The moon was high; it was already late at night.
Su Xuan lay on his bed with his legs crossed, lost in thought.
That female cultivator who could both refine pills and craft was named Su Yunjin. Thanks to her excellent character modeling and cutscenes, she was one of the few beautiful memories he had of the game from his previous life.
The method to win her over in the game was also very crude—drinking was all it took.
For the first few days, you just ignored everything else and buried your head in drinking like a drunkard. Gradually, you would gain her trust. Later, you would find an opportunity to take advantage of her vulnerability and have the chance to hold her head and make her drink.
But the problem was that his current purpose wasn’t to “craft” her; he genuinely wanted to learn alchemy!
If he used the game’s method, it would likely turn out just like the game’s plot. Although he could make her lose herself to the point of her eyes rolling back and temporarily forgetting her sorrows every time, she would eventually leave without saying goodbye one day.
Forget alchemy; he wouldn’t even be able to squeeze a few Spiritual Stones out of her.
How could he get the alchemy techniques from her…
Su Xuan pondered bitterly, and as drowsiness gradually hit him, he closed his eyes.
—
*Ding!*
The next morning, it was the system’s voice again that made him reluctantly sit up in bed.
Perhaps he had been too exhausted from cultivating yesterday, but he had slept fitfully all night, and his body was full of fatigue.
**[Today’s Tip One!]**
**[Lin Zhiwei wants to hone her sword skills and has already set off to accept a Marketplace commission to slay demon beasts. On this trip, she will encounter a demon beast with an ancient bloodline, which will lead to a bitter struggle and the risk of serious injury. Please head to the Yuehua Mountains before midnight tonight to protect Lin Zhiwei and help her consume the Inner Core to purify her aptitude and increase her cultivation. This demon beast is a Leopard Demon. Its fatal weakness is 3 inches from its ear, where it can be killed with a single strike.]**
**[Today’s Tip Two!]**
**[It has been detected that the host’s cultivation is below Qi Refining Level 6 and your alchemy has reached a bottleneck. You are currently unable to face the conflict between Shangguan Yu and Shangguan Sheng (the current Market Master).]**
**[Please increase your cultivation to Qi Refining Level 6 and your alchemy to Grade 3 within seven days.]**
**[Countdown: 7/7 days]**
**[During this period, the system will no longer provide tips. However, if the requirements are met after seven days, this system will upgrade once!]**
The second tip was in striking red once again.
Qi Refining Level 6?
Seven days?
Looking at the system’s requirements, Su Xuan felt like it was joking.
Breaking through to Qi Refining Level 3 had already required him to rely on spending a lot of money, not to mention that the difficulty increased with every subsequent level. This was no less difficult than asking him to speed-run high school in a single year.
But…
If he didn’t work hard, not only would he miss out on the system upgrade, but the conflict between the old and new forces in the Marketplace would likely involve him and get him killed.
Moreover, cultivation belonged to oneself; having a higher cultivation level was never a bad thing.
Let’s do it!
Su Xuan didn’t take long to make up his mind. Then, he shifted his attention to the first tip, his brow furrowing slightly.
This eldest disciple of his was a bit too independent; she still hadn’t listened to him and chose to venture out on her own.
‘A bitter struggle… purifying aptitude and increasing cultivation?’
He continued to mutter the tip to himself. When he reached the part about the Inner Core’s effects, his eyes lit up.
If he took the Inner Core himself and consumed it, wouldn’t he be able to suppress Lin Zhiwei’s rise while increasing his own cultivation? It was killing two birds with one stone!
However, with his current cultivation, he wouldn’t be able to keep the Inner Core if he took it in front of everyone.
Su Xuan struggled for a moment but eventually decided to go there tonight at midnight to look for an opportunity.
After determining his goal, he exhaled a breath of turbid air, stretched his slightly sore waist and legs, and got out of bed to tidy himself up.
Since it was daytime, he would first see if there was a chance with Su Yunjin. Since it was the first time seeing her in person, he had to dress up well.
“I’m almost as handsome as I was in the real-world. Tsk.”
After changing into a new robe he usually only wore for the New Year and styling his hair, Su Xuan looked at his handsome and charming face in the mirror. He gave a few sentimental remarks before turning to walk out of the room.
In the courtyard, Lu Zhiyi had unusually woken up early. She was wearing a green dress and sitting at the stone table with her small hands propping up her head.
“Nvwa… Heaven-Mending Art. Heaven… and Earth have defects, the human path… *yawn*…”
A small booklet was spread out before her. She was reading the contents with a look of despair, unable to stop yawning.
“Oh? Zhiyi, it’s rare to see you up so early.”
Su Xuan couldn’t help but tease her when he saw her state.
“Good morning, Master,” Lu Zhiyi said weakly.
She was forcing herself to stay awake, hoping to work hard on her cultivation, but for some reason, looking at the Cultivation Method just made her head spin. She took the opportunity to stand up.
“Master, I’ve cooked the porridge. It’s in the pot.”
She said this and hurried to the kitchen.
Su Xuan followed her. He didn’t see Lin Zhiwei anywhere; it seemed she really had run off on her own.
“Your Senior Sister left without even making breakfast?” he subconsciously complained.
Usually, Lin Zhiwei did the cooking, as Lu Zhiyi’s skills were truly hard to describe.
“Ah… Senior Sister… she… she… she went to buy things! She’ll be back tonight!”
Lu Zhiyi looked at her master and stammered for a while, eventually choosing to hide the truth for her Senior Sister.
For some reason, her Senior Sister seemed to be growing more distant from her lately. This morning, she hadn’t even consulted her and insisted on going out to accept some bounty commission, saying she wanted to learn sword techniques.
She had tried to persuade her for a long time to no avail. Her Senior Sister seemed determined, and she didn’t know why.
“Oh, alright.”
Su Xuan didn’t press her. After all, they had a long-standing friendship; why would she betray her Senior Sister for him?
It had only been a few days.
Seeing that he didn’t ask further, Lu Zhiyi breathed a sigh of relief. She served him a full bowl of porridge.
For some reason, seeing how much her master trusted her while she was lying to him made her feel a strange sense of guilt.
“Remember to practice hard at home today. I need to go out for some business. You don’t need to save any lunch for me.”
Su Xuan finished the small bowl of porridge in a few gulps and spoke to Lu Zhiyi.
“Where are you going, Master? Can you take me with you?”
Lu Zhiyi was curious and didn’t want to stay cooped up at home.
“Ahem… No, no. It’s not convenient.”
He quickly waved his hand in refusal.
He couldn’t let her follow him while he was off to charm another woman.
“Oh… then don’t take me.”
Lu Zhiyi pouted and agreed in a low voice, looking at her master suspiciously.
With a woman’s intuition, she felt something was wrong with her master today. He never used to dress so meticulously, even going as far as to comb every strand of hair perfectly.
She didn’t realize that her current behavior was exactly like a young wife sending her husband off to a social event.
“Ahem, I need to get going. I can’t afford to be late.”
Su Xuan felt inexplicably embarrassed by her gaze. He coughed twice in guilt and turned to walk out the door.
‘Hmph, I can tell it’s nothing good!’ Lu Zhiyi pouted and thought resentfully.
Seeing that her master had left, she cleaned up the dishes and sat back down at the stone table.
She remembered her master told her to practice hard, so she couldn’t be lazy anymore. Slapping her cheeks, she picked up the Cultivation Method.
“Nvwa Heaven-Mending Art: Heaven and Earth have defects, the human path has completion…”
What is this talking about?
What does a “female version” of the Heaven-Mending Art mean?
Is there a male version?
Could this be…
Lu Zhiyi remembered what happened yesterday while looking at the Cultivation Method, and her face suddenly turned red.
Her World-Astonishing Wisdom was leading her to interpret the technique in an… unusual direction.