With her new equipment, Li Nanzhu practiced even more diligently.
Every few days, she went to Qingyun City to purchase demonic beast carcasses. She extracted the bones for Suisui’s growth and processed the remaining meat into delicious dishes to send to her senior brothers and sister.
Roasted meat, stews, jerky—Li Nanzhu turned the demonic beast meat into all sorts of delicious spiritual food.
At first, everyone was full of praise, but after three months...
"Junior Sister..." Duan Xianxing pushed away another plate of roasted demonic beast meat with a bitter face. "If I eat any more, I’m going to turn into a demonic beast myself."
Even Feng Weilan, who was the least picky eater, silently pushed the meat a bit further away.
Suisui, however, refused nothing. Its body had grown visibly larger, and its soul fire became increasingly solid.
Suisui's transformation came suddenly, yet it was a pleasant surprise.
One morning, as usual, Li Nanzhu was preparing spirit bones in the courtyard for Suisui to absorb. When she handed over a leg bone from a tier 3 demonic beast, Suisui did not absorb it as it normally did.
"What’s wrong? Have you absorbed too much lately?" Li Nanzhu asked in confusion.
Suisui's soul fire suddenly flickered violently, and its joints made a cracking sound.
Under Li Nanzhu’s astonished gaze, the little skeleton’s body began to stretch at a speed visible to the naked eye. From a height that barely reached her knees, it gradually elongated to her waist, and it even developed a tenth form!
Though happy about Suisui's growth, Li Nanzhu took it to consult Feng Yi just to be safe.
"If it continues to grow," Feng Yi gave his judgment after observing, "it should be able to take human form within ten years."
The news quickly spread throughout the sect.
Duan Xianxing was the first to rush over to watch the fun, insisting that Suisui perform its transformation techniques. Suisui cooperated, changing through five forms in succession before playfully flicking his forehead with a bone claw.
Li Nanzhu went out of her way every day to find various spirit bones to supplement Suisui's meals, until one day Suisui suddenly refused to eat.
Even its soul fire suddenly wilted. It slowly scratched out a few words on the ground—words Xiao Yan had taught it back then.
'I’m stuffed.'
Then it simulated the sound of a burp. A small bubble resembling a hiccup even emerged from the top of its soul fire, making everyone present burst into laughter.
Another month passed, and Li Nanzhu finally felt she had reached the bottleneck of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. The accumulation from her previous travels was finally showing its effects.
One morning, as she swung her sword for the thousandth time toward the rising sun, the spiritual energy in her body suddenly surged like a tide.
Feng Yi appeared at the edge of the martial arts arena at some unknown point. With a light flick of his sleeve, he set up a Spirit Gathering Array around Li Nanzhu.
Zhu Yinxi and the others also rushed over to protect Li Nanzhu after receiving the news.
Three hours passed. When the noon sun was at its peak, a blinding spiritual light suddenly erupted from Li Nanzhu’s body. Accompanied by a crisp shattering sound, the aura of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage spread out.
She had broken through!
"Congratulations, Junior Sister!!" Duan Xianxing was the first to run over and give Li Nanzhu a big hug.
Li Nanzhu was hugged so tightly she could barely breathe. Suisui immediately bounced up from the ground and used its bone claws to tug hard at the corner of Duan Xianxing's robe, pulling him back.
"Ouch, little ancestor, don't pull!" Duan Xianxing let go with a laugh. "I’m just happy for Junior Sister!"
Suisui stood in front of Li Nanzhu, its soul fire flickering with a warning light as it made a 'no' gesture with its bone claws.
"Alright, alright, I won't touch her." Duan Xianxing raised his hands in surrender, but quietly winked at Li Nanzhu. "Suisui really protects you closely."
Li Nanzhu smiled and rubbed Suisui's skull. Only then did the little skeleton relax, its soul fire dancing cheerfully again.
Zhu Yinxi walked over slowly and handed her a jade box. "A cleansing heart pill to stabilize your realm."
"Thank you, Second Senior Brother." Li Nanzhu took the jade box and noticed a small Spirit Gathering Array carved on the bottom. Judging by the subtle marks beside it, it was clearly the work of Fifth Senior Sister Feng Qingping.
As for Feng Weilan, he followed the First Senior Brother's style and directly stuffed a bag of high-grade spirit stones into her hand, making Duan Xianxing almost jump up on the spot.
"Why didn't I get this many spirit stones as a reward when I broke through!"
"If you had worked harder sooner, you would have broken through long ago. What reward did you expect?" Feng Qingping simply glanced at Duan Xianxing, and he instantly wilted.
Then he leaned in close to Li Nanzhu and whispered, "Junior Sister, I’m counting on you from now on!"
Li Nanzhu nodded with a smile. Feng Qingping saw their little interaction and only gave a helpless smile.
Jiang Yifan stood a little further away, playing with a metal fragment in his hand.
Seeing Li Nanzhu look over, he gave a light cough. "I’ve been studying the characteristics of Suisui's soul fire." He took out an exquisite bell. "I asked Suisui for a bit of its flame and infused it into this bell. This way, as long as it rings, we can know each other's positions."
Suisui curiously leaned over, the golden bell reflected in its soul fire. It tried shaking it, and the ringing actually turned into a golden wave that rippled outward.
"Interesting." Feng Yi had appeared behind everyone at some point. "Soul-Sound Resonance—an unexpected delight. Since you cannot form a contract, being able to contact each other this way in the future means you won't have to worry about being separated."
"That’s great, Suisui!" Li Nanzhu pulled the little skeleton into her arms, her cheek lightly rubbing against its smooth skull.
Suisui didn't quite understand, but its soul fire leaped joyfully as it clumsily patted her back with its bone claws.
They had indeed considered a contract before, especially since both the Sword Heart Sect and the Jiang family seemed to have their eyes on Suisui, which always worried Li Nanzhu.
However, whether it was an equal contract or a master-servant contract, whenever spiritual energy touched the core of Suisui's soul fire, it would be repelled by the power of the Life-Giving Creation Pearl.
"It’s better this way," Li Nanzhu had once said while rubbing Suisui's skull. "What family needs a contract?" Suisui had tilted its head, and though it didn't understand, it had still nodded in agreement with a 'clack-clack' sound.
Looking at the special bell made by her Fourth Senior Brother shimmering with a warm luster in the morning light, Suisui kept poking it with its bone claws, making crisp sounds.
Li Nanzhu watched its childish behavior and suddenly felt this was for the best. No bound of a contract, only a companionship born of willingness.
"Fourth Senior Brother, you’re truly amazing!" Duan Xianxing’s eyes shone as he pulled out his own bell. "Can you add a function like that to mine too? I want one!"
Jiang Yifan thought for a moment. "I can, but it might require your essence blood. I still need to do some research."
"No problem! Take as much as you need!"
"Perhaps..." Li Nanzhu spoke up. "We could each have one made? That way, we can sense each other no matter where we are."
Feng Qingping's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "That’s a good idea." She took out her communication jade slip. "If there’s ever a day when the communication jade slips are blocked again, we’ll have a means of contact."
"Then it’s settled." Jiang Yifan put away the metal fragment. "I’ll need half a month to research the magic tool for essence blood resonance."
Duan Xianxing immediately raised his hand. "I’m the first to sign up!"
"No rush." Feng Yi, who had been watching them joke around, finally spoke. "Nanzhu has just broken through and needs to stabilize her realm." His gaze swept over the group. "In half a month at the hour of Chen, gather at the Sovereign Peak hall. I will also help Yifan with the research."
Everyone answered in unison.
As Feng Yi turned to leave, his sapphire-blue robes shimmered in the sunlight. Li Nanzhu noticed that at some point, a small golden bell had also appeared at her master’s waist...
Rate on N.U.
