In Progress

Thus, since a certain someone hadn't offered any constructive advice, and Lu Yan had been foolish enough to stare at the stars all night without figuring out a single thing, he resorted to the most cowardly method—avoiding Jiang Ci at all costs. Every morning, before the crack of dawn, he would head out to Molten Heart Tower to lecture. If there were no students, he would spend his time writing his textbook, only returning to Huamanlou late at night after all the guests had left.

On the rare days he had no classes, Lu Yan still refused to stay in Huamanlou. Whether he went to Molten Heart Tower or headed to the medicine hall to refine elixirs, his sole objective was to stay out of the building as much as possible.

He couldn't even speak properly when he saw Jiang Ci now, so wouldn't staying there just be torturing himself?

He figured he would come back once he understood how to face her.

Lost in these thoughts inside the refining room, Lu Yan lost focus for a split second. The elixir fire flared up, and with a loud bang, the elixir furnace exploded again.

The lid of the furnace was blown clean off, slamming into the wall and bouncing twice before rolling into a corner. Residual sparks from the furnace chamber scattered across the floor, leaving behind circular, ash-gray scorch marks.

He scratched his head awkwardly. Hearing the commotion, the medicine shop owner rushed over and stood at the door with his arms crossed, glaring at him with an unfriendly expression.

Only after Lu Yan repeatedly promised to clean everything up did the owner begrudgingly retreat from the doorway, slamming the door hard enough to make the frame shudder with a dull thud.

Lu Yan stood alone in the refining room, watching thick black smoke billow out of the elixir furnace.

His fingers still bore the red marks from where he had accidentally touched the scorching hot wall of the furnace. He stared at them for a moment, then let out a sigh.

His already low success rate in pill-making was made even worse by his chaotic, restless state of mind. Out of five batches, two had exploded, and three were ruined. He hadn't managed to produce a single successful pill.

Who the hell said elixir refiners make good money? His mouth twitched. The herbs for these five batches, combined with the rent for the refining room, had instantly slashed his salary for this month in half.

He had other uses for the remaining half, and there was absolutely no way he could waste any more of it on refining.

He had originally thought that his success rate would improve after breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage. However, over the past couple of days, he kept spacing out for some reason, even dazing off for a minute or two right in the middle of his lectures.

Just the other day, a student had asked him a question, and halfway through his explanation, he had suddenly frozen as if he'd lost his soul. It took several calls from the student to snap him out of it so he could help resolve the bottleneck they were having with a basic Spirit-Gathering Formation.

Leaning back in his chair, he stared at the gloomy, gray sky outside, a wave of irritability washing over him that he was loath to admit.

He couldn't sit still at home, he couldn't sit still at the Artifact Sect, and he couldn't sit still in the medicine hall. As for where he could find peace... he didn't even know anymore.

In truth, he knew exactly why he was so restless, but he still hadn't figured out how he should act around Jiang Ci.

I might as well just avoid her. The more I say, the more mistakes I'll make. I'll figure it out first. Consequently, this issue wasn't going to be resolved anytime soon.

Looking at the smoking furnace, he waved his hand to disperse the thick fumes. His sighing frequency had skyrocketed over the past few days. Feeling a bit annoyed, he packed away the last two remaining portions of herbs.

“Fuck it, I'm done. If I keep going and another one explodes, these herbs will be completely wasted.”

He packed up the herbs and tied the bag shut. Then, his mind drifted again. What is Jiang Ci doing right now? He hadn't seen her in days.

Back at Huamanlou, after much cajoling and begging from Jiang Ci, Hua Er had finally given her a job chopping firewood. Though there was no pay, it at least made Jiang Ci feel like she wasn't just freeloading.

After chopping wood for a while, she leaned the axe against the woodpile and wiped the sweat from her brow. Beside her stood a neatly stacked, mountain-like pile of firewood.

With the wood chopped, she had nothing left to do. She sat on the woodpile, staring blankly at the courtyard.

For several days now, she hadn't caught a single glimpse of Lu Yan. It was as if he were deliberately avoiding her. He left in the morning while she was still asleep, and returned at night only after her lights were already out.

She had only seen him twice in the hallway: once, he had turned around and walked away before even getting close; the other time, they had passed each other directly. She had called out his name, but he merely nodded and walked past without saying a word.

She repeatedly replayed those two brief encounters in her head, wondering if she had done something wrong.

She only wanted to pay him back. She told herself she hadn't done anything wrong.

But when she recalled the sight of his retreating back, she couldn't help but feel that he wasn't the Lu Yan she knew. A sudden wave of grievance washed over her. Why is he ignoring me like this?

She bit her lower lip, feeling more and more miserable the more she thought about it. Yet, she couldn't stop her mind from drifting back to him.

What should she do? Go look for him? She couldn't bring herself to do that. Besides, she had no idea where he was, nor did she know when he would return.

Left with no other choice, she came up with a somewhat wild idea—something she had never tried before. Standing up from the woodpile, she brushed the sawdust off her robe and went to find Hua Er.

“Second Aunt, could you lend me some wine...?”

While she was drowning her sorrows in wine, over in the Central Continent, things had escalated to the point where they were practically tearing each other's throats out.

A massive burst of fire exploded in the sky. Three figures fell from the light... well, two... more like one and a half...

Su Li landed gracefully from the sky, her red dress swirling to a halt, though her clothes were now stained with dust.

Hua Xi circled twice in the air before landing near the crash site. Only Du Qi hit the ground headfirst.

He lay miserably on the ground face-down, limbs splayed out. He rolled over onto his back, twitched twice, and then went completely still.

It wasn't that he was too incompetent to land properly—it was purely airsickness combined with a severe fear of heights. It was already a miracle that he hadn't passed out mid-air.

He lay motionless on the ground for about two seconds before slowly rolling over. Staring up at the sky which still glowed with residual light, his lips twitched slightly. Judging by his mouth movements, he was saying:

“Thank goodness, I'm still alive.”

Su Li rolled her eyes at him and made no move to help him up. She turned to face the sword light that had just appeared directly ahead, quickly adjusting her posture to slip back into her diplomatic mode.

Her brow arched slightly, her tone laced with a provocative edge. “My, what a lively scene. It would be such a pity if I didn't join in on the fun...”

Before she could even finish her sentence, a slash of azure sword light sliced diagonally toward her ribs.

Before Su Li could react, a wall formed of condensed ink rose up beside her, blocking the sword light.

She was pulled back a few steps by chains of ink. Once she regained her footing, her expression turned sour.

Instantly entering her half-beast state, nine tails unfurled behind her as her fox ears perked up. She narrowed her eyes, her tone turning ice-cold. “How incredibly rude.”

She glanced at Du Qi, who had just scrambled up from the ground, hurriedly pulling out his brush to paint ink.

Since he had intervened just in time to save her, Su Li decided to cut him some slack. “Give me a buff.”

She tilted her chin at Du Qi. Pressing her bare feet against the ground, she lowered her body slightly, falling into a textbook stance for a powerful leap. “Sister Hua—” She turned her head slightly to address the hovering figure above. “Let's go!”