Chapter 38: Driven Mad

Under Ye Li's lead, Luo Xing entered the valley.  

As soon as he stepped into the valley, the dense spiritual energy instantly enveloped him. The pure and surging spiritual power, under the effect of [Breath Cycling], frantically drilled into his body. The bottleneck of the Tui Fan stage faintly showed signs of loosening.  

[Breath Cycling Lv.1: 5/20]  

Ah?  

This can also generate some experience points?  

Indeed, as the old saying goes, environment outweighs effort. It's like fishing: in a good spot, you can catch fish even by sticking your foot in the water; in a bad spot, you might not even catch a tadpole even if you drain the water.  

So failure doesn't mean you didn't work hard enough; it means you need a change of environment and a bit of luck!  

Understand? Applaud!  

Ye Li, who had been paying attention to Luo Xing from the corner of her eye, noticed that his aura was becoming increasingly chaotic. Knowing this was a precursor to his breakthrough, she brought him to a pond of moderate size.  

"This spot will do," Ye Li said, tilting her chin toward Luo Xing. "The spiritual energy here is mild, enough for your breakthrough."  

Luo Xing nodded, then directly jumped into the pond water, beginning to concentrate on absorbing the spiritual energy of the hot spring, preparing to break through...  

"After you break through, leave as soon as possible," Ye Li said to Luo Xing from the edge of the pond. "I'll be deep in the valley. Don't come in."  

After all, since they were already here, it would be a waste not to enjoy it, right?  

This place was a treasure for Luo Xing's breakthrough, but for her, it was just a slightly larger bathhouse.  

With that, she disappeared from the spot.  

However, Ye Li did not notice that Luo Xing, in the pond water, had opened his eyes with a grim expression...  

'Ahhhhh!'  

The boy in the water let out a howl of despair in his heart!  

'Just leave directly! Why did you have to say that!'  

...'After you break through, leave as soon as possible'...  

...'I'll be deep in the valley. Don't come in'...  

'Did Ye Li really not know, or was she pretending not to know, how lethal these two sentences were to a hot-blooded youth?!'  

'The strange thoughts that Luo Xing had just suppressed instantly resurfaced. There was even a sinister fire rising in his lower abdomen, fueled by the spiritual energy...'  

'No...'  

'No! Can't let my mind wander anymore!'  

Feeling the surging of his blood energy and the chaotic spiritual energy rushing everywhere, Luo Xing knew that if this continued, not to mention breaking through, he might even suffer a Qi deviation. So he hurriedly calmed his mind and focused on cultivation...  

'Eyes observing the nose...'  

'She should be taking a bath, right?'  

'Nose observing the heart...'  

'And it's outdoors too~'  

'Heart observing the spirit...'  

'What if I took her clothes away...'  

'Spirit...'  

'Would she be defenseless?'  

'Spirit... Spirit...'  

"What the hell!" Luo Xing opened his eyes in exasperation. "How can I cultivate like this!"  

But soon, he remembered the Heart-Cleansing Pill that Luo Han had given him!  

'Great!'  

'It's a Heart-Cleansing Pill!'  

'He's saved!'  

Luo Xing hurriedly took out the Heart-Cleansing Pill and swallowed it. As the pill transformed into a warm current spreading through his limbs and bones, his mind felt as if he had been fed a sip of mint lemon tea—suddenly crystal clear, all distracting thoughts vanished without a trace...  

'Phew...'  

'Saved...'  

'Now I can focus on breaking through...'  

'And you, Luo Han, my sister, you are the true hero!'  

---  

Meanwhile, at Xuantian Sect, Xian Yun Peak.  

Pei Qingshuang: "..."  

Jun Wujin: "..."  

At the peak, the two looked at each other across the distance, long without speaking.  

"Uh... Sixth Elder?" Jun Wujin was the first to break the silence, holding a teacup and smiling at her. "What brings you here to see this old man today? Is there some important matter needing my help?"  

Pei Qingshuang looked bewildered: "Uh... well..."  

Yes, why did she have time to come to Xian Yun Peak today?  

How did she end up at Xian Yun Peak?  

Pei Qingshuang remembered that this morning, while helping an elder of the sect refine pills, she kept failing and was agitated. So she took a Heart-Cleansing Pill (refined by Luo Han) to calm her mind, and then succeeded on the first try.  

But she was clearly supposed to deliver the successfully refined pill to that elder, so how did she...  

End up at Xian Yun Peak?  

"Uh... I must have taken the wrong path..."  

"Oh well! Wrong path is still a path! Arriving early is not as good as arriving at the right time! Come, come, come! Try this old man's new tea! This is Jade Marrow Gold Sprout from Dongyi!"  

With the thought of "since we're here," Pei Qingshuang wasn't in a hurry anyway, so she accepted Jun Wujin's invitation.  

"Mmm, truly fine tea!" As an alchemist, Pei Qingshuang was very knowledgeable about various spiritual herbs and plants. "By the way, Fifth Elder, why did you suddenly take a liking to tea?"  

She remembered this old man used to be crazy about wine, didn't he?  

Hearing this, Jun Wujin's hand holding the teapot paused slightly, then he lowered his head and smiled: "Ah... wine, I've quit, quit it... now I drink tea instead... tea is good... tea is good..."  

Quit?  

Out of nowhere, why did he quit drinking?  

Just as Pei Qingshuang was about to ask something, Jun Wujin's laughter suddenly turned eerie: "Hehehe... tea is good... tea... as long as I drink tea... she won't come... she won't come..."  

"Huh? Fifth Elder? What are you sayi—"  

"Heeheehee... hahahaha! Tea! Tea is good!"  

Jun Wujin suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, his laughter shrill, his face full of extreme madness. "Hahaha! Right! Right! That's it! I've seen the light! I won't drink anymore! Tea! Hahaha! I drink tea..."  

Jun Wujin's crazy behavior startled Pei Qingshuang. She quickly stood up and backed away, afraid that this crazy little old man might do something irrational...  

"Hahahaha! Tea! I drink tea! Ye Li! If you have the guts, come and snatch it again! Hahaha!" He laughed and cried in delirium, waving his arms and jumping as he spoke. "Tea leaves! All tea leaves! Come and snatch them! If you have the guts, come and snatch them! Hahaha!"  

As he spoke, he took out various kinds of tea leaves from his Storage Ring and scattered them everywhere in the air.  

"Master!"  

"Master's illness is acting up again!"  

"Big Senior Brother!"  

Hearing Jun Wujin's crazy laughter, several disciples rushed out, comforting and persuading him.  

"Sixth Elder, our apologies..." Jun Wujin's senior disciple came to the shocked Pei Qingshuang and bowed apologetically. "My master... has been unwell lately..."  

Pei Qingshuang's eyelid twitched at this...  

'You call this unwell?'  

'Anyone would think he's having a Qi deviation!'  

"Your master..." Pei Qingshuang looked at the little old man jumping and dancing, laughing and crying while scattering tea leaves, and asked, "How long has he been like this?"  

The disciple sighed: "Ah... not long, just since that day..."  

So he recounted the story of Jun Wujin's madness in detail.  

After hearing the disciple's account, Pei Qingshuang was at a loss for words for a moment...  

She had heard a little about Ye Li always robbing Jun Wujin, but she never expected...  

That it could drive a man who was addicted to wine to quit drinking. Throughout the entire Xuantian Sect... no, probably the whole Nanling, only Ye Li could accomplish such a thing...  

"Alas..." Pei Qingshuang took out a jade bottle and handed it to the disciple. "This is a fourth-grade pill, the Mind-Calming Spirit-Protection Pill. Please give it to your master on my behalf. Consider it... a small token of my regards..."  

Having said that, she glanced sadly at Jun Wujin, who was completely mad, sighed, and flew away...  

'Alas...'  

'Poor man...'  

'How pitiful...'  

She should go to Spirit Orchid Peak to deliver the pills...  

Half an hour later, at Luo Xia Peak.  

Standing in front of the Red Cloud Hall, Pei Qingshuang's face was full of confusion...  

"How did I... come to Luo Xia Peak?" she wondered in confusion. "Wasn't I supposed to go to Spirit Orchid Peak?"  

She had inexplicably gone to Xian Yun Peak earlier, and now she had somehow ended up at Luo Xia Peak?  

Bad!  

Could it be...  

Pei Qingshuang's face suddenly changed color: "Have I suffered a Qi deviation?"  

"Have I also been driven mad by those two rebellious disciples?"