‘Didn’t I just leave her place?’
To be summoned back so suddenly with such a serious tone—had something major happened?
Filled with doubt, Chen Xiaoyan asked Xianyun and Chong Chong to wait in the courtyard for a moment while she headed to Tianxin Pavilion alone.
As soon as she reached the inner room of the back courtyard, she saw a wooden tub sitting in the middle of the floor.
Chen Xiaoyan felt a lingering fear toward that wooden tub, and she couldn’t help but shiver.
Shen Qingqing was levitating in front of the wooden bed, her eyes closed in meditation.
Hearing the footsteps, she abruptly opened her eyes. A cold light shot from her gaze, startling Chen Xiaoyan into taking a step back.
“Come here.”
“Sister Shen, is there an emergency that required you to call me back?”
Chen Xiaoyan sensed the displeasure in Shen Qingqing’s voice, so she offered a cautious, flattering smile.
“It is nothing. A new batch of Body Tempering medicinal herbs has arrived, and I want you to try them.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Qingqing flicked her finger through the air. A pile of deep red medicinal herbs fell into the wooden tub out of thin air, causing a significant splash.
‘Try them?’
Upon hearing that word, Chen Xiaoyan’s face turned pale. She kept eyeing the herbs in the tub before looking up at the other woman, her expression filled with disbelief.
‘So you’re just treating me like a lab rat?’ “Sister Shen, there won’t be any problems with this, right?”
Shen Qingqing narrowed her eyes slightly and smiled. “Rest assured. How could your sister ever harm you?”
Though her tone was gentle, that eerie smile only intensified the unease in Chen Xiaoyan’s heart.
Swallowing hard, she forced a smile and nodded. “Right, I believe Sister would never intentionally hurt me.”
The smile on Shen Qingqing’s face grew even wider upon hearing those words.
“Then undress and get in.”
Chen Xiaoyan removed her tube dress. Wearing only her undergarments, she gripped the edge of the wooden tub and stared at the deep red herbs floating on the surface, hesitating for a moment.
‘Wait, the color of these herbs seems darker than before.’
‘Is it just my imagination?’
“Well?”
Hearing Shen Qingqing urging her, Chen Xiaoyan could only grit her teeth and step inside.
Sitting in the wooden tub, her nerves were stretched thin, and she stared at the herbs on the water’s surface with panicked eyes.
She looked like a frightened little rabbit, full of terror and helplessness.
Shen Qingqing landed on the floor and walked to the side of the tub.
With a sudden jolt of her body, she slammed her right hand directly against the wooden tub. A massive amount of Spiritual Power erupted instantly, wrapping the entire tub in a layer of pink light.
Chen Xiaoyan was startled. Just as she tried to stand up, a small hand, cold as jade, pressed down on her shoulder. “Do not be alarmed. The medicinal power of these herbs is extremely intense; it requires powerful Spiritual Power to activate them.”
She didn’t process anything else; she only heard the word “intense.”
That meant it hadn’t been her imagination—these herbs were even more potent than the previous ones.
‘I’m doomed. It’s over.’
‘This is the end of me.’
Looking at the despair on Chen Xiaoyan’s face, the corners of Shen Qingqing’s mouth curled up, a sense of satisfaction rising in her heart.
‘From now on, I’ll make sure this brat can’t get out of bed every day. Let’s see if you still have the energy to think about some junior sister then.’
While Shen Qingqing did indeed intend to teach Chen Xiaoyan a lesson, these were no ordinary herbs.
They could be considered an enhanced version of the Body Tempering Medicinal Bath. The final benefits would certainly be several times greater than the standard version.
However, the pain would also increase several times over.
It couldn’t be used frequently—once every few days was the limit.
Using it too often would be detrimental to one’s mind and body.
‘Right, that Disciple’s name is Chong Chong, isn’t it?’
Shen Qingqing remembered the new Disciple who clung to Chen Xiaoyan all day. It seemed it was time to bring that girl to her side for cultivation.
She had thought about giving Chong Chong some guidance before, but the girl had been unwilling. Now was the perfect time.
“Ah—!”
A scream suddenly rang out, and Shen Qingqing quickly snapped back to reality and looked down. Activated by her Spiritual Power, the herbs had merged with the water, turning it into a tub of bright red blood.
This liquid seemed to have a life of its own, slowly climbing up Chen Xiaoyan’s body until it reached her neck.
Her entire skin was flushed red, and blood was pouring out of her pores, turning her into a person made of blood.
“Oh?”
Shen Qingqing noticed a burning sensation against her left hand, which was still pressing down on the girl’s shoulder. The temperature was rising rapidly.
However, she had long anticipated this situation.
Releasing her left hand, she pulled a white, round bead from her Jiezi Bag and held it against Chen Xiaoyan’s blood-stained lips.
The moment the white pearl touched her lips, mist instantly filled the air, like water meeting fire.
Chen Xiaoyan let out a cry and lost consciousness immediately.
‘That won’t do.’
Shen Qingqing tapped her forehead with a Sword Finger, forcibly waking her up.
Chen Xiaoyan opened her eyes and gasped sharply.
Her hands flailed against the surface of the water as she struggled to get up, but she was held down by Shen Qingqing.
“Let me out, I beg you, Sister Shen… let me out!”
Ignoring the plea, Shen Qingqing wiped a splash of medicinal broth from her own face. Taking advantage of the moment Chen Xiaoyan opened her mouth to speak, she quickly shoved the Cold Pearl into her mouth.
Then, she firmly covered the girl’s mouth.
Chen Xiaoyan stared at her with blood-red eyes, looking pitiful. Soon, a surge of cold air erupted in her mouth. It was cold above and hot below—the combination of ice and fire made her eyes roll back.
Seeing that the medicinal power was almost fully activated, Shen Qingqing quickly withdrew her right hand. She pressed a Sword Finger against Chen Xiaoyan’s forehead, using Spiritual Power to keep her mind conscious.
After an unknown amount of time, the blood-like medicinal broth in the wooden tub turned into clear water.
Only then did she carry the dazed Chen Xiaoyan out.
She dried the moisture from the girl’s body and laid her on the wooden bed.
Without the water, one could see a layer of deep red blood scabs covering everything below her neck—specifically on her undergarments.
These were the girl’s own blood and the medicinal dregs that couldn’t be absorbed.
Shen Qingqing carefully peeled them off one by one.
One thing surprised her, however. With such massive medicinal power, her undergarments should have been reduced to powder by all rights, yet they remained perfectly intact.
‘Could this be a top-grade protective Magic Artifact?’
Just as she was about to investigate, the Cold Pearl inexplicably fell out of Chen Xiaoyan’s mouth.
Despite experiencing the dual extremes of ice and fire, the Cold Pearl’s luster remained unchanged.
Shen Qingqing returned it to her Jiezi Bag.
Following that, she lifted Chen Xiaoyan’s hand to check her pulse, injecting Spiritual Power to inspect the state of her body.
A wisp of Spiritual Power traveled through all her meridians before finally returning to the Dantian, becoming part of the girl’s own Spiritual Power reserves. ‘Not bad. The meridians are much tougher.’
Even though it was only a small improvement to the physical constitution, Shen Qingqing was already satisfied.
A medicinal bath couldn’t achieve perfection in a single go; it required accumulation over time.
Compared to the meridians, this girl’s physical health should have also improved significantly.
She was naturally gifted with an extraordinary skeletal structure.
The only drawback was that her physical body was far too weak.
She hoped the medicinal baths could improve that.
Shen Qingqing pulled the blanket over Chen Xiaoyan’s body and brushed away a strand of hair clinging to her lips.
Looking at Chen Xiaoyan’s furrowed brows, her movements paused.
“Sigh.”
Then, it turned into a heavy sigh.
‘The dignified Tianxiang Sect Leader is actually holding a grudge against a Disciple.’
‘Shen Qingqing, you really are regressing as you age.’
If word of this got out, people would laugh themselves silly.