Before Su Yunjin could let her mind wander for long, she began coughing violently, her face turning deathly pale.
Invisible ripples emanated from her body, and the Spiritual Power in her lower abdomen spun rapidly, like a vortex, beginning a bizarre process of devouring her own Spiritual Power and even her flesh!
‘Dammit, here it comes again!’ she cursed inwardly, gritting her teeth.
This was the chronic ailment that had plagued her for half her life. Whether it was due to her Cultivation Method or her constitution, her body would begin to devour itself at regular intervals.
Her family had tried countless methods but could never find the cause. Fortunately, they had eventually stumbled upon a Pill Recipe. By refining and consuming it daily, she could barely suppress this eerie Devouring Power, though she had to endure the side effect of intense physical pain.
To ensure her survival, her parents had even spent the Spiritual Stones they had accumulated over half their lives to seek out a Nascent Soul Grandmaster skilled in divination.
That master had exhausted his energy in the deduction, ultimately obtaining only eight characters: “A hundred deaths for rebirth, the person of destiny.”
“Cough, cough…”
She couldn’t hold back two more coughs as a sense of weakness washed over her. The bizarre Devouring Power grew increasingly powerful, and she could only barely contend with it.
“Huan’er, how are the preparations for the inner core going?”
Wrapped in nothing but a thin, crimson nightgown, Su Yunjin sat down before the Pill Furnace. Oblivious to her skin being exposed, she hurried to prepare for the refinement.
“That Leopard Demon Core should have been delivered today, but…”
At the mention of this, Huan’er also looked anxious and somewhat self-reproachful.
Among the materials her mistress needed for the refinement, the most important was that monster’s inner core. She needed to borrow the savage, overbearing Spiritual Power within the core to act as a suppression.
She had posted the commission at the Marketplace several days ago, and someone had accepted it. However, today was the delivery date, and the person had yet to show up.
“Miss, there must have been an accident. If all else fails, let’s use a different one first.”
She lowered her head, feeling even more guilty.
To be safe, they had naturally prepared many backups, but the quality would certainly be inferior, and the pain the mistress would feel after taking it would likely be even worse.
“It’s fine… I can endure it.”
Su Yunjin patted the dejected Huan’er and spoke softly.
She pulled out a Storage Bag, took out a jade-green inner core, and carefully set it aside. Then, following the Pill Recipe in her memory, she prepared the various quantities of ingredients with practiced ease.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
“Is anyone there!”
Just as she was circulating her Spiritual Power to open the furnace, a series of knocks sounded from outside the courtyard.
“Miss, the Leopard Demon Core must be here! Wait for me!”
Huan’er’s eyes lit up, and she ran outside.
That Leopard Demon Core was much stronger than the backup, and the Elixir refined from it would have fewer side effects.
Lifting her skirt, she excitedly opened the door just a crack.
Outside stood a middle-aged man with very high cheekbones and thin lips. He looked arrogant at a glance; it was Shangguan Zheng, the man who had taken the commission from her.
However, one of his sleeves was now empty, and his body was wrapped in bandages. He looked incredibly disheveled.
“Fellow Daoist Shangguan, did you get the inner core? And you… what happened?” Huan’er asked in confusion.
“Sigh… Miss Huan’er, there was a complication,” Shangguan Zheng sighed, his voice bitter.
“I was just about to kill the Leopard Demon and take the core when several evil cultivators suddenly appeared and ambushed my team. In order to protect the other Cultivators in the group, not only was the core stolen by them, but even my arm was…”
As he spoke, he clutched his chest with a look of extreme grief and misery.
“Ah? Well, at least you’re still alive. You should get that treated properly.”
Huan’er was startled and looked at Shangguan Zheng with some pity.
Gritting her teeth, she pulled a small bag of Spiritual Stones from her robes.
“Although the core wasn’t recovered, please take these to have your arm reattached.”
After saying this, Huan’er placed the Spiritual Stones in his hand and prepared to close the door.
As a Cultivator, as long as the foundation of one’s Meridians wasn’t damaged, an occasional injury like a severed limb wasn’t a huge deal; they could find a high-level Cultivator to reattach it.
“Wait, wait!”
Shangguan Zheng grew anxious and quickly blocked the door.
“I didn’t bring back the core, but my father has a fair amount of prestige in the Marketplace. He knows many Physicians and Alchemists, all of whom are first-rate. Perhaps they could help your mistress!”
He put on an earnest expression and spoke hurriedly.
Not long ago, he had caught a glimpse of Su Yunjin from a distance at the Marketplace, and it had nearly made him lose his soul. Since then, his heart had been itching like it was being scratched by a cat. Having finally found an opportunity to get close, he was unwilling to let go.
“Your mistress’s health is poor. Let me confirm her condition; I’m sure I can help her,” Shangguan Zheng emphasized again.
“Heh, if you know such powerful Physicians and Alchemists, why didn’t you have your own arm reattached first? There’s no need to play the victim like this!”
Huan’er sized him up, her expression turning cold and dismissive. With a loud *thud*, she slammed the door shut.
She had seen plenty of Cultivators who used various excuses to harass them. She knew exactly what he was thinking, so she gave him no face at all.
The door nearly hit Shangguan Zheng’s nose. Looking at the firmly shut gate, his face flushed with embarrassment and rage.
Cradling his severed arm, he recalled his pathetic state from the previous day, and his face twisted.
He had lived his entire life with things going his way; he had never been so humiliated.
“Stupid woman… ungrateful. Sooner or later, I’ll…”
Shangguan Zheng gritted his teeth and muttered a threat. He kicked the threshold viciously and prepared to walk away.
Just as he turned around, he suddenly noticed a tall, handsome youth standing not far away, looking at him with a strange expression.
“What are you looking at? Who the hell are you?”
Shangguan Zheng was already unhappy about his hidden motives being exposed, and now that someone had seen his disgrace, he felt both ashamed and irritated.
The youth was Su Xuan.
He had intended to go to the Pagoda Tower to see Su Yunjin today, but finding no one there had delayed him.
The person in front of him, especially the one with the missing arm, seemed to be the man who was lying on the ground last night. Why was he here?
And technically, Su Xuan was his savior. Why was he acting like he’d swallowed gunpowder?
“Does it concern you? Get out of my way.”
Since the other party was being rude, Su Xuan didn’t hold back either.
“You? Try me!”
Shangguan Zheng sized him up. After a brief scan, he found the youth’s cultivation to be meager. Aside from being somewhat handsome, he seemed utterly useless. Shangguan Zheng sneered and stepped aside.
He had investigated this household and had never heard of them being involved with anyone else. He himself was nearly at the Foundation Establishment stage and had been rejected; what was this pretty boy trying to pull?
He prepared to watch Su Xuan make a fool of himself to balance his own ego.
Su Xuan walked forward and knocked on the door.
The lights were already on inside, but no one came out to open the door for him.
‘What’s going on?’
He frowned, somewhat surprised, and knocked a few more times with more force.
Shangguan Zheng stood to the side with his one hand on his hip, sneering as he watched. He felt a sense of satisfaction.
At least he had managed to see someone; this guy couldn’t even get the door open.
“I told you to get lost…”
Unable to endure the persistent harassment, Huan’er opened the door with a fierce expression, her hands on her hips.
“Eh? It’s you! Quick, come in!”
Seeing it was Su Xuan, her tone shifted mid-sentence into a shout of pleasant surprise.
While she didn’t know what was so special about him, it was true that the mistress had improved significantly yesterday. He had arrived at the perfect time today.
As she spoke, she opened the door wide, welcomed Su Xuan inside, and shouted toward the room.
“Miss, that person from yesterday is here again!”
***
Outside the gate.
Shangguan Zheng stared with wide eyes, finding the sight of the joyful Huan’er impossible to accept. He felt like an absolute clown.
‘He’s going inside… What are they going to do?’
Although he had no real relationship with Su Yunjin, it didn’t stop his possessiveness from turning into a maddening jealousy.
“Pretty boy… just you wait! When I get back, I’ll have my father deal with all of you. When that time comes…”
His face twisted with rage. Gritting his teeth, he turned and walked away.
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