Feng Qingping gently pressed down on Li Nanzhu's trembling hand. "Junior Sister, there is no need to worry. In the legends of the East Sea, such opportunities are most mysterious..."
Feng Yi's figure flickered slightly. It was clearly not his true body but merely a spiritual energy avatar. "Fate follows nature; when it is time to meet, we shall meet." His figure gradually faded, leaving only his voice echoing in the courtyard. "Perhaps it will be tomorrow, or perhaps when you face a major decision."
Feng Qingping gently pressed Li Nanzhu's trembling hand. "Junior Sister, do not be anxious. In the legends of the East Sea, a third meeting often signifies..."
"A new beginning," Feng Weilan suddenly finished the sentence, his voice much softer than usual.
Li Nanzhu looked toward the wooden plaque by the window. The morning light gilded it with a golden edge, and she suddenly understood something. "So, the fading of the figure isn't a disappearance, but..."
"But waiting for the most appropriate moment," Feng Qingping smiled. "Just like seeds must be buried in the soil when sown—they seem to disappear, but in reality, it is for better growth."
At that moment, Feng Weilan suddenly asked, "Junior Sister, do you know what the fishermen of the East Sea say most often when they encounter fog?"
Li Nanzhu shook her head, looking at Feng Weilan with a hint of confusion.
"When the mist clears, the path ahead will naturally be seen," Feng Qingping's voice was as soft as water. "Some connections are not about duration, but about depth."
Feng Weilan suddenly took a piece of warm jade from his robes and placed it on the stone table. The jade was translucent white, but within it flowed threads of green patterns, looking remarkably like the white mist in Li Nanzhu's dream.
"This object is called 'Dream-Trace,' harvested from the depths of the East Sea's misty reefs." He tapped the jade with his fingertip, and a wisp of green mist drifted toward Li Nanzhu's brow. "Hold this while dreaming to keep your spiritual altar clear. Take it."
Li Nanzhu carefully cradled the jade. The moment she touched it, a warm current flowed up her arm and straight to her heart.
She suddenly remembered something. "Fifth Senior Sister, you said just now that the protection of a loved one would manifest in two forms..."
Feng Qingping's array disk suddenly lit up with a soft glow, and runes interlaced in the air to form a strange pattern—a hazy figure standing in the mist, surrounded by countless tiny points of light flickering like stars.
"One is a concrete image within a dream," she explained, pointing to the figure in the mist. "The other..." Her finger moved to those points of light. "Is a subtle influence, like spring rain nourishing things silently. You might not feel its existence, but it truly nourishes all things."
Suisui suddenly hopped onto the ground, its bone claws scratching a winding curve on the floor and tapping at the end. Feng Weilan's eyes shifted slightly. "Follow destiny as it goes, and act according to your heart."
Feng Qingping packed away her array disk and gently smoothed Li Nanzhu's lapels. "Junior Sister, Sixth Junior Brother and I will return to our own courtyards first. We will both stay in the sect for a while. If you have any needs..."
"I understand." Li Nanzhu gripped the Dream-Trace stone, a light smile gracing her lips. "Thank you, Fifth Senior Sister. Thank you, Sixth Senior Brother."
After the two left, Li Nanzhu stood alone in the courtyard.
The morning light filtered through the plum branches, casting mottled shadows upon her. She tied the Dream-Trace stone next to the wooden plaque by the window, watching them gently collide in the wind, producing a crisp sound.
"Regardless of when the third meeting arrives..." she murmured softly. "I know you have always been here."
That strange yet familiar sense of intimacy left her unable to doubt the woman in the slightest. It was as if the warmth was carved into her soul, making her reluctant to let go.
A breeze brushed past, making the wooden plaque on the plum branch sway gently and emit a faint sound as if responding to her words. Morning light streamed through the window lattice, casting fragmented spots of light on the floor.
Li Nanzhu took a deep breath, feeling the flow of spiritual energy within her body. She was only one step away from Foundation Establishment. Last time, because it wasn't perfect enough, she had forcibly suppressed it, but now she could feel that the perfection she desired might arrive in the coming days.
"Better restock some pills first," she said to herself, taking the slightly worn small alchemy furnace from her storage bag.
The mottled marks on the furnace body caused Li Nanzhu to daze for a moment, as if she could see the figure holding a fan standing beside her again: "The key to three-flame separate control lies in..."
Li Nanzhu's fingertip brushed over a scorch mark on the furnace wall, and she suddenly froze.
Countless clear images surfaced in her mind—medicinal ratios, heat control, timing for pill condensation... These techniques that should have required repeated practice now felt familiar, as if they were carved into her very bones.
"Is this..." Her heart stirred. "The inheritance Master gave me?"
The memory fragments that had flooded into her sea of consciousness had already been integrated and mastered without her realizing it.
Pursing her lips, Li Nanzhu suddenly understood why Xiao Yan was so persistent about making her practice bit by bit. Although an inheritance was good, it relied mostly on memory rather than truly learning the Dao of alchemy.
Only after countless practices, after experiencing the pain of being scorched by flames and the hardship of separating the fires, could one truly be considered a pill cultivator.
Li Nanzhu took a deep breath and brought out several stalks of heart-cleansing grass. The moment her fingers formed the hand seal, a feeling both familiar and strange surged in her heart—the three-flame separate control technique. She seemed not to have used it for a long time.
No, it wasn't a long time; it was just that she had been too immersed in pain, ignoring the passage of time. It had only been half a month since she returned to the sect from the cave dwelling.
"Rise!"
Three clusters of flames rose in response, forming a perfect triangle at the bottom of the furnace.
Li Nanzhu's wrist turned slightly, and the intensity of the fire changed accordingly, with a precision that surprised even herself. This gesture she had practiced thousands of times now carried a strange proficiency, as if she had returned to the days when she first learned alchemy, with her master standing behind her, supporting her wrist.
"It's actually going so smoothly..." she murmured to herself, concentrating her mental power to observe the changes of the medicinal herbs inside the furnace. Every tiny reaction was clearly discernible. She suddenly widened her eyes in surprise; her current mental power was far stronger than it had been back in the inheritance secret realm.
After a moment of thought, Li Nanzhu realized that the process of merging the inheritance must have also tempered her mental power.
"Master..." Li Nanzhu bit her lip but quickly adjusted her state, focusing her full attention on the alchemy furnace.
The first furnace of mind-calming pills was unexpectedly successful. In less than half an hour, the refining was complete. Nine round pills shimmered with a lustrous green light—all of them were high-grade.
Li Nanzhu picked one up to examine it closely. The pill patterns were clear and smooth, without a single flaw.
"...Is this the power of the inheritance?" she asked softly, but there was no answer.
Sighing, Li Nanzhu decided to continue trying the heart-cleansing pill, which she had refined the most times.
However, the moment she added the herbs into the furnace, a strange pill formula flashed through her sea of consciousness—the herb ratios and heat control were slightly different from what she had learned, yet clearly more exquisite.
As if possessed, she changed her technique, adjusting the fire according to the memories in her sea of consciousness. The medicinal liquid within the furnace churned, actually emitting a strange hum!
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