Celestial Realm, Tianxin Mountain.
Every day upon logging in, she would routinely check in at Tianxin Pavilion.
Looking at her experience bar, which was only a tiny bit away from Level 30, Chen Xiaoyan couldn’t wait to throw herself back into the embrace of the Abyss Canyon.
Arriving at the backyard, she saw the door to the inner room wide open.
Shen Qingqing seemed to know she was coming and had opened the door in advance.
“Sister Shen~” Chen Xiaoyan leaned against the edge of the inner room door, poking one head inside. She wanted to see if there was a wooden tub or anything similar.
‘If there is, I am definitely escaping as fast as I can.’
The sensation of that medicinal bath was not something an ordinary person could endure.
Fortunately, the room was empty of any wooden tubs.
“Are you here?”
As usual, Shen Qingqing wore a shoulder-baring tube dress, sitting cross-legged on a meditation mat atop the wooden bed.
The early sun had risen, and sunlight filtered through the window, perfectly illuminating the wooden bed within a limited range. It made those snow-white, fragrant shoulders glow brilliantly in the light.
Looking at Shen Qingqing, who was radiating light like a goddess, Chen Xiaoyan was momentarily dazed.
“What are you doing by the door? Come in.”
“Oh, okay.” She lowered her head and walked into the room, her eyes occasionally stealing glances at Shen Qingqing’s fragrant shoulders.
“Sister Shen, good morning.”
“Mhm.” Shen Qingqing nodded. With a wave of her right hand, a wooden tub filled with hot water appeared out of thin air in front of Chen Xiaoyan.
She had even thoughtfully prepared a step stool.
Chen Xiaoyan was instantly stunned.
‘Crap, how could I forget about the Jiezi Bag? Dammit, I miscalculated.’
“Get in.”
Chen Xiaoyan immediately put on a miserable face and ran to Shen Qingqing’s side. She hugged her arm and rubbed her head against that fragrant shoulder.
“Sister Shen, can I skip the bath?” After speaking, she pursed her lips tightly and blinked her eyes, trying to look cute.
Shen Qingqing gave her a flat look before closing her eyes. With another wave of her right hand, dark red medicinal herbs fell into the water tub one after another.
“The journey of body tempering cannot be abandoned after 2 days.”
“But it hurts too much.”
Shen Qingqing opened her eyes and sighed. Feeling quite helpless, she turned to look at her. “Xiao Yan, there are some things you must get used to. How about this? Once the body tempering is over, I will promise you one thing. How does that sound?”
“Anything at all?” Chen Xiaoyan’s eyes lit up.
Seeing Chen Xiaoyan’s sudden excitement, Shen Qingqing was startled for a moment, but she quickly recovered and nodded.
“Yes.”
“Yay!” Chen Xiaoyan was overjoyed.
She subconsciously looked at the fragrant shoulder right in front of her. After staring for a few seconds, she realized that staring so intently at someone was quite rude, so she hastily looked away.
“Ahem, I understand.”
The corners of Shen Qingqing’s mouth curled slightly. Under her powerful Divine Sense, the movements of anyone around her had nowhere to hide.
Therefore, she already knew the cheeky thoughts in Chen Xiaoyan’s heart, yet she had no intention of making her correct them. Instead, she found some amusement in it.
The dark red herbs in the wooden tub floated on the surface, emitting bursts of medicinal fragrance.
With a heart full of trepidation, Chen Xiaoyan took off her tube dress, stepped into the tub wearing only her undergarments, and then crouched down.
Her little heart went thud-thud-thud.
At the thought of the agonizing pain of the medicinal bath, which felt worse than death, she had more than once considered logging out of the game immediately.
But Shen Qingqing’s reward was very tempting.
While Chen Xiaoyan was hesitating, Shen Qingqing rose and struck the wooden tub with one palm. Surging spiritual power forced out the medicinal properties of the herbs.
The clear water surface instantly turned from light red to dark red.
Since things had come to this, Chen Xiaoyan could only grit her teeth and close her eyes, preparing for the coming storm…
Shen Qingqing could feel the girl’s fear and her trembling body, so she shook her head and smiled.
Leaning close to her ear, she said softly, “Xiao Yan, don’t be afraid. I’m right here.”
Chen Xiaoyan nodded.
Seeing this, Shen Qingqing increased the output of spiritual power, and the water surface suddenly began to boil violently like cooking water.
Chen Xiaoyan instantly gasped. That sensation of ants gnawing at her entire body was back.
…
This time, she did not faint.
It was as if the pain of this medicinal bath wasn’t as intense as the last time. It felt a bit easier—well, just a little bit.
Although she hadn’t fainted from the pain, she was completely paralyzed.
Shen Qingqing removed the meditation mat, used spiritual power to disperse the moisture on the girl’s body, and carried her to the wooden bed.
“Sister Shen, it seems to be a bit better than last time,” Chen Xiaoyan said weakly.
“Mhm.”
“If you undergo the body tempering medicinal bath too many times, the pain will weaken. Similarly, the effectiveness will also decrease, so it needs to be made up for with frequency.”
Hearing this, Chen Xiaoyan’s lips twitched as she forced a bitter smile.
“Why that expression?” Shen Qingqing looked displeased. She lightly tapped Chen Xiaoyan’s forehead and continued seriously, “The process is very painful, but the result is good. You will thank me in the future, do you understand?”
“Oh,” Chen Xiaoyan replied obediently.
“You silly girl, get some rest.”
Shen Qingqing covered her with a blanket and then rose to perform levitating meditation.
This move of meditating and cultivating in mid-air truly made Chen Xiaoyan envious.
She wondered when she would have such a level of cultivation.
‘Forget it. I’m just a little weakling who hasn’t even reached the Spirit Awakening Realm. Why am I thinking so much?’
She might as well sleep, then get up and grind some dungeons to level up.
The Carefree Umbrella was still waiting for her to pamper it.
The Carefree Umbrella, the Carefree Umbrella, the lovely Carefree Umbrella.
After a nap, Chen Xiaoyan woke up.
This time, she woke up in just over 1 hour, which was faster than the last time.
“Put on your clothes and go down. Remember to come back tomorrow.”
“Oh.” Chen Xiaoyan pursed her lips. After dressing and bowing to Shen Qingqing, she pushed open the door and walked out, then turned to gently close it.
As soon as she left, Shen Qingqing’s fingertip swirled in the air. A gauzy shoulder wrap instantly appeared on her shoulders, covering that patch of snow-white skin.
Immediately after, her figure flashed and disappeared from the spot.
—
Tianxin Mountain, Chuxin Pavilion.
The Chuxin Pavilion area was where the inner disciples of the Tianxiang Sect lived. It was essentially the NPCs’ happy little courtyard.
Chuxin Pavilion was divided into two floors, with each floor representing different strengths and statuses.
Someone like Yan Xiaoyu, the Eldest Senior Sister of Tianxiang, lived in the inner layer.
Ordinary disciples and those of mediocre talent could only stay in the outer layer.
A brilliant white gemstone floated in the center of Chuxin Pavilion.
This gemstone was the eye of the Spirit Gathering Array.
The entire Chuxin Pavilion was within the range of the Spirit Gathering Array.
The closer one was to it, the denser the Spiritual Qi, which was why it was divided into inner and outer layers.
In a certain room within Chuxin Pavilion.
A Tianxiang NPC disciple was lying on a wooden bed staring at the rafters, her eyes filled with terror.
She wanted to move, but she was pinned down by a mysterious spiritual power, unable to budge an inch.
‘Dammit, who dares to attack a Tianxiang disciple on Tianxin Mountain?’
‘Is it an Evil Path Great Power?’
Just as this thought occurred to her, a pink light suddenly flashed in the room.
Shen Qingqing’s figure appeared.
The disciple’s eyes widened in disbelief.
‘How could it be Sect Leader Shen?’
“You seem very surprised by my arrival?” Shen Qingqing sat by the bed with a smile.
The NPC disciple’s eyes were wide open, but she couldn’t make a sound.
However, her gaze was full of grievance.
“Xiaoyun, you’ve been at Heavenly Fragrance for over 10 years now, haven’t you?” Shen Qingqing ignored her feelings and began speaking to herself.