Shen Nanxing finally brought his left foot down. Clearing his throat, he raised his voice several times louder than usual. “Eldest Young Lady! I have brought your aunt. She even hid two jars of eight-hundred-year-old Jade Dew Brew, and I dug them all out!”
“Hahaha...”
Before his laughter could even fade, he took a solid smack to the back of his head.
“Ouch!”
Shen Tinglan withdrew her hand, her expression indifferent, as if she had not just smacked the head of a Soul Transformation stage artifact refiner, but rather a slab of pork on a cutting board.
Shen Nanxing shrank his neck, almost dropping the two wine jars in his arms. He shuffled half a step to the side and stood there obediently.
The peers of his generation had been suppressed and beaten by Boss Tinglan since childhood—from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, and from Golden Core to Nascent Soul. He had finally endured until the Soul Transformation stage, thinking he could finally turn the tables, only for Boss Tinglan to reach late-stage Soul Transformation first.
Turn the tables? He just had to keep taking beatings.
After reaching Soul Transformation, the boss had set a rule: she was only to be called “Ancestor Tinglan.” Make a mistake once, and they would have a sparring match.
Shen Nanxing had refused to believe it in the first few years and called her by the wrong name three times in a row, resulting in him lying in bed for half a year. Since then, the word “Boss” had been forcibly erased from his mind.
Today, however, with the Eldest Young Lady here, the boss had at least saved him some face.
She had hit the back of his head, not his face.
Seeing her clan uncle shrinking his neck and looking at her aunt's gentle and dignified demeanor, Shen Qingci felt that the description on the System card did not match reality.
The card read, “Gentle and quiet, loves brewing tea and tending to flowers,” but that swift slap was clearly the action of someone accustomed to beating people.
But on second thought, it was nothing.
Being gentle and quiet did not conflict with having ruthless methods. Besides, the one being beaten was Shen Nanxing, not her!!!
【Better a fellow Daoist perish than myself.】
She rose from Chi Yuan's embrace, naturally holding her senior sister's hand. She lightly patted the back of Chi Yuan's hand with her fingertips before letting go.
Chi Yuan stood up as well, smoothing her robes.
Shen Tinglan stepped forward, looking her up and down with lowered eyes. A slight curve appeared at the corners of her lips. “A'Ci, you've grown quite a bit taller. Are you adjusting well to life in the Azure Cloud Sect?”
“Your brother sent a message some time ago, saying you've joined Peak Master Jinglian's lineage and that your progress in the sword dao is quite remarkable.”
“Everything is great,” Shen Qingci replied. “Although Master is strict, she teaches with great care.”
“I've met several fellow disciples in the sect, and we look out for each other daily, so life isn't boring. Is everything well with you here in the Southern Region, Aunt?”
“It's the same as always. Taking on array commissions, tending to flowers and plants, and passing the days brewing tea.” Shen Tinglan's smile was warm and soft. “Your clan uncle comes over to sponge meals every other day, which is quite noisy.”
Shen Nanxing grumbled in his sea of consciousness: You were clearly the one who sent someone to call me over.
Chi Yuan took half a step forward, retrieved a plain jade box from her storage ring, and offered it with both hands. “Junior Chi Yuan greets Ancestor Tinglan. Hearing that Senior loves tea, I have prepared some ‘Frost Needle Snow Flakes.’ It is Mystic-grade High-rank, a small token of my respect.”
Shen Tinglan took the jade box. As the lid slid open, a crisp tea aroma wafted out, carrying a hint of coolness.
She lowered her eyes to scan the inside of the box. The tea leaves stood upright like silver needles, their surfaces covered with a layer of fine white fuzz. It was indeed of superior quality.
It was no easy task for a Golden Core cultivator to gather a decent tea gift. To be willing to offer a Mystic-grade High-rank spiritual tea as a meeting gift showed that her intentions were thoroughly thoughtful.
She closed the lid and slipped it into her sleeve, her smile deepening. “Fairy Chi has been very thoughtful. This tea is produced above the snow line of the Northern Region, and the harvesting time is extremely strict; even half a quarter-hour off would ruin that crisp, cold essence. During the Northern Region Dao Discussion Conference in my earlier years, I once begged for two cups, and I still remember the taste to this day.”
Chi Yuan bowed slightly. “It is wonderful that Senior likes it.”
Shen Nanxing had been waiting on the side for a while. Seeing the harmonious atmosphere, he quickly spoke up to smooth things over. “Alright, alright, let's not stand in the courtyard and catch the wind. The feast has been prepared. Eldest Young Lady, Fairy Chi, let us move to the banquet hall.”
Shen Tinglan turned her head and glared at him.
【Tsk, not a single bit of tact.】
Shen Nanxing quickly tightened his grip on the wine jars in his arms and smiled apologetically. “Ancestor Tinglan, after you.”
The four of them walked through corridors and courtyards, entering the banquet hall.
The banquet hall was not particularly spacious, designed as it was for the private use of the inner courtyard. It featured a long rosewood table, four wide spiritual rattan chairs, and eight cold dishes already laid out on the table.
Warm jade was embedded in the four walls, casting a soft, non-glaring light. In a corner, a burner of Mind-Focusing Incense was lit, its smoke so faint it was almost invisible.
Shen Qingci and Chi Yuan sat side by side on one side, Shen Tinglan sat in the main seat, and Shen Nanxing accompanied them at the foot of the table.
As soon as he sat down, he clapped his hands twice, and the maids waiting outside the hall filed in. The twelve maids were neatly dressed, all of them at the late stage of Foundation Establishment, and each carried a hot dish.
The first dish was Biluo Spirit Shrimp.
The shrimp meat was wound into peony patterns using Grade 3 ice silkworm silk, drizzled with a sauce made from jade-marrow honey, tasting icy-sweet, crisp, and fresh.
“This shrimp was just delivered from Bibo Marsh this morning. They were kept in a spiritual spring for three days to spit out the sand. It is nourishing without being dry, perfect for the Eldest Young Lady's current realm,” Shen Nanxing introduced with a smile.
Shen Qingci picked up a piece and put it into her mouth. The shrimp meat melted instantly, and a warm, mellow spiritual energy slid down her throat.
The second dish was Sparrow-Tongue Soup brewed from five-color spiritual grain. The soup was thick, smooth, and golden-yellow; lifting a spoonful would draw out fine, resilient threads.
Chi Yuan took a sip, and the spiritual energy within her dantian vibrated gently for a moment.
“This soup has three drops of sparrow-tongue grass dew added to it, which is most suitable for warming and nourishing the meridians,” Shen Tinglan said, tilting her chin, her words carrying a deeper meaning.
“Fairy Chi and A'Ci should also drink a few more bowls. Doing sect missions is exhausting, so it's the perfect time to nourish your bodies.”
“We wouldn't want you to be willing but lacking the energy when doing certain things!”
Shen Qingci: “๑ᵒᯅᵒ๑”
【Aunt, I suspect you are hinting at something.】
The third dish was roasted Grade 4 earth dragon meat, sliced thin, roasted over crimson flame stones until the edges were slightly charred, and seasoned with earth-fire pepper and spiritual salt to bring out the flavor.
Shen Qingci gasped from the heat. Chi Yuan naturally pushed her own spiritual tea over. Shen Qingci picked it up and immediately chugged a huge gulp, and once she recovered, she picked up two more slices.
Shen Nanxing watched with gratification. “This is a specialty of the Crimson Flame Mountain Range. It is the most effective for nourishing qi and blood, but its nature is a bit fiery. Eat slowly, Eldest Young Lady.”
The fourth dish was green-marrow spiritual ginseng soup, the fifth was cloud-ear stewed spiritual chicken, all the way to the eighth dish, spiritual rice steamed cloud cakes...
Each cloud cake was infused with a few drops of hundred-year-old spiritual milk. When bitten open, the spiritual milk burst on the tip of the tongue, filling the mouth with fragrance.
Shen Qingci tasted a little of everything. By the time she reached the ninth dish, a sudden warmth rose in her dantian.
Spiritual energy rose from her stomach and spleen, spreading along her meridians toward her limbs, causing her meridians to swell faintly under the pressure.
She put down her chopsticks, closed her eyes, and began to run her cultivation method.
Wherever the spiritual energy passed, her meridians burned hot. The original minor blockages were cleared away layer by layer, and the bottleneck of the eighth level of Qi Refining gradually began to loosen.
Shen Nanxing set down his wine cup and gestured to the maids. Everyone silently retreated outside the hall, and the banquet hall instantly fell quiet.
“I watched the kitchen prepare the medicinal feast days in advance, calculating the spiritual energy of each ingredient perfectly, just waiting for the Eldest Young Lady to come and break through this barrier.”
Chi Yuan turned her body, hovering her right hand just above Shen Qingci's back. Her divine sense spread out, firmly locking onto the flow of spiritual energy within her little junior sister.
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