In the following days, Li Nanzhu’s cultivation became increasingly steady. During her morning meditations, she would divide her spiritual energy into fine streams, nourishing each meridian like one would irrigate young seedlings.
On this day, she was practicing the Fire Control Technique when she suddenly heard Xiao Yan give a light cough behind her.
"Sink your wrist another three-tenths," Xiao Yan’s voice drifted from behind. "Fire is not a weapon; it is a partner. You must treat it the same way you treat little bone."
Li Nanzhu adjusted her hand position, and three streams of flames swirled within her palm.
After a month of settling her foundation, her control over spiritual energy had become far more refined. The flames were no longer as volatile as they had been at the beginning; instead, they were as obedient as an extension of her own arm.
Suisui crouched to the side, its skeletal claws mimicking her movements with great seriousness. The soul fire within the little skeleton's eye sockets flickered in rhythm with the changing flames, occasionally emitting a series of clacks in admiration.
"Barely passing," Xiao Yan said as he produced a food box and placed it on a bluestone. "Rest."
Li Nanzhu opened the box to find several delicate pastries emitting a faint medicinal fragrance. She recognized them as medicinal meals specially made from spiritual plants from Hundred Herbs Heaven, designed specifically to warm and nourish the meridians.
"Did Master make these himself?"
"In your dreams." Xiao Yan’s fan snapped open, perfectly concealing the slight upward curve of his lips. "I had little bone act as an assistant."
Suisui immediately puffed out its chest, its soul fire dancing with pride, even though there was still flour stuck to its skeletal claws—clearly a remnant from when it had snuck a taste.
Seeing this, Li Nanzhu immediately laughed. "Our Suisui is truly impressive!"
Upon hearing this, Suisui became so excited that it transformed back into a bone wheel and spun rapidly around her.
Seven months had already passed within the inheritance space. With Xiao Yan’s help, Suisui had successfully learned how to transform into other shapes, no longer limited solely to the form of an iron-toothed rat.
After finishing its spins, Suisui let out two clacks, and its entire skeleton began to restructure.
The originally round rat-like skeleton gradually elongated, surprisingly transforming into a tiny skeletal bird. It flapped its wings and landed on Li Nanzhu’s shoulder.
"This is..." Li Nanzhu reached out in surprise, and the skeletal bird affectionately nuzzled her fingertip.
"The seventh form," Xiao Yan remarked, tapping his fan against his palm. "This little thing is a fast learner."
Hearing the praise, Suisui immediately reverted to its original form. The soul fire in its eye sockets suddenly split into two clusters, jumping joyfully inside its skull—this was its newly learned way of expressing happiness.
Li Nanzhu suddenly remembered something and retrieved that profound dark stone from her storage bag. "Master, look at this..."
Xiao Yan glanced at it. "Want to use it for little bone?"
"Yes." Li Nanzhu stroked the pitch-black stone, hesitating for a moment before nodding. It wasn't that she was unwilling to part with it, but she was simply afraid Suisui might be in danger.
However, Suisui was already impatient, leaning in to touch the profound dark stone with its skeletal claws.
To their surprise, a layer of thin frost immediately formed on the stone’s surface, reflecting the green glow of Suisui’s soul fire.
"The affinity is quite good." Xiao Yan produced an identification array disk. "Place it here and let's see."
Li Nanzhu placed the profound dark stone in the center of the array disk. The moment the array patterns lit up, Suisui suddenly lunged forward, snapping off more than half the stone in one bite. Before the shocked eyes of the master and disciple, it began to crunch and chew loudly.
"Suisui! Spit it out!" Li Nanzhu cried out, her fingertips already gathering spiritual energy to pry open its skeletal jaw, but Xiao Yan’s fan suddenly blocked her.
"Don't rush." Xiao Yan’s voice carried a rare hint of interest. He crouched down, the tip of his jade fan pointing at the constantly moving skeletal jaw. "This little bone... is devouring the essence of the profound dark stone."
In less than half a cup of tea’s time, the entire profound dark stone had been eaten clean by Suisui. The little skeleton patted its belly in satisfaction. Its skeletal frame took on a moist, lustrous sheen, but other than that, there were no further changes.
"That’s it?" Li Nanzhu checked every one of Suisui’s bones in confusion, starting to wonder if she had bought a fake profound dark stone.
In the original story, after Cang Dongqing fused it with her life-bound sword, it had actually given rise to a sword spirit. Why did it seem like just a common stone when it came to Suisui?
Xiao Yan also carefully observed Suisui’s changes, hesitating for a moment before speaking.
"It seems my previous estimation of the Life-Giving Creation Pearl was too low." Xiao Yan’s fan tip lightly tapped Suisui’s forehead. "If I’m not mistaken, it is more than one grade higher than the profound dark stone. In terms of transformation alone," he turned to look at Li Nanzhu, "it’s like pouring a cup of water into the ocean. What kind of ripple could it possibly cause?"
As if to confirm his words, Suisui suddenly let out a burp, exhaling a thin wisp of white mist. The mist condensed into tiny ice crystals in the air before being quickly evaporated by the soul fire.
Li Nanzhu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I worried for nothing."
Suisui, however, grew excited, gesturing with its skeletal claws that it wanted more to eat. Its newly grown tailbone scraped frost marks onto the ground, clearly adapting well to the power of the profound dark stone.
"Greedy." Xiao Yan produced a booklet and tapped Suisui on the head with it. "Digest what you already have first."
In the following days, Suisui’s changes became increasingly obvious.
Its bones gradually turned from grayish-white to a jade-like color, and ice crystals would occasionally spark from its soul fire. Most miraculously, it could now briefly create a small ice mist while transforming, though the duration did not exceed three breaths.
These changes also allowed Li Nanzhu’s originally worried heart to gradually settle. It seemed that before long, Suisui would possess the ability to protect itself, rather than being limited to simple scratching and biting attacks as before.
One morning, while Li Nanzhu was practicing fire control, Suisui suddenly transformed into a tiny ice-crystal beast, creating wisps of cold mist around her. Within the alternating cycles of heat and cold, the flames actually became more stable, and she managed to maintain the three divided flames for a full hour.
"Not bad," Xiao Yan said, appearing by the side of the field at some unknown time. "Though this doesn't rely entirely on yourself, it can be considered one of your methods. For now, little bone’s existence is merely as your support. Once you break through, little bone can step back."
Seeming to understand the meaning of 'stepping back,' Suisui headbutted Xiao Yan’s leg and began gesturing wildly with its claws.
Seeing this, Li Nanzhu picked Suisui up, feeling caught between laughter and tears. "What Master means is that after I reach Foundation Establishment, Suisui won't have to work so hard to help me. Don't worry, I won't leave Suisui behind."
Only then was Suisui satisfied, nuzzling against Li Nanzhu. Beside them, Xiao Yan’s temple throbbed as he watched this scene. This little skeleton’s gall was growing larger by the day, even daring to 'lay hands' on him now.
But since his little disciple was pampering it, what choice did he have? He would just have to spoil it along with her.
"Since the Fire Control Technique is mastered, today I shall teach you the true Dao of alchemy." Xiao Yan waved his sleeve, and a bronze alchemy furnace appeared out of thin air in the center of the courtyard, its ancient runes shimmering under the sunlight.
"Alchemy?" Li Nanzhu’s eyes lit up, and the flames at her fingertips flared with excitement. "Can I try it right now?"
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