At dusk, the setting sun’s afterglow fell upon the battered flying ship……
Lin An carried a box to deliver medicine to the disciples.
While working, he carefully observed the ship’s condition.
He thought it wasn’t really that bad.
The mast was broken, but they didn’t need it anyway.
The deck had a huge hole, but no one was moving around on the deck anyway.
The outer hull had several breaches, but the Defense Array had been reactivated, so it wouldn’t let the wind in.
Overall, it was still okay… probably.
At least it could still fly for now, but he guessed it wouldn’t last much longer.
The ship was damaged, so there was no way to fly it directly to Grey Wastes City in this state.
More importantly, if they flew in looking like this, what about their reputation?
Just now, they had been notified that the original route had changed.
They would first head to Han Province, to Guanlan Port by the coast.
That was the Heaven Origin Sect’s largest external office in Han Province.
“Do you know who caused that explosion?”
Lin An handed some medicine to an Inner Sect disciple and was about to deliver the next batch when he heard this remark and stopped mid-step.
“No idea, but it definitely wasn’t one of us.”
Another disciple nearby responded, his voice very low.
Lin An was close, though, so he heard every word clearly.
“I asked around. The senior brothers and sisters who could make it over were all fighting at the front.”
“Then who could it be? It can’t be that the Demon Soul Sect blew themselves up, right?”
“Who knows? But think about it—if it hadn’t been for that blast, when those other ships pressed in together, we probably would have had a few more people down on our side.”
“That’s true… You didn’t see it. That explosion completely broke their formation. Several of those little demon bastards were scared stiff.”
“That’s why I say, no matter how busted our ship is, we should thank whoever did it.”
Lin An walked past them with a blank expression, his steps not faltering in the slightest.
He turned into the cabin where the wounded were, set down the box, and began distributing medicine to the injured disciples.
“This is yours. Three times a day.”
“Yours is for external use. Don’t eat it.”
“Don’t move. Your wound hasn’t healed yet.”
He was busy for a good while before he finally came out of the cabin.
Leaning against the corridor wall, Lin An looked at his hands; there was still a bit of medicinal powder under his fingernails.
’Looks like no one noticed me, and… this feeling isn’t so bad after all? I really do need to cultivate.’
He let out a soft breath.
Speaking of which, how was Lu Mingyue doing?
If he calculated the days, today should be…
…
…
On the other side.
Inside the topmost attic of the ship.
Water vapor mixed with a faint medicinal fragrance filled the room.
A huge bathtub sat in the center, taking up almost half the room’s area.
The outer wall of the tub was carved with intricate Spirit Gathering Patterns, which were now faintly glowing blue.
The liquid inside was not clear water, but a milky white substance, with several emerald spiritual leaves and white petals floating on the surface.
Mu Qinghan sat at one side of the bathtub, her long hair loose and plastered wetly against her front.
The liquid reached up to her shoulders, revealing a small stretch of clean white neck.
Her complexion was very poor, and her lips had little color, except for the coldness in her brows that hadn’t diminished one bit.
Lu Mingyue sat behind her, also soaking in the bath.
She had shed her dark Daoist robe and changed into a thin white undergarment that clung to her body, outlining the soft, full contours.
Her hair was also loose and soaked in the water, spreading like an unbroken ink blot in the white liquid.
The palms of her hands pressed against Mu Qinghan’s rear shoulders.
Blue spiritual light glowed from her palms, extending downward along Mu Qinghan’s shoulders like streams, slowly converging into her chaotic meridians.
Mu Qinghan frowned slightly and bit her lower lip.
“Does it hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt.”
Mu Qinghan’s voice was very light, carrying a hint of stubbornness.
“It just feels a little… swollen.”
Lu Mingyue didn’t reply.
She continued moving her palms downward, slowly pressing and massaging along both sides of the spine.
At every acupuncture point, she paused briefly, using her spiritual energy to straighten out the tangled meridians one by one.
The room fell silent, with only the sound of the liquid stirring.
“Master.”
After a while, Mu Qinghan spoke first.
“Mm.”
“That thing that blew up the Demon Soul Sect’s flying boats… what was it?”
Lu Mingyue didn’t stop her movements.
“I don’t know.”
“It wasn’t one of our people?”
“No.”
Mu Qinghan was silent for a moment.
“Then someone helped us.”
“Mm.”
“Does Master know who it is?”
This time, Lu Mingyue didn’t answer.
Her gaze fell on the back of Mu Qinghan’s neck, where there was a small patch of skin slightly reddened from the spiritual energy impact.
She placed her palm over it and slowly infused a strand of gentle spiritual energy.
Mu Qinghan let out a soft hiss, then relaxed her brow.
“You’re already very proficient in the Winter Technique from the Records of Celestial Phenomena,” Lu Mingyue said calmly.
“But this time, you also activated the Spring Technique and the Autumn Technique. With your current cultivation level… that was too much of a strain.”
Mu Qinghan lowered her eyes and lightly clenched the hands resting on her knees.
“The situation was urgent. Three of them ganged up on me. If I hadn’t used the other two techniques, I couldn’t have won quickly.”
“Then you should have immediately stopped after winning, not continued to circulate them.”
“But those junior brothers and sisters…”
Mu Qinghan didn’t finish.
Lu Mingyue didn’t continue to scold either.
She simply reached out, summoned a small bottle from the table beside her, and dripped a few drops of pale green liquid into the tub.
A cool, refreshing aura spread out, and a series of fine ripples appeared on the liquid’s surface.
“Spiritual Energy Disorder is no trivial matter. At best, it can cause a regression in cultivation; at worst, it can sever your meridians. I’ve sorted it out for you this time, but what about next time?”
“I’ll be careful next time.”
Mu Qinghan could feel her master’s gaze behind her, and she couldn’t help but sit up a little straighter.
Cold and distant, lacking human touch.
Having been in the Heaven Origin Sect for a long time, she was aware of some things.
Whispers about Lu Mingyue had never really stopped behind her back, but they were basically those two points.
Only Mu Qinghan knew that wasn’t the case.
Master was a very gentle person—at least toward her.
“That Purple Cloud Smoke Luo Skirt…”
Mu Qinghan froze for a moment, not expecting her master to suddenly bring that up.
But she quickly realized—since Master mentioned it specifically, could it be that she really liked it?
This lifted her spirits, and her tone unconsciously quickened.
“I have it! There are other fine pieces there too, but I felt this one suited Master the most. Next time, I’ll buy them all.”
She blurted it out without even asking, not knowing that the one who liked that skirt was actually someone else.
Lu Mingyue looked at her disciple’s back, her eyes without a single ripple.
“Mm, then I’ll trouble Qinghan.”
“No trouble at all! It’s this disciple’s duty!”
This was the first time Mu Qinghan had heard her master express interest in something from her own mouth.
She wished she could rush to the Capital City right now.
Come to think of it, Grey Wastes City wasn’t that far from the Capital City—barely over a thousand li.
At her full speed on a flying sword, she could make the round trip in less than half a day!