Chapter 28: The Dual Cultivation Manual and a Fuming Senior Sister

Having spoken, Lian Yueying tucked the spirit plant into her storage pouch.

She noticed Li Niang’s beautiful eyes widen, and her fuzzy ears suddenly drooped.

“Haha…”

Lian Yueying finally couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

After a long moment, she waved her hand, still chuckling, under Li Niang’s worried gaze.

“I was just teasing you,” she said, “I’ll give you my vital blood.”

With that, Lian Yueying closed her eyes, circulating her internal energy.

Following the method she recalled, she forced a drop of vital blood from between her brows.

The pain during this process was inevitable.

The moment the vital blood left her body, she felt a sudden, profound emptiness and weakness, nearly causing the precious drop to fall to the ground.

[‘I almost forgot I was still recovering.’]

[‘It’s a good thing I’ve recovered most of my strength, otherwise I might have fainted.’]

Lian Yueying, summoning her remaining strength, managed to guide the vital blood towards Li Niang.

Li Niang, treating it as immensely precious, produced a crystal vial to collect the vital blood, then carefully put it away.

Lian Yueying had initially thought the bell around Li Niang’s neck was a storage artifact.

Yet, from beginning to end, she saw no movement from the bell, nor could she discern where Li Niang had stored the item.

Everyone harbored their own little secrets, and Lian Yueying had no desire to pry.

She felt an abrupt surge of weakness, her eyelids heavy with fatigue, but she forced herself to stay awake, aware of Li Niang’s presence in the room.

Fortunately, Li Niang, having obtained what she desired, promptly rose, waved goodbye, and departed.

[‘She was truly in a hurry.’]

[‘I didn’t even get to ask her who had trespassed into my room, but it doesn’t matter now.’]

Lian Yueying shifted to the edge of her bedroll, retrieved the Purple Jade Ganoderma, and broke off a small piece of its cap, swallowing it.

She then returned the spirit fungus to her storage pouch and lay back on the bedroll, closing her eyes to digest its medicinal potency.

Propelled by her spiritual energy, the ganoderma gradually broke down, continuously transforming into a surge of potent medicinal energy that coursed through her body.

The intense feeling of fatigue quickly dissipated.

Although her vital blood had not yet fully recovered, Lian Yueying felt significantly better.

She repeated the process of refining, continuing until she had consumed about a fifth of the ganoderma cap before finally stopping.

Vital blood needed to be restored slowly; even consuming the entire ganoderma today would be useless, only causing an overabundance that would backfire.

Thus, Lian Yueying closed her eyes and gradually drifted into slumber.

****

It was still the same medicinal field, still the maiden beneath the moon.

Li Niang sat beneath a tree, meticulously arranging her items one by one, carefully counting her treasures.

“The water-attributed Heavenly Defect is good now.”

“The fire-attributed one should fully grow in three months.”

“Only the metal-attributed one still lacks several key ingredients.”

The young woman appeared somewhat troubled.

After gathering her items, she rose and sighed softly.

“Will transforming into a spirit and cultivating the Dao truly be better than demonic cultivation?”

Clearly, the young woman’s mind was not yet mature enough to ponder such complex matters.

In truth, the cultivation world offered no authoritative answer; how could humans bother to research the cultivation methods of other races?

“A Ying, I wonder what you’ll be like when we next meet.”

“But I’ll definitely have succeeded in my spirit transformation by then!”

“If you haven’t broken through to Foundation Establishment by that time, I’ll surely tease you mercilessly!”

Pondering these fleeting thoughts, Li Niang leaped onto a branch, commencing her daily work of guarding the garden.

****

The female disciple from Mount Tuoshan Sect who climbed the mountain each morning reappeared after several days of absence.

This news, after serving as post-meal gossip for two days among the disciples, quickly faded back into normalcy.

New inner sect disciples, upon hearing their senior brothers and sisters mention it, would also make time to specifically catch a glimpse.

Reaching the mountaintop, Lian Yueying caught her breath.

Seeing the sun directly overhead, she then slowly made her way towards the medical hall.

While it was unwise to over-supplement a weakened body with depleted vital energy, the Purple Jade Ganoderma truly proved to be an exceptional treasure.

On the very first day, it significantly revitalized Lian Yueying’s spirit.

In just three days, she not only reformed that drop of vital blood but also fully recovered from the severe injuries and losses she had sustained.

After drying herself and changing into fresh clothes at the medical hall, Lian Yueying did not leave immediately.

Instead, she approached the counter and bowed to Yun Meng.

“Many thanks to Senior Chen for the healing spell cast a few days ago.”

Yun Meng lifted her eyes to glance at Lian Yueying before lowering her gaze back to her book.

“To bring this up so suddenly, I presume you have other matters to discuss,” she stated.

“Speak freely.”

“Yes.”

“May I ask if Senior Chen knows where my master has gone?”

The trespasser remained a thorn in Lian Yueying’s heart.

However, Li Niang had vanished without a trace since that night, and Lian Yueying suspected she wouldn’t reappear anytime soon.

Consequently, she had intended to seek out Junior Uncle Yue to inquire, but after waiting by the lake for a while, she heard from other disciples that Junior Uncle Yue was not in her thatched cottage.

“Your master has been out for some time.”

“What do you need her for?”

Having thus confirmed that no one else was present in the medical hall, Lian Yueying retrieved the dual cultivation manual (TL Note: A cultivation method that involves absorbing the vital essence of others, often against their will, to advance one’s own cultivation.) from Wang Zhi’s storage pouch and handed it to Yun Meng.

“That day, upon returning, I rummaged through Wang Zhi’s storage pouch and discovered this wicked cultivation manual,” she explained.

“He had been instructing his minions to seek out mortal women.”

“Judging by his wild boasts during our fight, it seems our sect’s female disciples may also have fallen victim to his poisoned hands.”

This time, with more details, Yun Meng’s expression visibly darkened upon hearing Lian Yueying’s words, especially the last sentence.

She immediately rose, took the manual, and the more she flipped through it, the deeper her elegantly arched brows furrowed.

“Is this true!”

Yun Meng’s tone sounded quite displeased.

Seeing Lian Yueying nod solemnly, she promptly tossed the manual onto the counter and coldly snorted, “Those bastards from Qinglin Sect!”

Noticing Yun Meng’s extreme aversion to the dual cultivation manual, yet her comments focused on the Qinglin Sect, and her demeanor was starkly different from her usual placid self, Lian Yueying felt a flicker of curiosity but refrained from asking further.

She then watched as Yun Meng strode over the counter, pulled her out of the medical hall, and instantly summoned a flying artifact, taking her along as they ascended.

Yun Meng’s flying artifact was remarkably unique.

Not only was it shaped like a flower basket, but it was also adorned with numerous floral decorations along its edges, truly broadening Lian Yueying’s horizons.

At the same time, Yun Meng’s incredible speed of flight convinced Lian Yueying that she was indeed a Golden Core stage cultivator (TL Note: A significant cultivation realm, typically achieved after Foundation Establishment, signifying a powerful and highly skilled practitioner.).

[‘Even if Mount Tuoshan Sect possessed profound resources, they wouldn’t assign a Golden Core stage expert to a mere medical hall.’]

[‘Most likely, this was Senior Yun Meng’s own choice.’]

Lian Yueying glanced at the disciples in the plaza below.

Some looked surprised, while others, having seen it before, seemed unperturbed.

This suggested that some knew of Yun Meng’s true strength, implying she might not have enjoyed displaying it, nor had she deliberately hidden it.

The journey from the medical hall to the main hall was not long.

At Golden Core stage speed, they arrived in mere breaths.

Lian Yueying had barely registered the sensation of flight before she saw the ground rapidly approaching.

After landing, Yun Meng retracted her artifact, and Lian Yueying, momentarily disoriented, nearly stumbled.

The reason she ‘nearly’ stumbled was that Yun Meng, despite her urgency, was meticulous enough to know Lian Yueying might be unsteady, and reached out to steady her.

Only once Lian Yueying stood firm did Yun Meng lead her towards the main hall.

The disciples standing guard at the entrance, seeing their formidable approach, were about to call out a halt.

However, another, more experienced disciple, recognizing Yun Meng, quickly cupped his hands and declared, “Senior Chen, the Sect Master is currently in the side hall.”

Yun Meng nodded, then changed direction.

Lian Yueying followed closely, then heard hushed whispers behind them.

“Senior Brother, who is that senior?”

“You probably haven’t been to the medical hall, but that’s Senior Chen from there.”

“Let me tell you, she’s our Sect Master’s senior sister, and rumor has it she and the Sect Master…”

Mid-sentence, their low voices devolved into whispers, which Lian Yueying could no longer discern.

However, they did not escape Yun Meng’s ears.

She immediately formed a hand seal, summoning two streams of water to douse the heads of the two disciples.

The younger disciple was about to curse loudly when the other quickly restrained him, signaling with his eyes for both of them to stand at attention at the entrance, heedless of their drenched hair and clothes.

Witnessing this, Lian Yueying couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

Yet, she found Yun Meng had already led her to stand at the entrance of the side hall, turning to fix her with a stare.

“You’d best not let me hear you spreading rumors like those two disciples,” Yun Meng warned.

There was no hint of threat in Yun Meng’s gentle, beautiful eyes, yet it brought back memories for Lian Yueying of the day her wallet had suffered a ‘major hemorrhage,’ when Yun Meng had cast a spell with a similar look.

Her leg muscles seemed to throb with phantom pain, and Lian Yueying, breaking out in a cold sweat, nodded her head like a pounding mortar.

Only then did Yun Meng turn and push open the door to the side hall.

The side hall was not large.

Before a desk within, a man in his thirties, radiating a profound and robust aura, muscular and imposing, was currently frowning in distress.

Hearing the door open, he looked up with a hint of surprise.

Although he could sense someone approaching even without using his divine sense, with people constantly moving around the main sect hall, he didn’t need to pay attention to everyone.

Upon clearly seeing who had entered, he immediately rose.

“Senior Sister? What a rare visit.”

Yun Meng ignored him, leading Lian Yueying into the hall.

Lian Yueying recognized the man and, positioning herself slightly behind Yun Meng, bowed.

“This disciple greets the Sect Master.”

The Sect Master, already aware of other presences, nodded and turned to Yun Meng.

“Senior Sister’s sudden arrival must mean something urgent.”

Yun Meng wasted no words, manipulating the dual cultivation manual to float onto the desk.

“Take a look,” she commanded, “Confiscated from that little beast of the Qinglin Sect.”

“…It’s exactly the same as the one from decades ago.”

Seeing Yun Meng’s uncharacteristic agitation, the Sect Master quickly conjured a chair and gestured with his hand.

“Senior Sister, don’t rush, please sit, please sit.”

Yun Meng did not accept the gesture, instead giving the chair a swift side kick, sending it, by a strange coincidence, right beneath Lian Yueying’s backside.

[‘What’s going on?’]

[‘Is this for me to sit?’]

Lian Yueying merely thought this to herself.

She watched Yun Meng, who appeared quite angry, step forward as if to say something to the Sect Master, only to see the Sect Master give her a gesture to leave.

However, just as Lian Yueying was about to bow and depart, Yun Meng waved a hand behind her, closing the large door.

“What is there that a junior cannot hear?” Yun Meng challenged.

“If not for her resourcefulness, not only would we have failed to bring back clues, but another tragedy would have occurred.”

Opportunities to see the Sect Master flustered were rare; most of the time, Lian Yueying observed him delivering important speeches.

Thus, she adopted the stance of an audience member enjoying a show.

Yet, Yun Meng’s words couldn’t help but remind her of her own dire situation that day, prompting her to become serious as well.

Seeing this, the Sect Master sighed.

“I am still very happy to see that Senior Sister has changed little over several decades,” he said.

“However, I ask that Senior Sister calm down a little.”

Yun Meng had her back to Lian Yueying, who could not discern her expression.

Lian Yueying only knew that when Yun Meng turned around, she seemed quite helpless.

Only after walking to Lian Yueying’s side did she look back at the Sect Master.

“I am already very calm,” Yun Meng retorted.

“If Han Xue were here, she wouldn’t be so easy to talk to.”

“Now, you should explain how you negotiated with the Dao Alliance back then.”

“How could I negotiate?” the Sect Master countered.

“Senior Sister should understand the Dao Alliance’s modus operandi; they rarely intervene unless their position is threatened.”

“If it hadn’t been for the irrefutable evidence back then, and if it hadn’t simultaneously involved the interests of both Mount Tuoshan Sect and Xuanhuo Gate, the Dao Alliance certainly wouldn’t have stepped in to preside over the matter.”

Seeing the Sect Master’s genuine dilemma, Yun Meng finally let out a sigh.

“I thought the Qinglin Sect, having paid the price of one Golden Core stage cultivator, would have learned their lesson,” she mused.

“Yet, only a few decades have passed, and this incident has recurred.”

“I shouldn’t have trusted you to involve the Dao Alliance back then; we should have agreed to Xuanhuo Gate’s proposal to directly eradicate the Qinglin Sect.”

“Then what difference would there be between us and the villains of the Qinglin Sect?”

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