Chapter 53: Opening the Bitter Sea, a Little Thief Peeks at Night

The so-called Bitter Sea differs from person to person, depending on the innate talent and potential hidden within each individual.

According to the cultivation logic of this world, the better and more perfect one's innate spiritual roots and aptitude, the simpler and easier the path of cultivation will be, and the higher the realm one can reach.

However, the Covering Heaven Method, a Daoist technique for cultivating oneself, is exactly the opposite.

The better one's innate spiritual roots and aptitude, the higher the hidden talent and potential, and the harder it is to open the Bitter Sea; it is like a natural treasure chest—the more rewards and value it contains, the harder the lock sealing the treasure is to open.

After Su Changqing looked at this seal, he gradually entered a state of cultivation, attempting to undo this sealing mark, only to find it was like hard iron, and no matter what, he could not break the seal.

After about an hour or two, Su Changqing, who had made no progress, finally broke a small gap in the sealing mark; although this gap looked insignificant, it gave Su Changqing hope.

As the gap opened, the Qi indeed gradually spread toward it, and the essence was gradually guided to this gap, but after discovering it could not reach inside, it drifted away again.

"It's working!"

Su Changqing's eyes lit up.

Following this, Su Changqing began to try and dig deeper from this gap, but soon he realized his rate was far too slow; if this were the only efficiency, he feared it would take until the end of time to completely open this Bitter Sea.

"I remember in the story that opening the Bitter Sea doesn't just rely on one's own cultivation; there is also a spiritual medicine called Hundred Grass Liquid that can assist in opening it, but I don't know if this world has a spiritual medicine with the same effect."

After calming his mind, Su Changqing came back to his senses from his cultivation.

His first attempt at practicing the Covering Heaven Method today could be considered a success; at the very least, he now understood its mysteries, and future cultivation would be much easier.

In order to open the Bitter Sea as soon as possible, Su Changqing pondered in secret, wondering if he could obtain a spiritual medicine similar to Hundred Grass Liquid in this world; if he had it to assist him, it would certainly speed up his progress.

【Detected that the host is opening the Bitter Sea; the system is here to offer a liquid formula. The host can use this formula to refine a spiritual elixir with the same effect as Hundred Grass Liquid.】

Just as Su Changqing was thinking this, the system's voice suddenly arrived.

Following this, a pill formula appeared in his mind, and Su Changqing quickly scanned it.

"Nine Nether Grass, Dust Falling Grass, Maple Smelting Grass, Spirit Void Grass."

After reading it once, Su Changqing couldn't help but swallow and say: "Good heavens! It really is Hundred Grass Liquid; it uses nothing but grass and leaves."

However, the more Su Changqing read, the tighter his brows furrowed.

The first few dozen types of grass were easy to find; they were generally common herbs, the kind you could grab a handful of in the Qingyun Sect, or at worst, slightly more precious ones that could be obtained by asking Master for a few.

But as for the names of the grasses that followed, even though Su Changqing was well-read and deeply versed in the art of alchemy, he had never heard of them.

"It seems that, just like the Huanglan Narcissus, I will have to figure out how to find them myself."

Su Changqing sighed helplessly. Seeing that the moon had already risen into the sky and he would have to travel again tomorrow, Su Changqing stopped dwelling on the matter, wrote down the names of the herbs in his notebook, and prepared to look for clues after waking up tomorrow.

Just as Su Changqing was about to fall asleep, he saw a probing divine sense fall upon the room, which instantly dispelled his sleepiness.

"It seems even this VIP hall cannot keep out a meddlesome little thief."

The next second, Su Changqing's figure vanished from the bed.

On the roof of the inn, the beautiful young girl who had gazed at Su Changqing for a long time during the banquet was lying there, poking her head to peer inside, seemingly looking for someone. At this moment, she was still wearing a water-green dress; under the moonlight, her skin appeared even whiter than snow, incomparably beautiful and clear, like a charming saintess.

"Strange, I just sensed him practicing, why has he disappeared now?"

The beautiful girl wore a puzzled expression and muttered to herself. She had clearly sensed the man sitting upright in the room practicing, yet in the blink of an eye, he had vanished from the room. Even though she used her Qi to probe in every way, she could not determine where he had gone, as if he had vanished into thin air.

"Didn't you get enough of looking during dinner? Do you want to come and take a peek in the dead of night?"

Suddenly, a voice appeared quietly beside her, scaring her so much that she jumped up from the ground.

"You, you, you, you—how are you here?"

The beautiful girl turned her head to look, startled at first, and then, upon seeing that this person was indeed the 'lecher' she had seen at the banquet, she stammered as she asked Su Changqing.

"What? You, this little thief, are allowed to sneakily peep at others, but I'm not allowed to come and catch the little thief myself?"

Su Changqing smiled gently and asked the beautiful girl in return, his figure stepping closer to her step by step.

"You're talking nonsense! I wasn't peeping at you!"

Cornered by Su Changqing, the beautiful girl retreated in panic. A blush appeared on her pretty face, which looked extremely beautiful under the moonlight.

Regarding the beautiful girl's self-incriminating statement, Su Changqing couldn't help but shake his head and smile, then fixed his eyes on her and asked: "Then may I ask, what is the reason for you climbing onto the roof of our small courtyard in the middle of the night?"

"I, I, I..."

The beautiful girl said "I" for a long time without coming up with a reason. Her lively eyes darted around looking for an excuse, and then, looking up at the moon, she answered righteously: "I was bored in the middle of the night, so can't I climb onto this roof to admire the moon?"

"Is it not allowed for others to suffer from insomnia and admire the moon?"

Hearing her answer, Su Changqing couldn't help but think of how Lu Xueqi had sat on a branch with him to admire the moon not long ago; he hadn't expected to hear another woman say she was admiring the moon today.

What a coincidence, you beauties all just happen to like admiring the moon, is that it?

"That really is a wonderful hobby!"

Su Changqing nodded and did not pursue the matter further.

"By the way, you appeared here suddenly and disturbed my elegant mood; how do you plan to compensate me?"

Seeing that Su Changqing was no longer pursuing the matter, the beautiful girl puffed out her chest and stepped forward, looking up at Su Changqing, who was half a head taller than her, crossing her arms and pouting as she asked Su Changqing.

"Hmm? I compensate you?"

Su Changqing couldn't help but laugh in anger, and wanting to see what she was up to, he asked: "How do you want me to compensate you?"

"Hmm, let me think."

The beautiful girl pretended to ponder, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said to Su Changqing: "Then just tell me your name."

"My name is Zhang Xiaofan—'Zhang' as in bow and long, 'Xiao' as in big and small, 'Fan' as in ordinary."

Su Changqing answered the beautiful girl with a cunning smile. His reputation was currently at its peak, so naturally, he couldn't reveal his own name, so he simply used Xiaofan's name to answer.

Given Xiaofan's personality, he likely wouldn't hold a grudge against him.

(End of chapter)