opened his eyes.

Due to the transformative effect of the Spirit Power on his body, which also repaired his physical injuries, he wasn't in pain this time, but his Spirit Sea still felt uncomfortable; there was still a feeling of his head splitting, and he was still very thirsty.

A glass of water was placed in front of him.

Chen Shu drank it all in one gulp without hesitation, and only then did he look to the side.

Qingqing was wearing her own pajamas, with a black facial mask on her face, half-lying on the bed, flipping through A Book in her hands. The bedside lamp was on, illuminating the slightly yellowed pages of the book in her hands and the dense text.

Knowing he had finished, she didn't even lift her head, her gaze remained on the book, and she only asked indifferently:

"Do you want to apply a mask?"

"I..." Chen Shu felt his throat was a bit dry and hoarse, and he was a little unaccustomed to it for a moment, but he still said, "Why would I apply that stuff?"

"The effects are very magical, it's infused with essences from various Spirit Plants."

"Too lazy to."

"Don't waste it then."

"Why would it be a waste?"

"It's nothing."

"I don't need it, and it's cold."

"I've already warmed it up for you."

"..."

Chen Shu only then realized, glanced at the facial mask on her face, couldn't be bothered to speak with her anymore, and walked straight into the bathroom.

Inside, there was still steam, as well as the fragrance of toiletries, the scent that Qingqing always carried on her. This meant that if he had opened his eyes just a little earlier, he might have been able to encounter the scene of Qingqing bathing.

He turned on the hot water, and the showerhead rained down.

Qingqing had brought almost all of her own toiletries—shampoo, body wash, toothpaste and toothbrush, rinsing cup, towel, facial cleanser, and so on and so forth, along with some miscellaneous skincare products, filling the hotel's vanity to the brim.

Chen Shu took them and used them without standing on ceremony.

Just as he had applied the shampoo and was happily rubbing up a lather, he suddenly felt something was off and couldn't help but turn around to take a look.

Qingqing was turning her head to admire him.

Oh boy.

Forgot to tell her to go out.