The mountain was much quieter than the city; even the wind seemed half a beat slower.
The two squatted in that hollow and filled two full bags with humus soil, tied the openings securely, and checked once more for leaks.
The soil was dark brown, loose, and moist, carrying a faint scent of decayed leaves. Its spiritual energy content was a cut above the compacted old soil in the herb garden.
They didn't need much. Only that small patch in the herb garden needed replacing, so two bags were more than enough.
Lin Zhixue handed the packed bags of soil to Gu Yanqing, who took them and stowed them into his storage bag.
He felt it was slightly amusing—back when he read the original novel, he never would have imagined that dirt could be placed inside a storage bag.
The trek down the mountain was surprisingly smooth.
On the way up, it had taken more than a shichen to find that hollow, but heading back, knowing the route, they walked down the mountain path through the pine forest and soon caught sight of Canglan City's walls at the foot of the mountain.
Along the way, let alone a jade-eyed wolf, they didn't even catch the shadow of a low-grade demon beast.
Gu Yanqing walked ahead with his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, his gaze sweeping across the bushes and piles of rubble along the road. He paused several times to listen for movement, but in the end, nothing happened.
Truth be told, he had actually hoped to run into something.
Not for any grand reason, just that he had been cultivating that body tempering technique for several days.
The medicinal baths left his entire body aching. While his skin, flesh, sinews, and bones were indeed far sturdier than before, he had yet to test them in actual combat.
Last time in the mountains, he had been utterly green and only knew how to ambush the jade-eyed wolf.
If he ran into one now, he really wanted to see what it felt like to clash head-on.
Unfortunately, no such luck.
Back at the Gu manor's rear courtyard, the two shoveled out the old soil and piled it by the corner of the wall, then spread the new soil and mixed it evenly.
Next, they replanted the spirit herbs one by one.
Lin Zhixue squatted at the edge of the patch to check that each plant's roots were buried securely. She pressed down lightly on the surface of the soil with her fingers, confirming it wouldn't shift before standing up to brush the dirt from her hands.
Several stalks of Dewdrop Grass whose leaves had yellowed in recent days now stood firm and upright in the fresh soil, the tips of their leaves already glistening with renewed luster.
“Everything should be fine now,” she said.
Gu Yanqing stood by the ridge of the field, looked over the tidy herb patch, nodded, and turned to leave.
Lin Zhixue stood beside the herb field, watching his retreating figure pass through the moon gate.
Sunlight slanted over the courtyard wall, casting the ridge at her feet in half-light and shadow.
Her gaze dropped downward. A soft warmth blossomed in her chest as a sliver of quiet joy crept up.
Perhaps this was what it felt like to be of help. Not being ordered around, not running errands for others.
It was genuinely accomplishing something through her own judgment and ability.
It was an unfamiliar feeling, but she didn't dislike it.
Coming back to her senses, she suddenly realized something was amiss.
Where was Xiaoyu? Usually at a time like this, it would have drifted out long ago.
When she worked, it would chatter away at her side cheering her on; when the work was done, it would be the first to jump out and praise her.
Though most of the time, after praising her, it would toss in a few disparaging remarks about Gu Yanqing as well.
Yet from the descent down the mountain until now, it hadn't made a peep.
She reached out and touched the jade pendant at her chest. Just as her fingertips brushed against the warm jade surface, a wisp of pale cyan light drifted leisurely out of the pendant.
Xiaoyu floated in midair and stretched lazily. A small tuft of its golden hair stuck up from sleep, and its eyes remained half-shut as it let out a yawn.
“Xiaoyu... did you just wake up?”
“Yeah.”
“Yesterday, Zhixue's spiritual energy was circulating too fiercely while cultivating. You siphoned off a huge chunk of spiritual energy from the Soul Jade, so I got kind of sleepy.”
Xiaoyu rubbed its eyes, its voice still carrying the drowsy grogginess of someone just awakened. “I just took a nap, feeling much better now.”
Lin Zhixue froze for a moment, then quickly understood.
Last night, when she pushed for the sixth level of Qi Refining, her cultivation efficiency had indeed been significantly higher than usual, the spiritual energy moving through her meridians swiftly and smoothly.
She had thought it was the mind-calming effect of the Soul Jade at work, never expecting that what accelerated wasn't just the drawing in of spiritual energy, but that the cultivation itself was draining Xiaoyu's spiritual energy.
“It's my fault for disturbing your rest.”
She lowered her head slightly, her fingers subconsciously rubbing the jade pendant.
“When I cultivate in the future, I'll be careful to control the circulation speed of my spiritual energy so you won't be worn out. Go back to sleep for now.”
“No worries!”
Xiaoyu yawned again, floated in front of her, waved its little hands at her, and then transformed into a tiny streak of flowing light that darted back into the jade pendant.
The halo on the jade pendant flashed softly, returning to calm.
Lin Zhixue stood where she was, her fingers still pressed to the jade pendant, able to feel the faint lingering warmth on the jade surface.
She stood quietly for a moment before packing up her things and leaving.
...
In a wing room of the Gu manor's rear courtyard, Gu Yanqing leaned against the edge of the bath barrel, flipping through the copy of 《Nine Revolutions Body Tempering Technique》 in his hands.
The pages were already a bit damp, the edges softened slightly by the steam rising from the medicinal brew.
Skipping past the medicinal bath section, there were even more advanced cultivation methods further in.
Repeatedly lashing the entire body with a demon beast hide whip to break down slack flesh and skin, stimulating rapid regeneration and hardening. Combined with medicinal baths for restoration and repeated tempering, this would allow one's sinews, bones, flesh, and membrane to reach a level capable of withstanding attacks from the same cultivation realm.
Simply put: getting beaten.
Whipping oneself with a leather whip until the flesh split and burst, healing it with medicinal baths, and whipping again once healed, cycling endlessly.
Once this cycle of body tempering was complete, the toughness of his flesh would be several times greater than before. A sword qi strike from an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator would leave at most a white scratch.
But the prerequisite was... whom would he find to whip him? One of the manor's servants?
They probably wouldn't even dare hold the whip.
Ask his parents? Just explaining why their son suddenly wanted to get whipped would eat up an entire day, and Liu Ruolan would never agree.
He closed the book and set it aside.
Whatever. Better to finish today's medicinal bath first.
This batch of medicinal brew was already boiled.
The dark red liquid churned in the bath barrel, steam billowing, the pungent medicinal scent filling the entire room.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside. A burning pain instantly spread from the soles of his feet across his entire body.
This time hurt even more than the last; the medicinal potency seeped into his marrow at a noticeably faster rate, as if intent on wringing every last speck of impurity out of his bones.
Gritting his teeth, he endured it for nearly a shichen. His jaw ached from clenching so hard, and his fingers dug several gouges into the wooden rim of the tub.
By the time he finished, his entire body felt as if it had been dismantled and reassembled piece by piece.
Stepping out of the bath barrel, he dried himself off and changed into a clean outer robe. Just as he tied his belt, an announcement came from outside the door.
A guest had arrived. Since neither the master nor madam was at the manor, the head steward requested that the young master receive them in the front hall.
Gu Yanqing pulled at his still-sore arms, brushed the lingering burning heat of the medicinal bath from his mind, turned, and headed toward the front hall.
Rate on N.U.
