1:00 PM.
A cool breeze blew in, causing the light gauze hanging by the wooden bed to flutter gently in the air. On the bed, two beauties, each with her own unique charm, were pressed closely together, sleeping with their eyes closed.
At that moment, Chen Xiaoyan slowly opened her eyes. Looking at the familiar ceiling, she blinked in confusion.
‘What happened to me?’
Her head currently felt like mush, and she couldn’t remember anything. Her only memory was soaking in a medicinal bath inside a wooden bucket. Suddenly, Chen Xiaoyan caught a whiff of a rich peach blossom fragrance coming from beside her. Turning her head, Shen Qingqing’s peaceful sleeping face appeared before her eyes.
Chen Xiaoyan’s eyes widened, and she froze.
‘What the hell is going on? Why is Shen Elder Sister sleeping next to me?’
She immediately took a sharp breath, carefully lifting the blanket and moving to get out of bed.
“Awake?”
These two simple words were like a bolt of lightning, sending a wave of numbness from the top of her head to the soles of her feet.
Chen Xiaoyan turned her head mechanically, a strained smile on her face. “Shen Elder Sister…”
Shen Qingqing’s reaction was indifferent, seemingly not caring at all about her sneaky attempt to leave.
“How does your body feel right now?”
“Completely relaxed. I don’t feel as heavy as I did before.”
“And what are your thoughts on the medicinal bath just now?”
“Thoughts? Hmm…” Chen Xiaoyan rested her chin in her hand and thought for a while, eventually shaking her head. “Shen Elder Sister, I don’t have any recollection of it.”
“Hmm?” Shen Qingqing’s delicate brows furrowed slightly.
‘Is it memory loss? It seems it was still too much. Her Lingtai received too many pain responses, forcing the protection mechanism to activate.’
“Really, I don’t have any impression of it at all. I just know I was soaking in a medicinal bath a moment ago,” Chen Xiaoyan explained quickly, seeing Shen Qingqing’s frown and fearing she might misunderstand.
Shen Qingqing smiled slightly. “It’s fine. You can check how your physical body is doing now.”
“My physical body?”
Chen Xiaoyan jumped in place out of curiosity, but this single hop sent her crashing directly into the ceiling.
“Holy crap!” She fell straight back down in a heap.
Scrambling to her feet, she clutched her head and looked at Shen Qingqing in a daze.
“Shen Elder Sister, what’s wrong with my body?” Although she had learned the Yueying Step, her jumping ability had only been around 3 meters before. Now, it had more than doubled.
Shen Qingqing couldn’t help but laugh.
“You silly girl, do you think those Body Tempering medicinal ingredients were used for nothing? Do you feel the benefits of the medicinal bath now?”
Chen Xiaoyan looked at her hands in surprise, her eyes sparkling. She really wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. The movies and novels hadn’t lied to her!
She had become stronger. If she worked a little harder, she wouldn’t be the weakest member of the team anymore.
‘In the future, when I bully that brat Chong Chong, she can forget about ever catching me again.’
Throwing a punch, she could feel that her strength had also increased significantly. With an excited expression, she asked Shen Qingqing, “Shen Elder Sister, I want to soak in that medicinal bath every day!”
Judging by the current gains, her constitution would surpass Chong Chong and the others by a landslide in just one or two weeks.
Shen Qingqing froze and coughed awkwardly, not answering.
‘No, you really don’t.’
“Xiao Yan, take it slow. There is no need to be impatient.”
“Mhm, okay. I’ll listen to you, Shen Elder Sister. Whatever you say goes.”
Having received such benefits, Chen Xiaoyan was now like a well-behaved child acting spoiled with her parents.
Hearing this, Shen Qingqing narrowed her eyes, the corners of her mouth curling into a slight arc. “You’ll really listen to me?”
“Of course,” Chen Xiaoyan answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“Remember how I told you before not to have any ideas about your Senior Sisters?”
“I remember.” Her eyes were full of confusion, not understanding why Shen Qingqing was bringing this up.
“Now I am adding one more thing: don’t have any ideas about your Junior Sisters either.”
“Uh…” Chen Xiaoyan was dumbfounded.
‘Me? Have ideas about a Junior Sister? Which Junior Sister would I have ideas about?’
Thinking of this, Chen Xiaoyan’s first thought was of that brat Chong Chong, and she instinctively scratched her cheek.
“Shen Elder Sister, I won’t.”
Her eyes darted around shiftily, and her guilty appearance made the statement entirely unconvincing.
“Can you swear it to the Heavenly Dao?”
“I can.” When it came to this, Chen Xiaoyan didn’t refuse.
As a successor of the Socialist Core Values of the new era, why would she fear some Heavenly Dao retribution? It didn’t exist. Besides, this was just a game.
Chen Xiaoyan’s answer left Shen Qingqing speechless, and she looked at the girl with a strange expression.
‘Does this girl not understand the importance of making a vow to the Heavenly Dao?’
“Xiao Yan, if you swear to the Heavenly Dao and violate it, you will be struck by the Five Thunder Strike,” Shen Qingqing reminded her.
“Oh.” Even so, Chen Xiaoyan didn’t care.
Seeing her indifferent look, Shen Qingqing shook her head with a sigh and didn’t make her take the vow.
Whatever.
She couldn’t control this girl, so she would just have to focus her efforts on that other disciple.
“Xiao Yan, stay and have lunch here before you head back.”
‘Lunch?’
At first, Chen Xiaoyan didn’t quite catch what she meant, but after a moment of thought, she understood. As expected, it meant the midday meal.
“Shen Elder Sister, don’t you stop needing food once you reach a certain realm?”
Shen Qingqing nodded. “Yes. But since you are here, I haven’t tasted the flavors of the mortal world in a long time. Wait here a moment, I’ll go make two servings of Peach Blossom Porridge.”
After saying that, she vanished from the bed.
‘Shen Elder Sister is going to cook?’
This was a new experience. She wondered how food made by an NPC would taste. She was actually a little excited.
A few minutes later, Shen Qingqing returned, carrying a bag of glutinous rice and a green-skinned coconut.
‘Wait, a coconut?’
“Why are you staring at it?”
“Shen Elder Sister, where did the coconut come from?”
“You mean the Yue Wangtou?”
“Uh, right.”
Shen Qingqing tossed the coconut into the air, and it strangely remained floating there. She pressed two fingers together and made a few gestures toward the coconut; the shell peeled away, revealing the white, tender fruit inside.
“The Yue Wangtou is a necessary ingredient for Peach Blossom Porridge.”
“I know that, but I mean, how did this Yue Wangtou get here?”
Shen Qingqing pondered for a long time before replying, “It was likely sent up the mountain by the mortal commoners.”
‘Sent?’
‘There’s such a good deal?’
“Commoners often send local food and ingredients. Our Zongmen kitchen has a lot piled up, mostly for the disciples who haven’t reached the stage of fasting yet.”
“This…” Chen Xiaoyan didn’t know what to say.
The people were cared for, and they gave back in return. She had to admit, it was quite touching. If it weren’t for the principles of the Tianxiang Sect and the reputation built over years of saving the dying and healing the injured, they probably wouldn’t be so loved by the people.
“Then, Shen Elder Sister, are we going to the Zongmen kitchen to make the Peach Blossom Porridge?”
“No need, we can just go outside.”
—
Coming into the courtyard, Chen Xiaoyan saw Shen Qingqing manifest a cylindrical stove out of thin air.
She threw in some dried peach wood firewood, used a fire starter, placed a white porcelain pot on top, and gently blew a breath into the stove. Instantly, a bright, hot flame flared up. The entire fluid process left Chen Xiaoyan stunned.
“Using peach wood branches to start the fire gives the Peach Blossom Porridge a special fragrance.”