After leaving the auction house, the two of them wandered around for a bit and bought a few things before returning to the Five Elements Dao Sect.
When they entered the Five Elements Dao Sect this time, Li Nanzhu no longer had that strange feeling from before; it was likely just as Mu Wenyan had said.
Duan Xianxing took Li Nanzhu directly to Sovereign Peak to find Feng Yi, completely unafraid that his act of sneaking his little junior sister down the mountain would be discovered.
Li Nanzhu guessed that Feng Yi had known for a long time that they hadn't transcribed the Cleansing Heart Sutra and had run off instead; otherwise, her seventh senior brother wouldn't have brought her to see their master so brazenly.
To Li Nanzhu's surprise, the place where Feng Yi lived was exceptionally simple. She had originally thought that a great villain like Feng Yi would live in a place that was incredibly magnificent.
"You're back?"
Feng Yi's figure suddenly appeared on a chair.
"Nothing escapes Master's divine sense."
Duan Xianxing smilingly handed over the purchased ore and gave Li Nanzhu a little nudge.
Li Nanzhu also hurried to pull out the jade box and handed it to Feng Yi.
"jade marrow flower? Not bad. Once I've refined it, you can use it at the seventh level of Foundation Establishment."
In other words, the pill Feng Yi refined could actually raise her level by three stages at once!
Heavens, as expected of the villain boss! He was even more incredible than the alchemists of the Shenmu Sect.
"Alright, you've said your piece, now get out. Don't disturb my sleep."
With that, his figure vanished once more.
"So, when can we come and get it?"
"I'll have Wenyan deliver it to you once it's ready."
Well, as expected, all the work fell to her eldest senior brother.
After bidding farewell to Duan Xianxing, Li Nanzhu went to check on her eldest senior brother, intending to give him the things she had bought in Qingyun City. To her surprise, Mu Wenyan, who was almost always around, was not in the courtyard at this time.
But since he wasn't there, it wasn't right for her to go in, so she could only return to her own courtyard.
Pulling out a fasting pill and popping it into her mouth, Li Nanzhu couldn't help but feel a bit of regret for forgetting to buy food. Aside from the roasted meat and potatoes she had eaten yesterday, she had almost forgotten the taste of other foods.
However, having just come down from the mountain, she couldn't just run around again, so she could only enter cultivation with a miserable expression.
'I really want to eat something!'
Another two days passed.
While Li Nanzhu was cultivating, she heard Mu Wenyan's voice from outside the courtyard. It had to be the jade marrow pill that Feng Yi had refined for her—her eldest senior brother must have brought it!
Quickly opening the courtyard gate, the two sat down, and Li Nanzhu received the long-awaited jade marrow pill. Although there was only one, she could smell a rich medicinal fragrance just by opening the bottle's cap.
"It looks like your aura is about to break through to the fifth level of Qi Condensation. It seems that with a little more effort and the support of pills, you should be able to successfully reach Foundation Establishment within a year."
A year... in the original novel, only the heroine, Cang Dongqing, had such speed. Could she actually have the chance to break through to Foundation Establishment within a year too?
Did she actually have the chance to compete with the heroine?
Li Nanzhu suddenly smiled.
She smiled very happily.
Mu Wenyan was momentarily stunned by her smile.
He had seen Li Nanzhu smile many times over these past two months. Whether facing him, their master, or Duan Xianxing, she was always cheerful, even when she was teasing them.
But Mu Wenyan always felt that there was something missing from his little junior sister's smile.
It was like a muscle memory accumulated over years—a smile that was both sincere and detached, with an identical curve every time, making her feel more like a meticulously carved doll.
It wasn't until just now that he felt Li Nanzhu's smile was truly from the heart.
It was radiant and carried a hint of hope.
And this was the smile she should have at her age.
Mu Wenyan didn't know what Li Nanzhu had experienced in the past, but he felt a bit of heartache. Perhaps he should be even better to his little junior sister; that way, maybe she wouldn't have to put on that kind of smile again?
He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. What could he say? Everyone had a past they were unwilling to mention, just like his own dark spiritual root—didn't he also want to keep it unmentioned?
If it hadn't been for Master, he wouldn't even know which corner he would have died in by now. Similarly, he couldn't press his little junior sister for answers; all he could do was act as his master once had.
Perhaps his little junior sister was different from him, but as her eldest senior brother, he had the responsibility to take good care of her.
"Little Junior Sister, if you can break through to the fifth level of Qi Condensation this month, how about Eldest Senior Brother accompanies you out to have some fun?"
Li Nanzhu looked at Mu Wenyan with some confusion. He had clearly warned her before that it was best to reach Foundation Establishment before going down the mountain, but now he was proactively suggesting they go out and play?
And he had set a goal she could definitely achieve. After hesitating for a moment, Li Nanzhu shook her head.
"If I go out, how can I reach the Foundation Establishment stage within a year? Eldest Senior Brother, although I like going out, cultivation is very important to me too."
Mu Wenyan hadn't expected his little junior sister to care so much about her cultivation. Others would slack off whenever they could, yet Li Nanzhu only thought about breaking through. He felt quite amused.
"Then how about Eldest Senior Brother takes you to a secret realm? To some low-level secret realms. Engaging in combat will also help you break through without delaying your cultivation. How does that sound?"
A small secret realm happened to be opening in a month, which was perfect for cultivators in the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment stages to gain experience. Although his level would be suppressed to the Golden Core stage if he entered, with his strength, he was confident he could protect his little junior sister even at that level.
Li Nanzhu's hesitant heart immediately became firm. That was a secret realm! A secret realm with countless natural treasures as described in novels? She definitely had to go and see it for herself.
"It's a deal!"
"It's a deal."
Once the matter was settled, Li Nanzhu directly sent her eldest senior brother away and began to cultivate against the clock.
She had to break through.
At the very least, she had to save her eldest senior brother. Although the heroine had her halo, what if? What if she had the chance to kill the heroine? Even if it meant going down together, it wasn't impossible.
With such thoughts, Li Nanzhu entered a state of cultivation once again.
Within this month, she not only had to break through to the fifth level of Qi Condensation, but she also had to learn the remaining two sutras. Time was very pressing.
During this period, Li Nanzhu discovered that the cultivation methods Feng Yi had given her seemed very high-level. Putting Wood Vitality aside, just look at the other two.
The water-attribute one was called the Xuanze Two-Polarity Sutra. While practicing, Li Nanzhu discovered that it was very similar to Yin and Yang. When used, spiritual energy is converted into two forms: Clear Qi and Turbid Qi.
Clear Qi can be used for healing, while Turbid Qi can be used for attacking; offense and defense can be swapped at any time.
The fire-attribute technique, Kalpa Fire Dance Sutra, was the same. It was said that upon reaching perfection, the flames would evolve into Purifying Fire gathered from karmic power, capable of incinerating all matter and causality to clear the chaos for a new cycle of reincarnation.
However, those were just legends. Even the person who wrote this manual hadn't cultivated to such an extent; it was all just conjecture.
But even if it didn't reach the level of perfection, the damage it caused was not to be underestimated.
Still, the more Li Nanzhu looked at them, the more she felt these didn't seem like Daoist techniques but rather Buddhist ones.
It couldn't be that Feng Yi had snatched them, could it? But since he could give them to her, it meant there shouldn't be any trouble in practicing them.
Li Nanzhu simply stopped thinking about it. Even if they were Buddhist, if a problem arose later, they could just go to Feng Yi.
Unknowingly, a month passed. Li Nanzhu had cultivated all three sutras to the first level. Thanks to these three techniques, Li Nanzhu had not only broken through to the fifth level of Qi Condensation, but she even felt like she was on the verge of reaching the sixth level.
Mu Wenyan had also prepared a guide for the secret realm during this time, detailing specifically where spiritual plants could be found, where demonic beasts were located, and even marking their weaknesses day by day.
Her eldest senior brother was truly a bit too thorough in this regard.
And when she learned that all of this was recorded in the Library Pavilion, Li Nanzhu finally remembered that she had been saying she would go to the Library Pavilion for a long time but hadn't gone yet. She would definitely have to go once she returned this time.
When they left, Mu Wenyan conveniently grabbed Duan Xianxing, who was slacking off again.
As he put it: "Taking a beating is the best way for a sword cultivator to improve."
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