Chapter 192: Carefree Umbrella

At that moment, the wooden door of the inner room opened automatically, and Shen Qingqing’s gentle voice immediately drifted out from within.

“You girl, why are you so early today?”

“Hehe, early to bed, early to rise!”

Chen Xiaoyan replied with a cheeky grin.

“Come in.”

Stepping into the inner room, Shen Qingqing was as she always was, meditating on a prayer mat.

At her level of cultivation, the sleep required by ordinary people was almost unnecessary.

Perhaps because she had arrived too early, Shen Qingqing was only wearing a semi-revealing tube-top dress, exposing a large portion of her snowy-white skin.

However, Chen Xiaoyan was already used to it.

When they had soaked in the pool before, she had only worn her undergarments—that was what she called a real eyeful.

“Sister Shen,” Chen Xiaoyan called out sweetly.

Shen Qingqing sighed softly and said testily, “Hearing your tone, you must be looking for me for something, aren’t you?”

As Shen Qingqing’s prayer mat was placed in the middle of the wooden bed, Chen Xiaoyan sat beside her, hugging her slender arm, and replied, “No, Sister Shen. I’m about to unlock my Sixth Skill Slot, so I thought I’d come and ask if you have any recommended Secret Techniques.”

Secret Techniques referred to skills that were not taught to outsiders.

The moment Shen Qingqing heard this, she knew the girl had come to ask for a Healing Secret Art.

Without beating around the bush, she asked directly, “Oh? Then what kind of Secret Technique do you want?”

“Sister Shen, I’ve found that my Healing Secret Arts have too many single-target heals, but very few group heals. Oh, by ‘group heal,’ I mean being able to heal many people at once.”

Chen Xiaoyan explained again, fearing that an NPC like Shen Qingqing might not understand online gaming terminology.

“A multi-person restoration Secret Technique?”

“Yes, yes, yes, that’s the one!”

Shen Qingqing closed her eyes and pondered for a moment.

With a swipe of her finger in the void, a skill book instantly appeared out of thin air and floated in the sky.

“Take a look.”

With a wave of her jade-like finger, the skill book slowly landed in front of Chen Xiaoyan.

She took the book and saw three large words written on it: *Carefree Umbrella*.

**[Heavenly Fragrance: Carefree Umbrella]**:

Immediately clears abnormal statuses for yourself and teammates within a certain range, and restores [Lingqi] Health Points for 8 seconds.

Cooldown: 20 seconds.

“I remember you were poisoned when you went to deal with the Demonflower before. With this Secret Technique, everything can be resolved in the future.”

Chen Xiaoyan was moved to the point of tears.

She held the skill book as if it were a precious treasure.

“Thank you, Sister Shen!”

“Mhm.”

Shen Qingqing nodded slightly, then seemed to remember something.

She suddenly opened her eyes and looked at her.

“Xiaoyan.”

“Eh? What is it, Sister Shen?”

“Recently, I heard that some factions are going to war. Is it true or false?”

“It’s true.”

“Are you participating in it as well?”

“Mhm.”

Chen Xiaoyan did not deny it. As for a powerhouse like Shen Qingqing, there was nowhere for Players to hide if she really wanted to investigate.

“Could you not go?”

Chen Xiaoyan did not answer and fell silent.

“Sigh, since ancient times, power struggles have always resulted in casualties. Why must you wade into these muddy waters?”

“Sister Shen, I have many friends involved. I can’t stay out of it.”

“Fine.”

Seeing the determined look in Chen Xiaoyan’s eyes, Shen Qingqing knew she couldn’t be persuaded and decisively gave up.

With another swipe of her finger, a White Jade Tablet fell from the void.

Shen Qingqing threw it directly to Chen Xiaoyan.

“Sword Immortal Zi’s Spirit Sensing Jade Tablet requires the injection of Spiritual Power to be used. Your cultivation level isn’t high enough. Use mine instead. Once your life is in danger, crush it to release Spiritual Power, and I will sense it.”

After saying that, she hesitated for a moment before swiping her finger across the void once more.

A jade medallion fell out. Shen Qingqing threw the jade medallion to her as well.

“This is an Alliance Communication Jade. Only the higher-ups of the Eight Major Sects possess them. The communication jade requires Spiritual Power. If there is danger, the two can be used together.”

Looking at the various items used to summon reinforcements in her hands, Chen Xiaoyan was stunned on the spot. ‘No way, Sister Shen.

I’m just participating in a Guild War, not trespassing into the Endless Demon Domain. Isn’t this a bit too exaggerated?’

“Sister Shen, I won’t be in any danger. You really don’t have to worry about me,” Chen Xiaoyan explained, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

But Shen Qingqing did not respond.

She stared at her quietly, unmoving, as if time had frozen.

“Uh…”

Chen Xiaoyan’s expression changed slightly, and she gave a sheepish smile.

“Sister Shen, why are you looking at me like that? It’s a bit creepy.”

“Sister Shen?”

Noticing that something was wrong, she reached out and waved her hand in front of Shen Qingqing’s eyes, but there was still no reaction.

Chen Xiaoyan was dazed.

‘What’s going on? Could something have gone wrong with the Game?’

“Sister Shen, stop pretending. This isn’t fun at all.”

“Sister Shen?”

Chen Xiaoyan finally panicked, not knowing what to do.

This was the first time she had encountered such a situation and had no idea how to handle it.

“Calm down.”

“Eh?”

“Sister Shen, are you alive?”

Chen Xiaoyan looked at her in surprise, her mouth agape.

“You silly girl, what do you mean ‘alive’? I was never in any trouble,” Shen Qingqing said with a displeased glare.

“Just now, I saw that Sister Shen didn’t have any reaction. I thought…”

“Thought what?”

Chen Xiaoyan immediately put on a flattering face.

“Hehe, nothing. Sister Shen’s cultivation is profound and she is invincible in the world. Surely nothing would happen to her.”

Shen Qingqing couldn’t help but laugh as she reached out and poked her forehead.

“Slick-tongued.”

“Sister Shen, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now. I still have things to do.”

As she spoke, Chen Xiaoyan stood up, preparing to leave.

“Wait a moment,” Shen Qingqing called out to her.

“Hmm?”

Chen Xiaoyan turned back in confusion.

“Sister Shen, is there something else?”

“Prepare for a Medicinal Bath.”

‘A Medicinal Bath?’ Shen Qingqing had indeed mentioned a Medicinal Bath before, but she hadn’t brought it up for the last two days.

Xiaoyan had thought she was just joking.

“Sister Shen, what kind of Medicinal Bath is it?”

Chen Xiaoyan asked curiously.

Shen Qingqing didn’t explain much.

With a wave of her hand, a 1-meter-tall round wooden tub appeared in the inner room.

The tub was mostly filled with hot water, and steam was rising from it.

Then, she took out medicinal herbs for body tempering from her Jiezi Bag and threw them all in.

The originally crystal-clear hot water instantly turned a dark, eerie red.

“Take off your clothes and sit inside.”

“Oh.”

Chen Xiaoyan looked at the dark red Medicinal Bath, her heart trembling.

‘Can someone actually soak in this stuff? Will a layer of my skin peel off from the pain the moment I sit down?’

That was how it always happened in TV dramas.

Thinking of this, her movements became somewhat hesitant.

“Xiaoyan, what are you dawdling for?”

Shen Qingqing urged.

“Nothing.”

Chen Xiaoyan’s expression was a bit unsightly.

Left with no choice, she could only grit her teeth and take off her tube-top dress, leaving only her non-droppable white undergarments.

Then, holding onto the edge of the wooden tub, she jumped straight in.

However, the imagined excruciating pain did not occur. Instead, it felt icy and very comfortable.

“Oh?”

Chen Xiaoyan was pleasantly surprised.

She hurriedly sat down, letting the water submerge her neck, only stopping once it reached her lips.

‘It’s clearly hot water, yet it has no temperature at all. How strange.’

After complaining internally, she closed her eyes and began to enjoy it.

But then, a sudden change occurred.

The water temperature spiked as if it were riding a rocket.

Chen Xiaoyan felt waves of burning heat radiating from the surface of her skin.

She snapped her eyes open and anxiously tried to stand up.

As a result, a hand pressed down firmly on her shoulder, forcefully pushing her back down.

“Endure it.”